You Can Now Redeem Aeroplan on GOL Airlines!

A while ago, Air Canada and GOL Airlines, a Brazilian carrier, entered into a partnership. For a couple months, you have been able to book Air Canada flights using GOL Smiles, however, Aeroplan had no access to GOL award seats. As of November 29, it looks like Aeroplan points can now be redeemed for GOL airlines flights!

On the Aeroplan award chart, you can now see a logo for GOL entered into the eligible airlines list, and the following statement after the table:

Business Class redemption on GOL Airlines is referred to as GOL Premium class and is offered on GOL International flights only.

GOL doesn’t fly to a whole lot of international destinations, but they are available for a number of interesting redemptions within South America, especially around Brazil. As of right now,  GOL flights cannot be booked online. I called Aeroplan, and the agent was pretty darn clueless about the process. I reached out to my source at Aeroplan, and apparently the following rules apply to GOL bookings:

• While they cannot be booked online, Aeroplan will charge a $30/person telephone booking fee for any booking including GOL segments. Aeroplan is currently working to make the space bookable online;
• GOL segments can be mixed with other Star Alliance partners;
• Fuel surcharges are not levied on GOL redemptions.

GOL uses the same space type as other Star Alliance partners (‘X’ for Economy, and ‘I’ for Business). The best way to search for GOL space is on Expertflyer.

Have you ever flown GOL? What do you think of this update?