Air Canada announced in May (read more here) that it had launched codeshare and interline agreements with Dubai, UAE, based Flydubai and that frequent flier benefits would be coming.
Now, from today, Air Canada Aeroplan members can redeem their miles for flights operated by Flydubai at the same level as with Emirates, which is very expensive in terms of miles required, especially for business awards.
You can access Air Canada Aeroplan here.
You can combine Flydubai award flights with other Aeroplan partners, and remember that it is relatively cheap to have a stopover, in this instance, in Dubai (read more here), where all Flydubai’s flights connect.
Flydubai Route Map:
Aeroplan Karachi – Djibouti Award Seach:
The Flydubai flights come up nicely on the search but are significantly more expensive than other partners, except Emirates.
Conclusion
Flydubai operates single-aisle jets, has no widebodies, and flies to many destinations where Emirates doesn’t, but some overlap. It also uses Emirates Skywards as its frequent flier program.
It is always good to have more partners where you can redeem your miles, although these Emirates and Flydubai awards are extremely expensive and only make sense on routes that you cannot ticket on others.