My Disappointing Experience with the Aeroflot Bonus Program

Hello everyone!

I joined the Aeroflot bonus program back in 2016, but I was pretty sure I'd never set foot on a plane again, so I didn't bother signing up. Fast forward to 2020, and I found myself needing to fly to Vladivostok, so I figured it was time to join. I naively thought Aeroflot's bonus program would be similar to Russian Railways', where you can redeem points for a discounted ticket or upgrade to business class. For a short trip from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow, I needed just 4000 points, and I had options: pay a small fee to upgrade to a coupe, get 50% off business class in the Lastochka, or pay the same price as a regular seat.

Aeroflot's bonus programOf course, comparing train and plane travel is apples and oranges, but a one-way ticket on Russian Railways usually costs between 800 and 2000 rubles, depending on the season. I'd earn points through partners and save up for my birthday, so I'd end up with 4000 points every year. With a plane ticket costing 15,000 to 18,000 rubles, I thought I'd be able to earn some points for a discount, but it's just not realistic. After five years of collecting points, I realized it was time to cut my losses and exchange my Aeroflot points for Sberbank's Thank You rewards. I earned 8000 points in the fall, but when I thought I was close to redeeming a decent discount, I decided it was time to move on.Signing up and earning miles was a bit of a process, and I was curious to see how much I'd get for a Vladivostok to Moscow flight:

You don't need to take a flight to register, at least that was the case before - the first 500 miles are credited for signing up on your own. I tried to get a physical card in 2025, but they told me they don't produce those anymore, even though it's an option on the website. You'll need to provide your passport details in full.

Aeroflot's bonus programEarning rewards was a bit of a challenge, and I was curious to see what options were available:1. The most obvious way - flying.

When booking a ticket, you enter your bonus card number and see how many miles you'll earn in advance.

Aeroflot's bonus programIn my case, I only have one Economy Optimum tariff for 18,100 rubles, which comes with 997 fixed miles. If you want more, you can opt for Comfort or Business classes.

Aeroflot's bonus programI noticed that prices are all over the place in February - I saw Comfort for 28,000 rubles! Now it's 40,000, and Business is 300,000 instead of 125,000... Maybe I chose a weird date, I don't know.2. Buying from partners.

I have to admit, I couldn't find any redeeming qualities for me personally. I saw my favorite airline, French kiss, on the website during winter.

Aeroflot Bonus ProgramI even found the terms to be somewhat reasonable, but what really threw me off was that I couldn't add my Aeroflot card on the website. This detail kept slipping my mind when I wanted to ask about it in person.3. Paying with co-branded cards.

At the time, I thought this method was a total dud, as I had to activate premium service and pay around 2000 rubles per month for almost every card. I'm definitely not going to go with that.

Aeroflot Bonus ProgramAnd that's it. I didn't see any other ways to earn bonus miles! At least, I didn't see anything on the website. No birthday rewards, no International Women's Day rewards, nothing from Aeroflot. But I do know of another way to get miles.4. As compensation.

If I'm not mistaken, I received compensation twice after my complaints about the flight. The first time was when I was sitting next to a non-functional media system, while the rest of the cabin was working fine.

For the second time, I ordered a halal meal, and they brought me two disgusting boiled flatbreads for lunch and a muesli bar for a snack. I complained about the meal, saying who eats flatbreads for lunch and what kind of food is that - muesli? And they told me that they mixed up the meal booking and charged me 1000 miles in both cases, literally like a flight.

5. Another way - the Aeroflot game!

I have to say that in 5 years, such generosity happened only once, last autumn. I had to run on an obstacle course that got faster, collect backpacks, and inside them, I could find promo codes. So, I got promo codes for 500 miles on 2000 and 1 on 1000 miles. Then, for the prize 5000 seats, I could get miles. Although I was in the top 500, where the reward was 10,000 miles, by the end, I couldn't get back to it, and I ended up around 511-518 and got 5000 miles. Was it worth it? Probably not, but I really wanted to finally increase my bonus account and my 12,000 turned into 20,400 by the end of this game. However, closer to buying a ticket with a discount, it wasn't available again.

Aeroflot bonus program WHAT CAN YOU EXCHANGE MILES FOR?In my personal account, there's a whole section where you can redeem miles, but I again didn't find anything interesting for myself. In my chocolate card, I need a plastic card, according to the description, but the exchange rate won't be specified.

Parking fees at Sheremetyevo aren't relevant to me.

I'll describe the option of upgrading the class of service below - it didn't work out for me either.

Aeroflot Bonus Program I've got to say, there's another store with loyalty rewards, but it feels like a scam to me. For instance, in the travel section, I can exchange miles for an inflatable pillow for 3,900 miles - that's almost four of my flights. Meanwhile, I can buy the same pillow for 300 rubles in Fix Price. And to top it off, I'd have to pay extra miles for shipping to Vladivostok.

Aeroflot Bonus Program EXCHANGING MILES IS A NIGHTMARE: After winning 8,000 miles, I was thrilled - I'd almost collected enough for a discounted ticket. I just needed to complete one more flight, but then the prices went up and so did the number of miles required.

Aeroflot Bonus Program It's laughable, but now I need to fly twice! I'm lucky enough to fly back and forth once a year, but it looks like I won't be able to collect enough miles this year. And it's not even a guarantee that I'll have enough miles next year, since the flight prices will go up again. I'm like a donkey chasing a carrot. I was considering buying an Economy ticket and upgrading to Comfort, but as soon as the miles allowed me to do so, the option disappeared from the website - along with the 15,000 miles requirement.

Aeroflot Bonus Program I've got two options - I can either upgrade from Economy to Business.

Aeroflot Bonus Program Or, I can upgrade from Comfort to Business! Personally, I prefer the second option, but the price for Comfort has skyrocketed, and I'm not even sure if I'll have enough points next year. It's like running in circles without a clear end.

That's when I stumbled upon the exchange option in my Sberbank personal account under the 'Thanks' section.

Aeroflot Bonus Program 400 miles = 100 Thank You points. If you're part of the Sber ecosystem, 100 Thank You points are equivalent to 100 rubles. I quickly calculated the difference, and it looks like I'd be losing around 2301 rubles if I exchanged my miles for the original ticket price minus the additional fee. Of course, losing 2300 rubles wasn't ideal, but the exchange program's deadline is March 25, 2025. So, I decided to opt for 5100 Thank You points instead of 20400, which I might never use with Aeroflot's current policy. How does the exchange work?

I had already authorized myself on the Aeroflot bonus website, then from my Sberbank account under the 'Thanks' section, I switched to the exchange website.

Aeroflot Bonus Program I've got to say, the interface is super easy to use. You just input how many miles you want to exchange, and it clearly shows how many you'll get.

Aeroflot Bonus Program I confirmed it with the code from the SMS, and it stated I'd have to wait 7 working days. I submitted my request on a Saturday, and I was expecting to wait until the 20th, given that March 8th was coming up. But, I found a lot of complaints online about delayed payments, so I was a bit worried. However, just 5 days later, I saw my bonus balance increase by 5100.

Aeroflot Bonus Program I didn't receive any additional messages, and my Aeroflot miles were deducted immediately after I confirmed the transaction. THE BOTTOM LINE:

Honestly, the Aeroflot bonus program is pretty useless - you collect miles, but you can't really use them. Other major airlines have added the option to pay for premium food with miles, but Aeroflot's always one step ahead. Of course, for frequent flyers, this is a great option, but for those who only take the occasional flight, the benefits are pretty negligible. Miles expire after 2 years if you don't use them, so exchanging them is basically the only option in that case.

I earned 2000 rubles playing the Aeroflot game in the fall, and over 4 years of flights, I got another 3000. I've also seen online that the exchange rate used to be 1:2, not 1:4 like it is now, so it's worth taking advantage of it while it's still available. To be honest, I don't think I'd recommend the program to everyone - it's just not for everyone.

Thanks for sticking with me until the end.