New initiatives will bring Aeroplan's overall contribution to more than
    56 million miles in carbon offsets by year-end, equal to almost
    24,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases or taking over 4,000 cars off the road
    for one year

MONTREAL, Sept. 17 /CNW Telbec/ - To celebrate World Car-free Day, Aeroplan announced a number of initiatives that will help its members mitigate the effects of their travel and every day activities. Beginning September 21, Aeroplan will match all Aeroplan Miles redeemed for carbon offsets by 25 per cent until September 30, 2009. In addition, members will soon be able to redeem Aeroplan Miles to purchase carbon offsets when renting a car through aeroplan.com.

Aeroplan's Carbon Offset program was created in 2007 as part of its Green it Up program to enable members to use Aeroplan Miles to buy carbon credits to offset the emissions generated by their air travel and everyday activities. Members can visit www.aeroplan.com/offset to offset their carbon footprint and have Aeroplan match all miles redeemed by members by 20 per cent, which has been increased to 25 per cent until the end of the month. Aeroplan then transfers the total sum to the Carbon Reduction Fund, an independent, non-profit organization with the mission of funding only the highest-quality Canadian offset projects (www.carbonreductionfund.com). For 7,500 Aeroplan Miles, members can offset 3.2 tonnes of greenhouse gases, equivalent to approximately: 1 transcontinental two-way flight or one year of driving a small car.

In addition, starting next week, Aeroplan has added Toronto as the first city to offer monthly transit passes available through aeroplan.com. To kick-off this new reward, Aeroplan will offset the first 1,000 Toronto transit passes purchased. This means Aeroplan will be offsetting an additional 72 tonnes of greenhouse gasses.

"At Aeroplan, we strongly believe we can all do more to reduce the environmental impact of our actions and activities," said Vince Timpano, President, Aeroplan. "We launched Aeroplan's Green it Up program to give members an option to help make a difference - and we're proud of the positive impact that we've made together so far. To date, Aeroplan and our members have redeemed an incredible 51 million Aeroplan Miles for carbon credits and with these new initiatives announced today, this will increase to over 56 million miles by the end of the year."

"Marking the celebration of World Car-free Day with a campaign like this is a great example of how Aeroplan is helping Canadians reduce their impact on the environment," says Jed Goldberg, President of Earth Day Canada. "For many of us, travel is a reality we can't avoid. Aeroplan's Car-free Day initiative provides Canadians with the opportunity to offset their travel and every day emissions for World Car-free Day - helping to make every day, Earth Day."

In addition to these new initiatives, Aeroplan continues to offset 100 per cent of its corporate carbon footprint and Aeroplan employees are rewarded 1,000 miles per month if they commute to work in an environmentally friendly way. On September 22nd, employees will also get an additional 250 Aeroplan Miles for commuting to work by transit, carpool, bicycle or walking that day. For members, Aeroplan offers over 40 eco-friendly rewards that include housewares, games, fashion and travel accessories. Since its inception in June of 2007, Aeroplan Members have redeemed over 30 million miles for green rewards.

For more information about Aeroplan's Green it Up program, please visit www.groupeaeroplan.com and click on Social Responsibility.

About Aeroplan

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009, Aeroplan, Canada's premier loyalty program, is owned by Groupe Aeroplan Inc., a leading international loyalty management corporation.

Aeroplan's millions of members earn Aeroplan Miles with its growing network of over 70 world-class partners, representing more than 150 brands in the financial, retail, and travel sectors.

In 2008, over 2 million rewards were issued to members including more than 1.5 million round-trip flights on Air Canada and Star Alliance carriers which offer travel to more than 900 destinations worldwide. In addition to flights, members also have access to over 600 exciting specialty, merchandise, hotel, car rental and experiential rewards.

For more information about Aeroplan, please visit www.groupeaeroplan.com or www.aeroplan.com.