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Chase Aeroplan Credit Card
Air Canada’s Aeroplan program has more airline partners than any other program in the world which is why the Chase Aeroplan Credit Card can be a valuable add to your wallet. Aeroplan is also a transfer partner of Chase, Bilt, Amex and Capital One meaning you can shore up your balance from other credit card currencies as well. It has amazing redemptions options around the world and I’d argue that as a stand alone airline card, this is certainly one of the best. You can read all about the Aeroplan program here.
Chase Aeroplan® Credit Card
The Chase Aeroplan® Credit Card earns Aeroplan 25k status, pathway to elite status boost, free 1st checked bag you + 8 companions, and more
This is arguably the best airline credit card for the money
Welcome Offer
.Earn up to 100k points – see below
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Aeroplan Miles
- Earn up to 100,000 bonus points
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- Plus, 25,000 bonus points after you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months.
- $95 annual fee
- 3X points for every dollar spent on dining, takeout, and eligible delivery services
- 3X points for every dollar spent at grocery stores
- 3X points for each dollar spent directly with Air Canada
- 1 point for each dollar spent on all other purchases
- Bonus 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month
- Max of 1500 bonus points per month
- Bonus 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month
- Aeroplan 25K Elite Status for the remainder of the first calendar year + following calendar year
- Retain 25k status by spending $15k in a calendar year
- Earn 25K Status through the next year after spending $15,000 in a calendar year
- Retain 25k status by spending $15k in a calendar year
- Status Level Up through Spend
- Earn a one-level status boost next year after spending $50,000 in a calendar year
- $100k Spend Bonus
- 50% off Priority Rewards + companion benefits
- Aeroplan travel bennies:
- Free first checked bags on Air Canada flights
- 1 for primary cardholder and up to 8 additional travel companions
- Free first checked bags on Air Canada flights
- $100 credit toward Global Entry, TSA Precheck or NEXUS every four years (as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card)
- No foreign transaction fees
- Mastercard World Elite benefits
- Member FDIC
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
Aeroplan is Air Canada’s loyalty program and has more partners than any other program in the world ( yes, including credit card programs ) with more than 50 ways to redeem your miles.
If you’re looking to take longhaul flight in the near future on one of their partners, this could be a great way to stack up some points, get 25k status to unlock Priority Award, and earn enough points to be well on your way to roundtrip business class to Europe or Asia.
If you do a lot of work in Canada or fly Air Canada quite a bit, this is chock full of bennies for you, and is well worth the $95.
For everyone else…I’m not sure it’s worth using up a 5/24 slot, or prioritizing above other transferrable card products.
Who is this card right for?
Someone that flies on Air Canada a lot and is looking to optimize their elite status. Don’t get me wrong, I think Air Canada did a great job with this card especially when comparing it to any other airline credit card, but for most other people who don’t fly Air Canada as a primary airline, there are probably better cards out there to suit your needs. You can read our favorite cards here.
With that said…if you know you’re going to take a long haul premium cabin flight on Star Alliance in the near future – it could make a lot of sense.
What can I do with Aeroplan miles?
Aeroplan is one of the most valuable airline miles in the biz. They’re also partners of Chase, Bilt, American Express, and Capital One. They have a mileage based redemption chart which means the cost of your award ticket varies depending on the distance flown. You can also bake in a stopover for just 5k miles. Here are a few examples of great redemptions:
North America to Europe:
- Business Class for 70k Miles
- First Class for 100k Miles
Within North America
- Under 500 mile flights – 6k miles in econ
- Under 1500 miles –
- 10k in economy
- 20k in business class
- Transcon
- 12.5k in economy
- 25k in business class
North America to Asia/SouthPacific
- USA to Japan/Taipei/Korea
- Business Class 75k
- First Class 110k
- USA to most of Asia
- 85k in Business Class
- 130k in First Class
- USA to New Zealand
- Business Class 85k
- USA to Australia via Abu Dhabi
- Business Class 110k
- First Class 140k
United’s 767 Polaris Business Class
Here’s a look at Lufthansa First Class… 100k from the US to Europe
Chase Aeroplan® Credit Card
The Chase Aeroplan® Credit Card earns Aeroplan 25k status, pathway to elite status boost, free 1st checked bag you + 8 companions, and more
This is arguably the best airline credit card for the money
Welcome Offer
.Earn up to 100k points – see below
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Aeroplan Miles
- Earn up to 100,000 bonus points
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- Plus, 25,000 bonus points after you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months.
- $95 annual fee
- 3X points for every dollar spent on dining, takeout, and eligible delivery services
- 3X points for every dollar spent at grocery stores
- 3X points for each dollar spent directly with Air Canada
- 1 point for each dollar spent on all other purchases
- Bonus 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month
- Max of 1500 bonus points per month
- Bonus 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month
- Aeroplan 25K Elite Status for the remainder of the first calendar year + following calendar year
- Retain 25k status by spending $15k in a calendar year
- Earn 25K Status through the next year after spending $15,000 in a calendar year
- Retain 25k status by spending $15k in a calendar year
- Status Level Up through Spend
- Earn a one-level status boost next year after spending $50,000 in a calendar year
- $100k Spend Bonus
- 50% off Priority Rewards + companion benefits
- Aeroplan travel bennies:
- Free first checked bags on Air Canada flights
- 1 for primary cardholder and up to 8 additional travel companions
- Free first checked bags on Air Canada flights
- $100 credit toward Global Entry, TSA Precheck or NEXUS every four years (as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card)
- No foreign transaction fees
- Mastercard World Elite benefits
- Member FDIC
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
Aeroplan is Air Canada’s loyalty program and has more partners than any other program in the world ( yes, including credit card programs ) with more than 50 ways to redeem your miles.
If you’re looking to take longhaul flight in the near future on one of their partners, this could be a great way to stack up some points, get 25k status to unlock Priority Award, and earn enough points to be well on your way to roundtrip business class to Europe or Asia.
If you do a lot of work in Canada or fly Air Canada quite a bit, this is chock full of bennies for you, and is well worth the $95.
For everyone else…I’m not sure it’s worth using up a 5/24 slot, or prioritizing above other transferrable card products.
25k Elite status perk
If you sign up for this card via the current offer you’ll have 25k elite status for the you sign up as well as the year after. In order to retain it after that, you’d need to spend $15k in calendar year.
You’d get the following benefits – not an extensive list
- Priority Check-in and boarding
- 1st checked bag free ( this is a benefits of the card anyway )
- Access to priority rewards
Level Up
If you spend $50k in a calendar year, the following year your elite status will be boosted. The big ones here is if you qualified for 35k status you could get boosted to 50k – this allows you lounge access to star alliance lounges. The other would be 75k status and you could boost to Super Elite.
Pay Yourself Back
At some point in the future, you’ll be able to redeem up to 50k miles a year to pay yourself back for travel at the rate of USD $0.0125 per point. This means you could offset any travel related expense up to $625 a year.
I’d never do this as the biggest value redemptions are using Air Canada Miles to fly in premium cabins.
$1Million spend threshold
Air Canada added in a perk that we haven’t seen anywhere else before…$1 Million spend bonus.
If you hit $1 Million spend in a calendar year you earn a special designation called Global +1.
- You can bring a companion along with you, in any cabin, and the points used for their ticket is refunded
- It would last for the remainder of the year you hit $1M and the following year.
Overall
This is arguably the best airline credit card on the market, and if you’re an Air Canada enthusiast, it could make sense, but the offer isn’t the best we’ve seen and requires quite a bit of spend. For me personally, I don’t fly Air Canada with a ton of regularity even tho I love the program so I won’t prioritize adding it to my wallet anytime soon. If it wouldn’t be bound by 5/24 I’d think again, but that’s where my head is at currently.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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