Chase Launches Air Canada Aeroplan Credit Card

Chase is out with another new credit card after recently launching the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. It’s now unveiled details of the Chase Aeroplan® Credit Card. While many Americans may not initially be interested in a card that’s tied to a Canadian airline, the product comes with a number of perks that make it an enticing choice for many points, miles and travel enthusiasts.

Below, Select takes a look at the new credit card, its welcome bonus and benefits.

Air Canada revamped its Aeroplan loyalty program in 2020 and added a number of new features that made it more friendly for travelers who want to easily redeem points and miles, including the elimination of fuel surcharges on award tickets, the ability to add stopovers for just 5,000 points and the opportunity to pool points with family members.

Air Canada is part of the Star Alliance network, so you can use its points to book travel on any of its partners, including the U.S.-based United Airlines. Air Canada has a number of non Star Alliance partners, too, like Aer Lingus and Cathay Pacific. In total, Aeroplan has 45 partners that you can use points to book flights with.

Similar to many other co-branded airline cards, the Aeroplan credit card has a $95 annual fee.

Welcome bonus

New Aeroplan credit card cardmembers will receive two welcome flight reward certificates valid for up to 50,000 points each (for a total of up to 100,000 points) after spending $4,000 on the card in the first three months.

The certificates are a bit more restrictive than a traditional lump sum of points, but you can top off the certificates with points in your account. So if your award booking costs 60,000 points, you could use a 50,000 point certificate plus 10,000 points from your account. Unfortunately, if you’re booking is less than 50,000 points, you won’t get save any extra points leftover from the 50,000-point certificate.

Aeroplan reps told Select that you cannot combine the two certificates on one booking. The certificates do not expire as long as you keep the Aeroplan credit card open and in good standing.

Aeroplan has a solid award chart, so the certificates could get you some cool redemptions. Flights from the U.S. to Europe start at 60,000 points in business class while short-haul flights under 500 miles within the U.S. only cost 6,000 points.

Points earning

Cardholders can earn points at the following rate:

• 3X points for every dollar spent on dining at restaurants, takeout and eligible delivery services
• 3X points for every dollar spent at grocery stores
• 3X points for each dollar spent directly with Air Canada
• 1X point for each dollar spent on all other eligible purchases
• Plus, 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month (up to a maximum of 1,500 points per calendar month)

What’s most notable is the 3X points on groceries, which is uncapped. Many credit cards that offer bonus points on grocery spend cap the amount of points you can earn in a year. So if this is a popular category for you, the Aeroplan card could be worth considering.

The extra 500 bonus points per every $2,000 spent is a nice bonus, but it’s not anything that’s going to move the needle of your rewards balance in a big way.

Earn elite status through spending

Some airline credit cards offer the ability to earn credits toward elite status by spending on the card, however, you’ll often still need to fly a decent amount to actually qualify. The Aeroplan card allows you to earn status just by opening the card, and in future years by spending a specific amount in one year.

Here’s how you can earn Aeroplan elite status with the card:

• After signing up for the card, you’ll receive Aeroplan 25K status for the remainder of the current calendar year plus the following calendar year.
• After the new cardmember 25K status period ends, you can maintain 25K status by spending $15,000 in a calendar year.
• Additionally, you’ll have the ability to ‘level up’ your current level of Aeroplan elite status after spending $50,000 in a calendar year. So if you had 25K status and then spent $50,000 on the card, you’ll be bumped up to 35K status, or if you had 35K status and meet the spending requirement you’d jump to 50K, and so on.
• There are further perks for spending on the card, including 50% off priority rewards when spending $100,000, $250,000, $500,000 and $750,000 in a calendar year. And if you spend $1 million on the card, you’ll get to choose a companion who you can take with you on any award flights for free.

Other benefits

On top of the more unique benefits of the card, the Aeroplan credit card also comes with a number of other perks, some similar to other co-branded airline cards, including:

• Up to$100 statement credit to cover the cost of Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS every four years
• Cardmembers and travel companions (up to eight) traveling on the same reservation get free first checked bags when travel originates on an Air Canada flight.
• Access to preferred pricing on flight rewards on Air Canada flights (not applicable to partner airlines)
• Similar to the Chase Pay Yourself Back feature, Chase Aeroplan cardmembers can use their Aeroplan points to cover travel purchases (including any airline, hotel or car rental) at a rate of 1.25 cents, up to 50,000 points per year. This feature is launching in early 2022.
• No foreign transaction fees

The Aeroplan credit card has a number of unique features that could appeal to Air Canada flyers as well as those who may be interested in traveling with any of its partners. For a co-branded product, the Aeroplan card has a solid welcome bonus and ongoing earning rates. The ability to earn elite status through pure spend or to ‘Pay Yourself Back’ for non-Air Canada related purchases makes this a travel card worth considering.

If you’re interested in more flexibility with your points, consider a card that earns transferrable points, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and American Express® Gold Card (terms apply). These cards can transfer their points to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio