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Air Canada has refreshed its Chase Aeroplan® Credit Card with new benefits and a significantly higher annual fee. The new benefits are in effect as of today for new and existing customers.
Signup bonus
If you signup for the Aeroplan® Credit Card you will earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in 3 months, plus earn another 40,000 bonus points after spending another $6,000 in 12 months.
With Pay Yourself Back, 75K points are worth at least $937.50 towards all travel expenses and 115K points are worth at least $1,437.50, but they can be worth much more as Aeroplan points.
Annual fee
$195.
That’s a huge jump from the previous $95, but there are new benefits like automatic Air Canada and Star Alliance elite status, annual Air Canada credits, and more. Existing customers will pay the higher fee for renewals as of 12/1/26.
Welcome bonus terms
You can earn the bonus if you are not a current Chase Aeroplan Cardholders and if you haven’t received a new Chase Aeroplan card in the past 24 months.
5/24
Some Chase cards are subject to 5/24 restrictions, meaning that you might not be approved if you have been approved for 5 or more consumer credit cards in the past 24 months. Enforcement of 5/24 has been patchy for the past year and the only way to know if you can get approved is by trying to apply.
Note that the Chase system automatically counts cards like authorized user cards and store cards as cards that count towards 5/24, but if you explain to Chase that those cards are merely authorized user cards or store cards they can manually approve you for a new card.
You can check your credit report for free at the federally authorized annualcreditreport.com to check how many accounts are shows as being open in the past 24 months.
[Updated] Card earnings
- 3 points per dollar on Air Canada flights
- New: 3 points per dollar on travel
- New: 2 points per dollar on gas stations
- 2 points per dollar on groceries (Down from 3x, which will still apply through 12/31/26)
- 2 points per dollar on dining (Down from 3x, which will still apply through 12/31/26)
- 1 mile per dollar elsewhere.
- There are no foreign transaction fees.
Card Downgrades
In addition to the lower earnings on groceries and dining after 12/31/26, this card will no longer earn 500 bonus miles for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month, up to 1,500 bonus miles on $6,000 of monthly spending after 12/31/26.
It will also no longer make you eligible for a 10% bonus on 50K+ transfers from Chase after 12/31/26. Cardholders can still get a 10% bonus stacked on top of the 20% Chase travel bonus through 9/30. You can earn up to 25K bonus miles (so it will cap out after a 250K Chase transfer) in 2026.
Pay Yourself Back
Chase Aeroplan Cardmembers can now redeem their Aeroplan points to pay yourself back for travel purchases on any airline, including hotels, car rentals, cruises, trains, travel agencies, parking, tolls, and much more, at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. Points can be worth more than that, but that’s a nice feature to have as an option.
You can use up to 200K Aeroplan points per calendar year to cover $2,500 in travel charges.
With a 30% transfer bonus, your Chase points will be worth 1.5 cents each towards travel purchases!
With a 30% transfer bonus, your Chase points will be worth 1.625 cents each towards travel purchases!
You have 90 days after a charge is made to select to pay yourself back with miles.
Note that this feature is only intended to be used for purchases on this card and transfers from Chase. You may have your card closed for abuse for transfers from other sources.
Free Checked Baggage
This card allows the primary cardholder and up to 8 additional passengers on the same itinerary to get a free checked bag when flying Air Canada.
Nexus/Global Entry/PreCheck Fee Refund:
It costs $85 to apply for a 5 year TSA Pre-Check membership which makes flying pleasant again. Shorter lines, no need to remove your shoes, belt, jacket, or hat. You can keep your laptop and small liquids inside your carry-on. And you go through a good old fashioned metal detector instead of assuming the position in the body scanner. If you charge it on your card the fee will be refunded.
It costs $120 to apply for a 5 year Global Entry membership which lets you bypass the customs line. If you have Global Entry you also get TSA Pre-Check for free. If you charge it on your card the fee will be refunded. Kids can now apply for Global Entry for free with parents who are part of the program.
It costs $120 to apply for a 5 year NEXUS membership and it includes PreCheck and Global Entry. If you charge it on your card the fee will be refunded.
That’s a $120 value every 4 years.
You can read more more about the differences in this post.
My whole family has Global Entry and it sure makes traveling a whole lot easier!
[New] $100 Air Canada Annual Credit
Get up to $50 rebated every January-June and up to $50 rebated every July-December for Air Canada flight purchases, for a total rebate up to $100 per calendar year.
[New] 15% Off Awards With Air Canada Flights
Cardholders receive a reduction of at least 15% on the Aeroplan points required to redeem for the base fare of eligible flight rewards, as compared to the number of points required to book the same itinerary by an Aeroplan member who is not a Cardmember. This applies to flights that have at least 1 segment operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Express, or Air Canada Rouge.
This can be combined with Priority Reward discounts.
[Updated] Aeroplan 25K Elite Status
Cardholders now receive Aeroplan 25K elite status for as long as they remain a cardholder, though that does not include 25K SQCs. Previously, this status required spending $15K per calendar year to keep, now it is automatic.
25K benefits include priority call center, waitlisting, seat selection, airport checkin, standby, and boarding, preferred seats at checkin, free sports equipment handling, 5 eUpgrade credits, bonus miles, Star Alliance Silver, Priority benefits on United and Lufthansa Group, Hyatt perks, and more.
[New] Aeroplan 35K Elite Status and SQC bonuses
Spend $75K in a calendar year and you’ll earn 35K status for the remainder of the calendar year and the following calendar year.
35K benefits include priority security, bag handling, call center, waitlisting, seat selection, airport checkin, standby, and boarding, 3 free 70 pound checked bags, preferred seats at checkin, free sports equipment handling, 10 eUpgrade credits, bonus miles, Star Alliance Silver, Priority benefits on United and Lufthansa Group, Hyatt perks, and more.
You also need to have 35K status or higher to redeem for Emirates First Class awards, though pricing is sky-high and availability can be scarce.
Cardholders also earn a 5K SQC bonus annually, a 10K SQC bonus after spending $25K annually on their card, and another 10K SQC bonus after spending $50K annually on their card.
[New] 4th Day Free On Hotels And Car Rentals
Currently, you get the 4th night free when cardholders redeem Aeroplan points for a hotel.
Starting 1/1/27, that will be extended to a 4th day free when redeeming Aeroplan points for a car rental.
Spend threshold milestones and companion pass
At 10K SQCs, you’ll earn 10 eUpgrade credits. At 20K SQCs you can choose from a Priority Rewards, 2 lounge passes, 10 eUpgrade credits, 5,000 points, and more.
As an unadvertised card benefit, upon spending $100,000, $250,000, $500,000 and $750,000 in a calendar year you’ll earn a 50% off Priority Rewards redemption certificate.
The value of the Priority Rewards will be based on your Air Canada status.
- 25K/35K elites get 50% off US/Canada awards in coach.
- 50K elites get 50% off North America awards in coach or premium economy.
- 75K elites get 50% off systemwide awards in coach or premium economy.
- Super elites get 50% off systemwide awards in coach, premium economy, or business class.
If you spend a whopping $1,000,000 in a year you’ll get a companion pass that allows unlimited free companion award travel systemwide in any class of service. That pass will be valid for the rest of the calendar year in which you spend the million bucks and for the following calendar year.
That’s an awesome perk, but putting a million dollars on a card isn’t for the masses. And even if it is for you, you need to consider the opportunity cost versus spending on a card like Citi Double Cash that earns 2 or more miles per dollar everywhere. However, if you can put all your spending in bonus categories on this card, that’s different than earning 1 mile per dollar and playing catch-up to a card that earns 2 miles per dollar.
DoorDash DashPass and Credits
Get 1 year of free DoorDash Dashpass when you activate by 12/31/27.
Plus, get a $10 monthly credit for non-restaurant spending on DoorDash through 12/31/27 when you have an active DashPass membership.
Spend Threshold
You’ll need to spend $4,000 on this card within 3 months.
You can pay your federal taxes for a 1.75% fee.
My local natural gas company allows me to prepay up to $1,000 on a credit card for a $1.65 flat fee. That’s a great way to earn miles and help meet a spend threshold. My electricity supplier allows me to pay with a credit card for free as long as I am enrolled in autopay.
Cardholder benefits
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
- Baggage Delay Insurance
- Trip Delay Reimbursement
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
- Roadside Assistance
Dan’s Quick Thoughts
Does this card justify its $195 annual fee?
The strong signup bonus is attractive.
If you fly on Air Canada, there’s a lot of value to be had from having this card, which confers automatic elite status. Plus, if you use the $50 twice-yearly Air Canada credit to buy tickets or even pay taxes and fees on award tickets, the effective fee is still just $95.
The Pay Yourself Back benefit is also extremely valuable, though some of the luster will be gone with the end of the 10% bonus for Chase transfers after this year. Nevertheless, it will still allow Chase points to be cashed out at a high value when there’s a transfer bonus to Aeroplan.
Air Canada itself is stingy on awarding miles for flying compared to other carriers, and most Americans will do better sticking to other airlines for international travel.
Americans can also do better spending with US carriers to earn higher elite status than Air Canada allows via its cards.
Do you find enough value in this card?
Will you signup for a Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Mastercard?
