The Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card is getting a major refresh — and a higher annual fee.
About the Aeroplan Credit Card Update:
This week, Chase and Air Canada announced some sizeable updates to the carrier’s U.S. market Aeroplan credit card.
First, the card has added $100 in credits for Air Canada purchases. This sum is divided into two semi-annual credits, with one valid for Air Canada purchases made between January and June and the other to be used between July and December.
Another new perk is automatic Aeroplan 25K Status for cardholders. With 25K Status, travelers can enjoy priority check-in, Zone 2 priority boarding, additional baggage allowance, and more. Previously, while cardholders earned this status upon signing up, they needed to spend at least $15,000 per year on the card to maintain it.
Next, Air Canada is adding a discount on award flight redemptions. Similar to Delta’s “TakeOff 15” feature, cardholders can save 15% on eligible Air Canada flights booked using Aeroplan points.
Speaking of rewards, the Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card will now earn 3 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on travel purchases. Cardholders also earn a total of 5 points per dollar spent on Air Canada purchases, including the 3x from the card and 2x from the Aeroplan 25K status.
On the negative side, the card now only earns 2x points at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery) and 2x points at grocery stores — as opposed to the 3x these categories previously earned. However, the card now also earns 2x points at gas stations. All other purchases earn 1x points.
As for continuing benefits, the card will still offer Pay Yourself Back. With this feature, cardholders can redeem points for a statement credit to cover any eligible travel purchase made in the past 90 days. Pay Yourself Back is now also being extended to eligible dining, grocery store, or gas station purchases.
With these changes, the card will also be increasing its annual fee. Previously, the Aeroplan card came at a cost of $95. Now, the card will carry an annual fee of $195.
Along with this big refresh, Aeroplan and Chase are also offering a big welcome bonus. Currently, new cardholders can earn a total of 115,000 bonus points. This includes 75,000 points after spending at least $4,000 on the card within the first 3 months, plus an additional 40,000 points after spending a total of $20,000 on the card within the first 12 months from account opening.
What They’re Saying:
Discussing the card updates, Chase’s President of Co-Brand Cards Chris Cracchiolo explained, “Our goal with the refreshed Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card is to deliver new value that makes the card even more compelling for people frequently traveling from the U.S. to Canada and beyond. As travelers increasingly look for more value, convenience and flexibility from the cards they carry every day, Chase and Aeroplan have refreshed the card with benefits designed to help cardmembers travel more often, enjoy an elevated journey when flying with Air Canada and get greater value from the Aeroplan program.”
My Thoughts:
This refresh is a pretty mixed bag. The biggest thing is that, by more than doubling the annual fee, Air Canada effectively took the Aeroplan card from an entry-level card to a mid-tier one (although “mid-tier” implies there are other cards in the portfolio). While that price hike is offset by the $100 in statement credits, the semi-annual structure makes those credits harder to use.
Another flaw of this newly revamped card is that there are several other rewards cards that offer more than 2x on dining or grocery store purchases than this card now earns. That’s a problem since some of these cards offer transfers to Aeroplan, making the card’s rewards categories moot.
However, even though the Aeroplan 25K status the card previously offered lasted for over a year, having it indefinitely without a spending requirement is certainly a nice perk. Plus, the 15% off on award bookings could be useful. Lastly, I do appreciate the Pay Yourself Back option being there for those times when some practical savings are more needed than airline points.
All in all, I suspect that this version of the Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card will have its fans, but also leave some disappointed. Which camp you fall into will depend on how often you actually book Air Canada flights, what type of spending you put on the card, and how much you value everlasting 25K status.
