Chase Is Overhauling the Aeroplan Card and Putting Air Canada Front and Center

The Aeroplan Credit Card is getting an overhaul, and it’s going to cost quite a bit more.

Chase and Air Canada announced the changes on September 10. The newly renamed Air Canada Aeroplan Card will carry a $195 annual fee, up from $95, while adding automatic Aeroplan 25K status, a 15% discount on eligible Air Canada flights booked with points, up to $100 back on Air Canada purchases each year, and 3X points on travel.

There are some tradeoffs. Grocery store and restaurant purchases will earn fewer points, and a standing 10% bonus on large transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Aeroplan is going away at the end of the year.

It’s a fairly substantial rethink of a card that has been around since 2021. And the new name offers a pretty good clue about where Chase and Air Canada are taking it.

The Air Canada Aeroplan Card Will Cost $195

The annual fee is jumping from $95 to $195.

To help make up the difference, Chase is adding up to $100 in Air Canada statement credits each year. The benefit is split into two $50 credits, one every six months, so getting the full $100 back requires making at least two eligible Air Canada purchases during the year.

There are more reasons to use the card when flying Air Canada, too.

Cardmembers will automatically receive Aeroplan 25K status without a spending requirement. That comes with perks including priority check-in, Zone 2 boarding, and five eUpgrade credits each year.

Perhaps more interesting is a new 15% discount on eligible Air Canada flights booked with Aeroplan points. A flight that would otherwise require 50,000 points, for example, would drop to 42,500 points if eligible for the discount.

That’s potentially useful even without much interest in elite status. The catch is that the discount is limited to eligible Air Canada flights. Aeroplan points can be used with more than 45 partner airlines, and those flights aren’t included.

Everyday Spending Is Changing, Too

The card isn’t just getting new benefits.

Grocery stores and restaurants currently earn 3 Aeroplan points per dollar. That’s dropping to 2X.

Travel, meanwhile, becomes a new 3X category, and gas purchases will earn 2X. Air Canada purchases continue to earn 3X.

Chase is also advertising up to 5X points on eligible Air Canada flights. The card itself isn’t earning all five, though. Three points per dollar come from paying with the card, while another two come from Air Canada on eligible flights as part of the Aeroplan 25K status that now comes with it.

For anyone who has been using the Aeroplan Credit Card heavily at grocery stores or restaurants, the math gets worse. Spending on travel gets more rewarding instead.

Two Existing Benefits Are Disappearing

As the new benefits arrive, two existing ones are heading for the exit.

Through December 31, 2026, cardmembers can still receive a 10% bonus when transferring at least 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Aeroplan. The benefit can provide up to 25,000 bonus points per calendar year, but it disappears after that.

The monthly spending bonus is going away at the same time. It currently awards 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent on the card during a calendar month, up to 1,500 bonus points per month.

One more benefit arrives in January. Cardmembers will get a fourth day free on eligible four-day rental car reservations booked with Aeroplan points, joining an existing fourth-night-free benefit for eligible hotel bookings.

There’s also a new welcome offer. New cardmembers can earn 75,000 Aeroplan points after spending $4,000 in the first three months, plus another 40,000 points after spending $20,000 in the first 12 months, for up to 115,000 points in total.

Aeroplan Is Still Bigger Than Air Canada

The name change is easy to overlook among everything else, but it fits neatly with what’s happening to the card.

Aeroplan points aren’t just for Air Canada. They can be used to book flights with dozens of other airlines, which has long made the program useful even without much reason to fly Air Canada itself. The old $95 Aeroplan Credit Card fit comfortably into that world, too.

That’s not changing. The Air Canada Aeroplan Card still earns Aeroplan points, and those points still work with the program’s airline partners.

But the card itself is becoming more closely tied to Air Canada. The fee is higher, grocery and dining earning is lower, and the Chase transfer bonus is disappearing. In their place are a $100 Air Canada credit, automatic status, and a 15% discount that specifically rewards booking Air Canada flights with points.

Even the name now says Air Canada.

For someone who regularly flies the airline, there’s considerably more here than before. For someone who liked the old Aeroplan Credit Card mostly because Aeroplan points are useful elsewhere, the overhaul isn’t nearly as straightforward.