American Express® Aeroplan®* Card

• 

  Flight Delay

  $500 (Aggregated with Baggage Delay)
• 

  Baggage Delay

  $500 (Aggregated with Flight Delay)
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  Hotel Burglary Insurance

  $500
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  Travel Accident

  $500,000
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  Car Rental Damage & Theft

  $85K, up to 48 days
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  Purchase Protection

  90 days, $1,000 per occurrence
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  Extended Warranty

  1 year

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  Free first checked bag

  Enjoy your first checked bag free (up to 23kg/50lb) for up to 9 people travelling on the same reservation on Air Canada®* flights
• 

  Status lift

  Reach Aeroplan Elite™ Status sooner by earning Status Qualifying Miles and Status Qualifying Segments with purchases made on your account
• 

  Free Extra Night at Hotels

  Receive an extra night free for every 3 hotel nights redeemed with Aeroplan points
• 

  Amex Experiences™

  Amex Experiences™: From music and movies, to specially curated dining and online shopping opportunities, stay connected with all that we have to offer from the comfort of your own home
• 

  Extra points

  Earn points twice at over 150 Aeroplan partner brands

If you’re a frequent traveler looking to earn Aeroplan points on dining and food delivery purchases, plus Air Canada purchases, then the American Express Aeroplan Card could be the card for you.

There are a couple of notable perks that also make this card worthwhile. The biggest draw is its free first checked bag benefit – a cost many people dread paying, leading them to stuff everything they possibly can into a carry on. Thankfully, this card remedies that issue.

The card also expedites the process of earning Aeroplan Elite Status – a title that grants you tons of upgrades and booking advantages.

To learn more about the American Express Aeroplan Card and to see how it compares to similar credit cards on the Canadian market, read on.

How You Earn Rewards with the American Express Aeroplan Card

Here’s how you can expect to earn Aeroplan points with the American Express Aeroplan Card:

• 2x Aeroplan points on eligible purchases made directly with Air Canada and Air Canada vacations
• 1.5x Aeroplan points on eligible dining and food delivery purchases in Canada
• 1x Aeroplan point on everything else

As you can see, the reward rates for this card aren’t overly substantial, but it is nice that the specialized categories slightly optimize both Air Canada affiliated purchases and dining expenses, which can end up being pretty expensive.

Redeeming your Rewards with the American Express Aeroplan Card 

There are a few redemption options for you to take advantage of with the American Express Aeroplan Card. Here’s how they rank from most valuable to least valuable:

• Transfers to Airline Partners: useful for when you want to transfer your points over to a partnered airline to buy plane tickets.
• Travel: when broken down, “travel” refers to travel bookings made through eligible platforms that allow you to use points towards eligible flights and vacation packages. 
• Gift Cards: a great option for when you want to turn your points into the perfect present and purchase an eligible gift card.

Based on this list, the best way to redeem your Aeroplan points is through airline partners. Since you can also earn points through Air Canada purchases, this card allows you to basically pay for vacations by taking vacations – not to mention by eating in or dining out.

6 Benefits of the American Express Aeroplan Card

To help you decide whether the American Express Aeroplan Card is a good credit card contender for you, we’re also going to break down its benefits.

Here are the pros of owning this Aeroplan-optimizing credit card:

More Affordable than other Aeroplan Cards

Compared to other Aeroplan credit cards on the market (which we’ll cover later on in this review), the American Express Aeroplan Card has the lowest annual fee. That said, a lower annual fee typically means fewer coverage categories and benefits when compared to other competing credit cards, which is the case in this circumstance. Still, more coverage and benefits are only valuable if you plan to take advantage of them enough to offset the card’s annual cost. 

The Welcome Bonus

For a sign-up incentive, the American Express Aeroplan Card offers extra Aeroplan points to cardholders in the first few months of membership if they meet minimum spending requirements. Members can also collect even more Aeroplan points when they meet an additional spending requirement in month 13.

A Free First Checked Bag

With the American Express Aeroplan Card, you can check your first bag of up to 23kg/50lb for free. This offer applies to both the cardholder and 8 travel companions booked on the same Air Canada flight. 

A Speedy Status Lift

Through their American Express Aeroplan Card, basic cardmembers earn 1,000 Status Qualifying Miles, plus 1 Status Qualifying Segment for every $10,000 spent on eligible net purchases. These points can help you reach Aeroplan Elite Status much sooner.

This type of status comes with some amazing perks, such as:

• Free Checked Baggage
• Maple Leaf Lounge Access
• eUpgrades
• Priority Contacts for Customer Support
• Priority Rewards

Free Extra Night Hotel Stays

For every 3 nights you stay at a participating hotel, with the American Express Aeroplan Card, you’ll get a 4th night free when the entire initial stay is paid for by Aeroplan points. The amount of points you’ll need to cover your stay will depend on the hotel, the room-type, and sometimes the time of year.

Extra Points Through Aeroplan Partners

Collect twice the Aeroplan points when you make purchases with your American Express Aeroplan Card at over 150 participating Aeroplan partners.

Some partners include:

• Uber and Uber Eats
• Starbucks
• Sephora
• LCBO
• Apple 
• Amazon

4 Downsides of the American Express Aeroplan Card

After outlining the American Express Aeroplan Card’s perks, it’s only fair that we also mention its drawbacks.

Here are some of this credit card’s shortcomings:

Amex Acceptance

Compared to other credit card networks like Mastercard and Visa, American Express has a lower acceptance rate across the globe, particularly in places within Europe. This is useful to note if you're a frequent traveller looking to avoid any transactional mishaps.

An Exclusive Top Reward Category

Compared to other Aeroplan-oriented cards, it’s a little disappointing that the top earning category for the American Express Aeroplan Card only accounts for Air Canada purchases without the addition of more high spend categories (like gas or groceries). Following this reward category, while you do get points for dining out and eating in, the points you collect aren’t very significant.

Say Goodbye to Carrying a Balance

Technically, the American Express Aeroplan Card is actually a charge card. The biggest distinction between a charge card and a credit card is that with a charge card, you can’t carry a balance from one billing cycle to the next (unlike a credit card), and you will need to pay your balance in full each month by the due date.

While it’s great to pay your balance in full each month regardless of whether or not your card allows you to carry a balance, some cardholders might not be able to keep up with this type of billing process. 

No Lounge Passes or Access

While you can work your way up to lounge access through the Aeroplan Elite Status lift that’s easily accessible through the American Express Aeroplan Card, unlike other Aeroplan-optimizing cards, this card doesn’t automatically come with lounge passes or access.

Comparison to Other Aeroplan Credit Cards

Sometimes, the best way to decide whether a credit card is right for you is to compare it against similar cards. The following competitors also optimize Aeroplan points in various ways, you might even find that some of these contenders offer more in terms of rewards, coverage, and benefits – for an extra cost of course.

Here’s a quick look at the comparisons we’ll be making:

American Express Cobalt Card

Naturally, the first credit card included in this comparison is considered to be the best credit card in Canada. The American Express Cobalt Card earns this title on account of successfully balancing impressive rewards with solid perks and coverage.

When compared side-by-side with the American Express Aeroplan Card, you’ll immediately notice that the American Express Cobalt Card has a slightly higher annual fee and overall first year value. While its welcome bonus might not be as big as the American Express Aeroplan Card, it still wins for first year value (and overall yearly value) based on its substantial rewards program.

Like the American Express Aeroplan Card, the American Express Cobalt Card optimizes dining and food delivery purchases, plus it also includes groceries in this category and earns over double the points you’ll get with the American Express Aeroplan Card. The Cobalt Card also tacks on more everyday earning categories like streaming subscriptions, gas, and transit. While the Cobalt Card doesn’t have a specialized category for Air Canada purchases, and it doesn’t directly earn cardholders Aeroplan points, its American Express Membership Reward points can be transferred to Aeroplan at a 1:1 point ratio.

As for coverage, the Cobalt Card adds some more valuable categories like lost or stolen baggage, mobile device insurance, and emergency out of province medical protections (all categories the American Express Aeroplan Card lacks).

The American Express Aeroplan Card wins for benefits though, since the Cobalt Card only offers the standard Amex Experiences and a hotel-oriented travel credit.

Overall, if you want to earn more Aeroplan points on dining, plus other everyday categories like groceries, gas, and transit – then the Cobalt Card is a great alternative to the American Express Aeroplan Card. Otherwise, if you prefer to earn your Aeroplan points directly through Air Canada purchases and take advantage of more travel benefits, then the American Express Aeroplan Card is still your top contender.

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card

Seeing as it’s a Visa card instead of an American Express card, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card could be a good option if you’re worried about Amex acceptance.

However, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card’s annual fee is slightly higher than the American Express Aeroplan Card, plus it comes with high annual income requirements, something the American Express Aeroplan Card doesn’t have. Still, you’ll find that the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card has a higher first year value and overall yearly value – thanks to both its bigger welcome bonus and better rewards program.

At first glance, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card’s rewards program might not look superior in terms of points earned per category, but the categories themselves accommodate more frequent spending categories, like gas and groceries, on top of Air Canada purchases.

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card also has more comprehensive and extensive insurance coverage. It optimizes categories like hotel burglary insurance and baggage delay, and adds valuable categories like trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance, plus emergency medical over 65 protection.

There are also more benefits with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card. Like the American Express Aeroplan card, it offers an expedited path towards Aeroplan Elite Status through Status Qualifying Miles, a free first checked bag, and extra points for purchase made through partnered brands. Additionally, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card includes perks like a car rental discount, a NEXUS program rebate, and Troon Rewards Golf benefits.

Ultimately, if you meet the application requirements, want to avoid low Amex acceptance rates, and don’t mind chipping in a bit more annually for extra coverage and benefits, then you may want to swap the American Express Aeroplan Card for a TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card. You'll also earn more Aeroplan points on everyday expenses. However, earning Aeroplan points on dining could also be beneficial due to how expensive going out to eat can be. If that's a concern for you, then stick with the American Express Aeroplan Card.

American Express Gold Rewards Card

For over double the annual fee of the American Express Aeroplan Card, you can opt for the American Express Gold Rewards Card where the perks are just that, golden.

Like the annual fee, the American Express Gold Rewards Card’s first year bonus is also double the value of the American Express Aeroplan Card, contributing to a nice first year value, but not quite as big of an overall annual value.

Nevertheless, the American Express Gold Rewards Card offers points per dollar spent on gas, groceries, and drugstore purchases – optimizing many more everyday expenses than the American Express Aeroplan Card. While the Gold Rewards Card doesn’t offer points on Air Canada purchases specifically, and it doesn’t earn you Aeroplan points directly, it earns you points per dollar spent on travel (including eligible flights, hotels, tours and more), plus its American Express Membership Reward points can be transferred to Aeroplan at a 1:1 point ratio.

The American Express Gold Rewards Card also has a longer insurance list than the American Express Aeroplan Card, adding coverage categories like trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance, plus emergency out of province medical and lost or stolen baggage insurance.

While the American Express Gold Rewards Card has some similar benefits categories as the American Express Aeroplan Card, including status lifts and extra point perks, it’s benefits list also includes a travel credit, a NEXUS program rebate, complimentary hotel benefits, an airport lounge Priority Pass, and 4 complimentary visits to Plaza Premium lounges (a luxurious travel perk the Amex Aeroplan Card was missing).

All in all, if you don’t mind doubling your annual credit card expense for extra coverage, exclusive perks like airport lounge passes and access, and the ability to collect Aeroplan points through more popular everyday purchases, then the American Express Gold Rewards Card could be the better choice for you over the American Express Aeroplan Card. However, if you prefer to save some money, earn Aeroplan points directly through Air Canada and expensive dining bills, plus you're content with travel perks like a free first checked bag, then the American Express Aeroplan Card is all you need.

American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

Last but certainly not least, we need to compare the American Express Aeroplan Card to the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.

For a hefty annual fee that’s nearly five times the annual cost of our featured card, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card is basically an upgraded version of the Amex Aeroplan Card. To receive its substantial first year bonus, you’ll need to meet the minimum spending requirements (which are anything but minimal), but when you do, you’re in for an impressive first year bonus.

Regarding rewards, you can earn slightly more points per dollar spent on eligible Air Canada purchases, plus slightly more points per dollar spent on eligible dining and food delivery purchases. Even the points base rate on all other purchases is higher than the standard rate offered by the American Express Aeroplan Card.

As for insurance, many of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card’s coverage categories (including baggage delay, hotel burglary, and flight delay insurance) double the value of the same categories offered by the American Express Aeroplan Card. The American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card also adds lost or stolen baggage, emergency out of province medical, and trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance to its coverage list.

As expected, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card offers more benefits than the American Express Aeroplan Card, including more status lifts, a companion voucher, a NEXUS program rebate, priority travel perks, plus unlimited airport lounge access at Maple Leaf and Air Canada Cafes, and the airport lounge Priority Pass.

In conclusion, you’ll only want to trade up your American Express Aeroplan Card for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card if you want to pay significantly more money for more coverage, perks, and points on the same categories.

How to apply for the American Express Aeroplan Card

After exploring all of your options, if you’re still confident that the American Express Aeroplan Card is the right choice for you, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to apply for this Aeroplan Card:

1. First, you’ll want to visit the official American Express Canadian website.
2. From there, hit the “travel” filter featured on the home page.
3. Scroll until you find the American Express Aeroplan Card, then select the offer.
4. Review all the information about the card directly from the source. Once you’ve thoroughly done so, press “apply now.”
5. The first part of the application process will ask you to go over the card’s product information, requirements, and privacy policies. After you’ve properly read these through, select “agree & continue.”
6. This is where you’ll need to input some personal information like your name, birthdate, and email address. 
7. The next section asks for financial information such as your income and employment details.
8. Finally, you’ll want to agree to any terms and conditions before submitting your application.

To skip to the application process, you can always hit the “apply now” button featured below the American Express Aeroplan Card at the top of this page.

Final Verdict

Therefore, if you want to spend the least amount of money annually for a credit card that earns you Aeroplan points on Air Canada purchases and dining and food delivery purchases, then the American Express Aeroplan Card is for you.

If you’re looking for an Aeroplan-optimizing card that comes with better rewards, more insurance coverage, and more benefits, then you might want to consider one of the alternatives featured in this review’s comparison section.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the income requirements for the American Express Aeroplan Card?

Conveniently, there are no personal or household income requirements for the American Express Aeroplan Card.

How much is the American Express Aeroplan Card? 

Holding the lowest annual fee out of all the other Aeroplan credit cards mentioned in this review, the American Express Aeroplan Card currently has an annual fee of $120 per year.