Chase Aeroplan Air Canada Co-Branded Credit Card: All-Time-High 115,000-Point Sign-Up Bonus; Major Benefits Overhaul

The Chase Aeroplan co-branded card has received a fairly major revamp. The annual fee increased from $95 to $195, the welcome bonus is now up to 115,000 points, and the card adds automatic Aeroplan 25K status, an annual $100 Air Canada credit, at least a 15% discount on eligible Air Canada award tickets, and a new SQC status-qualifying benefit. Existing cardholders can use the new benefits right away, but the new $195 annual fee will not take effect until the renewal date on or after December 1, 2026, and some legacy benefits will remain through December 31, 2026. I have marked the new benefits in the article with a [New] label.

Personally, I think these changes are useful for people who fly AC frequently, and the card offers solid long-term value. But if you only want the welcome bonus, it is not that exciting.

The current welcome bonus on the Air Canada co-branded card is up to 115,000 points. You can earn 75,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months, plus another 40,000 points after spending a total of $20,000 within 12 months of account opening. Air Canada points are pretty good for booking UA and ANA flights, and they are especially strong for infant tickets. After this revamp, the card directly grants Aeroplan 25K elite status, and you can also earn SQC and even the higher 35K status through spending. It is also generous on checked-bag benefits. Another feature of this card is that you can redeem Air Canada points toward travel purchases at a value of 1.25 cents per point, which is quite useful for people who have trouble using their points otherwise.

• Aeroplan application link

The welcome bonus on this card is pretty good, so we have also added it to our credit card welcome bonus ranking!

• Best credit card welcome bonuses in the U.S. (personal cards)

Chase Aeroplan Air Canada Co-Branded Credit Card Overview

Benefits Analysis

• [New] Improved earning rates: 3x on purchases made directly with Air Canada and on travel purchases, and 2x on gas purchases. Restaurants and grocery stores will continue to earn 3x through December 31, 2026, then drop to 2x starting January 1, 2027. All other purchases earn 1x. Since cardholders now receive Aeroplan 25K status automatically, they can also earn an additional 2x from Air Canada itself on eligible Air Canada flights, so Air Canada-related purchases can earn up to 5x.
• Monthly spending bonus: Earn an extra 500 points for every $2,000 spent, up to 1,500 points per month. This is effectively an extra 0.25x. This is a legacy card benefit and will end on December 31, 2026.
• Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit: Up to $120 every four years.

Air Canada-related benefits

• [New] Holding this card directly grants Aeroplan 25K status. As long as your credit card account remains open and in good standing, you can keep 25K status and no longer need to spend $15,000 each year to renew the status. 25K status includes benefits such as priority check-in, Zone 2 priority boarding, additional baggage allowance, and eUpgrade Credits.
• [New] Automatically receive 5,000 SQC each calendar year. Spend $25,000 in a year to receive another 10,000 SQC, and spend $50,000 to receive another 10,000 SQC. Across all Aeroplan co-branded credit cards, you can earn up to 25,000 SQC per year through credit cards. Spending $75,000 in a year can directly earn Aeroplan 35K status.
• First checked bag free for the primary cardholder plus up to 8 companions on the same reservation, meaning up to 9 people can be covered. This applies only to eligible flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, and Air Canada Express.
• Enjoy Air Canada preferred pricing, which can provide some point savings when redeeming for award tickets.
• [New] Annual $100 Air Canada credit: Up to $50 in credits from January through June each year, and another up to $50 from July through December. Eligible purchases must be made directly with Air Canada. Gift cards, car rentals, hotels, and other third-party products do not count.
• [New] At least 15% off Air Canada award tickets: When redeeming Aeroplan points for eligible Air Canada, Air Canada Express, and Air Canada Rouge flights, the points price is reduced by at least 15%. Not all partner airline award tickets receive this discount.

Pay Yourself Back Feature

Feature Overview

After this revamp, the Pay Yourself Back feature remains available. You can use Air Canada points to offset travel purchases. Through December 31, 2026, the redemption rate remains 1.25 cents per point, meaning 10,000 points can offset $125 in purchases. Travel purchases include airfare, hotels, timeshares, car rentals, third-party travel agencies, cruises, trains, buses, taxis, tolls, parking, and more. The redemption feature works as follows:

• Under the new terms, only points from Aeroplan, the Chase Aeroplan card, and Chase UR can be used for this feature. In theory, points transferred to AC from other programs cannot be used.
• For 2026, the redemption cap for travel purchases is 200,000 points. At 1.25 cents per point, that can offset up to $2,500 in travel purchases. Chase’s terms reserve the right to adjust the PYB cap and redemption rate, so the actual account page should be considered authoritative.

This feature is worth paying close attention to for the following reasons:

• Air Canada points can suddenly be indirectly cashed out. As long as you have travel purchases, you can burn a large number of AC points.
• [Not officially allowed and may result in an account lock] Air Canada has many transfer partners, such as AMEX, Chase, and Capital One, all at a 1: 1 transfer ratio; Marriott transfers at 3:1.25. However, under the official terms, only Aeroplan points from eligible sources can be used for PYB, so you should not simply assume that all bank points can be transferred to AC and then redeemed at a floor value of 1.25 cents per point.
• There are transfer bonus promotions from bank points to AC points.

For 2026, the Pay Yourself Back (PYB) travel purchase cap on this card is 200,000 points. At 1.25 cents per point, that is equivalent to redeeming for $2,500 in travel-related purchases. Note that under the new terms, only points from Aeroplan, the Chase Aeroplan card, and Chase UR can be used for this feature. In theory, points transferred to AC from other programs cannot be used, so be aware of the risk. Thinking about it, if you are an existing cardholder and before the end of 2026 you happen to catch a promotion such as an extra 20% on transfers from UR to AC, and you can also get the cardholder 10% bonus, there is still a chance to stack the bonus up to 30%. However, this 10% cardholder benefit will end at the end of 2026, so new applicants should not treat it as part of the card’s long-term value.

Risk Warning

Recently, I have seen several examples of cards being shut down because people used the unrestricted 2023 Pay Yourself Back feature too heavily, so anyone planning to go big should be careful. Although travel PYB now allows up to 200,000 points to be redeemed each year, a high cap does not mean points from all sources are eligible. In particular, points transferred into Aeroplan from programs such as AMEX and Marriott have been explicitly ruled ineligible for PYB by the official terms, so if you plan to make a large redemption, it is safer to follow the official rules.

There have been cases where previously closed accounts were restored, and the accounts received a warning. The general meaning was that they have the right to close accounts, and only points from AC, the Chase AC co-branded card, and Chase UR can be used for Pay Yourself Back. Points from other channels, such as MR and Marriott, cannot be used for this feature. Previously, we thought that once points entered AC, Chase might not be able to tell where they came from. But based on actual shutdown data points, Aeroplan can at least identify behavior where a large number of third-party transfer points are followed immediately by PYB redemptions. So there is no need to gamble on this now. If you want to redeem a large amount, it is better to follow Chase’s rules.

Reader Darren also shared his experience with his Aeroplan account being locked. He transferred 260,000 points from Membership to Aeroplan, planning to use them for PYB, but after the redemption went through successfully, the account was locked. In other words, the AC points could be transferred in but could not be used (he could not book award tickets or use PYB). A few days ago he also received the email mentioned above, and only after that did his AC account return to normal. During this period he contacted Chase, and Chase’s final response was that the review was requested by AC, so everything depended on the results of AC’s review, and Chase could not provide a solution.

Hotel benefits

Aeroplan is continuing to offer a fourth-night-free hotel booking benefit for co-branded credit cardholders. When you use AC points to book 4 consecutive nights, you only need to pay the points required for 3 of those nights. The current promotion runs through December 31, 2026.

Note that the four nights must be at the same participating hotel, for a consecutive stay, and under the same booking and confirmation number. You cannot combine several separate bookings to get the free night. Also, the booking must be made entirely with Aeroplan points; Cash + Points and cash bookings do not qualify.

• Promotion link

• HotelSaver overview

My take

After this refresh, this card has basically gone from an ordinary airline co-branded card with a $95 annual fee to a more mid-to-high-end card geared toward frequent Air Canada flyers. The annual fee has jumped directly to $195, which is indeed quite a bit more expensive. But the automatic Aeroplan 25K status, the annual $100 Air Canada credit, and at least a 15% discount on Air Canada award tickets should be fairly easy to use if you already fly Air Canada.

The welcome bonus of up to 115,000 points is also very good, but it needs to be viewed in two parts. Spending $4,000 in the first 3 months to earn 75,000 points is a very strong tier. The remaining 40,000 points require a total of $20,000 in spending within 12 months of account opening, which means putting another $16,000 on the card. If you already have that spending, then of course you can go for it. But if you would need to force the spend specifically for this, I do not think it is worth it.

For earning rates, 3x on travel and 2x on gas are real improvements. However, restaurants and grocery stores will drop from 3x to 2x starting in 2027, and the original monthly spending bonus will also end at the end of 2026. So going forward, the value of this card will be more concentrated in the Air Canada benefits and Aeroplan status.

If you fly AC regularly, you can consider keeping the card. Existing cardholders are in a relatively comfortable position: they have been able to use the new benefits since September 10, 2026, but the new $195 annual fee will not start being charged until the renewal date on or after December 1, 2026, and some of the old benefits can still be used through the end of 2026.

Application:

• This card is still a personal credit card issued by Chase. I personally recommend continuing to prepare according to the Chase 5/24 rule, and not assuming that this co-branded card can bypass 5/24
• If you currently have the Chase Aeroplan card, or if you received a new cardmember bonus on this card within the past 24 months, you are not eligible for this new cardmember bonus
• This card generally requires a credit limit above $5,000, so if your income is too low or your credit history is too short, you may not be approved
• This is an Air Canada co-branded credit card. When applying, you can enter your Aeroplan membership number; if you leave it blank, the system will automatically assign you a new one

• Chase application status check link (login required). Or call: 888-338-2586
• The 5/24 rule: if you have opened more than 5 new cards in the past 2 years (including cards from other banks), you will not be approved for a new Chase card
• You can be approved for at most two Chase credit cards within any 30-day period
• If you have received the welcome bonus on this card within the past 24 months (48 months for the Sapphire family), your application will be automatically denied
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-453-9719) to expedite credit card approval or request another review of a denied application.
• Having a Chase Checking account can help with getting approved for a credit card
• More information on applying for Chase credit cards

Application link

• Chase Aeroplan Air Canada credit card application link