Best Aeroplan credit cards in Canada

The table below lists the personal Aeroplan credit cards in this site’s card data, from TD, CIBC and American Express, other than CIBC’s student version, which is on student credit cards, by annual fee from lowest to highest. Aeroplan points have no fixed redemption rate: TD’s page for its Aeroplan Visa Infinite says the value of a reward varies with factors including the type of reward, and the figure it gives for flights is one most cardholders received “or more”, not a rate. So the table gives no yearly value; what Aeroplan points are worth has its own page. Welcome offers are left out of the table and the entries; how they work is on credit card welcome offers. The insurance lines in the entries give each cover’s amounts; the certificates attach conditions to the covers, such as charging the trip, rental or item to the card, which are set out on credit card travel insurance and rental car insurance.

Aeroplan credit cards compared

These are the personal Aeroplan cards in the site’s card data, ordered by annual fee, lowest first. Aeroplan cards for a business are on business credit cards, and CIBC’s student Aeroplan card is on student credit cards.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that card. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

A second fee with a date in the fee cell is a change the provider has announced for that date.

Each Aeroplan card

CIBC’s no-fee Aeroplan card earns its higher rate on eligible gas, electric vehicle charging and grocery purchases and on purchases made directly with Air Canada. Its Preferred Pricing line reports CIBC’s benefits guide and notice, and CIBC’s pricing notice lists the benefit changes printed above.

TD pays this card’s bonus rate on gas, electric vehicle charging, groceries and direct Air Canada purchases up to a yearly amount of purchases, shown in the Earns line. Its insurance includes rental car cover for the number of consecutive days TD states.

American Express’s Aeroplan Card earns extra points on Air Canada, dining and food delivery, and Hyatt. Amex has announced a higher annual fee and a higher additional card fee, and says its no-fee additional card becomes the Additional Aeroplan Companion Card, with a fee, on the same date.

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite review covers this card in more depth. Its Hyatt earn comes with a World of Hyatt Bonus Point on the same purchase, conditions applying. Status Qualifying Credits go to primary cardholders.

CIBC pays its bonus rates on eligible gas, electric vehicle charging and grocery purchases, purchases made directly with Air Canada, and participating Hyatt hotels. The yearly limit on bonus earning, in the Earns line, counts all card purchases by all cardholders on the account, and it resets the day after the December statement. Status Qualifying Credits go to primary cardholders.

The free first checked bag, and the conditions CIBC attaches to it, are in the entry’s “First checked bag” line. CIBC’s benefits guide says Preferred Pricing is available “from time to time”, and CIBC’s notice says a reduction for primary cardholders replaces it from January 12, 2027. From the same date CIBC adds an Air Canada Flight Benefit and changes the annual and additional card fees.

The emergency medical cover’s period depends on the traveller’s age on the departure date, as the Insurance line shows; credit card travel insurance sets it beside other cards’ cover. On Quebec, CIBC’s wording is: CIBC's certificates for flight delay and baggage, purchase security and extended protection, mobile device and hotel burglary insurance each say that "Except in Quebec where the provisions set out under section 2496 of the Civil Code of Quebec shall apply" the insurance is strictly excess coverage; CIBC also publishes a separate Quebec product summary and fact sheet for the card.

CIBC or TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite?

The two cards side by side, with each provider’s own terms:

A dash means this table shows no figure for that card. Welcome offers, first-year fee waivers and fee rebates tied to a bank account, banking package, profession or another card are not included.

Today the TD card’s annual fee is the same as the CIBC card’s, and CIBC has announced this change: $159/year and $80 for each additional card, both from January 12, 2027. The certificates differ on the amount and length of emergency medical cover and on trip interruption limits, as the insurance cells show. Both cards earn extra Aeroplan points at participating Hyatt hotels and a World of Hyatt Bonus Point, with the accounts linked. Status Qualifying Credits are earned at the same rate on both.

The Reserve earns its highest rate on Air Canada purchases and a lower bonus rate on dining, food delivery and Hyatt. American Express has announced an annual fee of $799/year from January 12, 2027, and a higher additional card fee from the same date.

The Basic Cardmember and each eligible Supplementary Cardmember can bring one guest, complimentary, into the same Maple Leaf Lounge or Air Canada Café, and entry needs a same-day ticket on a flight marketed or operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada Express or a Star Alliance airline. Amex waives the Priority Pass membership fee for Cardmembers, but each lounge visit carries a usage fee at the prevailing rate. The Conditions line gives the Aspire Amex Lounge passes at Montréal-Trudeau that Amex has announced for this card.

The free first checked bag counts only when the bag is checked at the designated counter before security. Amex says Status Qualifying Credits count only toward Aeroplan Elite status qualification. The emergency medical cover has an age limit and a set number of days per trip, and the flight delay amount is a combined maximum with baggage delay insurance.

TD caps this card’s bonus rates at a yearly amount of purchases, shown in the Earns line. Its Visa Airport Companion visits are counted per membership year, and TD states the complimentary Maple Leaf guest through an end date, in the Guests line.

Visits beyond this card’s complimentary Visa Airport Companion visits are charged per person per visit, at a fee CIBC says is subject to change. CIBC’s notice widens its Maple Leaf access to worldwide, for the cardholder and a guest, from the date in the Announced benefit changes line.

What Aeroplan cardholders get

Some of these benefits are Air Canada’s and some are the card provider’s, each with its own conditions; the entries above give each provider’s terms.

Preferred Pricing

Air Canada’s rule, in short: Primary Aeroplan credit cardholders, and everyone in their Aeroplan Family Sharing pool, can often redeem for Air Canada flights for fewer points: Preferred Pricing is applied automatically when shopping for a flight reward. Its conditions:

• It applies to primary Aeroplan credit cardholders.
• It applies to flight rewards on Air Canada.
• Everyone in the cardholder's Aeroplan Family Sharing pool also benefits.
• It is applied automatically when shopping for a flight reward; it often, not always, lowers the points price.

Air Canada’s page says Preferred Pricing is “automatically applied” when shopping for a flight reward. American Express (for eligible Basic Cardmembers) and CIBC (for primary cardholders) word it as access they can get “from time to time”, and CIBC says the points needed depend on several factors, including holding an eligible Aeroplan card.

The announced cardholder saving on Air Canada flight rewards

In short: Air Canada has announced a 15% points saving on Air Canada flight rewards for Aeroplan credit cardholders in Canada: a promotional offer through January 11, 2027, becoming a card benefit for all primary cardholders on January 12, 2027. Its conditions:

• The promotional offer is available to Canadian Aeroplan credit cardholders.
• From January 12, 2027, the saving is a card benefit for all primary Aeroplan credit cardholders.
• It applies to Air Canada flight rewards.
• It is a promotional offer through January 11, 2027, then a card benefit from January 12, 2027.

The dates are Air Canada’s. CIBC’s own notice, in the Preferred Pricing lines of its entries, says a reduction for its primary cardholders replaces Preferred Pricing from the same date.

Free checked bags

On TD’s Aeroplan Visa Infinite, the first checked bag is free for the primary cardholder, additional cardholders and travel companions on the same reservation when the trip starts on an Air Canada flight. TD’s conditions are in the “First checked bag” line of its entry, and the other cards that include a free first checked bag carry their terms in the same line of their entries.

Maple Leaf Lounge access on the top tiers

In this table, the TD and CIBC Privilege cards and the Reserve give Maple Leaf Lounge access, on their providers’ terms in each entry. Air Canada’s own page sets these conditions:

• A primary or secondary holder of an Aeroplan premium credit card can use any Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Canada (domestic, transborder and international) or the United States by linking the card to their Aeroplan account, adding the Aeroplan number to the booking and presenting a valid same-day ticket or boarding pass.
• Access to Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafes is only available with a same-day ticket when departing on a flight marketed or operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada Express, or any Star Alliance member airline.
• Air Canada's page says additional guests are welcome for a fee of 59.00 CAD, USD, EUR or GBP, with the fee currency based on lounge location and subject to local taxes, and that for a limited time eligible cardholders can invite one guest travelling on the same flight at no extra charge.
• Cards the page lists for the limited-time free guest: TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege, CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege, and the American Express Aeroplan Reserve, Business Reserve and Corporate Reserve cards.
• Air Canada can discontinue any lounge programme, refuse any customer, and deny any purchaser or visitor access to or use of any lounge, at its absolute discretion; access fees are non-transferable, non-refundable and can change with or without notice.

In a release dated September 29, 2026, Air Canada said that a benefit that previously applied only in North America will extend access for Premium Cardholders, plus one travel companion, to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges worldwide. CIBC’s notice dates its change January 12, 2027, in the Announced benefit changes line of its Privilege entry; TD’s page for its card states North America, and Amex’s page for the Reserve excludes lounges outside Canada and the United States.

TD’s and CIBC’s pages for their Privilege cards give an end date for the complimentary guest, printed in those entries. Visa Airport Companion visits and Priority Pass terms are covered on airport lounge access.

Booking partner airlines and status credits

Booking an Aeroplan flight reward on another airline (a partner airline) adds a flat Partner Booking Fee of $39 per ticket, which can also be paid with points. The Aeroplan guide covers booking partner flights.

Several cards add Status Qualifying Credits toward Aeroplan status at the rates in their entries; American Express says they can’t be redeemed for rewards.

Aeroplan card or flexible points card?

An Aeroplan card earns Aeroplan points. A card that earns American Express Membership Rewards points can move them to Aeroplan at 1,000 points for 1,000 Aeroplan points, or to other programs; flexible points cards are ranked on best rewards cards.

The Gold card’s grocery and gas rates are for stand-alone stores and stations in Canada. Air Canada’s page gives Preferred Pricing to primary Aeroplan credit cardholders; its release gives the announced saving to Canadian Aeroplan credit cardholders as a promotion through the end date in the rule above, then to all primary cardholders as a card benefit.

Are Aeroplan credit cards worth it?

What the fee buys differs by card. CIBC’s no-fee card gives points and the cover in its entry; several cards with a fee add a free first checked bag and Status Qualifying Credits; the Privilege cards and the Reserve add Maple Leaf access, with Visa Airport Companion visits on the Privilege cards and a Priority Pass membership on the Reserve. The table doesn’t put a dollar value on these benefits, so the comparison is the reader’s own: points earned (the example above shows the method), bags on Air Canada flights and lounge visits actually used. Airport lounge access works a lounge benefit against a fee, and travel credit cards does the same for a travel card’s fee.

How this comparison works

The table lists the personal Aeroplan co-brand cards in the site’s card data; business and student cards are on their own pages. Cards are ordered by annual fee, lowest first, and equal fees keep the order of the site’s data. There is no yearly value column, since Aeroplan points have no fixed redemption rate (see the opening), and insurance, lounges and bags are not part of the order. How the site’s other rankings put a value on cards is on best credit cards.

Related

• Travel credit cards: the travel card rankings, with hotel and no-fee travel cards.
• Airport lounge access: the cards with lounge visits and how each program works.
• Credit card travel insurance: medical and trip cover, card by card.
• TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite review: one card in depth.
• Aeroplan guide: how the program works.
• Business credit cards: including the business Aeroplan cards.