Chase reworked the Air Canada Aeroplan Card: a two-tier welcome offer up to 115,000 points, new earn rates, automatic Aeroplan 25K status and up to $100 in Air Canada credits. Read first-party September 11, 2026.
Chase has reworked the Air Canada Aeroplan Card. The product page now labels several benefits "NEW!" and the automatic status benefit "UPDATED!", and the welcome offer is displayed as a raised one, with the previous figure struck through beside the current one.
Everything below was read from Chase's own card page on September 11, 2026.
| As published September 11, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Annual fee | $195 |
| Welcome offer | Up to 115,000 points, in two tiers |
| Air Canada purchases | Up to 5X total points |
| Travel purchases | 3X points |
| Gas stations | 2X points |
| Aeroplan status | Automatic Aeroplan 25K Status, no spend requirement |
| Air Canada credits | Up to $100 a year |
| Redemptions | 15% off eligible Air Canada flight redemptions |
This is the part worth reading slowly, because "115,000" on its own is not an amount anyone is promised for a single spending target. Chase's terms:
"New Cardmember Bonus – Up to 115,000 Points: You will qualify for 75,000 points if you make a total of $4,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening and 40,000 points if you make a total of $20,000 in purchases within 12 months of account opening, for a possible total of 115,000 points."
So there are two separate targets:
| Tier | Spend | By | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | $4,000 | 3 months | 75,000 |
| Second | $20,000 total | 12 months | 40,000 |
The first tier is the one most people will treat as "the offer": $4,000 over three months is about $1,334 a month. The second tier asks for $20,000 of total spending in the first year to add the remaining 40,000 points.
At the 1.4 cents per point we carry for Aeroplan, 75,000 points is about $1,050 of award value. The second tier's 40,000 points is about $560 more, in exchange for roughly $16,000 of additional spending. Whether that is worth steering is a spending question, not a card question.
Chase's wording is specific, and the specificity matters:
"NEW! Up to 5x total points per $1 spent on Air Canada purchases, including 3X points on Air Canada purchases with your card, plus an additional 2X points from Air Canada when traveling as an Aeroplan 25K member."
The card pays 3X. The other 2X comes from Air Canada, to you as an Aeroplan 25K member, when travelling. Both halves are real, and you reach 5X by holding the card and having the status it grants. It is still worth knowing which party pays which part, because the 2X follows the status rather than the plastic.
The travel and gas rates are the card's own: 3X on travel purchases and 2X at gas stations, both labelled "NEW!" on Chase's page.
Chase's wording:
"UPDATED! Automatic Aeroplan 25K Status - As a new cardmember, you'll travel better with automatic Aeroplan 25K Status without any spend requirement. Enjoy benefits such as Priority Check-In, Priority Boarding (Zone 2), Additional Baggage Allowance, Star Alliance Recognition and eUpgrade Credits."
This is the bit that gives the benefit its size. Air Canada's own status page sets the bar:
"Aeroplan 25K Status = 25,000 SQC"
SQC are Status Qualifying Credits, accumulated within a calendar year by flying Air Canada and Star Alliance airlines and through select partners. Normally you fly for it. Here the card hands it to you on account opening, with no spending target attached, which is a different kind of benefit from a statement credit: it is worth the flying you did not have to do.
"Star Alliance Recognition" is the quiet one. Air Canada lists it among the Core Benefits that status unlocks, alongside extra checked baggage and priority airport services. Star Alliance is a large alliance, so the airport treatment follows you onto partner airlines rather than applying only when the aircraft says Air Canada. If Air Canada is an occasional airline for you rather than a regular one, that is what stops the status from being dead weight between Air Canada trips.
We are deliberately not naming which Star Alliance tier the recognition maps to. Air Canada's page does not state it on the pages we read, and it is the kind of detail worth confirming for your own travel rather than taking from anyone's summary.
Go back to the earn wording. The extra 2X on Air Canada purchases is paid "from Air Canada when traveling as an Aeroplan 25K member." So the status is not a separate perk sitting beside the earn rate. It is the thing that turns 3X into 5X. Without the status, the card's Air Canada rate is 3X.
Chase's list says "Additional Baggage Allowance" without a number. Air Canada's own 25K benefit page gives it:
"Complimentary Checked Bag. Enjoy 1 complimentary checked bag (23 kg) in addition to what is included as part of the Economy fare purchased."
One extra bag, on top of whatever the fare already includes, every eligible flight. On an Economy fare that charges for the first bag, that is the fee wiped out on every trip you take, for both directions, for as long as you hold the status. It is the benefit most likely to pay you back without you planning around it, because you do not have to change how you book to use it.
It stretches further on one partner:
"Complimentary Checked Bag with Lufthansa Group. Enjoy 1 complimentary checked bag (23 kg) in addition to what is included as part of the Economy fare purchased, for a maximum of 2 complimentary checked bags."
The rest of the 25K set, from the same page: Priority Check-In, Priority Boarding, Priority Baggage Handling so your bags come off early, and 5 eUpgrade credits.
One honest limit, and it is worth stating plainly because the temptation runs the other way. Aeroplan 25K does not include Maple Leaf Lounge access. Air Canada lists lounge access among Elite Status benefits generally, but its own tier breakdown does not carry it at 25K, and Chase's list does not mention it either. Do not take this card expecting the lounge.
This is the honest way to size the benefit. Air Canada sets 25K at 25,000 Status Qualifying Credits in a calendar year, and publishes what each dollar earns:
| How you fly | SQC per $1 | Spending to reach 25,000 SQC |
|---|---|---|
| Economy Flex or higher (Comfort, Latitude, Premium Economy) | 4 | about $6,250 |
| Economy Standard | 2 | about $12,500 |
| Air Canada Vacations package | 1 | about $25,000 |
Read the small print on those, because it makes the real number larger. Air Canada counts SQC on "the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges (Y, YQ and YR), excluding applicable taxes, fees, and third-party charges." So the totals above are base fare, not what the checkout page charges you. The actual outlay to qualify is higher than the figures in that column, by however much tax and fees run on your routes.
There is a second path that does not involve flying at all. Air Canada's Everyday Status Qualification reaches the same tier:
"Reach 100,000 EDQ in a calendar year and you'll unlock Aeroplan 25K Status."
EDQ accrues through everyday partners rather than flights, which Air Canada describes as the Aeroplan eStore, Uber Eats orders and fuel through Journie Rewards. It is a real route, but 100,000 in a calendar year through everyday spending is its own kind of commitment, and it resets each year.
That is the comparison that matters. The card's version of 25K asks for no flying, no spending target and no qualification year. The programme's version asks for roughly $6,250 of Flex-or-higher base fare, about $12,500 in Economy Standard, or 100,000 EDQ. Against a $195 annual fee, that is the benefit doing the heavy lifting, not the points.
The marketing line is short:
"NEW! Up to $100 in Air Canada statement credits - Receive up to $50 in Air Canada statement credits delivered twice annually when you make eligible transactions."
"Eligible transactions" is doing the work there, so here is the term itself:
"A statement credit will be automatically applied to your account for qualifying Air Canada purchases made using your Chase Air Canada Aeroplan credit card up to a maximum accumulation of $50 in statement credits from January 1 through June 30 and up to $50 from July 1 through December 31, for a total maximum accumulation of $100 in statement credits each calendar year."
Three things follow from that, and they are the difference between a $100 benefit and a $50 one.
It applies automatically. There is nothing to enrol in or claim. Spend qualifying money and the credit posts, within 6 to 8 weeks.
It is two half-year buckets, not one annual pot. January to June carries its own $50 and July to December carries the other. Miss a half with no qualifying Air Canada spending and that $50 is gone. It does not roll. Chase also warns that "processing delays can cause qualifying purchases made during one statement credit period to be allocated to the next period," so a late-June booking is not a safe way to catch the first half.
It only counts when you buy from Air Canada directly. The exclusion list is long and specific:
"Qualifying Air Canada purchases are made using your card with Air Canada directly. Purchases of gift cards; car rentals, hotel bookings, and other third-party partner products and services that can be purchased through aircanada.com; and onboard Wi-Fi are excluded. Air Canada tickets purchased through travel agencies, discount travel sites, vacation clubs, tour operators, or tickets booked as part of a travel package offered by non-airline merchants will not qualify."
So an Air Canada ticket bought through a booking site does not count. Neither does a hotel or car booked on aircanada.com, nor onboard Wi-Fi, nor gift cards. If you book flights through a travel portal by habit, this credit is worth nothing to you until you change that habit.
Against the $195 annual fee: a full $100 puts the net at $95, but only for someone flying Air Canada, booked direct, in both halves of the year.
This one is not new, and it is easy to misread as duplicating the status bag. It does not.
"You, as the primary cardmember, and up to eight (8) other passengers traveling on the same reservation (up to a maximum of nine (9) travelers), are each entitled to a free first checked bag up to 50lb."
Nine travellers on one reservation, a free first bag each. But read the next part before you count it twice:
"If the first checked bag is already complimentary (for example, as a result of Aeroplan Elite Status or fare purchased), there is no additional checked bag benefit that will be provided."
Since this card grants Aeroplan 25K, your own first bag is already covered by the status. The card's bag benefit is therefore worth very little to you alone and a great deal to the people on your booking. For a family of four it is three extra free bags that the status would never have covered. For a solo traveller it is close to nothing.
Two conditions that void it: you must check in with Air Canada for a flight operated by Air Canada, Rouge or Air Canada Express, and the bag must be checked at the counter before security. Chase is explicit that "bags checked in at the gate are not eligible."
"Global Entry or TSA PreCheck or NEXUS Fee Credit. Receive a statement credit of up to $120 every 4 years as a reimbursement for the application fee charged to your Aeroplan Card."
Application fees charged through third parties such as travel agencies or application-assistance services are excluded. Taken across four years that is $30 a year against the fee, which is not nothing on a $195 card.
This is the part that decides whether the card is worth anything to someone who rarely flies Air Canada, and it is the least-advertised thing on the page. Aeroplan points book other airlines. In Air Canada's own words:
"Use Aeroplan points on Air Canada, or one of Aeroplan's 45+ partners, to go to over 1,300 destinations worldwide."
Air Canada is a Star Alliance member, and the alliance is the backbone of that partner list. Star Alliance's own site puts its scale plainly:
"Star Alliance unites 26 of the world's leading airlines, providing travellers seamless access to over 1,150 airports across 190 countries - covering 90% of the world."
The 26 members, as Star Alliance lists them: Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, ITA Airways, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways International, Turkish Airlines and United.
For most readers in the United States, United is the name that matters on that list. It is the reason Aeroplan points are not a Canada-only currency: a domestic US itinerary on United is a partner redemption, priced in Aeroplan's published partner column rather than left to a surprise at checkout.
Note that Aeroplan's "45+ partners" is the broader number. The 26 alliance members are the core of it, and Aeroplan adds its own partners on top, so the two figures are counting different things rather than contradicting each other.
Treat Air Canada's 1,300 figure carefully, though. It is footnoted as "based on the published 2019 route network of Air Canada and its airline partners," which is a six-year-old basis for a current marketing number. Star Alliance's own 1,150 airports across 190 countries is the better-sourced version of the same claim.
Air Canada's benefit sheet also names one partner outright, in the checked-bag term: Lufthansa Group flights carry the 25K bag benefit, up to two bags.
The practical version: a card that earns Aeroplan points is not a bet on flying Air Canada. It is a bet on the alliance. That is the difference between this and a co-brand whose points only work on one carrier's own metal.
Here is the short-haul end of Aeroplan's own Flight Reward Chart, 2026-08 edition, one way within North America. Note that the chart prices partners separately, which is what makes partner redemptions readable in advance rather than a surprise at checkout:
| Distance | Operated by | Economy, starting at | Median members actually paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 500 miles | Air Canada or select partners | 6,000 points | 13,000 points |
| 0 to 500 miles | All other partners | 6,000 points | 15,000 points |
| 501 to 1,500 miles | Air Canada or select partners | 10,000 points | 15,000 points |
| 501 to 1,500 miles | All other partners | 10,000 points | 20,000 points |
Two things to hold onto. First, 6,000 points is the floor, not the going rate. Aeroplan publishes the median beside it, and on the shortest band the median is more than double the starting price. Anyone quoting you the 6,000 without the 13,000 is quoting half a chart. Air Canada notes the medians are "based on member redemptions with Air Canada and select partners from January 2025 through December 2026."
Second, partner awards carry an extra fee. In Aeroplan's words, "A partner booking fee will apply to flight rewards which include travel with a partner airline," and "Taxes and third-party charges may apply." So a Star Alliance partner booking is the chart price plus a booking fee plus taxes, not the chart price alone.
Against the first tier of the welcome offer, 75,000 points is roughly five to six short-haul one-ways at the median, or about $1,050 at the 1.4 cents we carry for Aeroplan. Spread across partner airlines rather than one carrier's schedule, that is a materially easier thing to spend than it sounds.
Worth knowing if you already hold Chase cards, because it is not on the Aeroplan card page at all. Air Canada runs a standing bonus for Chase Aeroplan cardmembers on Ultimate Rewards transfers, published on its own FAQ:
"If you, as the primary cardmember, also have an eligible Chase credit card with Ultimate Rewards, you will be eligible to receive a 10% bonus after you transfer 50,000 or more Ultimate Rewards points in a single transaction to Aeroplan. Maximum of 25,000 bonus points per calendar year."
The conditions are strict and easy to trip:
We are flagging it because it is a card-gated benefit that is currently invisible on the product page. Verify it on Air Canada's FAQ before counting on it, since a benefit that is not advertised where you would expect to find it is a benefit that can move quietly.
Every card figure above was read from Chase's Aeroplan card page on September 11, 2026, and the page text is archived in our card snapshot history. The status qualification figure and the Core Benefits wording come from Air Canada's own Aeroplan status page, the award prices from Aeroplan's Flight Reward Chart (2026-08 edition), and the member-airline roster from Star Alliance. All read the same day. The 1.4 cents per point valuation for Aeroplan is our own award-consensus figure, last reviewed July 7, 2026.
Offers change without notice. Check the issuer's page before applying.