Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card Refresh: What Changed

Automatic Aeroplan 25K Status

The most significant change is elite status. Cardmembers now receive Aeroplan 25K Status automatically, and critically, there is no annual spending requirement to keep it. Previously, status expired at the end of the first year unless you met a spending threshold. Chase and Air Canada both pointed to that expiry as the most common complaint about the previous version of the card.

Aeroplan 25K Status includes:

• Priority Check-In and Priority Boarding (Zone 2) on Air Canada flights
• Complimentary preferred seat selection at check-in
• 5 eUpgrade Credits each year as a Core Benefit, with more available through Milestone Benefits and eligible Flight Pass activity
• Star Alliance Silver recognition, which carries across the alliance and matters most on standby and upgrade lists
• A free checked bag on Lufthansa flights, through the Air Canada joint venture with United and Lufthansa

Status Qualifying Credits also come with the card. You receive 5,000 SQC automatically each year, another 10,000 SQC after $25,000 in annual spending, and a further 10,000 SQC after $50,000. At $75,000 in annual spending, you reach Aeroplan 35K.

New and Updated Earn Rates

The earning structure has been reworked rather than simply increased. One category went up, one went down, and one is entirely new.

What you earn now

• Up to 5X total Aeroplan points on Air Canada purchases. That is 3X from the card, plus an additional 2X from Air Canada on eligible flights when you travel as an Aeroplan 25K member.
• 3X Aeroplan points on all other travel purchases. This is a new category, and Chase describes it broadly: air, ground, hotels, and ride-share all qualify.
• 2X Aeroplan points on dining, groceries, and gas stations. Gas is new here. Dining and groceries previously earned 3X, so this is a reduction.
• 1X Aeroplan point on everything else.

The dining and grocery cut is the one to watch. If most of your spending sat in those two categories, the refreshed card earns you less than the old one did. However, if you spend meaningfully on travel outside Air Canada, the new 3X category more than compensates.

Statement Credits and Savings

Three benefits address the annual fee directly.

First, cardmembers receive up to $100 USD in Air Canada statement credits each year, delivered as two separate $50 USD credits on a semi-annual basis. Second, you save 15% when using Aeroplan points for eligible Air Canada award flights. Third, starting in January 2027, you get a 4th day free at more than 11,000 car rental locations worldwide when you book four days in a single reservation with Aeroplan points.

The 15% discount has an eligibility rule worth understanding, because it is not obvious from the headline. Air Canada explained it at the press briefing: think in terms of a single one-way journey. If that one-way includes at least one Air Canada flight, it qualifies, even when it connects onto a partner airline. Only a one-way with no Air Canada flight at all falls outside the benefit.

What Chase Removed

Two benefits are going away, and neither was mentioned prominently in the announcement.

• The monthly bonus of 500 points per $2,000 in spending is gone. Chase positioned the new 3X travel category as the replacement.
• The 10% points bonus stays available until December 31, then ends.

How the Transition Works

The timing differs for new and existing cardmembers, and the detail matters if you already carry the card.

New applicants get the full set of new benefits immediately. Existing cardmembers also receive the new benefits today, but they keep their existing benefits as well through the end of December. In other words, there is a window where both sets apply at once.

The new $195 annual fee does not hit existing cardmembers until December 1, and then only at their renewal date. Existing cardmembers also receive a $50 statement credit covering the remainder of this year, from September 10 through December 31. From January 1, everyone moves to the new benefit structure exclusively.

The New Cardmember Offer

For a limited time, new cardmembers can earn up to 115,000 bonus Aeroplan points. Chase calls it the card's best offer to date. It arrives in two tranches:

1. 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
2. 40,000 additional bonus points after you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months from account opening.

Read that second tier carefully. Reaching the full 115,000 points requires $20,000 in spending across a year, which is a different proposition from the first-tier threshold. Most applicants will realistically earn the 75,000.

What Carries Over

Several existing benefits remain untouched:

• A $120 USD fee credit toward Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS every four years
• A 4th Night Free when you use Aeroplan points for three consecutive hotel nights in the same booking
• No foreign transaction fees
• Pay Yourself Back, which lets you apply Aeroplan points against recent travel, dining, grocery, and gas purchases as a statement credit
• Travel protections, including trip cancellation and interruption coverage, baggage delay insurance, trip delay reimbursement, and auto rental collision damage waiver
• World Elite Mastercard benefits, including 24/7 concierge service and Mastercard Priceless Experiences

Priority Rewards vouchers also remain at the $150,000, $250,000, $500,000, and $750,000 annual spending tiers.

Is the Higher Annual Fee Worth It?

The math depends on how you fly. The $100 in annual Air Canada credits offsets most of the $100 increase on its own, which appears to be the intent. From there, the value comes from status and earn rates rather than from credits.

If you fly Air Canada more than twice a year, automatic 25K Status without a spending requirement is the strongest argument for the card. Priority boarding, preferred seat selection, and 5 eUpgrade Credits have real value, and previously you had to spend to keep them. Add 15% off award flights and the case gets stronger for anyone using Aeroplan points regularly.

If you rarely fly Air Canada and used the card mainly for 3X dining and groceries, the refresh works against you. That category now earns 2X, the monthly spending bonus is gone, and you are paying $100 more per year for status you will not use. In that situation, a general travel or cash back card is likely a better fit.

Bottom Line

This refresh targets a specific reader: someone who flies Air Canada between the US and Canada with some regularity and wants Aeroplan points to go further. For that person, automatic 25K Status with no spending requirement is a genuine improvement, and the 15% award discount compounds it over time.

For everyone else, the calculation is less favorable. The dining and grocery reduction is a real cut, and $195 is a meaningful fee for status on an airline you rarely fly. Before you renew, look at where your spending actually lands and how often you board an Air Canada flight.

To compare the card against the rest of the market, see our roundup of the best Air Canada Aeroplan credit cards and our guide to the Aeroplan program.

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