Every card stack needs a default fallback card to use when in doubt, ideally one with strong benefits and valuable point earning for an acceptable annual fee. In my opinion the most effective and simplest strategy is to combine a premium Visa or Mastercard product with the earning powerhouse Amex Cobalt. Many people come into this game already holding a product from their primary bank. A common question I get is "should I get rid of my Avion card and switch to Aeroplan?". The reality is that either, if used properly, can be a powerhouse for travel, a worthy Keeper Card, but for many Canadians the Aeroplan card has an easier learning curve and valuable additional perks.
We'll first be going over the Aeroplan program but if you're already familiar you can jump ahead to the section on which Personal and which Business card to get. Referrals and disclaimers at the bottom.
Aeroplan Travel
Many Canadians already have an Aeroplan account and have been accumulating points either relatively passively by flying, or through some combination of an aeroplan card and Aeroplan partner promotions (eg. starbucks, uber, journie gas etc). At some point or another they open up Air Canada's website and search for a reward flight to see what they can get for it. Surely they can do something cool with the 100k they earned over the past decade. Maybe they've heard that the best value is for business class tickets so they decide to check out business class tickets to Mexico for them and their spouse:
Ouch! More than 100k for a single one way, and you don't even have enough for the both of you in economy. Maybe they poke around a bit more, but give up after failing to find a single one way in business under 70k.
What they didn't realize however, is that by addressing both the earning side and redemption side of the equation, Aeroplan is one of the most powerful programs available to Canadians.
Earning
No sense worrying about how to spend points when you don't have many in the first place. Sign up bonuses can be a quick bolus of points into your travel bank, but ultimately it is the long term plan that will keep your travel going. While you certainly should get an Aeroplan branded credit card for this (see below), its almost critical that you realize that the best cards for earning Aeroplan points are actually Amex cards (see my article on Why Amex), and in particular the Amex Cobalt. Keeping your spending amount the same but changing from earning 1 point per dollar to 5 points per dollar unsurprisingly has incredibly impacts on your ability to accumulate points. For the more motivated you can also add in the Aeroplan eStore to further enhance your earning potential and accelerate your frequent flyer status - I've earned 17 points a dollar on a purchase this way. Many people can easily make over 100k AP points a year using these strategies.
Redeeming
While there is a whole science to Maximizing Redemptions, the basic premise involves learning the Aeroplan Redemption charts and leveraging flexibility to find flights with Star Alliance partners for maximum value.
The above chart shows redemption amounts across North America. You'll note that Air Canada flights have price ranges whereas partner airline tickets are fixed amounts. Further, you'll quickly realize with some searching that the Air Canada ranges are often optimistic (our Cancun example above goes way above the upper limit!). What are partner airline flights? In order to enhance the value of their own frequent flyer rewards systems, members of the Star Alliance release tickets from their system onto each other's systems at set prices. This often means a limited quantity of seats, but very reasonable redemptions.
One of the best uses of Aeroplan points is cross ocean business class flights (to Europe or Asia).
The above chart is for North America to Europe and you'll note that a partner airline flight, depending on start and stop locations, should be somewhere between 60 and 110k points per direction. And sure enough:
You'll see that the partner airline TAP follows the chart to a T, meanwhile AC comes in above the 60-160k price range they quote.
So if similar flights can be 60k points or 180k points how do we value Aeroplan Points? Ultimately it depends on how easily you accumulate them and how much opportunity or desire you have to spend them, but a reasonable target is 2 cents per point (cpp).
The same TAP flight sells for $2522.97, so that 60k in points knocks off about $2400 after taxes and fees, a value of 4cpp, a great redemption! Want to learn more about redemptions? Sign up for our free intro course or reach out for our small group sessions where we provide advanced support.
Aeroplan Visa Comparison
Maybe you're convinced to continue with Aeroplan, or want to pick it up in the first place. Now all that remains is to decide which card to use as your primary card. While I mentioned the Amex Cobalt as a powerful indirect earner for food purchases, there are plenty of things to buy that aren't food and places that refuse Amex. As is the case with any Keeper Card we need to consider the ongoing benefits versus the ongoing cost. Below is a summary of the TD aeroplan cards, but note that the CIBC versions are largely similar.
$89 Annual fee (AF) waived for the first year, and ongoing for certain account holders
Welcome bonus of 10k AP points, 10K when you spend $1000 in 90 days
Earn rate
1 point per $1.50 spent ie. ~0.67x base
1x on grocery, gas, and travel booked specifically with Air Canada
Aeroplan points never expire so long as youre a card holder
Insurance coverage*
Travel Accident - $500k for 21d if under 65
Cancellation - up to $1500 per person
Delay - up to $500 per person
Baggage - up to $1000
Car rental - up to 48 days
Hotel Burglary - up to $2500
Purchase seurity - 90d for stolen or damage, up to 1yr additional warranty
$139 AF often waived for the first year and waived for certain account holders
Welcome bonus of 10k AP points, 15K when you spend $7500 in 180 days, and anniversary bonus of 15k when you spend $12k in 12 months
Earn rate
1x base
1.5x on gas, groccery, and travel booked specifically with Air Canada
Free checked bag on AC operated flights for you and up to 8 people travelling with you
$100 credit back for Nexus card sign up/renewal once per 48 months
1000 SQM and 1 SQS (points towards frequent flyer status) with every $10k spent
Aeroplan points never expire so long as youre a card holder
Insurance coverage*
Emergency Medical - $2M for 21d if under 65
Cancellation - up to $1500 per person
Delay - up to $500 per person
Baggage - up to $1000
Car rental - up to 48 days
Hotel Burglary - up to $2500
Mobile Device - up to $1000
Purchase seurity - 90d for stolen or damage, up to 1yr additional warranty
Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege (VIP)
The above perks with the below differences
$599 Annual fee (AF), $139 rebated for certain account holders
Welcome bonus of 20k AP points, 25K when you spend $12000 in 180 days, and anniversary bonus of 30k when you spend $24k in 12 months
Earn rate
1.25x base
1.5x on gas, groceries, travel, and dining
2x on travel booked specifically with Air Canada
Unlimited access to Maple Leaf lounge for you and one guest and 6 visits through the Visa Airport Companion Lounge Program
Annual companion pass if over $25k per year in spending
1000 SQM and 1 SQS (points towards frequent flyer status) with every $5k spent
Insurance coverage*
Emergency Medical - $5M for 31d if under 65
Cancellation - up to $2500 per person
Delay - up to $1000 per person
Mobile Device - up to $1500
Purchase seurity - 120d for stolen or damage, up to 2yr additional warranty
*Note that the insurance info is summarized and not exhaustive, please review the official pdf documents. The insurances are far stronger with the VIP, for example covering emergency medical for trips up to 31 days instead of only 21d and for 5M instead of 2M, but an exhaustive comparison is outside the scope of this article.
Amex' Aeroplan Cards
You may or may not be aware that there are Amex Aeroplan cards as well. These have a lot of similarity to the similar tier Visa products in terms of benefits and insurances with minor but the notable differences are the welcome bonuses, earn rates, and general acceptance.
Similar to above VI card
$120 AF
30k welcome bonus for spending $3k in 3mo, 20k for spending $1000 in month 13
1x base, 1.5x on food and dining, 2x on AC travel
similar to above VIP card, but swaps out Visa companion/dragon pass for priority pass and adds in priority security, valet fee waiver, and 15% back on parking at Pearson
$599 AF
60k welcome bonus for $7.5k spending in 3mo, 25k for spending $2500 in month 13
1.25x base, 2x on dining and food delivery, 3x on AC travel
Which Personal Aeroplan Card Should I Get?
I would typically favour the visa options as they pair better with the super high earning of the Amex Cobalt into an effective two card strategy (an Amex AP card would require you to hold a non Amex backup for acceptance issues).
That said, the Amex cards do not have household/personal income requirements and typically have lower annual spend amounts to obtain their sign up bonus - so if you're eyeing up the TD AP VIP for its 85k AP SUB, but don't hit the personal $150k/yr, household $200k/yr or would struggle to hit the $24k spent in 12mo to get the bonus, consider the Amex AP R with no income requirement and a spend requirement of $7500 in the first 3mo, and $2500 in month 13. The Amex cards also have a higher multiplier on AC travel making them a better choice for people with very high flight costs - this is more common with business travel in which case I'd suggest a business card below.
Next, which tier of card? If we consider the value of an aeroplan point and the fact that each card has a different earn rate and sign up bonus spend amount, we come make some recommendations about a few scenarios where the choice is more clear.
Spend under $1k/mo - TD AP Platinum
Spend between ~$1-2k/mo - TD AP VI is likely the best choice
Spend between ~2-7k/mo - either AP VI or VIP based on values (see below)
Spend over ~$7k/mo - TD AP VIP is likely the best choice First, comparing the TD AP Platinum to the TD AP VI, ignoring the fact that many can get the VI's AF waived the annual fee difference is $50. Given that the VI earns an extra 0.33 points per dollar over the platinum, with a 2c per point value, if you spend over $7575 a year, or $631 a month, you'll be ahead by upgrading to the VI. I would note that the SUB on the TD AP VI requires $7500 spent in 180d and $12k in the first 12mo and since these bonuses are once per card type per person, I would be reluctant to open this card if my spending was lower than this. As such lower spenders may have to time opening the card with a lumpy expense.
Second, comparing the VI to the VIP card? Going from the VI to the VIP means an annual fee difference of $460, with the extra 0.25 points per dollar, we would find a crossover point at around $92k annually or $7666 per month. This is more than 3x the average Canadian annual credit card spend as reported by Equifax. Definitely most people wont reach this point unless they are using a service like Chexy to pay rent and/or taxes. That said, the first year sign up bonus dramatically shifts the needle, and consequently someone spending at least $24k/yr could consider opening it on that basis, then appraising whether the enhanced insurance, accelerated frequent flyer status, and lounge access make it a good long term choice even at lower spending vs switching to the VI. For example, if you plan to use the lounge 2 times in a year for you and a guest, and if you use the companion pass to save $200 on one of those flights, then depending on how much you value those lounge visits (eg. do you think theyre worth $25? $50?...?) you might break even at a spend level far far lower than what the points alone would justify.
Just keep in mind when comparing cards that this spend probably shouldn't be including any food from a merchant that accepts Amex as the 5x point earn of the Cobalt will blow the 1.25x out of the water. The Cobalt also earns 2x on gas which is better than even the most premium aeroplan card.
What about the Business Cards?
There are also business versions of the amex cards, and a business visa which could be considered with benefits somewhere between the VI and VIP personal cards
Aeroplan Visa Business
$149 Annual fee (AF)
Earn rate
1x base
1.5x on travel, dining, shipping, internet, cable and phone
2x on travel booked specifically with Air Canada
Mapleleaf lounge guest pass for every $10k in purchases up to a max of 4 a year
Free checked bag on AC operated flights for you and up to 8 people travelling with you
$100 credit back for Nexus card sign up/renewal once per 48 months
1000 SQM and 1 SQS (points towards frequent flyer status) with every $5k spent
Insurances similar to the VI card
Amex Business Aeroplan Reserve Card
similar to above VIP card, but swaps out Visa companion/dragon pass for priority pass and adds in priority security, valet fee waiver, and 15% back on parking at Pearson
$599 AF
65k welcome bonus for $10k spending in 3mo, 25k for spending $3500 in month 13
1.25x base, 2x on hotel and car rental, 3x on AC travel
Of these I would want to draw the most attention to the Business Aeroplan Reserve. This is the only card in the "premium business" category, and as such it represents a distinct sign up bonus to target while staying within the terms and conditions. Specifically you can receive a sign up bonus for a personal entry (TD AP Platinum) personal core (TD/CIBC AP VI OR Amex AP), personal premium (TD/CIBC AP VIP OR Amex AP Reserve), business core (TD/CIBC AP Business), and business premium (only the Amex Business AP Reserve). This also positions it as one of the best cards to consider for paying taxes with a credit card, or obtaining premium Air Canada perks with a card in your business' name. I would also argue that the fact that it has the highest multipliers on AC flight, hotels, and car rentals makes it an ideal card choice for someone with a lot of work travel, particularly if domestic, such as a Locum Physician. Although the hotel spend may be better put on a dedicated hotel card if the relevant brand, such as Marriott, covers your work location.
Conclusion
Aeroplan is a very powerful program once you sort out both earning and redemption optimization. The combination of an Aeroplan Visa and Amex Cobalt can rapidly accelerate your journey to free aspirational flights by simply adopting the strategy of "if its food, try the cobalt, if amex is refused or its not food, use the visa". A similar strategy can also be employed with the Avion cards, but optimizing that program takes more steps and has more restrictions. Also, the Aeroplan card brings more unique benefits like baggage, lounge access and status acceleration.
Referrals
If you're considering any business labeled Amex cards, reach out to me directly as your situation may have more complexity than is represented here. Otherwise check out the aeroplan cards here.
With its best in market 5x multiplier Amex Cobalt is a powerful point earner that can get you on flying for free 5 times faster than much of the competition. And since they convert 1:1 to aeroplan it makes a natural powerhouse combo with an aeroplan visa - sign up here.
If you're on the fence, or wondering about other cards reach out to me for a free consult, and if you sign up for a card through my link, let me know and I will walk you through advanced tricks and personalized advice to help you get the maximum benefit both from earning and redeeming points - getting your travel journey going faster than you ever thought possible.
Check out my Keeper Cards series to see other cards worth exploring
Disclaimer
This should not be taken as financial advice and details are subject to change. I have made good intentioned efforts to be accurate but ultimately consult card terms and conditions
