The New Chase Aeroplan Card For Americans: How It Compares To Canadian Aeroplan Credit Cards

There’s a new Aeroplan credit card in town.

But this time, it’s not available in Canada. Aeroplan and Chase have teamed up to offer a new Aeroplan credit card for Americans – the Chase Aeroplan Card.

If you live in Canada, this news won’t be of much use to you. But we were curious about what this credit card has to offer – and how it compares to the 2 Aeroplan-branded credit cards in Canada.

So, we thought we’d use this time to showcase what this credit card has to offer, and how it compares to other 2 Aeroplan-branded credit cards in Canada.

Heads up: You’re not going to like what you see. You’ve been warned.

All currency exchange rates were calculated assuming US$1 = CA$1.28.

Chase Aeroplan Mastercard details

So what does this new credit card from Chase offer?

First, here is what you’ll earn for Aeroplan rewards on all your purchases:

• 3 points per $1 spent on groceries, restaurants, and Air Canada, and
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

You can also earn 500 bonus points for every US$2,000 (about CA$2,560) spent in a calendar month.

So that’s pretty good. But the goodies don’t end there. It has no foreign exchange fees, saving you the typical 2.5% most credit cards charge (in the U.S., it’s typically 3%).

It also has some of the standard Aeroplan credit card benefits you can get, like:

• first checked bags free, and
• preferred pricing on reward flights.

But this card has another major perk in its bag of tricks. It’s much easier to get Elite status. Once you’re approved, you’ll get Aeroplan 25K status for the remainder of the calendar year.

If you spend US$15,000 (about CA$19,200) every year, you’ll get to keep that status. Spend US$50,000 (about CA$64,000) in 1 year, and you’ll be upgraded to 35K.

And finally, here’s what it comes with for insurance:

• trip cancellation,
• trip interruption,
• baggage delay,
• trip delay,
• rental car insurance, and
• purchase protection.

This whole package is for an annual fee of US$95 (about CA$121). You can check everything for yourself here.

Comparison to Canadian Aeroplan credit cards

So the big question for us Canadians – how does it compare to Aeroplan-branded credit cards available here?

Here’s how they compare to the American Express^® Aeroplan^®* Card & CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card.

Here’s the breakdown in several key areas. Please note that all Chase calculations were converted to CAD first.

Not much of a comparison – the only area where the cards in Canada are better is in the insurance department.

Otherwise, the Chase card is pretty much better everywhere else.

More rewards? Check (would be even better if we were spending US$2,000 per month).

No fx fee? Check.

Much easier to get Aeroplan Elite status? Double check.

With that said, there is one card that earns more Aeroplan points on purchases. The American Express Cobalt^® Card earns 54,000 points per year, but has no Aeroplan benefits.

What does this mean for us Canadians?

So, will we see an increase in rewards benefits being offered by Canadian Aeroplan cards? Unfortunately, probably not.

In Canada, the interchange fee the banks can charge is capped at an average of 1.4%. In the U.S., no such law is in place. They can charge more, and because of that, they are able to charge more to merchants, and offer more in the way of rewards.

Our Aeroplan-branded credit cards are good, but they’re not close to what Chase is offering.

Your turn

Aeroplan has a superb credit card offering in the United States. And while ours are not quite as good, they still offer a high level of rewards and benefits.

What do you think of Aeroplan’s new credit card in the U.S.?

Let us know in the comments below.