Get a Premium Aeroplan Card Before Fees Increase — But Which One?

Aeroplan has announced sweeping changes to its suite of co-branded cards. Notably, the annual fees will increase, but the cards will also gain some new perks. Importantly, the changes don’t hit until January 12, 2027, and signing up before then means receiving the benefits at the current annual fee — at least until your first renewal hits.

In comparing the premium Aeroplan cards, let’s take a look at whether the additional perks are worth the higher fee, and for which cards. Turns out TD and Amex are taking premium cards in very different directions: annual fees differ, and so do the perks.

As a primer, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege annual fee is going up by $100, from $599 to $699, in exchange for $100 of AC Wallet credits. The Amex Aeroplan Reserve annual fee is going up by $200, from $599 to $799, in exchange for a $200 dining credit, 6 Priority Pass + 8 Amex Aspire Canada lounge visits, 10% bonus Aeroplan points if you spend at least $125,000 a year, and the same $100 of AC Wallet credit. Both cards get expanded worldwide Maple Leaf Lounge access and priority airport security clearance.

Why Apply Now For a Premium Aeroplan Card

We’ve already written an entire article about why you should hold a premium Aeroplan card, so I won’t rehash all the details. Essentially, our top 5 reasons are:

• Air Canada status 10% Head Start + Efficiency of Earning SQC
• Air Canada Priority Boarding + Priority Everything
• Earn World of Hyatt points + Get Globalist With 20 Nights
• Unlimited Maple Leaf Lounge and Air Canada Cafe access
• Annual Worldwide Companion Pass upon spending $25,000 a year

All premium cards retain these perks, and the January changes don’t remove any of them. You may be taking advantage of some or all of these benefits and getting full use of even one or two benefits can be enough to justify the $599 annual fee, but what about $699 or $799?

The good news is applying for a card before January 12 gets you the above benefits, plus all the new perks that roll out in January, at the current $599 annual fee. At least until your first renewal.

Air Canada’s 10% Head Start benefit gives a bonus SQC equal to 10% of one’s total SQC accumulated in the previous year. This makes a huge difference when earning Aeroplan status, especially since Head Start has no cap on the SQC you can earn. You must hold a premium credit card by December 15, 2026 and have Aeroplan 25K status or higher on February 15, 2027.

SQC Head Start is a major reason to keep a premium Aeroplan card

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege — Apply Now

If you want a premium Aeroplan card with the minimum extra hoops to jump through to justify the annual fee, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege makes a strong case. As long as you use the $100 AC Wallet credit, the effective annual fee stays the same.

The AC Wallet credit is a $50 credit that’s automatically distributed every January 15 and July 15 and is valid for 6 months. It works for Air Canada flight ticket purchases, as well as ancillaries like checked bags or Air Canada Bistro. Importantly, the AC Wallet credit can also be used to book flights for other people. This makes it pretty easy to use, in my opinion. As long as you or someone you know is spending at least $50 with Air Canada every six-month interval, the AC Wallet credit is worth face value.

You can spend your AC Wallet credits on other people

Then you get extra perks like worldwide Maple Leaf Lounge access and priority airport security as “free” extras. At $699, TD and CIBC will have the lowest annual fee among the premium Aeroplan cards and your core benefits stay intact. If you’re chasing Aeroplan status, you’ll get your 10% Head Start and maintain an SQC earn rate of 1,000 per $5,000 spent. You can earn the maximum 25,000 SQC allowed through credit card earning by spending $125,000.

If you’re after unlimited Maple Leaf Lounge access and Zone 2 boarding, $699 is now the lowest price to unlock that. Again, use the $50 x 2 AC Wallet credits to keep the same $599 annual fee as before, but with one extra hoop to jump through.

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege still includes 6 Visa Airport Companion lounge visits.

CIBC vs. TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege

CIBC hasn’t announced its changes yet, but I’ll speculate it’ll be the same as TD’s.

The TD and CIBC cards are virtually identical, but TD offers a $139 credit card annual fee rebate to clients with an All-Inclusive Bank Account. To waive the bank account monthly fee, you need a minimum balance of $6,000. CIBC, on the other hand, offers the same $139 rebate only if you hold $100,000+ in combined CIBC accounts.

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege is eligible for the rebate, and I also hope TD will increase the rebate to $159 in line with the annual fee changes on the core Aeroplan cards.

American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

With great power comes great responsibility. Or, with higher fees come more benefits attached to more hoops. Same thing. Amex diverged from TD by increasing the annual fee by $200 instead of $100 (Amex’s annual fee is $799), so the $100 AC Wallet credit isn’t enough to make up the difference. The crux of whether Amex’s higher fee is worthwhile is the $200 dining credit, which makes the list of eligible restaurants rather important.

Amex hasn’t released a full list yet, but we know all eligible restaurants are from Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants list. Assuming every Air Canada restaurant is eligible (not likely), that’s only 30 restaurants nationwide. Halifax and Quebec City have none, while Ottawa and Victoria have just one each. As such, many cardholders may struggle to use the credit at all.

There’s only one restaurant in Ottawa on Air Canada’s list, with many cities having none

If restaurants on the list are places you’d frequent anyway and/or you live in a city with several options, the value proposition changes. The $799 fee becomes $499 net, lower than the previous $599. Then you get 6 Priority Pass and 8 Amex Aspire Canada lounge visits on top.

For an Air Canada frequent flyer who wants lounge access beyond Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés without juggling multiple cards, the Amex Aeroplan Reserve could also make sense. Its 14 total lounge visits comfortably exceed the six offered by TD and CIBC, albeit at a higher annual fee.

The “without juggling multiple cards” caveat matters. Plenty of cards offer four to six lounge visits for an annual fee of around $150, and a couple even waive the fee for the first year.

Takeaway

At the end of the day, all premium Aeroplan cards come with status benefits like Head Start and efficient SQC earning, priority airport and security benefits, worldwide Maple Leaf Lounge access, and the opportunity to earn Hyatt Globalist with just 20 qualifying nights, among other perks. Choosing between them is less about those shared benefits and more about how much additional value you can realistically get from each card.

So when deciding between Amex and TD, it comes down to how much you value the extra lounge passes and how many extra hoops you’re willing to jump through to gain incremental value. If you just care about Maple Leaf Lounge and Air Canada Cafe access, SQC earning benefits, Zone 2 boarding, and airport priority benefits like check-in and security, the cheaper $699 TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege with a $100 AC Wallet credit is the better move.

The $799 American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card makes sense if you can use the $200 dining credit without going out of your way and value the additional lounge access. In that case, you’re effectively paying less than before after the dining and AC Wallet credits while getting more benefits. If the dining credit is difficult for you to use, though, TD is the much simpler proposition.

Importantly, no matter which card you apply for, make sure to do so before January (December 15 if you care about Head Start) because you’ll pay the current $599 annual fee for your first year while still getting all the new benefits once they launch.

Featured Image Credit: Air Canada