Aeroplan is the loyalty currency most Canadians already hold without having chosen it. It arrives with an Air Canada ticket, a grocery bill, a credit card statement or a transfer from a bank rewards program, and it quietly accumulates until someone decides what it is for. This guide is meant to help that decision. It covers how points and status are earned, how milestone benefits and vouchers work, how to redeem, how cards and bill payments fit, how to value all of it, and where the risks sit. It is a follow-up to the Sovereign Canadian overview of Canadian loyalty programs, which compares the programs at a high level.
One point of stance before the detail. Aeroplan points are a privately controlled currency. The issuer sets the exchange rate, the earning rules and the redemption prices, and it can change any of them. The goal here is therefore not to maximize points. The goal is to maximize realized value: the money, time or comfort a household actually gains after weighing what it gave up to earn the points. The economics are also very different for a traveller whose employer pays for substantial flying and a household buying its own travel, so the two are kept apart throughout. The publisher’s own experience, which has included 50K and 75K status in past years, Star Alliance Gold, and Priority Rewards used for family trips, is a useful illustration and a poor template.
Part 1: Understanding the ecosystem
What Aeroplan is
Aeroplan is Air Canada’s loyalty program, with more than 10 million members. It earns points through flights on Air Canada and its partners, through co-branded credit cards, through American Express Membership Rewards transfers and through retail and travel partners. It spends points on flights, hotels, car rentals, gift cards and merchandise. Separately, it awards Elite status to members who earn enough Status Qualifying Credits (SQC) in a calendar year.
Those are two different currencies, and confusing them is the most common beginner mistake. Points are spent. SQC are only counted. Points pay for rewards. SQC determine the tier, the milestone benefits and the multiplier on future flight earning. A transaction can produce points without SQC, SQC without points, or both.
Who owns it and why it matters
On August 11, 2026 Air Canada announced the sale of a 25 per cent non-controlling stake in Aeroplan for CAD 2.5 billion, which implies a valuation of CAD 10 billion. The investors are led by Blackstone and La Caisse. Air Canada keeps 75 per cent and control, and the transaction settled on August 17, 2026. The companies said it would involve no changes for members, partners or employees, and that statement is the only evidence available. This article does not predict a devaluation. What can be said is structural. A program valued at CAD 10 billion with outside investors who expect distributions must generate cash, and the main lever in any points program is the spread between what it earns from selling points and what it pays out in rewards. Members should treat balances as something to use rather than hoard. That advice would be sound under any owner.
How the economics work
Airlines sell points in bulk to banks and partners, and that revenue is a large part of the program’s income. A member’s return depends on two numbers: how many points the card earns per dollar, and what a point can buy. Both are set by private parties and both can change. In 2026 several of the largest changes came at once: a revenue-based flight earning system, a new status system and, from January 12, 2027, a new card benefit package with higher annual fees.
Two sets of rules circulate online. The older system used Status Qualifying Miles, Segments and Dollars, with Select Benefits and Threshold Rewards. The current system counts SQC from January 1, 2026 and attaches Milestone Benefits to them. Guides describing miles, segments and Select Benefits are describing the past. This article uses the 2026 system and separates permanent mechanics from temporary promotions.
Part 2: Earning points
Flights
Since January 1, 2026, Aeroplan flight earning has been based on what you pay, not how far you fly. A member earns one point per dollar of base fare plus carrier surcharges, excluding taxes and fees, and status adds a multiplier. The total points per dollar are 2 at 25K, 3 at 35K, 4 at 50K, 5 at 75K and 6 at Super Elite. The multiplier applies on Air Canada flights and on partner flights ticketed by Air Canada. A 50K member who buys a CAD 600 base fare earns 600 x 4 = 2,400 points, a member with no status earns 600, and a 75K member earns 3,000. The tier difference is therefore a function of how much fare you actually buy, and it is worth little to someone who flies once a year on a low fare.
Partners and everyday earning
Star Alliance and other airline partners earn under their own rules, usually at lower rates and without the status multiplier unless Air Canada ticketed the flight. Everyday partners listed on Air Canada’s partner earning page add smaller amounts, such as one point per dollar on Uber rides. The value of such earning is the earn rate multiplied by what a point is worth. One point per dollar at 0.7 cents per point is a 0.7 per cent return, at 1.5 cents it is 1.5 per cent and at 2.0 cents it is 2.0 per cent. These returns are modest, and they should be treated as an offset to spending you would have done anyway, not a reason to spend.
Cards and Membership Rewards
Cards are the main route for most households. They are issued by American Express, TD and CIBC, and Part 6 compares them. American Express Membership Rewards points can also be moved to Aeroplan at 1,000 to 1,000, in a minimum of 1,000 and increments of 100, according to Amex’s Membership Rewards travel page. Only the primary account holder can transfer, the account names must match, corporate-tier points are not eligible and transfers are irreversible. Timing is described inconsistently, from instant to several days, so do not transfer until you have found the award space you plan to book. Because Membership Rewards points are flexible, holding them until you can see the redemption you want preserves a choice that an Aeroplan balance does not.
Part 3: Status and Milestone Benefits
Thresholds and tier benefits
Status is earned in the calendar year, called the Elite Year, through SQC. The thresholds are 25,000 SQC for 25K, 35,000 for 35K, 50,000 for 50K, 75,000 for 75K and 125,000 for Super Elite. A separate everyday path reaches 25K only, at 100,000 qualifying everyday points.
| Tier | SQC in the year | Total points per CAD on Air Canada fares | Core eUpgrade credits | Checked bags | Maple Leaf Lounge | Priority Reward zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25K | 25,000 | 2 | 5 | 1 | No | Canada and US, economy |
| 35K | 35,000 | 3 | 10 | 3 | No | North America, economy or premium economy |
| 50K | 50,000 | 4 | 15 | 3 at 32 kg | Yes | North America, economy or premium economy |
| 75K | 75,000 | 5 | 20 | 3 at 32 kg | Yes | Worldwide, economy or premium economy |
| Super Elite | 125,000 | 6 | 30 | 3 at 32 kg | Yes | Worldwide, up to business |
Table 1. Elite tiers. Source: Air Canada status and benefits pages, checked November 11, 2026. The benefits page was read only in part, so confirm cell details on the live page.
Air Canada flights on Flex fares and above earn 4 SQC per dollar of base fare plus carrier surcharges. Standard fares and eUpgrade add-ons earn 2. Air Canada Vacations earns 1, and Basic fares and award tickets earn none. Star Alliance flights on other tickets earn 1 SQC per 5 Aeroplan points, capped at 25,000 SQC a year. Cards add SQC at fixed rates, 1,000 SQC per CAD 5,000 of spend on premium cards and 1,000 per CAD 20,000 on core cards, with all cards combined capped at 25,000 SQC. Fare class therefore matters as much as fare amount. A CAD 1,000 base fare earns 4,000 SQC on Flex and 2,000 on Standard, so 25,000 SQC takes CAD 6,250 of Flex fares or CAD 12,500 of Standard fares, and 75,000 takes CAD 18,750 or CAD 37,500. The card route to the 25,000 cap needs CAD 125,000 of premium card spend.
How long status lasts
Status works in two steps that should be kept separate. The standard rule is that status earned through SQC in a qualification year applies to the rest of that year and the following year. Air Canada’s extended status validity policy then adds a January grace period. When a member would otherwise be downgraded after December 31, the current status is extended through January 31 of the following year, and any lower status takes effect on February 1. Air Canada says the policy is intended to be ongoing and that it will extend expiry dates by early January each year. For example, status held for 2026 is extended through January 31, 2027. The two statements describe different things and are not in conflict. Confirm the expiry date shown in your own Aeroplan account.
From 2027, a Head Start adds 10 per cent of the prior year’s SQC for premium cardholders who hold Elite status. TD and CIBC describe it as applying to primary cardholders with 25K status or higher. It is a card-linked bonus on top of existing status, not a substitute for earning it. Premium cardholders also had 2025 miles converted to SQC at five to one, up to 40,000, by the end of March 2026.
Star Alliance Gold
Star Alliance Gold is a network benefit that Air Canada grants at 50K and above. Under the Star Alliance lounge access policy, a Gold member in any class may use a member airline’s business class lounge at the departure airport on a Star Alliance flight departing that day or by 5 AM the next morning, with one eligible guest on the same flight. Gold also provides an extra baggage allowance and priority check-in, boarding and baggage handling; those items come from earlier research and were not reopened. Arrival lounges are not included, and individual carriers set their own conditions. The alliance’s figure of up to nine guests applies to paid lounge access, not to Gold. On other Star Alliance carriers, Gold benefits apply on eligible Star Alliance flights under the alliance’s and each carrier’s rules, but the Air Canada benefits work differently. eUpgrades generally apply to eligible flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Express or Air Canada Rouge. Priority Rewards may apply to eligible partner-airline reward bookings. The Elite Points Multiplier may apply to eligible partner-operated flights ticketed by Air Canada. Not every partner flight qualifies for each of these, so check the conditions before relying on any of them.
Milestone Benefits
Milestone Benefits replace the older Select Benefits, Threshold Rewards and automatic Priority Rewards, and they are the part of the 2026 system most often described wrongly. Air Canada says Elite members unlock a milestone for every 10,000 SQC accumulated up to 200,000, and for every 20,000 after that. SQC reset at the close of each Elite Year.
For a member who already holds Elite status, milestones count cumulatively from the first SQC of the year. Air Canada’s published examples show a returning 25K member with 25,000 to 29,000 SQC as having two milestones unlocked, and nothing on the official pages describes the counter restarting when a member moves to a higher tier. Reaching 75K does not restart it. The status thresholds (25,000, 75,000 and 125,000) are not themselves milestones. An earlier draft of this article said milestones count only SQC earned after status is achieved, and that was wrong for members who hold status.
A member who qualifies for Elite status for the first time is a different case. Air Canada says milestone benefits do not apply to SQC accumulated while progressing toward Elite status, and that members are eligible from the moment they qualify. The pages do not say whether milestones passed before qualifying unlock retroactively or whether counting begins at qualification, and this article does not choose. The question affects only the first year, because a member who qualifies in one year holds status entering the next. The competing calculations are in the Research file.
| SQC in the year | Automatic benefit | Choose one benefit | Priority Reward offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 10 eUpgrades | None | No |
| 20,000 | None | Priority Reward, 2 lounge guest passes, 10 eUpgrades, 5,000 points, discount codes | Yes |
| 30,000 | 10 eUpgrades | None | No |
| 40,000 | None | Priority Reward, 4 guest passes, 10 eUpgrades, 7,500 points, 2,500 bonus SQC, discount codes | Yes |
| 50,000 | 10 eUpgrades | None | No |
| 60,000 | None | Priority Reward, 2 Status Passes, 7,500 points, 2,500 bonus SQC, discount codes | Yes |
| 70,000 | 10 eUpgrades | 2 Status Passes, 5,000 points, CAD 150 gift card, status gift | No |
| 80,000 | None | Priority Reward, 2 Status Passes, 7,500 points, 2,500 bonus SQC, discount codes | Yes |
| 90,000 and 110,000 | 10 eUpgrades | Similar choices without a Priority Reward | No |
| 100,000 and 120,000 | None | Priority Reward and similar choices | Yes |
Table 2. Milestone pattern through 120,000 SQC. Source: Air Canada Milestone Benefits page, checked November 11, 2026. Benefit lists are condensed. The 130,000 and higher milestones carry 20 automatic eUpgrades. The full progression is in the Research file.
Priority Reward selection opportunities therefore fall at 20,000, 40,000, 60,000 and 80,000 SQC for a member who holds status. They are selection opportunities, not automatic vouchers. A member must choose the Priority Reward instead of the alternative benefit at that milestone, so one to four vouchers need 20,000, 40,000, 60,000 and 80,000 SQC and a decision each time. Holding 75K does not by itself produce four. A 75K member with 75,000 to 79,999 SQC has three opportunities.
The deadlines matter. Selections must be made by January 30 of the following year, and the bonus SQC option by December 30. Unselected benefits are lost, according to secondary guides. Priority Rewards, guest passes and Status Passes last 12 months from selection. eUpgrades last 12 months, or 24 months for premium Aeroplan cardholders. Air Canada does not say whether a selection can be changed after it is made, so assume it cannot.
Part 4: Priority Rewards
How they work
A Priority Reward cuts the points price of an eligible flight reward by 50 per cent. It applies to the base-fare portion of the price. Taxes, fees, carrier charges and the partner booking fee are not discounted. One voucher covers one passenger, whether the booking is one way or round trip, and every segment must be eligible. Basic fares are ineligible. A voucher can be used to book another traveller, with points deducted from the holder’s account, but it cannot be transferred. If a booking is cancelled before the voucher expires, the voucher is refunded with its original expiry. A voucher lasts 12 months from selection, and the reservation must be made before it expires, although travel can be later.
| Status held when selected | Destination scope | Cabin |
|---|---|---|
| 25K | Canada and US | Economy |
| 35K and 50K | North America, including Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and Hawaii | Economy or premium economy |
| 75K | Worldwide | Economy or premium economy |
| Super Elite | Worldwide | Up to business |
Table 3. Priority Reward scope. Source: Air Canada Priority Rewards page, checked November 11, 2026.
The scope is set by the status held when the selection is made. A member who holds 75K entering the year therefore selects worldwide vouchers at every milestone. A member who climbs through the tiers in one year may find that early milestones carry a narrower scope than later ones. Selected as each milestone arrives, a traveller who reaches 52,000 SQC would have two vouchers, at 20,000 and 40,000, covering Canada and the US and then North America. A traveller who reaches 82,000 SQC would have four, but only the one chosen at 80,000, after 75K was reached, would be worldwide.
Partner airlines
Air Canada’s Milestone Benefits page expressly says the reward is “valid with Air Canada or any of our partner airlines,” so partner use is confirmed in principle. What is not fully established is whether every partner, mixed-carrier itinerary, cabin combination or specific award qualifies. The Priority Rewards page describes geographic and cabin eligibility without listing airlines. The booking has to satisfy the voucher restrictions, including that every segment is eligible, and partner awards carry a booking fee that the voucher does not discount. The practical advice is to test a specific partner booking before building a plan around it.
Deferring selection
Three things should be kept apart: what Air Canada has published, what a reasonable reading of those rules implies, and what has been confirmed in practice. The published rules are that scope depends on the status held when the benefit is chosen, and that milestone benefits can be chosen until January 30 of the following year. The reasonable interpretation is that a traveller who unlocks the 20,000, 40,000 and 60,000 milestones while holding a lower tier could wait until 75K is reached and then select them as worldwide vouchers. The page does not say whether earlier selections remain available after a status upgrade, and no confirmed operational practice was found. Deferral is therefore a possibility, not a guarantee.
It also carries real costs. A selection not made by January 30 is lost, and it is not clear how quickly a status upgrade is recorded. A deferred voucher’s 12-month clock starts later, which can help, but nothing on the page promises that the option stays open. Anyone planning an international family trip around deferral should confirm the process with Aeroplan first and treat early selection as the dependable default. The step-by-step timelines for two hypothetical travellers are in the Research file.
What a voucher is worth
All prices below are hypothetical and are not chart prices. The effective rate in cents per point is the cash fare avoided, minus the cash taxes and fees still paid on the award, divided by the points spent, times 100.
| Scenario (4 passengers) | Ordinary points | Cash fare each | Taxes each | Rate, ordinary | Points with four vouchers | Rate with four vouchers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Domestic | 96,000 | 520 | 90 | 1.79 | 48,000 | 3.58 |
| B. North America or Caribbean | 140,000 | 900 | 160 | 2.11 | 70,000 | 4.23 |
| C. International, worldwide voucher | 280,000 | 1,500 | 250 | 1.79 | 140,000 | 3.57 |
Table 4. Priority Reward scenarios (hypothetical). Rates in cents per point. Source: Calculations file, section 4.
In scenario C, three vouchers price the trip at 3 x 35,000 + 70,000 = 175,000 points, two at 210,000 and one at 245,000. Each voucher in scenario C saves 35,000 points. At the scenario’s own ordinary rate of about 1.786 cents per point, that is an imputed value of CAD 625 per voucher. The figure is derived from the hypothetical redemption. It is not a guaranteed cash equivalent or a fixed value of a Priority Reward, because points are not cash and the trip might not be the household’s best use of money. Scenario B gives CAD 370 per voucher and scenario A CAD 215.
That one number answers only one of four different questions.
| Value | What it measures | Scenario C figure |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Gross points saved | Points a voucher saves on a trip taken, valued at the redemption rate | CAD 625 per voucher |
| 2. Voucher versus another milestone benefit | Gross value less the best alternative choice, such as 7,500 points at 1.5 cents (CAD 112.50) | CAD 512.50 if the voucher is used |
| 3. Worldwide scope at 75K | What the wider scope adds over what a 50K member could do instead | CAD 1,575 or CAD 765; see Part 8 |
| 4. Underlying redemption versus cash | The cents-per-point rate of the booking | 1.79 cents ordinary, 3.57 with four vouchers |
Table 5. Four separate values of a Priority Reward. The 1.5 cent valuation is an assumption.
On the second value, the voucher beats the 7,500-point choice if the chance of using it exceeds 112.50 / 625, or 18 per cent. That threshold assumes CAD 625 of realized value when the voucher is used, a guaranteed alternative worth CAD 112.50, and no other material costs or constraints. It is not a universal threshold. It moves with the voucher’s value, the alternative and the household’s circumstances. A voucher that expires unused is worth nothing. And a 50 per cent discount on a poor price is still a mediocre price: an economy award of 120,000 points for a CAD 1,100 fare with CAD 150 of taxes is worth 0.79 cents per point, and the voucher lifts it to 1.58, but the household should ask whether paying the CAD 1,100 in cash would have been better.
Two household examples
Household A has no significant airline status. It spends CAD 40,000 a year on an Aeroplan-branded card, half earning 1.5 points per dollar and half 1.25, and CAD 20,000 on a Membership Rewards card at an assumed one point per dollar transferred at one to one. It buys CAD 2,400 of Air Canada base fares a year with no multiplier and earns 1,500 partner points. That is 78,900 points a year, or 236,700 over three years. At the hypothetical prices above, that pays for the domestic trip (96,000) and the North America trip (140,000) with 700 points left. It does not reach the international trip at 280,000 points within three years; that takes about 3.55 years. The 15 per cent card discount alone would lower that trip to 238,000 points, still 1,300 short. No vouchers are involved.
Household B has a frequent business traveller who holds 75K entering the year. Employer-funded Air Canada base fares on Flex or better total CAD 16,000 a year, earning 64,000 SQC, and CAD 60,000 of personal premium-card spend earns 12,000 SQC, for 76,000 SQC. Milestones reach 70,000, which means 40 automatic eUpgrades and three Priority Reward opportunities at 20,000, 40,000 and 60,000. Because 75K is held at each selection, all three are worldwide. Flight points at 5 per dollar plus card points give 160,000 points a year. A family of four on scenario C with three vouchers needs 175,000 points, so the year’s accrual is 15,000 short and the booking would wait for the next year or use a transferred balance. A fourth voucher needs 80,000 SQC, which is 4,000 more, or CAD 1,000 of extra Flex base fare if travel policy allowed it. Then annual points would be 165,000 and the trip would price at 140,000. That is a statement about arithmetic, and it assumes no change to travel except what an employer would approve.
Both examples are limited by award availability for four passengers, by the voucher expiry and by the selection deadline. Points do not expire for Elite members. Whether pooled Family Sharing points can pay for a booking made with one member’s voucher is not stated.
The 15 per cent card discount
From January 12, 2027, primary cardholders of eligible TD, CIBC and American Express Aeroplan cards get 15 per cent off the base-fare points on Air Canada flight rewards, a feature Air Canada calls FLY15OFF. Air Canada has announced that FLY15OFF replaces preferred pricing beginning January 12, 2027, and preferred pricing continues under the existing card benefit structure until then. Air Canada’s new card benefits page lists it across premium, core and entry-level cards, including the TD Infinite Privilege, Infinite and Platinum, the Amex Reserve and Aeroplan Card, and the CIBC Infinite Privilege, Infinite and no-fee Aeroplan Visa. Business cards are covered separately. Eligibility is limited to primary cardholders, the discount applies to the base-fare portion of flight rewards bought with points and not to taxes and fees, subject to Air Canada’s published conditions, bookings must be made through aircanada.com, the Air Canada app or its call centre, and the member must remain a cardholder to keep it. A promotional version applies to bookings made from September 10, 2026 to January 11, 2027 for travel through December 31, 2027, and it becomes ongoing from January 12, 2027. The savings may extend to itineraries that include a segment operated by eligible partners where indicated in the booking flow.
The promotional wording says the offer cannot be combined with any other offer unless otherwise permitted. The January 2027 wording for TD and Amex does not repeat that sentence, but that does not establish that stacking with a Priority Reward is allowed. No official page says so, and this article does not combine the two in any example. Do not assume FLY15OFF stacks with Priority Rewards or other offers unless Air Canada expressly permits it.
eUpgrades
An eUpgrade lets a member request an upgrade to Business or Premium Economy on Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge flights, including reward tickets. Basic fares are ineligible. Core credits are 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 a year by tier. Depending on fare and status, a cash add-on may be required and requests clear in a window of 3 to 14 days before departure. If a request does not clear, the credits return within 72 to 96 hours. A member can request an upgrade for themselves and up to four companions in advance on the same reservation, and on the same flight with a different reservation through an Air Canada agent at the airport. This article assigns no cash value to an eUpgrade. The value depends on the route, the fare, the add-on and how often upgrades clear, and a credit that never clears is worth nothing. A better habit is to ask, for a specific trip, what you would pay for the upgrade and whether you would have bought that seat anyway.
Part 5: Redeeming points
Air Canada versus partner awards
Air Canada flights use dynamic pricing, so a “starting at” price moves with the fare. Partner awards are priced differently from Air Canada’s own flights. Air Canada’s flight reward chart is organized by zone and shows two rows on most tables, one for Air Canada and Select Partners and one for all other partners. The first row carries “starting at” amounts, which are variable estimates and not guaranteed with all carriers, and Select Partners such as United, Emirates and Etihad sit in that variable category. The second row generally shows published chart pricing. Its footnotes say points vary by itinerary and demand. Air Canada’s news page says the June 1, 2026 changes apply to tickets booked or reissued on or after that date. This article uses no chart prices in its worked examples. Partner bookings carry a booking fee of CAD 39 per ticket and no carrier surcharges, and a CAD 30 fee may apply if you book by phone.
For a household that flies a few times a year, the most important feature of Air Canada awards is that the points price tracks the fare. A cheap fare gives a cheap award and a last-minute high fare gives an expensive one. The advantage of partner awards is that published chart pricing on partners outside the Select Partners category can produce a good price where the cash fare is high. The disadvantage is limited availability and a less friendly search tool.
International business class
International business class is where the value is both highest and most variable. That headline figure overstates the benefit, and the relevant question is what you would have paid in cash. In the hypothetical in the Calculations file, a business award of 120,000 points with CAD 200 in taxes, against an 8,000 fare, shows a headline value of 6.5 cents per point. If the honest alternative is an economy seat at CAD 1,200, the replacement value is 0.83 cents. If you would have paid an extra CAD 1,000 for the cabin, the willingness-to-pay value is 1.67 cents. All three describe the same trip. Only the second and third are economic gains, and only you know which one fits.
Family Sharing, hotels and cars
Family Sharing lets two to eight members pool points. Air Canada describes creating a pool as open to a verified member who is 18 or older, has been in Aeroplan for six months and has not been in another pool in that time. The Family Lead sets whether each member can earn and redeem or can only earn for the pool, and all points go into one shared balance. Status and card benefits remain individual, although preferred pricing, which operates under the existing card benefit structure, is shared if a member is the primary holder of an Aeroplan card. Air Canada has announced that FLY15OFF replaces preferred pricing beginning January 12, 2027, so confirm how it applies to your household after that date. One third-party source reported in July 2026 that creating pools was temporarily unavailable, though Air Canada’s page carries no such notice, so confirm availability when you need it. Hotels and cars are also available, and secondary estimates put them near 0.85 cents per point for a car and 1.4 cents for a hotel night. Treat those as anchors, not facts.
Non-travel redemptions
Gift cards and merchandise typically return the lowest value, around 0.7 cents per point in one publisher’s example. A lower-value redemption can still be the rational one. A household with no travel plans, a balance that would otherwise sit idle, poor availability on its routes, only inconvenient connections, little interest in premium cabins, a cash-flow need or a small balance that might lapse is better served by using the points for something useful than by holding them for a trip that will not happen. The objective is household utility, not the highest cents-per-point figure. A point redeemed at 0.7 cents for something the household would otherwise have bought is worth more than the same point redeemed at 3 cents on a trip it would not have taken.
Part 6: Cards and bills
The card comparison
The tables cover consumer Aeroplan cards at American Express, TD and CIBC, from the issuers’ own pages, checked on November 11, 2026: TD, CIBC Infinite Privilege, CIBC Infinite and American Express. Welcome offers change often and are omitted. Entry-level cards (the TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum at CAD 89 and CIBC’s no-fee Aeroplan Visa) are not tabulated because their earn rates and benefits could not be retrieved from the pages read, although Air Canada lists both for FLY15OFF. The FLY15OFF column in Table 7 describes a benefit Air Canada has announced to replace preferred pricing from January 12, 2027, so it is a future benefit, not a current one.
| Card | Fee now | Fee announced for 2027 | Everyday earn | Category earn | Air Canada earn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amex Aeroplan Card (charge card) | 120 | 150 | 1x | 1.5x dining and food delivery | 2x |
| TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite | 139 | Not stated on page | 1x | 1.5x gas, EV charging, groceries | 1.5x |
| CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite | 139 | 159 | 1x | 1.5x gas, EV charging, groceries | 1.5x |
| Amex Aeroplan Reserve | 599 | 799 | 1.25x | 2x dining and food delivery | 3x |
| TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege | 599 | 699 (TD’s FAQ, effective January 25) | 1.25x | 1.5x gas, EV, groceries, travel, transit, dining | 2x |
| CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege | 599 | 699 | 1.25x | 1.5x gas, EV, groceries, travel, dining | 2x |
Table 6. Consumer Aeroplan cards: fees and earn. Fees in CAD. Sources: issuer pages, checked November 11, 2026; the TD Privilege 2027 fee comes from a search result for TD’s FAQ.
| Card | SQC earning | First checked bag | Maple Leaf Lounge | FLY15OFF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amex Aeroplan Card | Up to 25,000 (rate not stated on page) | Yes, up to 8 companions | Not in the benefit list | Listed |
| TD Infinite | 1,000 per CAD 20,000 | Yes, up to 8 companions | No | Listed |
| CIBC Infinite | 1,000 per CAD 20,000 | Yes, up to 8 companions | Not listed | Listed, primary cardholders |
| Amex Aeroplan Reserve | Up to 25,000 (rate not stated on page) | Yes, up to 8 companions | Unlimited in North America, plus a guest | Listed |
| TD Infinite Privilege | 1,000 per CAD 5,000 | Yes, up to 8 companions | Unlimited in North America, plus a guest; 6 Visa Airport Companion visits | Listed |
| CIBC Infinite Privilege | 1,000 per CAD 5,000 | Yes, up to 8 companions | Unlimited in North America, plus a guest; 6 Visa Airport Companion visits | Listed, primary cardholders |
Table 7. Consumer Aeroplan cards: benefits. All SQC are capped at 25,000 a year across cards. Sources: issuer pages and Air Canada’s new card benefits page.
Four further points complete the comparison. The CIBC Privilege page describes an annual worldwide companion pass after CAD 25,000 of spend, priced from CAD 99 to CAD 599 plus taxes; the Amex page describes a similar pass without mapping it clearly to cards, and TD’s page showed none. The TD and CIBC card pages state guest lounge access only through December 31, 2026, while Air Canada’s page describes worldwide Maple Leaf access for the CIBC Privilege from 2027, excluding third-party lounges, so check the 2027 terms. From January 12, 2027, Air Canada’s package adds an annual credit of up to CAD 100 on premium cards and CAD 50 on core cards for cash bookings, with none listed for entry cards and none for additional cardholders. The issuer pages read did not state foreign transaction fees. The three issuers do not move in step, so do not assume a row applies to another issuer.
Membership Rewards versus Aeroplan-branded cards
An American Express Membership Rewards card earns a flexible currency, whereas an Aeroplan-branded card earns Aeroplan points directly. At the confirmed 1,000 to 1,000 transfer rate nothing is lost in the move, but the member can wait for a visible redemption or send points to a different program. Amex lists Platinum, Gold Rewards and Cobalt among its Membership Rewards cards, and their earn rates were not verified here. A household that holds a Membership Rewards card and an Aeroplan-branded Visa uses two networks and two currencies. Acceptance differs, particularly abroad and at smaller merchants. The cost of flexibility is that transfers are irreversible and Aeroplan points cannot be moved back. A second annual-fee card has to earn more than its fee after removing benefits that overlap with the first, and a shared benefit such as a free first bag counts once. Nothing in this section assumes any particular reader’s cards.
Is a premium card worth its fee?
An annual fee is justified only after setting it against the best no-fee alternative. Take a hypothetical household that spends CAD 40,000 a year on a premium card at 1.25 points per dollar, valued at 1.5 cents, against a 2 per cent cash-back card. The points are worth CAD 750 and the alternative returns CAD 800. If the household would otherwise pay for bags and lounges, the benefit looks large. With four round trips of first bags for two (CAD 560, using the CAD 140 value on the issuer pages) and 12 lounge visits at CAD 59 (CAD 708, an upper bound that holds only if it would otherwise pay), gross value is CAD 2,018. After the CAD 599 fee and the CAD 800 alternative, the net is CAD 619, falling to CAD 519 at CAD 699.
That scenario is optimistic for a traveller who already holds 50K or 75K status, because status already provides the lounge access and the checked bags. Their incremental value is zero, and counting them again would double count. In that case the card has CAD 750 of points value against the CAD 800 alternative plus the fee. Net of a CAD 599 fee the card is CAD 649 behind the 2 per cent card, and CAD 749 behind at CAD 699 and CAD 849 behind at CAD 799. For the card to match the alternative on points alone, points would need to be worth 2.80 cents at a CAD 599 fee, 3.00 cents at CAD 699 and 3.20 cents at CAD 799. Even if the CAD 100 Air Canada credit were fully used on cash bookings, the 2027 card would still be CAD 649 behind.
This scenario compares points and annual fees against a 2 per cent cash-back alternative, and it is not a complete valuation of every premium-card feature. Premium cards can still be worthwhile for other reasons, namely SQC earning (CAD 40,000 of spend earns 8,000 SQC), voucher-related benefits, insurance coverage the household would otherwise buy, credits it would use and other features. Each has to be valued separately, only where the household would use it, and not where status already provides it. They do not justify the fee automatically. The SQC alone would need to be worth about CAD 0.08 each to close the gap at CAD 599.
Welcome bonuses and churning
Welcome bonuses can be the largest single source of points. Churning means repeatedly opening and closing cards to collect them, and it risks denied applications, credit score effects, the need to meet minimum spend with real spending and a cost in fees. A household should not apply for a card it will not use well, and should not carry a balance to earn points, since interest outweighs any reward. This article does not recommend churning.
Paying bills by card
Paying large recurring bills by card earns points but usually costs a fee, and the treatment by card issuers is not settled. The Canada Revenue Agency does not accept credit cards directly. Its page on paying a service provider lists PaySimply and Plastiq as credit card services, with delivery in two to three business days, and the taxpayer stays responsible for the due date. Chexy markets CRA payments, and it is not listed on the CRA page that was read. Neither a listing nor marketing amounts to an endorsement by the CRA, and the CRA page does not endorse any provider.
Providers’ own pages show different fees. Chexy states 1.99 per cent and compares itself with 2.5 per cent for PaySimply and 2.49 per cent and up for Plastiq, as of October 2026. PaySimply lists a 2.49 to 2.5 per cent fee for credit or debit cards, and Plastiq states 2.99 per cent in a footnote, is aimed mainly at businesses and gives no Canada-specific fee. Chexy says any Canadian-issued Visa, Mastercard or American Express card is accepted and that personal cards can pay business taxes; the others do not give a clear rule for individual versus business use. None of the three says how card issuers code these payments. Chexy says users can earn points or cash back, but not which programs qualify. Do not assume that a bill payment earns Aeroplan points, bonus-category points or SQC, or that it counts toward a welcome-bonus requirement. Confirm with your issuer.
The break-even is simple. Break-even cents per point equals 100 times the fee rate divided by the earn rate. A fee of 2.5 per cent at 1 point per dollar needs points worth 2.5 cents to break even.
| Fee | Earn 1.00 | Earn 1.25 | Earn 1.50 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5% | 1.50 | 1.20 | 1.00 |
| 1.75% | 1.75 | 1.40 | 1.17 |
| 1.99% | 1.99 | 1.59 | 1.33 |
| 2.5% | 2.50 | 2.00 | 1.67 |
| 3.0% | 3.00 | 2.40 | 2.00 |
Table 8. Surcharge break-even, in cents per point required. Formula: 100 x fee / earn rate. The 1.5% and 3.0% fees are hypothetical test values; the others are provider-stated rates.
On CAD 1,000 at a 2.5 per cent fee and 1.00 earn, with points at 1.5 cents, the points are worth CAD 15 and the fee is CAD 25, a net loss of CAD 10. At 1.25 earn the loss is CAD 6.25, and the payment pays for itself only at 2.0 cents per point. Paying a fee can occasionally make sense when it secures something valuable that is otherwise out of reach, such as SQC that would complete a threshold, or a legitimate welcome-bonus requirement on a bill that would be paid anyway. No value is assigned to either here, because eligibility is unconfirmed. Do not pay a fee to manufacture spend. A fee paid to create spending that would not otherwise occur is a plain cost.
For many contractors and self-employed readers, card spending includes business expenses. The tax treatment of points, fees and status benefits is a question for a professional, and this article gives no deductibility advice.
Part 7: Valuing points
A point has no fixed price. Its value is the best use you can realistically make of it minus what you could have done with the money that earned it. The headline rate compares the points price with the highest cash fare you can find. The replacement rate compares it with the cash you would actually have spent. The willingness-to-pay rate adds the extra amount you would have paid for a better product. The headline rate is useful for marketing and misleading for decisions.
| Use | Cents per point | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Poor economy award | Below 1.0 | Example: 99,137 points for a CAD 900.37 ticket is 0.91 |
| Average economy | About 1.29 | NerdWallet Canada, secondary |
| Average business | About 1.80 | NerdWallet Canada, secondary |
| Apple gift card | About 0.71 | 14,000 points for CAD 100, secondary |
| Car rental | About 0.85 | 58,400 points for CAD 494, secondary |
| Hotel night | About 1.40 | 100,250 points for CAD 1,406, secondary |
| Strong redemption | 1.5 to 2.0 | Judgment band, an assumption |
Table 9. Illustrative point valuations. Sources: NerdWallet Canada, Prince of Travel and published examples, checked November 11, 2026. Secondary sources, not program commitments.
The cost of earning matters as much as the value of redeeming. A card that earns 1.25 points per dollar with points at 1.5 cents returns 1.875 cents per dollar, which a 2 per cent cash-back card beats. The card justifies itself only when benefits that the household would actually pay for outweigh the gap and the fee.
Status is valued by summing what you will actually use, at what you would otherwise pay, and not counting twice what a card already provides: the extra points earned on future fares, bag fees avoided, lounge entries you would otherwise have bought (about CAD 59 a visit, per TD’s published terms), and upgrades and vouchers, which are valued last and only if you can name the trip. Time savings and comfort are real and outside what this framework prices. The dependence on who pays is the key insight. For an employee on employer-funded travel the marginal cost of status is zero and the benefit is real. For a household buying its own tickets, status has to be earned by buying more or pricier fares than it would otherwise.
Part 8: 50K versus 75K
The 25,000 SQC between 50K and 75K buys a limited set of tier benefits. The published tables establish five more core eUpgrade credits (20 against 15), one more total point per dollar on Air Canada fares (5 against 4), more Flight Pass credits (10 against 8) and a worldwide Priority Reward zone instead of North America. Lounge access, Star Alliance Gold, bags and priority services are the same at both levels.
Tier benefits and milestone benefits must be kept apart so they are not counted twice. Milestones are triggered by SQC, not by tier, except that Priority Reward scope follows the tier held at selection. A traveller going from 52,000 to 75,000 SQC passes the 60,000 and 70,000 milestones. Those benefits arrive because the SQC were earned, so they should not be credited to the tier change as well.
| Item | 50K | 75K | Counted as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core eUpgrade credits | 15 | 20 | Tier benefit, not monetized |
| Total points per CAD on Air Canada fares | 4 | 5 | Tier benefit |
| Flight Pass credits | 8 | 10 | Tier benefit, not monetized |
| Priority Reward scope | North America | Worldwide | Tier benefit, set at selection |
| Lounge, Gold, bags, priority services | Yes | Yes | No difference |
| 60,000 and 70,000 milestones | By SQC | By SQC | Milestone benefit, not a tier benefit |
Table 10. 75K versus 50K, tier benefits kept apart from milestone benefits. Sources: Air Canada status, Milestone Benefits and Priority Rewards pages.
Suppose a traveller finishes a year with 52,000 SQC and wonders about 75K. The gap is 23,000 SQC, which is CAD 5,750 of Flex fares at 4 SQC per dollar or CAD 11,500 of Standard fares at 2. Four ideas should not be confused: total ticket spending that produces the SQC, spending that would occur anyway, additional spending that would not, and the incremental cost of a higher fare class on a trip already planned. As a hypothetical, assume Flex costs 35 per cent more than Standard on the same trip. A trip priced at X on Standard earns 2X SQC. On Flex it costs 1.35X and earns 5.4X, so the increment is 3.4X SQC for 0.35X of extra cost, about CAD 0.10 per extra SQC. Earning 23,000 that way needs about CAD 6,765 of planned Standard-fare trips and costs about CAD 2,368. New Flex tickets cost CAD 0.25 per SQC and new Standard tickets CAD 0.50.
| Case | Cost of the extra 23,000 SQC | Quantified benefit | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer-funded business traveller | Nil to the household; employer policy governs fares | One more point per dollar on CAD 16,000 of fares is 16,000 points, about CAD 240 at 1.5 cents, plus milestone eUpgrades and a 60,000 choice | Usually positive, subject to policy |
| Personally funded leisure traveller | CAD 5,750 to CAD 11,500 if none of it would be spent anyway; far less if the flights are planned | 3,000 points on CAD 3,000 of fares a year, about CAD 45 | A net cost on the priced benefits unless the flights would be bought anyway or the household places a defensible value on the 75K-specific benefits |
| Family international travel | Cost of reaching 75K, however earned | Worldwide scope for three vouchers is worth CAD 1,575 or CAD 765, depending on the alternative | Conditional |
Table 11. 75K versus 50K in three cases (hypothetical, with a 1.5 cent valuation as an assumption). Source: Calculations file, section 7.
The two family figures describe different household decisions. Three worldwide vouchers on scenario C have a gross value of 3 x CAD 625 = CAD 1,875. The CAD 1,575 figure assumes the 50K household would otherwise have chosen the points options at the three milestones (5,000, 7,500 and 7,500 points at 1.5 cents, which is CAD 300). The CAD 765 figure assumes the 50K household would otherwise have used North America vouchers on a different trip it wanted anyway, so the gain is CAD 625 less CAD 370 per voucher. They are not interchangeable, they are not guaranteed benefits of 75K, and both assume the household uses the vouchers. They also require that the household holds 75K at selection, or that the unconfirmed deferral route works.
The conclusion is that reaching 75K can be attractive when the travel would occur anyway, particularly when an employer pays, and when a household would genuinely take the international trip the worldwide scope enables. It is much less attractive when the climb requires spending that would not otherwise happen. That does not make personally funded status chasing categorically irrational. It can be reasonable if the flights would be bought anyway, or if the household places a defensible value on what 75K adds, namely the extra eUpgrade and Flight Pass credits, the extra point per dollar and, where it would use it, worldwide voucher scope. The lounge access, Star Alliance Gold and baggage privileges are already available at 50K and do not count toward the climb. The test is whether those incremental benefits exceed the incremental cost of the additional SQC. Ignore what has already been spent, compare the marginal spend for the remaining SQC with the marginal benefit, and do not influence travel decisions simply to raise a points balance.
Part 9: Risks and the opportunity cost of loyalty
Every number in this article can change. The program can alter earning rates, redemption prices, the status system or the card benefits, and fees on the premium cards rise by CAD 100 to CAD 200 in January 2027. The 2026 changes show that the rules can move materially in one year. Points have no guaranteed value, and a balance is only worth what the program will give you for it on the day you redeem.
The more a household builds around one program, the more it is exposed. A family that flies Air Canada for the sake of status gives up the lowest fare on another carrier, and a household that holds only Aeroplan points cannot switch to a better program. Flexible points such as Membership Rewards keep more options open. The August 2026 investment is a fact about ownership and not evidence that the program will change, although it does mean the issuer has outside investors who expect returns.
Points normally expire after 18 months without eligible activity. Air Canada’s expiry notice describes the pause as running until November 30, 2026: points that would have expired through November 29, 2026 will not, and the normal policy applies effective November 30, 2026. Searches on November 11, 2026 found no extension, so recheck before acting. Points do not expire for primary co-brand cardholders or Elite members.
Time and attention are costs too. Tracking promotions, timing transfers and optimizing fare class takes hours, and spending steered to a particular card is a choice not to use the best alternative at that merchant. Money spent to earn status is money not invested, saved or used to pay down debt, and a carried credit card balance at current interest rates will swamp any reward. For related reading, see the Sovereign Canadian pieces on debt ratios in Canada and premium bank accounts.
A practical summary
Understand that points and SQC are separate currencies. Earn points where it costs nothing extra: on cards you already use well, on flights you were going to take, and through transfers you can time. Treat status as a by-product unless an employer pays for the flights or you would fly the fare anyway. Count Priority Reward opportunities at 20,000, 40,000, 60,000 and 80,000 SQC for a member who holds status, and remember that each is a choice, and that scope follows the tier held at selection. Use a voucher only when you can name the trip. Compare every redemption with what you would actually have paid. Run the break-even before paying a fee to earn points. Aeroplan is valuable when the household can realize benefits that exceed the opportunity cost of earning them, and not otherwise.
Sources and dates
Primary sources are Air Canada’s Aeroplan pages on status, Milestone Benefits, Priority Rewards, eUpgrades, Family Sharing, new card benefits, points expiry, extended status validity and the flight reward chart; the Star Alliance lounge access policy; the TD, CIBC and American Express card pages; and the Canada Revenue Agency page on paying a service provider. Provider pages for Chexy, PaySimply and Plastiq are vendor claims. The press releases of August 11, 2026 were read through search results. Secondary sources include NerdWallet Canada and Prince of Travel. The full register, with access dates and verification status for each claim, is in the Research file. All checked November 11, 2026.
This article is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Rules, fees and prices change. Confirm current terms with Air Canada, your card issuer and a qualified professional before acting.
Rules and prices reflect research completed on November 2026. All amounts are in Canadian dollars (CAD). Dollar examples are hypothetical illustrations, not quotes or claims about availability.