Amex Aeroplan Playing cards: New Provides for As much as 95,000 Factors

For the first time since Summer 2023, American Express has updated the offers on its premium Aeroplan co-branded cards.

This time, there hasn’t been a big change to the total amount of points available through the welcome bonuses. Rather, the structure of the offers has improved, in that they’re no longer tied to hefty monthly spending requirements.

Once again, there’s no listed expiry date for the offers, which means that they could change at any time. However, in conjunction with the “Add a Card” bonus event, the current offers are certainly worth considering soon.

American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card: Up to 85,000 Aeroplan Points

The American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, Amex’s flagship premium Aeroplan co-branded card, has a current welcome bonus of up to 85,000 Aeroplan points. This is a drop of 5,000 points from the previous offer; however, the structure of the welcome bonus has improved significantly.

With the current offer, the points are distributed as follows:

• Earn 60,000 Aeroplan points upon spending $7,500 (all figures in CAD) in the first three months
• Earn 25,000 Aeroplan points upon spending $2,500 in month 13

While the total amount of points available through this offer is slightly less than the previous round, the structure is much better.

Last time, there were a number of requirements you’d have to meet for the welcome bonus, including spending $2,000 in each of the first six months, paying to add two supplementary cardholders at the time of application, and spending $6,000 between months 13 and 16.

This time, you’ll earn the lion’s share of the welcome bonus in one fell swoop after spending $7,500 in the first three months, and then you can earn the remaining points by spending $2,500 in month 13.

While it averages out to spending $2,500 in the first three months and then again in month 13, there are plenty of ways to meet higher minimum spending requirements, including paying your rent and paying taxes with a credit card.

The card has an annual fee of $599, and it comes with a number of other perks, including rollover benefits, the Annual Worldwide Companion Pass, preferred pricing discounts on Aeroplan redemptions, and some compelling Amex Offers throughout the year to further offset against your annual fee.

Once again, there’s no listed expiration date for this offer, so be sure to sign up soon if you stand to benefit.

Keep in mind that there’s an ongoing “Add a Card” bonus event until April 10, 2024, whereby you can earn an extra 30,000 points by fulfilling another minimum spending requirement and paying for two supplementary cardholders.

Between the current offer and the “Add a Card” bonus event, there’s enough Aeroplan points at stake to warrant consideration.

Amex Aeroplan Business Reserve Card: Up to 95,000 Aeroplan Points

The American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card is offering a higher number of points than its personal counterpart, albeit paired with higher spending requirements. This offer is also a slight drop of 5,000 total points from the previous offer, but the structure is once again much better.

When you apply for the card through a refer-a-friend link, you’ll earn the following:

• 70,000 Aeroplan points upon spending $10,500 in the first three months
• 25,000 Aeroplan points upon spending $3,500 in month 13

As we saw with the personal card, there’s a pretty substantial spending requirement to unlock the full welcome bonus this time around in each of the first two years. On the other hand, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts with a large boost of points that come without a long-term monthly minimum spending requirement.

The card comes with many of the same benefits and features as the Amex Reserve card, including the ability to earn 1,000 Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) and 1 Status Qualifying Segment (SQS) per $5,000 spent on the card.

If you tend to have a high volume of spending, you can easily fast track your way to meeting some of the requirements for Aeroplan Elite Status, and then you can plan out your paid flights to satisfy the Status Qualifying Dollars (SQD) requirement in a more predictable manner.

As with the personal card, there’s no listed expiry date for this offer.

However, with the ongoing “Add a Card” bonus event happening until April 10, 2024, you may want to apply sooner rather than later, since you can earn an extra 40,000 points by paying to add two additional cardholders to your account and having them each complete a minimum spending requirement.

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Amex Aeroplan Card: Up to 45,000 Aeroplan Points

While the premium Aeroplan cards naturally have the highest available bonuses, the Amex Aeroplan Card shouldn’t be overlooked this time around, even though the offer hasn’t changed.

Currently, the card is offering up to 45,000 Aeroplan points for new applicants, which could be a less expensive way to pad your Aeroplan balance, since it doesn’t come with a premium fee.

The offer on the Amex Aeroplan Card has a longer-term monthly spending requirement, which isn’t the case on the higher-end Reserve cards.

When you apply via a refer-a-friend link, you’ll earn the following:

• 3,000 Aeroplan points for each of the first 10 months in which you spend $1,000, for a total of 30,000 Aeroplan points
• 15,000 Aeroplan points upon making a purchase between months 14 and 17 as a cardholder

In total, you’d need to spend a total of $10,000 spread out over 10 months to unlock the first part of the welcome bonus, and then simply make a purchase in months 14–17 to realize the second component.

Indeed, the real appeal of the Amex Aeroplan Card is the lower annual fee, making this offer a solid choice for anyone whose credit card strategy revolves around keeping annual fees low and manageable. 

Furthermore, the Amex Aeroplan Card is a charge card, not a credit card. Unlike the Reserve and Business Reserve, which are credit cards, it doesn’t impact Amex’s limit of holding four credit cards per person at a time.

If you’re already tight against the cap, the core Aeroplan Card might be a great way to pad your Aeroplan balance without going over your limit. 

There’s no listed expiry date for this offer, so be sure to take advantage of it sooner rather than later if it makes sense for you.

With the ongoing “Add a Card” bonus event happening until April 10, 2024, you can boost your balance by up to 10,000 points by paying to add two supplementary cardholders to your account, and having them each complete a reasonable minimum spending requirement.

Conclusion

American Express has a new set of welcome offers on the premium Aeroplan co-branded credit cards. You can earn up to 95,000 Aeroplan points with the offers, which come with a fair amount of spending required to unlock large swaths of points.

On both of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card and the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card, the majority of the points come after meeting a single spending threshold in the first three months. Then, you can earn another batch of points in year two, as long as you complete (and keep track of) a minimum spending requirement in month 13.

On the other hand, the American Express Aeroplan Card has a smaller welcome bonus, but it’s paired with a smaller spending requirement and a much lower annual fee. 

There isn’t a listed end date for the offers, so apply at your leisure if you stand to benefit from any of the cards. Just keep in mind that the “Add a Card” bonus event runs until April 10, 2024, which may expedite your application.