Air Canada and American Express have just released a new offer for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, which exclusively targets members with Aeroplan Elite Status.
With the Amex Aeroplan Status Offer, elite members who are approved for a new card and earn 20,000 Aeroplan points between July 7 and October 31, 2023 will earn an additional 20 eUpgrades and 15,000 Status Qualifying Miles (SQM).
This comes in addition to the card’s regular welcome bonus, and is only available to new applicants who currently hold Aeroplan Elite Status.
Amex Aeroplan Status Offer: Earn 20 eUpgrades and 15,000 SQM
The latest offer for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card provides new cardholders with extra eUpgrades and SQM after meeting an earning requirement, in addition to the card’s welcome bonus. This offer is only for members who currently hold and maintain Aeroplan Elite Status throughout the promotion.
eUpgrades can be used to upgrade to a higher class of service, and SQM can help you reach a higher tier of status faster.
To earn the extra 20 eUpgrades and 15,000 SQM through this promotion, you’ll need to follow three steps:
- Manually register for the offer on the promotion’s landing page
- Apply and be approved for a new American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
- Earn and have 20,000 Aeroplan points posted to your account by October 31, 2023
This offer is valid for new applications made between July 7 and October 31, 2023, which means that current cardholders aren’t eligible. It’s important to note that if you were a cardholder as of July 6, 2023, you won’t be eligible for the offer if you cancel your card and are approved for a new one before the end of the promotion.
If you’re eligible for the offer, you’ll first need to manually register before submitting an application. You’ll simply need to provide your Aeroplan number, agree to the terms and conditions, and click “Register Now”.
The next step is to apply and be approved for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card through any medium. The best available offer is currently through a refer-a-friend link, which offers up to 120,000 Aeroplan points as a welcome bonus until July 24, 2023.
The next best option is the in-path offer, which could provide up to 115,000 points and a $200 (CAD) Air Canada statement credit. Otherwise, the public offer on the American Express is for up to 115,000 Aeroplan points.
If you’re approved, the last step is to organically earn 20,000 Aeroplan points via your credit card spending, which must be posted to your account by October 31, 2023. It’s important to keep this in mind, since the points must be posted to your account by that date, and not just earned.
Points earned as part of the welcome bonus, referrals, or points transferred into your account don’t count towards the total. You must earn 20,000 points through the base earning rate and category multipliers to unlock the bonus eUpgrades and SQM.
This offer is only valid for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, and not for the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card, or any other premium Aeroplan co-branded credit card.
Furthermore, you must maintain your Aeroplan Elite Status between July 7 and October 31, 2023 to be eligible for the offer.
The 20 bonus eUpgrades aren’t eligible for extension through the card’s rollover benefits. However, since they’d be earned after July 1, 2023, they should have an expiration date in January 2025, which should be plenty of time to use them up.
Lastly, the 15,000 bonus SQM don’t count towards Million Mile Status qualification.
The terms and conditions state that the bonus eUpgrades and SQM will be deposited in your account within 10 weeks of meeting the earning requirement.
How to Maximize the Aeroplan Amex Status Offer
If you’re eligible for this offer, here’s what meeting the earning threshold of 20,000 points might look like.
Firstly, it’s likely in your best interest to apply for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card by July 24, 2023, which is when the current offer is set to expire. It’s amongst the best offers we’ve seen for the card, and there’s no guarantee that the next offer is going to meet or exceed the current welcome bonus.
Furthermore, since the points must be posted to your account by October 31, 2023, it may be worthwhile waiting until closer to the offer’s expiry date to apply. This way, your points should be deposited in your account by the end of October, although this also shortens the spending window.
In any event, you’ll have roughly three months to earn 20,000 points.
If you’re approved, you’ll then have to start working towards meeting the requirements for the card’s regular welcome bonus, which is structured as follows:
- Earn 50,000 Aeroplan points upon spending $6,000 in the first three months
- Earn 7,500 Aeroplan points for each of the first six months in which you spend $2,000, for a total of 45,000 Aeroplan points
- Earn 25,000 Aeroplan points upon making a purchase between months 14 and 17
As a reminder, the card’s earning rates are as follows:
- Earn 3 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations
- Earn 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on dining and food delivery
- Earn 1.25 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on everything else
If you were to just meet the $2,000 monthly minimum spending requirement with the base earning rate of 1.25 points per dollar spent, you’d wind up with 7,500 Aeroplan points after three months, which leaves a gap of 12,500 points to go. In fact, you’d have to spend a total of $16,000 in three months to earn the 20,000 points required for this offer with the base earning rate.
The best-case scenario would be if you have tickets to purchase with Air Canada or a package with Air Canada Vacations anyway, as you’d earn 3 points per dollar spent. If you were to spend $6,000 in this category, you’d wind up with 18,000 Aeroplan points, leaving only 2,000 points to go.
Should you happen to spend a lot on dining and food delivery, then $2,000 per month for three months would equate to 12,000 Aeroplan points, and you’d then have 8,000 points to earn to unlock the bonus eUpgrades and 15,000 SQM.
The most likely situation is going to be a mixture of the base and increased category earning rates. If you’re perhaps able to plan your spending around large purchases, it could be within reach; however, it’s worth noting that there’s a relatively short window of opportunity to earn the required 20,000 points and have them post to your account.
This offer makes the most sense for members with Aeroplan Elite Status who tend to spend a lot of money on Air Canada flights anyway, and who don’t currently have the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.
Otherwise, the spending requirement may prove as a barrier to some, even though the spending requirement for the full welcome bonus is already quite onerous.
Conclusion
Air Canada has launched the Amex Aeroplan Status Offer, which gives new cardholders of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card with Aeroplan Elite Status an additional 20 eUpgrades and 15,000 SQM upon organically earning 20,000 Aeroplan points by October 31, 2023.
Manual registration is required prior to applying for the card, which can be done on the promotion’s landing page. You just need to add your Aeroplan number, be approved for a new card, and complete the earning requirement.
With a relatively short window of time to have 20,000 Aeroplan points posted to your account, the hefty spending requirement may prove difficult for some. However, if you tend to spend a lot of money on Air Canada flights anyway, then the extra eUpgrades could score you Air Canada business class seats at bargain, and the 15,000 SQM could help you reach status faster.
