When the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card and American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card were first launched in November 2020, one of the most common questions from prospective cardholders was whether there would be referral bonuses and refer-a-friend offers on these new premium cards.

Well, as noted by eagle-eyed Prince of Travel Elites member Justin, it appears that the refer-a-friend program has now officially launched on the American Express Aeroplan credit card family.

Cardholders can earn 10,000 Aeroplan points for each approved referral, and applicants through refer-a-friend links will earn the historically high 75,000 Aeroplan points on these products.

Referral Bonus of 10,000 Aeroplan Points

If you currently hold the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card or American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card, you should see a new refer-a-friend box upon logging into your online dashboard. If you’re on the Amex app, you’ll see the card listed under the Refer a Friend menu.

As per the terms here, you’ll earn 10,000 Aeroplan points for every individual with whom you have a business, personal, or family relationship that you refer to the card of their own, up to a maximum of 150,000 Aeroplan points in a calendar year.

By applying through the refer-a-friend channel, new applicants to the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card will earn 75,000 Aeroplan points and a $100 statement credit in the first year, distributed as follows:

• 45,000 Aeroplan points upon spending $3,000 in the first three months
• 5,000 Aeroplan points for each of the first six months in which you spend $1,000, up to a total of 30,000 Aeroplan points
• $100 upon spending $3,000 in the first three months

Meanwhile, through the refer-a-friend channel, new applicants to the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card will also earn 75,000 Aeroplan points and a $100 statement credit in the first year, distributed as follows:

• 45,000 Aeroplan points upon spending $5,000 in the first three months
• 5,000 Aeroplan points for each of the first six months in which you spend $2,000, up to a total of 30,000 Aeroplan points
• $100 upon spending $5,000 in the first three months

(The two products are part of the same referral “family”, meaning that a cardholder of the personal Aeroplan Reserve can refer to an Aeroplan Business Reserve, and vice versa. To select the other card in the referral family, you’d open the referral link and click on “View Other Cards” in the top-right corner.)

Now, 75,000 Aeroplan points is higher than the 65,000 Aeroplan points that American Express is offering through public channels, and it’s a return to the historically high signup bonus that we saw in late 2020.

Back then, the bonus of 75,000 Aeroplan points was only available through a waitlist that had been open for registration between August and November. The waitlist bonus ended in 2020, and since then, the public offer has fallen to 65,000 Aeroplan points (even though there was a separate little-known offer for 75,000 Aeroplan points through the Air Canada website).

A Major Boost for Two-Player Mode

If you’re earning points in two-player mode, then it’ll definitely be in your best interest to maximize the refer-a-friend channel between you and your partner.

If you referred your partner to a new American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, then the total household gain would be 85,000 Aeroplan points between the referral bonus (10,000 points) and the new welcome bonus (75,000 points).

Then, your spouse could refer yourself for a new American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card sometime down the line (keeping in mind the six-month spending horizon required to earn the full bonus), and then vice versa, earning another two sets of 85,000 Aeroplan points for the household as a whole.

Even though there are a few cash back offers floating around the market on the Aeroplan Reserve Card to the tune of $200, those offers are tied to the regular public application channel, meaning that you’d only earn 65,000 Aeroplan points as a welcome bonus.

I’d say that an incremental 20,000 Aeroplan points – worth $420 by our current valuation – is a far better deal for the multi-player game.

Don’t forget that the same principle applies with the business credit card family (Business Platinum Card, Business Gold Card, and Business Edge Card), the non-premium personal credit card family (Gold Rewards Card and Cobalt Card), and the Marriott Bonvoy family (Marriott Bonvoy Card and Marriott Bonvoy Business Card).

Indeed, it’s now time for us to update the American Express Credit Card Flowchart to make room for a new family!

Conclusion

In addition to the priority services on Air Canada flights and unlimited access to Maple Leaf Lounges in North America, there’s now another compelling reason to pick up the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card: the ability to earn 10,000 Aeroplan points every time you refer someone else to the card.

For me, this makes the Aeroplan Reserve even more of a superior choice over the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege or CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege in terms of the premium Aeroplan co-branded credit cards, on top of the fact that there’s no minimum income requirement and the $100 statement credit in the first year. 

For those of you who are racking up the points as a team, the Aeroplan credit card family represents another opportunity to squeeze out referral bonuses by referring cards among the members of a household, scoring an incremental 20,000 Aeroplan points each time.