How Do the New Aeroplan Credit Cards Compare?

The new Aeroplan credit cards by TD, CIBC, and American Express will be launching in conjunction with the new Aeroplan program on November 8, 2020.

Current cardholders will have been informed about their upcoming card transitions, while prospective cardholders will be carefully assessing the value proposition of each card to decide whether they’re interested in signing up coming November 8. 

While the credit cards by all three issuers are mostly similar to each other, there are a few notable differences in the products across each customer segment that aren’t necessarily apparent at first glance.

In this article, inspired by the work of my friend Jean-Maximilien from Milesopedia, I’ve put together a few comparison charts for the TD, CIBC, and American Express Aeroplan credit cards to help you decide which issuer’s product is the best fit for you in any given customer segment.

Entry-Level Aeroplan Credit Cards

We’ll begin with the entry-level (or “silver”) Aeroplan credit cards, which come with the most affordable fees but are also the most stripped-down in terms of perks and benefits. TD and CIBC will each issue one card in this segment:

• TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum
• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card

The comparison chart is as follows. As in previous comparison charts, any clear winner in a category is highlighted in green.

	TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum	CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card
Key information
Annual fee	$89	$0
Supplementary card (with perks)	$39	$0
Supplementary card (without perks)	–	–
Income requirement	$0	$0
Earning rates
Air Canada Air Canada Vacations	1 point per $	1 point per $
Gas	1 point per $	1 point per $
Groceries	1 point per $	1 point per $
All other purchases	1 point per $1.5	1 point per $1.5
Benefits
Preferred pricing	✓	✓
No expiry of Aeroplan points	✓	✓
Insurance
Emergency medical	–	–
Trip cancellation	–	–
Trip interruption	–	–
Flight/trip delay	$500 on a 4-hour delay	–
Delayed baggage	$1,000 (per person)	–
Lost or stolen baggage	$1,000 (per person)	–
Common carrier accident	$500,000	$100,000
Hotel/motel burglary	$2,500	–
Auto rental collision/loss damage waiver	MSRP up to $65,000 Rental period up to 48 days	MSRP up to $65,000 Rental period up to 48 days
Mobile device	$1,000	–
Purchase security	90 days	90 days
Extended warranty	One additional year	One additional year

While TD has kept its entry-level product under the Visa Platinum banner, thereby commanding a light annual fee of $89 with a supplementary card fee, CIBC has instead chosen to issue a no-annual-fee Aeroplan credit card instead. This makes the CIBC Visa Aeroplan Card the only no-annual-fee Aeroplan co-branded card on the market. 

The earning rates and limited set of Aeroplan benefits are uniform between the two products. So what justifies the TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum’s higher annual fee?

Well, it offers a decent set of insurance benefits, including flight/trip delay, delayed and lost baggage, hotel/motel burglary insurance, and mobile device insurance, all of which are not offered by the CIBC Visa Aeroplan Card. However, as entry-level products, neither card offers the coverage that tends to matter the most to travellers: emergency medical insurance, trip cancellation, and trip interruption.

Overall, both the TD and CIBC cards do a good job of serving different subsegments of the market: TD provides some light travel insurance in exchange for a small annual fee, while CIBC caters towards Canadians who’d prefer not to pay any annual fee while still earning Aeroplan points on their spending. 

Core Aeroplan Credit Cards

The core (or “grey”) Aeroplan credit cards are geared towards the average Canadian traveller. TD, CIBC, and American Express will each issue one card in this segment:

• TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite
• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite
• American Express Aeroplan Card

The comparison chart is as follows.

	TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite	CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite	American Express Aeroplan Card
Key information
Annual fee	$139	$139	$120
Supplementary card (with perks)	$75	$50	$50
Supplementary card (without perks)	–	–	$0
Income requirement	$60,000 annual / $100,000 household	$60,000 annual / $100,000 household	$0
Earning rates
Air Canada Air Canada Vacations	1 point per $	1 point per $	2 points per $
Gas	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $	1 point per $
Groceries	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $	1 point per $
Dining & food delivery	1 point per $	1 point per $	1.5 points per $
All other purchases	1 point per $	1 point per $	1 point per $
Benefits
Preferred pricing	✓	✓	✓
No expiry of Aeroplan points	✓	✓	✓
Free first checked bag	✓	✓	✓
Shared benefits with supplementary cardholders	✓	✓	✓
1,000 SQM + 1 SQS per $10,000 spent	✓	✓	✓
$100 NEXUS credit	✓
Insurance
Emergency medical	$1,000,000 Age 0–64: 21 days Age 65+: 4 days	$5,000,000 Age 0–64: 15 days Age 65+: 3 days	–
Trip cancellation	$1,500 (per person) $5,000 (combined)	$1,500 (per person) $5,000 (combined)	–
Trip interruption	$5,000 (per person) $25,000 (combined)	$2,000 (per person)	–
Flight/trip delay	$500 on a 4-hour delay	$500 on a 4-hour delay	$500 on a 4-hour delay (aggregate, combined)
Delayed baggage	$1,000 (per person)	$500 (per person) $1,000 (combined)
Lost or stolen baggage	$1,000 (per person)	$500 (per person) $1,000 (combined)	$500 (combined)
Common carrier accident	$500,000	$500,000	$500,000
Hotel/motel burglary	$2,500	$2,500	$500
Auto rental collision/loss damage waiver	MSRP up to $65,000 Rental period up to 48 days	MSRP up to $65,000 Rental period up to 48 days	MSRP up to $85,000 Rental period up to 48 days
Mobile device	$1,000	$1,000	–
Purchase security	90 days	90 days	90 days, up to $1,000
Extended warranty	One additional year	One additional year	One additional year

As you can see, this segment of the market is where the trade-offs between the three issuers start to become more apparent.

The American Express Aeroplan Card comes with the cheaper annual fee at $120 instead of $139. Along with CIBC’s product, its supplementary card fee for shared perks is also lower, while it’s unique among the three issuers for offering a no-fee supplementary card that simply lets you earn points faster.

In terms of earning rates, American Express’s offering is stronger in the Air Canada and dining categories, while TD and CIBC’s products offer a stronger return on spending on gas and groceries. You’ll want to think about which set of bonus categories is more valuable to you based on your own spending profile.

The three cards’ benefits are virtually identical, with the only exception being the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite’s $100 NEXUS credit, which isn’t offered by either of the other two cards. 

Finally, the insurance packages generally follow an order of descending strength as you read the chart from left to right, with a few exceptions:

• The American Express card provides car rental collision/loss damage waiver on more valuable car rentals
• CIBC’s emergency travel insurance has a higher maximum claim amount than TD’s ($5MM vs. $1MM), although I’d personally place a higher value on TD’s longer coverage period instead

Notably, American Express has chosen not to include any emergency travel insurance on the core card, which definitely counts against it in this three-way comparison.

In my view, TD’s offering is the strongest here, justifying its slightly higher annual fees for the primary and supplementary cardholders. American Express’s differentiated higher earning rates may justify its weaknesses for some individuals, while there’s relatively little to set CIBC’s product apart. 

Premium Aeroplan Credit Cards

The premium (or “black”) Aeroplan credit cards are geared towards frequent Air Canada travellers that also tend to fall in the higher income and wealth brackets. TD, CIBC, and American Express will each issue one card in this segment:

• TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege
• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege
• American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

The comparison chart is as follows.

	TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege	CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege	American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
Key information
Annual fee	$599	$599	$599
Supplementary card (with perks)	$199	$149	$199
Supplementary card (without perks)	–	–	$0
Income requirement	$200,000 personal / household	$200,000 personal / household	$0
Earning rates
Air Canada Air Canada Vacations	2 point per $	2 point per $	3 points per $
Other travel	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $	1 point per $
Gas	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $	1 point per $
Groceries	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $	1 point per $
Dining & food delivery	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $	2 points per $
All other purchases	1.25 points per $	1.25 points per $	1 point per $
Benefits
Preferred pricing	✓	✓	✓
No expiry of Aeroplan points	✓	✓	✓
Free first checked bag	✓	✓	✓
Shared benefits with supplementary cardholders	✓	✓	✓
1,000 SQM + 1 SQS per $5,000 spent	✓	✓	✓
$100 NEXUS credit	✓	✓
Maple Leaf Lounge access within North America	✓	✓ (with one free guest until Nov 2021)	✓
Priority Pass lounge access	✓ Annual membership with six free visits	✓ Annual membership with six free visits	✓ Annual membership only
Air Canada priority airport services	✓	✓	✓
Annual Worldwide Companion Pass upon $25,000 spend	✓	✓	✓
Rollover SQM and eUpgrades	✓	✓	✓
Priority benefits at select airports	YVR, YUL, YOW, YTZ	YVR, YUL, YOW, YTZ	YYZ
Insurance
Emergency medical	$5,000,000 Age 0–64: 31 days Age 65+: 4 days	$5,000,000 Age 0–64: 31 days Age 65+: 10 days	$5,000,000 Age 0–64: 15 days
Trip cancellation	$2,500 (per person) $5,000 (combined)	$2,500 (per person) $10,000 (combined)	$1,500 (per person) $3,000 (combined)
Trip interruption	$5,000 (per person) $25,000 (combined)	$5,000 (per person) $25,000 (combined)	$1,500 (per person) $6,000 (combined)
Flight/trip delay	$1,000 on a 4-hour delay	$500 on a 4-hour delay	$1,000 on a 4-hour delay (aggregate, combined)
Delayed baggage	$1,000 (per person)	$500 (per person) $1,000 (combined)
Lost or stolen baggage	$2,500 (per person)	$1,000 (per person) $2,500 (combined)	$1,000 (combined)
Common carrier accident	$500,000	$500,000	$500,000
Hotel/motel burglary	$2,500	$2,500	$1,000
Auto rental collision/loss damage waiver	MSRP up to $85,000 Rental period up to 48 days	MSRP up to $85,000 Rental period up to 48 days	MSRP up to $85,000 Rental period up to 48 days
Mobile device	$1,500	$1,500	–
Purchase security	120 days	180 days	90 days, up to $1,000
Extended warranty	Two additional years	Two additional years	One additional year

In the premium segment, all three cards’ fee structures are identical, and American Express has the major advantage of having no income requirement for their Aeroplan Reserve Card, compared to TD and CIBC’s more onerous $200,000 income threshold as Visa Infinite Privilege products.

Like the core segment, American Express has differentiated itself from TD and CIBC in terms of the earning rates, offering a stronger return on Air Canada and dining, but a weaker return on other travel spending, gas, groceries, and the “all other purchases” catch-all category.

(Has American Express differentiated itself enough? I personally don’t think so, since I do think that the TD and CIBC’s earning structure will be more favourable for the average cardholder.)

The cards’ benefits are mostly uniform, with a few areas in which TD and CIBC excel. Compared to American Express, these two issuers will offer a $100 NEXUS credit and six complimentary Priority Pass visits per year; moreover, CIBC is the only issuer that has indicated they will allow one free guest to accompany the cardholder into Maple Leaf Lounges until November 7, 2021. 

Also note that the Visa Infinite Privilege cards come with priority airport benefits at Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto Billy Bishop, whereas the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card delivers similar priority benefits at Toronto Pearson. If you tend to frequent one of these airports, you’d naturally place more weight on different products accordingly.

Finally, insurance. Here, CIBC and TD are more evenly matched, with the former’s 10-day emergency medical insurance for travellers aged 65+ and 180-day purchase protection benefit setting itself apart. Both are generally stronger than American Express’s insurance proposition by quite a clear margin.

Among the trio of premium cards, it’s pretty clear that TD and CIBC’s Visa Infinite Privilege cards are generally stronger than what American Express is putting out, in exchange for a very high $200,000 income threshold.

A natural point of comparison for the premium Aeroplan credit cards would be the American Express Platinum Card – you can find our detailed comparison here.

Core Small Business Aeroplan Credit Cards

The core small business (or “colourful”) Aeroplan credit cards are geared towards small business owners who aren’t necessarily frequent flyers with Air Canada, but would still like to earn Aeroplan points on their business spending. TD and CIBC will each issue one card in this segment:

• TD Aeroplan Visa Business Card
• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Business Card

(Note that American Express’s small business credit card is in the “premium business” category all on its own; a more apt comparison for that card would therefore be against the American Express Business Platinum Card, which we shall investigate in a future article.)

The comparison chart is as follows.

	TD Aeroplan Visa Business	CIBC Aeroplan Visa Business
Key information
Annual fee	$149	$180
Supplementary card (with perks)	$49	$50
Supplementary card (without perks)	–	–
Income requirement	$0	$35,000 personal
Earning rates
Air Canada Air Canada Vacations	2 points per $	2 points per $
Other travel	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $
Shipping, internet, cable, phone	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $
Dining	1.5 points per $	1.5 points per $
All other purchases	1 point per $	1 point per $
Benefits
Preferred pricing	✓	✓
No expiry of Aeroplan points	✓	✓
Free first checked bag	✓	✓
Shared benefits with supplementary cardholders	✓	✓
1,000 SQM + 1 SQS per $5,000 spent	✓	✓
$100 NEXUS credit	✓
1 Maple Leaf Lounge guest pass per $10,000 spent (up to 4 per year)	✓	✓
Insurance
Emergency medical	$2,000,000 Age 0–64: 15 days Age 65+ 4 days	–
Trip cancellation	$1,500 (per person) $5,000 (combined)	$1,000 (per person) $5,000 (combined)
Trip interruption	$5,000 (per person) $25,000 (combined)	$2,000 (per person)
Flight/trip delay	$500 on a 4-hour delay	$500 on a 4-hour delay
Delayed baggage	$1,000 (per person)	$500 (per person) $1,000 (combined)
Lost or stolen baggage	$1,000 (per person)	$500 (per person) $1,000 (combined)
Common carrier accident	$500,000	$500,000
Hotel/motel burglary	$2,500	–
Auto rental collision/loss damage waiver	MSRP up to $65,000 Rental period up to 48 days	MSRP up to $65,000 Rental period up to 48 days
Mobile device	$1,000	–
Purchase security	90 days	90 days
Extended warranty	One additional year	One additional year

This comparison results in a very clear victory for TD’s small business product over CIBC’s, and I’m almost a little bit surprised by that.

The TD card has the lower annual fee for both primary and supplementary cardholders, a lower income requirement, a $100 NEXUS credit, and a significantly more comprehensive insurance package. It certainly feels like TD went the full distance to boost the value proposition of its small business Aeroplan card as part of this relaunch, whereas CIBC just kind of treated theirs as an afterthought.

Short of CIBC offering a much stronger welcome bonus or making big improvements to their card, there will be no reason for small business owners to choose CIBC’s product over TD’s. 

Conclusion

While the new TD, CIBC, and American Express Aeroplan credit cards are largely in line with each other, there are several small but important differences worth noting within each customer segment. Do let me know if you think I’ve missed anything in the comparison charts above. 

In my view, TD’s cards are the strongest overall, and that perhaps reflects their larger slice of the pie in terms of the new Aeroplan co-brand contract compared to the other issuers.

As the most independent-minded issuer of the three, American Express has chosen to differentiate its offerings in many ways; however, as I had mentioned when their cards were first announced, the jury is out as to whether they’ve differentiated themselves enough, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see American Express spruce up their products a little more prior to the November 8 launch.