American Express Aeroplan Card

This welcome bonus sits at the lower end of what the card has historically offered – peak promotions have reached 75,000 points – making it worth monitoring for an elevated offer if you're not in immediate need of Aeroplan points. The split structure rewards both quick activators and patient everyday users, since the second-year component effectively converts your renewal into a partially subsidised continuation bonus.

The free first checked bag on Air Canada flights and primary rental car coverage can offset a meaningful portion of the cost within a single trip, particularly for families or anyone renting a car in an expensive market. One round-trip domestic flight with checked baggage can justify a large portion of the annual outlay.

The travel and dining multipliers are why this card exists – if you're booking Air Canada flights or eating out regularly, you're pulling ahead of the Visa-based Aeroplan cards by a meaningful margin. That advantage compounds fast for anyone with consistent spend in those categories.

The flat 1x on everything else means this works best as a category specialist, not an everyday card. Pair it with a Visa that covers groceries and gas, or consolidate on a single Aeroplan Visa Infinite if your spend doesn't tilt heavily toward travel and dining.

Aeroplan shines for premium cabin redemptions on Star Alliance partners, especially long-haul business class to Europe and Asia where you'll find some of the best value in the Canadian points landscape. Air Canada's own flights use dynamic pricing, so partner awards often deliver better value – Turkish to Europe, ANA to Japan, and Singapore to Southeast Asia are standout sweet spots.

Family Sharing lets you pool points across accounts, and the stopover feature means you can visit two destinations for the cost of one award. For detailed partner strategies and award chart breakdowns, consult our Essential Guide to Aeroplan.

The free first checked bag on Air Canada flights covers up to eight passengers on the same booking – unusually generous compared to cards that limit the benefit to the cardholder alone. If you're travelling as a family or organizing group trips, this turns a modest perk into serious value.

Primary rental car coverage up to 48 days and trip delay coverage starting at four hours are both better than most competing cards at this price point. You'll still need supplemental coverage for emergency medical and trip cancellation if travelling outside Canada.

Primary rental car coverage and trip delay protection handle the logistics, but the complete absence of emergency medical and trip cancellation coverage means you'll need to layer in supplemental policies for anything beyond short domestic trips.

If you're booking international travel or travelling with family, plan to either hold a second card with stronger health benefits or purchase standalone coverage – this package alone won't protect you from the scenarios that generate serious claims.