Head-to-Head: Amex Platinum Card vs. New Premium Aeroplan Cards

 

Now that we’re familiar with the details of the new Aeroplan credit cards by TD, CIBC, and American Express which will launch on November 8, it’s time to think about where we’d situate these new products in the wider context of the Canadian credit card market as a whole.

In my video on my immediate impressions of the new Aeroplan program, I shared my belief that the new premium line of Aeroplan credit cards – the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege, and the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card – are very much intended to “make the market” when it comes to premium travel credit cards in Canada, playing a much bigger role than their predecessors in enticing frequent flyers to sign up and spend on the cards on a regular basis.

Of course, until now, the biggest player in this market has been the American Express Platinum Card, which has also been one of the best ways to rack up Aeroplan miles thanks to the 1:1 transfer ratio from American Express Membership Rewards.

In this edition of Head-to-Head, let’s take a closer look at how the Amex Platinum, traditionally regarded as the best premium travel credit card in Canada, stacks up against Aeroplan’s trio of young pretenders to the throne.

Card Basics

When deciding on a credit card, the most important comparisons will always be made on a few key characteristics: the welcome bonus, the annual fee, and the earning rate on purchases. 

Since the welcome bonuses of the new premium Aeroplan cards are unclear at the moment, and the Platinum Card’s welcome bonus is currently depressed thanks to the challenging external environment, we’ll skip over this comparison for now.

Instead, we’ll simply note that the Platinum Card has historically offered a signup bonus of 60,000 MR points, so this would be the benchmark against which the new Aeroplan cards’ yet-to-be-announced bonuses shall be judged.

1. Annual Fee

All of the premium Aeroplan credit cards will come with an annual fee of $599.

On the surface, the Platinum Card’s annual fee of $699 exceeds that; however, we usually also take into consideration the Platinum Card’s $200 annual travel credit as well, which is easily redeemed towards any type of travel (flight or hotel, refundable or non-refundable, etc.) booked through American Express.

When the travel credit is netted against the annual fee, we can think of the Platinum Card as having an “effective annual fee” of $499, which is more favourable than what the premium Aeroplan cards are charging.

Verdict: Once the $200 travel credit is taken into account, the Platinum Card’s price point is more favourable.

2. Points Currencies

The Platinum Card earns Amex MR points, which can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to Aeroplan, but can also be transferred to other programs like British Airways Avios, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and Marriott Bonvoy (or converted into US MR points at the prevailing exchange rate).

On the other hand, the premium Aeroplan cards will simply earn… Aeroplan points. You’ll be able to redeem according to Aeroplan’s rules and charts, but won’t have any of the other points programs available to you.

Verdict: Optionality is always inherently valuable, so it’s an easy win for the Platinum Card in this category.

3. Earning Rates

It’s interesting to note that TD, CIBC, and American Express have gone with slightly divergent earning rates for their new premium Aeroplan products. TD and CIBC’s cards will earn:

  • 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations
  • 1.5 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on gas, grocery, travel, and dining
  • 1.25 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on everything else

Meanwhile, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card will offer:

  • 3 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations
  • 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on dining and food delivery
  • 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent on everything else

We then compare those earning rates against the Platinum Card, which earns:

  • 3 MR points per dollar spent on dining (including food delivery)
  • 2 MR points per dollar spent on travel
  • 1 MR point per dollar spent on everything else

As you can see, it’s a bit of a mixed bag here, but we can think about which card offers the strongest earning in each individual category.

On travel, the Platinum Card’s 2x MR points is the winner, unless we’re talking about Air Canada or Air Canada Vacations purchases, in which case the new Amex Aeroplan Reserve’s 3x earning rate would be superior.

On dining, it’s still the Platinum Card’s 3x MR points that wins out, and the nearest competitor would be the Cobalt Card’s 5x MR Select points (although the Cobalt serves a separate segment of the market). Even though they’ve incorporated dining into their bonus categories, the new Aeroplan cards don’t really come close to challenging.

On all other purchases, however, TD and CIBC’s new Visa Infinite Privilege cards do trump the Platinum Card with their 1.25x base earning rate.

Verdict: The superiority of earning rates will depend on which categories you put most of your spending in. If you primarily spend on dining and travel, the American Express products would serve you better – and that speaks to the general spending patterns of American Express’s clientele base. On the other hand, if your spending isn’t heavily concentrated in these categories, the TD or CIBC VIP cards may be a better fit.

4. Foreign Exchange Fees

All four products under consideration will charge the standard 2.5% transaction fee on purchases in a foreign currency.

While the waiving of FX fees would be something you might expect from a travel credit card, the fact is that Canada’s credit card market hasn’t yet reached a stage where the major players feel that the added market share in waiving this fee would justify the forgone revenue. Hopefully we’ll reach that stage soon.

Verdict: Honours even – and not in a good way.

Perks & Benefits

Premium travel cards justify their hefty annual fees through their travel perks, so let’s see how the Platinum Card and the new premium Aeroplan cards stack up in this category.

1. Lounge Access

No credit card in Canada offers a stronger lounge access benefit than the Platinum Card: the unlimited Priority Pass membership provides carte-blanche access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide for yourself and one guest, as well as a dozen outstanding Centurion Lounges by American Express and even more affiliate lounges scattered around the world.

(For a full rundown of the Platinum Card’s lounge benefits, refer to this article.)

Meanwhile, much has been made about the fact that the new premium Aeroplan cards will offer unlimited Maple Leaf Lounge access within North America.

But that’s still more restrictive than the Platinum Card’s Priority Pass, because Maple Leaf Lounges are only found at 14 airports around North America, and you have to be travelling on an Air Canada or Star Alliance flight. Compare that to, say, being able to access the Priority Pass lounge when you’re flying between two minor European airports on EasyJet.

Moreover, not all the premium Aeroplan cards will offer free guest access to the Maple Leaf Lounge, either. So far, only the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege has indicated that cardholders will be allowed to bring in one guest for free until November 7, 2021; the TD and American Express products refer to guest access as “subject to an applicable fee”.

Note that the premium Aeroplan cards do also come with Priority Pass memberships, but they aren’t the unlimited-access variety: TD and CIBC will offer six complimentary visits per year, while the Amex Aeroplan Reserve Card will offer a membership only, with any lounge visit subject to fee.

Verdict: Overall, it seems like the premium Aeroplan cards are certainly more geared towards those who fly with Air Canada frequently within North America, but not too frequently so as to earn Aeroplan 50K status and receive unlimited Maple Leaf Lounge access anyway. Outside of these folks, I think the Platinum Card’s Priority Pass will elevate your pre-flight lounge experience on a much broader basis.

2. Priority Airport Services

The other much-hyped feature on the premium Aeroplan cards is the priority airport services when flying with Air Canada, which includes the free first checked bag, priority check-in, Zone 2 priority boarding, priority standby, and priority baggage handling, as well as a higher priority on the upgrade list.

In addition, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card will offer access to the priority security lane at Toronto Pearson, as well as complimentary valet parking and select discounts on car care, overlapping with the same benefits that have always been offered to Platinum Card holders.

Verdict: The new premium Aeroplan cards will give you a smoother airport experience than the Platinum Card, as long as you’re flying with Air Canada.

3. Elite Status Benefits

Both the Platinum Card and the premium Aeroplan cards offer close integration with elite status: the former with a variety of hotel programs, and the latter with Air Canada’s new Aeroplan Elite Status.

As we know, the Platinum Card’s hotel statuses are quite valuable when considered in totality: just for holding the card, you’ll instantly be enrolled in Marriott Gold Elite, Hilton Gold, Radisson Gold, and Shangri-La Jade status (which, in turn, can trigger a status challenge to Star Alliance Gold via Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer).

On the other hand, the premium Aeroplan cards will help you get closer to achieving Aeroplan Elite Status, but won’t be nearly as generous in terms of doling out the mid-tier status level instantaneously (and this is of course understandable, given the vast differences between how airline and hotel statuses work).

Instead, the ability to earn 1,000 Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) or 1 Status Qualifying Segment (SQS) per $5,000 in eligible spending will help a lot of folks who might’ve otherwise completed the Status Qualifying Dollar (SQD) requirement achieve their next status level, and the ability to rollover SQM and eUpgrades will also help members get more out of the program, with fewer benefits going to waste.

Verdict: This will depend on how much you value your airline status and hotel status in relation to each other, but there’s no denying that the Platinum Card and its wealth of hotel status benefits will be much more attractive for the average traveller, who many not fly frequently enough with Air Canada to earn Aeroplan Elite Status year after year.

4. Threshold Benefits

I’ve always thought that Canadian credit cards could get a lot more creative with threshold benefits: assigning a reward to a certain spending threshold(s) per year to incentivize continued usage even after the initial signup bonus.

In this regard, the new Aeroplan premium cards have made a step in the right direction with the Annual Worldwide Companion Pass upon spending $25,000 per year. However, I personally feel that this benefit could’ve been a lot more attractive given the $25,000 spending threshold – some folks might be wondering why there’s such a high spending threshold associated with a benefit that, say, the WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard offers for free.

Since it’s quite likely that these Aeroplan co-branded cards will continue to evolve in the future, I’d love to see the concept of threshold benefits being integrated even more closely with the cards, and in particular it would be interesting if the new Priority Rewards could be associated with a spending threshold of some kind (even if it’s very high).

Verdict: For now, though, the singular threshold benefit of an Annual Worldwide Companion Pass is still better than what the Platinum Card offers: none, besides maybe an annual retention bonus here or there if you have enough spending volume.

5. Other Benefits

Among all four products under consideration, there are a host of other benefits that may or may not move the needle, depending on your preferences as a cardholder.

The Platinum Card’s Concierge service has come in handy a couple of times for me, and I do value the Concierge’s ability to book a table at a hot restaurant on short notice and stuff like that. Platinum membership also provides access to Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR), which provides you with exclusive discounts and perks on luxury hotel stays.

On the other hand, TD and CIBC’s premium Aeroplan cards will offer select Visa Infinite Privilege benefits along the same lines; in addition, they’ll also be offering a $100 NEXUS credit, which should certainly come in handy if you don’t currently have NEXUS.

I think the biggest benefit that remains something of an unknown quantity is the new Aeroplan credit cards’ “preferred pricing” on Air Canada flights under the new dynamic pricing model. To what extent will holding these credit cards offer meaningful discounts on the number of Aeroplan points required to book a flight?

The answer to this question will likely make a big difference in piquing people’s interest in the Aeroplan credit cards over the Platinum Card, which, despite its many strengths, does not automatically give you discounts on award pricing.

Verdict: These “nice to have” benefits are the icing on the cake for any premium travel card, so it’s up to you which card’s extra perks you value more. We’ll keep a close eye on how the “preferred pricing” on the premium Aeroplan cards, as it could make the difference here.

Other Factors

Finally, we’ll take a look at the cards’ ancillary benefits and any other considerations that might sway your choice in either direction.

1. Supplementary Cards

Much has been made about the fact that the new Aeroplan cards will share benefits more seamlessly with their supplementary cardholders. Indeed, supplementary cardholders will receive all of the benefits of Maple Leaf Lounge access, free checked bag, priority airport services, preferred pricing, and more.

In exchange, supplementary cards on the premium Aeroplan credit cards will command an annual fee of $199.

Meanwhile, the Platinum Card charges $175 for supplementary cards, and also shares some of its benefits with authorized users as well. Currently, it’s well-documented that supplementary Platinum Cards receive their own unlimited Priority Pass membership, the quartet of hotel elite statuses, and the ability to access the Platinum Concierge and flash their card for benefits like priority security lane at Toronto Pearson.

Not only that, but primary Platinum cardholders also receive a bonus of 5,000 MR points whenever they add supplementary cards, which increases the value proposition even further.

It remains to be seen whether the premium Aeroplan cards will offer a similar incentive for adding supplementary cards under a single account – in my view, they absolutely should make this a feature in order to get cardmembers used to sharing the benefits with their trusted friends and family.

Verdict: Both the Platinum Card and the new Aeroplan cards will offer strong shared perks for supplementary cardholders. Since I’d consider the Platinum Card’s underlying benefits to be stronger to begin with, and its supplementary card fee of $175 is lower as well, I’d call it the winner in this category.

2. Travel Insurance

The Platinum Card’s travel insurance package has long been considered industry-leading; however, the new premium Aeroplan cards by TD and CIBC do outperform the Platinum Card in many regards.

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege and CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege will provide up to $5,000,000 of coverage for the first 31 days of an out-of-province trip (for travellers under 65 years of age) or the first 4 or 10 days, respectively, of an out-of-province trip (for travellers aged 65 years or older).

Compare that to the Platinum Card, which also offers $5,000,000 of coverage, but only for the first 15 days of an out-of-province trip for travellers under 65 years of age, with no coverage for more elderly travellers.

The TD and CIBC cards have also added hotel burglary insurance (up to $2,500) and mobile device insurance (up to $1,500), both of which exceed what’s offered by the Platinum Card ($1,000 and $0, respectively), and their purchase security provisions (up to 120 and 180 days after purchase, respectively) are also stronger than the Platinum’s 90 days.

Furthermore, you can also take comfort in the fact that the Aeroplan cards’ insurance will apply when you redeem Aeroplan points for travel, whereas the Platinum Card’s insurance only kicks in if you’re redeeming Amex MR points directly.

(Incidentally, the insurance package is another point where the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card seems to diverge from TD and CIBC’s offerings, as it’s significantly weaker than both of its counterparts as well as the Platinum Card itself.)

Verdict: The premium Aeroplan credit cards from TD and CIBC provide an even stronger travel insurance package than the Platinum Card, although the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card lags behind by quite a fair margin.

3. Ease of Getting Approved

The American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, like all other American Express products, will have no income requirement and will not be subject to the same income requirements as its Visa Infinite Privilege counterparts under TD and CIBC.

Therefore, the Aeroplan Reserve Card offers an easier inroad to the premium Aeroplan cards for those of you who might not meet TD and CIBC’s requirement of $200,000 in personal or household annual income.

Of course, the Platinum Card has historically been very easy to be approved for, and there’s been no income requirement on this card in recent times and American Express has been generous in terms of extending credit.

Verdict: As a charge card, the Platinum Card is likely to be the easiest card among the four products under consideration to be approved for. If the Aeroplan Reserve Card follows the rest of the American Express products in having no income requirement, it’ll be easier than the TD and CIBC premium cards in terms of getting approval, but may still be subject to stricter credit checks as a credit card, rather than a charge card.

4. Visual Appearance

CIBC and American Express have both confirmed that their new Aeroplan credit cards will be made of metal, so I’d be surprised if TD didn’t follow suit.

Of course, the Platinum Card is already made of metal, and is actually be a fair bit heavier at 18 grams than the Aeroplan Reserve’s 13 grams. Plus, in spite of the new Aeroplan cards’ snazzy designs, I still think the Platinum Card’s timeless look is ultimately the most likely to win the admiration of baristas and bartenders everywhere when you whip it out.

Verdict: All four products should go a long way towards satisfying the credit card community’s fascination with metal cards, but the American Express Platinum Card still has that wow-factor that few other products can match.

Conclusion

After taking some time to consider the value proposition of the new Aeroplan credit cards by TD, CIBC, and American Express, I’m left with a feeling that the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege, and the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card have certainly made a respectable effort to challenge the American Express Platinum Card, but still have a fair ways to go before they come close to unseating the Platinum Card as Canada’s leading premium travel credit card.

When it comes time to choose a premium travel card with a hefty annual fee, very few Canadian households will have the budget to hold more than one product simultaneously in the long run. And despite the hype surrounding the new Aeroplan credit cards, their value proposition at a $599 price point is, in my view, still overshadowed by the Platinum Card’s broader lounge access offering, more versatile hotel status benefits, and lower price point of $499 once the $200 travel credit is taken into account.

The premium Aeroplan credit cards will deliver excellent value for Air Canada frequent flyers, that’s for sure, but I feel that they could’ve done more to appeal to the wider Canadian travelling public, who might otherwise find more appeal in the Platinum Card’s broader benefits, and attract them more into the Aeroplan sphere instead.

Here’s hoping that the premium Aeroplan credit cards will deliver a greater wow-factor of their own when they launch with elevated welcome bonuses, as well as when they inevitably evolve over time and seek a place in the wallets of more and more travellers across Canada.

Now that we’ve looked at the personal cards, in the next installment, we’ll do a similar analysis on the business side between the American Express Business Platinum Card and the brand-new American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card.

 

 

26 Comments
  1. Rod

    Looks like Amex stepped up their game. The Reserve now includes unlimited Priority Pass and 1.25 earning rate. I think you need to update this comparison

    1. Ricky YVR

      Thanks for the heads up – yes, we’ve got lots of content we need to update with all of the jazzing-up that Amex has done!

  2. Alison Silcoff

    Ricky, I have twice sent you a message (a question) on your site, but you never reply.

    1. Ricky YVR

      Sorry about that Alison, I’ll get on it right away.

  3. lee

    2 Questions:
    1. You mentioned historically amex plat offered 60000pts but i see only 25k now. Will they likely offer promo in the future or is the only way to get more points is thru a referral link?

    2. when i travel it’s usually a fam of 6: parents, wife, me & 2 kids. Is there any way to fit us all in in the lounges? I’ve always wondered – since there’re usually multiple lounges in the same terminal – could I take my wife&kids to one ie: Centurion, then come out and get my parents to another one ie: priority pass lounge. If this doesnt work then I guess the only way is to get 4 business-class tickets so the whole fam could go into the NON- centurion lounge. Any suggestions?

    1. Ricky YVR

      Yes, 60,000 points was the historical pre-pandemic level via a referral link. Once Amex has more appetite for new acquisitions again, I’d expect the bonus to go back up to around that level (if only to justify the annual fee, which the current 25,000 points certainly doesn’t).

      You can definitely do that. However, keep in mind that even a single lounge is often happy to let your kids in free of charge (although they don’t always do so).

      1. lee

        ya kids im not too worried, but not my parents. Currently the Centurion lounge allows immediate family OR 2 other individuals. And I actually just realized that my aforementioned tactic wont work because the cardholder HAS TO accompany the party at all times, so I CANT go out to take my parents to another lounge and leave them there.

        1. Ricky YVR

          They really don’t enforce that very strictly (there’s no way they can keep track of everyone in the lounge to make sure that all guests are accompanied by the cardholder at all times).

          You can very easily exit the lounge on your own, saying that “you’ll be right back in a second”, go check your parents into the other lounge, then come back.

  4. BigG

    Don’t forget that the bankcredit card yearly fees can be brought down significantly if not eliminated if you have a suite of services with that bank ie. accounts, mortgage rrsp etc. Also I find the centurion lounges superior to maple leaf in almost every case and I tend to use them quite a bit. Best combo I think is a plat for Aeroplan earn and an RBC priviledge for avios earn.

  5. James

    Amex extended my timeline to use the credit earlier this year as a way to help use it. I think the extension was either 6 or 12 months. Not sure as I found a way to use it. 🙂

  6. Branwell

    The current Amex Aeroplan card provides access to all MLLs including CDG etc for the primary cardholder + supplemenatary cardholders. Will any of the new Aeroplan cards offer access to the MLLs in Europe?

  7. William

    Is there a limit on the ability to earn 1,000 Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) or 1 Status Qualifying Segment (SQS) per $5,000 in eligible spending with the new Amex Aero Plat? If I spent $200k, does it mean I will get 40k SQM and 40 SQS? If I also spent $4k in AQD, does it mean I can qualify for Elite 35k? Thanks.

    1. Ricky YVR

      No limit as far as I’m aware. What you’ve described is correct – the SQD requirement will still need to be met independently to qualify for Elite Status.

  8. Dan

    It’s very detailed comparison here, but a VERY important factor is missing here and it’s the number of places you can use these cards in Canada or the rest of the world. Having a better reward rate for collecting points doesn’t mean much if you can’t use your card everywhere. If you live in Canada, just go to a coffeeshop and try to pay with your Amex card – not possible. Even pay your bills online – very limited. My conclusion is that you would need another card in addition to any American Express to use in places you can’t use Amex in Canada. Amex really gives you the best on paper, but in real life, the situation is not that shiny

    1. Jairo

      … but you are right, asking “do you take Amex?” gets tiring..

      I hope there was a non-amex card with unlimited lounges privileges, I was looking at the Visa Infinite Privilege but they only offr 4 or 6 lounges access…

      Amex for lounges access + Visa infinite privilege for Air Canada Priority boarding might be a good combo! but two annual fees of about 700 bucks each is not easy to stomach.

    2. Jairo

      Even Dollarama now accepts Amex. In fact they just sent a promo “Spend 25 bucks get 500 MR points”

    3. HalTon

      I agree with Dan, that has always been a long standing issue with AX, lack of outlets for use of Ax cards. I did exactly as Ricky states” Pair it” with a Visa or MC. I chose TD Aeroplan. It works well for travel too. Amex, is for sure a beneficial card to use when travelling, it offers great peace-of-mind and the perks are clear assets when on the road.

    4. Ricky YVR

      You should always pair an American Express with a Visa or MasterCard, that’s for sure. However, I’ve always found that Amex acceptance tends to be stronger in Canada than people imagine it to be, although perhaps that’s because a lot of my spending is concentrated in Amex’s core categories of travel, dining, and entertainment.

    5. François Bernier

      Excellent point 🙂

  9. Aselwyn

    all these cards still seem to have worse/same earning of Aeroplan then a Amex Gold card shame

  10. Jacqueline

    How does the westjet card compare?

    1. James

      It doesn’t compare really but it is my perfect second card to my Amex. I happen to fly WJ a lot with my family so the free checked bag beef it saves us a lot of money each year and the companion ticket each year is easy to use (most years at least). You do get some MasterCard elite benefits like lounge access through lounge buddy and I think there is a Boingo wifi discount but you have to lcok on the MC elite webpage.
      Another plus is if you have the correct RBC banking package (vip?) and have multiple account types with them, they refund your annual fee. I think it’s a really great card but again we happen to travel a lot with WJ.

  11. Dean

    I wonder what benefits exactly secondary cardholders will have with the Amex Reserve. Depending on that, I might just keep my Platinum and become a secondary cardholder on my partner’s account for the benefits ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    1. Ricky YVR

      It’s looking like the lounge access, free first checked bag, priority airport services, and preferred pricing will be shared.

      I do agree that holding a Platinum Card and a premium Aeroplan card and then adding each other as authorized users might make sense for households who can stomach two sets of annual fees.

      1. George

        I notice that many people put a strong emphasis on the lounge access when commenting on which card offers additional benefits. To be honest, I found the Platinum lounge to be rather underwhelming in Toronto compared to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. As a result, this would not influence my decision making as much as it appears to do wirh other people.

        On a side note, has Amex found a way to let cardholders use the $200 travel reward while we are unable to travel? Flipping it to MR points to be used in the future might be a win – win proposition.

        1. Ricky YVR

          The Plaza Premium lounges are generally a step below Maple Leaf Lounges, but I’d also point out that the transborder Plaza Premium lounge offers hot food (of mediocre quality, but still) whereas the transborder Maple Leaf Lounge doesn’t.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have an Account? Click here to Login