Chase Aeroplan Co-Branded Credit Card: 60,000-Point Sign-Up Bonus

The Air Canada co-branded card now comes with a 60,000-point welcome bonus. Aeroplan redemptions for UA and ANA flights are pretty solid, and they are especially generous for infant fares. After the refresh, this card can help you earn Air Canada elite status through spending, and it is also generous with checked baggage. Another standout feature is that you can redeem Aeroplan points for travel purchases at a value of 1.25 cents per point, which is great for people who otherwise have trouble using their points.

• Aeroplan application link

The welcome bonus on this card is pretty good, and we have also added it to our credit card welcome bonus rankings!

• U.S. credit card welcome bonus rankings (personal cards)

Chase Aeroplan Co-Branded Credit Card Overview

Benefits Analysis

• Monthly spending bonus: Earn an extra 500 points for every $2,000 spent, up to 1,500 points per month. That is effectively an extra 0.25x
• Air Canada-related benefits:
  • Automatic one-year Aeroplan 25K status when you open the card
  • Spend $15,000 per year to keep Aeroplan 25K status; spend $50,000 per year to get a status boost, up to Aeroplan 35K status
  • First checked bag free, valid for up to 8 companions, Air Canada-operated flights only
  • Enjoy Air Canada preferred pricing, with some point discounts on award tickets
• Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, and NEXUS application fee reimbursement: Up to $100 every four years

Flight Reward Certificate (not currently available)

• How the certificate works: The flight reward that comes with the card is worth 50,000 points, similar to a free night certificate, and can be used toward flights costing up to 50,000 points. It can only be used for one-person bookings, with no cabin restriction. If you book a 65,000-point flight, you need to make up the remaining 15,000 points; if you book a 45,000-point flight, the extra value is not refunded. The certificate does not expire, but it will automatically expire if you close the card. It stays in your own account and cannot be transferred, but you can use it to book for someone else

Pay Yourself Back Feature

Feature Overview

This card now offers a Pay Yourself Back-like feature. You can use Aeroplan points to reimburse travel purchases at a rate of 1.25 cents per point, which means 10,000 points can reimburse $125 in travel spending. Travel spending includes airfare, hotels, timeshares, car rentals, third-party travel agencies, cruises, trains, buses, taxis, tolls, parking, and more.

Merchants in this category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages. Some merchants that provide transportation and travel-related services are not included in this category; for example, real estate agents, educational merchants arranging travel, in-flight goods and services, on-board cruise line goods and services, sightseeing activities, excursions, tourist attractions, RV and boat rentals, merchants within hotels and airports, public campgrounds and merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling. Purchases from gift card merchants or merchants that sell points or miles will not qualify in the travel category.

The features of this redemption option are as follows:

• Under the new terms, only Aeroplan points earned under the Aeroplan Program, the Chase Aeroplan Card, and Chase Ultimate Rewards® points can be used for this feature (in theory, points transferred in from other programs cannot be used)
• The 2025 redemption cap is 200,000 points (per FM; I could not find this in the terms)

Only Aeroplan Points earned under the Aeroplan Program, the Chase Aeroplan Card, and Chase Ultimate Rewards®can be used for Chase Pay Yourself Back. Points converted from other programs are not eligible. For information about Chase rewards categories, see chase.com/RewardsCategoryFAQsOpens in a new window. If Aeroplan determines, in its sole discretion based on its data, that you have redeemed ineligible Aeroplan Points, Aeroplan reserves the right to reverse your point redemption or freeze your Aeroplan Membership account.

This feature is worth noting for the following reasons:

• Aeroplan points can now be converted into cash-like value directly. As long as you have travel spending, you can burn through a lot of Aeroplan points
• 【Not officially allowed; account may be locked】Aeroplan has many transfer partners, such as Amex, Chase, and Capital One, all at 1:1; Marriott is 3:1.25. If you hold this card, those bank points can at least be used at a floor value of 1.25 cents per point.
• There are also bonus transfer promotions for moving bank points to Aeroplan points, such as:
  • UR to Aeroplan 10% bonus: cardholders can currently see this offer. If you have a card that can transfer UR points to Aeroplan points (such as Sapphire Preferred/Reserve and the Ink line), a one-time transfer of 50,000 points or more can earn an extra 10% bonus, effectively improving the transfer ratio to 1:1.1. The annual bonus cap is 25,000.
  • Additional UR to Aeroplan bonus: there was a 20% bonus in 2024. It could also stack with the 10% bonus from the card, for a total bonus of 30%.
  • 【Not officially allowed; account may be locked】MR to Aeroplan 30% bonus: there have been several such promotions before. If you stack that 30% bonus with 1.25 cents per point, it is effectively like cashing out MR at 1.625 cents per point
  • 【Not officially allowed; account may be locked】Marriott to Aeroplan bonus: there have been extra bonuses before, usually a few times a year

According to FM, the 2025 Pay Yourself Back (PYB) cap on this card is 200,000 points. At 1.25 cents per point, that works out to $2,500 in travel-related spending. Note that under the new terms, only Aeroplan points earned under the Aeroplan Program, the Chase Aeroplan Card, and Chase Ultimate Rewards® points can be used for this feature (in theory, points transferred in from other programs cannot be used, so please be mindful of the risk). After thinking about it, the best use is probably to wait until UR to Aeroplan transfers have a 20% + 10% bonus and then move them, so you can get 1.25 * 1.3 = 1.625 cents per point in value, which is slightly better than redeeming UR directly for flights at 1.5 cents per point.

Only Aeroplan Points earned under the Aeroplan Program, the Chase Aeroplan Card, and Chase Ultimate Rewards® can be used for Chase Pay Yourself Back. Points converted from other programs are not eligible. For information about Chase rewards categories, see chase.com/RewardsCategoryFAQsOpens in a new window. If Aeroplan determines, in its sole discretion based on its data, that you have redeemed ineligible Aeroplan Points, Aeroplan reserves the right to reverse your point redemption or freeze your Aeroplan Membership account.

Risk Warning

I have recently seen a few cases where people were shut down for overusing the unrestricted 2023 Pay Yourself Back feature, so if you are planning to go big, be careful. Personally, I think that if next year's redemption cap is 50,000 points, staying within that range should definitely be fine; if you go higher, staying under 100,000 is safer. Also, this PYB feature is mainly meant to give the Air Canada co-branded card another way to use Aeroplan points. If you transfer a large number of points in from Amex, Marriott, and similar programs and then redeem them, that does run somewhat against the original design. So if you transfer in a large amount and then redeem, you should be extra careful.

Previously shut-down accounts have also been seen restored, and those accounts received a notice. The gist is that they have the right to shut down accounts, and only points from AC, the Chase AC co-branded card, and Chase UR can be used for Pay Yourself Back. Points from other sources (for example MR, Marriott, etc.) cannot be used with this feature. In theory, once points enter AC, Chase can't tell where they came from, so there's no need to worry too much. Personally, I think it's fine as long as the amounts aren't too large. If you're going to go over 50,000 or 100,000, it's probably better to follow Chase's guidance.

Subject: Update regarding your recent Aeroplan Points ConversionYou have recently converted a significant number of points from a third party rewards program into the Aeroplan® Program and then subsequently redeemed those Aeroplan Points for Pay Yourself Back® on your Chase Aeroplan® Card. Section 6 of the Aeroplan Terms and Conditions provides that “Aeroplan reserves the right, at any time, to impose limitations on the ability of a Member to engage in conversions from a Conversion Program into Aeroplan Points and on the use of such Aeroplan Points upon conversion.”Only Aeroplan Points earned under the Aeroplan Program, the Chase Aeroplan Card, and Chase Ultimate Rewards can be used for Chase Pay Yourself Back. All other conversion programs are not allowed to be converted into Aeroplan Points for use with the Chase Pay Yourself Back program.

Reader Darren also shared that his Aeroplan account was locked. He transferred 260,000 points from Membership to Aeroplan, planning to use them for PYB, but after the redemption went through, the account was locked. So AC points could only be transferred in but not used (he couldn't book award tickets or use PYB either). A few days ago he also received the email above, and only then did the AC account return to normal. During that time, he contacted Chase, and Chase's final reply was that the review was requested by AC, so everything would depend on the outcome of that review, and Chase couldn't provide a solution.

Hotel benefits

Aeroplan has now launched a perk for co-branded credit cards: book hotels with AC points, and for every three nights booked, you get one night free. From the wording, it seems the three nights can be booked separately and don't have to be consecutive. The promotion ends on December 31, 2025, which extends it by another year

• Promotion link

• HotelSaver overview

My take

As a new card, I don't think it's great that the sign-up bonus is not points but a much more restrictive points voucher. Even though the voucher doesn't expire, you still have to keep the card, so you can't just grab the bonus and run. From a benefits standpoint, it's still pretty good: there is 3x on groceries and dining, extra monthly spending bonuses, and annual spending can also earn AC elite status. If you fly AC regularly, you may want to keep it.

How to apply:

• Recently, there have been signs that the Chase 5/24 rule has loosened a bit. I personally think this card is very likely not subject to 5/24, so you can decide for yourself whether to take a shot
• This card requires a credit limit of at least $5,000, so if your income is too low or your credit history is too short, you may not be approved
• This is an Air Canada co-branded credit card. When applying, you can enter your Aeroplan membership number; if you leave it blank, the system will automatically assign you a new one

Chase Credit Card Application Guide

• Chase application status check link (login required). Or call: 888-338-2586
• The 5/24 rule: if you have opened more than 5 new cards in the past 2 years (including cards from other banks), you will not be approved for a new Chase card
• You can be approved for at most two Chase credit cards within every 30 days
• If you have received the welcome bonus on this card within the past 24 months (48 months for the Sapphire family), your application will be automatically denied
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-453-9719) to expedite card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• Having a Chase Checking account can help with getting approved for a credit card
• More on applying for Chase credit cards

Application link: