The Chase Air Canada Aeroplan® Credit Card (see rates and fees) now offers an improved perk to reduce the cost of your next Air Canada award flight.
Since the card's September refresh, primary cardholders pay at least 15% fewer Aeroplan points on eligible Air Canada flight rewards than members without the card. The new savings also stack with Aeroplan's Priority Rewards, offered as Milestone Benefits for elite members.
Air Canada's Aeroplan is one of the best Star Alliance loyalty programs for U.S. travelers, thanks to its transfer partners, long list of partner airlines and reasonable award pricing. Now its own airline is even cheaper to book for cardholders too.
Here's how the discounts work and how you can save on your next redemption.
What is the 15% Air Canada discount for cardholders?
Primary cardholders of the Aeroplan Credit Card now pay at least 15% fewer Aeroplan points on eligible Air Canada flight rewards.
For example, an award that costs a non-cardholder 100,000 Aeroplan points would cost a cardholder no more than 85,000 points.
To get the discount, you must:
- Be the primary cardholder — authorized users aren't eligible — though the discount will apply to everyone on the booking
- Link your card to your Aeroplan account
- Book through Air Canada's website, app or call center
You'll receive the discount as long as at least one segment of your itinerary is operated by Air Canada (or its subsidiaries, Air Canada Express or Air Canada Rouge). That means you could fly United from Chicago to Montreal, then Air Canada from Montreal to London, and still receive the discount.
If you're booking a redemption entirely on a partner (or partners), then you won't receive the discount.
The discount only reduces the points portion of the base fare; taxes, fees and charges don't change. Neither do the cash portion of a points-plus-cash booking, travel insurance, trip cancellation insurance, purchases from third-party partners or Air Canada's carbon offset program.
You can pay with points from a pooled Aeroplan family account, as long as it has enough points for the booking.
Changes and cancellations follow Aeroplan's standard flight reward rules. If you change your booking later, you must remain the primary cardholder for the discount to apply to the new itinerary.
And this award discount can stack with Priority Rewards, saving you more points.
Related: Is Air Canada premium economy worth it?
What are Aeroplan's Priority Rewards?
Priority Rewards are vouchers that take 50% off the points price of an eligible flight reward for one passenger. (Taxes, fees and charges are not discounted.)
Where you can travel with a Priority Reward depends on your Aeroplan status when you earn it:
- 25K: Economy within Canada and the U.S.
- 35K and 50K: Up to premium economy within North America
- 75K: Up to premium economy worldwide
- Super Elite: Up to business class worldwide
Confusingly, Priority Rewards are not automatically granted at each elite status level above. Instead, members can choose a Priority Reward as a Milestone Benefit when they reach certain levels of Status Qualifying Credits. The first opportunity comes at 20,000 Status Qualifying Credits, and more follow at higher thresholds. Other key rules include:
- Each Priority Rewards voucher is valid for 12 months from when you select it, and you only need to book (not travel) before it expires
- Every flight on the itinerary must be eligible under your voucher
- Vouchers can't be transferred to another Aeroplan account
- Basic economy fares are excluded
Fortunately, the refreshed Aeroplan Card doesn't even require you to step onto a plane to earn Milestone Rewards.
The card earns up to 25,000 SQCs toward Aeroplan elite status per calendar year: 5,000 automatically; an additional 10,000 after spending $25,000; and another 10,000 after spending $50,000. If you reach the full $50,000 spending threshold, you'll pass the 20,000 credits level to select a Priority Reward.
Related: Air Canada to debut luxe new cabins and business-class seats
How to stack the 15% redemption discount with Priority Rewards
The card's 15% discount on Air Canada redemptions stacks with Priority Rewards, provided your booking meets the voucher's destination and cabin restrictions described above.
Say you find a one-way economy award on Air Canada from the U.S. to Canada for 30,000 Aeroplan points and have selected a Priority Reward as a Milestone Benefit. A Priority Reward halves that to 15,000 points. Then, the card's 15% discount applies to the reduced price, meaning you'd pay 12,750 points, for total savings of over 57%.
For elite members with higher status, the savings add up quickly. A Super Elite member using a Priority Reward on a business-class flight to Asia will save far more points than a 25K member flying economy to Canada.
Can the 15% discount cover the card's annual fee?
TPG values Aeroplan points at 1.5 cents each in our September 2026 valuations, so you'd need to save 13,000 points in a year to cover the card's $195 annual fee (solely by maximizing this benefit).
You can easily save that on a premium cabin redemption to Europe for one person or round-trip economy fares for two or more.
The Aeroplan Card also comes with up to $100 in Air Canada statement credits each year. You get one $50 credit for the rest of 2026. From 2027, you can earn up to $50 from January to June and up to $50 more from July to December.
The credits cover purchases coded as Air Canada, including paid fares, award bookings and inflight purchases.
The card also offers:
- Automatic Aeroplan 25K elite status every year, with no spending requirement. Perks include priority check-in, Zone 2 priority boarding and five eUpgrade Credits a year.
- Up to 5 points per dollar spent on eligible Air Canada flights (3 points per dollar from the card, plus an additional 2 points per dollar from Air Canada when traveling as an Aeroplan 25K member)
- 3 points per dollar spent on all other travel
- 2 points per dollar spent at grocery stores* and on dining at restaurants* and at gas stations
- A free first checked bag (for you and up to eight companions traveling on the same itinerary).
*Dining and grocery store purchases earn a boosted 3 points per dollar spent through the end of 2026.
Plus, every four years, you'll be reimbursed up to $120 toward your application fees for any of these three Trusted Traveler Programs: Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or Nexus.
Why Aeroplan remains such a great loyalty program
Aeroplan has long been my favorite Star Alliance loyalty program. It has a wide range of excellent Star Alliance airline partners, as well as unique nonalliance partners like Emirates and Virgin Australia, offers generous award charts for partner-operated flights, and doesn't add carrier-imposed surcharges. You can also add a stopover to a one-way award for 5,000 extra points, an excellent way to extend your vacation.
If you need to top up your account, Aeroplan is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt, Capital One and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
You will still receive the 15% discount on Air Canada redemptions regardless of where the points were transferred or earned from, provided you have the Aeroplan Card.
Bottom line
The 15% discount is one of the most useful redemption benefits of the newly refreshed Aeroplan Card. While a discount was previously offered to those with Aeroplan 25K elite status, it varied by route and date, and I usually found it to be less than 10%.
Pair it with a Priority Reward, and the savings can get even bigger, covering the cost of the annual fee without factoring in all the other great perks of the card.
To learn more, read our full review of the Aeroplan Credit Card.
Apply here: Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Credit Card
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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