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Back in December 2020, Chase and Air Canada announced a pending partnership. Very few details were given about the partnership, though. At least until now! Beginning today, August 3, 2021, you can now transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards to Air Canada's loyalty program, Aeroplan.
But wait! There's more. Chase will also be launching a co-branded Air Canada credit card sometime later this year. Details on the card haven't been released, but we know for sure now that it's in the works and coming soon.
The Details
- Beginning August 3, 2021, you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards to Air Canada's Aeroplan
- The transfer rate is 1:1
- A new co-branded credit card launching later this year
- Air Canada is launching a waitlist to hear more info on the new Aeroplan credit card and to reserve a 10,000 point bonus (which will be in addition to a currently unknown welcome offer).
Aeroplan Sweet Spots
Aeroplan is a founding member of the Star Alliance — which is great and all. But, what really sets it apart from its alliance partners is the ability to still use open jaws and stopovers. Additionally, Aeroplan does not charge airline-imposed fees on partner airlines. Instead, you'll pay a flat C$39 ($29) fee for all partner awards. For flights on airlines like Lufthansa, this amounts to hundreds in savings each way.
Shorthaul Flights under 500 miles in North America
Aeroplan uses a hybrid of distance-based and region-based award charts. Longer flights will cost more miles, but how much more will also depend on the specific zone. Aeroplan has 4 regions: North America, Pacific, Atlantic, and South America.
For flights under 500 miles in the North American region, redemptions are as low as 500 miles. This flight from New York to Toronto's cash price is about $200 one way, or you could pay 6,000 miles and $29.
Business Class to Europe
Another great way to use Aeroplan points is for business class redemptions to Europe. A flight from Dallas, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany on Lufthansa in its aspirational business class cabin runs just 70,000 Aeroplan miles.
Other Reasons to Love Aeroplan
- Aeroplan points are redeemable for every seat on all Air Canada flights — although you may have to pay a premium
- Air Canada Aeroplan partners with 40 airlines
- Countless routing possibilities. Aeroplan gives you the ability to add a stopover for just 5,000 points.
- Aeroplan family miles pooling — families are given the ability to combine points together for no additional costs.
- Flexible options to use points to pay for all or a portion of your trip using Aeroplan’s Points Predictor Tool.
Best Ultimate Rewards Earning Cards
If this new transfer partnership has you looking at Chase Ultimate Rewards with new eyes, here are the top offers on Ultimate Rewards-earning cards:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® — Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card — New Cardmember Offer! Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
If you have an Ultimate Rewards-earning card already, you can boost your balance by earning “cash back” through these cards and then combining the points with your Ultimate Rewards card.
- Chase Freedom Flex℠ — Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (excluding Target® and Walmart®) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year (that's $600 cash back!).
- Chase Freedom Unlimited® — Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back. That's 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases.
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card — Earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card — Earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Final Thoughts
Aeroplan joining the Chase transfer partner lineup is huge news and makes the already amazingly valuable Ultimate Rewards that much more valuable.
Are you excited about this new partnership?
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Air Canada / Aeroplan has been quite aggressive at pushing the program and increasing earning opportunities. This is another example of such. Wow!
Is the Chase Aeroplan card ONLY available to the US, but NOT Canadian, residents?
That’s right. But, there are already a few Aeroplan-branded cards available to Canadians through Amex. We in the US are finally getting our own Aeroplan card!
This makes UR more valuable to me. Though if you had to pick between Citi and Chase, if Citi got AA as a transfer partner would you change over, if you couldn’t keep both? To really benefit and get points quicker it’s better to charge in one credit card family. If you spread it out over Citi, Chase and Amex, for ex., then it’ll be slower to build up points, unless you focus on one more than other.
Hope citi expands its transferable partners, especially to some of global hotel chain..
Great addition, I hope they’re not looking to devalue any aeroplan award charts because of this.
I will have nothing to do with Air Canada after the way they treated customers during COVID. Despite a ruling in the US that reaffirmed that any carrier that cancels a flight must issue a full refund, AC still refused to give refunds despite canceling flights. I will not support them by Chase purchasing Aeroplan miles for me to redeem and use. It benefits AC to sell their miles to Chase.
I remember reading about that. Apparently they promised to dole out refunds after they received a government bailout, but at the same time they rewrote their policies and the language they used gave them a legal loophole. Something about there being “a delay or cancellation due to a circumstance outside of Air Canada’s control” if I remember correctly, which would include Covid. It definitely makes you reconsider your loyalty to certain programs.
I want to be excited here; this is clearly a positive development. However, yes, Air Canada absolutely stood out for their atrocious decision-making around Covid refunds. They are the only airline I know of that totally abandoned their customers over refunds.
So exciting. I’ve never flown Aeroplan before but I may give it a shot with my UR points if any of their flights stand out to me.
This is a very good option for topping your Aeroplan account and keep points for expiring
Chase does not operate in Canada anymore though. 🙂
Great addition. I’ll probably use this a lot.
It’s always good to have more options. I usually fly to Canada once a year (pre-pandemic), so being able to transfer points from Chase is a definite upside. I’m looking forward to learning the ins-and-outs of the new Aeroplan program.
This one is massive. The arrival of a new UR point transfer and it being Aeroplan is great news. I’ve been saving a spot in both P2 and my 5/24 waiting for this card
Aeroplan miles are a great way to fly with Star Alliance airlines. This is wonderful news for anyone with some Chase points. Even using Aeroplan miles on United isn’t a terrible deal in a pinch – always good to have another option in your back pocket!