American Express® Aeroplan®* Reserve Card Review

With the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, you can earn Aeroplan points on every purchase, redeemable towards travel expenses like hotel bookings, flights, and car rentals.

If you’re a frequent traveller looking for a luxurious experience each time you travel with Air Canada, then this card will definitely pique your interest. In fact, just take one look at the enticing sign-up bonus, and you’ll already be hooked.

How You Earn Rewards with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

First, let’s start with the rewards.

Here’s what you can expect from the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card each time you make a qualifying purchase:

• 3x Aeroplan points per $1 spent on eligible Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations purchases
• 2x Aeroplan points per $1 spent on eligible dining and food delivery purchases
• 1.25x Aeroplan points per $1 spent on all other purchases

Based on this list, if you’re constantly flying and vacationing with Air Canada, you can earn the most Aeroplan points towards your next getaway. This card is also beneficial for those who tend to dine out more often, or even those who prefer to order food and dine in. If either scenario is the case for you, then you can literally eat your way towards a discounted trip – sounds like a good deal to us!

Redeeming your Rewards with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

Now that you know where your points are coming from with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, it’s time to go over where you can spend them.

Here are the top redemption categories for your Amex Aeroplan Reserve Card, ranked from most valuable to least valuable:

• Transfers to Airline Partners: when you transfer your points to partnered airlines to purchase plane tickets.
• Travel: referring to when you book travel through eligible booking platforms, redeeming your points towards eligible flights or vacation packages.
• Gift Cards: for when you turn your points into eligible gift cards.

Ultimately, your points are the most valuable when you redeem them towards trips, making this card an all-around travel-oriented credit card. Catch yourself in an endless cycle of earning points on travel purchases, only to turn around and redeem those same points towards travel yet again.

8 Benefits of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

Moving on from rewards, in this section, we’re going to break down the benefits of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.

Here are some of the top perks available:

One of the Best Welcome Bonuses in Canada

New American Express^® Aeroplan^®* Reserve Cardmembers can earn a substantial amount of bonus Aeroplan points. They add up to thousands of dollars in value when you combine your bonus points and card benefits!

Free First Checked Bag

It can be tough stuffing everything you need into a carry-on all the time, but nobody likes those extra costs on checked baggage. Luckily, with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, you can get your first checked bag free on Air Canada flights for yourself and up to 8 accompanying guests. 

Nexus Program Rebate

Every 4 years, American Express Reserve Cardholders are eligible to receive up to $100 in statement credits for any NEXUS program application or renewal fees charged to their card. The four year period lasts from the initial card anniversary to the day before the fourth card anniversary date.

The Status Lifts

Earn a couple of valuable titles with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, earning you access to exclusive perks simply based on your status.

Here are the types of status lifts you can expect:

Aeroplan Elite Status

Claim your Aeroplan Elite Status quickly by collecting 1,000 Status Qualifying Miles and a Status Qualifying Segment for every $5,000 of net purchases. Your Aeroplan Elite Status is what gets you access to perks like complimentary checked baggage allowance, Maple Leaf lounge access, eUpgrades, priority services, and priority awards.

Primary Cardholders who also have Aeroplan Elite Status can roll over up to 200,000 unused Status Qualifying Miles to help them qualify for Aeroplan status the next year.

Also available to Primary Cardholders with Aeroplan Elite Status, earn an extra 12 months to use eUpgrade credits, giving you a full 24 months of eligibility.

Avis President’s Club

Aeroplan and Avis have partnered together to offer a complimentary upgrade to the Avis President’s Club as long as you enroll for the status. This status offers free car rental upgrades and expedited services to qualifying cardholders.

Priority Travel Perks

If your departure flight takes off from Toronto Pearson airport, then the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card earns you Priority Travel Perks like Priority Security lane, complimentary valet, premium parking, priority taxi and limo loans, plus a discount on parking and car care.

If that wasn’t enough, this card also grants you the following:

• Priority Check-in
• Priority Boarding
• Priority Baggage Handling
• Priority Airport Standby
• Priority Airport Upgrades for yourself, your authorized users, and up to 8 travel companions on the same Air Canada flight

Airport Lounge Passes and Access

If you’re looking to relax before takeoff, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card also has you covered with airport lounge passes and access.

Here’s a quick look into these perks:

Airport Lounge Priority Pass

The Priority Pass offers you membership into a network of over 1,600 airport lounges and experiences across the globe. Here, you’ll be pampered with premium amenities to make your airport stay tranquil rather than stressful. With this card in particular, you’ll only receive the pass, which means you’ll still need to pay for entry each visit.

Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafes

Basic Cardmembers and eligible Supplementary Cardmembers will receive complimentary access to any Air Canada Cafe and Maple Leaf Lounge located in both Canada and the United States – including international terminals. Cardmembers are allowed 1 complimentary guest to accompany them at participating lounges and cafes.

The Companion Voucher

When you spend $25,000 in net purchases before hitting your card anniversary date, you’re entitled to one Annual Worldwide Companion Pass. This pass allows you to purchase an accompanying Air Canada economy ticket for a travel companion. The ticket must have a base fare of at least $99 to up to $599.

Hotel Stay Extension

For a limited time, with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, get an additional free night’s stay for every 3 hotel nights redeemed using Aeroplan points. 

3 Downsides of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

The same way we highlighted the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card’s benefits, we also need to note the card’s drawbacks.

Here’s where you might run into a few shortcomings:

High Annual Fee

It’s no secret that the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card’s annual fee is quite steep, making it less affordable for some applicants. That said, if you plan to meet the card’s minimum spending requirements, and to take advantage of all the perks on offer, then you should be able to offset the annual cost – especially in the first year with that amazing welcome bonus.

More Rewards for Your Money on Competing Cards

If you were hoping to earn extra points on more popular everyday spending categories like groceries and gas, there are other competing Aeroplan point cards that meet this expectation. 

With the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, you get the most rewards through dining purchases (which is helpful since restaurant bills are expensive), plus Air Canada travel. If this simply doesn’t cover your high-spend categories, you might find a better contender later on when we compare the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card to other competing credit cards.

Amex Acceptance

At this point, you might have heard about American Express having a low acceptance rate compared to other networks like Mastercard or Visa. This is important to note especially if you’re a traveller, because some places, particularly in Europe, are less likely to accept an Amex card.

Comparison to Other Aeroplan-Optimizing Credit Cards

As promised, we’re going to compare the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card to other Aeroplan-optimizing credit cards on the Canadian market.

Here’s an overview of the comparisons we’re about to make:

American Express Aeroplan Card

Let’s start with a competitor that’s close to home, the American Express Aeroplan Card.

The annual fee is truly a fraction of the cost of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, and the first year bonus is easier to achieve. But, if you are able to meet the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card’s minimum spending requirement, then you could pocket a few extra hundreds of dollars worth of points in your first year of membership.

Moving on to rewards, you’ll see the same earning categories between both cards, but the earn rates for the American Express Aeroplan Card are slightly lower than the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.

Similarly, the two cards boast 7 of the same insurance categories, although not only does the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card have better values within most categories (like baggage delay, hotel burglary insurance, and flight delay protection), but it also offers more coverage overall (including lost or stolen baggage, emergency out of province medical, and trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance).

As for benefits, both cards offer an expedited way to achieve Aeroplan Elite Status, and earn a free first checked bag, extra points through partner brands, a free extra night at hotels, and Amex Experiences. However, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card tacks on even more perks like the companion voucher, the NEXUS program rebate, Priority Travel benefits, and airport lounge accommodations.

Ultimately, while the American Express Aeroplan Card might be cheaper, with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, you’re paying more in annual fees for more rewards, benefits, and coverage, which justifies the price difference. So, opting for the American Express Aeroplan Card over the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card really comes down to whether you want to save some money and miss out on some extra perks or spend more money to optimize your points, perks, and coverage even further.

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card

Starting off once again with an annual fee comparison, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card is more affordable than the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card. 

Its intro offer is also easier to earn in terms of spending requirements, but if you can meet the spending requirements of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, then you’ll earn a much higher welcome value in your first year.

Aside from fees and first year values, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card might be a bit trickier to apply for considering it has some annual income requirements – a pre-requisite you won’t see added to the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.

Regarding rewards, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card offers a couple of helpful reward categories that the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card lacks, one that accommodates not only Air Canada travel, but also gas and groceries. The disappointing part about this category, however, is that it isn’t worth much, which means that in terms of your points earned on Air Canada Travel, you’re earning half the points you could be collecting with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.

When we look at coverage, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card impresses us by adding emergency medical over 65 and mobile device insurance. Categories like flight delay and trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance are a bit more comprehensive with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, whereas the hotel burglary insurance category has better coverage on the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card.

If you take a look at benefits, both cards offer easily-accessible status lifts for Aeroplan Elite Status, a free first check bag, extra point perks, and a NEXUS program rebate. On top of these shared benefits, with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, you’ll get a car rental discount at Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car, trip and legal assistance, concierge services, Troon Rewards Golf benefits, and Visa Infinite Exclusive Benefits. Alternatively, with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, you'll get that companion voucher, free extra nights at hotels, priority travel perks, airport lounge perks, and Amex Experiences.

Overall, despite the higher insurance coverage and the inclusion of some popular spend categories for earning rewards (like groceries and gas), the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card has fewer benefits, more application requirements, and less earning potential than the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.

American Express Cobalt Card

The American Express Cobalt Card is considered the best credit card in Canada, so of course we had to include it in this comparison. 

First off, it has a first year value that surpasses that of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card (even when you meet the minimum spending requirements of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card). Not to mention, it comes with a much lower annual fee.

In terms of rewards, with the American Express Cobalt Card, you can earn the most points on eligible eats and drinks (including groceries and food delivery), followed by points per dollar spent on streaming subscriptions, then points per dollar spent on eligible gas and transit. Unlike the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, the American Express Cobalt Card doesn’t explicitly earn Aeroplan points, but its American Express Membership Reward points can be transferred to Air Canada Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio, turning it into a great Aeroplan points earner alternative that allows you to earn Aeroplan points on more top spending categories rather than just Air Canada purchases and dining.

However, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card has better insurance coverage on most shared categories, plus it adds valuable trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance to the mix.

The American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card also offers more benefits, whereas the American Express Cobalt Card only offers standard Amex Experiences and a hotel-oriented travel credit.

So really, you’ll likely want to swap your American Express Reserve Card for an American Express Cobalt Card if you’d rather accumulate Aeroplan points through multiple everyday purchases (including dining, groceries, streaming, gas, and transit) by making point transfers to Aeroplan. Otherwise, if you’re happy earning Aeroplan points through Air Canada travel purchases and dining, plus you want more benefits and travel coverage, then the American Express Reserve Card might be worth the extra cost.

American Express Gold Rewards Card

Another Amex contender for Aeroplan is the American Express Gold Rewards Card. 

This card is more affordable than the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, but higher spenders will still earn more with the first year bonus if they meet the minimum spending requirements with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.

As for rewards, with the American Express Gold Rewards Card, you’ll earn points per dollar spent on gas, groceries, and drugstore purchases, followed by points per dollar spent on travel (including eligible flights, hotels, tours and more). These American Express Membership Reward points can be transferred to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio.

The two cards boast the same insurance categories, but the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card gives cardholders better coverage in most categories.

Moving on to benefits, both cards offer status lifts, extra point perks, a NEXUS program rebate (which is higher with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card), and airport lounge Priority Passes. However, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card adds more benefits like the companion voucher, a free first checked bag, a free extra night at hotels, priority travel perks, and airport lounge unlimited access to Maple Leaf and Air Canada Cafes. Although, with the American Express Gold Rewards Card, you’ll still get complimentary hotel benefits, a travel credit, and 4 complimentary visits to Plaza Premium airport lounges.

In conclusion, you might opt for the American Express Gold Rewards Card if you want to spend less annually on your credit card, and earn points on more high-spend categories like gas, and groceries that can ultimately be transferred to Aeroplan. But, if you prefer earning Aeroplan points through Air Canada purchases and dining (which is an expensive category worth optimizing), plus extra benefits and travel coverage, then the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card’s higher cost might be justifiable (especially if you’re a bigger spender).

How to Apply for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

After exploring all of your options, if you’re still convinced that the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card is the best Aeroplan-optimized credit card for you, here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can apply to get one of your own:

1. Navigate to the American Express Canadian website.
2. Apply the “Travel” filter to the list of cards on the home screen, scroll down until you see the American Express Aeroplan Reserve card and select it.
3. Review all the information about the card directly from the source.
4. Once you have a solid understanding of what’s being offered, hit the “Apply Now” button.
5. The first step of the application process is to go over the product information, requirements, and privacy policies. After you’ve read these through, press “Agree & Continue.”
6. This is where you’ll need to provide some personal information, including your name, email address, and date of birth.
7. Afterwards, you’ll be asked to include some employment and income details.
8. Next, you need to confirm your information and agree to the terms and conditions.
9. Finally, you may submit your application.

To quickly access the application process, you can also click the “Apply Now” button featured below the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card featured on the top of this page.

Final Verdict

If you can front the costly annual fee, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card is an excellent option for high spenders who plan to meet the minimum spending requirements to earn big (particularly in the first year) on spending categories like Air Canada purchases and dining. 

Essentially, while you are paying more for this premium card, you’re paying for tons of comprehensive coverage and perks all whilst collecting Aeroplan points for your next trip. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card hard to get?

Without any annual income requirements, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card should be fairly easy to apply for as long as you’re responsible with your credit and able to afford the annual fee.

What’s the foreign transaction fee for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card?

Like most credit cards, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card comes with a 2.5% foreign transaction fee when you make international purchases on your card.

What is the annual fee for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card?

As of now, the exact annual fee for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card sits at $599 per year.

Always check the official American Express Canadian website for updates.