The American Express Aeroplan Reserve card is a credit card associated with Air Canada program. Air Canada Aeroplan Points can be earned across multiple banks in Canada, including American Express, TD, and CIBC.

The award chart of Aeroplan points is incredibly complicated, so much so, that Aeroplan themselves have a PDF document outlining how many miles will be required, with critical exception. Bookings that contain an Air Canada flight have dynamic pricing, but bookings that do not contain an Air Canada flight follow a fixed point scheme.

Today, I will do a comprehensive review of all the perks of this credit card to help determine if this card will help you reach your travel goals.

Overview

Credit Card: American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

Signup Link

Annual Fee

$599. The first year fee is not waived.

Bonus

• 30,000 bonus Aeroplan Points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months of membership.
• 5,000 bonus Aeroplan Points each month after spending at least $1,000 in each monthly statement for the first 12 months.
• 1,250 Aeroplan Points for spending $1,000 in each monthly statement.

You will earn at least 105,000 Aeroplan Points and an Air Canada Buddy Pass for spending $12,000.

Ongoing Benefits

• 3 Aeroplan Points per dollar spent on Air Canada.
• 2 Aeroplan Points per dollar spent on Dining and Food Delivery purchases in Canada.
• 1.25 Aeroplan Point per dollar on all other spend.
• $100 Nexus credit every 4 years
• Annual Worldwide Companion Pass for spending C$25,000 per year
• Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding (Zone 2), and Priority Baggage Handling when traveling on Air Canada
• Maple Leaf Lounge Access with a same day ticket on a Star Alliance Partner or an Air Canada flight within North America
• Roll-over of E-Upgrade Credits and up to 200,000 Status Qualifying Miles on Air Canada
• 1,000 Status Qualifying Miles and 1 Status Qualifying Segment after spending C$5,000
• Free first checked bag on Air Canada
• Preferred Pricing for award flights on Air Canada
• Uber Pass for 12 months
• Special Benefits at Toronto Airport

Benefits

There are a large number of benefits associated with this credit card that we have outlined below.

Earning Points

You will earn the following points with this credit card:

• 3 Aeroplan Points per dollar spent on Air Canada
• 2 Aeroplan Points per dollar spent on dining and food delivery purchases
• 1.25 Aeroplan Points per dollar spent on all other purchases

This is the single best credit card for spending on Air Canada.

If you spend a lot of money on Dining and Food Delivery purchases, you might want to instead consider using the American Express Cobalt Credit Card.

Finally, for daily purchases, this is one of the highest daily rewards, however, a lot of credit cards provide a similar reward for every dollar spent.

$100 Nexus Credit Every 4 Years

The Nexus statement credit is offered on quite a few travel related credit cards and is not unique to the American Express Aeroplan Reserve credit card.

I would value this benefit to be at most $25 per year.

Annual Worldwide Companion Pass

Priority Airport Services

Maple Leave Lounge Access

Roll Over of E-Upgrade Credits and Status Qualifying MIles

Status Qualifying Miles and Segment Boost

Free First Checked Bag

Preferred Pricing on Aeroplan Awards

Uber Pass for 12 Months

Special Benefits at Toronto Airport

Airline Redemption Chart

Marriott Reward Points can also be used to easily convert to Airline miles across a large number of frequent flyer programs, including:

• AEGEAN: Miles+Bonus
• Aer Lingus: AerClub
• Aeroflot: Bonus
• Aeromexico: ClubPremier
• Air Canada: Aeroplan
• Air China: PhoenixMiles
• Air France-KLM: Flying Blue
• Air New Zealand: Airpoints
• Alaska Airlines: Mileage Plan
• Alitalia: MilleMiglia
• American Airlines: AAdvantage
• ANA: Mileage Club
• Asiana Airlines: Asiana Club
• Avianca: LifeMiles
• British Airways: Executive Club
• Cathay Pacific: Asia Miles
• China Southern Airlines: Sky Pearl Club
• Copa Airlines: ConnectMiles
• Delta: SkyMiles
• Emirates: Skywards
• Etihad: Guest
• FRONTIER: Miles
• Hainan Airlines: Fortune Wings Club
• Hawaiian Airlines: HawaiianMiles
• Iberia: Plus
• InterMiles
• Japan Airlines: JAL Mileage Bank
• JetBlue: TrueBlue
• Korean Air: SKYPASS
• LATAM Airlines: LATAM Pass
• Multiplus Fidelidade
• Qantas: Frequent Flyer
• Qatar: Airways Privilege Club
• SAA: Voyager
• Saudia: Alfursan
• Singapore Airlines: KrisFlyer
• Southwest: Rapid Rewards
• TAP Air Portugal: Miles&Go
• Thai Airways: Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines: Miles&Smiles
• United: MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic: Flying Club
• Virgin Australia: Velocity Frequent Flyer
• Vueling Club

For most airlines, 3 Marriott Reward Points equals 1 Airline Mile. The only exception are

• Air New Zealand where 200 Marriott Reward Points equals 1 Airpoints.
• JetBlue where 6 Marriott Reward Points equals 1 TrueBlue points.

That means the sign-up bonus can be used for 25,000 Airline Miles across a plethora of programs. That’s because, for every 60,000 Marriott Reward Points, Marriott will add another 15,000 Marriott Reward Points before converting them to airline miles.

For regular non-bonused spend, you will only earn between 0.66 miles and 0.825 miles per dollar. Although not a great earning rate, if you need to earn airline miles for programs beyond Air Canada, British Airways & Cathay Pacific, this is one of the only option that exists in Canada.

Free Night Award

After the first year, every year thereafter, you will earn a free night certificate worth up to 35,000 points for holding this card and paying the annual fee.

35,000 points could be used for up to a Category 5 hotel.

Elite Status

For holding this card, Marriott will give you complimentary Elite Silver benefits. That being said, Elite Silver benefits are almost worthless as the only benefit you receive is late check-out subject to the hotel’s discretion. A benefit that is typically always available even without elite status.

Elite Nights

If you do not stay at Marriott Hotels frequently, then this benefit is rather limited.

If you do tend to find yourself at a Marriott hotel for personal or business travels, then every year, Marriott will deposit 15 Elite Qualifying Nights to your account every year. These 15 nights can be used as a stepping stone towards a higher more valuable elite status.

Note, these 15 nights cannot be combined with the Business version of the same credit card.

Insurance

The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Personal credit card comes with the following coverage:

• Travel Emergency Assistance
• $500,000 Travel Accident Insurance
• Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance
• Flight Delay Insurance
• Baggage Delay Insurance
• Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance
• Hotel Burglary Insurance
• Buyer’s Assurance Protection Plan
• Purchase Protection Plan

Although it comes with an extensive insurance package, these benefits are also typically available with other credit cards.

Conclusion

The value of this credit card should be split into two categories; is this card worth it for the first year, where you earn a sign-up bonus, and is this card worth keeping while paying the annual fee?

First Year

This represents an excellent deal for the first year. For C$120, you can translate that up to multiple free nights in lower category hotels, and nearly 1 free night in some of the most expensive hotels in the world as well. When combining this with a second credit card, the benefits become even more valuable allowing you to double your purchasing power.

Ongoing

This is one of the few credit cards that is valuable on an ongoing basis as well since you will earn a complimentary night at a hotel of up to 35,000 points. Some of those hotels, particularly in developing nations, can represent an excellent deals.

I personally use my vouchers during peak periods where I would have otherwise not been able to afford the hotel. Instead, it cost me just the annual fee of this credit card.

Questions?

If you have any questions, feel free to add a comment below.