I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® (See rates and fees) cardmembers can register to receive an Air Canada Aeroplan 5,000 point flight award certificate. This will take 5,000 points off the price of an award (including on partner airlines). With awards as low as 6,000 points, you can book for as little as 1,000 points one-way. And Chase points transfer to Air Canada. That’s an incredible deal.
- Primary cardmember can register by August 18, 2025
- Certificate will be issued within 14 days. It will be valid for one year.
I regularly redeem Aeroplan points. They are a member of Star Alliance and have more airline partners than any other program. So this is legitimately a ‘free’ 5,000 points to me. There’s no reason for cardmembers not to register.
Chase issues the Aeroplan card in the United States. Those with an Aeroplan® Credit Card (See rates and fees) who transfer points in from Chase Ultimate Rewards are eligible for a 10% bonus on transfers of 50,000 points or more (up to 25,000 bonus points per year).
And Reserve cardmembers receive access to Air Canada lounges when flying Star Alliance airlines same day.
So this is another interesting example of Chase collaborating with their co-brand partners (as with PointsBoost for redemptions worth up to 2 cents apiece) to deliver additional value to their own premium Reserve card. They’re offering IHS and Southwest status, too, to Reserve cardmembers meeting the $75,000 annual spend threshold.
Link above doesn’t work
Registration link doesn’t work
I still like Canada and Canadians. It’s a shame some have decided to attack our neighbors; that’s wrong. If anyone wants to debate that, please, let’s go.
Relatedly, I fly with AC at least once a year, and do appreciate their program, even if just booking reasonable redemptions with Star Alliance partners.
Saw this ‘promotion’ at DoC first; odd that neither Chase nor Aeroplan sent any email promoting this offer. I guess they didn’t want folks to know. Like, why do they try to hide these things?
Was easy to sign up, except those with the last four starting ‘0’ initially had issues, now supposedly resolved. Shame it takes 2 weeks to receive, but glad it lasts a year.
Chase’s US Aeroplan card has a 85K sign-up bonus at the moment with $4K spend in 3mo, which, to me, seems better than the previous ones with super high $20K spend requirements for the full bonuses. If under 5/24, and have all other Chase cards, why not.
@John and @Prateek – just Google it. I registered with no problem yesterday with a link from another blog. So this one doesn’t work – at least it is easy to find a way to register. Just takes initiative.
https://www.aircanada.com/us/en/aco/home/aeroplan/credit-cards/chase/chase-csr.html
@Coffee Please — Bing it?
I feel like this is a subtle reminder that you can earn as many TY points as you would like but you can’t transfer them to Aeroplan, which remains such an incredible resource for many of us to book flights.
If you are having problems registering try linking your CSR to your Aeroplan account first.
Not an Aeroplan elite member so can’t be too plussed about the changes to their frequent flier program also announced yesterday – earning based on $’s spent is just the new normal…
@Peter — Yeah, that revised status earning scheme is probably not gonna be great for most folks. And for transfers, even though Citi is not included, thankfully, between Amex, Chase, CapOne, and BILT, Aeroplan still has many transfer partners.
Fixed now
@1990 – also pretty interesting is how Air Canada basically outsourced explaining their new changes to the Prince of Travel blog/website. Not sure I’ve seen that type of collaboration before, or a blog holding themselves out as an airline’s “Educational Partner”. The word “yuck” comes to mind.
No question that their changes are absolutely brutal though, especially for earning status if you value having AC status. Just doesn’t impact how most US flyers interact with the program though – by transferring MR, UR, C1 and BILT to Aeroplan for redemptions.
@Peter — Interesting. (Ironically the author at Prince of Travel is named ‘T.J. Dunn,’ so I wonder if there is any relation to our regular commenter, @Tim Dunn, on here!) Great cross-promotion for that guy. Wonder if he’s the TPG equivalent for Canada… similar to TPG, he doesn’t seem to allow comments on his site (not a ‘great’ sign, but oh well.)
As for status with most airlines, it’s best not to ‘chase’ it, and better to ‘let it happen.’ However, if you have particular goals, of course, it’s nice to plan ahead. For years and years now, I’ve earned at least entry-level status with each of the ‘big three’ in the USA, sometimes from flying or spending with them, other times from merely crediting partner airline flights. The statuses are mostly helpful for not worrying about paying checked bags (though, I rarely check bags as it is), usually reaching customer service quicker, and often getting some fees waived.
However, these days, it’s really only top-tier statuses that seem to achieve the coveted ‘complimentary upgrades’ on most flights. I’ve never ‘earned’ Aeroplan status; usually, I’ve ‘received’ it via a credit card offer (like the 25K status with the Chase card), or a status match (50K a few years back was nice.)
Otherwise, as I’ve mentioned before on here, I’ve been pleased with the benefits of Delta’s Global and Regional Upgrade Certificates as a Diamond and Platinum Medallion, namely because those actually seem to confirm well-in-advance. I’m less enthused with United’s Plus Points, because I always seem to ‘die on the Waitlist,’ even when attempting to use them as a 1K and Premier Platinum; relatedly, I believe Air Canada uses a similar system with their ‘eUpgrade’ points. Then there are airlines like American who seem to be selling so many last-minute paid upgrades (as little as $150) to the point that achieving a complimentary upgrade has become exceedingly rare, even as a Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro with them.
@1990 – I think that’s mostly spot on with respect to status. The only value of ‘chasing’ status for me has been as an added benefit alongside wanting to earn AA miles in particular because I viewed the AA miles as valuable to have alongside MR/UR/TY points. (Less so the actual flying on AA, although I have received upgrades as a status holder of varying levels). While I still believe AA miles are more valuable than Delta or United, they are obviously being devalued right now to some extent, which for leads to a shift from earning AA miles to earning MR/UR/TY points (and possibly C1 points in my near term future). I realize that BILT can still be very helpful if you don’t rent, but i’ll actually become interested in the product if they figure out mortgages.
Anyway, happy to have the 5k aeroplan points. So many good redemptions through Aeroplan. Also very much like their points + cash offerings in certain situations.
@Peter — American Airlines miles have indeed held their value, at least for now. They did make the shift in recent years away from award charts to dynamic pricing, but it hasn’t been catastrophic yet. On better days, I’ve redeemed some for itineraries that would amount to 10x value. Usually, I’m seeing at least 2x value, which is far better than DL’s SkyPesos, especially for DeltaOne long-haul (like, 1 million points to get to Europe? Pft.) My favorites have been last-minute Flagship First from JFK-SFO/LAX, sometimes as low as 39K one-way, including access to Chelsea lounge. That’s insane value ($400ish for a $2-4K ticket).
With BILT, I was disappointed when they lost AA as a transfer, because AA had been my primary transfer other than Hyatt (and Alaska); while expected changes could add mortgages, I’m a bit concerned with this upcoming BILT 2.0 (February 2026), as the shift to Cardless might mean the ‘good times are over.’
With Citi, the return of a Prestige-equivalent product (now Strata Elite, as I am sure you are well aware) is exciting, especially that they included the return of AA point transfers; though, some suggest it could lead to a devaluation of AA points/awards. Well, at least for now, so far so good.
I have the CSR business card. Will that work?