Link: Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review) is one of the most popular premium travel credit cards. The card offers valuable lounge perks, including access to Chase Sapphire Lounges and a Priority Pass membership.
In October 2024, we saw the card also add access to select Air Canada Lounges, presumably as part of an expansion of the existing partnership between Chase and Air Canada, as the two companies also partner on the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review).
I want to take an in-depth look at this and also provide an update, as this benefit has been improved to allow a complimentary guest when visiting lounges.
In this post:
Access Air Canada Lounges with Sapphire Reserve
The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers Air Canada Lounge access at participating locations. This is available both to the primary cardmember and to authorized users. Note that this benefit only applies on the personal version of the card, and not on the Sapphire Reserve for BusinessSM (review).
Let’s take a look at some of the details. Which lounges participate in this agreement, are you allowed to bring guests, and what do you have to present to enter the lounges?
Which Air Canada Lounges can you access?
Thanks to this partnership, it’s possible to access most (but not all) Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. You can access the following lounges in the United States:
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Terminal 6
- New York LaGuardia (LGA) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Terminal B Eastern Concourse
- San Francisco (SFO) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Terminal 2
You can access the following lounges in Europe:
- Frankfurt (FRA) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
- London Heathrow (LHR) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
You can access the following lounges in Canada:
- Calgary (YYC) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
- Edmonton (YEG) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
- Halifax (YHZ) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
- Ottawa (YOW) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
- Regina (YQR) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
- St. John’s (YYT) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
- Saskatoon (YXE) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
- Toronto Pearson (YYZ) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Express , and Air Canada Café (excludes Air Canada Signature Suite)
- Toronto Downtown Billy Bishop (YTZ) – Aspire Air Canada Café
- Vancouver (YVR) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (excludes Air Canada Signature Suite)
- Winnipeg (YWG) – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
For airports with multiple facilities, access is offered for domestic departures, transborder departures, and other international departures. It’s worth noting that none of the lounges in Montreal (YUL) are currently participating in this partnership, so that’s a major carve-out.
Can you bring guests into Air Canada Lounges?
Those entering an Air Canada Lounge with a Chase Sapphire Reserve are allowed to bring one guest on a complimentary basis. That applies regardless of whether you’re a primary cardmember or authorized user.
Guests beyond that are allowed at the rate of CAD 59 for locations within Canada, USD 59 for locations within the United States, EUR 59 for locations within the European Union, and GBP 59 for locations within the United Kingdom. Lounge access is also subject to capacity constraints.
What airline do you need to be flying?
To enter an Air Canada Lounge, you simply need to present your eligible Chase Sapphire Reserve, plus a same day boarding pass for a flight operated by Air Canada or a Star Alliance member airline. Note that access is allowed up to three hours before departure, except when connecting, when you can access earlier.
This is an underrated and overlooked perk
Admittedly everyone’s travel patterns are different, but I think the Air Canada Lounge access offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve is often an overlooked benefit. It’s also better than before, since you can now even bring a complimentary guest into lounges.
Obviously if you’re a frequent traveler to, from, or within Canada, on a Star Alliance airline, this is awesome. However, I think it’s also worth emphasizing how this is potentially a nice perk for Air Canada Lounge locations in the United States, when flying United domestically.
Air Canada Lounges are typically a step up from your typical United Club or Priority Pass lounge, so being able to access these lounges prior to a flight is pretty useful.
Bottom line
The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers access to most Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges when flying Air Canada or a Star Alliance partner airline the same day. Travelers can even bring one guest on a complimentary basis. This applies both to the primary cardmember and authorized users on the personal version of the card, and doesn’t apply on the business version of the card.
I’d say that this is a great, underrated lounge access perk, since it doesn’t get much attention. It’s awesome that guests are now even allowed.
What do you make of this Air Canada Lounge access perk with the Chase Sapphire Reserve?
This won’t last long. It will be down to AC flights only shortly, or at least won’t count UA. The SFO lounge is in T2, has a great terrace, and they’ll get absolutely slammed.
One thing I noticed is that the guest can be on ANY *A flight. That's a huge difference from access with *G status, which requires the guest to be on the same flight as the *G pax.
CSR: "Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers and authorized users are entitled to invite one complimentary guest each at no charge."
*G: "You can invite one guest traveling on the same flight at no extra charge."
I live in NYC and fly to Canada (Vancouver, or YVR) a lot, yet have found this perk to be surprisingly useless for us.
First, flying from YVR to NYC, we already have a reasonably good Plaza Premium lounge (in the part of the airport terminal from which UA and AC seem to always depart for us), so the Maple Leaf Lounge would only be a sidegrade or small upgrade. And we're usually traveling as...
I live in NYC and fly to Canada (Vancouver, or YVR) a lot, yet have found this perk to be surprisingly useless for us.
First, flying from YVR to NYC, we already have a reasonably good Plaza Premium lounge (in the part of the airport terminal from which UA and AC seem to always depart for us), so the Maple Leaf Lounge would only be a sidegrade or small upgrade. And we're usually traveling as a group of 3, so that rules it out as an option for us.
Then, flying from NYC to YVR. This is probably my family's most flown route, and this had the potential to be arguably a big boon for us (even the major selling point of the sapphire reserve). There are essentially no lounge options for most people flying this route. The only direct flights are Jetblue out of the lounge-less JFK terminal 5, or UA and AC flying out of EWR where the only relevant lounge (prior to the Centurion lounge in 2026) is the United Club (and we don't have a United Club membership and it's not worth the $700 for the United Club card, nor do we typically fly business class on this route). The EWR Maple Leaf Lounge (which is sort of combined with the United Club) would be very valuable, yet it's not on the list of included lounges, sadly.
Still always an odd contrast between the lounge access at the NYC airports. On essentially every flight out of JFK I get to choose between the Centurion, Sapphire and Capital One lounges (and also the Delta Skyclub if I'm flying on Delta). Out of Laguardia I would have the Centurion, Sapphire and Maple Leage Lounges. And then EWR (which is the only real option for flying to Vancouver) is a barren wasteland.
There is no EWR MLL. There is just an AC help desk at the UC.
On Air Canada's website, they list EWR as having a maple leaf lounge, coshared with United Club at terminal A. Would CSR have access to that lounge?
I wish they would allow it regardless if you were flying a star alliance partner or not.
As a Star Gold, this is completely useless to me. Now if Chase and AC were to allow access even when not flying a Star Alliance carrier, this would become much more useful.
Do you know if children are considered part of the "one guest" policy?
Is access granted for Ritz Carlton card holders?
Ben, how early before your flight can you access the lounges? I have a 4 hour layover in Toronto connecting from Etihad to air Canada on separate tickets is why I ask. Thanks!!
@ Bf — Up to three hours before departure, unless you’re connecting. I’ll update the post to add that. Since you’re on separate tickets, I suspect they’d still apply the three hour rule to your itinerary, but it can’t hurt to try.
Interesting that the AC Arrivals Lounge at Heathrow T2 is specifically called out on the Air Canada website as *not* being a Maple Leaf Lounge. I suppose that's why it's not included in this offering. That would be a great addition but since it's the size of a postage stamp, probably for the better...
I guess this is the Chase ver. of trying to offer SkyClub access, but the problem is that the footprints don't match where the travelers are.
This is a weak benefit, even if you're a UA frequent flyer, unless you live in Canada, California or fly to/from LGA frequently.
SkyClub access made the Amex Plat very successful, but also created a lot of crowding issues. My guess is that United didn't see enough upside in...
I guess this is the Chase ver. of trying to offer SkyClub access, but the problem is that the footprints don't match where the travelers are.
This is a weak benefit, even if you're a UA frequent flyer, unless you live in Canada, California or fly to/from LGA frequently.
SkyClub access made the Amex Plat very successful, but also created a lot of crowding issues. My guess is that United didn't see enough upside in letting in CSR holders that would degrade the United Club experience for current members.
To me, this is closer to the Platinum's Luftansa Lounge acces. Lovely to have but limited use cases
I would say it's in between since it extends to all Star Alliance flights, which is obviously targeting United flyers as this card is a US based card. It would be the exact same if it only applied to AC flights.
I think this is great for a UA FF that flies out of LAX/SFO a lot as there's a consistent lounge you can access now, but outside of that, very limited use case.