Aeroplan Card Adds Creative Chase Transfer Bonus

This is a smart move from one of my favorite frequent flyer programs.

Aeroplan Card offers 10% Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer bonus

The Aeroplan® Credit Card (review) was recently introduced in the US market, and offers a variety of perks. A new benefit has just been added to the card, in recognition of the fact that many people may have this card in addition to a card earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Those with the Aeroplan Credit Card can now get a 10% bonus when they transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Aeroplan:

• This applies when transferring 50,000 or more Chase Ultimate Rewards points in one transaction
• You can get a maximum of 25,000 bonus points per year this way, which you’d unlock after transferring 250,000 points in one transaction
• The 10% bonus points will post separately (the initial points generally transfer instantly) — the bonus points should post within 72 hours of the original transfer, but it can take up to seven days
• This offer is currently valid through December 31, 2023 (so for two calendar years), though I imagine this has the potential to be extended

This is a brilliant offer on Aeroplan’s part

The people behind Aeroplan are really smart, and they understand how savvy consumers think. In general I always recommend earning transferable points currencies for your credit card spending, rather than points with an individual airline or hotel loyalty program (there are of course exceptions).

So the real question to ask is why someone should pick up something like the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review) when they could instead get the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review). The answer usually comes down to one of two things:

• The card has to offer compelling rewards for spending money on the card, above and beyond the bonus categories offered by other cards
• The card has to offer perks just for being a cardmember, which more than justify the annual fee

If you’d otherwise transfer Chase points to Aeroplan, this promotion alone would potentially more than justify the $95 annual fee on the card, not even factoring in all the other benefits.

Bottom line

Through the end of 2023, those with the Aeroplan® Credit Card can receive a 10% bonus when transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Aeroplan. This is valid when transferring at least 50,000 points in one transaction, and you can receive up to 25,000 bonus points annually this way.

This is a really smart promotion — it creates an incentive for those with Chase Ultimate Rewards cards to pick up the Aeroplan Card, when something like this can otherwise usually be a hard sell.

What do you make of this Aeroplan transfer bonus?