Chase Doubles the Aeroplan Card Fee to $195

Chase raised the annual fee on its Air Canada Aeroplan Card from $95 to $195 on September 10, 2026, and retied the rewards to people who fly the airline. New applicants pay the annual fee of $195 now. Existing cardmembers keep the old price until renewals from December 1, 2026.

The card also got a new name. Chase dropped the plain Aeroplan label and put Air Canada in the title, which is a fair summary of who the $195 version is for.

Chase Doubled the Fee and Put Air Canada in the Name

The increase is $100, which more than doubles the old $95 price and works out to $16.25 a month against about $7.92 before. Chase and Aeroplan presented the refresh as more ways to earn and save on Air Canada, and they did add those tools. They also cut the everyday rates and transfer perks that made a lot of U.S. holders keep a cheap co-brand they rarely flew.

New benefits started on September 10, 2026, for new and existing cardmembers. The higher fee hits existing accounts on the first renewal dated December 1, 2026, or later, so some people will still pay $95 once more before the new price posts.

OLD CARD VERSUS THE $195 VERSION

Travel is the category that actually went up. Gas is new at 2X. Dining and groceries, the reason many people ran the card as a daily driver, fall to 2X on January 1, 2027.

25K Status No Longer Depends on Card Spend

The headline perk for Air Canada regulars is automatic Aeroplan 25K Status with no spending requirement. At launch in 2021, new cardmembers got 25K for the rest of the first calendar year and the next year, then had to put $15,000 on the card in a calendar year to keep it. That keep-spend is gone.

Chris Cracchiolo, president of co-brand cards at Chase, said the refresh is aimed at people who already fly the route, not at anyone hunting a cheap points card.

Our goal with the refreshed Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card is to deliver new value that makes the card even more compelling for people frequently traveling from the U.S. to Canada and beyond.

Chris Cracchiolo, President of Co-Brand Cards at Chase, September 10, 2026 announcement

Scott O’Leary, vice president of loyalty and product at Air Canada, said a card should make the trip better where it matters, and he listed automatic 25K Status, flight savings, and hotel and car redemptions as the mix. Status collectors who wanted 25K without flying for it now get that as a membership perk. The trade is the $195 fee, and a higher bar for the next rung: the one-level boost to 35K now takes $75,000 of calendar-year spend, up from $50,000 when the card launched.

WHAT 25K STATUS UNLOCKS

• Airport line: Priority check-in and priority boarding in Zone 2 on Air Canada.
• Upgrade bank: 5 eUpgrade credits each year as a core benefit, with more available through milestones and eligible Flight Pass activity.
• Bags: Additional baggage allowance, on top of the card’s free first checked bag for the primary cardmember and up to 8 people on the same Air Canada reservation.
• Alliance: Star Alliance Recognition, plus the extra 2X Aeroplan points from Air Canada on eligible flights that help produce the card’s “up to 5X” rate.

Those are day-of-travel perks. They pay off if you actually stand in an Air Canada line. They do nothing for a holder who booked United with transferred points and used this card for groceries.

The $100 Credit Works Only on Air Canada

Chase added up to $100 a year in Air Canada statement credits, delivered as two credits of up to $50. For the rest of 2026, cardmembers get one credit of up to $50. From 2027 the windows are January through June and July through December. Each credit needs an eligible Air Canada transaction in its half of the year.

Use both credits and the net fee falls back to $95, which is the old price. Miss the airline purchases and you pay the full $195 for a card whose new features assume you fly Air Canada anyway. The credit is a rebate on the airline’s own tickets, not a general travel credit you can throw at a hotel or a rival carrier.

THE FEE MATH

• Sticker price: $195 a year, or $16.25 a month.
• Offset if used: Up to $100 in Air Canada credits, which brings the net cost to $95.
• Break-even without credits: You need $195 of used value from status, the 15% award cut, bags, and extra points just to cover the fee.
• Welcome bonus: Up to 115,000 Aeroplan points, 75,000 after $4,000 in the first 3 months and 40,000 after $20,000 in the first 12 months.

FLY15OFF takes 15% off eligible Air Canada flight rewards booked with Aeroplan points, which is a real cut on the airline’s own metal. Chase says an economy flight within North America starts at 6,000 Aeroplan points, and that points also book hotels, cars, and Air Canada Vacations. Partner awards still matter, because Aeroplan clears on more than 50 partner airlines and more than 1,300 destinations. The new 15% coupon does not apply to every one of those tickets. It applies to eligible Air Canada portions.

Grocery Earners and Transfer Users Face a Deadline

Two perks that had little to do with flying Air Canada survive only through December 31, 2026, and only for people who already hold the card. New applicants do not get them. That is the cleanest map of who lost.

THE DATES THAT SPLIT THE CARD

1. December 2, 2021: Chase and Air Canada launch the U.S. Aeroplan card at $95, with 3X on dining, groceries, and Air Canada.
2. September 10, 2026: The refresh goes live, the fee becomes $195 for new accounts, and 25K Status no longer needs spend.
3. September 30, 2026: A separate 20% Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer bonus into Aeroplan ends.
4. December 1, 2026: Existing cardmembers start paying $195 on renewals from this date.
5. December 31, 2026: The monthly spend bonus and the 10% Ultimate Rewards transfer bonus end, and 3X on dining and groceries runs its last day.
6. January 1, 2027: Dining and grocery purchases earn 2X.
7. January 2027: A fourth rental day free begins at 11,000+ car locations when you book 4 days in one reservation with Aeroplan points.

The calendar is the product change. After year-end, the card is an Air Canada co-brand with a travel multiplier, a gas multiplier, and elite status. It is no longer a $95 grocery card that also happened to feed Aeroplan.

The Monthly Spend Bonus

Existing cardmembers can still earn 500 bonus Aeroplan points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month, up to 1,500 points a month. Hit the cap every month and that is 18,000 extra points a year, which required $6,000 of monthly spend to max. That kicker disappears after December 31, 2026, and it is already absent from new-account terms.

The Ultimate Rewards Transfer Top-Up

Primary cardmembers also still get a 10% bonus when they transfer 50,000 or more Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Aeroplan in a single move, capped at 25,000 bonus points per calendar year. That was the keeper feature for people who earned points on Sapphire or Freedom cards and used this $95 product as a transfer booster. It ends on the same night as the monthly spend bonus.

A wider 20% Chase-to-Aeroplan transfer promotion already closed on September 30, 2026, so anyone sitting on a large Ultimate Rewards balance had a short window to move points at a premium and then stack the card’s 10% on a 50,000-point transfer before December 31. After that date, holding the Aeroplan card just to top up Chase transfers is a $195 habit with no booster attached.

What the New Welcome Offer Requires

Chase is selling the refresh with what it calls its best offer ever: up to 115,000 bonus Aeroplan points. The first 75,000 land after $4,000 of purchases in the first 3 months. The extra 40,000 need $20,000 in the first 12 months. The offer just before the refresh used the same two spend hurdles for 100,000 points, with a 25,000-point second chunk instead of 40,000.

You cannot take that bonus if you already have the Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card, or if you took a new-cardmember bonus on this card or a previous version in the past 24 months. The $20,000 second hurdle is the part that sorts tourists from heavy spenders. Miss it and the headline 115,000 becomes 75,000, which is still a large pile relative to a North America award that can start at 6,000 points, and still a poor reason to keep paying $195 in year two if you do not use the Air Canada perks.

Pay Yourself Back stays. Aeroplan points can still cover recent travel, dining, grocery, and gas purchases, and they can cover a prior annual-fee charge. Chase has not published the 2027 Pay Yourself Back rate in the same detail as the earn table, so anyone who values that feature should read the current terms before renewal rather than assume the old cents-per-point rate lasts.

The $95 Card Chase Launched in 2021

Chase and Air Canada opened the U.S. card on December 2, 2021, as a World Elite Mastercard at $95, after Aeroplan became a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner in August 2021. The first pitch was 3X on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery), 3X at grocery stores, and 3X on Air Canada, plus 500 bonus points per $2,000 of monthly spend. It replaced an earlier U.S. Air Canada card from TD Bank that had been pulled in 2020.

That 2021 product made sense for people who never set foot on an Air Canada jet. Groceries and restaurants printed Aeroplan at a high rate, the fee was low, and Chase points could move into the program. Free first checked bags for the cardmember and up to 8 companions were the airline hook. 25K Status was a welcome gift, not a permanent membership stamp.

The 2026 card keeps the bags, keeps Pay Yourself Back, keeps a fourth hotel night free when you redeem Aeroplan points for 3 consecutive nights in the same booking, and keeps a statement credit of up to $120 every 4 years for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS, which was a $100 credit at launch. It also keeps trip cancellation, trip delay, baggage delay, and auto rental collision coverage, and it still charges no foreign-transaction fees. What it no longer tries to be is a cheap everyday earner that treated Air Canada as one bonus category among others.

Air Canada says Aeroplan has more than 10 million members. The U.S. co-brand is how the airline reaches Americans who fly to Canada, use Star Alliance partners, or collect a transferable Chase balance. Raising the fee and hanging $100 of credits on Air Canada purchases pushes that file toward the first group.

January 2027 Cuts the Everyday Multipliers

From January 1, 2027, the ongoing earn table is 3X on Air Canada purchases (plus 2X from Air Canada on eligible flights when you travel as a 25K member), 3X on other travel, 2X at grocery stores, 2X on dining including takeout and eligible delivery, 2X at gas stations, and 1X on everything else. The 3X grocery and dining rates that defined the old card are a 2026 leftover.

The new car-rental perk starts the same month: a fourth day free at 11,000+ locations worldwide when you book 4 days in one reservation with Aeroplan points. Like FLY15OFF and the statement credits, it pays you for using Aeroplan inside Air Canada’s travel store. It does not replace a grocery multiplier.

If the last 12 months of spending were mostly supermarkets and restaurants, the 2027 card is a worse earner at a higher price. If those months included Air Canada tickets, bags, and award seats on Air Canada metal, the 15% discount, the credits, and unpaid 25K Status can cover the extra $100. The issuer is not hiding which customer it wants. The name on the plastic now says Air Canada, the credit only clears on Air Canada, and the earn table from January 2027 pays travel first.

Existing cardmembers who do not buy those tickets have a short list of dates. Use the 3X grocery and dining rates through December 31, 2026. Use the 10% transfer bonus on a 50,000-point move if that is why the card is in the wallet. Then decide before the $195 renewal posts from December 1.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting on a published credit-card refresh and is for information only. It is not financial, credit, tax, or rewards advice, and it is not an offer for the Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card or any other card. Readers should review Chase’s current pricing and terms and speak with a qualified financial adviser or credit counselor before applying, spending to a bonus, or paying a new annual fee. Fees, earn rates, credits, and welcome offers can change, and the figures here reflect the issuer and program terms available from the September 10, 2026 refresh through early October 2026.