Chase adds Air Canada Aeroplan as transfer partner, will launch U.S. credit card

Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

Update:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

It’s a good day for award travelers. Chase has just announced that it will be partnering with Air Canada and its Aeroplan award program to offer a new co-branded credit card. Chase Ultimate Rewards will also beef up its rewards program by adding Aeroplan as a transfer partner.

Transfer Chase points to Aeroplan

Starting in late 2021, you’ll be able to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Air Canada’s Aeroplan loyalty program. Air Canada just recently revamped Aeroplan — and while it killed some long-loved sweet spots in its award charts, it also introduced plenty of exciting new elements that make the program quite lucrative for travelers.

Air Canada is part of the Star Alliance, meaning you can also use its miles to book flights with its partner airlines, like United, Lufthansa, ANA, Avianca and more. It’s eliminated fuel surcharges and introduced stopovers for just 5,000 extra miles in the new program. Some new sweet spots include itineraries like:

• Houston to Paris to Cape Town in business class with a stopover in Paris for 105,000 points
• New York to Sydney to London in business class with a stopover in Sydney for 110,000 points
• Los Angeles to Frankfurt to Tokyo in first class with a stopover in Frankfurt for 145,000 points

Those are just a few examples, make sure to check out our guide on the new Aeroplan program for all the details.

[ Subscribe to our newsletter for more award travel news and tips]

It’s unclear what the transfer ratio will be, but our best guess is 1:1, similar to every other Chase transfer partner. Remember you can also transfer Amex points and Capital One miles to Aeroplan.

Chase to launch Aeroplan Mastercard

Chase has also signed an agreement to exclusively issue a U.S.-based Aeroplan credit card starting in late 2021. The card will be on the Mastercard payment network and earn Aeroplan miles.

There are no other details of the new product, but like other airline credit cards, it will likely come with a number of perks. We could see benefits similar to Aeroplan’s Amex cards (for Candian residents only) like free checked bags on Air Canada flights, priority boarding and bonus elite miles for spending.

How to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards

Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards is easy, and there are a surprising number of credit cards that earn them. So if you want to start stocking up on points that will soon be transferable to Aeroplan, now is the time to do so. These cards earn transferrable Chase points:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Points earned with the following cards can also be transferred to Chase airline and hotel partners, but only if you also hold one of the three previously mentioned cards:

• Chase Freedom Flex
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card 
• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

Many credit card power users use a combination of the Chase cards mentioned above to maximize every dollar they spend since each card earns bonus points in a different spending category.

Bottom line

Adding Aeroplan to the Chase Ultimate Rewards program makes Chase points even more valuable. Those with Chase points have an exciting, and potentially very lucrative new way to use their points. And if you’re interested in further details about the new Chase Aeroplan credit card, subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know.