Why I Wouldn’t Get the Aeroplan Reserve Card Blindly

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The Air Canada Aeroplan Reserve family of cards sits near the top of Canada’s travel credit card market. Between the American Express Aeroplan Reserve and the Visa Infinite Privilege versions from TD and CIBC, these products promise lounge access, priority treatment and fast-track elite status. On paper, they look like a dream for frequent flyers. In practice, I would never sign up for an Aeroplan Reserve card blindly. The fine print, annual fees and overlapping perks mean the right move depends heavily on how, where and how often you actually travel.

The High Annual Fee Problem

The first reason I would not jump into an Aeroplan Reserve card without careful thought is simple: cost. As of mid 2026, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve charges an annual fee in the range of the high hundreds of dollars, and the TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege cards sit around a similar price point. That is a serious commitment, especially if you are already paying fees on other premium cards like an American Express Platinum or another bank’s Visa Infinite Privilege product.

Consider a traveler flying Toronto to Vancouver three or four times a year for leisure, plus one international trip to Europe. At that pace, even with free checked bags and lounge access, it can be hard to squeeze out enough value to justify a fee close to six hundred dollars every single year. If you also carry a lower-tier Aeroplan Visa Infinite at around one hundred and forty dollars annually, the incremental cost to “upgrade” is hundreds more for perks you may only partially use.

There is also the psychological trap of assuming a high fee equals high value. Many travelers see “Reserve” and “Privilege” and assume they must be getting something extraordinary. In reality, some of the headline perks are duplicated by elite status you might earn through flying, or by other cards you already hold. Without doing the math on how often you will use each benefit, you risk paying an elevated annual fee just for a metal card and a nicer-looking welcome package.

Finally, that fee typically appears in one large charge on your statement each year. If your travel patterns change, for example if your employer shifts you to remote work or you stop flying Air Canada as often, you might find yourself holding a card built for road warriors while your real life no longer matches the price tag. That is why I always recommend projecting your next 12 months of travel before committing to an Aeroplan Reserve card.

Lounge Access Is Not Automatically a Win

Lounge access is one of the biggest selling points of Aeroplan Reserve cards, but it is also one of the most misunderstood. The American Express Aeroplan Reserve focuses on Maple Leaf Lounges and the Air Canada Cafe in North America, typically for the cardholder plus one guest when flying on Air Canada or a Star Alliance partner. The TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege cards also provide Maple Leaf Lounge access and add a separate bucket of passes to third-party lounges through the Visa Airport Companion program, which is powered by DragonPass.

In real life, lounge value depends heavily on which airports you use. A traveler based in Calgary or Montreal who regularly departs mid-day on busy business routes will likely find Maple Leaf Lounges genuinely useful, with reliable Wi-Fi, food and drinks that can easily save forty to sixty dollars per visit compared with eating in the terminal. By contrast, someone who mostly flies out of smaller airports like Regina or Kelowna, where Air Canada does not operate its own lounges, may rarely have the chance to use the card’s Air Canada lounge perks at all.

Even in major hubs, you need to think about how other cards you carry change the picture. If you hold an American Express Platinum, you already have access to Plaza Premium lounges at many Canadian airports plus Centurion lounges in places like New York and Seattle. In Toronto Pearson’s Terminal 1, for example, a traveler with an Amex Platinum might gravitate to the Plaza Premium locations while an Aeroplan Reserve cardholder heads for a Maple Leaf Lounge. If you pay annual fees on both cards, you risk double-paying for similar quiet spaces, especially on domestic and transborder flights.

The Visa Infinite Privilege versions complicate things further with those six annual DragonPass visits per cardholder. On paper, that sounds generous, yet many Canadian flyers report using only a handful of these visits each year because their primary airports are already covered by Maple Leaf Lounges or because they prefer airline-branded lounges abroad. If you rarely transit airports where Visa Companion lounges are the only realistic option, that slice of the benefit package offers little real-world value.

Welcome Bonuses and Earning Rates Can Distract You

Air Canada and its banking partners frequently promote the Aeroplan Reserve cards with large welcome bonuses. It is common to see offers split into several chunks, for example a fixed number of Aeroplan points after your first purchase and additional points after spending a few thousand dollars each month for the first three or six months. For a traveler planning a big redemption to Japan or Europe, a one-time injection of over one hundred thousand points can look irresistible.

The catch is that welcome offers change several times a year, and the highest public bonus is not always on the Reserve tier. There are periods when the mid-range Aeroplan Visa Infinite or American Express Aeroplan Card offers a bonus that is only modestly lower, but at a fraction of the annual fee. For a family that primarily wants to top up their Aeroplan balance for one big vacation, it can be more rational to grab a cheaper card, hit the minimum spend, and then reassess instead of committing immediately to the Reserve level.

The everyday earning structure can also mislead casual travelers. The American Express Aeroplan Reserve, for example, earns elevated points on Air Canada purchases and on categories like dining, while TD and CIBC’s Visa Infinite Privilege cards boost earnings on Air Canada, gas, groceries, travel or dining depending on the issuer. Those multipliers matter if you are charging tens of thousands of dollars a year to the card. If your typical monthly spend is closer to fifteen hundred dollars, the incremental points compared with a no-fee or lower-fee card may not come close to covering a premium annual fee.

In one common scenario, a Toronto-based traveler puts most of their spending on a grocery-focused cashback card and only uses their Aeroplan Reserve for flights a few times a year. Even though the Reserve technically earns more Aeroplan points per dollar on certain categories, the cardholder’s actual pattern means they are barely using those categories. In that case, they are functionally paying for a flashy sign-up bonus and some airport perks rather than for a sustainable, long-term earn rate advantage.

Elite Status Perks and Overlap With Frequent Flyers

The Aeroplan Reserve cards shine brightest when paired with Aeroplan Elite Status. Benefits like priority upgrades on standby lists, rollover of eUpgrade credits, and boosts toward status qualification credits are attractive if you already fly Air Canada enough to chase status each year. Frequent flyers based in cities like Vancouver or Toronto who are targeting Aeroplan 50K or 75K can extract significant extra comfort from these features.

However, this is precisely where the risk of overlap appears. Many of the core benefits marketed with Aeroplan Reserve cards mirror what you receive from status alone. Priority check-in, priority boarding and a free first checked bag, for instance, are standard features for mid-tier elite levels. If you already enjoy these by virtue of your flying, paying hundreds of dollars a year for a card that replicates them offers diminishing returns. What you are really buying, in that case, are marginal improvements like slightly higher upgrade priority or the ability to roll over eUpgrades.

There is also a timing issue. Status qualification boosts that award extra status-qualifying credits per five thousand dollars spent are most useful in years when you are close to a threshold, such as bridging the gap between 35K and 50K. If you are not remotely near those thresholds or if you plan to switch airlines, the Reserve card’s status-focused perks hold far less value. I have seen more than one traveler keep an Aeroplan Reserve simply because they once used it to nudge themselves over a status line, only to find in later years that their travel volume no longer justifies the ongoing fee.

For occasional travelers without status, meanwhile, the Reserve card can create a false sense that they are getting a full “business class experience.” In reality, they may enjoy priority check-in and boarding, but they still sit in economy and earn the same base mileage as any other Aeroplan member on the same fare. Without a clear plan to pursue elite status, it is worth asking whether a lower-fee card plus occasional paid priority services might be a more efficient way to improve your airport experience.

Companion Passes and Checked Bag Perks Require Discipline

Another reason I would not grab an Aeroplan Reserve card without crunching the numbers is the structure of the annual companion pass benefit. On the TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege cards, for instance, you can earn a companion voucher after meeting a minimum annual spend requirement, with the companion’s base fare starting at just under one hundred dollars plus taxes and fees on round-trip economy flights within specific regions such as Canada and the continental United States. On paper, this can save several hundred dollars on a peak-season trip for two.

The real-world catch is that you need to plan your travel around the companion pass’s rules and expiry. If your life is predictable and you book a yearly trip from Toronto to Vancouver every summer, you may be able to extract excellent value by paying full fare for one ticket and using the voucher for the second. But if your plans change, or if you end up using the companion pass on a sale fare where the base price is already low, your actual savings might be modest. A lot of Aeroplan Reserve cardholders quietly admit that they have let at least one companion pass expire unused simply because the timing did not work.

The free first checked bag benefit also depends on your travel style. Families who often check multiple suitcases on domestic and transborder flights can easily save fifty to one hundred dollars per person per round trip, especially on routes where basic economy tickets do not include baggage. However, many frequent flyers have already learned to travel with carry-on only and choose fare types that include bags on long-haul itineraries. In those cases, the incremental savings from the card’s baggage perk may be far smaller than the marketing suggests.

It is also important to remember that checked bag benefits usually apply only when the flight is operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge or Air Canada Express. If much of your flying is on Star Alliance partners like United, Lufthansa or ANA, particularly on tickets where Air Canada is not the operating carrier, you may find that your Reserve card does not help with baggage fees at all. Without a clear understanding of which trips will actually qualify, it is easy to overestimate how much this perk will save you each year.

When a Lower-Tier or Alternative Card Makes More Sense

All of these caveats do not mean the Aeroplan Reserve cards are poor products. They are excellent tools for a specific type of traveler: someone who flies Air Canada frequently from major hubs, values Maple Leaf Lounge access, and has enough card spending to hit companion pass thresholds and status boosts. The problem arises when infrequent or moderate travelers sign up because they believe they “should” have the top-tier card, rather than because the benefits align with their habits.

For many Canadians, a mid-tier Aeroplan Visa Infinite or American Express Aeroplan Card can be a better starting point. These cards still provide a free first checked bag on Air Canada flights, some level of priority services, and solid earning rates on categories like gas, groceries and Air Canada purchases, at a fraction of the annual fee. If you fly two or three times a year and primarily want to avoid baggage fees and earn points on occasional flights, there is little need to jump straight to the Reserve tier.

Another realistic alternative is pairing a more general premium card with a cheaper Aeroplan product. A traveler who holds an American Express Platinum already enjoys rich lounge access worldwide through various partner networks, plus robust travel insurance and hotel benefits. Adding a low-fee Aeroplan card purely to access preferred pricing on Aeroplan redemptions and a free checked bag may deliver more balanced value than concentrating everything in a single Reserve card with overlapping perks.

Even purely domestic travelers should weigh cashback options against Aeroplan. A high-earning family that rarely redeems points for premium cabins might come out ahead by putting daily spend on a rich cashback card and only collecting Aeroplan points through flying. In that scenario, applying for an Aeroplan Reserve card just to feel “upgraded” at the airport could end up costing more in fees than it returns in real-world value over several years.

The Takeaway

Premium co-branded airline cards have a powerful psychological appeal, and the Aeroplan Reserve lineup from American Express, TD and CIBC is no exception. The combination of metal construction, priority services, lounge access and generous welcome bonuses can make it feel as though you are buying a first-class lifestyle with a single application. Yet all of those benefits are only as valuable as your actual use of them, and the high annual fees leave very little room for waste.

I would not get an Aeroplan Reserve card blindly because the gap between the marketing story and the day-to-day reality can be significant. If you are not based in a hub with multiple Maple Leaf Lounges, if you do not check bags often, if you rarely fly Air Canada or if you already hold another premium travel card, there is a real risk that the Reserve tier will simply duplicate perks you already have. On the other hand, for a traveler who regularly flies domestically and to the United States in economy, travels with family, and charges significant personal or business expenses, the same card can be a workhorse that pays for itself many times over.

Before applying, map out your likely Air Canada flights over the next 12 months, estimate how often you would use lounge access, baggage benefits and companion passes, and compare the net value against both the Reserve and mid-tier Aeroplan cards. If the math clearly favors the Reserve, then it can be a smart, premium tool in your travel wallet. If not, you may find that a more modest card, or even a completely different rewards structure, is a better match for how you actually travel.

FAQ

Q1. Is an Aeroplan Reserve card worth it if I only fly a few times a year?
For most people who fly two or three times a year, a lower-fee Aeroplan Visa Infinite or American Express Aeroplan Card will deliver better value than a Reserve card.

Q2. Do all Aeroplan Reserve cards include Maple Leaf Lounge access?
Yes, the Reserve-level cards from American Express, TD and CIBC all include Maple Leaf Lounge access in North America for eligible Air Canada and Star Alliance flights, but access rules and guesting policies can differ slightly by issuer.

Q3. How much should I spend annually for an Aeroplan Reserve card to make sense?
There is no single number, but the cards tend to work best for people charging tens of thousands of dollars a year, especially if that spending helps trigger companion passes and status boosts.

Q4. What is the main difference between an Aeroplan Visa Infinite and a Visa Infinite Privilege card?
Visa Infinite Privilege versions carry much higher annual fees but add perks like Maple Leaf Lounge access, enhanced earn rates and richer travel insurance compared with the standard Visa Infinite cards.

Q5. Can I rely on the Aeroplan Reserve card for travel insurance?
The Reserve cards usually include strong travel insurance packages, but coverage varies by issuer, so you should always read the certificate of insurance and compare it with your existing coverage before assuming it is sufficient.

Q6. Do Aeroplan Reserve cards help me qualify for Aeroplan Elite Status?
Yes, certain Reserve cards offer status qualification boosts when you reach specific spending thresholds, which can help if you are already close to an elite status tier.

Q7. What happens if I stop flying Air Canada frequently after getting a Reserve card?
If your travel shifts away from Air Canada, many of the card’s most valuable perks, such as lounge access on qualifying flights and free checked bags, will be harder to use, and downgrading to a cheaper card may make sense at renewal.

Q8. Is the companion pass benefit on Visa Infinite Privilege cards easy to use?
It can be very valuable on popular domestic or transborder routes, but it comes with routing rules and expiry dates, so travelers who do not plan ahead sometimes let the pass go unused.

Q9. Should I get both an Aeroplan Reserve and another premium travel card?
Carrying both can work for heavy travelers, but you should carefully check for overlap in lounge access, insurance and baggage perks to avoid paying twice for similar benefits.

Q10. Can I downgrade my Aeroplan Reserve card later if it is not a good fit?
In many cases issuers allow you to product switch to a lower-tier Aeroplan card, but you will typically lose Reserve-specific perks and may not receive a new welcome bonus when switching.