What’s the best American Express Aeroplan credit card?

It’s no secret that the Aeroplan travel points program is wildly popular in Canada, and that American Express leads the pack with its Aeroplan credit card offerings. At LowestRates.ca one question we get asked a lot is, “which Amex Aeroplan credit card should I get?”

 

The problem is, the answer really depends on how much money you’ll be spending each year on your credit card, so we built a chart that shows consumers which Aeroplan card will net them the most points based on their annual spend. When it comes to Aeroplan cards, you’ll see that one size does not fit all!

 

Amex offers its Aeroplan cards in three basic tiers: the American Express® AeroplanPlus® Card, the American Express® AeroplanPlus® Gold Card, and the American Express® AeroplanPlus® Platinum Card. You can see their respective annual fee and rewards rate structures in the table below. Higher tiered cards come with higher annual fees but offer more Aeroplan points per dollar spent.

 

 

Pretty complicated, right? Here’s how they stack up – we included the annual fee but stripped out the sign-up bonus so that you can see how these cards perform over the long haul.

 

 

Our chart allows you to draw some pretty easy conclusions: if you spend less than $20,000 per year on your card, then the standard-issue AeroplanPlus offering is clearly the best. If you spend between $20,000 and $90,000, then Amex's Gold Aeroplan card will net you the most rewards. Affluent consumers who spend more than $90,000 per year will be best served by the American Express Platinum Aeroplan card, even though it has a steep annual fee.