Chase Aeroplan Card offering 100,000-point welcome bonus, worth up to $1,250 on travel

Discover cards are currently not available on CNBC Select and links have been redirected to our credit card marketplace where you can review offers from other issuers like American Express or Chase. You can also check out our list of best credit cards for alternative options.

The offer mentioned below for the Aeroplan® Credit Card is no longer available.

If you're looking for a new credit card welcome offer to help offset the cost of a future vacation, the Aeroplan® Credit Card is worth a closer look.

You can now earn up to 100,000 bonus Aeroplan points within the first 12 months from account opening. Here's how it works:

• Earn 75,000 Aeroplan points after spending $4,000 in the first three months from account opening
• Earn an additional 25,000 Aeroplan points after spending $20,000 total in the first 12 months from account opening

Aeroplan may be the loyalty program of Air Canada, but it's not just for Canadians. You can use Aeroplan points to book awards with Star Alliance partners such as United Airlines, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines and non-alliance partners like Emirates.

The Aeroplan Card's new offer has two earning tiers, unlike its previous welcome bonus.

• New bonus: Earn up to 100,000 Aeroplan points within the first 12 months from account opening: 75,000 Aeroplan points after spending $4,000 in the first three months, and an additional 25,000 Aeroplan points after spending $20,000 total in the first 12 months
• Old bonus: Earn 70,000 Aeroplan points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening

The new welcome offer provides an opportunity to earn a bigger bonus, though the first tier has a higher spending requirement within the first three months.

Yet by meeting the $4,000 minimum spend alone in the first three months, you will have earned at least 79,000 Aeroplan points (when you include the points you'll earn from the spending). Travel rewards experts value Aeroplan points at around 1.5 cents apiece, meaning your 79,000 points could be worth $1,185 in airfare.

If you meet the $20,000 minimum spend in the first year, you will earn at least 120,000 Aeroplan points. At a 1.5 cent per point valuation, your 120,000 bonus points could be worth up to $1,800 in airfare.

With a modest $95 annual fee, this travel credit card provides a solid first-year value for new cardholders no matter what bonus tier they hit.

Only new Aeroplan Card members who have not received a cardmember bonus for this card within the last 24 months can qualify for this welcome bonus. This card also falls under Chase's 5/24 rule, which limits approvals for those who've opened five or more personal credit cards (from any card issuer) within the past 24 months.

The points you earn with the Aeroplan Credit Card can be redeemed for flights operated by Air Canada and its many Star Alliance airline partners, including United Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand, as well as several non-alliance partners such as Brazil-based Azul and United Arab Emirates-based Etihad Airways and Emirates.

For example, when traveling domestically, you can fly United Airlines where economy redemptions start at 6,000 Aeroplan points one-way and business class starts at 15,000 Aeroplan points.

Whether you prefer to travel domestically or internationally, you'll have many options when it comes time to cash in your Aeroplan points. Check out Aeroplan's Flight Reward Chart to see how many points you'll need for your next trip.

Aeroplan cardholders are also able to use Chase's Pay Yourself Back feature to cover the annual fee or travel purchases at a rate of 1.25 cents per Aeroplan point. You can use this feature for grocery store or dining purchases, but the value drops to 0.8 cents per point. Both options are available through Dec. 31, 2024. Through the Pay Yourself Back tool, they can redeem Aeroplan points for a statement credit towards these purchases made on the card within 90 days. This option makes the full 100,000-point welcome offer worth $1,250 in travel statement credits.

If Air Canada or its Star Alliance partners are not the airlines you fly with the most and you want more flexibility with your points, consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees), which is currently offering a welcome bonus of 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

The Aeroplan® Credit Card requires a good to excellent credit score to get approved. If you have no or poor credit, consider the Discover it® Secured Credit Card. You must make a refundable deposit of at least $200 to open the card. At seven months from account opening, Discover will automatically review your credit card account to see if they can transition you to an unsecured line of credit and return your deposit. 

The card has no annual fee and has a generous rewards structure for a secured credit card. It also has no foreign transaction fees, so you won't be dinged for using it abroad.

Compare savings accounts

For those who frequently fly Air Canada or one of its partner airlines, the Aeroplan Card's tiered welcome offer is pretty solid. You'll also earn at least 1X points everywhere and 3X points at grocery stores, restaurants and on Air Canada purchases. Aeroplan cardholders can earn status just by opening the card and in future years by spending a specific amount.

Those looking for a more general travel credit card can consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It offers many similar benefits, and when you earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, you can transfer them directly to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio, plus other airline and hotel partners for added flexibility.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of credit cards, banking and money, and follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.

For rates and fees of the Discover it® Secured Credit Card, click here.

Information about the Aeroplan® Credit Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.