Within a press release about Chase partnering with Air Canada to release credit cards in the US, we’ve learned that Air Canada will become a transfer partner with Chase Ultimate Rewards “starting in late 2021”.
Air Canada Aeroplan will be Chase’s 3rd Star Alliance partner, joining United and Singapore. Overall, in my opinion, this is great news for Chase Ultimate Rewards fans for a number of reasons:
- Air Canada Aeroplan lets you mix awards with Star Alliance and non-star alliance partners (such as Etihad!).
- Like United, Air Canada doesn’t pass along fuel surcharges even when booking awards to fly on carriers that charge them.
- Award prices are sometimes lower than United or Singapore for Star Alliance flights (especially when flying Air Canada itself).
- Air Canada lets you add a stop-over on a one-way award for only 5,000 points.
- Air Canada allows free sharing of points (called “family sharing”)
- Points + Cash awards offer good value
- For international awards, Air Canada Aeroplan charges only $25 CAD or 2,500 points per direction of travel for a lap infant. That’s far cheaper than most competing programs!
For more about Air Canada Aeroplan (including pros and cons), see: Air Canada Aeroplan: The all-new program is now live. Here’s what you need to know.
Also see: Chase Transfer Partners | Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner List
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[…] this is bigly news: Chase to add Air Canada Aeroplan as transfer partner! New US Mastercard coming in “late 2021”. I wonder if we will have several versions […]
[…] Airlines: Air France/KLM, British Airways, Aer Lingus, Emirates, Iberia, JetBlue, Singapore, Southwest, United, and Virgin Atlantic. Plus, we know that Air Canada is coming in late 2021. […]
This is exciting……..I have used them in the past to fly Lufthansa First Class and they were easy to deal with………..this makes Lufthansa even easier…………$39 is peanuts for an international First Class ticket…………
[…] Chase, Air Canada, and Mastercard today announced that Chase will be the exclusive issuer of Air Canada Aeroplan credit cards in the US. Surprisingly (since most other Chase cards are Visa cards), these will be Mastercards. Additionally, Chase will add Air Canada as a transfer partner in “late 2021”. […]
But don’t they charge a bogus fee any award using a partner airline?
Yes true. See the pros and cons in the linked guide: https://frequentmiler.com/air-canada-aeroplan-guide/