Earn rates
The Reserve earns at three rates. Air Canada purchases earn 3x Aeroplan points, the highest rate of any Aeroplan co-branded card available in Canada. Dining and food delivery in Canada earn 2x. All other spending earns 1.25x, which is meaningfully above the 1x fallback rate on most competing cards. The card earn on Air Canada stacks on top of the flight miles you earn from the booking.
| Spending category | Earn rate | Points per $100 spent |
|---|---|---|
| Air Canada purchases | 3x Aeroplan | 300 pts |
| Dining and food delivery (Canada) | 2x Aeroplan | 200 pts |
| Everything else | 1.25x Aeroplan | 125 pts |
1 Aeroplan point ≈ 1.5¢ in travel at typical fixed-chart redemptions, and more on premium-cabin partner awards. Actual value varies by route and partner.
Key benefits
Maple Leaf Lounge access
Maple Leaf Lounges are Air Canada’s domestic business class lounges, available at major Canadian airports and select U.S. and international locations. The Reserve provides unlimited access for the cardholder when flying on a same-day Air Canada flight, regardless of the fare class booked. One guest may accompany the cardholder per visit.
The Reserve also includes a Priority Pass membership, which covers access to over 1,300 partner airport lounges worldwide. Each visit through Priority Pass is billed at US$32 per person, so it supplements Maple Leaf Lounge access on international legs where Air Canada does not operate its own lounge.
Companion pass
The companion pass triggers once cumulative card spending reaches $25,000 in a calendar year. Amex then issues a companion ticket redeemable for one economy cash fare on an Air Canada booking where the cardholder also purchases a full economy ticket. The companion pays the base airfare, which Amex caps at between $99 and $599 depending on the route, plus all applicable taxes and fees. The voucher is valid for 12 months from issue and covers both domestic and international Air Canada economy routes.
The $25,000 spend threshold is the meaningful difference from the TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege companion vouchers, which are issued annually without a spend condition. For cardholders who do not reach $25,000 in a year, the companion pass may not trigger at all. At $2,083 per month in average spend, the threshold is reachable for most primary cardholders who put most of their household spending on the card.
Travel insurance on the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
The American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card scores 84 of 100 on the figures its certificate publishes, joint 12th of the 59 Canadian cards compared. Emergency medical is capped at $5,000,000 for trips up to 15 days. Coverage stops entirely at 65: not a smaller limit, nothing.
| Emergency medical | $5,000,000 · age 0–64: 15 days; age 65+: not covered · 90-day stability window |
|---|---|
| Trip cancellation | $1,500 per person · $3,000 per account |
| Trip interruption | $1,500 per person · $6,000 per account |
| Flight or trip delay | $1,000 per person · after 4 hours · $1,000 per trip |
| Baggage delay | $1,000 per person · after 6 hours |
| Rental car collision or damage | Pays first · rentals to 48 days · vehicles to $85,000 |
You must charge 100% of the trip cost to the card for the coverage to apply. A booking made with points still qualifies. You have 90 days from the incident to report a claim. Dependent children are covered to age 21.
Every figure from the certificate, with its own wording
| Emergency medical | limit: $5,000,000 (per insured person, per trip) age 0–64: 15 days; age 65+: not covered pre existing stability days: 90 days (measured before the departure date for Emergency Medical; before the effective date for Trip Cancellation) |
|---|---|
| Trip cancellation | per person: $1,500 (per insured person for each trip) per account: $3,000 (for all insured persons combined for each trip) covered reasons: Your medical condition or admission to a hospital following an emergency, The admission to a hospital following an emergency of a member of your immediate family (who is not at your destination), your business partner, key employee or caregiver. (truncated at 40 words; the certificate chart lists 24 covered reasons grouped as medical condition, death, government advisories, employment and occupation, delays, and other covered reasons) |
| Trip interruption | per person: $1,500 (per insured person for each trip) per account: $6,000 (for all insured persons combined for each trip) |
| Flight or trip delay | per person: $1,000 (aggregate limit for Coverage A missed connection, Coverage B delayed flight departure or denied boarding, and Coverage C emergency baggage delay combined, per occurrence, for all insured persons; prorated when total claims exceed it) trigger hours: 4 hours (also applies to denied boarding when no alternative transportation is made available within four hours of the scheduled departure time) per trip cap: $1,000 (per occurrence for all insured persons combined, shared with baggage delay) |
| Baggage delay | per person: $1,000 (aggregate limit for Coverage A, B and C combined, per occurrence, for all insured persons; shared with flight delay) trigger hours: 6 hours (expenses must be incurred within four days of arrival at the outbound scheduled destination point and before the baggage is returned) |
| Lost, stolen or damaged baggage | per person: $1,000 (per occurrence for all insured persons combined) per item sublimit: $300 (jewellery sublimit per occurrence; golf clubs including golf bags capped at $250 per occurrence, both within the $1,000 occurrence maximum) |
| Travel accident | limit: $500,000 (maximum indemnity per Covered Person; loss of one hand, one foot or the entire sight of one eye pays $250,000) common carrier only: Yes (payable for accidents as a passenger in, boarding, alighting from or being struck by a common carrier conveyance on a Covered Trip, and for alternate transportation arranged for a delayed or rerouted Scheduled Airline flight) covers 24h: No (the certificate excludes injury received while driving, riding as a passenger in, boarding or alighting from a rental vehicle, and pays only for common carrier and alternate transportation accidents on a Covered Trip) |
| Hotel or motel burglary | $1,000 (per burglary occurrence for all insured persons combined; the full fare of the accommodation must be charged to the Card) |
| Emergency travel assistance | offered: Yes (provided by Global Excel Management Inc.; you must call before receiving emergency services) |
| Rental car collision or damage | is primary: Yes (the Cardmember must decline the rental agency’s CDW on the rental agreement) vehicle value cap: $85,000 (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price in the vehicle’s model year, excluding all taxes, at the place the rental agreement is signed or the auto is picked up) max rental days: 48 days (consecutive days; a rental exceeding 48 consecutive days has no coverage from the first day, and a full calendar day between rentals is required to break the cycle) excluded classes: Automobiles or other vehicles which are not rental autos (truncated at 40 words; the enumeration continues with any vehicle over $85,000 MSRP, vans, cargo vans or mini cargo vans other than mini-vans, trucks and pick-up trucks, limousines, off-road vehicles, motorcycles, mopeds, motor bikes, trailers, campers, recreational vehicles, vehicles towing trailers, mini-buses, buses, handmade or under-2,000-per-year production vehicles, antique vehicles, and tax-free cars) territory: The rental auto may be driven across provincial and state boundaries in Canada and the U.S. and between Canada and the U.S. (coverage requires the Cardmember to be a resident of Canada) |
| Purchase protection | days: 90 days (from the date of purchase, anywhere in the world, for direct physical damage or theft) limit per item: $1,000 (per Cardmember per occurrence, even if the occurrence involves more than one insured item) |
| Extended warranty | cap: $10,000 (per insured item, not to exceed $25,000 per Cardmember per policy year for all occurrences and insured items combined) |
| Mobile device | Not included |
Figures above are from the Certificates of Insurance, American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, effective 2025-07-01, underwritten by Belair Insurance Company Inc.; Travel Accident underwritten by Chubb Life Insurance Company of Canada. Checked against the certificate for 13 coverage types. Terms change without notice; verify with the issuer before relying on any figure.
What the earn math looks like
A cardholder spending $2,500 per month, split across typical categories:
| Category | Monthly spend | Rate | Monthly points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining and food delivery | $500 | 2x | 1,000 pts |
| Air Canada | $200 | 3x | 600 pts |
| All other spending | $1,800 | 1.25x | 2,250 pts |
| Total | $2,500 | 3,850 pts / mo |
46,200 Aeroplan points per year from everyday spending at this mix. At 1.5 cents per point, that is approximately $693 in Aeroplan value annually. The $599 annual fee is not covered by earn alone at $2,500 per month. The fee calculation changes meaningfully when Maple Leaf Lounge visits (roughly $30–$50 per visit) and the companion pass are counted. For a cardholder who flies Air Canada eight or more times per year, lounge access alone approaches the fee.
Amex acceptance
American Express is accepted at fewer merchants than Visa or Mastercard in Canada. At the spend levels where the Reserve card makes sense, most purchases land at hotels, airlines, restaurants, and major retailers that all accept Amex. The 1.25x base earn rate softens the impact on non-bonus categories compared to the 1x fallback on most other cards. Carrying a no-fee Visa or Mastercard alongside covers any gaps without added annual cost.
Good fit if
- You fly Air Canada regularly and will use Maple Leaf Lounge access enough to recover a meaningful portion of the $599 fee.
- You spend $25,000 or more per year on the card, which unlocks the companion economy pass and 5,000 SQM in status acceleration.
- You want the highest Aeroplan earn rate on Air Canada purchases: 3x, compared to 1.5x on TD and CIBC Visa Infinite cards.
If that describes you, apply for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card. Not sure yet? Book a free conversation and we will walk through it together.
Less useful if
- You fly Air Canada fewer than six or seven times per year: lounge access is the primary fee justification, and the math gets harder below that frequency.
- Your annual spend stays well below $25,000, meaning the companion pass may not trigger.
- You spend primarily on groceries and gas: TD and CIBC Visa Infinite Aeroplan cards earn 1.5x on those categories, which Amex does not match.
See it in action
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