Air Canada’s Aeroplan card lineup has a core tier in the middle, and two banks sell almost the same card in it: TD and CIBC. This is the CIBC one. Same $139 fee, same 1.5x on Air Canada, groceries, gas and EV charging, same free first checked bag. If you have read my take on the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite, you already know most of this card.
So the real question is not whether it is a good card (it is, for the same reasons the TD is) but which twin to pick. The CIBC edge comes down to two things: additional cards cost $50 instead of TD’s $75, and the current welcome offer is a little richer. TD answers back with a $100 NEXUS rebate and an easier path to a permanent fee waiver. I settle the tie in the verdict.
Welcome offer
The welcome offer is worth up to 50,000 Aeroplan points, and it comes in three pieces: 10,000 points on your first purchase, 15,000 more after you spend $6,000 in the first six statement periods, and a 25,000-point anniversary bonus once you have put $12,000 on the card over the first year.
CIBC also rebates the first-year annual fee, for you and for up to three authorized users, and prices the whole package at up to $1,300 in value once the fee rebates and a round trip of free checked bags are counted in.
Unlike the TD twin, the biggest piece here is back-loaded: 25,000 points only land at your first anniversary, and only if you have spent $12,000 across the year, about $1,000 a month. Make sure that spend is realistic before you count all 50,000.
Fees & eligibility
The card runs $139 a year, rebated for the first year, with additional cards at $50 each, also rebated in year one for up to three authorized users. That $50 is the cheapest supplementary card in the core Aeroplan tier, and it matters more than usual here because every authorized user gets the free first checked bag on Air Canada too. As a Visa Infinite product it asks for a personal income of $60,000 or household income of $100,000.
Two caveats. This is not a no-foreign-fee card: it charges the standard 2.5% foreign transaction fee, so pair it with a no-FX card like the Scotiabank Passport when you leave the country. And the ongoing fee-waiver path is weaker than TD’s: CIBC’s Smart Account only rebates this card’s full fee at its top tier, which takes a $100,000 average balance, where TD All-Inclusive Banking waives the TD twin’s fee at a far lower bar.
Earning rewards
Earning is identical to the TD twin, and it is the honest weak spot on both: two rates, no bonus categories for dining or for travel beyond Air Canada. You carry this card for the perks, not the multiplier:
Redeeming rewards
Aeroplan is the payoff. Points are not fixed at one cent apiece: redeemed for Air Canada and Star Alliance flights, a good redemption often returns two cents or more per point, and Aeroplan adds no fuel surcharges on any partner airline. The flip side is that Air Canada’s own flights use dynamic pricing, so the same seat can cost very different amounts depending on demand.
One quiet cardholder benefit: holding any Aeroplan credit card, this one included, unlocks preferred pricing that discounts Air Canada flight rewards. Points also cover hotels, car rentals, and merchandise, though flights are almost always where the value is.
Perks & benefits
The perk list is nearly a photocopy of the TD card. The headline is the free first checked bag on Air Canada, for you, your authorized users, and up to eight companions on the same reservation, which is worth about $70 per person round-trip and covers the fee in a single family trip. Two things are missing versus the TD twin: there is no NEXUS rebate here (TD credits $100 every 48 months), and, as on every core-tier Aeroplan card, there is no lounge access. That stays with the $599 Visa Infinite Privilege tier.
Insurance
The headline number beats the TD twin: $5 million in emergency medical against TD’s $2 million, though the covered window is shorter at 15 days (3 days once you turn 65), and the trip cancellation cap is thin at $1,500 per person. Figures below are from CIBC’s insurance product summary; the certificate of insurance has the full terms and exclusions.
My take
TD or CIBC? These twins are so close that my verdict is really about two tie-breakers: family cards, and where you already bank.
On the fundamentals there is nothing to separate this card from the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite: same fee, same earn, same free checked bag, same first-year rebate. So pick on the edges. Choose the CIBC if you are adding family members, since additional cards run $50 instead of $75 and every authorized user gets the free bag, or if its 50,000-point offer beats TD’s on the day you apply. Choose the TD if you want the $100 NEXUS rebate or you bank there and can have the fee waived for good. One warning before you try to collect both: Aeroplan allows one welcome bonus per card tier per lifetime, so the twins do not double-dip. And if you barely fly Air Canada, skip the tier entirely and start with the no-fee CIBC Aeroplan Visa.
The good
- Cheapest additional cards in the tier ($50, rebated year one)
- Free first checked bag for you + 8 companions
- 50,000-point welcome with the first-year fee rebated
The catch
- Modest 1.5x / 1x earn rate
- Charges the 2.5% foreign transaction fee
- No NEXUS rebate or lounge access