In early May 2023, Amex released the latest round of offers for its Aeroplan co-branded credit cards. To get the best-available offers on all three cards, you can use a referral link, which scores you an additional 5,000 points above the publicly available offers.
As it turns out, there are also some in-path offers available for the American Express Aeroplan Card, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, and the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card. The in-path offers give you less points than the referral offers, but also come with statement credits of up to $200 (CAD).
Depending on how much you value points, you may find that the in-path offers on the Reserve cards are better than the referral offers.
Amex Aeroplan In-Path Offers: Points + Statement Credits
The alternative offers for the American Express Aeroplan Card, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, and the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card are known as “in-path offers”. Rather than being public facing, they show up along the path of booking an Air Canada flight online.
When you search for a flight on the Air Canada website, you may notice a banner for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card during the booking process.
After clicking the “Apply and Book” button, you’re brought to a page that allows you to select either of the personal Amex Aeroplan products:
Then, once again clicking the “Apply now with American Express” button takes you to Amex application page.
If you’re looking for the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card, there’s an alternative link in the text at the top of the in-path offer.
In any case, your booking is put on hold while you complete the application process.
Alternatively, it’s also possible to access these in-path offers by following this direct link.
The breakdown of the welcome bonus on the American Express Aeroplan Card in-path offer is as follows:
- Earn 25,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $3,000 in the first six months
- Earn 2,500 Aeroplan points in each of the first six months in which you spend at least $500, up to 15,000 Aeroplan points
- Earn a $100 statement credit upon spending at least $100 (CAD) on an Air Canada purchase in the first 12 months
Factoring in the $100 (CAD) Air Canada statement credit, the card’s first-year annual fee effectively drops from $120 (CAD) to $20 (CAD), and the total number of points up for grabs is 40,000. There is no end-date for this in-path offer, which is also the case for the public and referral offers.
The breakdown of the welcome bonus on the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card in-path offer is as follows:
- Earn 45,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $6,000 (CAD) in the first three months
- Earn 7,500 Aeroplan points in each of the first six months in which you spend at least $2,000, up to 45,000 Aeroplan points
- Earn 25,000 Aeroplan points upon making a purchase in months 14–17
- Earn a $200 statement credit upon spending at least $200 (CAD) on an Air Canada purchase in the first six months
Factoring in the $200 (CAD) Air Canada statement credit, the card’s first-year annual fee effectively drops from $599 (CAD) to $399 (CAD), and the total number of points up for grabs is 115,000. This in-path offer is available until July 24, 2023, which is the same expiry date as the public and referral offers.
The breakdown of the welcome bonus on the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card in-path offer is as follows:
- Earn 50,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $9,000 (CAD) in the first three months
- Earn 7,500 Aeroplan points in each of the first six months in which you spend at least $2,000, up to 45,000 Aeroplan points
- Earn 25,000 Aeroplan points upon making a purchase in months 14–17
- Earn a $200 statement credit upon spending at least $200 (CAD) on an Air Canada purchase in the first six months
Factoring in the $200 (CAD) Air Canada statement credit, the card’s first-year annual fee effectively drops from $599 (CAD) to $399 (CAD), and the total number of points up for grabs is 120,000. This in-path offer is available until July 24, 2023, which is the same expiry date as the public and referral offers.
The full terms and conditions of these offers may be found on the Air Canada website.
Are the In-Path Offers Better than Other Offers?
Whenever in-path offers appear, it’s important to weigh the differences with other offers to ensure you’re getting the best deal.
With the American Express Aeroplan Card, the referral offer is still clearly superior. When applying through a referral link, the offer is for up to 55,000 Aeroplan points, while the in-path offer only gives you up to 40,000 points plus a $100 statement credit.
In this case, 15,000 Aeroplan points are worth much more than a $100 statement credit. For example, 15,000 points is enough for a round-trip flight between Edmonton and Vancouver, which is almost certainly never going to cost $100 or less.
It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be able to get well over $100 (CAD) worth of value from 15,000 points. If this card is on your radar, be sure to go through a referral link, as you’ll come out much farther ahead.
It gets a bit less clear with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card and the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card.
In regard to personal Reserve, the referral offer is for up to 120,000 Aeroplan points, with the same spending structure as the in-path offer.
In regard to the Business Reserve, the referral offer is for up to 125,000 Aeroplan points, with the same spending structure as the in-path offer.
In both cases, you’ll get either 5,000 more Aeroplan points with the referral offer, or a $200 (CAD) statement credit with the in-path offer.
Whether or not the $200 (CAD) statement credit is worth more than 5,000 Aeroplan points is going to be entirely subjective.
We value Aeroplan points at 2.1 cents per point (CAD). Using this metric, 5,000 Aeroplan points can given a theoretical value of $105 (CAD), which is lower than what the $200 (CAD) statement credit offers.
On the other hand, it’s certainly possible to squeeze more value out of Aeroplan points, which could bump up the possible value to over $200 (CAD).
Whether or not you value points more than a statement credit will come down to how you tend to redeem points, and if you stand to gain more value one way or the other.
In any event, the current offers on all three American Express Aeroplan co-branded cards are excellent. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to pad your Aeroplan balance with any of these cards.
Conclusion
There are interesting in-path offers available for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card and the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card. Whereas you’ll get 5,000 fewer points than with the referral offer, you’ll get a $200 statement credit when making a qualifying Air Canada purchase.
There’s also an in-path offer available on the American Express Aeroplan Card; however, it’s vastly inferior to the referral offer (and the public offer, for that matter).
Be sure to apply by July 24, 2023 by following the dedicated link on the Air Canada website if you’re interested. Alternatively, you can skip the in-path process and head straight to the offer’s landing page to begin the application.
