Chase and Air Canada rolled out a full refresh of the Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card on September 10, and the headline is simple: the annual fee just jumped from $95 to $195. The catch — and there's a real one this time — is that Chase actually bundled in enough to make the math worth doing before you cancel out of spite.

What actually changed

Effective September 10, 2026, every primary cardmember on the newly renamed Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Card gets automatic Aeroplan 25K status with no spending requirement — that's priority check-in, Zone 2 priority boarding, and five eUpgrade credits a year, the kind of thing you used to have to fly your way into. On top of that, Chase is adding a flat 15% discount on Aeroplan-point award redemptions on Air Canada flights, bumping the card to 3x points on a broad travel category, and tossing in up to $100 a year in Air Canada statement credits, split into two $50 chunks every six months. A '4th night free' car rental perk at over 11,000 locations is coming in January 2027.

The part that isn't a gift: the fee

None of that is free. The annual fee doubles, full stop, from $95 to $195. Chase's own announcement doesn't spell out exactly when existing cardholders start getting charged the new number — card issuers typically apply fee increases at your next renewal date rather than mid-cycle, and multiple outlets tracking cardholder notices have reported a December 1 rollout for current members, though that specific detail isn't in Chase's press materials themselves. If you're an existing cardholder, watch your renewal date and your mailbox rather than assuming a hard cutover.

Does the math actually work?

Use the full $100 in statement credits and the effective fee is $95 — exactly what you were paying before, for a card that now also hands you elite status and an award discount for nothing extra. That's a genuinely good deal if you already fly Air Canada regularly and would spend that $100 on the airline anyway. If you don't fly Air Canada, or you were only holding the card for the old $95 fee and light perks, this refresh does nothing for you except cost more. The 15% award discount is where frequent redeemers actually come out ahead: on a mid-size Aeroplan award, that discount alone can be worth more than the entire fee increase in a single booking.

Who this is actually for

This is a clear pitch at people who already treat Air Canada as a real part of their travel mix — Star Alliance flyers, especially those connecting through Canada, who'd otherwise be paying full freight for Aeroplan awards and status. For everyone else holding the card as a low-fee points-earner, it's now a $195 card with perks you won't use, which is the signal to actually run the numbers on downgrading or product-changing before your renewal hits.

The bottom line

This isn't a devaluation dressed up as an upgrade — the new benefits are real and, for the right traveler, worth more than the extra $100. But it's also not free money: if Air Canada isn't already part of your routine, you're just paying more for a card you were probably keeping out of habit. Confirmed directly on Chase's own newsroom announcement of the Air Canada Aeroplan Card refresh.