TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card: Review

* Offer details are current as of December 6, 2021

After a significant overhaul on November 8, 2020, the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card continues to cement its place as one of the best airline credit cards out there and also one of the better overall travel rewards cards. What makes this card such a big deal – aside from the obvious fact it’s associated with Aeroplan, Canada’s largest frequent flyer program – is its robust set of perks. Be it the sign-up bonus or the insurance benefits, it has something for everyone.

The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card also offers one of the most efficient ways to rack up Aeroplan points on your everyday spending, which you can go on to redeem for flights to almost anywhere in the world.

For everything you need to know about the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, read our full review below.

TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card – Overview

Sign-up bonus

The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card’s sign-up bonus, which is broken up into three chunks and available when you apply by March 6, 2022, is arguably one of the card’s biggest selling points.

First, the card’s annual fee will be completely rebated for the first year for both the primary cardholder ($139) and up to three additional cardholders ($75), which is extra handy if you plan on sharing the account with a loved one.

Second, you can rack up $1,250 in value as follows:

• As a new Cardholder, you could earn a bonus Buddy Pass that can score you a second ticket when you book an economy ticket to bring anyone along anywhere Air Canada flies in North America, Including Hawaii and Mexico. On the second ticket, you only pay the taxes and third-party charges. You’ll receive the one-time use pass when you spend $1,000 within 90 days of Account opening, and you have a whole year to use it† (a value of $350†).
• Earn a welcome bonus of 10,000 Aeroplan points when you make your first purchase with your new card† (a value of $200†).
• Earn an additional 15,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $1,000 within 90 days of Account opening (a value of $300^†).
• Get an annual fee rebate for the first year (a value of $214^†, assuming you add an Additional Cardholder to your account in the first year).
• Enroll for NEXUS and once every 48 months get an application fee rebate^† (a value of up to $125^†, assumes both the Primary Cardholder and Additional Cardholder use the NEXUS Benefit).
• Share free first checked bags^† (a value of $120^† for 2 travellers for each round-trip flight, assuming you take one round-trip Air Canada flight in the first year).

To receive the first-year annual fee rebate, you must activate your Card and make your first Purchase on the Account within the first 3 months after Account opening and you must add your Additional Cardholders by March 7, 2022.

†Terms and conditions apply.

All aforementioned offers combine to potentially deliver over a whopping $1,250 in value in your first year alone – depending on the trip you book. And while the sign-up bonus shouldn’t be the sole reason to pick up this credit card, if you’re in search for one of the best travel credit cards in Canada and have a preference for Air Canada, this offer makes the idea of picking up the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite a whole lot more compelling.

Earning points on everyday spending

With the new TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, you’ll pocket 1.5 Aeroplan points for every dollar you spend on gas, groceries, and all purchases made from Air Canada including Air Canada Vacations. You’ll get 1 point for every dollar you charge to the card everywhere else.

Those earn rates are virtually identical to the old version of the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card before it was revamped on November 8, 2020 with two exceptions:

• Previously, the accelerated earn rate of 1.5 points per dollar on Air Canada purchases only applied to online bookings paid for on AirCanada.com
• Drug Stores is no longer a bonus category and now earns 1 point per dollar instead of 1.5 points per dollar like before.

In what’s one of our favourite features, you can also take advantage of bonus offers and special discounts from over 170 retailers when shopping online at Aeroplan’s estore. Current offers include the ability to earn four times the points on eligible purchases from the Gap and three times the points from Hudson’s Bay. Plus, you can earn points twice if – when you use your TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card at over 150 partner brands – you also present your Aeroplan membership card.

Based on an average spending scenario of $1,550 per month – with $420 spent towards groceries and gas – the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card would earn 12,360 points every year. That’s roughly enough points to book a round-trip economy flight from Toronto to New York or a one-way flight from Vancouver to San Francisco. That’s solid value for rewards on everyday spending.

Travel perks

The revamped TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card comes packed with new perks travellers will love, including:

Free first checked bags

In what’s one of the most exciting changes, Aeroplan credit card holders can now get their first bag checked free on Air Canada flights – not just for themselves but for up to a total of eight others on the same booking. When considering baggage fees can add up to $30 per person on economy flights travelling domestically or south of the border, that can translate to roughly $120 in savings on baggage fees alone.

Air Canada benefits

With the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card in your back pocket, you’ll have the advantage of preferred pricing and can often book flights on Air Canada using fewer points than normally required. And the fewer points you need to redeem, the better value you’ll get out of each point.

The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card can also help you get closer to achieving highly-coveted Aeroplan Elite Status just for making everyday credit card purchases. For every $10,000 you charge to the card each year, you’ll get a boost of Status Qualifying Miles (SQS) and Status Qualifying Segments (SQM) – both of which are rewards you’ll need to collect in order to qualify for Elite Status.

NEXUS membership

The new TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card offers up to $100 in rebates for NEXUS membership applications (once every 48 months), meaning cardholders can benefit from a far smoother border-crossing experience when travelling to the US.

Redeeming Aeroplan points

When trying to break down the value of Aeroplan points into pure dollar terms, it’s important to note points don’t have a consistent value.

The number of points you need to redeem for a flight can fluctuate depending on a variety of factors – from the distance between your city of departure and arrival, to whether you’re travelling during a high-demand season, and which of the four Travel Zones you’re flying between or within based on the new Aeroplan rewards chart.

While this all sounds kind of complicated, the variable nature of Aeroplan points means several travel redemptions can deliver far beyond the standard 1 cent per point offered as standard by many rewards programs. In fact, a strategically planned trip that exploits “travel sweet spots” can often reap impressive returns of 2 cents per point, or even more.

As far as redemptions go, you can only use points for flights on Air Canada or any of the over two-dozen Star Alliance partner airlines, and the redemption process slightly differs for each. On Air Canada, there’s “dynamic pricing”, which means the number of points needed to book a flight can fluctuate depending on seasonality and travel demand. On Star Alliance airlines, however, the amount of points needed to redeem for a flight always stays the same but there’s an additional $39 booking fee per person and no free checked bags.

Aeroplan has a handy points predictor tool to provide a general guideline of how many points you’ll need to book a flight.

Here are some general tips for maximizing Aeroplan points values:

• Leverage Aeroplan’s new stopover policy. You can add a stop for an incremental 5,000 points on each one-way flight within some limitations (e.g. excluding stopovers in the US or Canada). A strategically-placed layover can help you travel further and see another destination while using fewer points.
• Save up your points for business class seats. Aeroplan points offer considerably favourable value on luxury seats that would otherwise cost an exorbitant amount of money if paid for in cash.
• Compare your redemption options between Air Canada and Star Alliance member airlines to see which offers the highest return for your points to the same travel destination.
• While Aeroplan points can technically be redeemed for non-travel rewards like gift cards, you’ll generally receive far less value out of your points for doing so. If you want straight-forward savings on your everyday purchases, stick with a cash back credit card.

Travel Insurance

When you’re away on a trip, you can rest easy knowing that the card’s extensive suite of travel insurance benefits has you covered, and you won’t have to pay out of pocket for out of province coverage. The card’s coverage includes:

The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card saw a series of impressive upgrades as part of its November 8, 2020 relaunch including up to $1,000 in mobile device insurance and up to $2,500 in hotel/motel burglary insurance for stays within the US and Canada.

Other travel benefits include complimentary Visa Infinite Concierge service, which is available 24/7 and offers advice and insights on everything from travel bookings to restaurant recommendations.

Fees, interest rate and income requirements

To be eligible for the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, you’ll need to earn a minimum annual income of $60,000, or $100,000 as a household. You’ll also need a good credit score (660 or above is generally recommended).

The card now has an annual fee of $139, which a small jump from where it was previously at $120. However, the added value offered by the new built-in perks (like free checked bags, mobile device insurance, NEXUS membership reimbursements, and new hotel/motel burglary insurance) is worth far more than the incremental increase in fees.

Plus, as highlighted earlier, TD will rebate the annual fee for your first year. You can also have the annual fee rebated after the first year if you bank with TD and have an All-Inclusive Account. That said, you’ll need to maintain a $5,000 chequing account balance at all times to make it worth your while.

In terms of interest rates, this card has a purchase APR of 19.99% in Ontario and 20.99% in Quebec – which is the standard for most rewards cards and will only come into effect if you carry a balance. The APR on balance transfers and cash advances is a notch higher at 22.99%.

The bottom line

The combination of new travel perks, enhanced insurance benefits, and huge sign-up bonus offered by the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card makes it an all-around great travel rewards credit card. While Aeroplan isn’t as flexible or as intuitive to use as some other rewards programs (like, say, TD Rewards or BMO Rewards), it offers huge opportunities to maximize your travel rewards and stretch the value of your points to well beyond the conventional 1 cent per point. If you’re comfortable with getting your hands dirty with dynamic rewards charts and want to strategize your way to a business class flight on a deal, consider adding the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card to your wallet.

Also Read:

•  
• Breakdown: The new Aeroplan credit cards from TD and CIBC
• The Best TD Credit Cards