Which Chase Credit Card Is Better, The Sapphire Preferred or The Aeroplan Card?

by Daniel | Last Updated April 23rd, 2022

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Chase recently just increased the signup bonus for the Sapphire Preferred card making it an extremely tempting offer and almost certainly worth taking advantage of.
But they also have another card that has the same annual fee but has an even bigger sign-up bonus.

In this article, I’m going to review and compare the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Aeroplan card.  
Basically, I’ll go over what the sign-up bonus is worth for each card, what benefits you will receive, and then I’ll give you my opinion of which card offers the most value.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-7ZjQ6QqKk

Who Are These Cards Most Suitable For?

Both of these cards currently offer fantastic value for pretty much anyone who is looking for a new credit card.
Each card has a relatively low annual fee of just $95 and offers a wide range of points earning potential, benefits, and user perks.
Frequent travelers will benefit from these cards the most as the highest points earnings on both cards include travel-related expenses.
Also, the benefits that come with the cards are also heavily travel-related. 

APR

Now for the next part of this review, I’ll compare the APR of each card and what fees you can expect to pay if you get a cash advance or make a balance transfer.

Now getting a cash advance will have a higher APR of 25.24% and will also incur a fee of either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, again, whichever amount is more.

If you fail to make a minimum payment to your balance or you have a payment that is returned by your bank you will most likely be put on to a Penalty APR of 29.99%.
And either a late payment or a returned payment will each incur a fee of up to $40.

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And then from here, the APR for a Cash advance and the Penalty APR are the same as the Sapphire Preferred card.
Also, the fees are exactly the same.

So both cards a pretty much the same and have relatively standard rates and fees.

Annual Fee

Now both of these credit cards have an annual fee of just $95, which given the current sign-up bonus of each card is pretty good value.

Sign-up Bonus

So at the time of making this video, both cards have a really good sign-up bonus that easily covers the cost of the annual fee and leaves you with quite a lot of extra points to use as you please.

And Chase Sapphire Preferred points are worth 1.25 cents per point when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards, which means this sign-up bonus is worth $1,000, which is really good value.

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So if you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months of opening the account, you will receive 2 Welcome Flight Rewards Certificates, which are worth 50,000 points each, so 100,000 points value in total.
And Aeroplan points are actually worth up to 1.5 cents per point, which means that this sign-up bonus is potentially worth up to $1,500.

Now there is a bit of a catch with using the flight certificates.
it is only possible to use a fight certificate for a single passenger award ticket, which means that if you book a trip that requires 45,000 points, you will forgo the remaining 5,000 points on the certificate.

Either way, it is still fantastic value for a card that only costs $95 per year.

Earning Points

Now when it comes to earning points, both of these cards have a pretty broad range of options to choose from.

Then from here, the following categories will earn 3x points:

• Eating out at Restaurants or using eligible delivery services.
• Online grocery purchases (this does not include Target, Walmart, or Wholesale clubs)
• Select streaming services

Then all other purchases made on the card will receive 1 point per dollar spent. 

And another nice benefit that comes with the Preferred card is that each account anniversary you will receive bonus points that equal 10% of your total purchases from the previous year.
So if you spend $30,000 over the year, you will receive 3,000 bonus points, which would be worth $375.

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So basically you will earn 3x points from the following categories:

• Purchases made directly with Air Canada
• Eating out at Restaurants or getting home delivery from eligible services
• Spending at grocery stores 

Then all other purchases made on the card will receive 1 point per dollar spent.
And one extra perk that comes with this card is the ability to earn an additional 500 bonus points each month if you manage to spend $2,000 in a calendar month.

So besides the fact that you can’t earn 5x points on travel purchases with the Aeroplan card, it has similar points earning potential to the Preferred card.

Benefits and User Perks 

Now both cards come with a few nice benefits that help give the cards a bit more value.

Then there is the ability to transfer Chase Sapphire Preferred points at a 1-to-1 value to 11 different airline partners and 3 different hotel partners.

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Then cardmembers and up to 8 travel companions on the same flight will get their first checked bags free on flights that originate on an Air Canada flight.

As a new cardmember, you will automatically receive Aeroplan 25K Status, which includes benefits such as priority boarding on Air Canada flights and one-time access for two people to a Maple Leaf Lounge.
And if you are able to spend $50,000 in a calendar year, you will receive 35K Status which offers even more benefits.

So in terms of benefits and perks, the Aeroplan card offers a fair bit more than what the Sapphire Preferred card does.

Insurance Related Benefits 

Now for the last section of this review, I’ll go over all of the insurance-related coverage that comes with each of these cards, and you will notice that they both offer quite a lot.

Baggage Delay Insurance provides reimbursement of up to $100 per day for a total of 5 days if your luggage gets delayed by the carrier for more than 6 hours. 

If a flight is delayed for more than 12 hours the Trip Delay Insurance covers up to $500 per ticket.
There is an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver that provides primary coverage against any theft or damage to most rental cars across the US and abroad.

With Purchases Protection, new purchases have coverage for up to 120 days against damage or theft for a total of $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

And finally, the Extended Warranty Protection provides an additional 1 year on US warranties that are 3 years or less.

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There is similar Baggage Delay Insurance that is provided if there is a delay of 6 hours of your baggage, and it provides $100 a day for 3 days, unlike the 5 days that the Preferred card offers.

With Trip Delay Reimbursement the coverage is the same as the Sapphire Preferred card and offers up to $500 per ticket when travel is delayed for more than 12 hours. 
There is an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, but unlike the Sapphire Preferred card’s primary coverage, it is secondary coverage.

The Purchase Protection is the same.

And then in terms of security coverage, there is Zero Liability Protection which basically covers you in the event there are any unauthorized charges made to your card.
Then finally there are Fraud Alerts on your account which will monitor your account for any suspicious activity.

So for this section, the Sapphire Preferred Card offers a higher level of coverage than the Aeroplan card does.

Final Thoughts

Ok, now that I have gone over pretty much everything you need to know about both of these cards, how do they stack up against each other.

First of all, I think both cards present great value and would be a nice addition to pretty much anyone’s wallet.
In terms of the sign-up bonus offered with both cards, the Aeroplan card does offer a higher value from its 2 Welcome Flight Reward Certificates which are worth 100,000 points and are valued at up to $1,500.

When it comes to earning points, the Sapphire Preferred card does have an advantage over the Aeroplane as it can earn up to 5x points, whereas the Aeroplan card maxes out at 3x points earnings.

Now for Benefits and user perks, the Aeroplan card offers quite a bit more than the Preferred card does, although you will need to fly with Air Canada to take advantage of some of them.

And then finally the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers a higher level of insurance coverage than what you get with the Airplane card.
So for all-out value, the Aeroplan card offers a bit more than the Sapphire Preferred card does, but seeing that some of the benefits are limited to Air Canada, this may affect your decision on which card to choose.
For me, seeing that I already have the Sapphire Reserve card, I would personally get the Aeroplan card as it would offer me a few new options that I don’t currently have.

Now if you’re interested in travel reward credit cards that offer some really great benefits, why not check out my review and comparison of the American Express Delta SkyMiles Gold and Platinum cards here.