№ 1
American Express
American Express
American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
- Airline card
- Elevated rate on dining/food delivery (typical Amex Aeroplan-tier structure).
- Base rate on everything else
★ BEST CARDS FOR FREQUENT FLYERS272 CANADA CARDS TRACKEDDEEP-RESEARCHED · SOURCED · NO BIAS
Best For — Frequent flyers & airline loyalists
The best credit cards for frequent flyers in Canada
For frequent flyers, the best cards are airline co-brand cards that earn miles in a single loyalty program and hand back free checked bags, priority boarding, and companion or annual free-flight benefits. We track 272 Canada cards.
*A travel sub-segment with outsized demand in Australia (Qantas/Velocity).
The profile
Who this guide is for
- You fly one airline (or alliance) often enough to chase status
- Free checked bags and priority boarding pay for the card on their own
- You want miles in a specific program, not flexible bank points
- You'll use a companion fare or annual free night/flight
The shortlist
Top cards for frequent flyers in Canada
Researched · pending editorial review7 researched
№ 2
№ 3
CIBC
Visa
CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card
- Airline card
- Notably earns bonus points on dining, unlike the base (non-Privilege) CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite card
№ 4
BMO
VIPorter
BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard
The only real pick for a Porter Airlines loyalist, and structurally unique among every Canadian airline card: BMO Porter cards are, per Prince of Travel/Frugal Flyer coverage, the only airline cards in Canada offering automatic advanced frequent-flyer status — this card grants immediate VIPorter Avid Traveller status on approval with no minimum-spend qualification, unlike every Aeroplan or WestJet tier. Best fit for a frequent flyer based in a Porter-served market (e.g., Billy Bishop/YTZ) who values fast-tracked status over Air Canada's larger network.
- C$199/yr annual fee
- Dining card
№ 5
№ 6
American Express
American Express
American Express Aeroplan Card
- C$120/yr annual fee
- 35,000-point welcome bonus
- Airline card
Welcome35,000 points · min. spend C$7,500 within 180 days
№ 7
TD
Visa
TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
No Maple Leaf Lounge access at this tier, which is the main gap versus the Privilege cards above it.
- C$139/yr annual fee
- Airline card
Method
How we picked
These picks come from dedicated research for frequent flyers, which drew on issuers' published terms and independent sources — listed under “sources” on each pick. The order is the research's. Every fee, welcome offer and earn rate shown on a pick is the figure our catalogue holds for that card, the same one its card page shows. Nothing here is pay-to-rank. Business cards appear only on business guides, student cards only on student guides, and prepaid cards on none. A figure we do not hold is shown as “Not confirmed”, never as a zero. Each researched shortlist is marked as pending editorial review until the site's editor approves it.
More guides
Best cards for other people
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Questions
Frequently asked
What is the best credit card for frequent flyers in Canada?
The best card for frequent flyers in Canada depends on your exact spending and credit. The shortlist above holds 7 cards for this profile, each chosen because it fits frequent flyers: airline co-brand cards that earn miles in a single loyalty program and hand back free checked bags, priority boarding, and companion or annual free-flight benefits.
How did you choose these cards for frequent flyers?
These picks come from dedicated research for frequent flyers, which drew on issuers' published terms and independent sources — listed under “sources” on each pick. The order is the research's. Every fee, welcome offer and earn rate shown on a pick is the figure our catalogue holds for that card, the same one its card page shows. Nothing here is pay-to-rank.
Why do some cards show no annual fee figure?
Because we hold no confirmed figure for it. Our fee column used to default to zero, and many cards still carry a zero that no check has confirmed — so a zero on its own cannot be told apart from a field nobody filled in, and printing “C$0” there would invent a price. A card shows a fee where a positive one is on record, or where a zero was confirmed against the issuer's terms; otherwise the slot reads “Not confirmed”, and the issuer's own page is the place to check before you apply.
How are these cards ranked?
In the research's order. The figures on each pick come from our catalogue, and each card's review page marks which of them a published document states.