Best Premium Credit Cards in Canada: Amex Platinum vs Aeroplan Reserve vs Visa Infinite Privilege
The hub is best credit cards in Canada. How Aeroplan points are earned and converted is the Aeroplan points guide. What the medical certificates actually say is credit card travel insurance. A Cobalt-versus-Infinite comparison at a lower fee is Cobalt versus TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite. Price the year-two earn rate in the rewards calculator after you copy the issuer’s rates. Do not type a rate this page did not quote.
- Platinum’s annual fee is $799. An additional Platinum card is $250. The first two additional Gold cards are $0, then $50. There is no income figure on the eligibility lines reviewed: Canadian resident, Canadian credit file, age of majority.
- The $200 travel credit is one booking of $200 or more a year through American Express Travel, and Amex says you cannot use it again that year if you cancel. The $200 dining credit is a statement credit at restaurants on Amex’s list, on a single transaction of $200 or more.
- Reserve is $599 and earns 3 points per dollar on Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations, 2 on dining and food delivery in Canada, 2 at participating Hyatt, and 1.25 on everything else.
- Privilege is $599, additional card $199, purchase interest 21.99 percent, cash advance 22.99 percent. Earn 2 points per dollar on Air Canada, 1.5 on gas, EV charging, groceries, travel, transit, and dining, and 1.25 elsewhere.
- Platinum medical coverage, as stated on the product page, is up to $5 million for 15 days if you are under 65. Privilege states up to $5 million for 31 days, and 4 days if you or your spouse is 65 or older.
How do the three annual fees compare?
| Platinum Card (Amex) | Aeroplan Reserve (Amex) | Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege (TD) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $799 | $599 | $599 |
| Additional card | $250 for each additional Platinum card. First two additional Gold cards $0, then $50. | $199 for an additional Reserve card, or $0 for a no-fee additional card. | $199 |
| Income test on the page | Not stated. Canadian resident with a Canadian credit file, age of majority. | Not stated on the compare page reviewed. | $150,000 personal or $200,000 household. |
| Network and points | American Express. Membership Rewards. Earn rate not quoted here, because the product page reviewed did not state a clean points-per-dollar table in the section that loaded. | American Express. Aeroplan. 3× on Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations. 2× on dining and food delivery in Canada. 2× at participating Hyatt. 1.25× elsewhere. | Visa. Aeroplan. 2× on Air Canada, including Vacations, and 2× at participating Hyatt. 1.5× on gas, EV charging, groceries, travel, transit, and dining. 1.25× elsewhere. |
| Credits | $200 annual travel credit, one booking of $200 or more through Amex Travel, lost for that year if the booking is cancelled. $200 annual dining credit at restaurants on Amex’s list. | No $200 travel credit was stated on the compare page. Companion pass language: after $25,000 in net purchases, a companion base fare from $99 up to $599 plus taxes and fees. | Companion pass from $99 plus taxes and fees after $25,000 in net purchases, on the card anniversary. NEXUS application fee rebate up to $100 CAD every 48 months. |
| Foreign currency | 2.5 percent conversion commission, stated in the page FAQ. | Not quoted from the compare page in this review. Check the agreement. | Not quoted from the Privilege page in this review. Check the agreement. Do not assume it matches Platinum’s 2.5 percent, and do not assume it is zero. |
| Emergency medical, as stated | Up to $5 million, under age 65, first 15 consecutive days. | The Aeroplan compare page describes up to $5 million, under 65, first 15 days, in the shared insurance section. Confirm the certificate for Reserve specifically. | Up to $5 million for the first 31 days. Four days if you or your spouse is 65 or older. |
| Lounges, in the issuer’s words | American Express Global Lounge Collection. Amex says complimentary Plaza Premium and Priority Pass visits change on January 1, 2027, and that unlimited access to those two programs can depend on $20,000 of eligible spend. The page dates the lounge-count claim “as of 06/2026.” | The compare page lists Maple Leaf Lounge access and Priority Pass among Aeroplan card benefits. Checkmarks did not survive the page text cleanly. Confirm Reserve is included before you count the lounge. | Maple Leaf Lounges for the primary and additional cardholders, with a guest, on a same-day Air Canada or Star Alliance departure. Six complimentary Visa Airport Companion visits a year. |
When does the credit actually reduce the fee?
Fee $799. Travel credit $200, only if you book $200 or more through American Express Travel and do not cancel. Dining credit $200, only if you spend $200 or more in one transaction at a restaurant on the list. If both happen, the credits are $400 against a $799 fee, and $399 of fee is left before any points. If you book the travel only because the credit exists, the credit is not a saving. Amex’s own FAQ says the fee is $799. It does not say the fee is $399. The $399 is this paragraph’s subtraction, and it disappears the year you skip either credit.
Reserve and Privilege do not, on the pages reviewed, offer that pair of statement credits. Their fee test is the points, the companion fare after $25,000 of spend, the lounges, and the insurance day count. A companion ticket “from $99” still owes taxes, fees, charges, and surcharges. Price two cash tickets before you call the pass a $599 reason.
Privilege’s purchase rate on the product page is 21.99 percent, and cash advances are 22.99 percent. Platinum’s page says a preferred rate of 21.99 percent applies to a Flexible Payment Option balance, and 30 percent applies to a delinquent due-in-full balance. Carrying a balance on any of these cards wipes out the points. The rewards calculator’s net value assumes the fee is the cost and the interest is zero. If interest is not zero, stop.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amex Platinum worth $799 in 2026?
Only if the credits you will actually use, plus points at a value you have booked before, plus insurance or lounge visits you would otherwise pay for, clear $799. The page states the credits and the fee. It does not state a points-per-dollar table in the section this review relied on, so this article will not invent a 2-point earn rate to make the fee work. Copy the current earn table into the rewards calculator yourself.
Reserve or Privilege if I only fly Air Canada?
Reserve pays 3 Aeroplan points per dollar on Air Canada. Privilege pays 2, and it works anywhere Visa works, including merchants that refuse American Express. The fees match at $599. The income test is TD’s. If you cannot put the Air Canada spend on Amex, the 3× rate is zero.
Do I need $150,000 of income for all three?
TD prints that test for Infinite Privilege, personal $150,000 or household $200,000. The Platinum eligibility lines reviewed do not print an income minimum. Amex’s Aeroplan compare page, in the section reviewed, does not print one for Reserve either. Approval is still a credit decision. An unpublished minimum is not the same thing as a guarantee.
Which card has the longer medical window?
On the pages reviewed, Privilege states 31 days under the age cutoff, and Platinum states 15 days for cardmembers under 65. The age rules are not the same sentence. Privilege’s 4-day window if you or your spouse is 65 or older can be shorter than a 15-day under-65 Platinum window. Read the travel-insurance article, then the certificate.
What happens to Platinum lounge access in 2027?
Amex’s product page says that effective January 1, 2027, complimentary Plaza Premium and Priority Pass visits become a limited number per year, and that other lounges in the Global Lounge Collection stay unlimited. It also says unlimited Plaza Premium and Priority Pass access can be unlocked with $20,000 of eligible spend. The terms are Amex’s. They are a reason to re-read the page before you renew in 2027, not a reason to ignore the $799 fee in 2026.
Are the welcome bonuses included in the fee test?
Not in year two. Amex’s compare page listed Reserve welcome points of 60,000 after $7,500 in three months and 25,000 after $2,500 in month 13, and it excluded current or former cardmembers. TD listed Privilege bonuses of 20,000 on the first purchase, 30,000 after $12,000 in 180 days, and 50,000 after $24,000 in twelve months. Those are issuer offers as of this review. Price them once, with the valuation guide, then drop them from the keep-or-cancel test.
Sources
- The Platinum Card, American Express Canada
- Platinum travel benefits, including the $200 travel credit
- American Express: compare Aeroplan cards
- TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege
Metal is not a benefit. A credit you already spend is.
Subtract the fee from benefits you will use, then stop. The rest of the household’s tax is the 2026 tax guide.
Get the 2026 Tax Guide — $49 CAD
