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Air Canada’s Aeroplan program and World of Hyatt announced on July 15, 2026 a game-changing partnership for Canadian travellers. By linking your Aeroplan and World of Hyatt accounts, you gain access to a combined network of more than 1,300 destinations and 1,500 hotels, with new ways to earn, convert and redeem your points in both programs.
The most exciting part for us: Hyatt has never offered a credit card in Canada. Now, Aeroplan credit cards become the gateway to World of Hyatt, with earning in both programs on your stays, complimentary Discoverist status and accelerated status challenges. Here are all the details of the announcement, effective as of today.
Our contributor Jean-François Léveillé attended the launch for Milesopedia, held in Toronto under the banner “Better in Both Worlds”. Scott O’Leary, Vice President – Loyalty and Product at Air Canada, and TJ Abrams, Vice President – Global Partnerships and Wellness at Hyatt, presented the key points of the agreement. Air Canada also showcased a mock-up of its new Signature Class seat planned for its A321XLR.
Bringing together two of the industry’s most popular loyalty programs, this agreement impacts more than 10 million Aeroplan members and 66 million World of Hyatt members. Most perks require linking your Aeroplan and World of Hyatt accounts, a free process available now on both programs’ websites.
First concrete change: Aeroplan members can now earn points on their eligible stays at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts. Specifically, members of both programs can choose to earn 500 Aeroplan points per stay instead of World of Hyatt points.
This is where the announcement really delivers for Canadian cardholders. By linking your accounts, your Canada-issued Aeroplan credit card now earns boosted Aeroplan points AND World of Hyatt bonus points for every dollar of eligible spending at participating Hyatt hotels. Here’s the exact chart for the 10 cards included:
The biggest jump goes to the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, which goes from 1.25 to 2 Aeroplan points per dollar at Hyatt, plus 2 World of Hyatt bonus points. Meanwhile, the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card offers the highest combined rate: 2.5 Aeroplan points and 2 World of Hyatt bonus points per dollar, for a total of 4.5 points per dollar on your Hyatt stays.
This card also offers an attractive welcome bonus: see the details of the offer of up to 85,000 Aeroplan points with the Aeroplan American Express Prestige Card.
Certain purchases at Hyatt do not count as eligible, even at a participating property: restaurants and boutiques not directly managed by the hotel, bookings via Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt or the Mr & Mrs Smith collection, as well as payments related to a Hyatt Vacation Club or the Unlimited Vacation Club. Your points may also take up to 10 weeks to appear in your account, and no points are awarded retroactively for a purchase made before linking your accounts. See the official partnership page on World of Hyatt for the full list of exclusions.
Before we talk conversions, let’s set the values. At Milesopedia, we estimate an Aeroplan point is worth between 1.5 and 3 Canadian cents, depending on whether you redeem it for an economy or business class flight. A World of Hyatt point, for its part, is worth between 2 and 3 Canadian cents.
Scarcity explains part of this gap. In Canada, Aeroplan points are easy to earn: a lineup of 10 co-branded credit cards with TD, CIBC and American Express, plus 1:1 transfers from American Express Membership Rewards points. By contrast, it was practically impossible to earn World of Hyatt points in Canada outside of hotel stays, except by buying points. For a Canadian traveller, a World of Hyatt point is therefore worth more simply because it’s harder to get.
That’s the lens that puts the 2-to-1 conversions described below into perspective: losing half the number of points doesn’t mean losing half the value, depending on the direction of the conversion.
All members can convert World of Hyatt points into Aeroplan points at a 2-to-1 rate, starting at 5,000 points. After that, additional conversions are done in increments of 1,000 points. Note: this conversion does not require linking your accounts.
Aeroplan Elite status members who have linked their accounts get an exclusive perk: converting Aeroplan points into World of Hyatt bonus points at a 2-to-1 rate. The minimum is 500 Aeroplan points at a time, with a maximum of 100,000 Aeroplan points per day and 250,000 Aeroplan points per week.
Beyond conversions, the two programs are launching direct, fixed-value redemptions. Aeroplan members can now redeem their points for World of Hyatt free nights, while World of Hyatt members can get an Aeroplan flight reward certificate.
Remember that World of Hyatt revamped its award chart in May 2026, moving from three to five price tiers per category. Before redeeming 25,000 or 75,000 Aeroplan points, check the category of the hotel you’re targeting and the equivalent World of Hyatt points rate: the value varies widely from one property to another.
To target the best-value redemptions, check out our selection of the best World of Hyatt sweet spots for your points, which highlights hotels where the value-per-point ratio remains favourable despite the new chart.
Starting today, Aeroplan Elite status members and eligible premium cardholders can earn World of Hyatt status faster through an annual 90-day challenge:
According to the media documentation, status earned through the challenge remains valid for the current year, plus 14 months. For comparison, Globalist status normally requires 60 nights per year: this shortcut is huge for frequent travellers.
Holders of an Aeroplan premium credit card—namely the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card and the CIBC® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card—also receive:
World of Hyatt members with Discoverist, Explorist and Globalist status receive each year, after linking their accounts, an Air Canada flight credit of CA$20 for a round trip or CA$10 for a one-way trip, per passenger on the booking. In addition, starting fall 2026, Explorist and Globalist members will be able to enroll in annual challenges to fast-track Aeroplan Elite status, from 25K level up to 75K level based on Air Canada qualification thresholds.
Full terms and conditions for each of these offers can be found on the dedicated World of Hyatt page.
Until now, Marriott Bonvoy was the only major hotel program with credit cards in Canada, thanks to the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and its Business version. Hilton Honors offers no card in Canada, and Best Western Rewards no longer does. So if you wanted to earn hotel points with a Canadian credit card, options were limited.
This partnership changes the equation. Without launching a co-branded card, World of Hyatt is leveraging the 10 existing Aeroplan cards from TD, CIBC and American Express to offer hotel earning, base status and status challenges. For a traveller who already holds an Aeroplan premium card, the math becomes compelling: effortless Discoverist status, 5 qualifying nights gifted each year, and up to 4.5 points per dollar on Hyatt stays.
Check out our page on the best credit cards for hotels and our page on the best credit cards to compare all your options.
To see how World of Hyatt compares to the six other major hotel programs following the 2026 devaluations, check out our complete comparison of hotel loyalty programs.
This Aeroplan and World of Hyatt partnership benefits Aeroplan premium cardholders first: complimentary Discoverist status, 5 qualifying night credits per year, two status challenges and double earning at Hyatt. Next, frequent travellers get a shortcut to Globalist in 20 nights—one of the most generous hotel statuses in the industry.
On the conversion side, follow the value: transferring Aeroplan points to World of Hyatt can make sense as a top-up for Elite members, since Hyatt points are rare and valuable in Canada. On the other hand, we do not recommend the reverse direction, from World of Hyatt to Aeroplan. As for free-night redemptions, always compare the Aeroplan points cost with the hotel’s World of Hyatt points rate before confirming. To follow developments in this partnership—including the Aeroplan Elite status challenges expected in fall 2026—sign up for our newsletter.
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