Capital · Credit Cards · CIBC
No Fee, No Income Test,
And No Free Bag.
A no fee Aeroplan card with no minimum income, aimed at post secondary students. It earns points and it does not carry the checked bag or the lounge access people expect from an Aeroplan card. Every figure here is off CIBC, read 6 September 2026.
The CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students has no annual fee, no fee for up to three additional cards, and no minimum income requirement. It earns one Aeroplan point per $1 on eligible gas, EV charging, groceries and Air Canada, and one per $1.50 on everything else. Not advice.
Annual Fee
$0 for up to three additional cards.
Minimum Income
CIBC states no minimum income requirement.
Gas, Groceries, Air Canada
One point per $1.50 on everything else.
Credit Limit Ceiling
$2,000 for international students.
What The Card Is
Read off CIBC on 6 September 2026, in their words before mine.
The Eligibility Rules Are Not On The Card Page
Nothing on the product page says you must be a student. CIBC states it on two other pages, and they do not agree: its student FAQ says “You are currently a post-secondary student”, while its advice article says “you must have full-time status in a college or university”. Those are different tests.
Proof Is Asked Of International Students Only
CIBC states international students qualify “when you show us your proof of international student status”. No proof of enrolment requirement is published for domestic students anywhere this page could reach.
The Credit Limits Are Capped And Split
Up to $5,000 for Canadian students and up to $2,000 for international students, with a stated minimum limit of $1,000 for this card, and the final limit at CIBC’s discretion.
Aeroplan Points Do Not Expire While You Hold The Card
CIBC states points “won’t expire as long as you, the primary cardholder, continue to hold your CIBC Aeroplan credit card”. Cancel the card and Aeroplan’s ordinary inactivity policy resumes. On a card someone opens at nineteen and may hold for a decade, that is the quiet benefit.
The Arithmetic On A Free Card
There is no fee. The question is what the welcome offer actually requires.
Up To $200 Means $10,000 Of Spending
CIBC breaks the 10,000 points into 2,500 on first purchase, 2,500 at $1,500 of net purchases across the first four statements, and 5,000 at $10,000 of net eligible purchases across the first twelve. A student spending typical amounts realistically collects 5,000.
The $200 Is A Valuation, Not Cash
CIBC values 10,000 points at $200 by assuming a flight redemption at two cents a point, “based on actual redemptions made by cardholders between the period of November 8, 2020 to September 1, 2025”. It is a real average, and it is still an assumption about how you redeem.
The Anniversary Bonus Is A Retention Hook
The last 5,000 points arrive within eight weeks after the one year account open date, and only if the account is open and in good standing. That is roughly fourteen months of holding to collect the headline.
Additional Cardholders Get None Of It
CIBC states “Additional cardholders are not eligible for this offer.” Preferred flight reward pricing and the Global Money Transfer are also primary cardholder only. The three free cards are for spending, not for benefits.
The Case Against Carrying It
Same standard as every other page here.
There Is No Free Checked Bag
CIBC lists no checked bag, no priority boarding, no lounge access and no companion benefit for this card, and the Aeroplan Visa benefits guide contains none either. Anyone choosing an Aeroplan card for the bag is choosing the wrong one.
There Is No Travel Insurance
The card carries car rental collision, common carrier accident at $100,000, purchase security and extended protection. No travel medical, no trip cancellation, no trip interruption, no flight delay, no baggage.
The Base Rate Is One Point Per $1.50
That is two thirds of a point per dollar on everything outside the three named categories, which is a low rate by any measure.
The Card Is Almost Invisible In CIBC’s Own Documents
The rates sheet, the insurance certificate, the benefits guide and the cardholder agreement all name the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card and never the student version. Every fee and coverage figure here is inherited by link rather than by name.
How It Sits In A Stack
Not advice. How this card reads next to the others published here.
It Is A Credit File, Not A Rewards Strategy
The point of a first card is the history it builds. At no fee and no income test, this one does that while pointing at a currency the holder may use for twenty years.
It Feeds The Same Aeroplan Balance As The Privilege Card
Points earned here and points earned on the TD Aeroplan Infinite Privilege land in the same Aeroplan account. One currency beats three, and this is the cheapest way into it.
Nothing Happens When You Graduate
CIBC states you can keep using the card after graduation and frames upgrading as optional. There is no forced conversion and no published deadline.
What Could Not Be Confirmed
In circulation, and not on the issuer page. Printed rather than dropped.
The $40,000 Cap In Footnote Four
The product page’s own footnote states the bonus rate is available on “the first $40,000 in net annual card purchases”, resetting the day after the December statement. The same footnote describes a 1.5 point rate and refers to a CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card account, which is a different product earning a different rate. The cap is printed on this card’s page in text that appears to belong to another card. Published here as unresolved rather than restated as fact.
The Foreign Transaction Fee
CIBC’s rates and fees summary states 2.5 percent of the converted amount, on both debits and credits, and the product page links that document as this card’s own. The document never names the student card. Reported as CIBC’s general rate rather than as a figure confirmed for this product.
Whether Student Status Is Ever Verified Again
CIBC publishes no process for checking student status after approval, and no statement of what happens to the account if you stop being a student beyond saying you can keep using it.
All figures read off CIBC’s own Canadian pages and linked PDFs for the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students on 6 September 2026: annual fee $0 and $0 for up to three additional cards, no minimum income requirement, earn rates of one Aeroplan point for every $1 spent on eligible gas, electric vehicle charging, groceries and with Air Canada directly including Air Canada Vacations and one point for every $1.50 on all other purchases, annual interest rates of 21.99% on purchases and 22.99% on cash, balance transfers and convenience cheques or 21.99% for Quebec residents, credit limits of up to $5,000 for Canadian students and up to $2,000 for international students against a stated card minimum of $1,000, a welcome offer beginning 16 July 2026 of 2,500 points on first purchase plus 2,500 points at $1,500 of net purchases in the first four monthly statement periods plus 5,000 points at $10,000 of net eligible purchases in the first twelve monthly statement periods with additional cardholders stated as not eligible, Aeroplan points stated as not expiring while the primary cardholder continues to hold the card, and insurance limited to car rental collision and loss damage for rentals up to 48 days on vehicles up to $85,000, common carrier accident to a maximum of $100,000 per accident, purchase security for 90 days and extended protection doubling the manufacturer’s warranty to a maximum of one additional year with a combined $60,000 limit per cardholder. The $40,000 cap in the product page footnote is internally inconsistent and the foreign transaction fee is not stated for this card by name; both are published above as unconfirmed. No figure on this page comes from a comparison site. Cody Wise does not hold this card.
The Rest Of The Card Pages
What is actually in the wallet, and the one that is not.
The Whole Card Stack
Nine cards across six issuers, what each one costs and what it is actually for.
The Amex Platinum
The premium card in the wallet, with the $799 fee broken down against its credits.
The Centurion
The card with no application form, and what American Express actually publishes about it.
Common Questions
No. CIBC states $0 annual fee and $0 for up to three additional cards. Read off CIBC on 6 September 2026.
No. CIBC states plainly that there is no minimum income requirement for this card.
One Aeroplan point for every $1 spent on eligible gas, electric vehicle charging, groceries and directly with Air Canada including Air Canada Vacations, and one point for every $1.50 on all other purchases.
No. CIBC lists no checked bag, priority boarding, lounge access or companion benefit for this card, and none appears in the Aeroplan Visa benefits guide.
CIBC states you can still use the card after graduation and that you may want to consider upgrading. It publishes no automatic conversion, no grace period and no deadline.
A Rate Is Not A Return
Until You Spend There.
Every accelerated rate in Canada is a rate on one category. The only question that matters is whether that category is where your money actually goes.
Not financial advice.