American Express Expands Its Premium Hotel Programs with 350+ New Properties & Confirmed: Air Canada sells a minority stake in Aeroplan (RWRDS Daily Update August 12)

➡️ American Express Expands Its Premium Hotel Programs with 350+ New Properties Around The World

Amex’s Fine Hotels & Resorts program is 35 years old and fittingly they are celebrating with the addition of over 350 new hotels properties to the program. Fine Hotels & Resorts is a collections of more than 3,400 properties across 116 countries where holders of The Platinum Card from American Express  and The Business Platinum Card from American Express receive extra perks on their stays at these properties. Those perks include room upgrades, early and/or late checkout, hotel credits and on occasion,  free nights on multiple night stays.

The 350+ new properties have also been added to American Express’ The Hotel Collection which is the hotel benefits program for other American Express cards including the American Express Cobalt Card and the American Express Gold Rewards Card.

For domestic travellers, these are the three new Canadian properties that have joined the programs in this latest expansion:

• Fox Harb’r Resort in Nova Scotia
• Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer in Toronto
• Nobu Hotel Toronto in Toronto

➡️ Confirmed: Air Canada sells a minority stake in Aeroplan

The news about Air Canada selling a minority stake in Aeroplan became reality yesterday afternoon when the official press release came out from Air Canada. The official details are slightly different than what Bloomberg had originally reported.  Here are the highlights of this deal:

• Blackstone and La Caisse are leading a $2.5 billion, 25% minority equity investment in Aeroplan, valuing the program at $10 billion
• Investor group also includes PSP Investments and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation
• Air Canada retains full control over Aeroplan’s strategy, operations and day-to-day management through its controlling interest
• Aeroplan Members, partners and employees will experience no changes as a result of the transaction
• The transaction supports investment in Air Canada’s strategic plan and long-term growth and underscores the value of Aeroplan’s industry-leading loyalty program.
• Proceeds will be used toward the repayment of upcoming US$1.2 billion bond maturity and accelerate share repurchases, including through a substantial issuer bid for up to $800 million in shares

The good news at this time is that Air Canada does state there will be no changes to the program for members, partners and employees as they retain full control. Let’s keep our fingers crossed it remains that way in the future and they don’t start getting pressured by Blackstone to squeeze the program.

Check out today's points & miles updates here: https://blog.rewardscanada.ca/daily-update/august-12-2026/