roastpuff

I just received my new Aerogold Visa Infinite card (along with the MLL pass and the other doodads), activated it, checked my Aeroplan account and hey presto, 15K points appear! Nearly made it to dSilver starting with only ~4000 points. So, apparently the CIBC bonus points do accrue Distinction status. ^

When the 5000 bonus points from $500 spend appear I will post an update.

On an interesting side note, this was actually a conversion from my old CIBC Aventura MC (non-Elite with only $39 fee), I got them to promise me all the bonuses, FYF and to convert my old Aventura points at a 3:1 ratio (because of the $39 fee - apparently the $120 cards can get it at 1:1) even though it was past the Dec 31 deadline for conversion of Aventura to Aeroplan.

CloudsBelow

Going to re-up w/ CIBC Visa later in March before FYF + 20k expires.
I'd prefer the Aerogold Card. Is there any extra bennies w/ Infinite not included in the basic Aerogold (**not card benefit, AP/MLL etc benefits)

Thanks

splicer100

The 5000 bonus points also count towards distinction status. Not very difficult to get dSilver status.

roastpuff

Alright, awesome then. Yes, not difficult to get dSilver, and just about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

heraclitus

In fairness, for non status flyers like me, Distinction does make market rewards a possibility on some routes. Obviously not a huge game changer, but it could come in handy.

While we're on the topic, do the 5K bonus points post automatically on hitting $500 or only when the statement posts? I know it doesn't matter a whole lot but I was curious...

splicer100

You get the bonus miles when the statement posts along with the regular aeroplan miles you get every month.

Cana2013

I received the 15k + 5k all together today. The statement was generated this morning and the miles showed up in my aeroplan account at noon.

roastpuff

Did you hit $500 already? I just got the card and haven't had a chance to do anything with it yet.

Cana2013

Yes, I did hit the 500 spend.

alc

So, do you get the 15K on activation or on 1st statement... or it is random. Cana0123 seems to indicate it is at 1st statement while roastpuff seems to state at activation.

Am going to apply this weekend with my personal banker, just want to set the right expectation for myself.

crimsona

I think it's neither - the bonus in my experience posted with the first purchase.

Online account shows base miles, and then bonus of 15k

Cerenity

my previous experience with CIBC Aerogold (applied in June 2013) was that the 15k showed up after 1st statement w/ spend

Jul 05, 2013 VISA INFINITE PURCHASES 227
Jul 05, 2013 VISA INFINITE SIGN-UP BONUS 15,000
Jul 05, 2013 50% MORE MILES WITH CIBC 116

JJonahJ

Has the 2014 version of the CIBC Aerogold Visa changed so drastically? Between my wife and I, we've applied for this card 8 times in the past 2 years...every single one of them did NOT see the 15K signup points UNTIL AFTER the first statement generates (after at least $1 purchase).

If the points are posting without waiting for a bill to generate, then this means they've changed the points posting/accrual system for the Aerogold, and in a HUGE way, to now be similar to the AMEX MR cards, where the MR points show up immediately after the purchase posts as a transaction online at Amex.ca.

Not doubting what's being reported here, but that is a big shift in the way CIBC has posted the Aeroplan points, if indeed the points are posting before a bill is generated.

I haven't applied for the 2014 version (15K + 5K) yet, so I cannot confirm.

Cana2013

The bonus miles should be the same, but the infinite got better insurance.

Cana2013

I did not receive anything until today which is when the first statement generated.