Keep reading to find out how and where to redeem Air Miles, and how to get the best value.
Air Miles is a reward program with nearly 10 million members in Canada. It’s designed to reward you for your everyday spending in-store and online, and you can then redeem Air Miles for groceries and gas, merchandise, travel rewards and eVouchers.
You can earn miles by shopping with your Air Miles card at partner stores in-store and online, or use an Air Miles credit card to rack up points even when shopping at non-partner stores.
As of June 2023, Air Miles is owned by BMO.
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The way you redeem Air Miles will depend on whether you want to redeem Cash Miles or Dream Miles.
Redeem Air Miles Cash Miles online for eVouchers or in person at select partners. You can redeem miles in increments of $10 (95 miles). The maximum Air Miles redemption amount is 750 Cash Miles per account per day.
You can only redeem Dream Miles online. Log in to your Air Miles account and browse the travel portal or Rewards Miles Catalogue for merchandise, events and attractions. Select the reward that you want, confirm your purchase and the miles will be withdrawn from your account.
You can redeem Dream Miles for flights but not Cash Miles. Here’s how.
"Since American Express isn’t accepted widely, I like to carry a Visa so I can earn points while I spend. I switched from the no-fee Tangerine World Mastercard to the RBC Avion Visa Infinite card because I wanted to earn points instead of cash back, since points have a higher value. I was attracted to the RBC Avion Infinite because they had an enticing signup bonus of 55,000 points which is valued up to $1,100. Although the card comes with an annual fee of $120, the signup bonus was too good to pass up."
As an Air Miles collector, your membership status is determined by how many Air Miles you earn in a calendar year. Move up to the Gold or Onyx tiers and you can access special membership benefits and offers.
You automatically reach Blue collector status when you sign up to the Air Miles reward program.
You qualify for Gold status when you earn 500 – 4,999 miles in a calendar year. This allows you to access:
You qualify for Onyx status when you earn 5,000 miles or more in a calendar year. This allows you to access:
There are several ways to earn Air Miles rewards.
Earn Cash Miles or Dream Miles when you swipe your Air Miles membership card in person at a retail partner. You may get 1 mile per specified amount of dollars spent, or you may only be able to earn miles on specific transactions. There are dozens of partners to choose from, including:
You can earn miles when you shop online at partner retailers or through the airmilesshops.ca store. However, to maximize awards, visit the Air Miles store, first. This allows you to earn 1 mile for every $20 you spend, regardless of the brand and there are hundreds of brands to choose from, including:
A BMO Air Miles credit card lets you earn Air Miles at a faster rate. For example, when you use a BMO Air Miles Mastercard, you’ll earn three times the miles for every $25 spent at a participating partner, two times the miles for every $25 spent at an eligible grocery store, and 1 mile for every $25 you spend everywhere else.
According to a 2023 study, BMO Air Miles credit cardholders earn Air Miles 11.6 times faster than collectors who don’t use an Air Miles credit card.
If you open a BMO Air Miles chequing account, you earn 1 mile for every $30 you spend with your BMO debit card. As an extra bonus, if you have a BMO Air Miles World Mastercard or BMO Air Miles World Elite Mastercard but use your BMO debit card to make a purchase, you’ll earn 25 bonus miles each month.
It’s possible to link any Canadian-issued Mastercard credit card to your Air Miles account. You can then use that linked card to pay for eligible purchases and to access special offers to help boost your Air Miles balance.
You can use the Air Miles Travel portal to book flights, hotel stays, car rentals, vacation packages and more. Earn miles on your booking and access special offers from partners like Air Canada, Westjet and Budget Car Rental.
The easiest way to earn Air Miles fast is to use an Air Miles credit card. When you shop at partner retailers and use your card for other everyday purchases, it’s easy to ramp up your miles earn rate.
You’ll usually earn a set number of points with your Air Miles credit card, which will be automatically deposited into your Air Miles membership account.
It depends on whether you redeem Air Miles as Cash Miles or Dream Miles:
That’s why it’s important to calculate the cost of Dream Miles purchases in cents per mile to work out whether you’re getting good value.
There are two types of miles you can collect in the Air Miles program — Cash Miles and Dream Miles. You get to choose whether you want to earn your rewards as Cash Miles, Dream Miles, or a mix of the two.
But what’s the difference between Cash Miles and Dream Miles? It all comes down to what you can redeem them for.
Set your preferences for collecting Air Miles Dream Miles and Cash Miles by using the slider in your airmiles.ca account. You can set the slider to 100% Dream Miles or 100% Cash Miles if you want. When you’re all set, select Update balance preference to save your changes.
This will apply to Air Miles you earn in the future. You can’t change how your existing Air Miles are divided up. You can change your Air Miles points redemption preferences as often as you’d like.
No. Air Miles Dream Miles cannot be converted to Cash Miles. Similarly, you cannot convert Air Miles Cash Miles to Dream Miles. However, you can change your preferences for earning Dream Miles and Cash Miles by logging into your account at Airmiles.ca.
Yes. Air Miles always has limited-time offers and promotions to help you boost your miles balance. These include bonus miles, “multiplier” rewards, discounts on specific products and partner brands, and exclusive access to competitions.
You can access the latest deals on the Offers section of the Air Miles website, or download the Air Miles app. The app can be downloaded for free from Google Play, Apple’s App Store and Samsung’s Galaxy Store, and you can also use it to scan your digital Air Miles card when paying with Cash Miles at the checkout.
Finally, BMO also commonly offers bonus miles when you sign up for a BMO Air Miles credit card. At the time of writing, you could get 2000 Air Miles bonus miles by signing up for a BMO Air Miles World Elite Mastercard.
Air Miles lets you earn points for everyday purchases like gas, retail items and dining out. Partners include Spotify, Cineplex, Hudson’s Bay, Starbucks and The Source. You can redeem online for eVouchers or in store at Shell stations and other retailers (select provinces).
Visit the Air Miles rewards website to redeem Air Miles for evouchers. Select your province from the dropdown list to see which stores are available to you.
If you’re looking to redeem your Dream Miles at the Air Miles Rewards shop, you’ve got plenty of choice when it comes to merchandise.
You can only redeem Dream Miles in the Merchandise Rewards shop. Cash Miles can only be used for eVouchers or in-person discounts at Air Miles partner stores. This means if you only collect Cash Miles, you won’t be able to shop in the Merchandise Rewards store.
To browse the available merchandise, you’ll need to visit rewards.airmiles.ca/merchandise. If you have an Air Miles account, you can sign in using the “Sign in” button. You can browse items and simply redeem your Air Miles for any merchandise – as long as you have enough Dream Miles for the product.
If you’re just looking to browse the catalogue, you don’t have to sign in to your account. Should you find something you’d like to purchase with your Dream Miles you can then log in to your account.
Choose from thousands of products across a range of categories including:
To purchase a product from the Merchandise Rewards Catalogue, simply click the “Sign in to Order” button underneath the product description. You can then log in to your account. Once you’re logged in, you’ll either be able to purchase the product or, if you don’t have enough Dream Miles, the number of Miles you need in order to purchase the product will appear.
Should you not have enough Miles or you’re unsure you want the product, you can add it to your “Wishlist” or simply purchase more Dream Miles from the Air Miles website.
To view products you’ve ordered, navigate to the “My Orders” page, where you can view any orders you’ve placed – whether that’s merchandise or eVouchers.
It’s possible to get a discount of 10% or 20% off the number of Air Miles required to redeem for a product, but it depends what Collector tier you are in.
There are three tiers – blue, gold and black. Gold tier members get a 10% discount on merchandise, while black tier members get a 20% discount.
The tier you’re in is determined by the number of Air Miles you collect in a calendar year:
Merchandise Rewards are typically delivered within four weeks or less from the time of ordering. Certificate Rewards are usually delivered within three weeks or less.
You can track your order every step of the way – from the processing to the packaging and delivery. To check the status of your purchase, log in to your account and navigate to the “My Orders” section. You can then click on your reward and track it.
Not sure if Air Miles is the right program for you? Compare it to these other reward programs first:
You can redeem Air Miles for Dream Miles by logging in to the airmiles.ca online portal or by visiting the Air Miles Rewards Miles Catalogue. Redeem Cash Miles for eVouchers to dozens of popular retailers or in store at a few partners. And if you really want to maximize your reward earning power, get an Air Miles credit card to rack up miles faster when you shop at partner and non-partner stores.
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