Best AIR MILES Credit Cards In Canada For 2020
Points that are easy to earn.
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The best AIR MILES credit card in Canada allows you to earn up to 1 mile for every $10 spent on ALL your purchases – everywhere, not just at AIR MILES partners. Because if you're a loyal AIR MILES collector, there's no need to settle for just any old credit card.
Perhaps you’re looking for a premium credit card like the
Or maybe you just want a card that allows you to pile up the miles on your purchases, like the
No matter what you're looking for, the AIR MILES program has a credit card designed to suit you.
Best AIR MILES credit cards for 2020
Here are some great AIR MILES credit cards you might want to consider:
| Category | Credit Card | Current Welcome Bonus Offer |
|---|---|---|
| Best AIR MILES credit card | BMO® AIR MILES®† World Elite®* Mastercard®* | Up to 3,000 miles, first year free (terms) |
| Best American Express AIR MILES credit card | American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card | 2,000 miles (terms) |
| Best no fee AIR MILES credit card | BMO® AIR MILES®† Mastercard®* | Up to 800 miles (terms) |
Review all top 10 AIR MILES credit cards here.
How AIR MILES rewards work – Cash Rewards vs. Dream Rewards
AIR MILES is a loyalty program founded in 1992 that gives cardholders "miles" for purchases they make at participating locations.
The miles you earn can be used for a number of different things, from flights and hotels, to merchandise and gift cards.
Plus, AIR MILES can even be redeemed like cash at participating stores.
In fact, there are 2 main categories for earning and redeeming your AIR MILES – Cash Rewards and Dream Rewards. You can collect all Cash, all Dream, or a percentage mix of both when you earn miles but they are not interchangeable. Once you have a Cash mile it can only be used for that. Same goes for Dream miles.
| Cash Rewards | Dream Rewards |
|---|---|
|
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These options are great, but one downside is not everyone is an AIR MILES partner. They do have the most partners of any rewards program in Canada, but unless you’re willing to do some major planning around where you shop, it can still take years to build up your miles for a big-ticket reward like a free flight.
Be sure to check out our full review of the AIR MILES program to learn how to best earn and redeem your miles.
And, if want to earn bonus miles? AIR MILES runs frequent promotions throughout the year to boost your miles bank. You can find out more about them here.
But if you want to fast track? Here are the top 3 best cards in detail.
Best AIR MILES credit card
The
What makes this card the best?
Well, for starters, this card will give you 1 mile for every $10 you spend on absolutely anything. Then, BMO gives you a 15% discount on AIR MILES flights within North America, helping you stretch your miles even further.
As part of signing up, get up to 3,000 miles – 1,000 miles after your first purchase, then another 2,000 when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months.
For a card with a reasonable $120 annual fee, it also comes with premium perks like:
- free access to Mastercard Airport Experiences Provided by LoungeKey,
- 2 complimentary lounge passes annually,
- access to 24/7 credit card concierge service,
- one of the most comprehensive credit card insurance packages you can get, and
- you'll pay no annual fee for the first year.
You will need either a personal income of $80,000 or a household income of $150,000 to qualify, but if you do, it's the best AIR MILES credit card you can get.
Best Amex AIR MILES credit card
If you just want to earn the most miles possible on your normal spending, the
And here's why:
- 1 mile per $5 spent on gas, groceries, restaurants, and transit purchases (up to $30,000 annually), and
- 1 mile per $10 spent on all other purchases.
No other AIR MILES card offers an earn rate better than 1 mile per $5 spent on essentials like gas and groceries.
It also has a great welcome bonus that's enough for a free flight on its own – get 2,000 MILES when you spend $1,500 in the first 3 months.
And, it's for an annual fee of $120, a pretty common number for travel cards.
For earning the most miles, this is the card for you.
Best no fee AIR MILES credit card
Coming in as the best AIR MILES credit card with no annual fee is the
This card will give you:
- 1 mile per $20 spent and
- 2x at participating AIR MILES partners.
You'll also get a nice sign-up bonus of 800 miles, which isn't something all no fee cards will give you.
Plus, for some added peace of mind, all of your purchases made with the card will be covered with 90 days of purchase protection (that means you’re safe if your new purchase gets lost, stolen, or damaged) and it will double your manufacturer's warranty for up to an extra year.
If that wasn’t enough, for a limited time, this card will give you an introductory balance transfer interest rate of only 1.99% for 9 months. For a no fee card, this card has a lot going for it.
Whatever it is you’re looking for, there's something for everyone on this top 10 list.
Compare AIR MILES Credit Cards
How we get our rankings
How do we decide what the best AIR MILES credit cards are? We take into account over 126 features of each card, broken down into 7 main categories:
We then take those features and put them through our algorithm, which calculates a score out of 5. And since we're talking about AIR MILES credit cards, we give extra weight to the rewards category, as it's the primary feature we're after for cards on this page.
Learn more about our Genius Rating methodology.
