Meet The New Air Miles Rewards Program

The Air Miles program has gotten a bit of a bad rap this year. And mostly it has to do with some of the partners that have left.

So if you thought the Air Miles program was in need of an overhaul…

We’ve got some news for you.

There will be some huge Air Miles changes rolling out over the next couple of months. Here’s what you need to know.

Big changes are here (and coming) to the Air Miles program

The Air Miles program is getting an overhaul in a few areas when it comes to redeeming miles. There’s also a new logo and collector card design to freshen things up.

Here are the major changes that are here now, and some other ones that are coming soon:

• Fewer miles needed for merchandise redemptions (Live now)
• Greater seat availability on flight redemptions (Coming Nov 2021)
• Extra card-linked offers (Coming Nov 2021)
• Automatic status with BMO Air Miles Mastercards (Coming Nov 2021)

You can see the full details for yourself on this Air Miles page (along with the new logo). But we’ll give you the low-down here as well.

Fewer miles required for merchandise

Even though the Air Miles merchandise catalogue is extensive, the value isn’t great (at least based on our research). In most cases, you’re generally better off collecting Cash Miles instead of using your Dream Miles on merchandise.

But moving forward, merchandise will require 26% fewer miles for redemptions on average.

We’ll have to do some more research on this, but our typical mile valuation for merchandise is 7.7 cents per mile, the lowest among all redemption options.

If that’s increased by 26%, our valuation becomes 9.7 cents per mile. This is much improved, but still lower than the value of a Cash Mile at 10.5 cents each.

On top of that, there’s a promotion if you redeem merchandise right now. Redeem miles for merchandise, enter in “GRAVY” as a promo code, and you’ll get an additional 100 miles off your redemption.

This offer ends October 31, 2021.

Changes to flight redemptions

A common complaint when it comes to redeeming Dream Miles for flights was the lack of availability. And even if you could find something, it often cost too many miles to be worth it. On top of that, you could also only book flights leaving Canada.

That’s all going to change. Air Miles is going to move to dynamic pricing, a system similar to what Aeroplan introduced last year.

Basically, if any seat can be purchased, you’ll be able to use your miles to pay for it. The number of miles you’ll need will fluctuate based on the actual price of a flight.

And the topper – your flight doesn’t have to leave from Canada anymore. This opens up the doors even more, allowing you to book flights between any country.

What will a mile be worth for flights? We don’t know yet since this part of the program upgrade isn’t launching until November 2021. When it’s live, we’ll update our flight research and see what a mile is worth for flights with the changes.

From our experience with the Aeroplan changes, this upgrade will make your miles worth slightly less, but you’ll have more seats to choose from. One of our sayings is with greater flexibility, comes decreased value.

For future reference, our current mile value for flights is 17.2 cents per mile.

Card linked offers

A new way to earn miles starting this fall is with card linked offers. To take advantage, you’ll have to register any Canadian Mastercard to your Air Miles account.

Once you do that, you’ll get offers at varying retailers that can earn you bonus rewards. And it won’t be limited to Air Miles partners either. Here are few merchants that Air Miles stated would be some of the first participants:

• Boston Pizza,
• Subway, and
• Indigo.

This is also launching in November 2021, so we’ll have more details then.

BMO Air Miles Mastercard changes

It’s also been reported that all BMO Air Miles Mastercards are getting a new benefit – automatic advanced status with Air Miles.

The level you get depends on the card you hold.

If you have the BMO AIR MILES^®† World Elite^®* Mastercard^®*, you’ll receive automatic Onyx status.

For the no fee Air Miles cards, you’ll get automatic Gold status. Here is the list of no fee BMO Air Miles Mastercards that will likely qualify:

• BMO AIR MILES^®† Mastercard^®*

No other changes are in store right now for the other Air Miles Mastercards, which includes Amex Air Miles cards.

What is staying the same with Air Miles

So those are the major changes that are either here or are coming soon.

That means there aren’t any changes to other redemptions – which includes hotels, car rentals, experiences, and Cash Miles.

Which brings us to the other major irritant for Air Miles collectors…

Having to choose between Cash and Dream Miles.

This part of the program doesn’t appear to be changing. You’ll still have to make your choice of which type of Air Mile you want to earn, and then learn to live with it should you change your mind later and want those Air Miles earned the other way.

Hopefully, this is something that Air Miles keeps on their minds and makes a change to (although we believe it’s unlikely).

Your turn

This refresh of the Air Miles program is probably overdue. But it’s here now, and for the most part the changes are for the better.

What are your thoughts on these changes?

Let us know in the comments below.