Air Miles Loses Staples In A Series Of Dwindling Partners

The hits just keep on coming for the Air Miles program.

There’s been quite a few Air Miles partners leaving, with one of their biggest partners recently walking away for another program (hello Sobeys and Safeway).

Someone else just announced they’re also saying sayonara to Air Miles.

Earning Air Miles at Staples to end on July 1st, 2022

That’s right, another one of the biggest partner retailers is leaving the Air Miles program.

If you receive email promotions from Staples, you may have seen this email. As far as we can tell, they have yet to communicate this news through other means. The Air Miles site doesn’t have any of this info.

Here’s what it says:

Yikes. Another Air Miles partner bites the dust.

Once July 1, 2022 comes around, you won’t be able to earn any Air Miles at Staples. However, you will be able to continue earning miles when shopping online via airmilesshops.

Staples doesn’t detail out what they’re going to be doing for rewards next. They do mention that they will be making some upgrades to their Preferred Program for small businesses, and their teacher membership program isn’t changing.

For anyone signed up to receive email offers, Staples will offer exclusive discounts and offers.

Air Miles at Staples had a pretty lacklustre earn rate at only 1 mile per $40 spent, half the usual earn rate. But it’s still one less partner you can earn Air Miles with.

Where does this leave Air Miles?

The Sobeys news was gigantic, and this doesn’t help. We didn’t get into the future of Air Miles when Sobeys left, but we will here.

Air Miles still has lots of partners, but the major sponsors are dwindling.

Right now, the only major coast-to-coast retailer left is Shell, and at this point we’re just waiting for the news that Shell is setting out on their own when it comes to rewards. The sad part about Shell is that even though you’re likely spending more on gas than ever before, you’re not earning more miles from it, as miles are awarded on a per-litre basis.

There are still lots of large regional retailers earning miles. Whether it’s for gas, groceries, drugstores, or home improvement, you’ll still be able to earn miles. You’ll probably just be earning fewer of them.

But for many, the day of piling up Air Miles ends whenever Sobeys and Safeway pull Air Miles from your local store (which will likely be sooner than later).

For me, I’ll still be collecting Air Miles, but I’ll be earning strictly Cash Miles moving forward. I won’t be earning enough to bother with saving up for travel. Once I get to 95 miles, I’ll take my $10 discount when I can get it. I’ll be able to earn occasional miles when shopping at Kent, Shell, Irving, and Global Pet Foods.

Air Miles certainly isn’t dead. But it’s not going to be the rewards program it was.

It’s hard to see where a major new partner is going to come from. Walmart has never been into rewards, and that’s also not Costco’s thing either. Loblaws is not going to ditch their homemade program either – so what other major retailer is going to leave their own program to take up Air Miles?

There’s a lot to ponder as to where Air Miles is heading.

Will Air Miles credit card holders stick around?

There is still one way to collect Air Miles anywhere. Air Miles credit cards aren’t going anywhere.

But depending on who you are, you may be thinking about turning in your Air Miles credit card for something else.

There are plenty of options out there for you to consider. Whether you want cash back, flexible rewards, or want to stick to travel rewards, there are over 229 credit cards in Canada to choose from.

Some ideas as to how to get started?

Check out the GeniusCash offers. Get approved for a credit card through our offers page, and you can earn free cash on approval. There are plenty of sweet credit cards to look at.

For a more personalized recommendation, our compare cards page is here for you. Enter in what you want in a credit card, tailor your monthly spending, and we’ll list out the best credit card for you using our Genius Rating.

We want to hear your thoughts on Air Miles

The retailers that first started leaving were smaller in scale, but big ones have started to drop too.

What are your thoughts on the news, and the Air Miles program as a whole?

Leave us a comment below, and get the discussion rolling.