Big Changes Coming to WestJet Rewards

WestJet Rewards is getting a makeover on April 30, 2025. Gone are WestJet dollars, being replaced with an equivalent amount of WestJet points. Also in – use your points to redeem for taxes and fees (finally!), earn points on seats and bags, and it will also be easier to earn status.

In summary – there's no bad news here. Every change is positive. You can view the full details for yourself here.

WestJet dollars becoming WestJet points

The biggest changes are coming in the rewards currency. WestJet dollars (WJD) will be converted to WestJet points.

There's nothing to worry about here; the value you have today is going to stay the same. Existing WJD will be converted at a rate of 1 WJD = 100 points. Those 100 points will then save you $1 off your booking.

New ways to earn and redeem WestJet Rewards

Moving forward, you'll not only be able to earn more WestJet points on travel, but you'll have new ways to redeem them, too.

Earning WestJet points

Currently, the only ways to earn WestJet Rewards while traveling is on base airfares and vacation packages. With the new WestJet Rewards, you'll be able to earn points on everything except for taxes and fees.

And you could earn quite a bit more, actually:

• Base Teal members will earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all these items. You currently only get 0.5% back in WestJet dollars on the base airfare, so you'll be earning more than double with the new program.
• Top-tier members will see earn rates stay the same but you'll still earn more points on every booking.

Redeeming WestJet points

Redeeming is a whole new ball game, too. A major drawback to the current WestJet Rewards setup is that you can only use WJD towards base airfares and vacation packages. You'll soon be able to redeem points on every aspect of your travel through WestJet, including taxes and fees.

100 points will save you $1 on your travel – though there are minimum redemption requirements. You must redeem at least 2,500 points ($25 savings) for flights or at least 5,000 points for vacation packages.

Easier to get WestJet status

It's also going to be much easier to get WestJet status.

First off, all you're spending on WestJet will count towards the next qualifying tier except for taxes and fees. Every $1 you spend on these items gets you $1 in qualifying spend.

And, if you have a WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard, the status lift perk is being improved. For every $5,000 in purchases with a WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard, you'll get $200 in qualifying spend. You can earn this 50 times per calendar year.

You probably won't be able to earn status through the credit card alone; just to get Silver, you'd have to spend $100,000 on your card. Still, it can help get a boost toward the next level.

Partner benefits

While we don’t have many details here, WestJet Rewards will let you link your accounts with Telus and Skip to unlock new ways to earn and redeem WestJet points.

What about WestJet RBC Mastercards?

Other than the status lift perk, we don’t have any news about the WestJet branded credit cards. We assume you'll be able to replace the current earn rates in percentages for points – i.e., 1.5% back in WestJet dollars would become 1.5 points per $1 spent.

When we have news on the credit card changes, we'll let you know.

What do you think of the changes?

We don't see a single downside to what WestJet has announced today – unless you recently booked a rewards flight and wanted to use your WJD towards paying taxes and fees.

Let us know what you think of the new and improved WestJet Rewards in the comments below.