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Airfare often represents the largest expense of a trip. Fortunately, there is an effective solution to significantly reduce these costs: using reward points.
From airline loyalty programs to financial institution rewards programs, let’s look at all the options for turning your points into flights.
In the world of rewards, there are two main kinds of travel points:
With airline points, you book flights directly, paying only airport fees and taxes. For example, a flight from Montreal to Paris with Aeroplan could cost you between 60,000 and 70,000 points plus taxes.
Credit card points offer more flexibility: they generally allow you to book any flight on any airline and then receive a statement credit by using your points.
Before choosing your strategy, ask yourself these important questions:
These criteria will guide you towards the most appropriate points program for your situation. To find out more, read our guide to choosing the best loyalty program for your destination:
For each loyalty program available in Canada, you’ll discover the essential information, with links to our detailed guides if you wish to delve deeper.
Aeroplan is Air Canada’s loyalty program. It allows you to book flights on Air Canada and more than 45 partner airlines that are members of Star Alliance, such as United Airlines, Lufthansa, ANA, and many others.
Points are easily accumulated on daily purchases via Aeroplan co-branded credit cards.
To find out more about the Aeroplan program, consult our complete guide:
Avios is the common currency of the loyalty programs for British Airways, Qatar Airways, Finnair, Vueling, and Aer Lingus. With these programs, you can book flights on all Oneworld alliance member carriers, including American Airlines, LATAM, and Japan Airlines.
Avios are particularly advantageous for short-haul flights in economy class and are easily accumulated via RBC credit cards.
Read our complete Avios program guides to find out more:
Flying Blue is the loyalty program of Air France, KLM, and Transavia. With Flying Blue miles, you can book flights on these airlines and all their SkyTeam partners, such as Delta and Aeroméxico.
In Canada, you can transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points to Flying Blue or earn them directly with an Air France KLM co-branded credit card.
Discover all the possibilities of the program in our detailed guide.
WestJet Rewards is the loyalty program of the Canadian airline WestJet. It works differently from other programs: WestJet dollars are used like cash to book WestJet and partner flights.
WestJet dollars are primarily accumulated with RBC credit cards.
Learn how to make the most of your WestJet dollars with our complete guide.
Other loyalty programs are easily accessible in Canada:
These programs allow you to travel with other airlines and their respective partners through the transfer of American Express Membership Rewards or RBC Avion points.
In Canada, most financial institutions offer their own travel rewards programs with their credit cards. These programs operate independently of airline loyalty programs, and often offer greater flexibility.
The main Canadian banking programs are:
There are two main ways to use your points for travel. Some programs let you book wherever you want: travel agency, airline, or the website of your choice.
Other programs direct you to their own booking portal, where you will generally find the same rates as elsewhere.
Flexible programs also give you access to their own travel portal. By using it, you will benefit from earning bonus points on your bookings.
Programs with a dedicated agency also allow you to use your points for external bookings, but at a less favorable exchange rate.
To fully understand the specifics of each program, please refer to the detailed guides in the following sections.
✈️ 25,000 Membership Rewards points can be exchanged for a $250 credit on an airline ticket or transferred into 25,000 Aeroplan points.
The American Express Membership Rewards program stands out as the most flexible travel program in Canada. It offers four options for booking airline tickets with your points:
To find out all you need to know about the American Express Membership Rewards program, consult our complete guide:
✈️ 50,000 TD Rewards points can be exchanged for a $250 discount on an airline ticket.
The TD Rewards program offers two ways to book airline tickets:
To find out how to save on your next vacation with TD Rewards points, consult our detailed guide:
✈️ 25,000 CIBC Aventura points can be exchanged for a $250 credit on an airline ticket.
With the CIBC Aventura program, you have three options for booking airline tickets with points:
Learn how to make the most of your Aventura Points with our complete guide:
✈️ 25,000 Scene+ points can be exchanged for a $250 credit on an airline ticket.
The Scotiabank Scene+ program is designed to be simple and very versatile. It allows you to book airline tickets in two ways:
Save on your next trip by consulting our detailed Scene+ guide:
✈️ 25,000 NBC Rewards points can be exchanged for a $250 discount on an airline ticket.
Members of the NBC À la carte Rewards program can convert their points into an airline ticket in two ways:
Find out how to plan your next trip with points at NBC in our complete À la carte Rewards guide:
✈️ 25,000 RBC Avion points can be exchanged for a $250 discount on an airline ticket or transferred into 25,000 Avios.
The RBC Avion program offers four options for booking your airline tickets:
Maximize the value of your Avion points by consulting our detailed program guide:
✈️ 25,000 MBNA Rewards points can be exchanged for a $250 discount on an airline ticket.
The MBNA Rewards program offers two easy ways to book your flights:
✈️ 37,500 BMO Rewards points can be exchanged for a $250 discount on an airline ticket.
The BMO Rewards program offers you two ways to book your airline tickets:
Our detailed guide on BMO Rewards will help you plan your next trip at a lower cost:
In conclusion, whether it is airline loyalty programs or bank reward programs, each offers different ways to exchange your points or miles for airline tickets. The choice of the most advantageous program will depend on your spending habits and travel goals.
If you are new to the world of points, focus first on a single program to master its rules and benefits. Once comfortable, you can gradually explore other programs and combine them strategically to maximize your savings.
To choose the travel credit card that best suits your needs, consult our comparison tool, discover our ranking of the best travel credit cards, and come chat with our community on our Facebook group!
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