AIR MILES: Maximizing Dream Miles with short-haul flights

**** This article is out of datefollowing the AIR MILES changes of November 18, 2021. Instead, please refer to this article on the Launch of the new AIR MILES flight search tool.

AIR MILES Dream Miles can save you a lot of money… especially on short-haul flights!

The best use of AIR MILES Dream Miles

The AIR MILES loyalty program issues 2 types of miles: Silver or Dream.

air miles slider silver dreams — The AIR MILES slider on 100% Dreams

While the value of Silver Miles is known ($0.105/mile), the value of Dream Miles will depend on how you use them.

Find out in this article why short-haul airfare is the best use of AIR MILES Dream Miles!

What is a short-haul ticket?

A short-haul ticket is a ticket for a flight over a short distance. Generally it will be within the same province or to destinations close to it.

Short-haul airfare costs between 1,400 and 2,500 AIR MILES miles depending on the destination and season (high/low).

For example, here are the accessible destinations:

in high season
from Quebec
from 2,500 AIR MILES miles

**** This article is out of datefollowing the AIR MILES changes of November 18, 2021. Instead, please see this article on the Launch of the new AIR MILES flight search tool.

You will note that in this case, you can go as far as:

Chicago,
Washington,
New York,
Boston,
or anywhere in Quebec and Ontario.

But if in high season you only want to visit Quebec, it can cost as little as 1,400 AIR MILES miles.

**** This article is out of datefollowing the AIR MILES changes of November 18, 2021. Instead, please see this article on the Launch of the new AIR MILES flight search tool.

And all Canadians know it: travelling in Canada, on short distances, is excessively expensive, because of the omnipresence of Air Canada without real competition!

It is not uncommon to see fares of $600 and more to get to the Magdalen Islands from Montreal… as expensive as many flights across the Atlantic!

And that’s where AIR MILES Dream Miles can give you the most value to save you a LOT of money!

Examples of itineraries

Here are some examples of itineraries that can be achieved with AIR MILES Dream Miles.

I’m taking into account the 15% off benefit of the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard: if you’re an AIR MILES collector and you plan to use your miles for airfare, this is a card you MUST have in your wallet!

Montreal (YUL) – Gaspé (YGP)

An example in high season to visit the Gaspésie for 1 week.

This same flight is the cheapest found on Google Flights.

With these two elements, we are able to calculate if it is a good use of AIR MILES Dreams miles.

YUL-YGP	Profitability
Cost in miles (Cost of ticket on AIR MILES)	2023
Taxes (Taxes paid on AIR MILES)	126.76$
Cost of ticket (on Google Flights)	597.00$
Realized gain (cost of ticket – taxes paid)	470.24$
Valuation of the thousand dreams (realized gain / cost in miles)	0.23 / mile

In this example, you are able to withdraw $0.23/Dreams mile, which is an excellent use of AIR MILES miles. Remember, Silver miles are only worth $0.105!

**** This article is out of datefollowing the AIR MILES changes of November 18, 2021. Instead, please refer to this article on the Launch of the new AIR MILES flight search tool.

Montreal (YUL) – Chicago (ORD)

Another example with a destination very appreciated by Quebecers and members of the facebook group “Travel for free (or almost…!) with your points & miles – milesopedia”: Chicago.

With the typical case of an extended weekend from Friday to Monday in summer.

Still to stick to reality, I chose to fly direct rather than via Toronto, which is a bit cheaper.

This same flight is trading at $465 on Google Flights.

With these two elements, we are able to calculate if it is a good use of AIR MILES Dreams miles.

YUL-ORD	Profitability
Cost in miles (Cost of ticket on AIR MILES)	2066
Taxes (Taxes paid on AIR MILES)	174.98$
Cost of ticket (on Google Flights)	465.00$
Realized gain (cost of ticket – taxes paid)	290.02$
Valuation of the thousand dreams (realized gain / cost in miles)	0.14 / mile

In this example, you manage to withdraw $0.14 / thousand Dreams. It’s not as good as before, but it’s still better than the $0.105 Silver miles!

Montreal (YUL) – Halifax (YHZ)

Another example with a perfect destination for a summer weekend: Halifax.

Still to stick to reality, I chose here to prefer a direct flight rather than one, a little cheaper, with a connection. This time the flight is on Porter.

This same flight is trading at $474 on Google Flights.

With these two elements, we are able to calculate if it is a good use of AIR MILES Dreams miles.

YUL-YHZ	Profitability
Cost in miles (Cost of ticket on AIR MILES)	1 575
Taxes (Taxes paid on AIR MILES)	141.71$
Cost of ticket (on Google Flights)	474.00$
Realized gain (cost of ticket – taxes paid)	332.29$
Valuation of the thousand dreams (realized gain / cost in miles)	0.21 / mile

In this example, you manage to withdraw $0.21 / thousand Dreams. Which is excellent!

A card to save even more on your airfare!

But how can you save even more with a credit card?

The BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard is an especially useful card for those who want to use their Dream Miles for air travel:

Free the first year (during a promotional period)
3,000 AIR MILES miles (during a promotional period)
Premium travel insurance

Here are the characteristics of the current promotion, which we will detail below:

Reliable insurance

The BMO^® AIR MILES^® World Elite^®* Mastercard^®* provides foolproof insurance. If you want to know more about insurance, we recommend you read this very detailed article (the insurance is identical with the BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard).

Bottom Line

**** This article is out of datefollowing the AIR MILES changes of November 18, 2021. Instead, please refer to this article on the Launch of the new AIR MILES flight search tool.