To the point
AIR MILES Travel is becoming more and more a complete travel agency, where AIR MILES miles will be collected faster. Here are the changes and improvements to their travel booking platform.
Use miles. Earn miles. Travel more.
*** Update October 19, 2023: AIR MILES has announced that it has chosen Expedia Group to use and connect to its reservation platform. This will give the program access to Expedia’s 700,000 hotels and other accommodations, so that members can book them with miles or cash.
Starting today, the AIR MILES Travel portal expands to give its members even more options.
Once a tool for booking flights with miles only, AIR MILES has evolved over the years to become an increasingly comprehensive travel agency.
From now on, AIR MILES members will be able to book all their trips in one place. What’s more, according to AIR MILES, he could collect miles faster, have more choice and greater flexibility.
There will be 3 levels of accumulation, in order to make a triple dip of miles:
- Accumulation by status
- Blue: 1 mile / $15 spent on travel
- Gold: 1 mile/$10 spent on travel
- Onyx: 1 mile / $5 spent on travel
- If a package of 2 travel products is purchased (flight + accommodation or flight + car rental), the accumulation according to the above status will be multiplied by :
- Blue: 3x the miles
- Gold:4x the miles
- Onyx: 5x the miles
- And even more miles if the member pays with a :
- BMO® AIR MILES® Mastercard®*(3 miles / $25 spent)
- or BMO® AIR MILES® World Elite®*Mastercard®*(3 miles / $12 spent)
When all conditions are met, the return can be as high as 12.5%.
For example, a member who purchases an eligible package worth $1,000 (before taxes and fees) on the AIR MILES Travel site will receive approximately 1,180 miles (or a value of approximately $125).
Note that AIR MILES miles will soon be transferable between Cash and Dream rewards, giving the program even greater flexibility.
Other improvements
Before, you had to make sure you had enough Dream Miles to book a flight, or book with 100% cash. From now on, things will be different.
There is now a choice between :
- Pay with Dream Miles only
- Cash only
- Or pay with at least 50% in Dream Miles and the rest in cash using a credit card
In addition, further enhancements are planned for the rest of the year:
- 20 additional international airlines
- Reservations for all-inclusive hotels and vacation properties
- Options such as luggage purchase before payment
- Purchase of activities and excursions with miles
- Payment solutions for travel financing
For the time being, taxes must be paid by credit card. Eventually, this portion can be paid for with AIR MILES miles.
Bottom Line
These changes enhance the member experience on the AIR MILES Travel platform.
However, the miles required for travel are still subject to dynamic pricing and market-driven pricing.
The best ways to use AIR MILES miles are on short-haul flights, medium-haul flights or car rentals. After a little research on the tool, a flight from North America to Europe always requires very high fees and taxes. It’s not worth it.
Tickets for Walt Disney World and Universal Studios are still available. In fact, AIR MILES via Red Tag is the largest seller of Disney park tickets in Canada.
Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
