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As of March 16, 2026, AIR MILES offers its travel services via Expedia Group, eliminating the minimum miles required and allowing 100% of miles to be used to pay the total cost, including taxes and fees. With this transition, Flex Pay is no longer an available payment option.
This major transformation of the AIR MILES program aims to offer a simplified booking experience and expanded access to travel options through the partnership with Expedia, recognized as a trusted travel brand. Canadian members will see significant changes in how they use their miles, with notable benefits but also the loss of some popular features.
Avec le lancement de la plateforme Expedia, les adhérents peuvent maintenant évaluer concrètement la valeur de leurs milles. Les premières analyses démontrent une valeur d’échange uniforme de 10 cents par mille pour tous les types de réservations – vols, hôtels, locations de voitures et activités.
This value represents a slight disadvantage compared to:
Montreal-Cancun Flight: Fares consistently show a value of 10 cents per mile
International Hotels: The redemption value is the same, regardless of the destination. Discounts follow the same reduction on the cash price of the room.
Car Rentals: The redemption value is identical to other categories, as seen in this example for San José, Costa Rica.
This standardization simplifies calculations but limits opportunities to obtain higher value, unlike other travel rewards programs that offer variable values depending on the booking type or dynamic pricing.
Nevertheless, some limited-time special offers are displayed, such as this one on bonus miles.
AIR MILES is making this change to offer travel services through Expedia Group because it is a trusted travel brand. This strategic decision will enable a simpler booking experience and access to a significantly expanded travel inventory for all Canadian Collectors.
Les adhérents peuvent continuer de réserver via ordinateur, tablette ou mobile comme d’habitude, mais avec des changements majeurs : utilisation des milles pour 100% du coût incluant taxes et frais, aucun minimum de milles requis (sauf croisières), et la fin de Flex Pay. L’interface reste familière mais donne accès à l’inventaire complet d’Expedia.
Vous pouvez utiliser vos milles pour couvrir l’intégralité du coût de votre réservation, y compris les taxes et frais (sauf pour les réservations de croisières et les frais à payer sur place). The redemption value is now set at 10 cents per mile for all travel bookings via Expedia, whether for domestic or international flights, hotels or car rentals.
You can also use as little as one mile to get a 10-cent discount on your booking, which provides more flexibility in using miles for a portion of the total cost.
Step-by-step booking process:
Important points to remember:
Strategic note: Since gift cards offer 10.5 cents per mile, some members might prefer to redeem their miles for gift cards (better value) and use them for their travel purchases.
Bookings made before March 16, 2026, continue to be processed by AIR MILES customer service and remain subject to the current terms and conditions. Cruises are an exception and continue to be booked and processed by redtag.ca, even after the transition.
For bookings made on or after March 16, 2026, they will be processed on the Expedia platform and subject to Expedia’s terms of use. This includes their cancellation, modification policy, and separate customer service.
Expedia’s privacy statement applies to all bookings (except for cruises) made on or after March 16, 2026. Members will need to accept these new terms to continue using the service. Cruises will remain under redtag.ca’s privacy policy.
No, cruises are not affected by this change. They will continue to be booked and processed through redtag.ca, with the same current conditions, including the minimum miles required and the exclusion of certain fees from miles usage.
In conclusion, the partnership between AIR MILES and Expedia represents a major transformation of the travel rewards program. However, with a fixed redemption value of 10 cents per mile for travel, which is lower than the 10.5 cents offered for gift cards, several members might prefer to continue redeeming their miles for gift cards rather than booking travel.
It will be interesting to follow the evolution of this partnership during the transition of AIR MILES to Blue Rewards.
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