Air Miles expands offerings, including ways to earn and redeem – MoneySense

As you might recall, BMO Financial Group bought Air Miles in March 2023, after the program’s owner, Loyalty Ventures Inc., filed for bankruptcy. At that time, BMO said the acquisition “would be a made-in-Canada opportunity to enable a reinvigoration for one of Canada’s largest loyalty programs.” 

Air Miles collectors, that day has come. Let’s look at how the program has changed.

What’s new about Air Miles?

In addition to its emphasis on moments (collecting them, winning them, getting to them faster), the new Air Miles brand platform reflects several program enhancements rolled out since April:

More ways to earn

Collectors can take advantage of two ways to rack up more Miles: 

• Air Miles Receipts, introduced in 2023, gives members Miles for buying certain products and scanning the receipts with the Air Miles app within 14 days. Air Miles Receipts initially included grocery stores. It recently expanded to liquor stores, and more categories are coming in September.
• Card-linked offers give collectors bonus Miles at partner retailers. To access offers, link a Canadian-issued Mastercard to your Air Miles Account. (BMO Air Miles Mastercards are automatically linked.) Two recent examples: 250 bonus Miles for spending $500 at LG Electronics, and 125 bonus Miles for spending $300 at Porter Airlines. 

More ways to redeem 

Collectors can redeem Air Miles for eVouchers at several more well-known retailers, including Amazon, Sporting Life, TJX brands (Winners, HomeSense, Marshalls) and more. Redeeming 95 Cash Miles gets you $10 in value (the same as before the relaunch). 

Gas discounts at Shell 

If you have a BMO Air Miles–linked credit card or debit card, you’ll save $0.07 per litre on Shell V-Power premium fuel and $0.02 per litre on other Shell fuel—a nice perk given the high cost of gas.

Other credit card benefits

BMO Air Miles credit cardholders can now earn double the Miles on purchases at wholesale clubs and liquor retailers in Canada, the same boosted earn rate they get at eligible grocery stores.

Conversions between Cash Miles and Dream Miles 

Air Miles requires cardholders to allocate their reward Miles into two buckets: Cash Miles (redeemable for retailer eVouchers and in-store discounts) and Dream Miles (redeemable for merchandise and travel rewards). The ratio is up to you, but you couldn’t convert one to the other—until now. Onyx and Gold collectors (the upper two of Air Miles’ three tiers) now have more flexibility: Onyx collectors get unlimited transfers, and Gold collectors can transfer up to 1,000 Miles each year. (Sorry, Blue collectors, no transfers for you.)