You don’t need to be a frequent flyer to benefit from an airline rewards program. Find out the perks of signing up with the top programs for Canadians and the best airline loyalty programs for collecting air miles and getting travel rewards.
Why Join an Airline Rewards Program?
Most airlines offer some sort of loyalty program with their brand, where customers can sign up for travel rewards, collect air miles, and more. The airlines want to reward you for choosing to fly with them, so make sure to take advantage of those rewards.
Each airline loyalty program offers different ways to accumulate travel points and different methods of redeeming those points. Being brand loyal allows you to build up travel reward points so you can redeem them on things like flights, hotels, car rentals, merchandise, airport lounge access, and seat upgrades.
What if I’m not a frequent flyer?
Even if you aren’t a frequent flyer, you can still build up travel reward points over the years and redeem them when ready to help reduce vacation expenses. You aren’t ever penalized for not using the travel points, so there is really no reason not to sign up for airline loyalty programs.
Best Airline Rewards Programs for Canadians
As a Canadian traveller, you don’t just have to stick with Canadian airline rewards programs. It really depends on what airline and point system you prefer to fly with. If you always fly with Delta, then the SkyMiles program makes the most sense for you, even when flying with their partner airlines that might have their own point programs (like WestJet).
There are specific loyalty programs for the major Canadian airlines, and these can often be used on their partner flights around the world.
| Program | Carrier (Alliance) | Miles |
| Aeroplan | Air Canada (Star Alliance) | Expire after 12 months of inactivity (earned, redeemed, donated or transferred) |
| WestJet | WestJet (Partners with Air France, KLM, Qantas & Delta) | Do not expire except for points issued through promotions, compensation, or limited-time promotional offers |
| AAdvantage | American Airlines (One World) | Expire after 18 months of inactivity |
| SkyMiles | Delta (Sky Team) | Do not expire |
| MileagePlus | United Airlines (Star Alliance) | Expire after 18 months of inactivity |
Tips for Choosing an Airline Rewards Program
Here’s all you need to know about airline rewards programs and choosing the right one for you. Below we will go over some of the highlights of the airline loyalty programs available in Canada to help you make an informed decision about which points program is best suited to your values.
Choose one rewards program and stick with it
Signing up for every single airline rewards program only really works if you are a super frequent flyer on all of the different airlines. The best way to build reward points is to choose one airline loyalty program and opt to fly with that airline (or partner airlines) whenever possible. This means you accrue airline miles or points for one specific program, allowing you to maximize your perks. Not only will you reach higher point quantities faster, but many airline loyalty programs have different membership tiers. With each higher tier, there are even more benefits to unlock.
Check which airlines you fly with most frequently
If your company books your flights for work, then a simple solution is to sign up for the airline rewards program of the airline that is consistently booked for you. However, if you book your own flights, you should check out airline mileage programs to see which one is more appealing based on the way you travel.
Pick a program that works with credit card rewards
Some programs base their points on mileage flown or the price of the airline ticket. Some have associated credit cards or other methods of accumulating points without ever needing to get on a plane. Certain programs have points expire after a certain number of years of inactivity while some last forever and ever, no matter how infrequently you travel.
Decide what type of rewards you want
Airline rewards programs also offer different perks, so you need to find out what travel rewards are important to you. Do you need lounge access or do you need a better points-to-dollars value? Is it a budget airline or do you have to spend a lot of money on plane tickets in order to see any perks? These are all things to consider when signing up to a dedicated travel reward program.
What About Hotel and Car Rental Rewards Programs?
Airlines aren’t the only companies that provide travel rewards! During most parts of your travels, you can find ways to accumulate reward points. Hotel rewards programs are especially beneficial if you have a favourite hotel chain that you frequent on vacation. Same goes for car rental rewards programs. And let’s not forget about AIR MILES, where you can redeem miles and book with your AIR MILES card for discounts on hotels and flights. We have a guide on how to redeem your AIR MILES rewards for travel here.
Find out about more reward programs available to Canadians:
- Best Car Rental Rewards Programs
- Best Hotel Rewards Programs to Join in 2019
- Airline Credit Cards – The Best No-Fee Options
- Get Discount Flights Using Flexible Travel Rewards
The great part about joining a variety of travel reward programs is that you can get perks on your flight, hotels and car rentals. Sometimes, there are even the options of exchanging a program’s reward points for another program’s reward points, so you can get more out of your travels.
Aeroplan Loyalty Program
The Aeroplan system is undergoing big changes in 2020 that have some contradictory information online. In the news, it has been announced that Aeroplan will bring on Porter, Air Transat and Flair Airlines in 2020, but the Air Canada website says this is not the case.
As for Air Canada, they are creating their own loyalty program but will still honour the Aeroplan points on a one-to-one basis. To find out more about the Air Canada frequent flyer program you can always check out the Aeroplan partners page to see how you can earn miles, even with all the changes about to happen.
Get the latest information on how Aeroplan works.
WestJet Loyalty Program
WestJet has its own loyalty program that is not associated with a complete alliance. Instead, it has specific partnerships with Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Qantas Airways and Delta Air Lines. While not as well-known as the Aeroplan program, WestJet continually improves its loyalty program to benefit its customers in big ways.
You can earn WestJet dollars with the above-mentioned airlines, car rentals, hotel bookings, RBC Travel Insurance and by converting your RBC Rewards points to WestJet dollars.
Compare Air Canada and WestJet here.
AAdvantage, SkyMiles and MileagePlus Loyalty Programs
Our neighbouring country has quite a few airline loyalty programs, and the good news is that Canadians are able to sign up and redeem points as they wish. The most popular loyalty programs are AAdvantage, SkyMiles and MileagePlus.
Each loyalty program is associated with hundreds or thousands of partners so you can earn miles in several ways. The essentials include partner airlines, credit cards and online shopping through their portals. Check out what the airline rewards programs offer before committing yourself to be brand loyal to a certain airline. You want to get the most out of your flights, so sign up for a travel reward program that best suits your needs.
Check out Skyscanner’s search engine for the best deals on flights, car rentals and hotels, where you can score travel reward points. Book the best deals while accumulating points? What are you waiting for?
