While it’s true Air Miles once announced that any unused points would expire after five years, the loyalty program changed its policy in 2016 due to customer complaints. Now, points never expire if you are an active Air Miles member and will only expire if an account is left inactive for 24 consecutive months.

The best Air Miles credit cards in Canada

Q: Can Air Miles be used to pay for taxes and fees?

Although Air Miles can be used to cover the cost of fuel surcharges, it does not allow you to use your points to pay for taxes or fees.

Q: Which airlines are involved in the Air Miles program?

A: Air Miles can be redeemed for flights on Air Canada, American Airlines, British Airways Europe, Lufthansa, Southwest Airlines US, and West Jet Canada.

Q: Can you transfer Air Miles?

Yes – sort of. Several rewards programs (Esso Extra, HBC, RBC) allow you to convert points to Air Miles, but not vice versa. Air Miles cannot be converted between Dream Rewards and Air Miles Cash either.

Looking to earn Air Miles? Why not compare your options? We’ll narrow down your best card matches from multiple rewards programs.

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The best rewards cards for

with

Card	Best used for	Annual fee	Rewards
BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card	Food & transit	$120	5 pts/$1 for gas, groceries, restaurants 1 pts/$1 for other
Featured American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card	Air Miles	$120	0.1 pts/$1 for gas, groceries, pharmacy 0.067 pts/$1 for other
Featured BMO AIR MILES® MasterCard®	Air Miles	$0	0.04 pts/$1 for everywhere 0.12 pts/$1 for other, Air Miles Partners
Featured BMO AIR MILES®† No-Fee Business® Mastercard®*	Air miles	$0	1 pts/$1 for other 1.25 pts/$1 for gas
Featured Shell AIR MILES®† MasterCard® from BMO		$0	1 pts/$1 for other
Featured BMO AIR MILES® Mastercard® - Student		$0	0.05 pts/$1 for other
Featured BMO AIR MILES®† Business® Mastercard®*		$120	0.1 pts/$1 for other 0.125 pts/$1 for gas
Featured BMO AIR MILES®† World Elite®* MasterCard®*		$120	0.1 pts/$1 for other
Featured Shell AIR MILES®† World MasterCard® from BMO		$99	1.25 pts/$1 for gas 1 pts/$1 for other
American Express® AIR MILES®* Gold Business Card		$0	1 pts/$1 for other

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Mikael Castaldo, Senior Business Manager Everyday Banking

AIR MILES is one of the most commonly used travel rewards programs in Canada. With the AIR MILES Collector card, you can earn miles when you shop at AIR MILES sponsors. AIR MILES can be used for Dream Rewards or AIR MILES Cash. Dream Rewards include merchandise and travel, such as flights, hotels, cruises and car rentals. AIR MILES Cash can be used instantly in store to receive discounts on your purchases. Accumulated AIR MILES can be managed and redeemed online at https://www.airmiles.ca. BMO and American Express offer several different credit cards that are affiliated with the AIR MILES program and allow consumers to collect AIR MILES from their everyday credit card purchases. The AIR MILES program rewards top accumulating members with Gold Collector status.

Redeemable for:

Car rentals
Flights
Gift cards
Hotels
Merchandise
Vacation packages

Air Miles FAQ

How much is an Air Mile worth?

Air Miles can be redeemed in two ways:

As Cash Miles (for a cash refund from an Air Miles partner store or an e-gift card that can be redeemed at a myriad of in-store and online retailers)
As Dream Miles (for travel rewards such as flights and vacation packages).

The value of a Cash Mile is consistent and easy to calculate: 95 Cash Miles = $10, or 1 Cash Mile = 10.5 cents.

The value of a Dream Mile is harder to pin-point as it can fluctuate depending on where you’re travelling to and from, as well as whether you’re flying during high or low season.

At Ratehub, we've run our own calculations and found the average dollar value of 1 Dream Mile is approximately $0.121.

How many Air Miles do you earn per dollar?

You can seamlessly earn Miles on your everyday purchases when you sign up for one of the Air Miles credit cards offered by either BMO or American Express. Depending on the credit card and the type of purchase, you can get between 0.04 and 0.125 miles for every $1 you spend.

Plus, you can earn Miles twice when you use your Air Miles credit card and show your Air Miles Collectors Loyalty Card at eligible partner stores including: Sobey's, Rona, Safeway, Shell, LCBO, Foodland, Staples, Best Western, Embassy Suites, Fountain Tire, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Lowe’s, Marlin Travel, and more.

Do Air Miles expire?

Can Air Miles be used to pay for taxes and fees?

Which airlines are involved in the Air Miles program?

Can you transfer Air Miles?

Mikael Castaldo, Senior Business Manager of Everyday Banking

Mikael is a Senior Business Manager at Ratehub.ca and the driving force behind our Everyday Banking Team. He knows everything there is to know about the best credit cards and bank accounts, and works closely with Canada’s top financial institutions - from banks to credit unions - to help ensure our over 1,200,000 monthly users get matched with the right plastic. A numbers guy at heart, having worked as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, he’s found himself right at home as a personal finance expert at Ratehub.ca.

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