Air Miles

Ban on Expiry of Loyalty Miles and Points Has Passed in Ontario

It took some time to digest this information, as I can’t actually believe that the government has decided to step in to regulate loyalty programs. Not only that, this bill passed unanimously. Did they open pandora’s box? Are loyalty programs really going to sit there and let the government push them around like this?

Grant this is not the first time that the Ontario government stepped in to regulate the industry. In 2007, they also banned expiration dates on gift cards.

AIR MILES Cancels Expiry

Seriously Air Miles? They decided to take a page out of Aeroplan’s book. Remember when Aeroplan introduced a 7 year hard expiry on its points? Basically, your miles would have expired 7 years from the day they were deposited, regardless of activity. But just before the expiry was about to kick in, they backed out. The same thing is happening now with Air Miles, they were going to introduce a hard expiry of 5 years after miles were deposited, to be effective on December 31, 2016.

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Top Loyalty Programs in Canada (updated November 13, 2016)

This post is long overdue for an update. Last time around, I still listed Air Miles as one of the top 5. With the upcoming controversial expiry policy (which may be altered anyway by a new legislation), they will temporary be bumped out of the top 5.

Changes to the Air Miles Reward Redemption

According to a report by CBC News, it looks like Air Miles decided to change up their reward options. Air Miles has been accused of hiding reward options for certain members. Apparently, Air Miles finally admitted that they previously gave members access to different rewards based on their individual personal preferences. Whatever that means??

Air Miles Taking a Beating

This Air Miles expiry policy coming into effect on December 31, 2016 is really damaging their reputation. Basically, effective December 31, 2016, Air Miles reward miles that are more than 5 years old will begin to expire on a quarterly basis (March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31). The program started back in 1992, and if people haven’t redeemed since then, they are probably panicking to redeem them now.

What to do when a Loyalty Program Changes its Expiry Policy (i.e. Air Miles)

CBC has been on a tear this month of July, writing one article after another about the Air Miles program: … I am probably missing some article links. Anyway, I thought I’d share some thoughts about this matter, as it seems that according to CBC, lots of people are frustrated with Air Miles.