Top Loyalty Programs in Canada (updated on May 13, 2015)
Most of my information will be based on our page entitled: How Much are Points Worth? That being said, often times, we may want to concentrate our efforts with specific loyalty programs because we only have so much time in a day.
As a Canadian, below are the top 5 programs that I would channel most of my energy towards.
1) American Express Membership Rewards
This is hands down my favourite rewards program. The second place doesn’t even come close. Having the ability to transfer our points to multiple partners is what makes these points valuable. Its transfer partners include: Aeroplan, Executive Club, MilleMiglia, Asia Miles, Delta SkyMiles, Etihad Guest, HHonors and Starwood Preferred Guest. There are also other valuable options to redeem your points if you are not a fan of these transfer partners.
2) RBC Avion (RBC Rewards)
My second favourite program also has transferable options. Avion’s trading partners include: AAdvantage, Asia Miles, Executive Club, Esso Extra, Shoppers Optimum and WestJet Rewards. Another valuable way to redeem your Avion points is to pay for a flight ticket. Below is the “Air Travel Redemption Schedule”:
| Number of Points Required | Description | Maximum Ticket Price |
| 15,000 | Short-haul: Adjacent Canadian province, Canadian territory or U.S. state | $350 |
| 35,000 | Long-haul: Anywhere in Canada/U.S except Hawaii and Alaska | $750 |
| 45,000 | Long-haul: Western Canada/U.S. to Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska OR Eastern Canada to Bermuda, Central America, Caribbean | $900 |
| 55,000 | Long-haul: Eastern Canada/U.S. to Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska OR Western Canada to Bermuda, Central America, Caribbean | $1,100 |
| 65,000 | Long-haul: Canada/U.S. to Europe) | $1,300 |
| 100,000 | Long-haul: Canada/U.S to Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, Middle East, Africa, South America | $2,000 |
Aeroplan is third on the list, mostly because there are so many options to earn these points. With so many options available to us, this makes this program very valuable, because this is one of the easier programs to pool most of your every day spending towards. Furthermore, there are a good amount of co-branded Aeroplan credit cards to choose from.
4) Air Miles
I would say Air Miles are less valuable than Aeroplan when redeeming for rewards, but you can still get decent value when redeeming Air Miles if you study the program carefully. There are also many easy ways to earn Air Miles from every day spending and a fair amount of co-branded credit cards to choose from.
5) British Airways, Executive Club, Avios
Having American Express Membership Rewards and RBC Rewards (Avion) as a transfer partner, it makes it very easy to earn a lot of Avios points in a hurry. There is also a co-branded RBC credit card with Executive Club.
Honourable mentions go to: Starwood Preferred Guest, Esso Extra, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, and Shoppers Optimum.
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