Air Miles Credit Cards In Canada

Air Miles likely has more credit cards affiliated with it than any other rewards program in Canada. Most programs have one or maybe two cards, but the Air Miles program has four personal cards as well as an equally large suite of business cards to complement those. The only other program with a similar number of cards would be Aeroplan. I’ll take a moment here to go over the various Air Miles credit card offerings so you can determine which card is best for you. If you want to get a hold of one of the absolute best credit cards in Canada instead of remaining loyal to Air Miles, then please visit our Credit Cards section for a list of recommendations.

American Express Air Miles Credit Card

This is the no annual fee offering from American Express and for a long time it was a better choice over the comparable offerings from BMO, because the 1 mile / $20 spent reward ratio was unmatched at the no annual fee level. Since then BMO has stepped up their offering significantly and the two are on much more equal footing such that the cards offered by the two issuers are now very hard to differentiate.

Positives:

• No annual fee.
• Free supplementary cards.
• Increased earning rate of 1 mile / $15 spent when shopping at Air Miles sponsors.
• American Express Front Of The Line access.

Negatives:

• Relatively low rate of return, depending on how you value an Air Mile.
  • 14.3 cents per mile value (grocery gift cards) equates to a 0.72% return on regular spending and 0.95% on partner spending.
  • 20 cents per mile value (some rewards can be worth this much) equates to a 1% return on regular spending and 1.33% on partner spending.
• Poor insurance package that is missing many key components:
  • No extended warranty coverage.
  • No purchase protection coverage.
  • No medical insurance.
  • No rental car insurance.
  • Very limited travel insurance.

Insurance Package:

• Travel Accident - $100,000.

American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card

This is probably one of the cheapest platinum cards available on the Canadian market, not counting the no annual fee platinum cards that can be had from MBNA like the MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard or the MBNA Travel Rewards MasterCard. However, I do find that, for the relatively small annual fee, this card is far superiour to the standard Air Miles card from Amex and may be the best overall Air Miles card available to Canadians because it has a good balance of earning power, sign up bonus, insurance, and lower annual fee.

Positives:

• Higher earning rate of 1 mile / $15 spent.
• NEW higher 1 mile / $10 spent earn rate at gas, grocery, and drugstores.
• Increased earning rate of 1 mile / $10 spent when shopping at Air Miles sponsors.
• Highest regular sign up bonus of 500 Air Miles.
• Free supplementary cards.
• A decent insurance package.
• Extremely low annual income requirement of $15,000 for a premium credit card.

Negatives:

• Still only a mediocre rate of return, depending on how you value an Air Mile.
  • 14.3 cents per mile value (grocery gift cards) equates to a 0.95% return on regular spending and 1.43% on gas, grocery, drugstore, and partner spending.
  • 20 cents per mile value (some rewards can be worth this much) equates to a 1.33% return on regular spending and 2% on partner spending.

Insurance Package:

• Extended Warranty - up to 1 year.
• Purchase Protection - 90 day $1,000.
• Travel Accident - $100,000.
• Car Rental Theft & Damage (CDW & LDW).

BMO Air Miles MasterCard

This is the no annual fee option from Bank of Montreal that gives the same reward as the no annual fee Amex of 1 mile / $20 spent. The two cards are pretty similar but there are some differences when you get down to the fine details.

Positives:

• 1.5x miles (1 mile / $13.33 spent) at Shell as well as Alamo and National car rental agencies.
• 3x miles (1 mile / $6.67 spent) at Rewards Plus merchants.
• Free supplementary cards.
• No preset minimum income.
• Extended warranty and purchase protection insurance, which is better than nothing.
• A good suite off optional and reasonably priced add-on benefits.

Negatives:

• Absolutely no sign up bonus at all.
• Relatively low rate of return, depending on how you value an Air Mile.
  • 14.3 cents per mile value (grocery gift cards) equates to a 0.72% return on regular spending, 1.07% at Shell, and 2.14% at limited partners.
  • 20 cents per mile value (some rewards can be worth this much) equates to a 1% return on regular spending, 1.5% at Shell, and 3% at limited partners.
• Many key items missing from the insurance package:
  • No medical insurance.
  • No rental car insurance.
  • No travel insurance.

Insurance Package:

• Extended Warranty - up to 1 year.
• Purchase Protection - 90 days.

BMO Gold Air Miles MasterCard

With the higher annual fee and a poor overall insurance and benefits package, this card is very situational in its usefulness. I could definitely see it having a purpose if you needed to take advantage of the 25% miles discount on flight rewards or if there is a good sign up bonus promotion like the 1,000 mile bonus that was running at the time of this writing. If you happen to shop very frequently at one of the Rewards Plus partners or buy a lot of gas at Shell, this card could also be useful to you.

Positives:

• Higher earning rate of 1 mile / $15 spent.
• 2x miles (1 mile / $7.50 spent) at Shell as well as Alamo and National car rental agencies.
• 3x miles (1 mile / $5 spent) at Rewards Plus merchants.
• 25% discount off the regular reward redemption rate for flights booked using Air Miles.
• Bonus reward miles based on spending when you also bank with BMO (see details). 100 miles per month maximum.
• Occasional sign up bonus promotions of up to 1000 miles.
• No preset minimum income.

Negatives:

• Still only a mediocre rate of return, depending on how you value an Air Mile.
  • 14.3 cents per mile value (grocery gift cards) equates to a 0.95% return on regular spending, 1.90% at Shell, and 2.86% at limited partners.
  • 20 cents per mile value (some rewards can be worth this much) equates to a 1.33% return on regular spending, 2.67% at Shell, and 4% at limited partners.
• Low standard sign up bonus of 150 miles when compared to other platinum credit cards.
  • 150 miles are only worth roughly $30, while most high end credit cards give sign up bonuses worth $300 or more.
• Insurance and benefits package could be better for a premium credit card.

Insurance Package:

• Extended Warranty - up to 1 year.
• Purchase Protection - 90 days.
• Travel Accident - $500,000.
• Trip Interruption - $2,000.
• Car Rental Theft & Damage (CDW & LDW).
• Car Rental Accident - $200,000.

Conclusion

So, as you can see, there are pros and cons to each of the available personal Air Miles credit cards but none of them really stand out as being spectacular, unlike some of the cards that can be found in our Credit Cards section. If you are a hardened Air Miles collector, then you will definitely want to get an airmiles card and choosing the right one will depend on how and where you spend your money and what level of insurance you can be satisfied with. You also have to take into consideration that American Express isn’t accepted as universally as MasterCard is.

If I had to choose one of these cards to be my primary credit card, I would choose the Amex Platinum because it has the best earning rate, the highest sign up bonus of 500 miles, bonus miles at more partners, and a much lower annual fee that is completely waived for the first year! If the lower acceptance rate by merchants of Amex cards proved to be a problem after trying it for a year, then I would likely switch to the BMO gold card thereafter.

As a final note, all of these cards could also be an attractive option for students, people just starting out in their careers, or those with low annual incomes due to the fairly low income requirements that they all share. You will most likely find that the Bank of Montreal would strictly review all applicants on a case by case basis, which is likely why they don’t specifically list a minimum income requirement for their credit cards. It isn’t a free pass to any of their credit cards especially if your income is low or your credit is bad, but it doesn’t hurt to apply anyway and see what happens!