Best AIR MILES credit cards in Canada

You have an Air Miles credit card to earn Air Miles, so it might make sense to choose the card that lets you earn them as quickly as possible, even if it comes with a $120 annual fee. The BMO AIR MILES^®† World Elite^®* Mastercard^®* earns 3x the miles for every $12 spent at participating AIR MILES Reward Partners* and 2x the Miles for every $12 spent at any eligible grocery store* with one mile per $12 spent anywhere else.* BMO even waives the annual fee of $120 in the first year*. Travel insurance is the icing on the cake.

• Earn rates: Get 3x the Miles for every $12 spent at participating AIR MILES Reward Partners* and 2x the Miles for every $12 spent at any eligible grocery store*, 1 mile per $12 spent anywhere else*

• Extra features: Travel insurance*; exclusive 25% discount on one worldwide AIR MILES flight redemption during the calendar year*; complimentary membership in Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass*

*Terms and conditions apply

Learn more by reading our complete BMO AIR MILES^®† World Elite^®* Mastercard^®* review.

Because the BMO AIR MILES^®† Mastercard^®* has a $0 annual fee, you basically earn Air Miles for free whenever you shop. The card has a welcome bonus of 800 Air Miles* (when you spend $1,000 within the first three months). That’s enough for $80 towards purchases with AIR MILES Cash*. You’d otherwise have to spend $20,000 to earn that many miles.

• Earn rates: Get 3x the miles for every $25 spent at participating air miles partners and 2x the miles for every $25 spent at any eligible grocery store*. Get one mile for every $25 spent everywhere else*.

• Extra features: 0.99% interest rate on balance transfers for the first nine months (2% balance transfer fee applies)*; discount on car rentals*

*Terms and conditions apply

Learn more by reading our complete BMO AIR MILES^®† Mastercard^®* review.

Air Miles credit cards allow you to earn air miles, which are the points within a popular travel rewards program in Canada. You can choose to earn cash miles, which can be redeemed for discounts at partner retailers either in store or online, or you can choose to earn dream miles, which can be redeemed for travel or merchandise.

Travel rewards credit cards that earn airline miles can definitely be worth it, provided you pick a card that matches your spending habits. For instance, you can maximize the number of miles you collect by using a credit card that earns miles in the purchase categories where you spend a lot of money—like groceries or gas—or in store brands where you shop frequently.

The good ole days of frequent international travel may be slow to return, but it might be nonetheless worthwhile to renew an Air Miles credit card, provided you at least plan to travel domestically within the next couple of years. And remember, Air Miles only expire 24 months after your last account activity, so you could elect to keep racking up miles by using your air miles credit card, and then saving the miles for a dream vacation once we arrive in a post-COVID world.

The Air Miles program has lost some big in-store partnerships in recent years (like Sport Chek, LCBO, Lowe's, etc.), and interest in the program took a hit with the onset of COVID-19. But at this point it seems unlikely that it will go out of business in the near future, and more likely that it will shift its focus toward partnering with more online retailers.