WestJet RBC^® World Elite Mastercard^ǂ

The WestJet RBC^® World Elite Mastercard^ǂ is WestJet's premier co-branded credit card in Canada, offering a wealth of WestJet-centric benefits, the most significant of which are the annual companion voucher and the free first checked bag perk.^†

This card is a must-have for anyone who flies with WestJet at any frequency –especially families – and it's a solid card for most Canadian travellers to consider adding to their portfolio.

WestJet Rewards prides itself on being a straightforward loyalty program that's easy to understand.

For the most part, each WestJet point is worth 1 cent per point, which means that 100 WestJet points is worth $1, 1,000 WestJet points is worth $10, 10,000 WestJet points is worth $100, and so on.

At the time of booking, WestJet points can be redeemed against the base fare, Other Air Transportation Charges ("Other ATC"), extra baggage, and seat selection at a value of 1 cent per point. You need to redeem at least 2,500 WestJet points for a flight, or at least 5,000 WestJet points for a WestJet Vacations package.

After you've made a full redemption for everything on the ticket, if you have enough WestJet points remaining to cover the taxes and fees, you can choose to do so at a rate of 105–110 WestJet points = $1 (CAD) towards the taxes and fees. This results in a value of 0.91–0.95 cents per point.

Unlike many other loyalty programs, the opportunities to score outsized value from your points are quite limited with the WestJet Rewards program.

One way to squeeze more value is by combining a WestJet points redemption with a Member Exclusive Fare booking. While WestJet advertises Member Exclusive Fares as offering up to 65% off of base fares, you're much more likely to come across discounts of 5–10%.

Indeed, this is the most valuable way to redeem WestJet points. Just be sure to compare the fare inclusions and exclusions of Member Exclusive Fares, since you may be better off with other fare types.

For WestJet travellers, the WestJet RBC^® World Elite Mastercard^ǂ offers a number of meaningful benefits.

Free First Checked Bag

Firstly, the primary cardholder and up to eight passengers on the same booking will enjoy a free first checked bag on WestJet flights^† when the fare is paid with the WestJet RBC^® World Elite Mastercard^ǂ.

Checked baggage fees cost $35 or more per person, so this benefit alone could be worth up to $140 per round-trip if travelling as a couple, or potentially even more if you're travelling as a larger group or multiple times per year. If you're able to use this benefit, it easily justifies the card's annual fee on a rolling basis.

Annual Companion Voucher

The other primary selling point of this card is an annual round-trip companion voucher for travel on WestJet.^† To receive the voucher each year, you must spend at least $5,000 annually on your card.⁵

Once unlocked, the companion voucher can be redeemed in the following ways:

• Within Canada or to/from continental US:
  • UltraBasic, Econo, EconoFlex: $119 (plus taxes, fees and other ATC)
  • Premium or Premium Flex: $219 (plus taxes, fees and other ATC)
• To/from the rest of the WestJet network:
  • UltraBasic, Econo, EconoFlex: $399 (plus taxes, fees and other ATC)
  • Premium or Premium Flex: $499 (plus taxes, fees and other ATC)

Since it’s a companion voucher, you have to be booking an itinerary for at least two people – the first passenger would pay full price, while the second passenger would enjoy the companion voucher’s promotional price for the base fare only. The companion will have to pay the taxes and fees, in addition to the discounted base fare.

If you're a solo traveller, or if you don't use your companion voucher, you can convert your companion voucher into one of the following options instead:

• A 30% flight discount for one traveller^†
• A $200 credit towards a WestJet Vacations or Sunwing Vacations package^†
• Two airport lounge passes^†

Status Lift

One of the more interesting features on this card is Status Lift, which helps you earn WestJet status through credit card spending.

For every $5,000 spent on the card, you'll earn $200 in Tier Qualifying Spend,^† which helps you earn WestJet Rewards status.

You can get up to 50 Status Lifts each year, which would result in you achieving top-tier Platinum status without ever having set foot in a plane. This would require spending $250,000 on your card.

As a reminder, WestJet's Elite Tiers come with the following amounts of Tier Qualifying Spend:

• Silver: $4,000 ($100,000 of credit card spending)
• Gold: $6,000 ($150,000 of credit card spending)
• Platinum: $10,000 ($250,000 of credit card spending)

Other Benefits

Other benefits include the ability to save 3¢/L on fuel at Petro-Canada whilst earning 20% more Petro-Points at Petro Canada by linking your card with your Petro-Points membership,^† access to airport lounges as part of the Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass^† ($32 (USD) per lounge visit), and access to the Mastercard Concierge Services for last-minute restaurant and event bookings.^†

Finally, cardholders receive a 12-month complimentary DashPass subscription±, to enjoy unlimited deliveries with $0 delivery fees on orders of $15 or more when you pay with your eligible RBC credit card.^†