Costco has expanded into selling discounted airline gift cards from Air Canada, WestJet, and Porter Airlines both in stores and online. This is a great way to save a bit when you find yourself needing to pay a cash fare.

Some people have encountered issues when using them, so let’s go over a few key considerations to keep in mind before making a purchase to help you avoid any potential headaches.

Costco Selling Airline Gift Cards

Costco now sells physical gift cards for Air Canada, WestJet, and Porter Airlines in-store and e-gift cards of the same airlines on Costco.ca. These are $500 CAD gift cards being sold for $449.99, so essentially a 10% discount.

This means you can save an additional 10% off any cash fare and certain airline incidentals like seat selection or baggage fees. This discount can be stacked with discount codes or promotions that an airline may be running, or on 2-for-1 vouchers applied to the booking.

While it appears that the physical gift cards are consistently available in-store, e-gift cards on Costco.ca appear to fluctuate in availability. Both WestJet and Air Canada e-gift cards were previously offered online, but as of the time of writing, they are currently unavailable.

There are limits as to how many gift cards you can purchase in-store and online per day.

• Air Canada: Limit 4 per member
• WestJet: Limit 1 per member
• Porter Airlines: No stated limit in-store, but limit 5 per member online

As with most gift card purchases, these gift cards are non-refundable, never expire, retain their unused balances, and are fully transferrable.

What You Need to Know About Airline Gift Cards

Although a discount on your flight may sound great, there are a few things to consider before purchasing them. Each airline has their own rules as to what they can be used on, where they can be used, how many can be used at one time, and what happens when you cancel your flight.

1. Air Canada

What you can redeem Air Canada gift cards for depends on whether they are physical cards or e-gift cards. 

Physical Air Canada gift cards can be redeemed online, at Canadian and select US airports, through Air Canada or Air Canada Vacation call centres, and possibly through a travel agent. E-gift cards can be used through all the same channels as physical gift cards, with the exception that they cannot be redeemed at airport locations.

They cannot be used on purchases made through Air Canada’s mobile app, through any self-service check-in channels, or for any onboard purchases.

Air Canada gift cards can be used for the following purchases:

• Flights (including applicable taxes, fees and surcharges)
• Change fees
• Last-minute upgrades
• Checked baggage fees
• Pet-handling fees
• Unaccompanied minor fees
• Any applicable taxes or fees that apply to the purchase
• Flight-inclusive vacation packages with Air Canada Vacations, excluding group reservations

Air Canada allows up to two payment methods per ticket purchase. You can use two gift cards together if their combined value covers the entire ticket cost. However, if the gift cards won’t cover the full amount, you’ll be limited to using just one gift card, with the remaining balance to be paid using a different payment method.

For example, if a return trip from Toronto to Orlando costs $680.53 (all figures in CAD), you could apply two $500 gift cards towards your trip and be left with a $319.47 balance on one of the gift cards for a future trip.

If you’re booking a return flight from Toronto to Frankfurt priced at $1,603.23, you’ll be limited to using just one $500 gift card. Since two payment methods are the maximum allowed and a second $500 gift card wouldn’t cover the remaining $1,103.23, you’ll need to use another method such as a credit card to pay the balance.

If you need to cancel a flight booked with a gift card, the refund will be issued back to the original gift card, so be sure to keep it until after you take your flight.

2. WestJet

WestJet gift cards can only be redeemed online, through the call centre, or through a travel agent. They cannot be redeemed at the airport or onboard.

Compared to Air Canada gift cards, the use of WestJet gift cards is more limited. They can only be used for the purchase of:

• WestJet flights (including applicable taxes, fees and surcharges)
• Advance seat selection fees (at the time of booking)
• WestJet Vacation packages

Similar to Air Canada, WestJet allows up to two payment methods per ticket purchase. If purchasing online and two gift cards won’t cover the full amount, you’ll be limited to using just one gift card, with the remaining balance to be paid using a credit card.

If you call in, however, a WestJet agent can help you combine the balances of multiple gift cards into one, effectively allowing you to use more than two gift cards. Keep in mind that a booking fee may be applied when booking through the call centre.

Unfortunately, WestJet gift cards cannot be combined with Travel Bank credits or WestJet dollars. They also cannot be used on airline partner operated flights.

If you cancel your WestJet flight made using a gift card, the value will be refundedin the form of WestJet Travel Bank credits, which can be used to pay for flights up to 12 months from the date your flight was cancelled (and extended for another 12 months for a fee).

3. Porter Airlines

Porter gift cards can be redeemed online, through their call centre, or at the airport. When used at the airport, the gift card has to cover the total cost of the purchase as they cannot be used in conjunction with other methods of payment.

Gift cards can be used for:

• Flights (including applicable taxes, fees and surcharges)
• Baggage fees
• Seat selection fees
• Bundle fees
• Porter Pass

Porter Airlines allows a maximum of 5 gift cards to be used per ticket purchase when redeemed online. More gift cards can be applied when booking through the call centre. Be aware that gift cards cannot be applied towards group bookings of 10 or more passengers.

(Note: Information about Porter Airlines’ gift card refund policy for cancelled flights is pending and will be updated here once confirmed.)

Flights booked with gift cards are still eligible for accrual of Aeroplan points, WestJet dollars, and VIPorter points.

Travel Insurance Considerations

One major benefit of using a credit card to pay for your travel bookings is the travel insurance coverage that comes with it. The types and amounts of coverage will vary depending on the credit card you hold. For example, the Platinum Card® from American Express provides comprehensive travel insurance coverage, including emergency medical, trip cancellation, trip interruption, lost or delayed baggage, and much more.

Usually, emergency medical insurance does not require the cost of the trip to be charged to the eligible credit card for coverage to take effect. However, this does not apply to other types of travel insurance, where the entire cost of the trip must be charged to your eligible card for coverage to apply.

Using gift cards to fully pay for your flights will void your travel insurance claim with your credit card company, should you need to file one.

One way workaround is to use gift cards to pay for a majority of the booking, while charging the small remainder to the National Bank World Elite Mastercard. It is the only credit card in Canada that doesn’t mandate that the full cost of the trip be charged to the card, but rather only requires that a “portion or the entire cost of the trip” be charged to be sufficient for coverage. It is a great option for insurance when it comes to reward travel as well.

Another option would be to buy travel insurance separately, through various insurance providers.

Conclusion

It’s fantastic that travelers now have an additional way to save on cash flights with Air Canada, WestJet, and Porter Airlines through discounted gift cards available at Costco. While using them may come with its own set of challenges, this post hopefully offers some helpful tips to simplify the process. Most importantly, be sure to consider the travel insurance implications when using gift cards, so you can maximize your savings while traveling with peace of mind.