For some of us, earning points may not come easy, so we find ourselves striving to get the best value for our points.

Intuitively, you’d think that an airline’s own loyalty program will offer the best redemption rate and seat availability for a flight, but that’s not always the case.

Sometimes booking a flight through another partner airline’s program will yield better savings and this is what I found for certain flights with WestJet.

The WestJet Rewards Program

In 2020, WestJet revamped their WestJet Rewards program and began offering Member Exclusive fares, which under a dynamic pricing model, offer WestJet members a discount on a flight when the fare was paid in full with WestJet dollars.

When Member Exclusive fares aren’t available, WestJet dollars can also be redeemed against the base fare at a value of one WestJet dollar to $1 (CAD), but not against the taxes or fees, including WestJet’s much-maligned Other ATC charges.

How to Maximize Savings within the WestJet Program

A lot of savings can be applied if you hold a WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard‡ or WestJet RBC® Mastercard‡. Both cards come with an annual round-trip companion voucher.

The voucher can be redeemed on any destination WestJet flies to with the World Elite version of the card, and only within Canada or to/from the continental US with the regular card. For both versions of the voucher, there is a supplementary fee that needs to be paid for the companion ticket.

The card also comes with a welcome bonus that ranges from $250 to $700 WestJet dollars, which when combined with a companion voucher, could save you up to 50% off a flight.

Aside from flying WestJet and earning the welcome bonus from one of its co-branded credit cards, WestJet dollars aren’t the easiest to earn.

If you find yourself in the position of needing to book a WestJet flight with no WestJet dollars or companion voucher, there is another option you can explore to help save on your travels.

Using Delta SkyMiles for WestJet Flights

Delta SkyMiles isn’t a program we discuss often given that it’s an American airline and most of their flights operate outside of Canada. They do, however, have a partnership with WestJet.

Among the benefits of their partnership is the ability to redeem Delta SkyMiles on WestJet flights, with a couple of caveats:

• The majority of routes appear available for booking through Delta, but not all are
• Redemptions can only be made for economy class

While SkyMiles redemptions on Delta flights and most of its partner airlines are dynamic, redemptions on WestJet remain fixed, based on the destination.

The cost of redemptions for transatlantic and transpacific routes tends to be high and generally offers limited value. The real sweet spot for redeeming miles is on routes within North America, particularly from the east coast.

Direct one-way flights within Canada or between Canada and the continental US typically cost 12,500 SkyMiles (though prices may be higher on some routes when booking 1–2 months before departure).

This same flight booking through WestJet’s site cost the following:If you have WestJet dollars to redeem, that could be a worthwhile option. However, if you don’t, and you want to at least bring a carry-on, the flight will cost you $423.14.

That means you’d be getting 2.97 cents per SkyMile, which based on our current valuation of 1.6 cents per SkyMile, means you’re getting great value out of this redemption.

Here’s an example of a flight from Toronto to Los Angeles:…And from Vancouver to Orlando, both for only 12,500 SkyMiles.
If you’re wondering how to accumulate Delta SkyMiles, it’s actually quite easy.

They are a transfer partner of American Express, both in Canada and in the US. Membership Rewards (MR) transfer to SkyMiles at a ratio of 1:0.75 with Canadian MR and 1:1 with US MR.

If you have access to US cards, Delta has its own co-branded credit cards through American Express as well.

You’ll want to make sure the value you’re getting from your MR points still makes sense after the conversion. Looking at the above example again, 12,500 SkyMiles would require 16,667 Canadian MR, which can still be a great deal, especially when the cash fares are high.

Another sweet spot appears to be flights to sun destinations, and particularly from Toronto.

Flights to the Bahamas, Barbados, St Lucia, and Aruba can be quite expensive, especially during peak seasons like March Break.

Check out these prices for a one-way flight for March 2025:If you were to redeem SkyMiles for these flights, you are looking at redemptions from 13,000 to 15,000 SkyMiles one-way, which is an amazing deal.

Other Advantages When Booking with Delta SkyMiles

1. 1. Bookings are fully refundable. Other than their Basic Economy fare, all award flights booked through Delta’s SkyMiles program are fully refundable. WestJet economy flights book under Delta Fare Class V, which is their fully refundable Main Cabin fare. That means you don’t need to worry if your plans change as you’ll be able to redeposit your miles and have your taxes and fees refunded if they do.
   2. You’ll get at least a free carry-on. Delta award tickets book onto WestJet’s Econo fare, which includes a free carry-on.
      If you have a WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and want to use your free checked baggage benefit, you can try linking your booking to your WestJet number during the online check-in process. Alternatively, the agents at the check-in desk should be able to assist you with this.
   3. Excellent award availability. You’ll find that on bookable routes, that award availability is plentiful and on every flight, it seems that all economy seats are available for redeeming. This is great news for our family travellers who often need multiple seats.

Conclusion

WestJet offers direct routes to many popular destinations, and while WestJet dollars and companion vouchers can lead to significant savings, they aren’t the only way to save on WestJet flights.

Delta SkyMiles is another excellent option accessible to both Canada and US travellers, offering affordable fixed redemptions on WestJet flights, which can come in handy during peak travel periods when cash fares are often high.