American Express Ends Partnership with Air Miles

American Express has announced that it will end its partnership with Air Miles. As of September 30, 2023, all Air Miles co-branded credit cards will be discontinued, and cardholders will be transitioned to a card that earns American Express Membership Rewards instead.

This is the latest development to come from BMO’s acquisition of Air Miles, albeit one that isn’t too surprising.

American Express Ends Partnership with Air Miles

American Express has announced that it will end its partnership with Air Miles in the coming months. Once this is complete, American Express will no longer offer any co-branded Air Miles credit cards, and BMO will become the sole issuer of Air Miles co-branded credit cards.

Anyone with an Air Miles co-branded credit card will be transitioned to cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards points instead. If you’re affected by this change, Amex will reach out to you in July with a transition date, and more details about the card to which you will be transitioned.

For clarity, the following credit cards will be discontinued:

• American Express Air Miles Credit Card
• American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card
• American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card
• American Express Air Miles for Business Credit Card
• American Express Air Miles Gold Business Credit Card

Until then, you’ll continue to earn Air Miles as per usual, and any miles that you’ve earned will be transferred to your account once the transition happens. After that, you’ll earn Amex Membership Rewards points instead.

This development certainly isn’t much of a surprise, since Amex blocked new applications to its suite of Air Miles credit cards earlier this year. Once BMO’s acquisition of Air Miles was completed, it no longer made sense for a competing card issuer to offer a co-branded credit card.

Next Steps

While the full details of the transition have yet to be released, if you’re affected by this change, you may want to consider taking matters into your own hands.

It’s not clear if you’ll be eligible for a welcome bonus on the card to which you’re transitioned. However, it’s unlikely that this will be the case, which means you may want to make a separate application for a card that earns Membership Rewards points instead.

This way, you’ll be sure to earn the welcome bonus on the card that you’ll be transitioned to.

It’s worth noting that BMO continues to offer Air Miles credit cards. If you’d like to remain within the Air Miles ecosystem, you’ll need to apply for a BMO card instead.

Conclusion

American Express has announced that it will end its partnership with Air Miles. As of September 30, 2023, Amex will discontinue all of its Air Miles co-branded credit cards, and existing cardholders will be transitioned to a Membership Rewards card instead.

This development doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as BMO acquired Air Miles earlier this year and it wouldn’t make much sense for Amex to continue to offer Air Miles products.

Full details of the transition will be sent out to cardholders in the near future; however, you may want to make a separate application for a card if you aren’t eligible for a welcome bonus through the transition.