Today, WestJet has announced a number of sweeping changes to the WestJet Rewards program, which are set to take effect as of April 30, 2025. These changes mark the most significant overhaul of the program in its 15-year history.
There are a number of major changes that WestJet Rewards members can expect, so let’s take a look at each one in detail and then finish with some broad analysis of the revamped program.
Full details of the changes can be found on the WestJet website.
In This Post
- Major Changes to WestJet Rewards for 2025
- Analyzing the Changes to WestJet Rewards in 2025
- Conclusion
Major Changes to WestJet Rewards for 2025
Later this spring, WestJet is implementing a number of significant changes to its WestJet Rewards program.
As a reminder, the Calgary-based airline announced a first set of changes for 2025 last fall, which took effect in January 2025 and primarily affected its elite status program.
The first round of changes to the program were largely negative, as WestJet raised the tier qualifying spend (TQS) thresholds to earn elite status, made amendments to boarding zones, and significantly altered milestone awards.
On a positive note, the airline also expanded the eligibility of complimentary upgrades to include one other passenger, and extended the validity of companion vouchers earned as part of the milestone awards from one to two years.
The second phase of changes are more widespread, and affect everything from the name of WestJet’s rewards currency to the ways in which you can earn and redeem them.
Out with Dollars, In with Points
The name of the rewards currency used by WestJet has historically been WestJet dollars (WSD); however, as of April 30, 2025, it will become known as WestJet points (WSP).
Currently, 1 WSD is equivalent to $1 (all figures in CAD). As of April 30, 2025, WestJet dollars will be converted to WestJet points at a rate of 1 WestJet dollar = 100 WestJet points.
Importantly, WestJet points will never expire.
As we’ll discuss below, the redemption value of WestJet points will vary, depending on how you redeem them. In some cases, it will be equivalent to 1 cent per point (cpp), while in others, it will be less.
Changes to Earning WestJet Points and Tier/Milestone Qualifying Spend
WestJet is making a number of sweeping changes to the ways in which members can earn points and spend towards tier and milestone qualifying spend (MQS).
As it stands, WestJet travellers only earn rewards and tier/milestone qualifying spend on the base fares of flights, as well as on a percentage of WestJet Vacations bookings. (We’ll discuss changes to Status Lift in detail below, which also affect tier qualifying spend).
As of April 30, 2025, WestJet is expanding what counts towards earning WestJet points and tier/milestone qualifying spend to include a number of other fees associated with bookings, including:
- Other Air Transportation Charges (Other ATC)
- Seat selection
- Baggage fees
- Upgrade fees
In other words, you’ll earn WestJet points and tier/milestone qualifying spend on everything except for the government-imposed taxes and fees on WestJet-marketed flights, and you’ll now also earn on ancillary fees.
Furthermore, base-level Teal members will soon earn 1 WestJet point per dollar spent on base fares, Other ATC, and ancillaries, which is up from the current rate of 0.5% back in WestJet dollars on base fares only.
The accrual rates for WestJet members with status will continue at their current rates (listed below); however, they’ll now earn points and tier/milestone qualifying spend on Other ATC and ancillary fees, too:
- Silver: 3 WestJet points per $1 spent (currently 3% back in WestJet dollars on base fares only)
- Gold: 5 WestJet points per $1 spent (currently 5% back in WestJet dollars on base fares only)
- Platinum: 8 WestJet points per $1 spent (currently 8% back in WestJet dollars on base fares only)
All members will continue to earn 1 WestJet point per dollar spent on WestJet Vacations package bookings and WestJet Vacations land-only bookings, and 20% of the individual base price of the WestJet Vacations package booking will be eligible for tier and milestone qualifying spend.
Changes to Redeeming WestJet Points
Presently, WestJet Rewards members can redeem WestJet dollars against base fares or vacations packages at a rate of 1 WSD = $1 off the base fare only. Historically, members have neither been able to use them against Other ATC – which can make up a significant portion of the cost of a flight – nor on ancillary fees.
As of April 30, 2025, members will be able to redeem 100 WestJet points for $1 off a base fare or WestJet Vacations package, which corresponds to a value of 1 cent per point. This is in line with the status quo.
However, you’ll also be able to redeem WestJet points against Other ATC, ancillary fees (seat selection, checked baggage fees, upgrade fees), government-imposed taxes and fees, merchandise and gift cards in the new WestJet Rewards eStore, and with yet-to-be-announced future partners.
Importantly, the value of WestJet points will vary when you redeem them for anything other than base fares or vacation packages.
In other words, you’ll get a value of 1 cent per point when you redeem WestJet points against base fares or vacation packages (effectively the same as before); however, you’ll get less when you redeem them for anything else. We don’t yet know the exact values for each situation.
Changes to Status Lift
As a reminder, Status Lift is one of the features of the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard.
Presently, you earn $500 towards your tier qualifying spend for every $15,000 in purchases on the card.† You can earn a maximum of three Status Lifts per calendar year, which would give you $1,500 in tier qualifying spend.
In previous years, that would put you 50% of the way to Silver status, which required $3,000 in tier qualifying spend up until the end of 2024. As of 2025, Silver now requires $4,000 in tier qualifying spend, and $1,500 in tier qualifying spend is equivalent to roughly 38% of the way towards Silver.
As of April 30, 2025, Status Lift is changing to make it possible to earn all tiers of WestJet status without flying, and the cap of three Status Lifts is being removed.
Going forward, for every $5,000 spent on the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard, you’ll get $200 towards your tier qualifying spend, up to a total of $10,000 tier qualifying spend (100% of the requirement for top-tier Platinum status).
This means that you could qualify for all three tiers of WestJet status by putting the following amounts of spend on your WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard each calendar year without ever heading to the airport:
- Silver: $100,000 of eligible spending on your credit card = $4,000 tier qualifying spend (20 Status Lifts of $200)
- Gold: $150,000 of eligible spending on your credit card = $6,000 tier qualifying spend (30 Status Lifts of $200)
- Platinum: $250,000 of eligible spending on your credit card = $10,000 tier qualifying spend (50 Status Lifts of $200)
Of course, the tier qualifying spend you earn on your credit card also combines with any organic tier qualifying spend you earn through eligible flight activity.
It’s worth noting that the new Status Lift terms will apply to all purchases made from January 1 onward, which means that you’ll have the full 2025 calendar year to earn towards status based on credit card spending.
WestJet’s New Milestone Awards Chart
There are also changes coming to WestJet’s milestone awards program.
As of April 30, 2025, you’ll earn milestone qualifying spend on 100% of the amount spent on eligible published base fares, Other ATC, seat fees, checked baggage fees, and cabin upgrade fees for WestJet-marketed flights flown by the member within a qualifying year.
You’ll also earn 20% of your individual portion of the base price of an eligible WestJet Vacations package completed within the qualifying year.
Importantly, any tier qualifying spend earned through Status Lift (through spending on your credit card) does not count towards milestone awards.
Furthermore, WestJet has revealed the new milestone award choices that can be earned at each level as of April 30, 2025. Seven of the eight tiers will have four choices, including a points option, two travel options, and a “wildcard” option, structured as follows:
- $2,000: 2,000 points, $200 tier qualifying spend bonus for the current year, or $25 Skip gift card
- $8,000: 20,000 points, WestJet-wide companion voucher, four seat selection vouchers (any seat in economy), or $500 TQS bonus for the current year
- $12,000: 10,000 points, WestJet-wide companion voucher, one-year Gift of Gold voucher, or $1,000 TQS head start for next year
- $16,000: 10,000 points, 40% discount on any Premium fare (maximum two guests), $250 WVI or Sunwing future travel credit, eStore merchandise item
- $20,000: 10,000 points, transferable WestJet-wide companion voucher, four transferable seat selection vouchers (any seat in economy), or eStore merchandise item
- $30,000: 25,000 points, $500 WVI or Sunwing Vacations future travel credit, one-year Gift of Gold voucher, or eStore merchandise item
- $40,000: 25,000 points, 40% off discount for any Business fare (maximum two guests), eight transferable lounge vouchers, or eStore merchandise item
- $50,000: 25,000 points, transferable WestJet-wide companion voucher, or $1,000 Fairmont Hotels gift card
The first member to reach the $50,000 TQS threshold will also have the option of choosing a WestJet suite for a Blue Jays home game for the member and up to 17 friends.
It’s worth noting that WestJet had originally planned to sunset the Gift of Gold option as a milestone award in the Fall 2024 program changes announcement; however, it’s now been reintroduced. The lucky recipients will enjoy WestJet Gold status for one full year (previously it was valid for one round-trip flight only).
WestJet’s New Tier Benefits
WestJet is introducing a few new benefits to members at various tiers.
Silver members will now receive four standard seat selection vouchers, while Platinum members will receive six transferable guest seat selection vouchers (in addition to the unlimited ones for themselves).
Furthermore, Gold and Platinum members will receive two transferable guest airport lounge vouchers (in addition to the current unlimited access for themselves and family).
WestJet’s New Partnerships & eStore
Lastly, WestJet is announcing new partnerships with the relaunch of the program, with more to come later on. WestJet Rewards members will be able to link their accounts with TELUS Rewards and their Skip accounts.
WestJet is also launching an eStore, through which members can earn and redeem points on purchases made through the portal.
Analyzing the Changes to WestJet Rewards in 2025
Given the vast scope of the changes announced day, there’s a lot to digest here.
We’ll reserve a full analysis of WestJet’s new milestone awards for a separate article, since it warrants a discussion of its own.
These Changes Are Mostly Positive… But
First off, I think it’s worth noting that these changes are mostly positive, while keeping in mind that the changes announced in Fall 2024 were mostly negative.
One gripe that many members had was that WestJet dollars could only be redeemed against the base fare of a reward flight, and not against the Other ATC.
In some cases, Other ATC make up a significant portion of the cost of a flight (sometimes more than the base fare), and having to fork out cash for those took away from the novelty of getting a flight for cheap.
It’s a similar story to how only the base fare counted towards tier and milestone qualifying spend, and you didn’t stand to benefit at all from what you had to pay for Other ATC or other fees.
It’s good to see that changed, and it’s also good that you’ll earn points and TQS/MQS on ancillary fees as of later this spring, too.
Fluctuating Redemption Value
At the same time, it’s unfortunate that the best value for your points will only be when you redeem them for base fares and vacation packages, and how it lessens when you redeem them for anything else.
It’s common for many loyalty programs to offer different values for points depending on the type of redemption (e.g., redemptions for merchandise tend to be much lower value than redemptions for flights, and redeeming points for government-imposed taxes and fees tends to be lower, too).
However, I think the biggest sticking point here is that redeeming WestJet points for Other ATC will have a lower value than redeeming them for the base fare, especially given how significant Other ATC can be in the structure of the fare.
When it comes to ancillary fees, I think it’s worth noting that WestJet increased checked baggage fees twice in the span of four months (once in Fall 2023, and again in February 2024), and also introduced the controversial UltraBasic fare and Extended Comfort options last year, which put a higher price on ancillary fees than before.
Should You Spend towards WestJet’s New Status Lift?
One of the restrictions of the Status Lift in the past has been that it could (at most) bring you to 50% of the TQS required for Silver status. It’s interesting to see WestJet remove that cap and make it possible to earn its top-tier status without ever taking a flight.
However, just because you can earn WestJet’s top-tier status through credit card spending alone doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.
I can think of many ways of strategically spending $250,000 on my credit card(s) that would result in a much more significant value than what’s offered through WestJet Rewards, both in terms of status and WestJet dollars (soon-to-be WestJet points).
Even if you assume a baseline earning rate of 1 point per dollar spent on many other credit cards, you could easily turn 250,000 points (of various currencies) into something worth much more than what’s offered with WestJet Platinum and WestJet Rewards, namely multiple long-haul and ultra-long-haul flights in business class or First Class.
At the same time, it’s good to see WestJet loyalists who put a tonne of spend on their cards getting fast tracked towards higher status, whereas it had a capped value before.
Still No Opportunities for Outsized Value
To me, the biggest takeaway from these changes is that WestJet Rewards continues to be a program that doesn’t offer any opportunities for its members to get outsized value.
Indeed, that’s by design, as WestJet maintains that it prides its loyalty program on being straightforward and easy to understand.
The value of your WestJet dollars (which will become WestJet points) remains capped at a fixed amount, and it’s very difficult to squeeze anything more than that from the points that you earn through flying and spending on your co-branded credit card. In some cases, you’ll even get less than the best-available value of 1 cent per point with the new changes, which is a pretty low bar for a modern airline loyalty program.
I find this to be a very limiting factor when considering whether or not to meaningfully engage with the program, especially since the best ways to earn WestJet dollars (soon to become WestJet points) and book WestJet flights with points remain outside of the WestJet ecosystem.
If your lone goal is to save money on WestJet flights, you could look to other fixed-value points programs in Canada, such as Scene+, which would allow you to get a fixed value of 1 cent per point against the entire cost of a WestJet flight (including Other ATC, seat fees, baggage fees, upgrade fees, and government-imposed taxes and fees), and not just on the base fare.
In fact, going forward, my go-to way to save money on WestJet flights will remain either booking economy flights at a fixed rate using Delta SkyMiles (transferred in from American Express Membership Rewards), or paying cash for flights in WestJet Premium using the WestJet companion voucher and offsetting the cost with a fixed-value points currency of my choosing.
Conclusion
Today, WestJet has announced the second round of sweeping changes to its WestJet Rewards loyalty program, which are set to take effect as of April 30, 2025. The changes affect everything from the name of its rewards currency to the ways in which you can earn and redeem points.
By and large, this round of changes is positive, keeping in mind that the first round of changes announced were negative.
Still, the opportunity to score outsized value through WestJet Rewards remains very limited, and depending on what your travel goals are, the program still may not offer enough intrigue to warrant a change in your loyalty habits.
† Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to the RBC website for up-to-date information.
