Canada's longstanding coalition loyalty program, rebranding from Air Miles to Blue Rewards in summer 2026. Earn points across hundreds of retail and service partners with a simplified, unified points balance.
Our Valuation
0.667 cents per point
Rebrand of the long-running Air Miles program (transitioned summer 2026 under BMO ownership). Despite the rebrand, total purchasing power was preserved by adjusting the point denomination — old Cash Miles redeemed at ~10.5 cpp converted at 95 Cash Miles → 1,500 Blue Rewards, giving the same $10 of purchasing power. Best treated as a supplementary, fixed-value retail program rather than a transferable points currency. Earn rate per dollar spent remains modest, so total returns are similar to the legacy program.
Last updated: June 2, 2026
AIR MILES has been transformed into Blue Rewards. Existing accounts and points balances carry over automatically, so there's nothing collectors need to do to make the switch.
Blue Rewards is BMO's coalition loyalty program, replacing the longstanding AIR MILES brand after BMO completed its $160 million USD acquisition of the program in June 2023. The rebrand consolidates 34 years of AIR MILES history into a single, simpler points currency, with hundreds of retail and service partners across Canada carrying over.
Blue Rewards isn't going to fund your business class aspirations, but as a fixed-value program with broad merchant coverage and a new BMO banking integration, it can quietly knock dollars off your everyday spending. Think of it as a supplementary earning program that complements a primary travel rewards strategy.
Blue Rewards keeps the multi-channel earning structure that AIR MILES collectors are familiar with, organized into a handful of categories.
Blue Rewards has partner agreements with retailers and service providers that allow you to earn points directly at checkout. Several categories of partners carry over from AIR MILES, including IHG Hotels and Resorts (1 point per $5 spent), National and Alamo Car Rental (1 point per $10 spent), and Avis and Budget Car Rental (1 point per $15 spent). The new partner lineup also adds Porter Airlines, Accor properties (Fairmont, Novotel, SLS), Instacart, and MTY Group restaurants.
Note that Shell Canada departed the program in spring 2026 and is no longer a partner. Fuel rewards at Shell are now offered through Scene+.
On top of your base points earning, you can stack bonus points on featured offers, which appear in the Blue Rewards app and on the website. Most of these require you to opt in before transacting at the partner.
Flash offers also pop up periodically, giving you a window to earn elevated bonuses on specific purchases.
Receipts earning lets you collect points on featured grocery products at participating stores by scanning your paper receipt after a purchase. You don't need to present your collector number at the checkout, and you don't need to shop at a partner store. Just buy the featured item and scan.
Online earning runs through the Blue Rewards Shops portal, comparable to Aeroplan eStore and Rakuten. You log into your account, find the retailer you want to shop at, and click through to their website to make your purchase.
As with any shopping portal, complete your checkout in the same browser window that opened after you clicked through, so your purchase tracks correctly. Pay attention to exclusions as well, since major retailers like Apple and Amazon often carve out specific products or categories.
Card-linked offers let you earn Blue Rewards points by using a registered Mastercard at participating retailers, without needing to present your collector number at the till. You register your Canadian-issued Mastercard along with your Blue Rewards account, and qualifying transactions automatically credit points to your balance.
Supplementary cards must be registered separately, either to your own account or to another account. You can link more than one Mastercard to a single Blue Rewards account.
The Blue Rewards Travel platform is now powered by Expedia Group, which replaced the previous in-house travel engine in March 2026. The Blue Rewards entry point and account integration remain familiar, but the underlying inventory and terms come from Expedia.
You can pay for bookings entirely with points, entirely with cash, or with a mix of the two. Minimum redemption thresholds have been removed, so even small balances can offset a travel purchase.
One of the more interesting additions under the Blue Rewards rebrand is the BMO banking integration. BMO chequing account holders can earn Blue Rewards points on debit card transactions at fuel, grocery, warehouse, and EV charging merchants. This is a first for a major Canadian loyalty program and gives Blue Rewards a meaningful daily earning channel beyond credit cards and partner retailers.
Blue Rewards uses a fixed-value redemption structure, with a new benchmark rate set at 1,500 points = $10 in value for in-store rebates and eGift cards. That works out to roughly 0.667 cents per point, which is also the rate BMO confirmed when announcing the new Blue Rewards World Elite Mastercard welcome bonus (100,000 points equating to up to $665 in value).
You can redeem points for in-store rebates, eGift cards, travel, merchandise, events, and attractions.
Pharmasave remains a redemption partner, where you can apply points as an instant rebate against your bill at the standard 1,500 points = $10 rate. Pharmasave occasionally runs targeted promotions, such as bonus points back when you spend a minimum amount, which surface in the Blue Rewards app or in store flyers.
Blue Rewards lets you redeem for a wide range of eGift cards without losing value compared to the standard rate. You'll still get 1,500 points = $10, which is unusual for loyalty programs that typically pay out gift cards at a discounted rate.
The catalogue includes brands like Amazon, Uber Eats, DoorDash, Sephora, Lululemon, Cineplex, and Walmart. Delivery is digital and effectively instant.
The Expedia-powered Blue Rewards Travel platform handles flight, hotel, car rental, vacation package, cruise, and add-on bookings. The redemption rate sits in the same neighbourhood as the in-store and eGift card rate, though the exact value depends on the booking and any active promotions. Bundling trip components (such as flight plus hotel) into a single booking generally yields more value than booking each piece separately.
The merchandise catalogue covers electronics, sports gear, home goods, and more. Redemption value on merchandise varies and is usually weaker than the standard rate, so it's worth comparing the points cost against the retail price at Amazon or Best Buy and benchmarking against 1,500 points = $10 before pulling the trigger.
Keep an eye on featured merchandise deals, which appear on the merchandise landing page and occasionally offer products at a discount.
You can also redeem points for cinema tickets and select attractions across Canada. As with merchandise, compare the retail price of what you're booking against the points cost so you don't end up overpaying for the redemption.
BMO offers a small lineup of Blue Rewards co-branded credit cards, ranging from a no-annual-fee everyday card to a premium World Elite tier with accelerated earning and a larger welcome bonus. These cards are the most efficient way to build a Blue Rewards balance, particularly once you factor in the welcome offers.
Blue Rewards Credit Cards
Welcome bonus: 100,000 BMO Blue Rewards Points
Annual fee: $150
First-year value
$800
Welcome bonus: 20,000 BMO Blue Rewards Points
Annual fee: No fee
First-year value
$138
Welcome bonus offers shown are current as of publication and subject to change. Terms and conditions apply; refer to BMO's website for full details.
The Blue Rewards rebrand is the natural endpoint of BMO's three-year integration of AIR MILES, and the result is a meaningfully simpler program than the one BMO acquired in 2023. A single unified balance, a clearer 1,500 points = $10 benchmark, and a new BMO banking earning channel make Blue Rewards easier to understand than the old Cash Miles / Dream Miles structure.
At the same time, Blue Rewards is operating in a crowded coalition loyalty market against Scene+, PC Optimum, and Aeroplan, and BMO is going to have to deliver on the partner expansion and Expedia travel integration for the program to earn a primary spot in most Canadians' wallets. For now, Blue Rewards is best treated as a complementary earning program that quietly adds value alongside whichever travel rewards currency you've picked as your main strategy.
First-year value
$138
No annual fee
• Earn 20,000 points upon spending $1,500 in the first 4 months
Earning rates
Key perks
No annual fee
• Earn 20,000 points upon spending $1,500 in the first 4 months
Earning rates
Key perks