WestJet is the second-largest airline in Canada, with a focus on Western Canada and its primary hub at Calgary International Airport. Today, the airline flies to more than 100 destinations in 24 countries, including North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia.
WestJet’s loyalty program is called WestJet Rewards, which received a major makeover in Spring 2025.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything there is to know about WestJet Rewards, including how to optimize your earning and redeeming within the program.
Earning WestJet Dollars
Similar to other airline loyalty programs, there are a number of avenues through which you can earn WestJet points. However, the most common ways to earn WestJet points are by signing up for the WestJet RBC co-branded credit cards, by transferring points from RBC Avion, and by flying with WestJet and its partner airlines.
WestJet RBC Credit Cards
RBC is the only bank that offers WestJet co-branded credit cards, and there are presently two cards you can choose from: the WestJet RBC® Mastercard and the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard†.
Both cards come with a welcome bonus, and both earn WestJet points directly from spending. As an added perk, you can get an annual round-trip companion voucher with either card.
The entry-level WestJet RBC® Mastercard requires a low annual fee of $39, and earns WestJet points at a rate of 1.5 points per dollar spent on WestJet flights and WestJet Vacations, and 1 point per dollar spent on everything else.
Meanwhile, the upper-tier WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard† commands a higher annual fee of $119.† However, it also comes with a much larger welcome bonus and more perks.
Another valuable benefit of the card is a free first checked bag on WestJet flights for the primary cardholder and up to eight companions on the same booking.†
Likewise, the earning rate of the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard† is marginally higher than that of the base WestJet RBC® Mastercard. The card earns 2 WestJet points per dollar spent on WestJet flights and WestJet Vacations,† and 1.5 WestJet points per dollar spent on all other purchases.†
We value WestJet points at 1 cent per point, and using this valuation, you’re looking at a maximum return of 1–2% on your spending with either card.
It’s worth noting that a 1.5% return on the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard† is a pretty solid baseline return; however, many other travel rewards credit cards have points that are worth more. So, even with a baseline earning rate of 1 point per dollar (on other airline co-branded cards), the effective baseline return is typically higher than 1.5%, since other points (Aeroplan, British Airways Avios, Asia Miles) are worth more than 1.5 cents per point.
Transferring from RBC Avion
Continuing with earning WestJet points in the RBC credit card ecosystem, RBC Avion is the only other points currency in Canada that transfers to WestJet Rewards. The transfer ratio is 1:1, which means that for every 100 RBC Avion points you transfer, you’ll get 100 WestJet points.
Of the credit cards that earn RBC Avion points, the one with the best return on spending (when it comes to WestJet points) is the RBC ION+ Visa. That’s because you can earn up to 3 Avion Premium points per dollar spent on many common expenses, which is effectively earning 3 WestJet points per dollar spent.
- 3 Avion Premium points† per dollar spent on qualifying grocery, dining, food delivery, gas, rideshare, daily public transit, electric vehicle charging, streaming, digital gaming and digital subscriptions†
- 1 Avion Premium point† per dollar spent on all other qualifying purchases†
- Earn 14,000 Avion points upon approval†(worth up to $100 in gift cards†)
- Earn 3,125 Moi Rewards points upon linking to your Moi card†(worth up to $25 in groceries†)
- Earn 3x points† on qualifying grocery, dining, food delivery, gas, rideshare, daily public transit, electric vehicle charging, streaming, digital gaming and digital subscriptions†
- Earn 1 extra Moi Rewards point for every two dollars spent at Metro, Food Basics, Super C, Jean Coutu, Brunet and Première Moisson when you scan your Moi card and pay with your linked RBC Card (minimum purchase required).¹¹
- Mobile device insurance†
- Annual fee: $48 ($4 charged monthly)†
Similarly, the no-fee RBC® ION Visa earns RBC Avion Premium points at the following rates, which can be transferred to WestJet Rewards at a 1:1 ratio:
- 1.5 Avion points† per dollar spent on qualifying grocery, gas, rideshare, daily public transit, electric vehicle charging, streaming, digital gaming and digital subscriptions†
- 1 Avion point† per dollar spent on all other qualifying purchases†
Since it’s a no-fee credit card with a baseline earning rate that’s effectively equal to the WestJet RBC® Mastercard, it’s the best option to earn WestJet points without paying an annual fee.
- Earn 7,000 Avion points upon approval†(worth up to $50 in gift cards†)
- Earn 3,125 Moi Rewards points upon linking to your Moi card†(worth up to $25 in groceries†)
- Earn 1.5x Avion points† on qualifying grocery, gas, rideshare, daily public transit, electric vehicle charging, streaming, digital gaming and digital subscriptions†
- Annual fee: $0
Meanwhile, the Avion lineup of credit cards also earn Avion points, albeit they’re at the Elite tier rather than the Premium tier.
Avion Elite points also transfer to WestJet Rewards at a 1:1 ratio; however, they’re also transferable to The British Airways Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and American Airlines AAdvantage. These programs offer many opportunities to score outsized value that’s much greater than what’s available through WestJet Rewards, and we’d recommend redeeming them in the latter three programs instead of WestJet’s.
With that having been said, these cards offer excellent welcome bonuses, and if you’re looking to pad your WestJet points balance quickly, they’re good options to consider.
Credit Card
Best Offer
Value
55,000 RBC Avion points†
$1,080
Apply Now
55,000 RBC Avion points†
$1,080
Apply Now
Up to 70,000 RBC Avion points†
$826
Apply Now
35,000 RBC Avion points
$700
Apply Now
35,000 RBC Avion points
$580
Apply Now
You’ll need a minimum of 1,000 Avion points (1,000 WestJet points) to initiate a transfer; then, you can transfer in increments of 100 Avion points (100 WestJet points), up to a maximum of 1,000,000 Avion points (1,000,000 WestJet points).
Flying with WestJet
WestJet points are earned on all eligible WestJet flights. How much you earn depends on how much you spend on your fare, and also your membership tier.
As a new WestJet Rewards member, you start at the Teal level. You can then progressively elevate your status to Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
You’ll earn under the following rates depending on your tier:
- Teal: 1 WestJet point per dollar spent
- Silver: 3 WestJet points per dollar spent
- Gold: 5 WestJet points per dollar spent
- Platinum: 8 WestJet points per dollar spent
Hence, if you spent $1,000 in eligible expenses on WestJet flights, you’d earn 1,000 WestJet points as a Teal member, 3,000 WestJet points as a Silver member, 5,000 WestJet points as a Gold member, and 8,000 WestJet points as a Platinum member.
Plus, if you pay for the flights with a WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard†, you’ll earn an additional 2 points per dollar spent, further padding your balance.
You’ll earn WestJet points on the following WestJet expenses:
- Base fare
- Other Air Transportation Charges (Other ATC)
- Seat selection fees
- Baggage fees
- Upgrade fees
You’ll also earn 1 WestJet point per dollar spent on WestJet Vacations package bookings and WestJet Vacations land-only bookings.
Note that you won’t earn WestJet points on the government-imposed taxes and fees that make up part of the cost of the ticket, nor will you earn WestJet points on UltraBasic fares.
Flying with Partner Airlines
You can also earn WestJet points when you fly with the following partner airlines:
- Delta
- Air France
- KLM
- Qantas
To earn WestJet points on these flights, you must provide your WestJet Rewards number at the time of booking or during check-in.
The amount of WestJet points you earn varies depending on the airline, cabin class, and your WestJet Rewards tier. Unlike with WestJet’s own flights, however, it doesn’t matter how much you spend on partner flights; rather, you’ll earn a set amount of WestJet points based on the distance flown.
In addition, if you have a higher WestJet Rewards tier status than Teal, you’ll earn bonus WestJet points. Across all partners, Silver members earn 50% more, Gold members earn 75% more, and Platinum members earn 100% more.
Buying WestJet Points
Lastly, you can buy WestJet points to supplement your balance. However, 1 WestJet point costs more than 1 cent per point (CAD), so it doesn’t make sense for you to do so.
That being said, WestJet’s Member Exclusive Fares can only be booked with WestJet points. Thus, buying may make sense if you find yourself short of a few WestJet points and don’t have any other way to boost your balance.
Nonetheless, you should still compare the cost of Member Exclusive Fares with regular fares to see if they’re worth it, as you’re likely better off just paying for a regular fare with cash and offsetting some of the cost with WestJet points.
Redeeming WestJet points
WestJet Rewards prides itself as being a loyalty program that’s easy to understand. By and large, 1 WestJet point is equal to 1 cent, which you can use to offset the cost of booking a flight.
Frankly, there aren’t many exciting ways to redeem WestJet points, and there aren’t any “sweet spots” that you can take advantage of in the program. Still, if you have a stash of WestJet points, here are the best ways for you to use them.
WestJet Flights
Redeeming WestJet points for WestJet flights is quite simple. WestJet points are worth 1 cent (CAD) apiece, and WestJet points can be used against a portion of or the entire cost of your WestJet flights.
Note that you’ll need a minimum of 2,500 WestJet points per guest and per direction of travel to redeem, or a minimum of 5,000 points if you’re redeeming them for WestJet Vacations.
If you redeem WestJet points during the course of booking, you’ll get a value of 1 cent per point against the following expenses:
- Base fare
- Other ATC
- Baggage fees
- Seat selection fees
If you have enough points in your account, you’re also able to redeem them against the government-imposed taxes and fees on a booking, at a rate of 105–110 WestJet points = $1 (0.91–0.95 cents per point). You can choose to cover either 50% or 100% of the taxes and fees, which in the latter case would result in a 100% free booking.
Once you’ve made a booking, you’re able to redeem WestJet points for flight extras at an exchange of 100–110 WestJet points = $1.
Codeshare Partner Flights
You can also redeem WestJet points for flights on partner airlines. However, you’re limited to codeshare flights, and they must be booked in conjunction with WestJet-operated flights.
You can search for codeshare partner flights on the same search engine as WestJet flights, and you can use WestJet points to pay for codeshare partner flights as if you were paying for WestJet-only flights.
WestJet Vacations
Lastly, you can redeem your WestJet points for packages through WestJet Vacations. You can use WestJet points on the majority of the package cost plus vacation “extras”, such as Disney tickets and airport transfers.
Note, however, that you must still pay for the flight portion’s taxes and fees in cash.
WestJet Rewards Tiers
There are four WestJet Rewards tiers: Teal, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. To advance to the next tier, you must meet tier-qualifying spend.
WestJet Status | Tier Qualifying Spend |
Silver | $4,000 |
Gold | $6,000 |
Platinum | $10,000 |
If you hold a WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard†, you may take advantage of the Status Lift feature. With Status Lift, 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).
You can earn up to 50 Status Lifts per calendar year, corresponding to $10,000 in tier-qualifying spend, which is enough 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)
Conclusion
WestJet is the second largest airline in Canada, with WestJet Rewards serving as its in-house loyalty program. WestJet Rewards’s currency, WestJet points, can be earned by transferring RBC Avion points, acquiring RBC co-branded credit cards, and flying with WestJet and its partner airlines.
WestJet points can be redeemed at a rate of 1 WestJet point = 1 cent (CAD) on most parts of a WestJet flight. Alternatively, you can redeem WestJet points towards vacation packages and add-ons booked directly with WestJet.
With the fixed value of WestJet points, it’s difficult to find outsized value from WestJet Rewards. However, the program’s elite benefits, including complimentary upgrades and priority services, may be compelling enough for WestJet’s frequent flyers to gun for higher status.
Unfortunately, Westjet has essentially stopped flying to Europe from Canadian airports east of Calgary. After accumulating about 1000 Westjet dollars they are unusable. Can’t even use them on Air France’s Ottawa Paris route. Sigh.