How to Maximize the CIBC Aventura Airline Rewards Chart

CIBC Aventura is the flagship travel rewards program offered by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Aventura Points can be earned through CIBC’s suite of Aventura credit cards.

Aventura Points can be redeemed for gift cards, purchases, hotels, car rentals, and more, but the most valuable redemptions can be found by using the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart to book flights.

In this guide, we’ll go over the details of the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart, the steps for booking a flight, and how to redeem Aventura Points for maximum value.

What Is the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart?

The CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart provides the most valuable option for redeeming Aventura Points if you’re looking to extract maximum value. 

Rather than booking flights directly with airlines, the chart outlines a fixed number of points that you can redeem for flights up to a fixed maximum value. We’ll go over the intricacies of the chart in this guide.

The Flight Rewards Chart provides a summary of the flight categories, the number of points necessary to redeem for that category, and the maximum base fare ticket value of the redemption flight.

A quick glance at the chart will give you a pretty good idea of how many points you’ll need to book a particular flight. The cost ranges from 10,000 Aventura Points for a short-haul flight all the way to 125,000 Aventura Points for a long-haul flight.

While it’s true that you can redeem Aventura Points against travel purchases made directly with vendors, you’ll only end up getting a value of 1 cent per point (all figures in CAD) if you choose to go this route.

Meanwhile, with the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart, you can boost the value of your points up to 2.29 cents per point, depending on the flights booked.

As a reminder, you can earn Aventura Points on CIBC’s suite of Aventura credit cards, which often come with a nice welcome bonus and a first-year annual fee rebate. The Aventura cards currently on offer from CIBC are as follows:

How Does the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart Work?

The CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart is composed of five categories that correspond to your flight’s origin and destination.

The number of Aventura Points required for a flight depends on a handful of variables, including where you’re flying to and from, the base fare cost of the ticket, and the dates of travel.

Regardless of which category your flight falls within, Aventura Points will only cover the base fare up to the maximum ticket price listed in the corresponding band; all other taxes and fees will need to be paid in cash or with points at a lower redemption value (1 cent per point).

For example, if you’d like to book a flight from Vancouver to Seattle, by referencing the first category band, you’ll see that you need to use 10,000–20,000 Aventura Points, which would cover up to a maximum base fare ticket price of $400.

If the ticket price exceeds the maximum base fare listed for the category (in this case $400), you’ll need to cover the difference either by charging your CIBC credit card or by redeeming Aventura Points at a baseline value of 1 cent per point.

The number of Aventura Points listed in the categories is for round-trip economy flights booked online through the CIBC Rewards Centre or by calling CIBC at 1-888-232-5656.

Exploring the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart

As mentioned above, the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart is composed of five categories that correspond to your flight origin and destination.

The first category is for short-haul flights, either within a Canadian province or US state, or between adjoining provinces and/or US states.

For these itineraries, it’ll cost 10,000–20,000 Aventura Points for a round-trip economy ticket, with a maximum base fare price of $400.

The highest value that you can get for flights booked within this category is 2 cents per point, which is based on maxing out the base fare ticket price of $400 and redeeming 20,000 points.

It’s worth noting that the number of points required for a redemption tends to correlate with the cash value of the base fare. This means that the closer the base fare gets to the maximum amount in each category, the more points you’ll need to redeem for that ticket.

Based on our research, and given the way the program and prices seem to be designed, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find a ticket that both maxes out the base fare and is being offered at the lower end of the points range.

That being said, if you do find a ticket with these characteristics (i.e., a $400 base fare for only 10,000 Aventura Points), you should definitely consider scooping it up as it’s offering an uncharted value.

The second category in the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart is for long-haul domestic or transborder flights, which include flights from any location in Canada or the US to any other location in Canada or the US (excluding Alaska and Hawaii).

For these itineraries, it’ll cost 25,000–35,000 Aventura Points for a round-trip economy ticket, with a maximum ticket price of $800.

Within this category, the best redemption value you’re likely to find is 2.29 cents per point, which is calculated by maxing out the base fare ticket price of $800 and redeeming 35,000 points.

The third category is for longer-haul flights from any location in Canada or the US to Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Bermuda, Central America, or the Caribbean.

These itineraries will set you back between 40,000–60,000 Aventura Points for a round-trip economy ticket, with a maximum base fare price of $1,000.

Flights booked within this category offer a value of up to 1.7 cents per point based on a redemption of 60,000 Aventura Points for the $1,000 maxed out base fare price.

The fourth category is for flights to select destinations in Europe from a major gateway in Canada or the US.

Flights within this category range from 50,000 to 70,000 Aventura Points for a round-trip economy ticket, with a maximum ticket price of $1,300.

When booking a flight within this category, you can aim for a value of up to 1.9 cents per point, which assumes a maxed out base fare of $1,300 for a redemption of 70,000 points.

The fifth and final category is for flights from major gateways in Canada and the US to select destinations in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, the Middle East, and South America.

These itineraries cost between 75,000–125,000 Aventura Points for a round-trip economy ticket, with a maximum ticket price of $2,000.

Flights within this category have an upper value of 1.6 cents per point when you redeem 125,000 Aventura Points for a maxed out base fare of $2,000.

How to Book Award Tickets with the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart

Once you’ve got some Aventura Points saved up, and you’re ready to book a flight, you’ll want to start by logging in to your CIBC Aventura account, either on the CIBC Rewards Centre website or through the CIBC banking app.

After logging in, select the “Travel” tab. This will take you to the travel search form.

In the travel search form, make sure that you select the flights category, and then enter your origin, destination, dates, and the number/type of passengers travelling. For cabin class, you’ll need to select economy to find eligible reward flights.

Once the fields have been completed, click the “Search Now” button.

The search results will list all the flights that are eligible for points redemptions in two columns.

The left-hand column shows the Flex travel options, and here you’ll find the cost of same flights using Aventura Points at a value of 1 cent per point, plus taxes.

In the Flight rewards column on the right, you’ll see a breakdown of the points required for the flight using the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart, plus the cost of the taxes.

Since we’re specifically looking to book a flight using the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart, let’s use the results on the right-hand column.

After you’ve found a flight within this column that suits your needs, select the flight by clicking “Continue.” This will take you to the passenger information and payment page.

This page contains the flight details and price summary, as well as forms to input traveller information and payment information. You’ll need to fill in the traveller information for each passenger.

For the payment information, you can choose to pay with a credit card, or if you have enough points left, you can pay the taxes using your points at a value of 1 cent per point. 

It’s worth repeating here that this isn’t a particularly good value for your points, so we don’t typically recommend this option.

Once everything’s filled in, click the “Complete your purchase” button at the bottom, and you’re all set.

When it comes to booking reward tickets using the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, it’s important to know that in order to access the Rewards Chart flights, you’ll need to be booking a round-trip ticket, and your travel must begin in and return to the same city.

One-way, multi-city, and open-jaw fares are not eligible for the Rewards Chart rates but can be booked using Aventura Points at a rate of 1 cent per point within the Flex Travel category.

Secondly, although the Rewards Chart states that long-haul flights to Europe are to be booked out of major gateways, we’ve found some flights in this category flying out of smaller airports with connections through a larger hub.

When searching for flights, it’s worth checking your preferred airports first, just to see if there’s any availability that fits within the eligibility criteria.

Lastly, if the ticket you’d like to book is over the maximum base fare, it’ll be flagged in your search results with an “OVERMAX” notation, and the price details break down what’s covered by the Aventura Points and what’s not.

To book this flight, you’ll need to pay both the taxes and the difference between the actual base fare cost and the maximum base fare threshold listed in the booking category.

How to Maximize the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart

When it comes time to redeem your Aventura Points, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the best value possible.

Here are some tips and tricks to ensure you’re using your Aventura Points to their fullest potential.

Max Out the Base Fare

As described above, your Aventura Points only cover the cost of a redemption ticket up to the maximum base fare ticket price listed in each category.

Therefore, to access the best possible value from your points, you’ll ideally want to book flights that come as close to that upper limit of this price as possible.

For example, if you’re booking a flight from Toronto to Los Angeles, you’d want to look for flights with a base fare of as close to $800 as possible to maximize the value of your points.

To better understand how this line of thinking works, let’s look at these three example itineraries based on the Rewards Chart’s second category, with reward flights ranging from 25,000–35,000 points:

In Option 1, the flight has a base fare of $280 and costs 26,600 Aventura Points. This exchange gives you a value of 1.1 cent per point.

In Option 2, the flight has a base fare of $446 and costs 32,500 Aventura Points. With this choice, you get a value of 1.4 cents per point.

Finally, in Option 3, the flight has a base fare of $740 and costs 35,000 Aventura Points. By getting as close to the $800 maximum for the cost of the base fare, the value of each point is now 2.1 cents, or almost double the value of the flight in the first example.

Now, this isn’t to say that you should find the most expensive flight just for the sake of it, but rather, if you find a flight near the maximum base fare, you can be certain that you’re extracting the best possible value.

To determine the base fare of a reward flight, you’ll want to look at the “Flex” travel column on the left-hand side of your reward flight search. In this column, select the “view price details” link.

You’ll now see a screen that shows the flight’s base fare per passenger, as well as the taxes per passenger. Using this information, you can determine the value of any rewards flight in the program.

Book Positioning Flights

When booking long-haul award flights with points, one reality is that you’re often limited to departing from and arriving in major cities.

Furthermore, more airlines fly to the United States than fly to Canada, so you may find yourself in a situation where you need to get from your location to a larger city in order to take advantage of another award flight.

In these cases, the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart can be a great way to bridge the gap.

For example, if you need to get from Montreal to New York City, you could redeem 10,000–20,000 Aventura Points, plus taxes, to get you there and back, allowing you to take advantage of awards sweet spots in other programs.

Leverage Flexibility

One of the best features of the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart is that you can book with any airline without worrying about blackout dates.

With some loyalty programs, your redemption options are limited to a specific number of award tickets that are bookable with points; however, with the Rewards Chart, that’s not the case.

The Aventura Flight Rewards Chart can be used to book any available flight regardless of dates or award availability.

This can be particularly useful if you’d like to travel on an airline that isn’t part of any alliance and is otherwise tricky to book with points.

For example, if you’d like to fly from Vancouver to Manila with Philippine Airlines, you can use your Aventura Points to book an award flight that would be very difficult to obtain through another avenue.

The flexibility of Aventura Points can also be helpful for booking flights during busy times of year, such as March Break or Christmas.

Finally, you can also use your Aventura Points in tandem with other loyalty programs to help fly you and your travel companions.

Since the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart isn’t subject to the same availability issues as other loyalty programs, your Aventura Points can come in clutch in cases when you need more award seats than are showing available.

For example, suppose that you and your friend want to fly from Toronto to London with British Airways in economy class, but there’s only one seat available to book through British Airways Executive Club.

In such a case, you could book one passenger through Executive Club and then book the other passenger using Aventura Points via the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart.

Conclusion

The CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart lets you redeem your Aventura Points for flights around the world.

By taking advantage of the flexibility of Aventura Points and by aiming for award flights with higher base fare prices, you can maximize the value of the program.

Leverage the Aventura Flight Rewards Chart for short-haul positioning flights, for use in tandem with other loyalty program bookings, or for difficult-to-find fares, and take advantage of all that your Aventura Points have to offer.