I’ve been an avid Air Miles collector for over a decade now (really, who hasn’t?), and I’ve reached Gold Status each of the past three years. I used to diligently redeem my Air Miles reward miles for Shell gas gift certificates.
Back in March, 2012, Air Miles introduced its Air Miles Cash feature along with Dream Rewards, where you could still redeem your miles for things like travel, merchandise and gift cards.
Related: How To Earn More Air Miles Rewards
By default, collectors only earned miles in their Dream Rewards account unless they went to the website and manually changed their allocation preferences. You had the option to allocate any new Air Miles earned toward your Cash balance or your Dream balance.
Using Air Miles Cash
When the Air Miles program changed last year, they made it clear that their gift card options would disappear over time as they wanted collectors to use the Air Miles Cash feature.
Although the gas gift certificate option were no longer available, I continued to allocate 100% of my Air Miles toward the Dream Rewards balance while I contemplated redeeming them for a flight or other merchandise.
Related: Air Miles New Expiry Policy
Recently, a PR firm contacted me to see if I wanted to give Air Miles Cash a try. They offered to send me $250 worth of Air Miles so I could test out the program and blog about my experience.
So I went to the Air Miles website and reset my preferences to 100% Air Miles Cash. Note – you can change your preferences at anytime by clicking on the Cash Rewards home.
Once I had the balance deposited into my account, it was time to go shopping!
Redeeming Air Miles Cash
When your Cash balance reaches 95 Air Miles, you can redeem them for $10 off your bill at participating sponsors when you swipe your Air Miles card at check-out.
Folks in Central and Eastern Canada have better options than those of us located out West. The only locations where you can use Air Miles Cash in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are at Shell gas stations and Rona stores.
Here in Lethbridge, Alberta, most of the Shell locations have yet to install the Air Miles Cash redemption terminals, which was disappointing.
Air Miles Cash sponsors:
| Sponsor | BC | AB | SK | MB | ON | QC | NF | NS | NB | PEI |
| Shell | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Rona | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Reno Depot | X | |||||||||
| Jean Coutu | X | X | X | |||||||
| Metro | X | |||||||||
| Rexall | X | |||||||||
| Sobeys | X | X | X | |||||||
| Foodland | X | X | X | X | ||||||
| Lawtons Drugs | X | X | X | X |
So off I went to Rona Lethbridge to try out the Air Miles Cash feature. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the yard lately and I needed a lawn trimmer/edger, so I picked up this awesome lithium battery powered edge trimmer for $120.
I went to the cash register and saw each checkout was clearly marked with Air Miles Cash signage. I asked the cashier how it works and so she scanned my Air Miles card and told me I had $120 worth of Air Miles that I could put toward the purchase, leaving me with just a few bucks to pay in taxes.
And that was it; no fuss! She just scanned the item, scanned the card, punched in the amount I wanted to redeem (remember, you can only redeem your points in $10 increments), and it was done.
Pros and Cons of Air Miles Cash
What I don’t like about Air Miles Cash is the lack of sponsors. In a perfect world, every retailer who offers the chance to earn Air Miles would also give you the chance to redeem them in-store through Air Miles Cash.
Related: Should You Take Bonus Air Miles Or A Percentage Off Your Grocery Bill?
Sadly, the options in Western Canada are very limited at this time. At least, east of Manitoba, you can use Air Miles Cash at a grocery store, drug store, gas station and home renovation store. I’d love the opportunity to use Air Miles Cash for groceries at Safeway or Sobeys.
I also don’t like the fact that Air Miles increased the number of reward miles you need to redeem for gas and groceries. Used to be, I could redeem 175 Air Miles for a $20 gas gift certificate. Now, it takes 190 Air Miles to get $20 off at the pump.
What I liked the most about Air Miles Cash is that it’s instantaneous. No more waiting 4-6 weeks for a gift certificate to arrive in the mail. Once your account hits the 95 Air Miles threshold, you’re good to redeem them for $10 savings.
I also liked that there’s no hassle to redeem them at the checkout. I was expecting the cashier to give me that deer in the headlights stare, but it was clear that the sponsor (at least Rona), takes the program seriously. I also asked the cashier if she gets many customers coming in and using Air Miles Cash and she said it’s starting to pick up steam.
Have you activated your Air Miles Cash feature? What’s holding you back?
I use a rewards credit card for practically all my spending to earn cash back and travel rewards. It’s a fast, secure and convenient way to pay for my daily transactions – big or small.
So that’s why I can’t understand when some people scoff at the idea of using a credit card for their everyday spending.
Here are 4 dumb reasons people use for not getting a rewards credit card:
Rewards Credit Cards Have Higher Interest Rates
Indeed, most of the top rewards cards charge interest of 19% or more (as do many standard, non-rewards credit cards). But if you carry a balance from month-to-month then a rewards credit card just isn’t a good idea.
The interest rate only matters when you don’t pay off your balance in full every month. Who cares about the interest rate? You’ll never pay a dime of interest when you diligently pay off your balance each month.
Once you receive your credit card statement, just set-up an automatic withdrawal from your bank account each month and you’ll never miss a payment.
You Need Too Many Points To Make It Worthwhile
Travel and loyalty programs have been getting a lot of backlash from consumers lately as they devalue points, set expiry dates for your points and impose restrictions on how you redeem your points.
I understand the frustration, which is why I started using a cash back credit card. With a cash back card, you know exactly what you’ll get from your rewards program.
I use a combination of the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite and the Capital One Aspire Cash World MasterCard. Capital One let’s you redeem your points anytime for a statement credit or a cheque. With the Scotia card, your cash back builds up until November and then gets applied to your account as a statement credit.
This combination can give you $625 cash back per year when you spend $2,000 per month. That’s a 2.6% return on your spending.
How much do you get back when you use debit or cash? I thought so.
Rewards Cards Encourage You To Spend More
The theory goes that when you use cash, once it’s gone there’s nothing left for you to spend. Some say this approach forces you to budget and control your spending – that you’ll feel a twinge of pain whenever you remove cash from your wallet.
When you use a credit card, you’ll go crazy spending because you don’t actually see the money come out of your wallet (or your bank account, like with a debit card).
Related: Do You Use Your Rewards Card To Buy Groceries?
That’s fine, I get it. But that approach doesn’t work for me. Whenever I carry cash, it disappears faster than the Leafs three-goal lead in the 3rd period.
I’ll buy a magazine or a chocolate bar, a coffee or a beer. Once that $20 bill is broken, the toonies and loonies end up in my daughter’s piggy bank, or paying for parking.
The truth is that a credit card is great for budgeting because you’ll get an itemized (and sometimes categorized) list of all your spending every month. Go back regularly and compare your spending to your budget to keep yourself accountable.
As far as I’m concerned, proper spending habits begin with setting and sticking to good budgeting principles.
Cash, debit and credit are just methods of payment. Which one of these payment methods actually gives you money back?
Premium Rewards Cards Cost Retailers More
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business wants consumers to pay with cash or debit to helps keep prices low. That’s because Visa and MasterCard ding retailers with an interchange fee every time you pay with a credit card.
The fees range from 1.65% of the transaction cost with a standard credit card, up to 2.71% of the transaction cost with a premium “high-spend” card like the World or World Elite MasterCard.
Here’s a chart that shows the merchant fees for each credit card issued in Canada.
The CFIB says retailers should be able to pass along those charges directly to consumers. While that may happen sometime down the road, there’s no evidence to suggest that retailers will pass along the savings by lowering prices.
Australia was successful in implementing a credit card surcharge back in 2003, but many retailers treat it as another profit centre as opposed to lowering prices for consumers.
The bottom line is that retailers will always find a way to pass on their costs to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Can you honestly see any retailers discriminating against you because of your chosen method of payment? Who would refuse a sale in this tough, competitive economic climate because they’ll get charged an extra 0.5%? Talk about business suicide!
When I go to the grocery store and pay with my Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite card, I’ll get 4% cash back while the store pays 2.15% on the transaction. A $200 purchase gives me $8 back. If I used debit or cash, the retailer saves a few bucks, but I’ll get nothing back.
Why not play the game and, as a consumer, come out on the winning side for once?
Final thoughts
It took me a while to ‘get’ what rewards credit cards were all about. But once I started using them to my advantage I started maximizing my cash back and loyalty points.
Rather than spending $14 per month for unlimited debits, I’ve been earning $50 per month or more with my cash back credit cards.
Related: Which No-Fee Cash Back Credit Cards Offer The Most Value?
For those who say it isn’t worthwhile, think about how much time and effort you spend looking for the best interest rate on a savings account and how much interest you’ll actually earn in a year.
Put $10,000 in a savings account at 2% interest and you’ll earn just $200 per year.
So forget all those dumb reasons you’ve heard for not getting a rewards credit card and start putting some cash back in your pocket.