To the point
Major Canadian transferable points programs include American Express Membership Rewards, Marriott Membership Rewards and RBC Rewards.
Not all reward points are transferable.
Generally speaking, airlines points (AeroplanBritish Airways Executive Club Avios, Delta SkymilesFlying Blue Flying Blueetc.) are not transferable. Once credited to your loyalty account, there’s no way out for these miles. So think twice before transferring your American Express Membership Rewards points or your Marriott Bonvoy points.
On the other hand, there are a number of other programs that we call “hybrid” reward point programs: these are programs where points can be used in the program in question or transferred to another loyalty program.
The most popular transferable points programs in Canada are:
American Express Membership Rewards
Points transfer partners
In Canada, American Express Membership Rewards partners with various airline and hotel loyalty programs. This allows you to transfer your Membership Rewards into points or miles.
For Aeroplan and Delta Skymiles, the transfer is immediate. For the others, it usually takes between 5 and 7 days.
| Partner | Ratio |
| Air Canada – Aeroplan | 1:1 |
| Air France KLM – Flying Blue | 1:0,75 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 1:1 |
| Delta Skymiles | 1:0,75 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:0,75 |
| Etihad Guest | 1:0,75 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1:1,2 |
| Hilton Honors | 1:1 |
American Express Membership Rewards are considered THE most valuable points currency in Canada, thanks in part to their ability to be converted into many great programs.
However, not every conversion is worthwhile:
- British Airways Executive Club: The regular conversion rate is identical to the one for Aeroplan. However, several times a year, there is a 35-40% conversion bonus. I suggest you wait until then to transfer your Membership Rewards
- Hilton Honors: the conversion rate is really not interesting. This can be only useful for topping up a points balance to get a free room.
- Marriott Bonvoy: While the conversion rate remains generally attractive, I recommend that you prioritize accumulation via Marriott Bonvoy credit cards and, if necessary, supplement with one of the Membership Rewards credit cards, such as the American Express Cobalt® Card.
Credit cards
Here is the list of Membership Rewards credit cards in Canada:
Posts
Here is a list of the top articles on Milesopedia about the Membership Rewards program:
RBC Rewards
Points transfer partners
With RBC Rewards, you have access to these transfer partners:
| Partner | Ratio |
| WestJet Rewards | 100:1 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 1:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 |
| American AAdvantage | 1.43:1 |
| Hudson’s Bay Rewards | 1:2 |
RBC Rewards points are useful for building up your WestJet Dollars, British Airways Executive Club Avios or Asia Miles balance.
However, not every conversion is worthwhile:
- British Airways Executive Club : several times a year, there is a 35-40% conversion bonus. I suggest you wait until then to transfer your RBC points to Avios miles
- American AAdvantage : the conversion rate is not really interesting. This transfer should only be done to supplement an existing mileage balance.
- Hudson’s Bay Rewards : If you want to travel, Hudson’s Bay Rewards won’t take you far! I do not recommend this transfer.
Credit cards
The following is a list of RBC Rewards (Avion) credit cards that can be used to transfer points to airline partners:
Posts
Here is a list of the top articles from Milesopedia about the RBC Rewards program:
Marriott Bonvoy
Points transfer partners
With Marriott Bonvoy, you can transfer your points into miles from various airline programs.
The transfer rate is generally 3:1 (30,000 Marriott points = 10,000 miles). And for every 60,000 points transferred, Marriott adds a bonus of 15,000 points (equivalent to 5,000 miles).
So 60,000 points = 25,000 miles (bringing the transfer rate to 2.4:1).
Note that Marriott Bonvoy and United have a special relationship: point transfers to United have a 10% bonus.
| Partner | Ratio | Bonus in miles / 60,000 points | Time in days |
| Aegean Airlines Miles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 10 |
| Aeroflot Bonus | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| AeroMexico Club Premier | 3:1 | 5 000 | 2 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 3:1 | 5 000 | 5 |
| Air China Phoenix Miles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 5 |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 3:1 | 5 000 | 1 |
| Air New Zealand Airpoints | 200:1 | 25 | 2 |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™ | 3:1 | 5 000 | 2 |
| ANA Mileage Club | 3:1 | 5 000 | 7 |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | 3:1 | 5 000 | 2 |
| Asiana Airlines Asiana Club | 3:1 | 5 000 | 10 |
| Avianca Airlines Lifemiles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 3:1 | 5 000 | 1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 10 |
| China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| China Southern Airlines | 3:1 | 5 000 | 3 |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| Delta Air Lines SkyMiles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 2 |
| Emirates Skywards | 3:1 | 5 000 | 6 |
| Etihad Guest | 3:1 | 5 000 | 5 |
| Frontier Airlines MyFrontier | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 2 |
| Iberia Plus | 3:1 | 5 000 | 6 |
| Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank | 3:1 | 5 000 | 7 |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 6:1 | 2 500 | 1 |
| Korean Air SKYPASS | 3:1 | 5 000 | 7 |
| Latam Airlines Latam Pass | 3:1 | 5 000 | 2 |
| Lufthansa Miles and More | 3:1 | 5 000 | 6 |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 3:1 | 5 000 | 6 |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 3:1 | 5 000 | 6 |
| Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 3:1 | 5 000 | 6 |
| South African Airways Voyager | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards | 3:1 | 5 000 | 2 |
| TAP Air Portugal | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus | 3:1 | 5 000 | 10 |
| Turkish Airlines Miles | 3:1 | 5 000 | 14 |
| United MileagePlus | 3:1.1 | 5 500 | 2 |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 3:1 | 5 000 | 1 |
| Virgin Australia Velocity | 3:1 | 5 000 | 2 |
I often advise you to use loyalty program points ONLY for what they were originally intended for:
- hotel points for free hotel nights
- airline miles for airline tickets
However, it can be interesting to deal with Marriott Bonvoy to get miles, especially at certain times of the year by taking advantage of transfer bonuses ! Aeroplan and British Airways Executive Club run 3-4 annual promotions during which you can earn 25-30% more miles by converting your hotel points.
It’s also a good way to earn miles from foreign airline programs like United MileagePlus, Singapore KrisFlyer, Emirates Skywards, etc.
Credit cards
Here is the list of Marriott Bonvoy credit cards in Canada:
American Express Membership Rewards points can also be transferred to Marriott Bonvoy points at a 1:1.2 (or 5:6) rate.
So 50,000 Membership Rewards = 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
If your goal is to go through the Marriott Bonvoy program to earn airline miles, the best credit card will be the American Express Cobalt® Card.
With this card, you can earn 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent in some categories: grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants. And in grocery and convenience stores, you can buy gift cards for many other retailers (SAQ, Amazon, Walmart, Ikea, etc.) to earn 5 points per dollar.
And since 5 Membership Rewards points = 6 Marriott Bonvoy points = 2 airline miles, that means that at these stores you earn 2 miles per dollar of purchase! Which is incredible!
Here is the list of credit cards that earn Marriott Bonvoy Points in Canada:
Posts
Here is the list of the main articles from Milesopedia about the Marriott Bonvoy program:
Best Western Rewards
Points transfer partners
With the Best Western Rewards program, you can redeem your points for airline partner miles. Let me warn you right away: the exchange rate is far from being the best.
However, if you have Best Western Rewards points that you don’t need, you might as well put them to use!
A minimum of 5,000 Best Western Rewards points is required to make a transfer.
| Partner | Ratio |
| AER LINGUS AERCLUB | 5:1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 5:1 |
| Alaska Mileage Plan | 5:1 |
| American AAdvantage | 5:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 5:1 |
| Asiana Airlines Asiana Club | 5:1 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 5:1 |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 6:1 |
| Iberia Plus | 5:1 |
| Avianca Airlines Lifemiles | 5:1 |
| Meridiana Club | 5:1 |
| Lufthansa Miles and More | 5:1 |
| Vueling Club | 5:1 |
| Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards | 4.17:1 |
| AeroMexico Club Premier | 3.125:1 |
| AIR MILES | 62.5:1 |
Posts
Here is the list of the main posts on Milesopedia about the Best Western Rewards program:
Bottom Line
With these 4 programs, you can easily transfer your points to dozens of other loyalty programs and travel the world with your reward points!
Do you start with the points? With one of these five credit cards, you will earn transferable points:
