The Finest Methods to Redeem Factors for WestJet Flights

When you’re wanting to economize on WestJet flights, it is value contemplating all the completely different choices that exist for redemptions as they’re in all probability extra bountiful than you suppose.

On this article, we’ll take a look at 5 alternative ways to finesse your approach aboard a WestJet flight utilizing factors. For every, we’ll contemplate the convenience with which you’ll earn factors with bank cards in Canada, and the professionals and cons of redemptions. On the finish, we’ll do a fast cross-comparison amongst applications for reserving WestJet flights and the way a lot spending it could tackle groceries utilizing completely different bank cards.

Personally, I have been leveraging one program for WestJet flights for excellent worth just lately, and it is develop into my go-to strategy for reserving WestJet flights on a budget. (It is in all probability not the primary program you consider once you suppose WestJet)…

Let’s dive in.

1. Air France KLM Flying Blue

This will come as a little bit of a shock, however Flying Blue is palms down one of the best program for reserving WestJet flights with factors. WestJet is a associate airline within the Flying Blue ecosystem, which suggests you possibly can guide WestJet-operated flights utilizing Flying Blue miles.

The first causes for this boil down to a couple components:

Fastened Pricing for Companions

Flying Blue makes use of distance-based award pricing for associate airways somewhat than the dynamic pricing it makes use of for flights on Air France and KLM. Which means what a flight prices earlier than you begin looking, and the worth holds no matter how busy the route is (so long as there’s award availability).

This issues most for peak journey durations like March break, summer season, and the December holidays, when the money costs run excessive however the value in Flying Blue miles stays the identical.

For instance, I just lately wanted to journey from Comox to Edmonton on the final minute. Spherical-trip flights paid for with money priced out at round $1,200. Reserving with WestJet factors would have value round 120,000 factors, since WestJet factors are largely value 1 cent per level (generally a bit extra, generally a bit much less).

As a substitute, I redeemed 14,000 Flying Blue miles and paid round $70 in taxes and costs. When you crunch the numbers, I used to be round 8 cents per level. It would not get significantly better than that for an financial system redemption.

Flying Blue Miles Are Simple to Earn

Earlier this 12 months, Flying Blue went from a 1:0.75 to a 1:1 switch associate with American Specific Membership Rewards. In different phrases, each Amex MR level you earn is successfully a Flying Blue mile (or Aeroplan level or British Airways Avios, for those who resolve to switch them there as an alternative).

American Specific bank cards provide among the finest welcome bonuses and incomes charges in Canada. For each day spending, one of the best instance of that is the American Specific Cobalt Card, which earns 5x American Specific MR factors per greenback spent on groceries, eating, meals supply, and bars (as much as $2,500 every month).

When you switch these to Flying Blue, you are successfully incomes 5 Flying Blue miles per greenback spent on eats and drinks, which is an excellent return.

25% Off Awards for Youngsters

Flying Blue reductions award bookings for kids aged 2–12 by 25%. In different phrases, if an award prices an grownup 10,000 miles, it could solely value 7,500 miles for a kid. Fortuitously, associate bookings are included on this, too!

For households flying WestJet to a solar vacation spot for a winter vacation or throughout the nation to go to household, that low cost alone can justify utilizing Flying Blue over another program.

Sadly, the identical is not true for infants-on-lap, since Flying Blue expenses 10% of the grownup money fare. So be conscious of this for those who’re planning on bringing your toddler on a visit since it isn’t an excellent deal more often than not.

Affordable Charges

Flying Blue’s charges on WestJet itineraries are usually fairly modest. Fortuitously, there is not any black gap of carrier-imposed surcharges consuming your redemption worth in an “Different Air Transportation Prices” line merchandise.

For instance, a one-way flight from Toronto to Vancouver prices 15,000 Flying Blue miles plus $73.11 in taxes and costs.

Keep in mind that Canada has among the highest taxes and costs for flying on the planet, which is what you are paying. 

Glorious Award Availability

Flying Blue tends to have entry to multiple WestJet financial system award seat per flight, which is nice for those who’re reserving for multiple particular person or a household.

This consists of journey throughout peak durations, which might prevent a whole bunch and even hundreds of {dollars} in comparison with the money value. 

For instance, you possibly can fly continuous from Calgary to Puerto Vallarta for the festive season for 78,000 Flying Blue miles and $623 in taxes and costs for 4 passengers.

The identical flights (let’s use the 7:15am departure for example) value out at $3,222 (CAD). 

That works out to about 3.33 cents per level, and you might earn 78,000 Flying Blue miles by merely charging your groceries to the American Specific Cobalt Card for a 12 months after which transferring them to Flying Blue.

2. Delta SkyMiles

Delta SkyMiles works on comparable logic to Flying Blue, because it has associate airline entry to WestJet stock, with among the identical availability benefits.

The principle friction factors that include selecting SkyMiles over Flying Blue are accessing Delta SkyMiles in Canada and award pricing.

The one solution to earn SkyMiles by way of bank cards in Canada is by transferring your American Specific Membership Rewards factors at a 1:0.75 ratio. For each 1,000 MR factors you ship, you obtain 750 SkyMiles. That alone makes Flying Blue the stronger default, because you get extra foreign money to work with from the identical beginning stability.

Plus, the award pricing with SkyMiles tends to be increased than reserving the identical flights with Flying Blue miles, and SkyMiles will increase the price of WestJet redemptions inside three weeks of departure besides.

For instance, a continuous one-way flight from Comox to Edmonton prices 7,000 Flying Blue miles (successfully 7,000 American Specific Membership Rewards factors). 

The identical flight costs out at 15,000 SkyMiles (successfully 20,000 American Specific Membership Rewards factors).

For what it is value, SkyMiles has marginally decrease taxes and costs on WestJet flights and no change or cancellation charges, however the increased award pricing and fewer enticing switch ratio waters that down fully.

The place SkyMiles is smart is that if you have already got a significant stability that you’ve got earned from flying or US bank cards and have no different good use for them.

3. Scene+

This one would possibly come as a little bit of a shock, however I believe that Scene+ is a wonderful program to make use of for WestJet flights… particularly for those who care about incomes WestJet Rewards standing.

Leveraging Scene+ factors for WestJet flights has nothing to do with award chart arbitrage or switch associate technique. That is as a result of Scene+ factors aren’t transferable to any exterior companions, they usually’re value 1 cent per level when redeemed towards journey for an announcement credit score.

Why I believe Scene+ factors are nice for WestJet flights is as a result of they’re simple to earn with Scotiabank bank cards, they usually’re simple to redeem for journey.

My prime choose for incomes Scene+ factors rapidly is the Scotiabank Gold American Specific Card, which has the next incomes charges:

• 6× Scene+ factors per greenback spent at Empire grocery shops (akin to Sobeys, Safeway, Save-on-Meals, Thrifty Meals, IGA, and extra)
• 5× Scene+ factors per greenback spent on groceries, eating, meals supply, and leisure
• 3× Scene+ factors on streaming, gasoline, transit, and rideshare
• 1× Scene+ level per greenback spent on every part else

With this card, you are a predictable 1–6% return in your spending. For a family placing $1,500 a month on groceries, the buildup over the 12 months provides as much as 90,000–108,000 Scene+ factors – value $900 or $1,080 – with out factoring in different classes or spending.

When it comes time to redeem, you possibly can guide flights immediately via WestJet utilizing your Scotiabank card after which redeem your Scene+ factors towards the price of the flight after the actual fact. A $400 flight prices 40,000 factors, an $800 flight prices 80,000 factors, and so forth.

Whereas there are no alternatives to get outsized worth like you possibly can with Flying Blue, Scene+ redemptions at 1 cent per level even examine favourably to WestJet factors, the place the 1cpp worth applies to base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges however drops all the way down to 0.87–0.95cpp for taxes and costs.

In different phrases, Scene+ gives a cleaner 1cpp for the entire ticket value, and never simply a part of it like with WestJet factors.

Plus, because you’re reserving income fares immediately with the airline, your flights depend in direction of standing (so long as you do not guide an UltraBasic fare). And for those who already get pleasure from WestJet standing, your elite perks will apply to your flights.

For anybody working towards an elite tier with WestJet, the mixture of sturdy on a regular basis incomes and status-qualifying redemptions makes Scene+ the sensible alternative.

Notice that the free checked bag that comes as a perk on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard would not apply right here, because you’d must pay for the flight utilizing the cardboard to get pleasure from that perk. If that is essential to you, you may must issue it in.

4. WestJet Rewards

WestJet’s personal loyalty foreign money (WestJet factors) is value understanding, largely so what you are working with.

On the time of reserving, WestJet factors are value 1 cent per level towards base fare, carrier-imposed surcharges / different miscellaneous charges (Different ATC), baggage charges, and seat charges. Third-party taxes and costs are excluded from that valuation, and you will get 0.87–0.95 cents per level when redeeming WestJet factors for these (105–115 WestJet factors = $1 off of taxes and costs).

It is value noting that redeeming WestJet factors for Member Unique Fares can enhance your redemption worth marginally, however not materially, and positively not wherever near the redemption worth you may get from Flying Blue.

In relation to incomes WestJet factors by way of bank card spending with the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard, you are 2 WestJet factors per greenback spent on eligible groceries, gasoline, EV charging, public transit, rideshares, WestJet flights, WestJet Holidays, and Sunwing Holidays, plus 1.5x WestJet factors per greenback spent on every part else.

This interprets to a few 1.5–2% return on spending, which is okay. Nevertheless, it is also a a lot decrease return than what’s supplied with the Flying Blue and Scene+ pathways talked about above (additionally SkyMiles, in some circumstances).

It is value noting that the RBC ION+ Visa earns 3x Avion factors per greenback spent on qualifying grocery, eating, meals supply, gasoline, rideshare, each day public transit, electrical car charging, streaming, digital gaming and digital subscriptions^†.

Since Avion factors switch to WestJet Rewards at a 1:1 ratio, you are an efficient 3% return on spending. Nevertheless, I would argue that Avion factors (earned as a part of The Optimized RBC Credit score Card Portfolio) are higher spent elsewhere.

Examples of Redeeming Factors for WestJet Flights

For instance the above dialogue, the tables beneath present a short-, medium-, long-, and ultra-long-haul flight with WestJet (in addition to a sunny vacation spot), the associated fee in every of the aforementioned applications, and the efficient worth in cents per level.

I’ve additionally included the shortest pathway to earn the factors by way of each day spending on groceries with the very best bank card for every program: American Specific Cobalt Card for Flying Blue and SkyMiles, the Scotiabank Gold American Specific Card for Scene+, and each the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and the RBC ION+ Visa for WestJet factors redemptions.

The flights listed are all the very same flight on the very same date (the dates aren’t essential, since that is simply meant as an instance the completely different pathways to reserving the identical flight). I simply selected a random date and ensured that there was award availability in Flying Blue and SkyMiles for the comparability.

The WestJet money fare listed is Econo, since that is the closest fare to what Flying Blue and SkyMiles redemptions guide into (they code as a Member Unique Fare, in case you are questioning).

Brief-Haul: Comox (YQQ) to Edmonton (YEG) – Money Fare: $447.26

Medium-Haul: Calgary (YYC) to Toronto (YYZ) – Money Fare: $466.68

Solar Vacation spot: Calgary (YYC) to Cancun (CUN) – Money Fare: $499.87

Lengthy-Haul: Toronto (YYZ) to Dublin (DUB) – Money Fare: $510.62

Extremely-Lengthy-Haul: Calgary (YYC) to Tokyo (NRT) – Money Fare: $1,135.42

Efficient Worth: Cents Per Level

This is how every program stacks up by way of efficient cents per level (cpp) throughout the 5 routes listed above. For Delta SkyMiles, I’ve included each the cpp per SkyMile and the efficient cpp per Amex MR level, adjusted for the 1:0.75 switch ratio.

As all the time, these are only a very small pattern of flights, and it’s best to all the time run the numbers your self for those who’re seeking to examine redemption values.

As you possibly can see, the shortest pathway to reserving the very same WestJet flight in these examples is all the time through the use of the American Specific Cobalt Card to purchase groceries and transferring your Membership Rewards factors to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio.

The place it will get attention-grabbing is when the SkyMiles redemption costs are excessive, and when that is mixed with the less-than-favourable 1:0.75 switch ratio, Scene+ factors earned with the Scotiabank Gold American Specific Card develop into the second-best possibility.

I believe that is one other glorious instance of how realizing your choices and being strategic in your strategy to incomes and redeeming factors can lead to a a lot shorter runway to the identical seat.

Conclusion

You probably have your eye on reserving WestJet flights utilizing factors, the bank card you employ to earn the factors and this system you employ to guide them could make an enormous distinction within the return you get on spending.

On this evaluation, Flying Blue accessed by way of spending on the American Specific Cobalt Card supplied the shortest runway to the identical flights – generally by a really broad margin.

If WestJet flights are in your plans, you should definitely contemplate your choices after which direct your incomes and redeeming technique appropriately.

It is value noting that you would be able to additionally guide WestJet flights with different applications for good worth, together with Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership. Nevertheless, neither of those currencies are simple to earn in Canada, which is why they have been excluded from this evaluation.