In this EQ Bank review, I’ll walk through the accounts, explain how the Notice Savings Account works, break down why the EQ Bank Card is one of my favourite travel tools, and share what I don’t love.

What is EQ Bank?

EQ Bank is the digital banking arm of EQB Inc., the parent company of Equitable Bank, which has been around since 1970. There are no branches. Everything happens through the app or website, and that lower overhead is how EQ Bank can skip the monthly fees and pay more interest than the major banks on everyday balances.

EQ Bank isn’t trying to be a full-service bank for everyone. It’s built for Canadians who want their savings to earn something, who don’t need a teller, and who are comfortable doing their banking on their phone.

It’s worth noting that EQ Bank recently purchased PC Financial so you could see the EQ Bank brand in Loblaw and Superstore grocery stores in the future.

EQ Bank Personal Account

The Personal Account is the hub of everything at EQ Bank. You need one before you can open any other EQ Bank product, and it acts like a hybrid of a chequing and savings account.

What you get:

• No monthly fees and no minimum balance
• Unlimited free Interac e-Transfers and bill payments
• Mobile cheque deposits
• Direct deposit for your pay
• Free international money transfers through EQ Bank’s partnership with Wise
• Interest calculated daily on your full balance and paid monthly

How the interest rate works

This is the part people need to understand. There’s a base rate that everyone gets, and a much higher bonus rate if you direct deposit your pay. To qualify, you need recurring direct deposits of at least $2,000 a month going into your Personal Account or Joint Account. Payroll, pension and annuity deposits count. This can be a pain for freelancers like me who don’t have regular paycheques.

Once you qualify, the bonus rate applies to your Personal Account, Joint Account and EQ Bank Card balance. It doesn’t apply to your registered accounts or the Notice Savings Account, which have their own rates.

The base rate on its own is nothing special. You really need to have direct deposit set up or you need to utilize the notice savings accounts to get a more competitive rate.

What it can’t do

You can’t write cheques, get a bank draft or deposit cash. If you get paid in cash or regularly need a certified cheque for things like a home closing, you’ll need a traditional bank alongside EQ Bank. Transfers out to a linked account at another bank also take a couple of business days, so plan ahead.

How the EQ Bank Notice Savings Account works

The Notice Savings Account is EQ Bank’s most unique product, and it’s what I recommend to most people who want a better return on their savings without locking money into a GIC.

The idea is simple: you agree to give EQ Bank advance notice before you take money out, and in exchange you get a higher rate. You pick one of two versions:

• 10 Day Notice Savings Account: you give 10 days’ notice to withdraw
• 30 Day Notice Savings Account: you give 30 days’ notice and earn a higher rate than the 10-day option

Notice accounts are common in the U.K. and Australia but rare in Canada. While waiting for your money for up to 30 days sounds annoying, you give up flexibility for a higher savings rate. If you need quick access to your funds, just keep it in the regular EQ Bank savings account.

Notice Savings Account vs. a GIC

Think of it as a rolling short-term GIC that you never have to renew. A GIC locks your money for a set term, and many can’t be cashed early. With the Notice Savings Account, your money is never locked up for longer than 10 or 30 days, and you can add money anytime.

How I’d use it

• Planned expenses. Saving for a trip, a car, renovations or property taxes? You know when the bill is coming, so request the withdrawal a month ahead.
• The bulk of an emergency fund. Keep a few weeks of expenses in your Personal Account and put the rest in a Notice Savings Account. If something comes up, put it on a credit card (and earn points), request a withdrawal, and pay the bill off when the money arrives.

The notice period is real, and EQ Bank can’t speed it up for you, so only put in money that you don’t need soon.

EQ Bank Card

The EQ Bank Card is the reason I recommend EQ Bank to almost every traveller I talk to. It’s a free prepaid Mastercard linked to your Personal Account, and it has no foreign transaction fees on both purchases and ATM withdrawals.

No foreign exchange fees

Most Canadian credit and debit cards add a 2.5% fee on top of the exchange rate whenever you pay in a foreign currency. The EQ Bank Card doesn’t. You just get Mastercard’s exchange rate, whether you’re tapping in Paris, withdrawing cash in Tokyo or buying something online in U.S. dollars.

That applies to ATM withdrawals too, which is where this card really stands out. Pulling cash abroad with a regular Canadian debit card usually means an FX markup plus a withdrawal fee from your bank. That said, always choose to do the exchange in the local currency as opposed to Canadian dollars to avoid hidden exchange fees.

ATM fees

• In Canada: EQ Bank doesn’t charge ATM fees, and it reimburses the fee the ATM operator charges you. That means you can use any ATM in the country, including the convenience store ones.
• Outside Canada: EQ Bank still doesn’t charge you anything, but it won’t reimburse a fee charged by the foreign ATM’s owner. Look for local banks that don’t charge fees and you can usually avoid them entirely.

Other features

• No monthly, annual or loading fees
• 0.5% cash back on purchases
• Your card balance earns interest at the same rate as your Personal Account
• Works anywhere Mastercard is accepted and can be added to your mobile wallet
• You can lock and unlock the card instantly in the app if you misplace it

Other EQ Bank accounts

Joint Account

The Joint Account works just like the Personal Account, with the same features and the same rate structure, but you share it with other people. It’s handy for household bills or saving toward a shared goal. Joint accounts are also insured separately from your individual deposits under CDIC rules.

TFSA, RRSP and FHSA

EQ Bank offers TFSA, RRSP and FHSA versions as cash savings accounts or GICs. There’s no stocks, ETFs or mutual funds here, so these are only for the safe portion of your registered savings. They’re a good fit if you’re parking FHSA money for a down payment in the next year or two, or you want guaranteed returns in your TFSA.

US Dollar Account

The US Dollar Account is one of the more underrated products. It pays interest on your U.S. dollars, which most big banks don’t do, and you can send USD internationally through Wise. If you get paid in U.S. dollars, own U.S. property or travel to the States a lot, it’s worth having.

GICs

EQ Bank’s GIC rates are regularly among the most competitive in Canada, with terms ranging from three months to 10 years. I won’t list rates since they change often, but they’re always worth comparing if you’re laddering GICs.

Quebec availability

If you live in Quebec, you can open the Personal Account, TFSA, GICs and the EQ Bank Card. Some products, including the Notice Savings Account, RRSP, FHSA and US Dollar Account, aren’t currently available there.

What I like and don’t like about EQ Bank

What I like

• No FX fees on the EQ Bank Card. No foreign exchange fees on purchases or ATM withdrawals, which saves real money on every trip.
• Free ATM withdrawals in Canada. EQ Bank reimburses the fees other ATM operators charge, so any machine works.
• You can lock your card in the app. If you can’t find your card, you can lock it in seconds and unlock it once it turns up.
• The Notice Savings Account. It’s a useful middle ground between a savings account and a GIC.
• No everyday banking fees. Unlimited e-Transfers and bill payments with no minimum balance.
• Cheap international transfers through the Wise partnership.
• A US Dollar Account that pays interest, which is rare in Canada.

What I don’t like

• You need direct deposit for the best interest rate. The base rate on the Personal Account is pretty ordinary. If you can’t or won’t move your paycheque, you’re missing out on the main appeal of the account.
• No cash deposits or cheques. You’ll still need a traditional bank for those.
• ATM fees abroad aren’t reimbursed. EQ Bank doesn’t charge you, but foreign ATM owners still can.
• Registered accounts are cash and GICs only. There’s no way to invest in ETFs or stocks inside an EQ Bank TFSA, RRSP or FHSA.
• Not everything is available in Quebec.
• Transfers to other banks aren’t instant. Expect a couple of business days, plus the notice period if the money is in a Notice Savings Account.

EQ Bank vs. the alternatives

EQ Bank isn’t the only option for high-interest savings or fee-free travel spending. Here’s how I’d think about the main alternatives.

If you’re chasing the highest savings rate, it’s worth comparing promo offers from other digital banks. They can beat EQ Bank for a few months, but you’ll be moving money around every time a promo ends. EQ Bank’s advantage is that its rates aren’t tied to limited-time conditions, so you can set it up and leave it.

For travel, I think the best combo is a no FX fee credit card for big purchases and the EQ Bank Card for cash.

Final thoughts

EQ Bank remains one of my favourite banks in Canada, but it’s not the best choice for everyone. The Personal Account is excellent if you direct deposit your pay and just average if you don’t. The Notice Savings Account is the smartest product EQ Bank has made, as long as you respect the notice period. And the EQ Bank Card is a must-have for any Canadian who travels.

Use EQ Bank alongside your main bank, put each account to work for what it’s good at, and you’ll come out ahead. With PC Financial and PC Optimum now in the picture, I’m also curious to see what EQ Bank does next.

EQ Bank FAQ

Is EQ Bank a real bank?

Yes. EQ Bank is the digital banking platform of Equitable Bank, a Schedule I Canadian bank owned by EQB Inc. Eligible deposits are CDIC insured.

Who owns PC Financial now?

EQB, the parent company of EQ Bank, bought PC Financial from Loblaw in a deal that closed on July 1, 2026. Loblaw took a stake of about 16% in the bank, and EQ Bank became the exclusive financial partner of PC Optimum.

Does EQ Bank have branches?

No. EQ Bank is fully digital. With the PC Financial purchase, it now has access to PC Financial’s ATM network and a retail presence in Loblaw stores.

Can I deposit cash into EQ Bank?

Not directly. You’d need to deposit cash at another bank and transfer it to EQ Bank.

Is the EQ Bank Card a credit card?

No. It’s a prepaid Mastercard linked to your Personal Account. You spend your own money, there’s no credit check, and it doesn’t build your credit history.

Does the EQ Bank Card charge foreign transaction fees?

No. There are no foreign exchange fees on purchases or ATM withdrawals. You get Mastercard’s exchange rate.

How long does it take to withdraw from a Notice Savings Account?

Your money is available on the 11th day for the 10-day account or the 31st day for the 30-day account. Transfers to another bank take an extra two to three business days.

How do I get EQ Bank’s highest interest rate on the Personal Account?

Set up recurring direct deposits of your pay totalling at least $2,000 a month into your Personal or Joint Account.

How PC Optimum works

PC Optimum is the loyalty program of Loblaws-owned grocery store (except T&T), Esso/Mobil gas stations and Shoppers Drug Mart.

Here are the basics:

• It’s free to join. Sign up online or in the PC Optimum app, then scan your card or app every time you shop.
• Points don’t expire as long as your account is active. If you don’t earn or redeem for 24 months, your account can be closed and your points lost.
• You can pool points with other members of your household so you hit redemption thresholds faster.
• The app is where the value is. You must load your personalized offers every week to get more points.
• Easy redemptions. The standard rate is 10,000 points for $10 off, so each point is worth 0.1 cents, but you can get more value at Esso and Shoppers Drug Mart.

How to earn PC Optimum points

The way you earn PC Optimum points depends on where you shop. Loblaw grocery stores, Esso and Mobil, and Shoppers Drug Mart each work a little differently, so I’ve broken them down separately.

Loblaw grocery stores

PC Optimum points can be earned at Loblaw-owned grocery stores like Loblaws, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Zehrs, Fortinos, Valu-mart, Provigo, Maxi and Wholesale Club, plus PC Express orders online.

This is the part that surprises people. You don’t earn points on every purchase even when you scan your PC Optimum card. At Loblaw-owned grocery stores, you’ll only earn points in two ways:

1. Offers. Personalized offers in the app (e.g. “earn 1,000 points when you buy PC bread”) and in-store offers on shelf tags and the weekly flyer. You must load your app offers before you shop, or they won’t count.
2. Paying with a PC Financial card. This is the only way to earn points on every dollar you spend on groceries. Depending on the card, you’ll get 10 to 40 points per $1 at Loblaw grocery stores.

If you shop at Loblaw stores and don’t have a PC Financial card, you’re relying entirely on offers which means you won’t be earning many points.

Esso and Mobil

You can earn PC Optimum points at more than 4,500 Esso and Mobil gas stations across Canada. Here’s what every member earns just by scanning:

• 10 points per litre on gas or diesel
• 10 points per $1 on eligible convenience store purchases and car washes

That’s 1 cent per litre, which is nothing to get excited about. It gets better when you pay with a PC Financial Mastercard. You’ll earn at least 30 points per litre (3 cents per litre), and an extra 10 points per litre when you buy premium gas. The PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard earns 50 points per litre, or up to 70 points per litre if you buy at least 150 litres in a calendar month.

Shoppers Drug Mart

Shoppers Drug Mart (and Pharmaprix in Quebec) is where PC Optimum shines. Unlike Loblaw grocery stores, every member earns a base rate of 15 points per $1 on eligible purchases. That’s a 1.5% return as long as you scan PC Optimum Card.

On top of that, Shoppers has the most promotions in the program:

• Weekly flyer offers where you earn bonus points on specific items or when you spend a certain amount on select products.
• Personalized offers in the app, often tied to products you already buy.
• 20x the points events that pop up a few times a year. You’ll usually need to spend a minimum amount (often $50 to $75 before tax) to qualify. For instance, spend $50 during a 20x event and you’d earn 15,000 points, worth $15, which is a 30% return.

That said, Shoppers Drug mart is expensive compared to Loblaws so any extra points you earn are offset by higher costs.

Other ways to earn

The partner list isn’t huge, but there are a few other places where you can collect:

• Joe Fresh clothing, in-store or online
• Specsavers, which joined in June 2026, earning 10 points per $1 on eyewear and accessories
• The Mobile Shop, inside many Loblaw grocery stores
• PC Money Account, PC Financial’s no-fee bank account, which earns points when you use the debit card. Check out my PC Money Account review for details.

How to stack points at Shoppers Drug Mart

The easiest way to earn a lot of PC Optimum points without much effort is to stack offers at Shoppers Drug Mart. You aren’t limited to one promotion per purchase, so a single shopping trip can earn you points from several sources at the same time.

A typical weekly flyer offer looks something like this: get 8,000 bonus points when you spend $40 or more on select brands. Those same products are often on sale that week too, so you’re paying less and getting the bonus points.

Here’s how it can play out. Say you need shampoo, vitamins and laundry detergent, and they’re all part of a “spend $40, get 8,000 points” offer. You’d earn:

1. The base 15 points per $1: 600 points on $40
2. The flyer bonus: 8,000 points
3. Any personalized offers you loaded in the app on the same items
4. The extra points from your PC Financial card, if you pay with one

That’s at least 8,600 points, or $8.60 back on a $40 purchase, before your app offers or credit card. That’s more than a 20% return and that’s just one quick example.

The best PC Financial credit cards for PC Optimum points

If you shop at Loblaw stores regularly, a PC Financial Mastercard is a must. It’s the only way to earn points on every dollar at the grocery store, and all but one of the cards have no annual fee.

Here’s how the main cards compare:

You can’t pick which no-fee card you get. When you apply, PC Financial looks at your income and credit and gives you the PC Mastercard, PC World Mastercard or PC World Elite Mastercard. The World Elite requires a personal income of $80,000 or household income of $150,000.

PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard

The PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard is PC Financial’s only card with an annual fee, at $120. In exchange, you get the highest earn rates in the program: 40 points per $1 at Loblaw grocery stores and Joe Fresh, 50 points per $1 at Shoppers, and up to 70 points per litre at Esso and Mobil.

The main benefit is the complimentary PC Express Pass, which normally costs $99.99 a year. It gets you $0 delivery and pickup on eligible PC Express orders of $35 or more. If you already order groceries online, the pass alone covers most of the annual fee, and the higher earn rates are a bonus.

If you don’t use PC Express, the card usually isn’t worth it. Compared to the no-fee PC World Elite, you’d only be earning an extra 1% at the grocery store and 0.5% at Shoppers. You’d need to spend about $12,000 a year on groceries to cover the fee with the extra points alone.

A quick note on the old PC Insiders subscription: the paid membership I reviewed in the past is no longer open to new members. The credit card has essentially replaced it.

How to redeem PC Optimum points

Redeeming PC Optimum points is simple. Tell the cashier you want to use your points, or redeem at the self-checkout screens. There’s a minimum redemption of 10,000 points and you can only redeem in 10,000 points blocks.

What are PC Optimum points worth?

The standard value is 10,000 points = $10, so each point is worth 0.1 cents. That’s the same at Loblaw grocery stores, Shoppers Drug Mart and Joe Fresh, and you can use them on almost anything in the store.

There are a few exceptions. You generally can’t use points on prescriptions, tobacco, lottery, gift cards, transit passes or stamps.

PC Financial cardholders can also redeem points to pay down their credit card balance, but it’s a bad deal. You only get $7 for 10,000 points, so you’d be throwing away 30% of the value so avoid this unless you’re carrying a balance.

Redeeming PC Optimum points at Esso

You can redeem PC Optimum points at Esso stations (but not at Mobil) in two ways:

• Fuel: 4,000 points = 10 cents off per litre, up to 40 litres
• Car washes: 10,000 points = a car wash

The fuel redemption works out to the standard value at best. If you fill up the full 40 litres, you’ll save $4 for 4,000 points, which is 0.1 cents per point. Anyone pumping less than 40 litres and you’re getting less than standard value. It’s convenient, but it’s not a great use of points unless you have a big tank.

The car wash is where you can get outstanding value. You’ll pay the same 10,000 points no matter which wash you pick, but car washes range from $12 – $24. You should obviously always pick the top car wash as it’ll more than double the value of your points.

Shoppers Drug Mart bonus redemption events

The best value in PC Optimum comes from Shoppers Drug Mart bonus redemption events. A few times a year, Shoppers gives you extra value when you redeem at certain point levels. Here’s what a standard bonus redemption event looked like in 2026:

These bonus redemption events also apply to online orders where Shoppers Drug Mart has more products available. I bought a Dyson hairdryer and hair straightener during these events and saved myself $900.

What I like about PC Optimum

PC Optimum points are one of the best ways to save on groceries. Groceries are one of the biggest expenses for most Canadian households, and PC Optimum is one of the few programs that turns them directly into savings. With a PC Financial card and a few loaded offers, a family that does most of its shopping at Loblaw stores can earn hundreds of dollars in free groceries a year.

There are lots of places to earn points. Between Loblaw grocery stores, Shoppers Drug Mart, Esso, Mobil, Joe Fresh and Specsavers, there are thousands of locations where you can earn points. These are places most people already shop, so you don’t have to change your habits to collect. Add a PC Financial card, and you’re earning on everything else too.

You can get outstanding value. Most of the time, a PC Optimum point is worth 0.1 cents. But a top-tier Esso car wash for 10,000 points or a Shoppers bonus redemption event can be worth significantly more.

What I don’t like about PC Optimum

You need a PC Financial card to earn base points at Loblaw grocery stores. At Shoppers, you earn 15 points per $1 just by scanning your card. At the Loblaw grocery stores, you earn nothing unless you load offers or pay with a PC Financial card. I get why Loblaw does it, but if you don’t want another credit card, the grocery side of the program is a lot less rewarding.

Points can’t be used for travel purchases. PC Optimum points are for groceries, drugstore items, gas and clothes. That’s it. If you want your points to go toward flights or hotels, you’ll need a travel rewards card like the American Express Cobalt Card, which earns flexible points you can move to Aeroplan. For casual collectors this probably doesn’t matter, but it does limit how much value you can get.

The partner list is limited. There are a lot of locations, but not a lot of brands. Outside of the Loblaw family, Esso, Mobil and Specsavers, there’s not much else. Compare that to Scene+, which has grocery, movies, restaurants, retail and travel, and PC Optimum feels a little narrow.

Final thoughts

PC Optimum isn’t a program you need to overthink. Scan your card every time you shop at Loblaw stores, Shoppers Drug Mart and Esso, load your offers in the app, and pay with a PC Financial card at those stores. That alone will get you a steady stream of free groceries.

If you want a little more value without much more effort, stack flyer offers at Shoppers, use 10,000 points on a top-tier Esso car wash, and save a chunk of points for a Shoppers bonus redemption event. That’s all most people need to do to get great value from PC Optimum.

PC Optimum FAQ

How much are PC Optimum points worth?

The standard value is 10,000 points for $10, or 0.1 cents per point. You can get more during Shoppers Drug Mart bonus redemption events or by redeeming for a car wash at Esso.

Do PC Optimum points expire?

No, as long as your account stays active. If you don’t earn or redeem any points for 24 months, your account can be closed.

Do you earn PC Optimum points at Loblaws without a credit card?

Only through offers. There’s no base earn rate at Loblaw grocery stores, so you’ll need a PC Financial card to earn points on every dollar.

How many points do you earn at Shoppers Drug Mart?

Every member earns 15 points per $1. With a PC Financial card, that goes up to 25 to 50 points per $1 depending on the card. Those card rates include the base 15 points.

When is the next Shoppers bonus redemption event?

Shoppers doesn’t publish a schedule, but there are usually several a year, and the biggest one typically happens around Black Friday. Keep an eye on the app and the weekly flyer.

Can you redeem PC Optimum points at Mobil?

No. You can earn points at Mobil, but you can only redeem at Esso.

Is PC Optimum better than Rexall Be Well or Scene+?

For drugstore shopping, I think PC Optimum is the better program. You can read why in my Rexall Be Well review. Scene+ is a better fit if you shop at Sobeys, Safeway or IGA, or want to use points for travel and movies. Check out my Scene+ guide for more.

I’ve been collecting PC Optimum points for years, and this card is the reason my points balance actually moves. Without it, PC Optimum is a slow program. With it, you’re earning 3% back at the grocery store on every single purchase, not just the items Loblaw decided to target you with this week.

That said, it’s a very specific card. If you shop at Metro, Sobeys or Walmart, there are better options. In this review, I’ll explain how PC Optimum really works, what the card is actually worth, what I don’t love about it, and how it stacks up against the other PC Financial cards, including the PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard.

The card at a glance

• Annual fee: $0
• Loblaw banner grocery stores: 30 points per $1 (3% back)
• Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix: 45 points per $1 (4.5% back)
• Esso and Mobil: at least 30 points per litre (3¢/L)
• Everything else: 10 points per $1 (1% back)
• Income requirement: $80,000 personal or $150,000 household
• Foreign transaction fee: 2.5%

My take in one line: If Loblaw stores are where you shop and you want zero fees, get this card and put your groceries on it. Everything else is a bonus.

How PC Optimum works

PC Optimum is Loblaw’s loyalty program, and it’s free to join. You scan your card or app at participating stores, which include Loblaws, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Zehrs, Fortinos, Independent, Provigo, Maxi, Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmaprix, Joe Fresh and Esso and Mobil gas stations. The math is simple: 10,000 points = $10, so every point is worth 0.1 cents.

Earning points: the part most people miss

Here’s what a lot of shoppers don’t realize. At Loblaw-owned grocery stores, simply scanning your PC Optimum card doesn’t earn you base points on your purchase. You only earn points on the personalized offers loaded in your app (spend $50, get 5,000 points, or buy a specific product for bonus points) and on in-store promotions.

That means if you skip the offers, a $250 grocery bill at No Frills could earn you nothing. The only way to earn points on every grocery dollar is to pay with a PC Financial credit card (or the PC Money Account debit-style card). That’s what makes the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard so important to this program. It turns PC Optimum from an offers-only program into one where you’re earning on every receipt, and you still collect the targeted offers on top.

It’s a little different elsewhere in the network:

• Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix: every member earns 15 points per $1 on eligible purchases. The World Elite card’s 45 points per $1 includes that base.
• Esso and Mobil: every member earns 10 points per litre. Paying with a PC Financial Mastercard brings you to at least 30 points per litre.

Redeeming points

Redemptions are where PC Optimum shines, because points work like cash at the till.

• Groceries and pharmacy: redeem in 10,000-point increments for $10 off at participating grocery stores, Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmaprix and Joe Fresh, in-store or online through PC Express. You need at least 10,000 points to redeem.
• Gas: at Esso, redeem 4,000 points for 10¢ off per litre (up to 40 litres) or 10,000 points for a car wash (great value). Redemptions aren’t available at Mobil.
• Statement credit: PC Financial cardholders can redeem 10,000 points for a $7 statement credit. That’s a 30% haircut, so I’d only do this if you really can’t use your points in-store.
• Exclusions: points can’t be used on things like alcohol, tobacco, lottery or prescriptions.

The best value comes from Shoppers Drug Mart bonus redemption events, which run several times a year. During the September 2026 event, points were worth up to $18.75 per 10,000 instead of $10. If you’re patient and you shop at Shoppers anyway, saving your points for these events can boost their value by roughly 30% to 85%.

My approach: I redeem at the grocery store whenever I need to, and I save a chunk for Shoppers events when I know I’ll be buying household and beauty items anyway. For more ways to stack points, read my PC Optimum points guide.

What the card is actually worth

Earn rates sound impressive when you see “45 points per dollar,” but it’s easier to think in percentages. Divide by 10 and you have your return: 30 points per $1 is 3% back, 45 is 4.5% and 10 is 1%.

Here’s a realistic example for a household that does most of its shopping in the Loblaw ecosystem:

That’s close to $500 in free groceries every year from a card that costs nothing to hold. Add in the targeted offers you’d collect anyway, and the number goes up from there.

Notice where the value comes from, though. More than half of it is groceries. The $120 from “everything else” is just 1% back, which you could match or beat with plenty of other cards. This card earns its spot in your wallet at the grocery checkout, not at restaurants or on Amazon.

What I like about the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard

It’s the fastest way to earn PC Optimum points without paying a fee

There’s no other no-fee card that comes close for PC Optimum collectors. You earn 3% back on every grocery dollar at Loblaw stores, 4.5% at Shoppers, and you stack that on top of your personalized offers. Say you get a “spend $200, earn 10,000 points” offer. Pay with this card and you earn another 6,000 points, so that $200 shop returns 16,000 points, or 8% back. You simply can’t do that by scanning your PC Optimum card alone.

PC Optimum points are useful

A lot of loyalty programs have points that look great on paper and are a pain to use. PC Optimum is the opposite. Groceries, gas, toilet paper, shampoo, a kids’ jacket at Joe Fresh: these are things you’re buying anyway. Redeeming 10,000 points for $10 off your grocery bill is just as good as cash, and there are no blackout dates or award charts to decode. If you want a little more value, Shoppers bonus redemption events are the cherry on top.

It works at Costco

This gets overlooked. Costco Canada only accepts Mastercard for credit, so having a Mastercard that earns points you’ll actually use is handy. You’ll only earn 1% back at Costco, which isn’t amazing, but if you’re a Costco member who also shops at No Frills or Loblaws, this one card covers both without paying a fee for a second one. Those Costco points end up becoming free groceries at Loblaw stores.

There’s no annual fee

Most World Elite cards cost $120 to $150 a year. This one costs nothing, which means there’s no math to justify keeping it. You also get basic coverage you wouldn’t expect for free: travel medical insurance for short trips, car rental collision coverage, purchase protection and extended warranty. And because there’s no fee, it’s a great long-term card to keep for your credit history.

What I don’t like (and what to be aware of)

It’s a weak card outside the Loblaw world

Once you step outside Loblaw stores, Shoppers and Esso, you’re earning 1% back. That’s fine for a no-fee card, but it’s not special, especially for a World Elite card. Dining, travel, streaming and recurring bills all earn the base rate. On top of that, there’s a 2.5% foreign transaction fee, so you’re losing money every time you use it in the U.S. or online in U.S. dollars.

My advice is to treat this as a grocery card first. Pair it with a card that’s strong on dining or travel, and a no foreign transaction fee card for trips.

The income requirement is steep

You need $80,000 in personal income or $150,000 in household income to qualify. That’s the same bar as most premium cards that come with real travel perks. If you don’t qualify, the PC World Mastercard or the basic PC Mastercard are your fallback options, and both earn noticeably less at the grocery store.

The perks worth knowing about

Nobody gets this card for the insurance, but a few benefits are genuinely useful for a no-fee card:

• Travel emergency medical: covers the first 10 days of an out-of-province trip, with no need to charge the trip to your card. It’s handy for a quick U.S. getaway, but read the age limits and don’t rely on it for long trips.
• Car rental collision and loss damage: covers rentals up to 31 days when you charge the full rental to the card and decline the agency’s coverage. It doesn’t include liability.
• Purchase protection and extended warranty: 90 days of coverage against theft or damage, plus up to one extra year on the manufacturer’s warranty.
• Free additional cards: add family members at no cost so everyone’s grocery spending lands in one PC Optimum account.

How the PC Financial World Elite compares to other PC Financial cards

PC Financial has four credit cards. All of them earn PC Optimum points on every purchase and have the same 2.5% foreign transaction fee. The difference is how fast you earn at Loblaw stores, and whether you pay a fee.

All four cards earn 10 points per $1 (1% back) on everything else. Gas rates are minimums per litre when you pay with the card.

PC World Elite vs. PC Insiders World Elite

This is the real decision for most people who qualify. The PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard earns an extra 10 points per $1 at Loblaw grocery stores, an extra 5 points at Shoppers and an extra 20 points per litre at Esso and Mobil. It also comes with a free PC Express Pass, which gives you $0 delivery and pickup on eligible PC Express grocery orders.

To cover the $120 fee with extra points alone, you’d need to spend around $12,000 a year (about $1,000 a month) at Loblaw grocery stores. But if you already pay for a PC Express Pass or would use one, the pass covers most of the fee on its own. You can also use PC Optimum points to pay the annual fee.

My take: if you order groceries through PC Express or you spend $1,000+ a month at Loblaw stores, the Insiders card is worth it. If you shop in-store and spend less than that, stick with the no-fee World Elite. One thing to know: getting the Insiders card cancels any existing PC Optimum Insiders subscription, and you can’t re-enroll later.

PC World Elite vs. PC World and PC Mastercard

If you meet the income requirement, there’s no reason to choose the lower no-fee cards. The World Elite earns more everywhere it matters for the same $0 fee. The PC World and PC Mastercard are for people who don’t qualify yet, and you can ask for an upgrade once your income goes up.

Who the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard is good for

It’s a great fit if you:

• Buy most of your groceries at Loblaws, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Zehrs, Fortinos, Provigo, Maxi or another Loblaw banner
• Shop regularly at Shoppers Drug Mart or fill up at Esso
• Want a Mastercard for Costco without paying an annual fee
• Prefer simple rewards you can use on everyday things over travel points
• Want a long-term, no-fee card that pulls its weight

Skip it if you:

• Do most of your grocery shopping at Metro, Sobeys, Walmart or Costco only
• Spend heavily on dining, travel or in foreign currencies
• Spend $1,000+ a month at Loblaw stores or use PC Express delivery, in which case the PC Insiders World Elite Mastercard will likely earn you more

Final thoughts

The PC Financial World Elite Mastercard isn’t trying to be an all-in-one card, and that’s fine. It does one thing really well: it makes PC Optimum work the way most people assume it already does, by paying you on every grocery dollar at Loblaw stores. Combine that with points you can spend on groceries, gas and household basics, Costco acceptance and a $0 annual fee, and it’s an easy card to recommend.

Just be honest with yourself about where you shop. If Loblaw stores aren’t your main grocery stop, this card loses most of its value. And if you’re a heavy Loblaw shopper or a PC Express user, run the numbers on the PC Insiders World Elite before you settle.

PC Financial World Elite Mastercard FAQ

Is the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard worth it?

Yes, if you shop at Loblaw-owned stores. It has no annual fee and earns 3% back in PC Optimum points at Loblaw grocery stores and 4.5% at Shoppers Drug Mart.

Do you earn PC Optimum points on groceries without a PC Financial card?

Only on personalized offers and in-store promotions. To earn points on every grocery dollar at Loblaw-owned stores, you need to pay with a PC Financial credit card or the PC Money Account.

How much are PC Optimum points worth?

10,000 points are worth $10, or 0.1 cents per point. Shoppers Drug Mart bonus redemption events can push that higher.

Can I use the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard at Costco?

Yes. Costco Canada accepts Mastercard, and you’ll earn 10 points per $1, or 1% back.

What’s the difference between the PC World Elite and the PC Insiders World Elite?

The PC Insiders card costs $120 a year but earns more at Loblaw grocery stores, Shoppers Drug Mart and Esso. It also includes a free PC Express Pass.

Does the card charge foreign transaction fees?

Yes. You’ll pay 2.5% on purchases made in a foreign currency.

When I first reviewed these funds, there was one lineup and every fund charged about 1.07% a year. A lot has changed since then. Tangerine now sells three families of portfolios, and the newer Global ETF Portfolios cost roughly 30% less than the originals. I started my own investing journey with Tangerine’s funds before eventually moving to a do-it-yourself portfolio, so I’ll tell you what I’d actually do if I were starting today.

My quick take

• Best pick at Tangerine: a Global ETF Portfolio, with a 0.75% management expense ratio (MER)
• What I’d skip: the original Core Portfolios at 1.06%. They do the same job for more money.
• Who they’re for: beginners who want a hands-off, one-fund solution at a bank they recognize
• Cheaper alternatives: all-in-one ETFs (about 0.20% to 0.24%) or a robo-advisor, if you’re willing to do a little more setup

What is an index fund?

An index fund buys every company in a market index instead of trying to pick the winners. For instance, the S&P/TSX Composite tracks the biggest companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 tracks 500 large U.S. companies. When you own a fund that tracks an index, you own a tiny slice of every company on that list. When the market goes up, your fund goes up. When it drops, so does your fund.

That’s the opposite of an actively managed fund. With active funds, a portfolio manager tries to beat the market by choosing which stocks to buy and sell. That sounds appealing, but you pay for that expertise through higher fees, and most of them don’t beat the market anyway.

Stocks vs. bonds, in plain English

Most index portfolios mix two ingredients:

• Stocks (equities): You own a piece of a company. Stocks have the most growth potential over the long run, but they can drop 20% or more in a bad year.
• Bonds (fixed income): You’re lending money to a government or company in exchange for interest. Bonds grow more slowly, but they usually hold up better when stocks fall.

The mix of the two is called your asset allocation. More stocks means more growth and bigger swings. More bonds means a smoother ride and lower expected returns. Picking the right mix for your timeline and your nerves is the single most important decision you’ll make as an index investor.

Mutual fund vs. ETF: what’s the difference?

This trips up a lot of beginners, so let me clear it up. “Mutual fund” and “ETF” describe how a fund is packaged and bought. “Index” and “active” describe how it invests.

• A mutual fund is bought directly from the fund company (or through an advisor) at one price calculated at the end of each day.
• An ETF (exchange-traded fund) trades on a stock exchange like a stock, so you need a brokerage account to buy it.

Either one can be an index fund or an actively managed fund. Tangerine’s investment funds are technically mutual funds, but they follow an index strategy. That’s why they cost far less than the typical bank mutual fund.

Why Canadians are moving away from mutual funds

Most active funds don’t beat the market. The reality is that 85% of actively trading investors don’t beat the index. While it’s unlikely you’ll get massive gains since you’re not choosing 2-3 stocks that could take off, it’s also unlikely you’ll lose a ton of money.

Fees are finally getting attention. For decades, many Canadians didn’t know what they were paying because the fee is taken directly out of the fund. Fund Facts documents and annual cost reporting have made fees more visible, and people don’t like what they see.

Access is easier. Commission-free ETF trading, robo-advisors and bank-run index portfolios like Tangerine’s have removed most of the barriers that used to keep beginners stuck with high-fee funds sold at the branch.

Investing costs you need to know about

The fee you’ll feel most is the MER, and over 30 years even a fraction of a percent can cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Here’s every cost to watch for, using Tangerine as the example.

Management expense ratio (MER). This is the annual cost of owning a fund, shown as a percentage of your balance. You never see a bill. It’s quietly deducted from the fund’s value, which is exactly why so many people ignore it. A 1% MER on $50,000 is $500 a year, every year. Tangerine’s MERs range from 0.75% for the Global ETF Portfolios to 1.06% for the Core Portfolios.

Transfer-out fee. If you move your Tangerine funds to another financial institution, the Fund Facts list a $125 transfer-out fee. Many brokerages will reimburse transfer fees above a certain balance, so always ask before you move.

Short-term trading fee. Sell or switch within 30 days of buying and you’ll pay 1% of the amount. This is meant to discourage jumping in and out, and it won’t affect long-term investors.

Tax. In a TFSA, RRSP or RRIF, you don’t pay tax on gains as they happen. In a regular (non-registered) account, the fund’s annual distributions are taxable even if they’re reinvested, and you’ll pay capital gains tax when you sell.

What you won’t pay at Tangerine: account fees, trading commissions or sales charges when you buy, switch or redeem.

How much fees really cost over time

To show why this matters, I ran the numbers on someone investing $500 a month for 30 years with a 6% return before fees. The only thing that changes is the fee.

The gap between the cheapest and most expensive options is more than $136,000, and you’d own the same kind of diversified portfolio in every case. Switching from a Tangerine Core Portfolio to its Global ETF equivalent alone is worth roughly $24,000 in this example.

How Tangerine’s investment funds work

Each Tangerine portfolio is a single fund that holds an entire diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds, so you only ever need to own one. The funds are managed by 1832 Asset Management, Scotiabank’s fund company, and are only available to Tangerine clients.

The three lineups

Choosing a risk level

Within each lineup, the main difference between funds is the mix of stocks and bonds.

To put risk in perspective, the Balanced Growth ETF Portfolio lost 12.9% in 2022, then gained 15.3%, 21.3% and 12.3% in the following three years. Its worst three-month stretch over the past five years was a drop of 11.2%. If you can’t stomach a drop like that without selling, choose a portfolio with more bonds.

Tangerine investment funds: pros and cons

What I like

• Truly hands-off. One fund, automatic contributions and automatic rebalancing. There’s nothing to tinker with, which is a good thing for most investors.
• No minimum and no account fees. You can start with whatever you have.
• Cheaper than most bank mutual funds. Even the Core Portfolios cost less than the 1.40% average MER on Canadian long-term mutual funds that Tangerine cites.
• Easy to set up if you already bank there. Your savings, chequing and investments all live in one app.
• Human help when you need it. You can call a licensed advisor, which a lot of DIY options don’t offer.

What I don’t like

• The Core Portfolios are overpriced for what they are. They do essentially the same job as the Global ETF Portfolios but cost 0.31% more every year.
• Not the cheapest way to index. An all-in-one ETF costs roughly a quarter of what a Tangerine Global ETF Portfolio does.
• Locked into Tangerine. These are proprietary funds, so you can’t move them in kind to another institution. Leaving means selling, transferring cash and paying a $125 transfer-out fee.
• No customization. You can’t adjust the mix or exclude certain sectors.
• Limited account types. No FHSA or RESP option at last check.

How Tangerine compares to other options

Tangerine sits in the middle on cost: far cheaper than a typical bank mutual fund, but more expensive than a robo-advisor or buying an all-in-one ETF yourself.

If you’re comfortable opening a brokerage account and buying one ETF, you can build almost the same portfolio as Tangerine’s for a fraction of the cost. I personally use all-in-one ETFs today. But if the idea of placing a trade stops you from investing at all, paying 0.75% at Tangerine beats sitting in cash or paying 2% at the branch.

If you already hold a Tangerine Core Portfolio, check whether you can switch to the matching Global ETF Portfolio. Moving between Tangerine funds doesn’t trigger a sales charge, though a switch in a non-registered account is a sale for tax purposes.

Who Tangerine’s investment funds are good for

Tangerine’s funds make the most sense for people whose biggest risk isn’t fees, it’s never getting started.

They’re a good fit if you:

• Are brand new to investing and want one simple decision instead of learning about brokerages, tickers and order types.
• Already bank with Tangerine and like seeing everything in one app.
• Want to automate your savings. Automatic Purchases are the easiest way to invest a little from every paycheque without thinking about it.
• Are currently in high-fee mutual funds. Moving from a 2% fund to a 0.75% Tangerine Global ETF Portfolio is a big improvement, even if it’s not the cheapest possible option.
• Have a smaller balance. At $5,000, the difference between 0.75% and 0.20% is under $30 a year. The habit matters more than the fee at that stage.
• Want someone to call. If having a licensed advisor on the phone gives you peace of mind, that’s worth something.
• Are retired and want simplicity. RRIF support and a conservative Balanced Income option make it easy to keep things on autopilot.

You can probably do better if you:

• Are comfortable buying one ETF. An all-in-one ETF delivers nearly the same thing for around a quarter of the cost.
• Have a large portfolio. At $250,000, 0.75% is about $1,875 a year. An all-in-one ETF at 0.20% would cost about $500.
• Need an FHSA or RESP. You’ll have to go elsewhere for those accounts.
• Want control over your mix, such as less Canadian exposure, more bonds, or specific exclusions.

If you go with Tangerine, choose a Global ETF Portfolio over a Core Portfolio, pick a stock-and-bond mix you can stick with through a bad year, and set up Automatic Purchases on day one. You can always move to a cheaper option later once you’re more confident.

Final thoughts

Tangerine’s investment funds are still a solid way for beginners to start index investing, as long as you choose the right lineup. The Global ETF Portfolios give you a globally diversified, automatically rebalanced portfolio for 0.75%, with no minimums and no account fees. The Core Portfolios do the same job for 1.06%, and I don’t think that extra cost is justified anymore.

They’re not the cheapest way to invest. If you’re willing to open a brokerage account and buy a single all-in-one ETF, you’ll keep more of your money. But the best investment plan is the one you’ll actually follow. If Tangerine’s simplicity is what gets you investing consistently, it’s a far better choice than leaving your money in a savings account or paying 2% for an actively managed fund that probably won’t beat the market.

Frequently asked questions

Are Tangerine investment funds index funds? Yes. They’re mutual funds that follow an index strategy. The Global ETF Portfolios hold Scotia index ETFs, and the Core Portfolios track a mix of Canadian, U.S. and international stock and bond indexes.

What’s the difference between Tangerine’s Core and Global ETF Portfolios? Both are diversified, hands-off index portfolios. The Global ETF Portfolios cost less (0.75% vs. 1.06% MER), hold less Canadian stock and include emerging markets. For new money, I’d pick the Global ETF version.

Is there a minimum to invest with Tangerine? Tangerine’s Fund Facts list no minimum investment, so you can start with a small amount and add to it with Automatic Purchases.

Are Tangerine investment funds CDIC insured? No. CDIC covers deposits like savings accounts and GICs. Mutual funds are investments and can lose value.

Can I hold Tangerine funds in a TFSA or RRSP? Yes. They’re available in TFSAs, RRSPs, RRIFs and non-registered accounts.

I went through the details to see how it measures up against the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card, where each card has the edge, and which type of traveller will get the most out of Hilton’s offering.

The two cards side by side

The welcome bonus is where Hilton makes its first impression. Spending $3,000 in your first three months gets you 60,000 points, which most people can manage with regular household spending. The remaining 10,000 points require $500 in spending in month 13, which means you’ll need to keep the card past your first anniversary and pay the $150 fee twice. I value one Hilton Honors point at 0.5 cents, so the full 70,000 points are worth about $350 before you factor in the Free Night Reward. Signing up for the card is a no-brainer in the first year.

Instant Gold status is the headline perk

The strongest part of Hilton’s pitch is what you get without doing anything at all. Every cardholder receives Hilton Honors Gold status, and the best part of Gold is the daily food and beverage credit or continental breakfast, depending on the property. Add in room upgrades when available, and it’s a benefit that pays off whether you’re travelling for work or with the family.

That matters because Hilton has fewer hotels worldwide than Marriott, so it needs a reason to win your loyalty. Status is that reason. Marriott’s card only comes with Silver status, and beyond a late checkout request, there isn’t much to it. Even if you spend $30,000 a year to unlock Marriott Gold, you still won’t get breakfast.

Then there’s Diamond, Hilton’s top tier, which the card unlocks once you spend $40,000 in a calendar year. That’s a big number, and most people won’t come close. But very few credit cards in Canada let you buy your way into top-tier hotel status. If you run business expenses through your personal card or have a major purchase coming up, it’s within reach, and the executive lounge access can easily cover your breakfast, snacks and evening drinks on a longer stay.

50,000 points a year vs. a free night

Hilton’s yearly reward is where the card will divide people. Each calendar year you spend $12,000, you get 50,000 bonus points. Spend less, and you get nothing. Marriott takes the opposite approach, handing you a free night worth up to 35,000 points every time you renew, regardless of how much you’ve spent.

Where Hilton pulls ahead is in how you can use the reward. Marriott’s free night is good for one night at one property, and even with the optional 25,000-point top-up, it maxes out at 60,000 points. Hilton’s points behave like any other points in your account. You can stretch them over a multi-night stay or pool them with points you’ve earned elsewhere to book somewhere like the Waldorf Astoria or Conrad.

Timing is the other difference. A Marriott free night certificate expires a year after it’s issued, so if travel plans fall through, the reward disappears. Hilton’s points have no deadline as long as your account sees some activity at least once every 24 months. You can save them up across several years for a bigger trip.

The math comes down to your spending. If you’ll fall short of $12,000, Marriott wins this round easily. If you’ll clear it, the two rewards are worth about the same on paper (roughly $250 in Hilton points vs. up to $245 for Marriott’s free night, but Hilton wins due to the flexibility.

Breaking down the earn rates

Status and annual rewards get the attention, but what you earn on every purchase is what builds your points balance over time.

The headline numbers favour Hilton, but they don’t tell the whole story because a Hilton point is worth less than a Marriott point. The generally accepted value is 0.5 cents per Hilton Honors point and about 0.7 cents per Marriott Bonvoy point. Once you account for that, here’s what each card actually returns.

Marriott has the higher return on hotel stays and on everything that falls outside a bonus category. Hilton’s advantage is gas, groceries and dining, where it returns 2% vs. 1.4%. For most Canadian households, those are among the largest monthly expenses.

Note that both cards charge FX fees, so they’re not great when travelling unless you’re using them at Hilton or Marriott hotels where the multiplier is much higher.

That said, the Amex Cobalt still beats the Hilton card when it comes to earning on groceries and dining.

Putting it to the test

To compare the cards in a realistic scenario, I used a cardholder who spends $24,000 a year: $2,000 on hotels, $10,000 on gas, groceries and dining, and $12,000 on everything else. That clears the $12,000 threshold for Hilton’s annual bonus.

Leave the fees out, and you’d be hard-pressed to pick a winner. Factor them in, and Marriott comes out roughly $23 ahead. That gap is small enough to close quickly, though. For every $1,000 you move from general spending into groceries, gas or dining, Hilton gains $10 while Marriott’s return doesn’t budge.

The real deciding factor is the $12,000 threshold. Fall below it, and Hilton loses its $250 annual bonus, which makes Marriott the better card by a wide margin.

A missed opportunity on Membership Rewards

Amex Membership Rewards points still convert to Hilton Honors points at a 1:1 ratio. Given that a Membership Rewards point is worth at least one cent and a Hilton point is worth about half that, transferring is rarely a good use of your points.

It’s not like the Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy transfer ratio of 1:1.2 is any better, bu there are regular 30% transfer bonuses to Marriott Bonvoy.

With Amex and Hilton now working together in Canada, it would have been a good time to sweeten that ratio. It hasn’t happened yet, so if you want Hilton points, the co-branded card remains the better way to earn them.

Is this card a fit for you?

If you travel often: Having status with a second hotel chain gives you more options when booking, and Gold status delivers breakfast or a dining credit without having to earn it through stays.

If your biggest expenses are food and gas: The 4x earn rate on gas, groceries and dining in Canada beats the Marriott card, and the advantage grows if your total spending reaches $12,000 a year.

If you put a lot on your card: Spending $40,000 a year unlocks Diamond status and lounge access, a level of status that’s rarely available through a Canadian credit card.

If you’re on the fence: The welcome bonus of up to 70,000 points plus a Free Night Reward, which isn’t capped by points on a standard room, makes it easy to test the card for a year and see whether Hilton suits your travel.

If you already have the Marriott card: Unless you’re loyal to Hilton or confident you’ll hit the $12,000 threshold, there’s no rush to make a change.

Final Thoughts

More competition in the hotel card space is a win for Canadians, and Hilton’s card brings real strengths. Gold status on day one is valuable, and the earn rate on everyday categories like groceries and dining is better than what Marriott offers.

But too much of the card’s value is locked behind spending targets. The annual bonus needs $12,000, Diamond needs $40,000, and the last 10,000 welcome points need you to keep the card into a second year. This isn’t new for Canadian credit cards, but it will impact the decision making of Canadians who are debating signing up for the card.

Its major weakness is that all of that value is locked into one airline. The points only pay for WestJet travel, the voucher now needs $5,000 in annual spending to renew, and if WestJet isn’t your go-to airline, there’s little reason to hold this card.

At a glance (as of October 27, 2026)

What this card actually does for you

Forget the feature list for a second. In real life, this card does three things: it makes a second seat cheaper once a year, it kills bag fees for your whole booking, and it turns your everyday spending into WestJet flight credits.

The companion voucher could be valuable

Once a year you can book a round-trip for a second person at a capped base fare. You still pay taxes and fees, so it’s never free, but on the right flight the savings are big.

The trick most people miss: the voucher is worth the most when fares are expensive. Last-minute flights, peak travel weeks like March Break and Christmas, and Premium cabins are where it shines. Using it on a $129 seat sale fare to Calgary is a waste.

Just be realistic about it. The voucher only saves you money when the base fare is high. Plenty of WestJet fares have a low base fare and high taxes and fees, and since you pay those taxes and fees no matter what, the savings can shrink to almost nothing. And after year one, you only get a new voucher if you spend $5,000 on the card.

If you’re travelling solo, you’re not stuck. You can swap the voucher for 30% off a flight, a $200 credit toward a WestJet Vacations or Sunwing package, or airport lounge passes. Those are fine consolation prizes, but the two-person voucher is where the real value is.

Free bags add up faster than you’d think

The primary cardholder and up to 8 guests on the same reservation each get their first checked bag free. A prepaid first bag on an Econo fare in North America now runs roughly $50 to $81 depending on when you pay. A family of four on one round-trip avoids eight bag fees. That alone is more than the annual fee.

The points are fine, not special

You earn 1.5 to 2 WestJet points per dollar, and 100 points is worth $1 off WestJet travel. That’s a 1.5% to 2% return, which is decent. But it only works if you fly WestJet. There are no transfer partners and no cheap business class sweet spots like you’d find with Aeroplan. Think of WestJet points as cash back that can only be spent at one store.

What I like

The free bag perk covers your whole booking. Up to nine people on one reservation is about as generous as it gets in Canada. For families, this is the perk that quietly saves the most money year after year.

The companion voucher can be worth hundreds. On a pricey route or a Premium cabin booking, the second seat can cost a fraction of the normal fare. Even after taxes and the surcharge, one good redemption covers the annual fee a couple of times over.

The base earn rate is better than most travel cards. 1.5 points per dollar on non-bonus spending is high for a travel card. Groceries, gas, transit and rideshare now earn 2 points per dollar too, which is a real upgrade from the old version of this card. This is a great card for Costco spending.

WestJet points are simple. No award charts, no dynamic pricing headaches. 100 points knocks $1 off a WestJet booking and the points don’t expire. If you hate the points game, that simplicity is a feature.

The insurance is solid for a $139 card. You get emergency medical (15 days, 3 days if you’re 65 or older), trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight and baggage delay, rental car coverage and mobile device insurance.

What I don’t like

The companion voucher is no longer automatic. You get your first voucher after your first purchase, but every voucher after that requires $5,000 in purchases in the 12 months after the previous one. If this card sits in your drawer for WestJet trips only, you could lose the main reason to keep it.

There’s now a fuel surcharge on voucher bookings. WestJet added a $60 surcharge to companion voucher bookings on April 8, 2026, and cut it to $40 in late June. WestJet says the surcharge is temporary and was added because of high jet fuel prices. Until it disappears, a $119 voucher really costs $159 before taxes, so it makes even less sense on cheap fares.

The free bag rules got stricter. For years I told readers the bag perk was tied to your WestJet Rewards number, not how you paid. That’s no longer true. As of October 2026, the ticket needs to be paid with the card (or with WestJet points, Travel Bank or a WestJet gift card), and WestJet has to be the merchant of record. Book through Expedia or a travel agent and you may end up paying for bags.

Status Lift sounds better than it is. You get $200 in tier-qualifying spend for every $5,000 on the card. Reaching Silver through spending alone would take $100,000. It’s a nice nudge for people already close to status, and meaningless for everyone else.

The lounge benefit is basically marketing. You get a Mastercard Travel Pass membership, but you still pay about US$32 per visit. The only free visits come from trading in your companion voucher, and that’s rarely the better use.

Who the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard is good for

Families who fly WestJet together. Free bags for up to nine people on one booking, plus a cheaper second seat via the companion voucher, is handy. If each parent were to get the card, that’s two companion vouchers, which is perfect for families of four.

People in WestJet hub cities. If you live in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver or Winnipeg, WestJet probably has the schedule you need. In Toronto or Montreal, be honest with yourself about how often you’ll actually pick WestJet over Air Canada or Porter.

Couples who travel at peak times. If your trips land on March Break, Christmas or long weekends, fares are high and the companion voucher is worth the most.

Anyone who wants Premium on WestJet without paying for two Premium seats. The voucher price barely changes for Premium, so this is one of the best ways to sit up front as a pair.

Who should skip it

You don’t fly WestJet. The points don’t transfer anywhere, and an unused voucher is worth zero.

You won’t spend $5,000 a year on it. Below that, you get one voucher in year one and then lose the main perk.

You have bucket list destinations in mind. WestJet Rewards is a cash back program with limited options, whereas Air Canada allows you to book some amazing seats and gets you to almost anywhere in the world.

You want lounge access or flexible points. This card gives you neither. Look at a flexible rewards card or an Aeroplan card instead.

How it compares

The real competition isn’t another WestJet card. It’s whichever airline you actually fly most.

WestJet RBC World Elite vs. WestJet RBC Mastercard. The $39 card is fine if you fly WestJet every couple of years. But no free bags and a pricier voucher mean the World Elite pays for the extra $100 the first time you check a bag with a travel partner.

WestJet RBC World Elite vs. TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite. Same fee, same bag perk, different airline. Aeroplan points are more valuable and more flexible, especially for international business class. What the TD card lacks is a companion voucher. If you fly both airlines, the right answer is often to hold both.

WestJet RBC World Elite vs. BMO VIPorter World Elite. For Torontonians, Porter is a real option now. The BMO card costs more but adds priority boarding, free seat selection and a carry-on on every fare. Its companion pass is nearly impossible to earn through spending, though, which is where WestJet’s voucher wins easily.

Final Thoughts

The WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard is still the best card for WestJet travellers, but it’s no longer a no-brainer for everyone. WestJet has chipped away at it with a higher fee, a spending requirement on the voucher, a fuel surcharge and tighter bag rules.

If you’re a couple or family who flies WestJet every year, none of that changes my answer. One trip together covers the fee, and everything after that is profit. If WestJet is an airline you take once every few years, keep the $139 and use a flexible rewards card instead.

And if you already have the card, check your spending. The $5,000 requirement is about to hit a lot of long-time cardholders for the first time, and nobody wants to find out their voucher didn’t show up after the fee was already charged.

A lot has changed since I last updated this guide. WestJet dollars are now WestJet points, it costs more to earn elite status, and you can now earn points at places like Canadian Tire and Skip. Tim Hortons and Petro-Canada are joining in 2027.

This guide is written for casual travellers who want to save money on WestJet trips, not for hardcore travel hackers chasing business class to Asia. If that’s you, my Aeroplan guide is a better place to start.

WestJet Rewards at a glance (as of October 2026)

• Currency: WestJet points (they replaced WestJet dollars on April 30, 2025 at 100 points per $1).
• Value: 100 WestJet points = $1 off WestJet base fares, surcharges, seats and bags.
• Earn rate on WestJet flights: 1 point per $1 for Teal members, up to 8 points per $1 for Platinum.
• Minimum redemption: 2,500 points on a flight, 5,000 points on a WestJet Vacations package.
• Expiry: WestJet points don’t expire.
• Status thresholds: $4,000 (Silver), $6,000 (Gold) and $10,000 (Platinum) in tier qualifying spend in 2026, rising to $5,000, $8,000 and $15,000 on January 1, 2027.
• Ways to earn without flying: WestJet RBC credit cards, RBC Avion point transfers, Canadian Tire Triangle Rewards, Skip, TELUS and the WestJet Rewards eStore.

How to earn WestJet points

Most people earn WestJet points two ways: flying WestJet and using a WestJet RBC credit card. The number of points you earn on flights depends on your status tier.

Earn rates on WestJet flights

You earn on the base fare, surcharges and extras like seats, bags and upgrades. You don’t earn on government taxes or on any part of a booking paid with points. UltraBasic and Member Exclusive fares don’t earn points.

Here’s a realistic example. A Teal member books a $500 flight (before taxes) with the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard. They’d earn 500 points from WestJet and 1,000 points from the card, for 1,500 points, or about $15 toward their next trip.

WestJet Vacations and Sunwing Vacations

You earn WestJet points on WestJet Vacations packages and, as of September 2026, on eligible Sunwing Vacations packages too. Sunwing packages earn 1 point per $1 on your share of the base package price, excluding taxes and fees. Each traveller on the booking can add their own WestJet Rewards ID.

Partner airlines

You can earn WestJet points when you book and fly directly with Delta, Air France, KLM and Qantas. Just add your WestJet Rewards number to the booking. The points you earn depend on the airline, fare class, distance and your tier.

If you book a partner flight on westjet.com, how you earn depends on whose flight number it is:

• Codeshare (a WS flight number): you earn like a normal WestJet flight, including status bonuses and tier qualifying spend.
• Interline (the partner’s flight number): you earn a flat amount based on distance and fare class, and it doesn’t count toward status.

Hotels, cars and the eStore

You can also earn on hotels and car rentals booked through WestJet, and by clicking through the WestJet Rewards eStore before shopping online with participating retailers.

WestJet RBC credit cards

For casual travellers, the WestJet RBC cards are where most of the value is. The points are nice, but the annual companion voucher and free checked bags are what make them worth carrying.

Welcome offers change often, so check the current terms before applying.

WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard

The current offer is 30,000 points after your first purchase, 30,000 more when you spend $5,000 in the first three months and 10,000 after your first anniversary. That’s up to $700 toward WestJet travel.

The free first checked bag for you and up to eight companions on the same booking is the sleeper benefit. For a family of four, that’s four bags each way on every trip, which can easily cover the annual fee on its own. The companion voucher can also be swapped for a 30% flight discount for one traveller, a $200 WestJet Vacations or Sunwing credit, or lounge passes.

The 1.5 points per $1 base earn is fine, but many cash back credit cards pay more on everyday spending. Get this card for the bag and companion voucher perks, and treat the points as a bonus. Read my full WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard review.

WestJet RBC Mastercard

The current offer is 5,000 points after your first purchase and 10,000 more when you spend $1,000 in the first three months. If you don’t meet the World Elite income requirement, or you just want the companion voucher for a low fee, this is a solid pick. You won’t get free checked bags, though. Read my WestJet RBC Mastercard review.

Not sure how to use a voucher? See my guide to the WestJet companion voucher.

New ways to earn WestJet points on everyday spending

The biggest change for casual travellers is that you no longer need to fly or hold a WestJet credit card to build up points. WestJet has signed a string of Canadian partners, and most only require you to link accounts once.

Canadian Tire and Triangle Rewards

This is the partnership most Canadians will get the most out of. Once your Triangle Rewards and WestJet Rewards accounts are linked, you earn WestJet points on top of your usual CT Money every time you scan your Triangle card. It works the other way too: you earn CT Money on eligible WestJet flights.

To link, sign in to either account and look for the partner or offers section. You can also convert WestJet points into CT Money at 120 points per $1, with a 2,400-point minimum. That works out to about 0.83 cents per point, so it only makes sense if your points are sitting idle.

Skip

Link your Skip and WestJet Rewards accounts and you’ll get 500 points right away. After that, you earn points through targeted offers in the Skip app rather than a fixed rate on every order. You can also redeem points for Skip credits (more on that below).

Tim Hortons (2027)

Tim Hortons coffee arrives on WestJet flights on November 30, 2026. The loyalty part starts in 2027, when you’ll be able to link Tims Rewards and WestJet Rewards and earn in both programs on eligible purchases. WestJet hasn’t shared earn rates yet, so I’ll update this once they do.

Petro-Canada (early 2027)

WestJet and Petro-Canada plan to let linked members choose whether to earn Petro-Points or WestJet points on gas, car washes and convenience store purchases. You’ll also be able to convert Petro-Points into WestJet points and use WestJet points at the pump. Conversion rates haven’t been announced.

How to redeem WestJet points

The best use of WestJet points is on WestJet flights and vacation packages, where they’re worth 1 cent each. Everything else is worth less.

WestJet flights

Redeeming is simple. Search for a flight on westjet.com while signed in, and choose how many points to apply at checkout. There’s no award chart and no blackout dates: if a seat is for sale, you can use points on it.

• Points cover the base fare, surcharges, seat selection and checked bags at 100 points per $1.
• You can also use leftover points on taxes and fees, but at a slightly worse rate of about 105 to 110 points per $1.
• The minimum is 2,500 points per flight booking.
• You can book flights for family and friends with your points.

Apply points to the base fare and surcharges first, and pay taxes with a credit card. If you pay part of the trip with your WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard, the card’s travel insurance still applies.

WestJet Vacations and Sunwing Vacations

You can pay for all or part of a WestJet Vacations or Sunwing Vacations package with points. The minimum is 5,000 points per vacation booking.

Partner airlines

You can redeem WestJet points on partner flights as long as you book them on westjet.com. That includes codeshare and interline partners such as Delta, Air France, KLM, Qantas, Korean Air, Japan Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.

Just know that points are still worth about 1 cent each on partner flights. There are no sweet spots like the ones you’ll find with Aeroplan. If an international business class trip is your goal, WestJet Rewards isn’t the right program.

Non-travel redemptions

These non-travel options are handy if you have a small balance you’ll never use on a flight. Otherwise, save your points for travel.

One more thing: WestJet sells points, normally at about 2 cents each. Since you can only use them at about 1 cent, buying points rarely makes sense, even during a sale.

WestJet Rewards status tiers: Teal, Silver, Gold and Platinum

WestJet is raising its status thresholds for the second time in three years. In 2026, Silver takes $4,000 in tier qualifying spend in a calendar year, Gold takes $6,000 and Platinum takes $10,000. Starting January 1, 2027, those rise to $5,000, $8,000 and $15,000. Tier benefits aren’t changing.

Once you qualify, you keep your status for the rest of that calendar year and all of the next. Tier qualifying spend resets to $0 every January 1.

Status thresholds go up in 2027

Effective January 1, 2027, Silver rises from $4,000 to $5,000, Gold from $6,000 to $8,000 and Platinum from $10,000 to $15,000. Platinum sees the biggest jump, at 50%. Tier benefits, including boarding, lounge access, baggage allowances and upgrades, stay the same.

If you earned status in 2026, you keep it through December 31, 2027. The new thresholds apply to the spending you do in 2027.

Bonus qualifying spend for current Silver, Gold and Platinum members

To ease the transition, WestJet is giving existing top-tier members two ways to earn bonus tier qualifying spend. You need to register for both.

• Flights: a 50% tier qualifying spend bonus on eligible flights booked by December 31, 2026 and flown between January 1 and March 31, 2027.
• Credit card: a 50% tier qualifying spend bonus on the first $50,000 of eligible WestJet RBC Mastercard spending in 2027. For World Elite cardholders, this gives your Status Lift a boost.

If you’re close to a tier and already planning a winter trip, booking it before the end of the year is an easy way to take advantage of the flight bonus. Just don’t book travel you weren’t going to take anyway to chase status.

What counts toward status

• The base fare and surcharges on WestJet-marketed flights (taxes don’t count)
• Seat selection, checked bag and cabin upgrade fees
• 20% of the base price of eligible WestJet Vacations and Sunwing Vacations packages
• Status Lift from the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard: $200 in tier qualifying spend for every $5,000 you charge, up to 50 times a year

Everyday partner spending at Canadian Tire, Skip and the rest doesn’t count toward status.

Member Exclusive fares

Member Exclusive fares are discounted fares only WestJet Rewards members can book, and they’re the one way to get a bit more than 1 cent per point. When you search on westjet.com while signed in, they show up next to the regular fares.

The catch hasn’t changed: you have to cover the entire base fare and surcharges with points. Taxes and fees are paid in cash. If you don’t have enough points, the Member Exclusive option isn’t available to you. Source

WestJet advertises discounts of up to 65%, but in practice the savings are usually closer to 5% to 10% off the comparable fare.

A few other things to know:

• Member Exclusive fares don’t earn WestJet points or tier qualifying spend.
• They can’t be combined with sale discount codes.
• The fare rules can differ from regular fares, so compare what’s included (seat selection, bags, changes) before you book.

My take: if you already have enough points to cover the full fare, always check the Member Exclusive price. Just compare it against the regular fare with points applied. A small discount isn’t worth it if you lose a perk you’d otherwise pay for.

How to transfer RBC Avion points to WestJet points

RBC Avion points transfer to WestJet points at a 1:1 ratio: 1,000 Avion points become 1,000 WestJet points, worth $10 on WestJet. The minimum transfer is 1,000 Avion points. RBC Avion is the only bank rewards program in Canada that transfers to WestJet Rewards.

Don’t be confused if RBC’s site still says “100 Avion points = 1 WestJet dollar.” That’s the old wording. Since 1 WestJet dollar became 100 WestJet points, it’s the same 1:1 ratio.

Which cards qualify: Avion Elite cards such as the RBC Avion Visa Infinite, and Avion Premium cards such as the RBC ION and ION+ Visa.

How to transfer:

1. Join WestJet Rewards if you aren’t a member yet.
2. Sign in to your RBC Avion Rewards account and go to the points conversion section.
3. Choose WestJet Rewards, enter your WestJet Rewards ID and the number of points.
4. Confirm. Transfers can’t be reversed, so only move what you plan to use.

When it makes sense: If you hold an ION or ION+ card, transferring to WestJet is usually one of your best options, since it gets you 1 cent per point on flights. It’s also a good way to top up your WestJet balance so you can book a Member Exclusive fare. If you have an Avion Visa Infinite, compare it against Avion’s own travel redemptions and other airline partners first, because those can sometimes get you more.

Is WestJet Rewards worth it?

For casual travellers who fly WestJet, yes. It’s free to join, the points are easy to use and you don’t need a strategy to get value. It’s not worth it if you want to collect points for premium international trips.

What I like

• Points have a fixed, easy-to-understand value of 1 cent each.
• No award charts, blackout dates or seat availability games.
• Points never expire.
• You can now pay for an entire trip, taxes included, with points.
• Earning on everyday spending at Canadian Tire, Skip and soon Tim Hortons and Petro-Canada.
• The co-branded RBC cards come with a companion voucher and, on the World Elite card, free checked bags.

What I don’t like

• No sweet spots, so you’ll never get much more than 1 cent per point.
• Status keeps getting harder to earn, with thresholds rising to $5,000, $8,000 and $15,000 in 2027.
• Member Exclusive discounts are usually small.
• Non-travel redemptions like CT Money and Skip credits are worth less than 1 cent per point.

What it looks like for a typical household

Say you put $20,000 a year on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard, with $6,000 of that on groceries and gas. That’s 12,000 points from groceries and gas plus 21,000 points from everything else, or 33,000 points. That’s about $330 off WestJet travel each year, before counting the companion voucher, free bags or any flights you take.

Link your Triangle and Skip accounts too, and you’ll pick up extra points on things you were buying anyway.

Final Thoughts

WestJet Rewards is a better program for everyday Canadians than it was a few years ago. The switch to points didn’t change what your rewards are worth, and the new partners make it much easier to earn without flying.

If you’re someone who takes a trip or two a year on WestJet, my advice is simple: join for free, link your Canadian Tire and Skip accounts, and consider one of the WestJet RBC cards for the companion voucher and free bags. Personally, the companion voucher is still the reason I keep a WestJet card in my wallet.

If you want to travel hack your way to business class seats around the world, put your energy into Aeroplan instead.

WestJet Rewards FAQ

How much is 10,000 WestJet points worth?

10,000 WestJet points are worth $100 toward a WestJet flight or vacation package. Each WestJet point is worth 1 cent when redeemed on WestJet travel.

What happened to WestJet dollars?

WestJet dollars were converted to WestJet points on April 30, 2025, at a rate of 100 points per WestJet dollar. The value of your balance didn’t change.

Do WestJet points expire?

No. WestJet points don’t expire.

What’s the minimum number of WestJet points I can redeem?

You need at least 2,500 points to redeem on a flight and 5,000 points on a WestJet Vacations package.

Can I use WestJet points to pay for taxes and fees?

Yes. You can now cover the full cost of a flight with points, including taxes and fees. Taxes cost slightly more points, about 105 to 110 points per $1.

How much do I need to spend for WestJet Silver status?

In 2026, Silver requires $4,000 in tier qualifying spend in a calendar year, Gold requires $6,000 and Platinum requires $10,000. Starting January 1, 2027, Silver requires $5,000, Gold $8,000 and Platinum $15,000.

Can I transfer RBC Avion points to WestJet?

Yes. RBC Avion points transfer to WestJet points at 1:1, with a minimum of 1,000 Avion points. Both Avion Elite and Avion Premium (RBC ION and ION+) points are eligible.

Can I earn WestJet points at Canadian Tire?

Yes. Link your Triangle Rewards and WestJet Rewards accounts to earn 1 WestJet point per $2 spent at Canadian Tire and other Triangle partner stores, on top of CT Money. WestJet RBC cardholders earn 2 points per $2.

Can I earn WestJet points at Tim Hortons?

Not yet. WestJet and Tim Hortons plan to launch account linking in 2027. Earn rates haven’t been announced.

What are WestJet Member Exclusive fares?

Member Exclusive fares are discounted fares for WestJet Rewards members. You must pay the full base fare and surcharges with WestJet points and pay taxes in cash. Discounts are usually around 5% to 10%, and these fares don’t earn points.

Can I use WestJet points on other airlines?

Yes, if you book on westjet.com. You can redeem points on partner flights, including Delta, Air France, KLM, Qantas and other codeshare and interline partners.

Can I book flights for someone else with my WestJet points?

Yes. You can use your points to book flights for family or friends. Each traveller needs their own WestJet Rewards account to earn points on their own ticket.

I’ve been travelling for years, and I’ve made just about every currency exchange mistake you can make. The good news is that it’s never been easier to avoid fees. These days, I almost never pay a foreign transaction fee, and with the right cards in your wallet, you won’t either.

Quick answer: The best way for Canadians to exchange currency is to pay with a no foreign transaction fee credit card and get cash from a no-FX prepaid card like Wealthsimple, EQ Bank or Wise. Always pay in the local currency to avoid dynamic currency conversion.

How currency exchange works for Canadians

Every currency has a value relative to the Canadian dollar, and that number moves every day. The rate you see on Google or XE is called the mid-market rate. Think of it as the “real” rate, before anyone takes their cut.

Here’s the catch: almost nobody gives you the mid-market rate. Banks, exchange counters and card issuers make money in two ways:

• A markup on the rate. They quietly give you a worse rate than the mid-market rate and pocket the difference (this is called the spread).
• A foreign transaction fee. Most Canadian credit cards add about 2.5% on top of the exchange rate whenever you pay in a currency other than Canadian dollars.

That 2.5% doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up fast. For instance, spending $4,000 abroad means you’re paying an extra $100. That’s a nice dinner, or a day pass at a theme park. Your goal is simple: get as close to the real exchange rate as possible, with as few fees as possible.

Best no foreign transaction fee prepaid cards in Canada

If you only take one thing away from this article, make it this: get a no-FX prepaid card before your next trip. They’re free, they don’t require a credit check, and they’re the easiest way to get cash abroad without those extra fees.

These cards work like a debit card. You load money from your bank account, then spend it anywhere the card is accepted or pull cash from an ATM. When you pay in a foreign currency, you get the Visa or Mastercard exchange rate with no 2.5% fee stacked on top. Here are the best options:

Wealthsimple

This is the card I’d hand a friend for cash withdrawals. Wealthsimple doesn’t charge a foreign exchange fee, and it reimburses fees charged by ATM operators anywhere in the world, with no cap on how many withdrawals it’ll cover. Reimbursements typically land within about four business days.

Wealthsimple is moving its prepaid card from Mastercard to Visa, rolling it out in phases starting in fall 2026. The no-FX and ATM reimbursement perks carry over, but your card number will change, so make sure you’ve switched over before you fly.

EQ Bank

The EQ Bank Card is a prepaid Mastercard linked to your EQ Bank account, and it’s a great everyday card that also happens to be excellent for travel. EQ Bank doesn’t charge a foreign currency conversion fee, so you just pay Mastercard’s exchange rate. Your balance also earns interest until you spend it.

At home, EQ reimburses ATM fees anywhere in Canada. Abroad, EQ won’t charge you to withdraw, but it won’t reimburse the fee the foreign ATM operator charges. Also note the daily ATM limit is $500, which matters if you’re somewhere cash-heavy.

Wise

Wise is the one to get if you’re hopping between countries or want to hold foreign currency ahead of time. You can hold 40+ currencies in your Wise account and convert at the mid-market rate whenever the rate looks good. If you already hold the currency you’re spending, there’s no fee at all. If you don’t, Wise converts it for you with a small, transparent fee (starting from 0.19%, depending on the currency).

The trade-off is ATMs. Wise’s Canadian pricing currently gives you 100 CAD in free withdrawals per month; after that it’s 2.69 CAD plus 2.69% of the amount over 100 CAD. You also can’t use the Wise card at ATMs in Canada.

Wise appeals to people who want to pre-purchase currencies at a reasonable rate.

Best no foreign transaction fee credit cards in Canada

For most of your actual spending on a trip (hotels, restaurants, attractions, car rentals), a no-FX credit card is the way to go. You skip the 2.5% fee, you still earn points or cash back, and many of them include travel insurance, which a prepaid card won’t.

There aren’t a ton of these in Canada, but the main ones to know are:

• Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite – a travel card with lounge passes and solid insurance.
• Scotiabank Gold American Express – strong earn rates with no FX fee. Just remember Amex isn’t accepted everywhere abroad, so carry a Visa or Mastercard as backup.
• Wealthsimple Visa Infinite – has a $240 annual fee and pairs nicely with the Wealthsimple prepaid card.
• Home Trust Preferred Visa – no annual fee and no FX fee, which makes it a great starter or backup card.

For a full breakdown with current welcome bonuses and annual fees, check out my list of the best no foreign transaction fee credit cards in Canada.

What is dynamic currency conversion (and why you should avoid it)?

Here’s the sneaky one that catches even experienced travellers. You’re paying at a shop in Paris, and the card machine asks: “Pay in EUR or CAD?” Paying in Canadian dollars feels safer because you know exactly what you’re spending. Don’t do it.

That offer is called dynamic currency conversion (DCC). When you choose CAD, the merchant’s payment provider does the conversion instead of Visa or Mastercard, and they set their own exchange rate. That rate is almost always padded, often by several percent. Worse, it can wipe out the savings from your no-FX card, because the conversion has already happened before your card ever sees the transaction.

You’ll run into DCC at:

• Card terminals in shops, restaurants and hotels
• ATMs abroad, which may offer to “lock in” your rate in CAD
• Duty free checkout counters
• Online checkouts on foreign websites and booking platforms

Always pay in the local currency. In Paris, choose euros. At an ATM in Tokyo, decline the conversion and take yen. If a cashier converts it without asking, you can politely ask them to rerun it in the local currency.

Using your Canadian debit card at foreign ATMs

Your everyday bank card will work at most ATMs abroad, and it’s a fine backup. It’s just not cheap. Most Canadian banks add a foreign currency conversion fee (often around 2.5% – 3.5%) on top of the network exchange rate, plus a flat fee per withdrawal, plus whatever the local ATM operator charges.

If you do use your regular debit card, a few tips:

• Withdraw larger amounts less often, so flat fees hit you fewer times.
• Check whether your bank belongs to an alliance with partner banks abroad that waive some fees.
• Use the Visa or Mastercard ATM locator before you go so you’re not hunting for a machine.

With free no-FX prepaid cards available, there’s not much reason to make your bank card your main cash source anymore.

Exchanging money at your bank or a currency exchange office

Sometimes you just want cash in your pocket before you land, and that’s totally fair. Your bank and currency exchange offices are the two places to get it.

Your bank is convenient, and the rates for US dollars are usually reasonable since it’s such a common swap. Other currencies are a different story. Most branches only keep US dollars on hand, so anything else may need to be ordered a few days ahead, and the markup can be steep. I once got quoted a rate for Brazilian reais that was 12% worse than the official rate. I swapped $50 to cover my taxi and used an ATM when I landed instead.

Foreign exchange offices usually carry just about every currency, and some offer better rates than the banks. The trick is to compare. Look up the mid-market rate on your phone and check how far off the posted rate is. If it’s within a couple of percent, that’s decent. Airport counters are usually the worst offenders, so avoid them unless you’re stuck.

Converting large amounts: online services and Norbert’s Gambit

If you’re a snowbird, buying property abroad, or sending money to family in another country, you’re in a different league. Shaving even 1% off a $20,000 conversion is a ton of money.

Online exchange companies like Wise, OFX and Knightsbridge FX usually beat the banks by a wide margin. You send Canadian dollars, they convert at a much tighter rate, and the money lands in a bank account in the other currency. The catch is that you need an account to receive the funds, so this works best for transfers, not pocket cash. Generally, the bigger the amount, the better the rate.

Norbert’s Gambit is the go-to trick for converting between Canadian and US dollars at close to the real exchange rate. You buy a security that trades in both CAD and USD (such as the Global X U.S. Dollar Currency ETF, DLR) through your discount brokerage, ask your brokerage to journal it to the US side, then sell it in USD. Your only costs are trading commissions (if any) and the small gap between the bid and ask prices. It takes a few days, so I’d only bother if you’re converting $5,000 or more. My Norbert’s Gambit guide walks you through it step by step.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to overthink this. If you were my friend asking what to pack in your wallet, here’s what I’d tell you:

1. A no-FX credit card for most purchases, so you earn rewards and get travel insurance.
2. A no-FX prepaid card for cash. Wealthsimple is my pick for ATMs, with EQ Bank and Wise as great alternatives.
3. A small amount of local cash from home, just enough to get you out of the airport.
4. Always pay in the local currency. Say no to dynamic currency conversion every single time.

Set this up once and you’ll stop leaving money on the table every time you travel. That’s more cash for the fun stuff.

Currency exchange FAQ for Canadians

What is the cheapest way for Canadians to exchange currency?

For travel spending, it’s using a no foreign transaction fee credit card or a no-FX prepaid card, since you get the Visa or Mastercard exchange rate with no 2.5% fee. For converting large amounts between CAD and USD, Norbert’s Gambit is usually the cheapest option.

Should I exchange money before I leave Canada?

Only a small amount, enough for a taxi or a snack when you land. Rates at banks and exchange counters are usually worse than what you’ll get with a no-FX card abroad.

Is it better to pay in Canadian dollars or the local currency abroad?

Always pay in the local currency. Choosing Canadian dollars triggers dynamic currency conversion, which almost always comes with a worse exchange rate.

Do prepaid cards charge foreign transaction fees?

Many do, but the Wealthsimple prepaid card and the EQ Bank Card don’t. Wise doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee, but there’s a small conversion fee if you don’t already hold the currency.

Can I use my credit card at an ATM abroad?

You can, but you shouldn’t. It’s treated as a cash advance, so you’ll pay a fee plus interest from the day you withdraw. Use a no-FX prepaid card for cash instead.

So when should you get a life insurance policy? Well, that’s up for debate, but if you have any dependents, you need to have a policy now. The cost of an insurance policy won’t even break your budget, however, there are quite a few factors that will affect your life insurance premiums.

The underwriting process may seem a bit complicated, but in the end its your age and health that will determine how much you pay.

The factors that affect your life insurance premiums

Age – This is one of the main factor when determining what affects your life insurance premiums. The younger you are, the lower your rates will be. Obviously when you’re younger you have a much lesser chance of dying, so insurance underwriters don’t need to worry about paying your family anytime soon. Even though rates are lower is your younger year, you don’t need to pick up a policy ASAP unless you have dependents.

Gender – Statistics have proven that women live longer, so as a result, their can expect their life insurance premiums to be lower. Women on average live 5 years longer than men, so that’s why they need to save a little more for their retirement compared to men.

Health – Taking a medical exam when purchasing a life insurance policy is pretty standard, and the results help determine what premiums you pay. If you’re in good health, you’ll get the best pricing, but if you have conditions such as high blood pressure or cholesterol , you can expect to pay more. Some insurers may offer “no exam” policies, but those will almost always cost more.

Weight – Similar to your health, weight is a big factor when determining your life insurance premiums. If you’re overweight or obese, you’ll definitely end up paying more. It’s been proven that overweight people experience more health issues and die earlier. These extra risks means more costs for the insurer, which they’ll just pass onto you.

Smoking – Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you, it does some serious damage to your health, and as a result it also ups the cost of life insurance. If you’re a smoker, don’t be too surprised if your premiums are double than non-smokers. If you’re ready to call it quits, many insurance providers will lower your premiums once you’ve been smoke free for a year.

Drinking – Similar to smoking, insurance companies want to know if you’re a heavy drinker. Having the occasional drink is fine and normal, but if you’re a heavy drinker, you and your liver will pay for it.

Your Medication – If you happen to be taking any medication for a serious illness or condition, you better believe that insurance underwriters want to know about it. Many medications can have side effects that affect your health, which in turn will increase your premiums. LSM Insurance has a great article about 5 medications that could affect your life insurance application that’s worth checking out.

Your family history – Unfortunately, your family medical history is pretty important to insurers. If your family has a history of heart disease, cancer, or any other major health condition, you can expect your premiums to go up. Not all insurers will put a heavy emphasis on your family’s medical history, but it’ll still have some kind of impact.

Lifestyle – Do you live life to the max? Does skydiving, race driving, or climbing mountains get your adrenaline going? Well these activities will increase the odds of you dying prematurely so as a result, you’ll pay a premium on your insurance policy. Even if you work a “dangerous” job, there’s a good chance you’ll pay extra.

Final thoughts

Keep in mind that you might already have some life insurance through your employer. The good thing about that is you won’t have to take a medical exam and you can usually top up your coverage. The major downside of course is that if you ever leave your employer, you might be in a position where you’re not insurable due to your current state of health. To fully protect yourself, simply purchase a separate policy.

I’ve been collecting and redeeming Aeroplan points for years, and I wrote this guide for the casual flyer. You might take a trip or two a year, maybe you have an Aeroplan credit card, and you just want to know how to get a free flight without needing a spreadsheet. That’s who this is for.

The short version:

• Aeroplan is Air Canada’s loyalty program. You earn points from flights, everyday partners and credit cards, and redeem them mostly for flights.
• Since January 2026, you earn points on Air Canada flights based on how much you spend, not how far you fly.
• For most people, a credit card is the fastest way to earn. There are about a dozen Aeroplan cards in Canada, and they’re all getting new perks on January 12, 2027.
• Air Canada flights cost more points when cash fares are expensive. Partner airline flights use a chart, but seats can be hard to find, especially in business class.
• A good target is getting at least 1.5 cents of value per point. I’ll show you how to calculate that below.
• Heads up: Aeroplan’s pause on points expiring ends on November 30, 2026. If your account has been quiet, now is the time to do something about it.

What is Aeroplan?

Aeroplan is the loyalty program for Air Canada. It’s free to join, and it has more than 10 million active members. You earn points when you fly, shop with partners or use an Aeroplan credit card. You can then redeem those points for flights on Air Canada and more than 50 partner airlines.

That partner list is the big selling point. Air Canada is part of Star Alliance, which includes airlines like Lufthansa, SWISS, Turkish Airlines, EVA Air, Singapore Airlines and United. Aeroplan also has deals with airlines outside the alliance, such as Emirates and Etihad. In practical terms, your points can get you almost anywhere in the world.

You can also use points for hotels, car rentals, Air Canada Vacations packages, gift cards and merchandise. Flights almost always give you the best value, but hotels and car rentals have gotten more interesting lately.

What’s changed with Aeroplan in 2026 (and what’s coming in 2027)

If you haven’t paid attention to Aeroplan in a while, here’s what you missed. Some of it is good, some of it isn’t, and I’ll be honest about both.

How to earn Aeroplan points

There are lots of ways to earn Aeroplan points, and the good news is you don’t need to fly much to rack them up. Here are the main ones, roughly in order of how much they’ll matter to most people.

Credit cards

Unless you’re a frequent flyer, a credit card will be your biggest source of points by far. You earn on everything you were going to buy anyway. I go through the cards in detail in the next section.

Transferring American Express points

This is the one a lot of people miss. If you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points, like the Cobalt, Gold Rewards or Platinum, you can transfer those points to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio. So 20,000 Amex points become 20,000 Aeroplan points, and the transfer is usually instant.

The Amex Cobalt is especially popular for this since it earns up to 5 points per dollar on food and groceries. That’s a faster earn rate than any Aeroplan co-branded card.

One tip: only transfer when you’re ready to book. Membership Rewards points are flexible and can be used other ways, while Aeroplan points can only be used with Aeroplan. Also note that the Amex Aeroplan cards earn Aeroplan points directly, so there’s nothing to transfer.

Flying

As of January 1, 2026, you earn 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent on Air Canada flights. That’s calculated on the base fare and carrier surcharges, not on taxes, airport fees, bag fees or seat selection. Elite members earn 2 to 6 points per dollar depending on their tier.

In plain terms, a $300 base fare earns 300 points. That’s less than you’d have earned on a long-haul sale fare under the old distance-based system, so don’t count on flying alone to get you a free trip.

You can still earn points on partner airlines like Lufthansa or United. Just add your Aeroplan number to the booking. How much you earn depends on the airline and fare, so check Aeroplan’s partner pages first. Reward flights booked with points don’t earn points.

Everyday partners

Aeroplan has added a lot of partners you probably already use. Link your accounts once and you’ll earn automatically:

• Starbucks (you still earn Stars too)
• Uber and Uber Eats
• LCBO
• Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty (2 points per dollar), plus Avis and Budget
• Marriott Bonvoy hotels, where you can choose to earn Aeroplan points

Aeroplan eStore

The Aeroplan eStore works like Rakuten. Click through to retailers like Apple or Lululemon, shop like normal, and earn points per dollar. Rates jump during promotions, so it’s worth a quick look before any big online purchase. This is the easiest way to earn Aeroplan points outside of flying and using a credit card.

Hotel points transfers

You can convert points from some hotel programs to Aeroplan. Marriott Bonvoy converts at 3:1, for example. It’s usually poor value, but it can work if you’re just a few thousand points short of a flight.

Buying points

Aeroplan sells points and sometimes offers up to a 100% bonus. I rarely recommend it, but it can make sense if you need a small top-up for a specific booking that’s good value. Do the math first (more on that below).

The best Aeroplan credit cards

There are about a dozen Aeroplan co-branded credit cards in Canada from TD, CIBC and American Express. They range from no-fee cards to premium cards with lounge access. Every one of them earns Aeroplan points directly, and most come with Air Canada perks that a regular travel card won’t give you.

A few things almost every Aeroplan card shares:

• Starting January 12, 2027, 15% off the points needed for Air Canada reward flights. This applies to the primary cardholder on any Aeroplan card, including the no-fee ones.
• A free fourth night on hotel redemptions and a free fourth day on car rentals booked with points through Aeroplan.
• Your points won’t expire as long as you’re earning on the card.
• Travel insurance that covers trips booked with points, as long as you pay the taxes and fees with the card. Most credit card insurance doesn’t cover reward bookings, so this one is a big deal.

The catch is that most annual fees are going up in 2027. For most people, two cards stand out.

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card

This is the card I’d point most casual flyers to. The fee is reasonable, the perks are useful, and TD often waives the fee in the first year.

• Annual fee: $139, rising to $159 at your first annual fee date on or after January 25, 2027. Additional cards go from $75 to $80.
• Earn rate: 1.5 points per dollar on gas and EV charging, groceries and Air Canada purchases (including Air Canada Vacations). 1 point per dollar on everything else.
• Air Canada perks: Free first checked bag for you and up to 8 companions on the same booking, which can easily pay for the fee on a single family trip.
• Other perks: A NEXUS application fee rebate every 48 months, travel medical and trip cancellation insurance, and status credits toward Aeroplan Elite Status (1,000 SQC per $20,000 spent).
• New on January 12, 2027: 15% off Air Canada reward flights, a $50 yearly Air Canada travel credit (paid as $25 in January and $25 in July to your AC Wallet), and a free fourth day on car rental redemptions.
• Welcome bonus: It changes often. At the time of writing, TD is offering up to 40,000 points plus a first-year fee rebate. Check the current offer before applying.

The $50 travel credit only works on paid Air Canada flights, not reward flights, and each $25 expires after six months. Even so, it covers most of the fee increase if you fly Air Canada at least once a year.

American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card

This is the premium option. It only makes sense if you fly Air Canada a few times a year and will actually use the lounge access, but the 2027 upgrades make it a lot more compelling for that person.

• Annual fee: $599, rising to $799 at your first annual fee billing date after January 12, 2027.
• Earn rate: 3 points per dollar on Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations, 2 points per dollar on dining and food delivery, and 1.25 points per dollar on everything else.
• Current perks: Maple Leaf Lounge access in North America for you and a guest, free first checked bag for you and up to 8 companions, priority check-in and boarding, and a NEXUS rebate.
• Companion Pass: Spend $25,000 in a card year and get an Annual Worldwide Companion Pass, which lets a companion fly with you in economy for a fixed base fare.
• Status help: 1,000 SQC per $5,000 spent (up to 25,000 a year). Starting in 2027, premium cardholders who requalify for status also get a head start of 10% of last year’s SQC.

New on January 12, 2027:

• Maple Leaf Lounge and Air Canada Café access worldwide, not just in North America, for you and a guest
• Priority security lanes at select airports for you and up to 8 companions
• Up to $100 a year in Air Canada travel credits ($50 in January and $50 in July)
• 15% off Air Canada reward flights
• Six Priority Pass lounge visits a year, plus eight passes a year to Aspire lounges in Canada
• A $200 yearly dining credit at restaurants on Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants list
• A 10% points bonus once you spend $125,000 in a year, and another 10% for every extra $25,000 (up to $400,000)
• A free fourth night on hotel redemptions and a free fourth day on car rentals

Is it worth $799? If you’d use the travel credit, the dining credit and the lounges, you’re getting more than $300 a year back in credits alone, and lounge access is worth a lot more on a long travel day. If you fly once a year, it’s not for you. [MESSAGE ME FOR A REFERRAL LINK]

Don’t forget Amex Membership Rewards cards

The Amex Cobalt isn’t an Aeroplan card, but because its points transfer 1:1 to Aeroplan, many people use it as their main way to earn Aeroplan points. A common setup is the Cobalt for food and groceries plus an Aeroplan card for the Air Canada perks. See my full list of the best Aeroplan credit cards.

How to redeem Aeroplan points for flights

Flights are where Aeroplan points shine. Booking is done on aircanada.com or the Air Canada app. Search for your trip, switch the toggle to book with points, and you’ll see the price in points plus taxes and fees. You don’t need to understand any charts to do this.

That said, it helps to know why the price is what it is. There are really two kinds of reward flights.

Air Canada flights: dynamic pricing

When you book an Air Canada flight with points, the number of points follows the cash price. If the cash fare is cheap, the points price is usually reasonable. If it’s a holiday weekend or a popular route, expect to pay a lot more points.

The upside is that every seat on an Air Canada flight can be booked with points. If there’s a seat for sale, you can use points for it. You’ll never be told there’s “no reward availability.”

A few habits that keep the points price down:

• Be flexible with dates. Moving your trip by a day or two, or travelling outside school breaks, can cut the price a lot.
• Consider a connection. Nonstop flights are in demand and often cost more points. A connecting flight on the same day can be much cheaper.
• Sign in first. From January 12, 2027, Aeroplan cardholders see 15% off the points price, but only when logged in.
• Compare with the cash price. If the points price looks high, it probably is. I’ll show you how to check in the value section below.

Partner airline flights: fixed prices, but you have to find a seat

Flights on most partner airlines, like Lufthansa, SWISS, Turkish or EVA Air, are priced differently. The cost is set by where you’re flying and how far, and it doesn’t change with the cash fare. Whether the business class cash fare that day is $4,000 or $8,000, the points price stays the same.

The catch is availability. Partner airlines only release a limited number of seats for Aeroplan members to book. On popular routes and dates, especially in business class, those seats can be hard to find. There’s also a $39 partner booking fee per ticket.

A handful of partners, including United and Etihad, now use dynamic pricing like Air Canada. While these airlines still offer good value, it’s not as cheap as before.

Mixing and matching

You can combine Air Canada and partner flights on one ticket. For example, Air Canada to Frankfurt and Austrian Airlines to Vienna. The price is based on the whole trip, and the 15% cardholder discount applies as long as the trip includes at least one Air Canada flight.

Why the Aeroplan reward chart is only a guide

Aeroplan publishes a reward chart that divides the world into zones and distance bands. It’s useful for a rough idea of what a trip might cost, but I’d treat it as a starting point, not a promise. Here’s why.

• Air Canada flights often price above the chart. The chart shows a range for Air Canada flights, but on busy dates I regularly see prices well beyond the top of that range. Readers have told me the same thing about business class to Europe.
• “Starting at” prices are rarely the real price. For partners that switched to dynamic pricing, like United, the chart lists a starting price. In practice, many of those flights have been priced higher ever since the switch, and some have crept up again in 2026 without any announcement.
• The chart itself changes. Aeroplan updates the award charts a few times a year, so things can get out of date quickly.
• A price means nothing without a seat. Partner prices are fixed, but only if the airline has released a seat you can book.

So what should you do instead? Search the actual dates you want on aircanada.com and look at the real price. If you want a ballpark before you start earning, the chart and Aeroplan’s own points estimator are fine. Just don’t plan a trip around a number you saw in a chart.

Partner airlines are still a good deal, but business class is much harder to get

I want to be upfront about this because many points influencers still sell the dream of cheap lie-flat seats to Europe and Asia. Partner reward seats absolutely still exist, and they can be a great deal. But snagging business class on a partner airline has become genuinely hard.

Why it’s harder now:

• Airlines are releasing fewer seats. Several major partners are holding back business class reward seats for their own members. Lufthansa, for example, was reported in mid-2026 to have stopped releasing last-minute business class reward seats to partner programs like Aeroplan, and that also affected SWISS and Austrian.
• More people are chasing the same seats. Aeroplan is easy to earn through credit cards and points transfers in both Canada and the U.S., so the competition for each partner seat is fierce.
• Prices went up. The June 2026 chart update raised business class prices on many partner routes, sometimes by 15,000 to 20,000 points one way.

What still works:

• Economy on partners. Economy reward seats are much easier to find and can be very good value, especially on routes where Air Canada’s own prices are high.
• Booking far ahead or very close in. Some airlines release seats when the schedule opens, roughly a year out. Others release unsold seats in the last week or two before departure. EVA Air, for example, has been releasing business class seats to partners about a week out.
• Being flexible on routing. Connecting through a different city or flying a less popular airline opens up options.
• Short business class hops. Short business class flights within Europe actually got a bit cheaper in the 2026 update.

My honest advice: if business class is a must, keep your dates and routing flexible, search often, and have a backup plan. If you just want to get somewhere, economy on partners and Air Canada is where most casual flyers will get the best results.

Using Aeroplan points for hotels and car rentals

For years, I told people not to bother using Aeroplan points on hotels. That’s changed. Flights still usually give you the best value, but HotelSavers and the new cardholder perks make hotels and car rentals worth a look, especially if you can’t find a flight that’s good value.

Aeroplan HotelSavers

Aeroplan lets you book more than 300,000 hotels with points. Within that, HotelSavers is a group of thousands of partner hotels where you pay fewer points. Look for the red HotelSavers tag in the search results.

Here’s how it works:

• Up to 30% fewer points. Aeroplan’s own example: two hotels that each cost $100 a night might be 10,000 points at a HotelSavers property and 12,500 at a regular one.
• Eight categories. Hotels are grouped from budget to luxury, with nights starting at 10,000 points.
• Taxes included. The points price covers taxes, though resort fees may be charged separately at the hotel.
• Flexible options. Every HotelSavers property offers a refundable rate, and some offer a cheaper non-refundable one.

Brands include dozens of names across major chains, though Marriott hotels aren’t part of it. One thing to keep in mind is that these are third-party bookings, so you usually won’t get hotel elite perks or earn hotel points on the stay.

Car rentals

You can also redeem points for car rentals through Aeroplan, with companies like Avis, Budget and Thrifty. On its own, the value is usually modest. But two things make it more appealing.

The fourth night and fourth day free

If you have any Aeroplan credit card, book four nights with points and the fourth one is free. That’s like getting 25% off. Starting January 12, 2027, cardholders also get the fourth day free on car rentals booked with points.

Aeroplan also runs frequent promo codes that take 10,000 to 20,000 points off hotel or car bookings over a certain size, and these can stack with the free night or day. When a promo lines up with your plans, a hotel or car redemption can be surprisingly good value.

My rule of thumb: run the cents per point math in the next section. If a hotel or car rental gets you close to the same value as a flight, go for it. A free hotel night you’ll actually use beats points sitting in your account.

How to tell if you’re getting good value: cents per point

The easiest way to know if a redemption is a good deal is to figure out how many cents each point is worth. Points people call this CPP (cents per point). It sounds technical, but it takes about 30 seconds.

The formula:

(Cash price of the ticket − taxes and fees you pay on the reward ticket) ÷ points needed × 100 = cents per point

You subtract the taxes and fees because you pay those either way. You only want to know what the points themselves are saving you.

What’s a good number? Aim for at least 1.5 cents per point. Anything higher is a good redemption. If you’re getting less than that, you’re usually better off paying cash and saving your points.

Example: a summer trip to Vancouver

Say you live in Toronto and want to fly to Vancouver over the summer. (These numbers are made up, but they’re realistic.)

• The cash fare is $560 round trip.
• The reward ticket costs 25,000 points plus $95 in taxes and fees.

Now plug it in:

($560 − $95) ÷ 25,000 × 100 = 1.86 cents per point

That beats 1.5, so using points makes sense here.

Example: when to pay cash instead

Now say you’re looking at a short flight from Toronto to Montreal.

• The cash fare is $220 round trip.
• The reward ticket costs 18,000 points plus $70 in taxes and fees.

($220 − $70) ÷ 18,000 × 100 = 0.83 cents per point

That’s well below 1.5. I’d pay cash, earn some points on the fare, and save those 18,000 points for a trip where they go further.

A few things to keep in mind

• Compare the same thing. If the cash fare is Basic Economy with no checked bag, but the reward ticket includes a bag and seat selection, the reward is worth a bit more than the math shows.
• The 15% cardholder discount helps. On the Vancouver example, 15% off 25,000 points would bring the price closer to 21,000 points (the discount applies to the base fare portion), pushing your value above 2 cents.
• Value isn’t everything. If points are the only way you’d take a trip, or the alternative is letting them expire, a lower number can still be fine. Just make it a choice, not an accident.

Fees, stopovers and Family Sharing

What you’ll pay on top of points

Aeroplan doesn’t add fuel surcharges to reward tickets, which is a big reason it’s so popular. You’ll still pay:

• Taxes and airport fees. These vary by airport and country. From major Canadian airports, expect roughly $50 to $100 for a one-way domestic trip and more for international.
• A $39 partner booking fee on any reward ticket that includes a partner airline flight. Air Canada-only tickets don’t have it.
• Change and cancellation fees, depending on the fare option you choose. You can cancel for free within 24 hours of booking.

Adding a stopover for 5,000 points

On international trips, you can add a stopover for 5,000 extra points on a one-way ticket. For example, fly Toronto to Athens and spend four days in Rome on the way. It’s one of the best features of the program and a cheap way to see two places in one trip. If the website won’t price the itinerary you want, you can call Aeroplan, though a phone booking fee may apply.

Aeroplan Family Sharing

Family Sharing lets up to eight people combine their points into one pool, which makes it much easier to reach a reward. Despite the name, members don’t need to be related or live together.

When someone books, points come out of each person’s account based on how much they contributed. If you put in 40% of the pool, 40% of each redemption comes from you. One person manages the pool, and there are waiting periods if you leave a pool or want to join a new one, so pick your group carefully. Here’s my detailed guide to Aeroplan Family Sharing.

How Aeroplan Elite Status works in 2026

Elite Status is Air Canada’s way of rewarding its most frequent customers with perks like priority boarding, free bags and upgrades. The system was completely rebuilt for 2026, so if you remember qualifying miles and segments, forget them. Everything now runs on one number: Status Qualifying Credits (SQC).

What you earn in a calendar year decides your status for the following year. So your 2026 activity sets your 2027 status.

The tiers

How you earn SQC

• Air Canada flights: 4 SQC per dollar on Flex, Comfort, Latitude, Premium Economy and Business fares. 2 SQC per dollar on Standard economy. Basic Economy earns nothing. Like points, this is based on the base fare and carrier surcharges, not taxes.
• Credit cards: 1,000 SQC per $5,000 spent on a premium Aeroplan card, or per $20,000 on a core card, up to 25,000 SQC a year.
• Everyday partners and some partner flights: 1 SQC for every 5 Aeroplan points earned with partners like Starbucks, Uber, LCBO and Hertz, up to 25,000 SQC a year. eStore purchases, welcome bonuses and Amex point transfers don’t count.
• The 100,000-point shortcut: Earn 100,000 eligible Aeroplan points in a year from everyday activity and you get 25K status, even if you never fly.

To put that in perspective, a Standard economy ticket with a $500 base fare earns 1,000 SQC. Most casual flyers won’t reach status by flying alone. But between card spending and everyday partners, it’s now possible to reach 25K, 35K or even 50K status without flying much at all, if you spend a lot.

What you get with status

• Priority check-in, security (at some airports) and boarding
• Free checked bags and better seat selection, improving with each tier
• More points on Air Canada flights (2x to 6x, shown above)
• eUpgrade credits to request upgrades to Premium Economy or Business
• Star Alliance status, which brings perks on partner airlines too (higher tiers include lounge access on international trips)

Milestone rewards

Once you have status, you unlock a Milestone reward every 10,000 SQC. Some are automatic (extra eUpgrades), and others let you choose, like Maple Leaf Lounge passes, bonus points, 50% off a reward flight (Priority Rewards), or even status for a friend. Note that lounge passes are no longer a standard status perk. You now get them through Milestones.

One more change worth knowing: elite members used to see lower points prices on Air Canada reward flights. That’s gone. The discount on reward flights now comes from holding an Aeroplan credit card instead.

For full details, check Air Canada’s Elite Status benefits page.

Do Aeroplan points expire?

Yes, but only if your account goes quiet. Aeroplan points expire if you have no activity for 18 months in a row. Any earning or redeeming resets the clock.

This matters right now. Since 2020, Aeroplan has paused points expiry, but that pause ends on November 30, 2026. After that date, the normal 18-month rule applies again.

If you haven’t touched your account in a while, any of these will keep your points safe:

• Earn points from a purchase or partner, like buying a coffee at Starbucks with your linked account
• Redeem points for a flight, hotel or gift card
• Donate points to a charity
• Transfer points in from Amex Membership Rewards
• Transfer points to another member

If you have an Aeroplan credit card and use it, you’re earning points every month, so you don’t need to worry about this.

Final Thoughts

Aeroplan is still one of the best loyalty programs for Canadians, but it’s not the same program it was a few years ago. Earning from flights is weaker for budget travellers, partner business class is harder to book, and charts are less reliable than they used to be.

At the same time, the basics are better than ever for casual flyers. Every Air Canada seat can be booked with points, the 15% cardholder discount is a real, predictable saving, and HotelSavers gives you a decent option when flights don’t make sense.

If you take one thing away from this guide, make it this: earn with a card you’d use anyway, check your cents per point before you book, and aim for 1.5 cents or better. Do that and you’ll get a free trip or two every year without turning points into a second job.

Aeroplan FAQ

How much are Aeroplan points worth?

There’s no fixed value, because it depends on how you use them. I aim for at least 1.5 cents per point on flights, and I’m thrilled when I get 2 cents or more. Gift cards and merchandise usually come in at around 1 cent or less, which is why I don’t recommend them.

How many Aeroplan points do I need for a free flight?

It depends on the route and the date. Short flights within Canada or to the U.S. can start around 6,000 to 15,000 points one way when cash fares are low, while flights to Europe in economy often run 35,000 to 60,000 points one way. Search your actual dates on aircanada.com to see the real price.

Can I transfer Amex points to Aeroplan?

Yes. American Express Membership Rewards points from cards like the Cobalt, Gold Rewards and Platinum transfer to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio, usually instantly.

Is an Aeroplan credit card worth it?

For most people who fly Air Canada at least once a year, yes. The free checked bags alone can cover a mid-tier card’s fee on one family trip, and starting January 12, 2027, every cardholder gets 15% off Air Canada reward flights.

Why does my Air Canada reward flight cost more points than the chart says?

Air Canada flights are priced based on demand and the cash fare, so busy dates often price above the chart. The chart is a guide, not a guarantee.

Can I book business class with Aeroplan points?

Yes, but it takes flexibility. Air Canada business class is always bookable with points, though it can be expensive. Partner business class seats are limited and have become harder to find, so search early, search often and be open to different dates and routes.

Do Aeroplan points expire?

They expire after 18 months with no account activity. Aeroplan’s pause on expiry ends November 30, 2026, so make sure there’s some activity in your account before then.