What is Moi Rewards?

Moi Rewards is the loyalty program of Metro Inc.’s grocery stores. In case you’re not familiar with Metro, they have the following brands:

• Metro
• Food Basics
• Super C
• Jean Coutu
• Brunet
• Première Moisson

Moi Rewards earning rate

In Ontario, you’ll earn 1 Moi Rewards point per $3 spent at Metro grocery stores. However, in Quebec and New Brunswick, members earn 1 point per $1 spent. You don’t earn any Moi Rewards points on regular purchases at Food Basics, Super C or Premiere Moisson, but you will earn bonus points (points on certain promoted products).

Unlike other grocery loyalty programs, which offer points only on in-store and targeted offers, Moi Rewards is one of the few that earns points on all purchases.

Moi in-store and targeted offers

For those looking to maximize Moi Rewards, you’ll want to pay close attention to in-store offers as they can yield plenty of points. For example, here’s a recent flyer from my local Metro store in Ontario:

As you can see, you can earn 25 points for each can of Pringles, 40 points on pizza pops and 20 points on pasta. This is in addition to your regular earning rate, so it’s an easy way to top up your points.

Even though you don’t earn points on your regular purchases at Food Basics, they also have in-store offers.

Interestingly, Food Basics is even offering points on some items that already have locked down prices. I love Food Basics for its low prices, so earning additional points is a huge bonus.

Beyond in-store offers, Moi Rewards also has targeted offers at Metro, which are found in the app. Some of the offers in my app right now are 35 points when buying any frozen pizza, 55 points on any brand of maple syrup, and 70 points when buying turkey or chicken breast.

As you use Moi Rewards more, the personalized offers will learn about your likes and dislikes. For example, say you buy a lot of fresh fruit and deli meat, you’ll likely start to see offers for those items.

You do need to manually add these offers to your account, so be sure to check your app regularly.

How to redeem Moi Rewards

Redeeming Moi Rewards is simple. At any time, you can redeem 500 points for $4 off your purchase at participating stores. If you want to redeem more points, you can do it in $1 increments (125 points). This will appeal to some shoppers as other loyalty programs may require you to redeem in $10 increments. Moi Rewards offers the lowest threshold to start redeeming your points. Note this includes Food Basics in Ontario.

Maximizing Moi Rewards with RBC

Moi is formally partnered with RBC and offers two ways to increase your earning rate. First, if you link your Moi Rewards account with an RBC Avion Rewards credit or debit card, you’ll earn 1 extra point per $2 spent at eligible stores. However, there is a minimum spending requirement. At Metro and Food Basics, you need to spend at least $60. This is relevant because you’re essentially double dipping your rewards. You get your Moi Rewards, plus Avion Rewards which can be used on things such as travel, gas, merchandise, and more.

There’s also the Moi RBC Visa Card, which has no annual fee. You get 1 point per $1 like you normally do as a Moi Rewards member, and the card gives you an additional 1 point per $1 spent.

Keep in mind that the regular earning rate in Ontario at Metro is 1 point per $3 spent, so if you have the moi RBC Visa Card, you’re actually earning 1.33 points per $1 spent at participating stores.

On a positive note, you’ll earn 2 points for every $1 spent on dining, gas, and EV charging. All other purchases earn you 1 point per $1 spent.

Is Moi Rewards good?

If you shop at Metro – or even casually – then being engaged in Moi Rewards is worth it since you’ll earn points on all your purchases, through personalized offers, flyer deals and more.

While you won’t earn points on regular purchases at Food Basics, you can earn points on in-store offers. More importantly, you can redeem your points for discounts, which means more money in your pocket. You can sign up today via the Metro or Food Basics app, online at moirewards.ca or at checkout.

Admittedly, in the past, using your Aeroplan points for hotels may not have been the best value. Under the new program, where Aeroplan has partnered with various hotel chains, the value per point with partner hotels has increased. This is just another step in the evolution of Aeroplan, which was relaunched in 2020.

With the introduction of Aeroplan HotelSavers, Aeroplan is arguably the best all-in-one loyalty program for casual travellers. Here’s how Aeroplan HotelSavers works.

What is Aeroplan HotelSavers?

Aeroplan HotelSavers is the next phase in the latest expansion of travel partnerships to help make Aeroplan the best all-in-one rewards program. In the past, Aeroplan hotel bookings were of low value, so most people focused on flight redemptions.

Since Aeroplan wants to be the go-to travel rewards program for its members, they’ve negotiated exclusive deals with some of the most popular hotel properties in the world. Essentially, Aeroplan members can save up to 30% in points with HotelSavers properties, compared to what they would otherwise pay for non-HotelSavers redemptions.

To be realistic, the cost of accommodations will usually be more than flights, so having more options when it comes to using points for hotels is a great thing.

When booking with Aeroplan HotelSavers, taxes are always included (however, resort fees may apply separately). In addition, you can choose to book fully cancellable and refundable rooms. What’s interesting is that fully cancellable rooms sometimes don’t cost you any additional points, whereas there’s usually a surcharge when paying cash. Finally, there are never any restrictions on room availability. 

Similar to Aeroplan flights, HotelSavers members get flexibility when it comes to redemptions. You can pay for your hotels using points, cash or a 50/50 (points + cash). If you don’t have enough points, you can always pay to top up your account. Of course, you should only buy points if you’re only a few short for a redemption.

Who are the Aeroplan HotelSavers partners?

At launch, HotelSavers has selected 11 hotel chains to partner with for redemptions. This partnership spans 39 worldwide hotel brands with different price points.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a budget traveller, or if you prefer special and unique properties, HotelSavers has something for you. A quick breakdown of some of the partnered hotel chains include:

• Luxury – Fairmont, Kimpton, Shangri-La, Taj, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, InterContinental, Preferred Hotels & Resorts and others.
• Premium – Le Germain, Omni, Noble House Hotels & Resorts, Swissotel, Pullman, Crowne Plaza and others.
• Midscale & Economy – Coast Hotels, Holiday Inn, Novotel, Alt Hotels, Ibis and others.

You’ll notice that some of these partners have their own loyalty programs. If you happen to have status, your benefits would only be recognized based on the terms and conditions of the program. For example, some programs specifically state that you must book your stay through their website.

Having 39 hotel brands, with hundreds of properties is impressive for the launch. It would not be a surprise if Aeroplan added more hotel partners in the future, as they did with their airline partners.

Is Aeroplan HotelSavers worth it?

Aeroplan HotelSavers claims that members can save up to 30% in points with partnered properties. Instead of thinking about how many points you can save, you’ll want to calculate your cents per point (CPP). 

The formula for CPP (when it comes to Aeroplan HotelSavers) is as follows:

The actual cost of the hotel room X 100 / Number of points required for a redemption

Now let’s use a real example of a three-night stay at the Claris Hotel and Spa in Barcelona.

With this property, my formula would be as follows:

$1,623 X 100 / 73,500 = 2.21CPP

A value of 2.21 cents per point is incredibly high. Most points enthusiasts value 1 Aeroplan point at 2 cents each, so Aeroplan HotelSavers can be worth even more.

Of course, I purposely chose the highest redemption, I found, so let’s look at some other properties I randomly selected.

Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver = 1.32 CPP

Holiday Inn Orlando-Disney Springs Area = 1.20 CPP

Omni King Edward Hotel Toronto = 1.53 CPP

The Tokyo Station Hotel = 1.45 CPP

Is Aeroplan HotelSavers worth it?

This is a bit of a loaded question as the value depends on your perspective. Those who are looking to maximize the value of their Aeroplan points or want to fly in premium cabins may not like the idea of a redemption of less than 2 cents per point for one Aeroplan point.

Overall, I’ve been able to find a good range of hotels with a value of 1.2 to 1.6 CPP. That’s not bad. More importantly, Aeroplan HotelSavers allows you to use your points on properties that don’t have the best loyalty program. You can essentially try out different properties on points that you never had access to before.

You obviously want to maximize your value with any kind of redemption but think of it this way. Using your Aeroplan points for a hotel redemption with a value of 1 CPP or higher is arguably an excellent use of your points. For example, most bank travel loyalty programs have a value of 1 CPP, so if you focus on Aeroplan, you can easily get a higher value for both flights and accommodations.

Due to the pandemic, many people have been sitting on their points. Aeroplan HotelSavers presents an interesting value proposition for those who may have a lot of points and want to offset their travel costs beyond flights.

The obvious downside is that HotelSavers only applies to Aeroplan’s hotel partners. If you’re searching in a city with no HotelSavers partners, your redemption value will likely be low. In this case, it would be better to pay cash or use any other points you may have.

Aeroplan HotelSavers vs. hotel loyalty programs

Let’s be clear, you shouldn’t compare Aeroplan HotelSavers to hotel loyalty programs. You should always join hotel loyalty programs since you can get immediate benefits such as early check-in, free Wi-Fi, and member rates. However, let’s recognize that you typically won’t get any really good benefits until you have status with hotel loyalty programs. 

Frequent travellers will want to maximize their hotel stays with one chain, but casual travellers may be better off treating Aeroplan as a go-to travel program with multiple redemption options.

Even if you do actively collect hotel loyalty points, you may want to reconsider your strategy. For example, most point experts give one Marriott Bonvoy point a value of .9 – 1CPP. That’s below what you can get with Aeroplan HotelSavers. When you look at other programs such as Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say HotelSavers is better.

You won’t get free breakfast or suite upgrades with Aeroplan HotelSavers (although some hotels do include breakfast as part of the rate), but you will get another opportunity to use your points when travelling. For some people, the convenience of collecting points with a single loyalty program is worth it.

Final thoughts

Aeroplan HotelSavers is the next evolution of Aeroplan. It’s an interesting opportunity to use your points on properties that you may not have considered before or if you’re looking to save spending money on your hotel stay. Those looking to maximize the value out of their Aeroplan points may not be interested in HotelSavers, but there’s no denying that the program presents good value for casual travellers. If Aeroplan continues to add more partners to the program, as it did with its airline partners, then HotelSavers will be even more appealing.