Air Miles Is Becoming Blue Rewards — Here's What Changed

The rebrand in brief

Air Miles has been Canada's original coalition loyalty program since 1992. On June 1, 2026, the program officially rebranded as Blue Rewards. The name change reflects a broader repositioning, new partners, and a new credit card in development.

If you're an existing Air Miles collector, your miles convert to Blue Points at roughly 16 Blue Points per 1 Air Mile. The program's BMO credit cards continue to issue the new Blue Points currency.

The question for most Canadians isn't what to call the program. It's whether the program still earns a place in their wallet.

What's gone

The coalition has contracted significantly over the past few years. Here's what has left:

• Shell Canada: The Shell earn partnership ended May 25, 2026. If you had Shell Miles in a separate cash balance, those needed to be redeemed before that date. They're no longer earnable or (likely) redeemable through the standard programme.
• Sobeys and Safeway: Left the program in 2022 when Empire Company moved its grocery loyalty to Scene+. If you currently shop at Sobeys or Safeway, Air Miles / Blue Rewards earns you nothing at checkout.
• Lowe's: Also departed the program. No earn at Lowe's home improvement stores.

The loss of Shell, Sobeys, and Safeway removed three of the program's highest-traffic earn categories. Gas and groceries are where most Canadians collect the most points in any program, and Blue Rewards no longer has the dominant grocery partner in Atlantic Canada, Ontario, or Western Canada.

What Blue Rewards adds

The rebrand isn't purely a cosmetic change. Two meaningful new partners have been added:

Porter Airlines

Porter is now a Blue Rewards partner. This is genuinely useful for Canadians who fly out of Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, or other Eastern Canada cities where Porter has a strong presence. Porter expanded to Vancouver, Calgary, and other Western Canada cities in 2023, so the reach is broader than many expect.

Flights can now be booked and paid with Blue Points through the programme, and you earn Blue Points when flying Porter. This significantly raises the programme's appeal for Porter loyalists.

Accor Hotels (including Fairmont)

All Accor properties are now part of the Blue Rewards redemption network, including Fairmont, Novotel, and SLS. BC has three Fairmonts alone: the Chateau Whistler, the Empress in Victoria, and the Pacific Rim in Vancouver. For travellers who want to use their points for hotel stays, the Accor footprint is a meaningful addition.

New credit card

BMO is launching two Blue Rewards Mastercards alongside the rebrand: a standard card and a World Elite Mastercard. World Elite is Mastercard's premium card tier — the equivalent of Visa Infinite — and typically comes with a higher annual fee and stronger earn rates.

The World Elite earns 10 Blue Points per $1 at participating Blue Rewards partners, 2 pts/$1 on gas, groceries, and wholesale (capped at $500 per category per statement cycle), and 1 pt/$1 on everything else. The standard card earns 5 pts/$1 at partners and 0.5 pts/$1 elsewhere. Welcome offer details hadn't been fully confirmed at time of writing.

What Blue Points are worth

The baseline redemption rate is 1,500 Blue Points for $10 — roughly 0.67¢ per point — redeemed in-store at participating partners or as eGift cards. For travel booked through the programme's platform, there's no minimum balance required to redeem, which is an improvement over the old Air Miles system where you needed a meaningful balance before you could touch travel rewards.

At 0.67¢ per point, the World Elite card's 10× partner earn works out to about 6.7¢ back per dollar at a participating partner — competitive for that specific spend. The base earn outside partners (1 pt/$1 on the World Elite, 0.5 pts/$1 on the standard card) is modest: 0.67¢ and 0.33¢ back per dollar respectively.

How quickly you accumulate enough to redeem depends mostly on whether you spend at partners. At the World Elite's 10× rate, $150 in partner spend generates 1,500 pts — enough for a $10 reward. At the base 1 pt/$1, you'd need $1,500 in spend for the same $10. Use the points reward values calculator to see exactly what your Blue Rewards balance is worth.

Should you stay or join?

The answer depends on where you spend and fly. You don't need to be an existing Air Miles collector to join Blue Rewards — it's open to anyone.

If you fly Porter: Blue Rewards now lets you earn and redeem on Porter flights. For Eastern Canada regulars or anyone who flies Porter out of Toronto, this is the most compelling reason to join.

If you stay at Accor properties: Fairmont, Novotel, SLS, and other Accor brands are redeemable through the programme. Hotel stays can move your balance faster than everyday retail spend.

If you shop at Rexall: Rexall is one of the programme's anchor partners. Regular pharmacy and health spend adds up steadily — and the 10× partner earn rate on the World Elite card makes it more meaningful.

If you order through Instacart: Instacart joined as a new Blue Rewards partner. If you use grocery delivery regularly, this is a straightforward earn category that didn't exist in the old programme.

If you're a BMO banking customer: The new Blue Rewards Mastercard is a natural pairing with an existing BMO relationship. Earning 10× at partners on a single card simplifies your loyalty setup considerably.

If you're new to loyalty programmes: Blue Rewards launches with a simpler structure than its predecessor — one currency, no Cash/Dream split, and no minimum balance to start redeeming toward travel. For someone starting fresh, that's a cleaner entry point than some alternatives.

Who Blue Rewards still makes sense for

• Porter Airlines travellers (especially Eastern Canada and Billy Bishop regulars)
• Shoppers who earn at the remaining Air Miles partners (Rexall, some Pharmasave locations, select retailers)
• Existing BMO Air Miles cardholders who want to stay in the ecosystem while the new card details emerge
• Anyone planning a Fairmont stay in the near term who wants to use accumulated miles toward it

For most BC shoppers who relied on Safeway or Shell earn, the program has lost its primary local relevance. The natural alternative for BC grocery earn is More Rewards (Save-On-Foods, Buy-Low, Quality Foods) or Scene+ (Sobeys, Safeway). Both have stronger BC earn stories right now than Blue Rewards does.

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Related: How loyalty points work in Canada · Save-On-Foods and More Rewards for BC shoppers