The AIR MILES reward program hasn’t been all that relevant for a while, with very low welcome bonuses and no more American Express-issued cards. But for the first time in a very long time, the 2 main BMO AIR MILES credit cards now have increased welcome bonuses, and they’re actually pretty good!
To be very clear, they’re extremely low compared to the amazing $825 deal (redeemable for any travel expense on any website) and many other great deals currently available.
But if you wanted the AIR MILES cards and had been waiting for a higher offer, finally it’s here. The program has been working hard lately to offer many great promotions outside of credit cards, so it’s good to see something new on the most important element of rewards accumulation.
Here are the details.
Overview of the new offers
Here are the new offers in our usual summary format.
| New offers for BMO AIR MILES cards |
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| BMO AIR MILES®† World Elite®* MasterCard®* |
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| Min. income (card): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Min. spend (bonus): $3k in 3 mos. + 8 fill-ups (optional) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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WELCOME BONUS (  VALUATION)
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ends September 30th
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| Rewards: ≈ $475 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Card fee: $0 $120 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Best for: 3,498 Miles after welcome bonus |
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| BMO AIR MILES®† MasterCard®* |
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| Min. income (card): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Min. spend (bonus): $1k in 3 mos. + 8 fill-ups (optional) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION)
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ends September 30th
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| Rewards: ≈ $280 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Card fee: $0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Best for: 1,637 Miles after welcome bonus |
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| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New offers for BMO AIR MILES cards |
WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION) |
Best for |
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Min. income (card):
Min. spend (bonus): $3k in 3 mos. + 8 fill-ups (optional)
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Rewards: ≈ $475
Card fee: $0 $120
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3,498 Miles
after welcome bonus
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ends September 30th
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Min. income (card):
Min. spend (bonus): $1k in 3 mos. + 8 fill-ups (optional)
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Rewards: ≈ $280
Card fee: $0
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1,637 Miles
after welcome bonus
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ends September 30th
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| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
To be clear, there are no offer changes for the other AIR MILES cards available (the 2 business cards, which actually require having an incorporated business — unlike American Express “business” cards).
We’ve just launched our full resource page for both cards with their new offers, but I’ll summarize the changes and card highlights here, especially since the welcome bonus offer structures are pretty unique, with a rare fuel discount as part of the bonus.
BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard
The “Miles” portion of the welcome bonus has just increased by 50%! It was just 2,000 Miles and now it’s 3,000 Miles, with the exact same spending requirement. The first year is free, so no change there either.
That alone means it’s the highest AIR MILES welcome bonus seen in Canada in a long time! But on top of that, there’s another offer that gives you a 25¢/L discount at Shell on 8 fill-ups (maximum 50L per fill-up).
That’s on top of the usual 2¢/L discount by having the card (or 7¢/L for Shell V-Power NiTRO+). You can use this discount from November 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025. That’s worth an extra $108 (27¢/L on 400L), plus what you’ll earn on the spending itself.
The BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard’s main benefit is the 25% discount on an AIR MILES Miles redemption for flights every calendar year (so 2 in your first year with the card). Let’s say you book a flight for 3,000 Miles, you save 750 Miles (≈ $79).
That’s not even included in our Flytrippers Valuation of the offer, as it’s always the case for benefits that are harder to value fairly for everyone — and this one really varies so much for each type of traveler.
Another benefit is that you get AIR MILES Onyx elite status automatically, meaning that you get unlimited transfers of Cash Miles into Dream Miles and vice versa, 1 pt/$5 on travel booked with AIR MILES Travel (instead of 1 pt/$15), a 5x multiplier if you bundled trips, and a few other exclusive benefits.
The card has a unique multiplier earn rate for Costco. You earn ≈ 1.75% (2 Miles per $12), which is at least better than the terrible CIBC Costco Mastercard that so many people sadly have (it’s normal not to know, but now you do: stop using that).
But that’s still very low compared to the ≈ 6% I earn at Costco with my American Express Cobalt Card or the 3.5% you can earn with the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card (the best deal right now) if you prefer rewards of the more simple type.
The prepaid card trick to use Amex at Costco is only recommended for purchases where you don’t need the extended warranty though (like food), so the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard has the best earn rate for the rest (excluding all cards on which you are unlocking a huge welcome bonus, obviously).
Finally, you also get a 2¢/7¢ discount at Shell, as mentioned. Combined with the multiplier earn rate od ≈ 2.63% (2 Miles per $12) at Shell, that can make this card competitive with the ≈ 7.5% or 6% back that you get with the above Amex cards thanks to the gift card trick (higher than at Costco, because gift cards are free unlike prepaid cards).
BMO AIR MILES MasterCard
The “Miles” portion of the welcome bonus went up by 87.5%! As with all no-annual-fee cards, it wasn’t very high to begin with, but this could make it a great time to apply for this card the same calendar day you apply for another card with a welcome bonus that’s actually good (we recommend never applying for a card with a low bonus alone, if you want to maximize)!
It’s actually one of the highest welcome bonuses ever seen in Canada on a no-fee card, because you also get the same fuel offer described above.
The BMO AIR MILES MasterCard’s main benefit is the automatic AIR MILES Gold elite status. That gives you 1,000 Miles you can transfer per calendar year, 1 pt/$10 on travel booked with AIR MILES Travel (instead of 1 pt/$15), a 4x multiplier if you buy bundled trips, and a few other exclusive benefits.
You also get the same Shell discount, but you earn just ≈ 1.26% there (and an even more terrible earn rate everywhere else, as with almost all no-fee cards).
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Summary
For the first time in a while, the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard and BMO AIR MILES MasterCard offer increased welcome bonuses. They’re low compared to other great deals currently available, but if you wanted the AIR MILES cards and had been waiting for a higher offer, it could be a great time to apply.
What would you like to know about the increased welcome bonus for the 2 main BMO AIR MILES cards? Tell us in the comments below.
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