There was major news in Canada’s aviation world Friday: WestJet, the country’s 2nd largest airline, sold a 25% stake to major global players. This comes in addition to several other major recent changes at WestJet: Sunwing integration, new WestJet points, new online shopping portal, and even a new partnership with Canadian Tire!
That’s a lot, so I’m summarizing the essentials of this airline’s updates regarding this airline that we haven’t covered much because frankly it was quite uninteresting… but it is certainly a bit more interesting now!
In addition to Porter becoming a true major airline and launching new credit cards with absolutely phenomenal offers (≈ $1142 (CAD 1590) in points redeemable on Air Transat or Porter), the more competitive future of the Canadian travel rewards market gives us reason to be optimistic!
The precious Air Canada Aeroplan points have a bit more competition.
Here are the WestJet updates.
Purchase of stake in WestJet by Delta, Korean Air, and Air France-KLM
This is really major news. Big global players are buying shares of WestJet.
Here is the essential:
- Onex Partners is selling 25% of WestJet
- It’s the investment firm that owns WestJet
- For US$550 million
- That’s 767 million CAD
- There are 3 separate transactions
- Korean Air is buying 10% for US$220M
- Delta is buying 15% for US$330M
- Air France-KLM will buy 2.3% from Delta for US$50M
- All these airlines are in the SkyTeam alliance
- And are already WestJet partners
Here is what this means:
- WestJet could join SkyTeam
- That would be absolutely wonderful
- WestJet will be a much stronger competitor
- The new owners are huge players
- It could be negative on specific routes
- Because the airlines will coordinate more
SkyTeam alliance
The hope of all travelers interested in travel rewards is that WestJet joins the SkyTeam alliance, and this news makes that much more probable!
This doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen. But it would certainly be the next logical step in WestJet’s transformation from a low-cost carrier to the legacy airline it has been for several years now.
I actually shared with you this week the many upcoming changes within global airline alliances and how vital alliances are in the travel rewards world.
The promotion that gave me 1 million points in the fall involved flying 15 SkyTeam airlines, so you can learn more about them in my reviews of the 17 airlines from my round-the-world trip.
Stronger competitor
Overall, the news is great for all travelers. Because it will make WestJet stronger… and stronger competitors force others to improve and/or lower their prices.
Air Canada has a huge share of the Canadian market, and as mentioned in the intro, the fact that Porter is growing significantly and now WestJet is becoming increasingly global can only be positive.
We really only have one truly global Canadian airline, and this more intimate partnership with Delta, Korean Air, and Air France-KLM (2 airlines which have merged) will help make WestJet a bit more on par with Air Canada.
Financially, these are also all huge airlines, so it’s very positive for a relatively small player (on a global scale) like WestJet.
Coordination between airlines
Of course, there will be slightly less competition in certain markets since WestJet will coordinate its activities more with its new minority owners.
This is more than compensated for by the fact that the airline will be stronger and therefore able to compete more seriously with Air Canada.
Sunwing integration
WestJet has a very limited presence in Eastern Canada, but Sunwing has a strong presence, given the unfortunate obsession so many people have for all-inclusives.
If you didn’t know, Sunwing was entirely purchased by WestJet, and their 18 aircraft and all their crews are all being integrated into the WestJet fleet and team.
In other words, there will no longer be Sunwing planes. All flights will be operated by WestJet flights.
The integration is ongoing and should be completed May 29, 2025, after years of preparation.
The big advantage is that this will give much more flight options on which you can use your WestJet dollars points (see next section). Especially for those of us in the eastern part of the country.
The concept of real trips purchased independently and booked separately, as the vast majority of humans on Earth do, seemed quite unknown to Sunwing, which existed more to transport all-inclusive customers than to be a real airline.
(On the only flight in my life I took on Sunwing, the employees didn’t even understand that one-way flights existed 🤦😅! If you’ve read our tips for cheaper flights, you know that pros almost always book separate one-ways instead of roundtrips for short-distance flights!)
So it’s clearly also a good thing for real travelers to see this airline integrated into a traditional airline.
New WestJet points (formerly WestJet dollars)
The currency of the WestJet Rewards program was very strangely called the WestJet dollar, probably because of the even more unfortunate obsession that far too many people have for absolutely terrible cash back.
That’s over. Since April 30, all WestJet dollars have been converted to WestJet points, a much more logical system, like pretty much every airline in the world uses.
The value is the same, sadly, meaning not particularly very good. But at least they’re revamping their program, and there’s hope that new redemptions will become possible eventually. We’re keeping an eye on this, obviously.
Especially with closer partnerships with other airlines, we’ll hope for more options in terms of points redemptions (friendly reminder that if you want to maximize the value of your Aeroplan points, the basics are to redeem them on the 40+ partner airlines… not on Air Canada).
There have been several other changes to the WestJet program at the same time as the switch from dollars to points, but honestly, it’s not very relevant for most travelers (except the one in the next section).
Here is what also changed:
- New points redemption options (bad ones)
- Better points earning on WestJet flights
- Better earning of the elite status qualification instrument
- Threshold rewards for elite status members
- Improved elite status qualification through credit card spending
Our revamped, detailed guides on WestJet points, Aeroplan points, and VIPorter points will be published soon for all the details.
New WestJet online shopping portal
All pros use online shopping portals for absolutely everything they buy. So simple, but still far too unknown, unfortunately.
(It’s for EARNING points, never for REDEEMING them!!! Just to be very clear, because many unfortunately confuse this, and never redeeming points for anything other than travel is really the most basic thing!)
The best portal is the Aeroplan eStore, and WestJet wants to compete with that: the new WestJet eStore shopping portal is now available.
I’ll update our guide on online shopping portals to include this new player (and others), but basically, it’s likely to be relatively rare that this is the best portal. Because WestJet points have a low fixed value, so Aeroplan points are better if the earn rate is the same. Also, the Rakuten cash back portal is much simpler if you don’t want points of the more lucrative type.
As with literally everything in the travel world, all you have to do is always just take the time to compare all options. Simple. But it does take some time. Shopping portal earn rates vary constantly, so check all 4 of them for everything you need to buy.
New partnership with Canadian Tire, SportChek, Mark’s, etc.
Another big news item was announced by WestJet this week before the sale of 25% of shares.
It’s a long-term strategic partnership with Canadian Tire and their Triangle Rewards program (also used at SportCheck, Mark’s Work Warehouse, Sports Experts, L’Équipeur, and other stores).
Since the vast majority of people unfortunately haven’t understood that rewards earning is mainly done with credit cards (and mainly with credit card welcome bonuses specifically), rewards programs give an outsized importance to earning points from merchants.
But it’s still positive: partnerships like this give you more points ON TOP OF those from credit cards! It’s on top of those! These are free points, you have to take them all!
The key remains not to think it will be fast without credit cards; you especially need to get credit card points! But take all the others too, of course. Read our guide on how to earn more rewards if you haven’t already.
In short, starting in 2026, it will be possible to earn both WestJet points and Canadian Tire money at Canadian Tire, SportCheck, Mark’s Sports Experts, L’Équipeur, and other brands.
To be very clear, this won’t be a choice between one currency or the other: you’ll simply earn twice as many rewards!
The reverse is also true: booking flights on WestJet will give you WestJet points and Canadian Tire money. No specific details have been revealed at this stage.
Credit cards from both programs will also eventually have multiplier earn rates at both partners, but again, we don’t know more.
It will also be possible to transfer WestJet points to Canadian Tire money, but if you know the basics at all, you know this is likely to be a terrible idea.
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Summary
The last few weeks have been very busy at WestJet, with many important changes. The sale of 25% of shares to big global airlines is major, but the Sunwing integration and the new WestJet Rewards program (with a shopping portal and a partnership with Canadian Tire) are also positive developments.
What would you like to know about the WestJet changes for 2025? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: WestJet airplane (photo credit: David Syphers)
