Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[Donald - my hero]

One final comment about the whole BMO MasterCard and Dollarama current offer of getting 5X the miles

This is because each merchant has a separate code or category that they fall under for credit card companies - all cards have different categories BTW, usually similar but not identical! This is no different that you earning more miles with your BMO MasterCard at ANY grocery store now, not just partner stores. BMO sees a transaction from let's say Zehrs on my credit card and the miles will drop into hubby's Airmiles account because that is the number we put on the application form for the Mastercard.

If you use your WestJet credit card the bonus you get will be given to your WESTJET account since that is the number you filled out when you applied. The only airmiles that card can generate are the tiny little piddly offers, spend x at Kernels get 10.

Is this getting any clearer for people? @bababear_50 ??

 

[cari12]

My observations Re: Dollarama & Mastercard

When I first started using Dollarama I couldn't understand how if they were not scanning my Airmiles card in the store how was I going to get the Airmiles.

Then I realized it is generated via the link I made online between my Mastercard and my Airmiles card.

Right now Airmiles earned at Dollarama must be via a Mastercard link and Airmiles.

I have two Mastercard cards connected to my Airmiles card and depending upon which one I use yes that particular one will generate Airmiles placed into my account.

*Who knows after Nov6th how the Dollarama connection will go..... maybe they will become more of a traditional sponsor with cash being allowed to earn Airmiles and actual showing of Airmiles card will become necessary.

I am kind of hoping it stays as a Mastercard linked offer because then they can’t exclude gift card purchases from earning the AM.

 

[ottawamom]

Just ran to Shell and bought 2 rounds of Coke products (one on DS the other on DH cards). Then popped in to Metro to finish up DH card with a $20 purchase.

They each have the 3,4,5 partners offer so I'll be going to Global Pet Foods on Monday and pick up some treats for the beast. All in DH and DS will earn 375AM each and I get 200AM. Not a bad weekend.

 

[Days In the Sun]

I thought it was a targeted offer just for me but I just checked my nieces account and it there under offers but you have to opt in so have a look under your offers.
Have until September 30th to complete.
View attachment 792183

Did you get the BMO weekend offer on that account? 4 accounts here have that offer, the only one that didn't get it was me but I had the BMO offer overlapping this one so I assumed that is why I didn't get it.

 

[bababear_50]

One final comment about the whole BMO MasterCard and Dollarama current offer of getting 5X the miles

This is because each merchant has a separate code or category that they fall under for credit card companies - all cards have different categories BTW, usually similar but not identical! This is no different that you earning more miles with your BMO MasterCard at ANY grocery store now, not just partner stores. BMO sees a transaction from let's say Zehrs on my credit card and the miles will drop into hubby's Airmiles account because that is the number we put on the application form for the Mastercard.

If you use your WestJet credit card the bonus you get will be given to your WESTJET account since that is the number you filled out when you applied. The only airmiles that card can generate are the tiny little piddly offers, spend x at Kernels get 10.

Is this getting any clearer for people? @bababear_50 ??

Yep
I finally found my last pair of reading glasses and it is much clearer now.
Thanks Hon
Hugs Mel

 

[juniorbugman]

Did you get the BMO weekend offer on that account? 4 accounts here have that offer, the only one that didn't get it was me but I had the BMO offer overlapping this one so I assumed that is why I didn't get it.

None of us have BMO cards so maybe that is why we got these offers.

 

[juniorbugman]

I am happy to report that my shop from Michaels has posted okay so I should get the 4 partner offer. Shopped last night, they picked it this morning and I picked it up this afternoon. Good to know that some partners are easy to shop at.

 

[hdrolfe]

So I booked March Break, the deal on Porter was good enough that it seemed like a good idea. I always regret not planning something for March Break early enough to get good flights. I booked a SeaWorld hotel for two nights when we arrive and then we will switch to Universal. Now to figure out how to do those parks! Kiddo wants to do all the coasters, I'm a little scared but we'll see. Hotels may change but I wanted something booked. He already told me I can't switch to Disney. Now, I need some more AM for the one day Disney ticket in December, and then we'll see what I can earn before March break, if I can get the SeaWorld hotel or maybe tickets it would be great. But even if not, still hoping to have a great time. Never gone away at March break before so this is new! We booked Aventura, kiddo liked the look of the big window, I probably would have preferred Cabana Bay. Now for some research.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I've been working on a post about the whole Mastercard and airmiles thing but it's taking longer than i expected! I want to provide enough details to make things clear without having a 5 page post
hopefully I'll have it done by the end of the weekend.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I've been working on a post about the whole Mastercard and airmiles thing but it's taking longer than i expected! I want to provide enough details to make things clear without having a 5 page post
hopefully I'll have it done by the end of the weekend.

And then they will announce something new that will change everything!

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I wish our metro stores took AM here. There was some kind of block for our area and only Safeway/Sobeys was allowed, so our Metros created their own points program.
I need to remember to go through AM shops for pick ups. Yesterday my sister asked me to get her some stuff at Michaels so I popped in to get it. Cursed myself for being out there mid Saturday afternoon, then cursed myself afterwards for not going online to do it to get points and save myself time!!

 

[bababear_50]

I completely forgot that Michael's was a Airmiles sponsor.

 

[juniorbugman]

I wish our metro stores took AM here. There was some kind of block for our area and only Safeway/Sobeys was allowed, so our Metros created their own points program.
I need to remember to go through AM shops for pick ups. Yesterday my sister asked me to get her some stuff at Michaels so I popped in to get it. Cursed myself for being out there mid Saturday afternoon, then cursed myself afterwards for not going online to do it to get points and save myself time!!

Yes it is sometimes better to let them wander around the store especially if you ordered sale or clearance items. Let them hunt them down. But the bad thing is sometimes you don't know the size of the item and are either shocked by the size or disappointed because it is smaller than you thought.

 

[bababear_50]

I have been looking for Miracle Whip salad dressing for over a month.
Sobeys had some but the expiry date was May 2023,,asked the manager to remove it was all expired..

Fresh Co
Good till Nov 2023,,,nope

Metro
Good till Sept 2023...nope.

I just did my yearly dry /can good stock up and ended up at Food Basics......everything was good till 2025!
Miracle Whip Feb 2024,,,,well at least good for almost 6 months.

Sobeys & Metro used to be my kind of fresh products store ,,,not so much lately.

So no Airmiles or Points but at least fresher products.
Hugs Mel

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

@hdrolfe Wait for Cyber Monday / Black Friday and see if SeaWorld has deals. We got them BOGO free. Now, that was in 2018, so who knows.

 

[hdrolfe]

@ilovetotravel1977 Thanks for that! I will wait on the SW tickets and hopefully get a good deal for that at least At least it's not like Disney has been where you need a ticket to reserve your park. So the tickets can wait a bit.

Went to Shell and spent $7, so got my 1 AM, plus some bonus AM I wasn't expecting. At least I earned the 200 AM for that and Metro this weekend. I've been doing 70% Dream and 30% Cash, just switched to 80% Dream and 20% Cash, need more Dream miles but I like getting gas free every so often. I am not sure how the bonuses will post, but regardless, it will be for anything going forward.

 

[40ariel]

Anyone else having difficulty with the airmiles site booking hotels? Every time I try, I get the following message

Sorry, we are experiencing some technical difficulties.​

 

[Donald - my hero]

BMO, MasterCard and all things connected to earning Airmiles​

BMO acquired the Airmiles program in 2023 and we're currently living in the honeymoon phase of this new arrangement while BMO tries to maximize their customer base. They are using the linked offers (info below) as a way to attract both customers and merchants to join the program and/or open up a credit card. They are offering big bonuses that you need to OPT-in to activate, they change regularly and are targeted, meaning you must check your account and/or Airmiles App frequently. You need to watch carefully and be sure that the offer says "Ready to use" and appears under your Saved Offers on your Airmiles Account.

Two different cards that you can open:
BMO MasterCard - for the rest of this post (and throughout the thread for me) I'll refer to it as the BASIC Card
BMO World Elite Card - I'll refer to this as the ELITE Card (and one that will forever be un-named!)
General Info:

Benefit	BASIC	ELITE	UNKNOWN
Annual Fee	None	120 (1st year waived currently)
Additional Card	$ (no idea!)	$50
Miles at Partner stores	3 miles/$25	3 miles/$12	1 mile/$15
Miles at Stand alone grocery stores	2 miles/$25	2 miles/$12	1 mile/$15
Miles everywhere else	1 mile/$25	1 mile/$12	1.5 miles/$15 at SHELL
Airmiles Status automatically	Gold	Onyx

When you apply for either of the BMO Credit cards you will need to add an Airmiles number to the application form and once you are approved any transaction made using the main credit card and any additional cards will generate miles as shown above. The miles will post ONLY to that account, BMO assigns a code to each merchant and will only see the total charged to your card.

****This has NOTHING to do with any offers that come directly from Airmiles, partner stores, linked offers or online shopping. These miles are ONLY connected to how much you spend and where you shopped. There is ZERO chance for these miles to post connected to any Airmiles account other than the one used to open the credit card****

You are able to link ANY MasterCard that is issued within Canada to an Airmiles account.
This will allow you to earn small bonuses that are outlined here: CARD LINKED OFFERS
You can add a WestJet Mastercard if you want, that will ONLY let you earn the small miles mentioned on the above webpage, nothing else, no base miles, just those small detailed offers.
If you try to link the BMO Basic or Elite card to a DIFFERENT Airmiles account than was used to open the credit card, all you will do is stop the small linked offers from posting to that "Main" account. The "Linked Offers" are ONLY for the small tiny bonuses and there is no benefit to unlinking your BMO credit card, it is already connected to your Airmiles account , why not get those smaller bonuses as well? Remember the comment above, you can't stop miles posting to the account used to open your BMO credit card, that will happen automatically.
***ETA - linking the BMO Mastercard to a different Airmiles account has worked for some people and led to the linked offer posting to that account. HOWEVER, that is all that will post to that account, just the small offers, not the miles connected to using your BMO card as a method of payment as stated above.


CURRENT big offer until November 6th
Confusion is being created by the fact that Dollarama is also a linked offer.

Dollarama - ANY transaction using your BMO Basic or Elite card will automatically trigger 5x the normal earn rate in the above chart.
Basic card will earn 5 miles/$25 spent
Elite card will earn 5 miles/$12 spent
Unknown card will earn 5 miles/$15 spent
NO need to show your Airmiles card, this happens automatically, BMO has assigned a merchant code to Dollarama and they will know you have spent money - all they care about is the bottom line on the receipt - tax included. They don't care what you buy at Dollarama, just that you used your BMO issued Mastercard which already has your Airmiles account number attached to it.
If by some mistake or confusion you've attempted to link your BMO Mastercard to a different Airmiles account these miles will STILL post to the account that you used to open the credit card.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Please read thru the above post I've put together about BMO MasterCard and let me know if you notice any errors or if you think something needs to be clearer. Once I'm satisfied with the info I'll add it to the first page for easier referencing moving forward. Thanks for helping me to sort out this mess!

ETA - the reason so many of us are confused is because Airmiles really doesn't want to encourage households maintaining more than one account.

 

[juniorbugman]

Benefit	BASIC	ELITE
Annual Fee	None	120 (1st year waived currently)
Additional Card	$ (no idea!)	$50
Miles at Partner stores	3 miles/$12	3 miles/$25
Miles at Stand alone grocery stores	2 miles/$12	2 miles/$25
Miles everywhere else	1 mile/$12	1 mile/$25

Jacqueline I think you have the values swapped up above. I think the elite should be the spend $12 and the spebd $25 should be the basic.

Please read thru the above post I've put together about BMO MasterCard and let me know if you notice any errors or if you think something needs to be clearer. Once I'm satisfied with the info I'll add it to the first page for easier referencing moving forward. Thanks for helping me to sort out this mess!

ETA - the reason so many of us are confused is because Airmiles really doesn't want to encourage households maintaining more than one account.