We aren’t big AIR MILES rewards customers. We have a credit card with a very low limit which we use for online purchases to reduce the risk of exposing our high limit card to fraud. That credit card earns us the occasional Air Mile. We also get a few Miles when we purchase groceries at Metro, wine at the LCBO, or clothes at one store our children like. We don’t shop at any of those locations frequently, though, so we don’t have many points. Still when I heard most of our AIR MILES were going to expire on December 31 2016, I went online to try to redeem them for something we might use.
What Is the AIR MILES Expiry Date?
Any AIR MILES earned 5 years ago or more will expire on December 31, 2016. From then on, when a Mile reaches 5 years of age, it will expire on the next March 31, June 30, September 30 or December 31.
Once AIR MILES have expired, they vanish. They have no value after they expire. It’s as if they never were earned.
How Can I Check When My AIR MILES Will Expire?
Go to the AIR MILES website at https://www.airmiles.ca/arrow/Home
In the text field under How many miles do you have? type your
Collector Number
And click on the Go button.
At the top right side of the screen is a choice called Your Profile.
Hover on the downwards pointing arrowhead beside Your Profile.
From the menu, select View Transactions.
You will be asked to enter your PIN.
(If you have forgotten your PIN, click on the Forgot Pin/Need Help link.)
In the text field type your
PIN
And click on the Continue button.
The Your Account Page
There is a list of choices under the heading Your Account.
Click on the Request an Expiry Statement link.
Check whether the email address they have on file is correct.
(If not, click on the link Update my email address in my Profile.)
If it is correct, click on the Submit request button.
If all goes well, you will get a green check mark and a Success! Comment in a green highlighted bar.
You should receive an email in 12-24 hours listing your AIR MILES and when they expire.
They warn you to check your Spam and Junk mile folder for the email.
If you’re finished with your AIR MILES transactions, from the top right side of the screen, click on Sign Out.
When Did I Get My AIR MILES Expiry Statement?
I’m waiting to see when I get my report.
I made the request at 6:24 EST Sunday July 17 2016.
I got the report on Monday July 18. So it is fast. It lists how many points will expire at each of the four next expiry dates.
For What Did I Redeem My AIR MILES?
The pickings are pretty slim for people with only a few hundred AIR MILES like me.
So far, I’ve redeemed my points for some tickets to the Calgary Zoo (to see the Penguins!) and to the Toronto Zoo (to see the Pandas!). You can see we’re going for a “black and white creatures” theme this summer.
I noticed, though, that they are limiting the number of tickets available to these zoos to 12 pairs of tickets per calendar quarter. That’s not very many happy AIR MILES customers!
They also are not “e-tickets.” You have to wait to get passes in the mail, and it could take 3-4 weeks for them to put those passes into the mail. With a mail strike pending!
When the mail strike was imminent a week or two ago, by the way, they refused to let you try to redeem the AIR MILES for these rewards at all.
UPDATE: The Calgary Zoo tickets have arrived so that took one week.
I suspect the passes will have to be redeemed for tickets at the zoos after waiting in a line for a long time. I’ll see how that goes when we get them and use them.
Do I Think AIR MILES Is a Good Reward Program?
No.
The only reason I belong is that it costs me nothing.
And back in the olden days, I used to get some reasonable deals buying diapers at Metro and getting AIR MILES and then using the AIR MILES to get $20 gift certificates for Metro. It worked out that I was getting the diapers cheaper than from Costco or Wal-Mart, especially since I would wait for sales. They don’t offer the same incentives recently, I’ve noticed.
Will I Be Able to Use All of My AIR MILES Before They Expire?
I’m not sure. I have to wait for my Expiry Report!
Related Reading
Join In
Do you collect AIR MILES? Will you be able to use all of your Miles before they expire? Did you find any good uses for low numbers of Miles? Please share your experiences with a comment.