| Why I think an airmile can be worth anywhere | | | | just keep it on you. If you shop at stores that |
| between 13 cents and 44 cents depending on | | | | are affiliated with them (Shell, SportChek, Turbo, |
| what you use it for. | | | | Boston Pizza, Safeway, Rona, etc) then you just |
| Air miles, Aeroplan points, HBC points, PetroPoints, | | | | hand them your card and you collect some points. |
| etc, etc, all the way back to Club Z Points at | | | | - You apply for a no fee BMO Mosaik Mastercard |
| Zellers. They seem like such a gimmick and just a | | | | and link it to your Air Miles card you got above. |
| way to influence your spending. The thing is, they | | | | They will give you 1 AirMile for every $40 you |
| are everywhere now and you can't really avoid it, | | | | spend on their credit card. For a yearly fee you |
| so you might as well take advantage of it. I have | | | | can increase the AirMiles you earn. You will get 1 |
| calculated how much I think they are worth so | | | | for every $20 you spend for $35/year (the silver |
| read on. | | | | card), or you get 1 for every $15 you spend for |
| I personally collect Air Miles and Aeroplan Points so | | | | $80/year (the gold card). The card upgrades can |
| I just talk about those. This posting is about Air | | | | also give you some cheaper AirMile rates on |
| Miles specifically, but the same techniques can be | | | | flights. |
| used to figure out Aeroplan. | | | | So you may get airmiles on any purchase if you |
| Basically, I value an airmile differently depending on | | | | use your Mastercard and at AirMile affiliates you |
| the product. Here is my summary. | | | | can "double dip" by collecting airmiles using your |
| Entertainment gifts are about 40 cents/airmile. | | | | blue card that they give you and paying for your |
| Travel is around 20 cents/airmile. | | | | actual purchase with your credit card and getting |
| Gift cards are around 10 cents/airmile. | | | | airmiles from BMO. |
| So when you see those "double your airmiles | | | | These points can later be used to buy flights, car |
| when you buy this..." deals, you can add up how | | | | rentals, gift cards, tickets, electronics, and a |
| much you are going to spend and how many | | | | variety of other products. With flights and car |
| airmiles you will get and see if it will actually pay | | | | rentals you will still have to pay the taxes, but the |
| for yourself. Unless of course you actually need | | | | base fees are covered by the air miles. |
| what you are buying, then it doesn't matter. How | | | | So this is the basics of the system. Now I will |
| to Collect Air Miles | | | | discuss what they are actually worth. |
| Air Miles, first of all, is free and there are two | | | | Continue reading the full article for details on how |
| different ways to collect. | | | | I calculated the value and if it is worth upgrading |
| - You can apply for the blue Air Miles card and | | | | your various reward cards. |