Air Miles
Air Miles is an internationally licensed coalition-loyalty brand whose programs allow members to earn points through participating merchants and redeem them for travel, merchandise, experiences, and other rewards.
Last updated August 21, 2026
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Overview
Air Miles is a coalition-loyalty brand created in the United Kingdom and subsequently licensed to operators in several countries. The original concept was developed in the 1980s around a simple proposition: consumers could collect a common reward currency from purchases at multiple participating businesses and exchange accumulated points for travel and other benefits. The first program began operating in the United Kingdom in November 1988, initially with British Airways involvement and a broad network of retail, financial-services, fuel, travel, and utility partners. The brand later expanded into Canada, the Netherlands, the Middle East, and, for a short period, the United States. Air Miles programs are not a single globally integrated operating company. Instead, the brand has historically been managed through separate national or regional arrangements. This structure allowed local operators to recruit sponsors, determine earning rules, establish redemption catalogues, and develop partnerships suited to their markets. The Canadian program, launched in 1992, became the most prominent North American operation and developed into one of the country's best-known coalition loyalty schemes. Canadian members earned miles through retail, fuel, financial, telecommunications, and online-shopping partners, and could use them for travel, merchandise, entertainment, gift cards, and other rewards. The program also supported digital accounts, physical cards, shopping portals, and co-branded credit cards. The Canadian business experienced several significant changes. Alliance Data acquired the Canadian operation in 1998, and its loyalty-services activities were subsequently associated with LoyaltyOne. In 2011, the Canadian program announced a five-year expiry policy for points, creating substantial consumer controversy when the first large-scale expiry deadline approached in 2016. LoyaltyOne later reversed the planned expiry shortly before the deadline, following public criticism and proposed legislative action in Ontario. The program also lost several important sponsors, including Lowe's and its Canadian retail subsidiaries, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Staples Canada, and the Sobeys and Safeway banners. In March 2023, LoyaltyOne entered Canadian insolvency proceedings and a related United States Chapter 11 process. Bank of Montreal agreed to acquire the remaining Canadian Air Miles operating business for US$160 million, with the transaction completed on June 1, 2023. American Express subsequently ended its Canadian Air Miles credit-card relationship and migrated eligible customers to products connected with its Membership Rewards program. In January 2026, Bank of Montreal announced plans to replace the Canadian program with Blue Rewards beginning in summer 2026, while Shell Canada announced that it would leave Air Miles for Scene+. The announced transition means that the Canadian operating program has a defined successor, although Air Miles continues as a brand and licensed loyalty platform in other markets. The Netherlands program launched in 1994 after recruitment of anchor partners including ABN AMRO, Albert Heijn, Shell, Vroom & Dreesmann, and KLM. It initially emphasized travel and leisure rewards and later added a broad merchandise catalogue. The program remains a significant Dutch loyalty scheme despite changes in partner participation and consumer usage. In the Middle East, Rewards Management Middle East operates a unified program across the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, with partners in banking, grocery, electronics, jewelry, food service, and aviation. Air Miles therefore represents both a historic travel-rewards idea and a family of locally operated coalition programs whose partners, ownership arrangements, redemption rules, and long-term status differ by market.
History
The Air Miles concept emerged in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. Keith Mills and collaborators developed a coalition-rewards model in which a common currency could be earned from unrelated participating businesses and redeemed for flights and other travel benefits. Air Miles Travel Promotions Limited was formed in 1986, and British Airways acquired a substantial interest in the UK operation. The consumer program launched in November 1988 with the advertising slogan “Stop dreaming. Start collecting.” It quickly built a large membership base and became a major UK loyalty proposition. The original operator, Loyalty Management Group, licensed the concept internationally. Separate national programs were subsequently established in Canada, the Netherlands, the United States, and the Middle East. The programs shared the Air Miles name and visual identity but were not identical businesses. Local operators negotiated with sponsors, administered member accounts, selected rewards, and determined the applicable earning and expiry rules. The Canadian operation began in 1992 and became one of the country's largest coalition loyalty programs. In 1998, Alliance Data acquired the business. Alliance Data's loyalty activities later became associated with LoyaltyOne, which managed the Canadian program and its sponsor network. Canadian members could earn points from retail, fuel, banking, telecommunications, travel, and online-shopping partners. Rewards included flights, hotels, merchandise, entertainment, electronics, gift cards, and other catalogue items. The program later divided redemption propositions into categories commonly associated with flexible in-store or promotional use and travel-oriented redemption. Air Miles Canada also experimented with purpose-led marketing. In 2009, the My Planet initiative allowed members to redeem points for environmentally oriented products and services, including public-transit passes, organic textiles, and electric scooters. The initiative was later extended into participating stores and point-of-sale activity. The Canadian program's most serious consumer controversy concerned point expiry. In 2011, it announced that points would expire five years after being earned, with older balances scheduled to expire at the beginning of 2017. As the deadline approached, members and media raised concerns about difficulty redeeming balances, customer-service experiences, the availability of rewards, and whether the program was making redemption unnecessarily difficult. LoyaltyOne reversed the expiry policy in December 2016, citing impending legislative action in Ontario. The episode damaged confidence in the program and illustrated the tension between a loyalty scheme's accounting economics and members' expectations that accumulated rewards remain usable. The program later experienced sponsor attrition. Lowe's, Rona, and Réno-Dépôt left in early 2021, and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario ended its participation that March. Staples Canada and the Sobeys and Safeway banners withdrew or began withdrawing in 2022. These departures reduced the breadth of the Canadian earning network and increased competitive pressure from other loyalty ecosystems. On March 10, 2023, LoyaltyOne entered Canadian bankruptcy proceedings and a related US Chapter 11 process. Bank of Montreal agreed to purchase the remaining Canadian Air Miles operating business for US$160 million, completing the acquisition on June 1, 2023. The transaction did not make Air Miles a single global corporate program: trademark and licensing rights, including rights held by Diversified Royalty Corp. in Canada, remained a separate issue. American Express then announced the wind-down of Canadian Air Miles co-branded cards and moved eligible customers toward Membership Rewards products. The UK program followed a different path. In 2011, it was combined with British Airways' separate BA Miles scheme and renamed Avios. The change also introduced a different treatment of taxes and charges on travel rewards, prompting negative reactions from some former Air Miles users. The US program, launched in 1992, was unsuccessful and stopped operating in 1993. The Dutch program launched in 1994 with anchor partners such as ABN AMRO, Albert Heijn, Shell, Vroom & Dreesmann, and KLM. It initially emphasized travel, leisure, rail, ferry, and attraction rewards, later adding a broad merchandise catalogue. Participation changed after ABN AMRO left and Albert Heijn narrowed its issuance rules, but the Dutch program remained active. The Middle Eastern program, operated by Rewards Management Middle East, serves the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain as one regional scheme. It has partnered with banks, supermarkets, electronics retailers, jewelry businesses, restaurants, and airlines. In January 2026, BMO announced that the Canadian program would be replaced by Blue Rewards in summer 2026. Shell Canada separately announced its move to Scene+. These announcements mark a major transition for the Canadian incarnation, while licensed Air Miles programs in the Netherlands and Middle East continue under their own regional arrangements.
- 2026
Canadian program is scheduled to transition to Blue Rewards
[1]BMO announced that Blue Rewards would replace the Canadian Air Miles program beginning in summer 2026.
- 2023
BMO acquires Canadian operating business
[1]Bank of Montreal completed its acquisition of the remaining Canadian Air Miles operating business following LoyaltyOne insolvency proceedings.
- 2016
Canadian expiry policy is reversed
[1]The planned large-scale expiry of Canadian points was cancelled shortly before the deadline amid consumer and political pressure.
- 2011
Canadian points-expiry policy announced
[1]The Canadian program announced a five-year expiry rule for points.
- 2011
UK Air Miles becomes Avios
[1]The UK scheme was combined with BA Miles and rebranded as Avios.
- 2009
My Planet initiative launches in Canada
[1]Air Miles Canada introduced a redemption initiative focused on environmentally oriented products and services.
- 2001
Middle East program launches
[1]A regional Air Miles program began operating across the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain.
- 1998
Alliance Data acquires Air Miles Canada
[1]The Canadian operation was acquired by Alliance Data and later became part of its LoyaltyOne-related loyalty-services structure.
- 1994
Dutch program launches
[1]The Netherlands program launched with major banking, grocery, fuel, department-store, and airline partners.
- 1992
Canadian program launches
[1]Air Miles began operating in Canada as a multi-sponsor points and rewards program.
Products and positioning
A mass-market, multi-partner loyalty and rewards platform linking consumers, merchants, financial institutions, travel providers, and reward suppliers.
Coalition loyalty program · 1988
Air Miles loyalty program
The core offering is a membership account through which consumers earn Air Miles from eligible purchases at participating sponsors. Depending on the country and operator, members may collect through retailers, fuel stations, banks, credit cards, online shopping portals, travel providers, utilities, and telecommunications companies. Accumulated points can generally be redeemed for travel, merchandise, entertainment, gift cards, or other rewards under the applicable regional rules.
Travel rewards · 1988
Air Miles travel rewards
Travel has historically been a central Air Miles redemption category. Regional programs have offered flights with participating airlines as well as hotels, car hire, cruises, rail journeys, ferries, package holidays, travel insurance, and leisure activities. Availability, airline relationships, taxes, fees, redemption rates, and booking conditions differ by market and by period.
Merchandise and shopping rewards · 1994
Air Miles shopping and merchandise rewards
Air Miles programs have used online shopping portals and reward catalogues to connect members with electronics, household goods, fashion, experiences, gift cards, and other merchandise. Canadian and Dutch operations developed broad catalogues, while online partners enabled members to earn or redeem through digital commerce. The exact catalogue and merchant list are operator-specific and change over time.
Financial-services loyalty product
Air Miles co-branded payment cards
Banks and card networks have issued payment cards linked to Air Miles accounts, allowing cardholders to earn points on eligible transactions. Canadian relationships included Bank of Montreal and American Express. American Express announced the wind-down of its Canadian Air Miles co-branded cards in 2023, so current availability depends on the specific market and issuer.
Purpose-led rewards initiative · 2009
My Planet
My Planet was a Canadian Air Miles initiative introduced in 2009 that directed members toward environmentally oriented reward choices. Initial examples included public-transit passes, organic cotton products, and electric scooters. The initiative was later extended to participating stores and points of sale.
Controversies
2016
Canadian points-expiry controversy
Members and media criticized the planned expiry of older Air Miles balances, citing redemption difficulties, customer-service problems, and concerns about the availability or presentation of rewards. The policy was reversed shortly before the deadline after public pressure and proposed legislative action in Ontario.
Marketing campaigns
- 2009My Planet
Canada
Air Miles promoted environmentally conscious redemption options, including public transportation and selected sustainable consumer products.
Outcome. The initiative expanded from a reward catalogue into participating-store and point-of-sale activity.
- 1988Stop dreaming. Start Collecting
United Kingdom
The launch campaign positioned Air Miles as a way for ordinary consumers to turn routine spending into future travel and rewards.
Outcome. The campaign helped the UK program build a large initial collector base.
Brand decisions
2026
Replace Canadian Air Miles with Blue RewardsGeneration changeBackground
Following the 2023 acquisition of the Canadian operating business, BMO announced a new direction for its Canadian loyalty proposition.
Action taken
BMO announced that Blue Rewards would replace Air Miles in Canada beginning in summer 2026.
Aftermath
The announcement marks the planned end of the Canadian Air Miles program while leaving licensed programs in other markets under separate regional arrangements.
2023
Sell the Canadian operating business to Bank of MontrealM&ABackground
LoyaltyOne entered insolvency proceedings in Canada and Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States.
Action taken
Bank of Montreal agreed to acquire the remaining Canadian Air Miles operating business for US$160 million and completed the transaction on June 1, 2023.
Aftermath
BMO became the operator of the Canadian business, while trademark and licensing rights remained a separate matter involving Diversified Royalty Corp.
Purchase price. US$160 million (Announced and completed in 2023)
2023
Wind down American Express Air Miles cards in CanadaStrategyBackground
American Express and Air Miles had maintained a Canadian co-branded credit-card relationship.
Action taken
American Express announced that it would end the partnership and transition eligible customers toward Membership Rewards products.
Aftermath
The Canadian program lost a major financial-services distribution and earning partner.
2011
Introduce a five-year points-expiry policy in CanadaStrategyBackground
The Canadian program sought to apply a time limit to accumulated points, including a schedule for older balances to expire.
Action taken
Air Miles Canada announced that points would expire after five years.
Aftermath
The policy generated substantial consumer criticism as the first major expiry deadline approached and was ultimately reversed in December 2016.
2011
Combine UK Air Miles with BA Miles and launch AviosGeneration changeBackground
British Airways operated Air Miles and a separate frequent-flyer scheme called BA Miles.
Action taken
The programs were combined and the UK Air Miles brand was replaced by Avios.
Aftermath
The change altered the treatment of taxes and charges on reward travel and prompted negative reactions from some former collectors.
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