travelsg

I'm a AA platinum, but flying a lot of WS lately. So far I've been banking my miles into AA, since they are partners. But wonder is there any benefit to change to WS TravelBank? It seems a really straightforward system (I like simple systems). Any comments?

sokolov

It is simple and straighforward, yes. That is what I like about it. It should also be more difficult to devalue WestJet Dollars, as other airlines like to do with their points/miles from time to time.

Please note that "Travelbank" is the wrong word. :-) You are talking about WestJet Dollars. WestJet also has Travelbanks - that is where residual value goes if you cancel a ticket that was not refundable. You can use the value of the Travelbank within a year (of the date of cancellation, IIRC - so cancelling last minute can be a good idea). But Travelbank values can NOT be used in combination with any discount codes or similar promotions.

WestJet Dollars, however, can be used to pay for part of a ticket, even if you use discount codes. (Only the "fare" part, not the taxes and fees. Also, you will be charged full sales tax on the amount paid with WestJet Dollars, so I prefer to redeem them for international flights.)

Unless you hold a WestJet credit card, you need to redeem at least 20 WestJet Dollars at once. (Or has that changed recently?) In my experience, you can not use WestJet Dollars for seat upgrades or onboard purchases (Icelandair offers that with their program, very useful!). I don't know about luggage fees.

travelsg

Thank you so much, sokolov. I didn't realize there was a difference between WestJet Dollars and TravelBank... Good to know...

skofz

The OP does raise a good question that hasn't really been answered: With these upcoming program changes, is it better to bank miles with AA or collect WestJet rewards?

For me, the analysis looks something like this. I fly most often between YYZ and YWG. For easy math let's say I pay $500 for a round-trip. I can credit to AA and get 1872 miles as a basic non-status member, or credit to WS and get 1-5% or $5-25 back in rewards.

I value my AA points at about $0.02 each. I figure 25,000 points gets me a round trip in North America, and that's worth about $500. (I could get more bang for my buck by redeeming for int'l business class flights, but let's keep it simple.)

So with AA, 1872 miles @ $0.02 ea = $37.44.

With WS, as a lowly Teal I'm only getting $5. As a Gold I'd get $25.

If my motivation is to maximize return on the rewards, it seems like a no brainer to keep banking with AA. However, WS does offer the advantage of being able to redeem for any flight.

Anyone else look at this and come to different conclusions?

sokolov

Thank you for spelling that out. Very interesting. Are your 0.02/AAmile in US or Canadian currency? :-)

Note that you can redeem 20 WestJet Dollars. So you'd need 4 return trips before you could redeem anything. The minimum redemption for AA is 12,500 miles (oneway within/between US&Canada), so you'd need 7 return trips before you could redeem anything.

But the redemption value should be much higher than 20 or even 40 Dollars, whether they are Canadian or US. :-) The question is if you can find available award space...

skofz

I think you hit at the crux of it.... if you want a simple, easy to understand system, with ability to quickly redeem rewards, WestJet seems like the way to go. If you want to maximize ROI and are willing to hold out for AA award availability, you can probably do better with AA... regardless of whether the loonie is at 80c or $1.10 :-)

sofasurfer

Are the DUB/GLA segments also eligible for earning AA miles?

sokolov

I may have been wrong on that one. I should have said: WestJet Dollars, however, can be used to pay for part of a ticket originating in Canada and paid in Canadian Dollars, even if you use discount codes.

If you depart, for instance, in the US, you will be charged in USD. You can use WestJet Dollars for that, but you have to book through the call centre. In my past experience, WestJet-agents refused to add discount codes. Those work on the website only, I was told. :-(