I LOVE Travelling! My bank account doesn’t always love it…but I do! I also love travelling for less money, don’t you?
Despite being a nervous flyer, I live to travel. I love exploring other cities almost as much as I love living in Edmonton – and that’s a lot!
Now with two kids, it’s going to start getting more expensive to travel. I definitely still want to keep travelling in the budget! It’s so important for the growing mind, and I want my kids to experience as many different places as they can!
It All Starts with a Goal
One of my long term running goals is to complete a marathon before I’m 40.
I figured I should pick somewhere fun for the big moment – and I decided on DISNEYWORLD! A trip like this can get a bit costly for a family of four, especially when the Canadian dollar isn’t very strong. This is where Air Miles come into the picture. I posted on my Instagram story that I had over 20,000 points, and got an influx of questions on how I’ve been able to collect that many! I thought I’d share some of my best tips to collect Air Miles and help save for that next vacation!
Sign Up for an Air Miles Card
Obviously, to start collecting Air Miles you need to sign up for the card! You can do this on Airmiles.ca.
Get a Second (or Third) Card
If you have a significant other, make sure to get them a card too under your account. My husband didn’t have an Air Miles card so I ordered him one so we could start collecting to the same account! This way we could start collecting Air Miles faster because we’d both be able to collect on purchases! You may as well order an extra card or two as well. When we were aiming for Onyx status my Mom offered to take a card and helped us collect some Air Miles at the end of the year so we could hit our goal!
Do Your Grocery Shopping at Sobeys or Safeway
This is honestly the biggest reason we’ve been able to collect as many Air Miles as we have. Start being strategic with your grocery shopping and meal planning at the start of each week! We try to plan our big grocery shopping trips on Customer Appreciation Day (20x the Air Miles if you spend at least $50) or Blue Friday (mega Air Miles deals all over the store and a spend $100 get 100 Air Miles coupon is always included in the flyer). If you download the Sobeys App, you also get weekly Air Miles offers loaded onto your card! These aren’t advertised in store, and I believe they use your purchase history as most weeks there are items on there that I buy regularly already! I also suggest monitoring the weekly flyer! There are often “spend $100 get 100 Air Miles” coupons that pop up on weekends!
Apply for an Air Miles Credit Card
I just recently signed up for the BMO World Elite Air Miles Mastercard, and wish I would have done it sooner! 1000 bonus Air Miles when you make your first purchase, the chance to get another 2000 bonus Air Miles in the first few months of having the card, and you earn 1 Air Mile for every $10 you spend! Including the bonuses, I’ve almost earned 4000 Air Miles within the first month!
Use Air Miles Shops to Buy from your Favourite Retailers!
Did you know you can collect Air Miles just by shopping on Amazon? Well, you can! By using Air Miles Shops, you can shop through a special link and collect Air Miles on your purchase, even if the store isn’t somewhere that you would normally collect Air Miles! Some of the shops I frequently use through here are Sephora, Old Navy, the Gap, and Etsy! Air Miles Shops also has promotions throughout the year (Christmas in July, Black Friday, Boxing Day, etc) where you’ll earn 5-20x the points on your favourite stores so keep your eyes open for good deals.
Sign up for Emails
I get it, we all hate being on email lists. I do too, but usually I’m too lazy to unsubscribe and just hit delete instead because of FOMO (fear of missing out). You never want to miss a good deal! Find the partners you shop at most (for us it’s Sobey’s and Shell) and sign up for their Air Miles emails. Scroll through them when you receive them to see if anything catches your eye! They also often send out coupons and good deals with all of their partners.
Check Your Status!
I recently found out that you can book vacations using Air Miles on redtag.ca. When you log into the Air Miles portion of the website, you’ll see your points in the top left corner. Below it will be the equivalent in travel rewards, and it’s a great way to gage where you’re at and figure out how many points you’ll need for your dream vacation!
We still have a ways to go but I’m aiming to get to Disneyworld in January 2021. My goal is to have our flights and accommodations paid for by Air Miles. Will we get there? Only time will tell!
What’s your favourite way to earn travel points? Are there any tips that I’ve missed? Would love to hear your thoughts!
What did you think? Feel free to comment below!