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Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review

GUIDE

Canadian Card Points Transfer Partners

Canadian card points transfer partners are the airline and hotel loyalty programmes that a rewards currency earned on a Canada-issued credit card can be moved into.

Facts checked: 18 October 2026

Key takeaways

  • Airline points can also arrive by flying rather than by transferring: WestJet awards its points on Delta-marketed and operated flights by distance and class of service, with no card points moving [8].
  • The transfer rules set out in the sources come from the US Membership Rewards FAQ: points go into a linked partner account, the names on both accounts must match, and every transfer is final [9].

Redeeming, transferring and earning

Points can leave a Canadian card account in more than one way, and only one of those ways is a transfer to a partner programme. BMO says its BMO Rewards points can be redeemed for products and gift cards from a catalogue, for a contribution to a BMO savings or investment account, and through Pay with Points against eligible purchases including flights, hotels, car rentals, vacation packages and cruises [5]. Those are redemptions inside the issuer's own programme, and the page does not describe moving points into an airline or hotel loyalty account [5].

Earning partner points by flying is a separate mechanism again. WestJet publishes distance bands that award WestJet points on Delta Air Lines-marketed and operated flights, including Delta Connection flights, ranging from 300 points in economy on flights of up to 500 miles to 1,000 points on flights over 2,000 miles, plus a class-of-service bonus where one applies [8]. Silver, Gold and Platinum members earn 50%, 75% and 100% more respectively on partner-marketed flights [8]. WestJet asks members to allow up to 30 days for those points to post and says they do not count towards tier or milestone qualifying spend [8].

A card benefit can also look like a point movement without being one. On the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard, every $5,000 in eligible purchases earns the equivalent of CAD 200 in tier qualifying spend, up to 50 times in a qualifying year, which WestJet describes as 10,000 CAD in tier qualifying spend [7]. That amount has no monetary or exchange value and cannot be sold or transferred, and it cannot be redeemed for flights [7].

How a published transfer works

The American Express customer-service page explains transfers for US Membership Rewards accounts: eligible customers can move points to participating frequent flyer or hotel loyalty programmes, and must first link their Rewards Account to the partner account [9]. The name on the card and the name on the partner account must be the same for the accounts to link and the transfer to succeed [9]. The partner account must belong to the cardholder or to an Additional Card Member linked to the Rewards Account, and that Additional Card must have been issued at least 90 days before the link is made [9].

Two cautions come with those mechanics. All points transfers are final and cannot be reversed, so the page advises checking award availability and the number of points needed before completing a transfer [9]. Once points reach the partner account they are governed by that programme's terms and conditions, and the cardholder should check the partner account to confirm the points arrived before redeeming [9].

What the Canadian pages publish

The general concepts are explained in transfer ratio and transfer time, and the practical sequence in the transfer points checklist.

Exceptions and limits

  • No reversing a transfer. A completed points transfer cannot be undone, even if the award space disappears afterwards [9].
  • Name and account matching. A transfer fails if the card name and the partner account name differ, and a partner account held by an Additional Card Member is only eligible if that card was issued at least 90 days before linking [9].
  • Partner rules take over. Transferred points are subject to the partner programme's terms and conditions once they arrive [9].
  • Spend exclusions. On the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard, eligible purchases exclude cash advances, balance transfers, cash-like transactions, interest charges and fees, and bill payments that are not pre-authorised merchant charges [7].
  • Statement cut-off and reset. Purchases posted after the December statement date fall into the next qualifying year, and Status Lifts and eligible purchases reset to zero at the start of each qualifying year [7]. For a new account, the qualifying year runs from the first statement date to 31 December [7].
  • Primary cardholder only. Purchases by any cardholder count towards the $5,000 threshold, but only the primary cardholder receives the tier qualifying spend [7]. WestJet reserves the right to remove Status Lifts and tier upgrades if the card account is closed before the end of the qualifying year, and WestJet and Royal Bank of Canada may change or withdraw the benefit at any time [7].

Sources

Sources checked on 18 October 2026. No Canadian issuer transfer-partner list, ratio, minimum transfer amount or transfer time appears in the sources checked, so none is reported. Aeroplan and other Canadian airline programmes, hotel loyalty programmes, and the Canadian Membership Rewards, RBC, CIBC, TD and Scotiabank card currencies are not covered here; the Membership Rewards material cited is from the US programme's help page, not a Canadian one.

  1. BMO rewards credit cards page, checked 18 October 2026
  2. WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard Status Lift page, checked 18 October 2026
  3. WestJet Rewards Delta Air Lines partner page, checked 18 October 2026
  4. American Express US: how to transfer Membership Rewards points, checked 18 October 2026