West Jet Dollars? Trying to figure them out...

[alohamom]

I am thinking of getting a rewards card as we are about to purchase yet another reno house.

I would love some of the expense to be offset by a rewards program so that we might at least get a flight or hotel stay out it.

I was thinking about the West Jet credit card and the West Jet Dollars program. My questions are...

Are they linked? Do you get West Jet Dollars for using their card elsewhere instead of just on flights.

How many does it take to fly somewhere. I cannot seem to find a chart or get a handle on them. You get a bonus upon sign up of 250 but that means nada to me if I dont know how many I need in the future.

Any downside to this card or the West Jet Dollars program in general?

Thoughts on other rewards credit cards-any that you suggest?

Thanks for any help everyone!

 

[mort1331]

so we both have a westjet MC. The one with the 250 bonus miles for the first year. there is $120 annual fee, but your getting 250 for the first year. the other bonus is companion flights for starting at 99 plus taxes.
It is a simple program, they are $ not miles. So you can use them on any flight for westjet. No need to figure out how many you need, it just comes off the final bill. And yes they count towards your taxes too if you want.
IE> we booked Cali. this august for 4 total cost out of pocket was $1000. both of us had the 250 bonus and then the 2nd flight was 99 plus the tax.
So I guess you can say it really was 1240 if you include our yearly fee.
Plus you get free bag check for all flying with you on that card. so that can add up.
You do earn a different amount for where you spend, so yes on all purchases.

 

[mab2012]

I am thinking of getting a rewards card as we are about to purchase yet another reno house.

I would love some of the expense to be offset by a rewards program so that we might at least get a flight or hotel stay out it.

I was thinking about the West Jet credit card and the West Jet Dollars program. My questions are...

Are they linked? Do you get West Jet Dollars for using their card elsewhere instead of just on flights.

How many does it take to fly somewhere. I cannot seem to find a chart or get a handle on them. You get a bonus upon sign up of 250 but that means nada to me if I dont know how many I need in the future.

Any downside to this card or the West Jet Dollars program in general?

Thoughts on other rewards credit cards-any that you suggest?

Thanks for any help everyone!

WestJet rewards is just dollars that come directly off the cost of your flight. So if you have 50 WestJet dollars, you can take 50 dollars off your flight. If you have enough dollars accumulated, your can pay the entire base fare with WestJet dollars, but they can't be applied to taxes or fees.

The nice thing about this is the flexibility. You don't have to wait to have enough to cover a whole flight, or hope that the flight you want has rewards seats available. They can be applied anytime to any flight.

We've gotten good value from our WestJet card, but the big benefit comes from the free bags and the companion voucher. Otherwise you could do as well with any no-fee 1% cash-back card.

And yes, you earn dollars on all purchases charged to the card. Slightly higher earn rate on WestJet flights or vacation packages.

IMO the only downside is the risk that you might feel compelled to choose a WestJet flight over another option just to get the benefit from the card. But that's true of any loyalty program. If you prefer to fly WestJet anyway and fly often enough to be sure you'll use the companion fare, it's a good choice. Lots of people get the card just for the free bags and companion benefits, even if they prefer another card for everyday purchases.

 

[alohamom]

@mab2012 WOW-thank you so much for your detailed response, this is excellent! No wonder I couldnt find a chart LOL!

 

[22Tink]

We've used the RBC Avion visa for years and I fly on points to Disney every trip. There is an annual fee ($120 maybe? It's included in our banking package so I'm not 100% sure) but you get 1 point per $1 spent and it takes us 15,000 points pp to fly to an adjoining province or state, 35,000 points po to fly to a non adjoining province or state. We've considered switching to the Westjet card but I like having the flexibility to choose any airline instead of being locked into westjet flights. My husband also has an Avion visa for work so it makes sense for us to keep ours and combine the points.

 

[alohamom]

@22Tink Thank you, this is exactly the kind of info I was hoping to get.

I want to make sure I get the most for the least!

 

[alohamom]

so we both have a westjet MC. The one with the 250 bonus miles for the first year. there is $120 annual fee, but your getting 250 for the first year. the other bonus is companion flights for starting at 99 plus taxes.
It is a simple program, they are $ not miles. So you can use them on any flight for westjet. No need to figure out how many you need, it just comes off the final bill. And yes they count towards your taxes too if you want.
IE> we booked Cali. this august for 4 total cost out of pocket was $1000. both of us had the 250 bonus and then the 2nd flight was 99 plus the tax.
So I guess you can say it really was 1240 if you include our yearly fee.
Plus you get free bag check for all flying with you on that card. so that can add up.
You do earn a different amount for where you spend, so yes on all purchases.

Thanks Mort, the breakdown for your Cali flights is very very helpful. I am aiming for four of us to get somewhere as well.

 

[starvenger]

We have both an MBNA Rewards card (joint) and a WestJet card (personal). Rewards is our primary and we can use the points like the Avion. Westjet I use for gas (save 3 cents/L at Petro Can since it’s an RBC card) and for flights (duh). Seems like we fly to Florida every year so the companion pass works for us. First bag free is a great perk, as we end up saving a minimum $100 per round trip. Save my parents checked bag money as well when we travel with them. Not entirely kosher obviously.

 

[alohamom]

We have both an MBNA Rewards card (joint) and a WestJet card (personal). Rewards is our primary and we can use the points like the Avion. Westjet I use for gas (save 3 cents/L at Petro Can since it’s an RBC card) and for flights (duh). Seems like we fly to Florida every year so the companion pass works for us. First bag free is a great perk, as we end up saving a minimum $100 per round trip. Save my parents checked bag money as well when we travel with them. Not entirely kosher obviously.

Thanks, I think you guys are all confirming what my gut was telling me.

 

[MikeyNS]

I have both an Avion and WJ card and will probably be dumping my Avion.

My thoughts : With WJ I don't have to spend a cent and get a $99 flight (+ taxes on the flight) each year.
With Avion I have to spend $35,000 to get a flight (35,000 points + taxes on the flight).

I just booked another 2 flights the other day. With WJ I spent ~$400 for 2 direct flights (had $300WJ dollars: $250 + $50 WJ deposited as a promo this weekend).

With Avion I wouldn't have been able to do anything since I would have only had ~25,000 points with the same spend.

It is nice to be able to choose any airline with Avion, but right now we're concentrated on Florida and WJ had great times and direct flights from Halifax.

 

[alohamom]

I have both an Avion and WJ card and will probably be dumping my Avion.

My thoughts : With WJ I don't have to spend a cent and get a $99 flight (+ taxes on the flight) each year.
With Avion I have to spend $35,000 to get a flight (35,000 points + taxes on the flight).

I just booked another 2 flights the other day. With WJ I spent ~$400 for 2 direct flights (had $300WJ dollars: $250 + $50 WJ deposited as a promo this weekend).

With Avion I wouldn't have been able to do anything since I would have only had ~25,000 points with the same spend.

It is nice to be able to choose any airline with Avion, but right now we're concentrated on Florida and WJ had great times and direct flights from Halifax.

Great point! I suppose it depends on your end goal.