Although it hasn't been officially announced Officially announced now by WestJet, news broke last week about WestJet Rewards' first airline redemption partner! You will now be able to redeem WestJet Rewards dollars for select flights on none other than Delta Airlines. It has been in the works for quite a few months and WestJet has alluded to it for sometime now. Some thought it may have been Qantas first (based on their press release from last year) but WestJet and Delta have a relationship going back quite a few years now so it only makes sense for the Atlanta based airline to be WJR's first airline redemption partner. On the flip side you can now also redeem Delta SkyMiles for flights on WestJet (info on that will come in a separate post)
Unlike redemptions on WestJet where one WestJet dollar equals one Canadian dollar towards airfare, the WestJet Rewards redemptions for travel on Delta are a flat rate award chart style. To start the redemption portion of the partnership there are only a few select Delta routes where you will be able to redeem WestJet dollars for and you will only be able to redeem for economy class at this time.
These are the cities that Delta serves that you will be able to redeem for with WestJet Rewards
- Paris, France
- Rome, Italy
- Madrid, Spain
- Tokyo, Japan
- Hong Kong, China
- Shanghai, China
- Sydney, Australia
Here are the WestJet dollar requirements for each area:
- Canada to Europe: 400 WestJet dollars each way (800 round trip)
- Canada to Japan or China: 640 each way (1,280 round trip)
- Canada to Australia: 750 each way (1,500 round trip)
All the above do not include taxes or fees
Above rates are subject to change when this new redemption feature is fully rolled out
The above rates are valid from any Canadian city that WestJet serves which can make this very valuable in those cities where fares tend to be high, for example redeeming 1,500 WestJet dollars between Vancouver and Sydney may not be the most ideal but redeeming that amount from Gander or Halifax can prove to be a great deal.
Here is are some examples of Delta redemption options we found on WestJet's site:
We spoke with WestJet a few weeks ago about the new options and the rates appear to be tied into the credit card earn rate with WestJet while using Aeroplan as their primary comparison focus rather than many of the travel anywhere credit cards that are available. They also advised us that the redemption rates showing on their website are subject to change when this redemption option is officially announced and rolled out completely.
With that said let's compare what it takes you to get that round trip economy class ticket between WestJet and Aeroplan, strictly with credit card spend on their most popular credit cards:
|
WestJet RBC World Elite
MasterCard
|
TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite |
|---|
| Canada to Europe |
|
|
| Minimum spend: |
$40,000 |
$40,000 |
| Maximum spend: |
$53,334 |
$60,000 |
|
|
|
| Canada to Japan or China |
|
|
| Minimum spend: |
$64,000 |
$50,000 |
| Maximum spend: |
$85,334 |
$75,000 |
|
|
|
| Canada to Australia |
|
|
| Minimum spend: |
$75,000 |
$60,000 |
| Maximum spend: |
$100,000 |
$90,000 |
As you can see the WestJet card comes out ahead for their flights on Delta to Europe but for Japan or China and Australia you come out behind in spend requirements. Remember though this is just a baseline comparison for credit card spend and does not take into account other earning from flights and partners or even other potential credit cards. You also have to take into account fees and surcharges that will be tacked onto these flights so for a proper comparison you should look at United flights with Aeroplan since those will route via the U.S. like WestJet's flights with Delta and both airlines will have comparable taxes and fees.
Overall this is great news for WestJet Rewards members. The more options you have to use your dollars the better. It will be nice to see if more Delta flights are added for cities within the U.S., South America and even Africa. Also don't expect this to be the only redemption partner added this year, as we already know Qantas is coming down the line but there is at least one more very exciting partner that will be also be added!
Let us know what you think about this latest addition to the WestJet Rewards program! Will you make use of it? Does it make you want to consider the program more so now then ever? Simply comment below!
WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard
$250 WestJet dollars Bonus + Annual $99/$299/$399 Companion Flight
when you sign up for and receive the WestJet RBC World Elite
MasterCard.
- Earn 1.5% back in WestJet dollars on every purchase you make with your card
- Earn 2% back in WestJet dollars when you purchase WestJet
flights or WestJet Vacations packages with your card
- Companion flight vouchers are an annual benefit.
-
First bag free for the primary cardholder up to 8 people traveling on the same reservation to anywhere WestJet flies!
Canadian Bonus Offers 
