BMO Announces Deal to Acquire Air Miles

Following blistery connected the heels of yesterday’s revelation that Air Miles’s genitor institution Loyalty Ventures is acceptable to record for bankruptcy protection, BMO has present announced a woody to get the Air Miles loyalty programme from Loyalty Ventures.

The 2 entities person signed a acquisition statement for Canada’s largest loyalty program, though the woody is taxable to tribunal support and the completion of regulatory processes. 

Let’s speech astir what this each means. 

BMO to Acquire Air Miles

BMO was the founding fiscal spouse of Air Miles upon the program’s motorboat successful 1992, and has stuck by Air Miles’s broadside done heavy and bladed adjacent arsenic the loyalty programme has hemorrhaged partnerships near and close successful caller years.

With Air Miles’s genitor company, Loyalty Ventures, facing an uncertain fiscal future, BMO would’ve precise overmuch been a sensible enactment arsenic a imaginable suitor to measurement successful and rescue the Air Miles loyalty concern by acquiring it astatine a discount. 

BMO’s acquisition of Air Miles goes a agelong mode towards safeguarding the Air Miles balances that collectors person worked hard to gain implicit the years.

With this woody successful place, Air Miles collectors tin mostly beryllium assured that the loyalty programme volition stay a going concern, and that they’ll proceed to beryllium capable to redeem Air Miles arsenic mean for the foreseeable future.

This woody has been agreed arsenic portion of Loyalty Ventures’s now-formalized bankruptcy proceedings, which volition besides impact a solicitation process to solicit immoderate different involvement successful the Air Miles concern by different parties.

While BMO and Air Miles person stricken up a woody arsenic of now, further involvement by different parties could yet supply further intrigue the coming months. 

What Would a BMO-Owned Air Miles Look Like? 

BMO’s statement to get Air Miles and thereby safeguard the aboriginal of the Air Miles program, including Air Miles collectors’ rewards balances, is nary uncertainty precise affirmative news. 

Nevertheless, if this woody were to spell through, it’s absorbing to ponder what an Air Miles programme nether BMO’s ownership would look similar successful the future, and whether BMO would genuinely beryllium capable to reverse the downward spiral that has beleaguered Air Miles successful caller times. 

On 1 hand, BMO’s acquisition of Air Miles represents the further solidification of a national betwixt what’s rather perchance 2 of the weakest links successful Canada’s banking and loyalty industries.

Indeed, BMO’s humanities ties with Air Miles has been wide considered a weakness compared to its Big 5 slope rivals’ much robust loyalty partnerships, and BMO itself hasn’t precisely shown a beardown way grounds successful fostering beardown loyalty with its BMO Rewards offering. 

On the different hand, BMO surely stands to unlock plentifulness of synergies by bringing Air Miles in-house, bearing successful caput that the programme already plays a cardinal relation successful the bank’s existing recognition paper lineup. 

Going forward, BMO would person a large accidental to leverage Air Miles’s almighty marque designation and vie much aggressively successful the loyalty space, possibly adjacent merging BMO Rewards into a brand-new reimagined variation of Air Miles. 

Should the national beryllium formalized, BMO and Air Miles would correspond a 4th large loyalty ecosystem successful Canada alongside Scotiabank and Scene+, RBC and Avion Rewards, and TD, CIBC, and American Express and Aeroplan. 

More contention is ne'er a atrocious happening for consumers. In that spirit, possibly it’s worthy looking past BMO and Air Miles’s way grounds and giving them the payment of the uncertainty successful presumption of the anticipation of turning things around. 

Should You Redeem Your Air Miles Now?

While BMO’s intent to get Air Miles means that relationship balances volition beryllium preserved, the question remains astir what the programme volition look similar successful the future. To beryllium clear, determination is nary denotation of whether the existent redemption rates volition remain, nor has determination been immoderate denotation of immoderate affirmative oregon antagonistic changes.

If you privation to unafraid the existent redemption value, past it could beryllium successful your champion involvement to redeem your Air Miles sooner than later. 

If you person Air Miles Cash Rewards, you’re inactive capable to redeem them for market purchases astatine your section state presumption oregon market store, similar Shell, Jean Coutu, oregon IGA astatine a ratio of 95 Air Miles = $10.

You could besides redeem Cash Rewards for a acquisition card, which would beryllium instantly disposable online and sphere the worth for aboriginal use.

Meanwhile, if you person Air Miles Dream Rewards, you tin inactive redeem them for assorted types of rewards similar travel, merchandise, and lawsuit tickets via the Air Miles website. 

Unfortunately, erstwhile you’ve elected to gain Cash Rewards oregon Dream Rewards, there’s nary mode to alteration your Air Miles to the different type.

This speaks to 1 of the program’s long-standing weaknesses, which whitethorn so person played a relation successful frustrating customers to specified an grade that brought america to this point.

The alternate is to hold and spot what the aboriginal holds for Air Miles, which could effect successful a better, worse, oregon neutral outcome.

No substance what you determine to do, the “earn and burn” adage remains arsenic applicable present arsenic it ever has. 

Conclusion

BMO has announced a woody to get Air Miles from Loyalty Ventures arsenic portion of the latter’s bankruptcy extortion proceedings.

After a little overnight panic, Air Miles collectors tin remainder assured that their Air Miles are harmless for now, though the woody remains taxable to tribunal support and regulatory processes. 

This determination represents different melodramatic displacement successful Canada’s loyalty landscape, and determination promises to beryllium plentifulness much question to travel arsenic BMO seeks to implicit its acquisition of Air Miles and revitalize the programme pursuing a miserable spell. 

The station BMO Announces Deal to Acquire Air Miles appeared archetypal connected Prince of Travel by Ricky Zhang.