We have some clarification to the new WestJet Rewards program in that you can get the best points redemption value of 100 points to $1 on more than the just the base airfares.
To avoid information overload with all the new program details (And there was a lot!), it had been widely reported previously that the 100 points to $1 redemption rate would continue to be the going rate for base fares and there would be a slightly lower redemption value for extras, taxes and fees. Turns out that’s not the case!
Excerpt from The new WestJet Rewards is here! We have everything you need to know about the revamped program:
In this program revamp, you can now redeem points towards the base fare at 100 points to $1, which is the exact same value as it was prior to today.
But now the program gives you the option to redeem points towards the flights extras, surcharges and even government taxes. Members will have two selections when choosing the option to redeem points for these additional fare items, either 50% points + 50% cash or 100% points.
So what else other than base airfares can you get the 100 to 1 redemption rate? You can get it for redeeming points for Other ATC (You know those dreaded charges that are especially high on flights to the UK and Europe) as well as extra like seat selection and baggage fees. The key to getting this maximum value is that you have to redeem at the time of your initial travel booking.
Getting the best redemption rates on more than the base airfare
It was earlier this week where I learned this by doing my first redemption since the revamp of the program. As I got to the payment page I was presented with an option to use points for extras (seat selection, baggage and Other ATC) and I was like, sure let’s see how this works out for using points.
I was expecting the lower redemption rate for these extras, to which we had previously reported as 105-110 points based on a flight singular flight example to London, England so I was curious what the rate would end up being for a domestic flight.
From the above screenshots you can see that $50.40 charged for seat selection can be paid for with 5,040 points – which is the same 100 points to $1 redemption rate used for base airfares.
And the same goes for Other ATC charges:
You can see in the screenshots above that the Other ATC is bundled into the full air transportation charges, to which this $400 charge there was the option to redeem anywhere from 2,500 points (the minimum required) all the way up to 40,000 points. This again is the 100 points to $1 redemption rate. This is a a key factor being able to cover Other ATC at the best redemption rate (See below)
So that only leaves the taxes and fees that WestJet collects on the behalf of the airport operators, government etc.:
This is where get the previously reported lower redemption point value where it takes a little more points for every $1 redeemed and as previously mentioned, you get two options, 50% of those fees or 100% of the fees.
In the above example that is 5,900 points to receive $53.01 off or 11,200 points to cover the full $106.20. That puts the 50% off rate at approximately 111 points to $1 and the 100% at ~105 points.
So this is sort of inline with the 105-110 we had previously reported but you might be saying, wait 111 points is more than reported? But you have to remember the numbers we published were simply an example for a singular route option (YYC-LHR) and we expected fluctuations in those rates.
The good thing is WestJet has actually now published the range of points you can expect to be paying for the taxes and fees:
Oh and in case you are wondering I did use points for the entire base fare, the seats and baggage but paid the taxes and fees with a credit card. FYI the booking was for one of my kids and as they are only a supplementary WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ cardholder they didn’t get the first bag free 🙁 (WestJet and RBC need to extend that benefit to additional cards like we see on the Aeroplan cards 😉 )
The best rates come at the time of booking flights
The key to getting this maximum value as shown in the examples above is that you have to redeem points at the time of your initial travel booking. Redeeming points at the time of booking means you can redeem at following redemption rates:
- Base airfare: 100 points = $1
- Other ATC: 100 points = $1
- Seat Selection: 100 points = $1
- Baggage Fees: 100 points = $1
- Other fees and taxes: 105 to 115 points = $1
After booking your flights should you choose to, you can still redeem points for anything you add on to your flights, whether it is seats, baggage and I would assume upgrades as well. However, with this option you lose out on the best redemption rate as extras that are redeemed for after the fact will be redeemed at the same 105 to 115 points for $1 that is seen for fees & taxes:
Wrapping it up
So this is actually really good news in the WestJet Rewards program in the fact that only a small percentage of potential flight redemption options require the lower value redemption rate of 105 to 115 points per dollar. The fact that the majority of an airfare can be covered at 100 points to $1 is great!
This will be most notable on flights where “Other ATC” makes up a big chunk of the airfare which tends to be to the U.K. and Europe and to a lesser extent other international destinations. This makes WestJet points that much more valuable on these international flights as we came into this thinking you’d only be getting the best redemption value on a couple of hundred dollars worth of airfare and lower redemption value of many more hundreds of dollars on those Other ATC charges.
