Is airline loyalty still worthwhile?

It really just depends.
We use an American credit card because we frequently visit family on an American route. So, all groceries go on that card, and it is paid off monthly so interest rate is not a consideration. We get one companion fare per year, plus the points probably buy at least one free trip, and the occasional upgrades don't hurt. That more than covers the annual fee. If there is an airline/route you use with regularity, I still think it is worth to have such an arrangement.
RE Air Canada, half price is still better than full price, no? If I were in your shoes, I would look for sale fares for long haul travel since you have flexibility being retired.

The airlines are changing their programs. You really have to sit down and figure out what future travels you may have, what kind of points and status you'll accrue, and then compare that to a cashback card.

Everyone's situation is different so it's hard to give an answer.

I have been in the UA mileage plus program for decades. These days, I rarely get free flights. What I do get is:
Free upgrade to economy plus, earlier boarding, free checked baggage.

Have had to adjust my expectations…

All other things being equal, we should all be exactly as "loyal" to an airline as they are towards us. Which is to say, not at all. These days "loyalty" only goes one way, and not in your favor. I see zero benefit from being "loyal" to any airline, other than whatever it gets me. Now, I'm not saying that all airlines treat me equally - they don't. But airlines get my business based on what I get in return, not out of any sentimentality.

I racked up a mountain of FF points in my business flying days, too (and I continue to play the points game heavily). I've been flying all my long-haul flights in business class for many years and will continue to do so, paying with points (I'd never pay actual money for what those flights would cost).

As for Air Canada, I find their program useful. As a Seattle resident, I'm often able to book long-haul business class flights at (what I consider) a reasonable cost (in points), taking advantage of their "punishment algorithm" (all airlines have one) - by adding one leg of my itinerary in coach, the price for a long itinerary partially in business class drops to something reasonable. In my case, the leg in coach class is the 30-minute hop from Vancouver to Seattle, which is no hardship, and it knocks the price down a lot.

You know, when booking Air Canada awards, the "price" they show in points + "fees" can be paid completely in points, if you want. Just saying, that's an option they offer. My spouse and I have the Air Canada credit cards and we put a lot of spend on them, since we have been booking flights to/from Europe and Asia via Air Canada quite a bit in the past few years. They're certainly not perfect, but we find them worthwhile (everybody else have devalued even more than they have).

It all depends on your needs/preference though. But "loyalty"? A quaint notion that was abandoned years ago by the brilliant MBSs running all large corporations . Ain't no loyalty for customers left out there from corporations, we are just cargo.

I am a 2 million miler with DL and IMHO NO! It does not make sense to chase status or points. IT make sense to book the combination of best flight time and prices regardless of the airline. I posted in the business class thread that I found a GREAT deal on BA to London ($1,300 roundtrip in business) I have no status with BA or any affiliated carrier but this makes a lot more sense than "let's fly DL in coach for the same price to get status"

Great replies from everyone. Thank you!

I am inter to see what the New Year will bring as both Air Canada and Westjet have announced major “changes” to their loyalty programs and credit cards.

I guess I should have worded my question better. Because I am finding it is necessary to book with many different airlines during our travels, I don’t know that it is worth keeping my airline specific credit cards. The Air Canada one seems to provide more benefits, but I may ditch the Westjet.

Perhaps as many of you have said here, I need to get better at searching out the best deals and get creative when it comes to finding combinations of flights to maximize our bang for the buck.
For example, we don’t mind flying coach/economy from Edmonton to Toronto, but prefer to spend the extra for the longer haul flight.

Good food for thought.

You might want to look at one of the upper level bank-issued rewards cards - such as Chase Sapphire - which allow you to transfer points to multiple airlines, as well as booking through their branded travel portal.

Edit: of course, options in Canada may differ.

Being creative with routes and exploring ALL your options is key. You have a heckuvalot more options than you might think.

For example, I have flown "home" from Scotland to Seattle by first hopping to Bergen, Norway. Because I found a great deal on business class (booked via Air Canada) from Bergen to Frankfurt to Vancouver to Seattle. Also flew home from Corsica after first hopping to Strassbourg, spent a few days in Alsace, then hopped the train to Zurich, and flew home to Seattle via Istanbul - because I found a great deal on Turkish Airlines business class from there. Next year, I'll probably come home from Greece after a positioning stop in Paris for a few days, because - again - the business class deal (on Air Canada) is from there (and we want to see the "new" Notre Dame). We do crazy routings like this all the time - my wife loves it, she says we get a "bonus city" for better-than-free (last "bonus cities" we enjoyed: Budapest, Istanbul, Bergen, Copenhagen, Prague, Warsaw, and more). But I do spend a LOT of time researching these obscure opportunities - you gotta do the work.

Most folks here scoff and sneer at the idea of flying home from an island in the Mediterranean or southern Italy by adding stops in Alsace, Budapest or Turkey, but we love doing that. To each their own.

You are aware, I hope, that Air Canada has a crazy number of airline partners (like 30-40 last time I checked). This can open up all kinds of surprising opportunities. EG we are flying home from Thailand next spring on EVA, booked through Air Canada for a steal. I hope Air Canada doesn't change their program too much next year, we have been enjoying it a lot.

I do have an airline credit card, but for 95% of my spending and auto-pay, I use a credit card that gives me cash back. I use my miles occasionally to upgrade a portion of a flight.

Wow David I’m Seattle, I think you missed your calling as a travel agent! It’s certainly one way to accomplish it, but I don’t know if my wife and I would be up
For all the connections.

I’m curious about those of you who have said that you book different levels of cabin for different portions of your trip. To my knowledge, you aren’t able to do that through the airlines site as a continuous trip, but would have to book separate trips. Am I correct in assuming that? Or is there something I’ve missed? I know you can book multi city trips. Perhaps that’s the way to go about it?

m curious about those of you who have said that you book different levels of cabin for different portions of your trip. To my knowledge, you aren’t able to do that through the airlines site as a continuous trip, but would have to book separate trips. Am I correct in assuming that? Or is there something I’ve missed? I know you can book multi city trips. Perhaps that’s the way to go about it?

Yes, multi-city is exactly the way to do it.

United's mileage rates for frequent-flier tickets are the same whether you book a round trip or two one-ways. (I think American doesn't work that way, and I don't know about Delta.) Once I realized that, I started booking my outbound and return flights separately so I could rebook one if I needed to, without affecting the other. Two separate mileage tickets would work for traveling in different classes in the two directions.

It hadn't occurred to me that for tickets purchased with money, using the multi-city option would allow me to travel in different classes outbound and inbound. That's something I'll start looking at, though I'm aware (from looking at mileage prices) that the eastbound ticket is likely to be way more than half the cost of a roundtrip ticket.

Two one-ways (rather than round-trip or multi-city). As stated above, you often get extreme flexibility, no-cost cancellations, and virtually no downsides (or negligible/acceptable restrictions/cost). But there are many variables so as with most things, you need to pay attention to details.

Round trip tickets are an anachronism, like Travelers Checks or “bucket shops.” I think I’ve only booked a “round trip” ticket once in the past 20 years (and that was a unique case: mainland Chile to Easter Island and back, flying on LATAM Airlines, paid for with Alaska miles, incredibly cheap business class). Booking one-way flights makes everything easy (and often is 100% necessary to make creative routings possible).

I agree with the naysayers - airline loyalty, for the miles and status, is not worth it.

This is especially true for me, I am retired, and I do not fly enough to generate status or fly enough miles to matter. I look for price / itinerary first, and because I fly business/first on my own dime, it confers "instant status" for that itinerary, I get access to the airline lounges, and I get priority boarding and extra free checked bags. I have little use for the high priced credit cards like AMEX Platinum or Sapphire Reserve for the benefit of lounge access I already get for business/first, and trying to figure out how to obtain more perks with those cards is too much trouble to me. I pile up lots of points on cash back cards, and I use the points to pay down balances a couple of times a year.

I'm short on some details, but last year I paid $900 USD plus points for Seattle to Denver (?Now I can't remember if it was Denver or Chicago) a step down from Business; Denver to London was in the Business Class pods. Return was all the way to San Francisco but again lower than Business Class (can't remember the term) back up to Seattle and then our smaller airport an hour from Seattle. So, we did have to take in the extra stops (time & use some points) to take advantage of the BC, but it was possible to enjoy the one long leg in the pod. We were also able to easily get our global entry interview in San Francisco upon landing (we had gotten the run around in Seattle on our previous trip). We were flying Air Canada. We have also used points out of Vancouver. Our points are mostly through Alaska Airlines, BOA credit card but we now also have used AmEx (not the expensive one) for point trips--so we don't just stick to one airline.

I'll need to look into booking one-ways as a strategy.

It hadn't occurred to me that for tickets purchased with money, using the multi-city option would allow me to travel in different classes outbound and inbound.

Since when do you have to do that? I just tried on the Delta website - LAX <=> LHR on Virgin Atlantic, Premium Economy over and Economy Delight back - worked fine - Delta labeled it as a "Mixed product itinerary" so it isn't something out of the ordinary. I tried a second time - Upper Class over and Economy Delight back - worked as well.

No, no, loyalty is usually a mistake. I travel with a couple where the wife insists on Delta always, BIL thinks the same way. I take the best value flight regardless of brand, and meet them there.

I don’t have much Star Alliance experience but we are going to Oaxaca in March with points from a United credit card churn. There are Air Canada flights to YYZ/YUL from home which connect transatlantic but the layover times are long. I did snag business class for 2 to Lima with an American credit card churn (and Citibank mistake by giving me double promo miles), but pretty small fry compared to David’s successes.

Like the OP appalled by the similar surcharges when using Avios on Aer Lingus, points plus about 45% of the cash ticket price in surcharges for a “free” flight and there’s no way to use extra Avios to avoid the cash charge, no thanks, considering using them on American for a Key West getaway with just the $5.60 tax EW. Not so glamorous but free.

Being creative with routes and exploring ALL your options is key.

David in Seattle is correct .......... and having realized what I just said, I am off to my therapist.

I am in a very similar situation, traveled for business, accrued lots of miles and status, retired during the pandemic, one silver lining of that, is that status at Delta was rolled over a couple years, then my status has declined steadily, to where I can maybe maintain Silver.

So far, I have maintained my high end Delta card. We too charge most things on it, pay off in full monthly, accrue miles. I look back each year and assess if it paid, and so far it has. Between free bags, discounts on rewards flights, lounge access, free companion ticket, and a few other perks, it is worth the cost.

But it is tough, Delta changed their program several times, changed features of cards, all mostly to the worst for me. If you fly international once or twice a year, it may not be worth it, unless you buy premium class seats. We shop cheap flights, fly main cabin, basically not their ideal FF profile. I basically focus on the features of the CC that are the most valuable to me, actual status is pretty much a moot point, and what miles I accumulate are just nice benefits.

I am a pretty loyal Delta flier, I do look at other airlines, but for my home airport, Delta is tough to beat, mainly due to what airports I would have to fly through with United and AA. I would need to save several hundred to have it make sense.

“Being creative with routes and exploring ALL your options is key.
David in Seattle is correct .......... and having realized what I just said, I am off to my therapist.”

This is the unfortunate truth, but I have found out that it’s not my forté. I find it gets exhausting and stressful spending hours on my computer trying to find the “best” deal. At a certain point I just have to find the best compromise. I envy those who can do it though.

For me, the most important factor is that I have enough legroom on a long haul flight due to my height. I’m not so concerned about lounge access anymore as they have become overcrowded and the amenities are steadily declining, but that seems to be the trend with air travel these days. The new policy of having pay for a seat that reclines is getting pretty close to the bottom of the barrel in my opinion.

If we still want to travel and see the world/visit family, and be in some moderate amount of comfort, we will just need to accept that it will cost more.

I find it gets exhausting and stressful spending hours on my computer trying to find the “best” deal. At a certain point I just have to find the best compromise. I envy those who can do it though.

That is the conclusion I have reached. I haven't had status on any airline since last year and I refuse to pay what is becoming an exorbitant fee for a credit card to check my bag (which I generally don't need) or earn "extra" miles.

David in Seattle's thoughts in his first post can be applied to the cruise lines also. And many other things in life as well. If it is a two way street, loyalty still has it's merits. On the other hand, when loyalty appears to be a one way street, I've adopted a "What's in it for me?" outlook. And it's quite liberating.

With the Westjet credit card, I have been considering giving it up too. The companion fares are so difficult to get that we lost it last year. And I looked into switching to lounge vouchers, but the feedback I got was that it can be hard to get into at times and the vouchers are a lower priority. I do wonder if for you it would be worth it for the companion fare in the plus seats as those can be expensive.
We still feel we save money though with the dollars ( now points). But this is partly because we have kids in Vancouver and fly them back on those points. But I think if this was not the case I would be seriously looking elsewhere.

We too find the Westjet “perks” like the companion fares, which I’ve found really don’t save much money, and the rules to use them are limiting. I do like the points or dollars, as we also have family across western Canada, and we use them for those flights. I usually take advantage of the deals Westjet have yearly whereby you can get 30% more points if you purchase them in bulk. So far we have found that we use them often for Canadian flights. The only downside is that you don’t earn points with them, but that takes us back to the original question as to whether airline points and loyalty are worthwhile.

We use the RBC Avion credit card for their travel rewards. We previously used our points for flights as you are not restricted by airline to any great extent. However, we now fly Business Class for a few different reasons and instead use our points for hotel stays which has worked out okay. I have never liked being tied to a particular airline as I want to choose my route but hotels we can be a bit more flexible with.

The Alaska program has become mostly worthless.

Sad. Once they were very good. Now leading the pack in the race to the bottom

I see zero benefit from being "loyal" to any airline, other than
whatever it gets me.

I have the WestJet Mastercard and it has given me more value than the annual cost. I'm actually thinking of getting the WestJet Business Mastercard which is only $50/year more and gives me automatic silver status which I do see value in having for that $50 extra. When it comes to loyalty, I will be loyal if there is something in it for me, namely the value. Right now that value is points, which I have enough of to get me about $500 off per flight for my next 6 or 7 European adventures. That's on top of the "free" flight we're taking to London in 3 weeks thanks to points.

I've earned and redeemed points in many points programs for years but there was never any loyalty involved. I just like capitalizing on opportunities to save money and I have indeed saved a lot. However, if it feels like a chore or causes stress, then chasing points and miles is likely not worth it. For me, it's a hobby I continue to enjoy despite the changing landscape of the points world in recent years.

I'm not totally up to date on the Aeroplan and WestJet changes but anyone interested should check out the respective forums on Flyertalk. For credit card info, perhaps check the Red Flag Deals forums and various blogs and websites like Rewards Canada etc. (Just don't apply for a card through one of their affiliate links - instead apply through a rebate site where you'll get a reward for using their link).

Two of the most popular points earning cards in Canada are the Amex Cobalt and the Scotiabank Gold Amex due to their fairly generous spending category bonuses (especially for groceries). The Cobalt's Membership Rewards may be transferred to Aeroplan which can yield outsized value. The downside with Aeroplan is that you have to deal with all the nuances of the program (dynamic pricing of AC flights, poor premium cabin availability, married segments issues etc.)

While I quite enjoy the thrill of the hunt and have redeemed with Aeroplan lots in the past, my primary everyday spending card is now the Scotiabank Gold Amex. The Scene+ points are a fixed value with no transfer options. But, unlike other banks' travel points, you can book directly with a travel provider and then have 12 months to redeem points against the charge and still receive maximum value for the points. So, in the case of hotels, you can take advantage of promotions offered only through their site and not third parties. Also somewhat rare for Canadian cards, there is no foreign currency charge. It's the same with their Passport Visa Infinite card. My mother has this card as well and her annual fee is lowered to $79 because she is over 65.

As for non-Amex spending, a good option is the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard, again because of the good multipliers, especially on household utilities. Plus the obvious flexibility of a mastercard. I have quite a stash of these points and haven't used them yet. Their travel booking portal doesn't get good reviews but another option would be to redeem for gift cards and just use the savings toward travel.

I also have both the personal and business versions of the Marriott Bonvoy Amex but very little spending goes on these outside of the occasional Marriott stay. I keep them for the annual free night certificates which outweigh the annual fee. And despite dynamic pricing, there are still some sweet spots in the Marriott program.

We've also used RBC Avion in the past. I like the redemption options but it's a tad annoying that their best earning card is the Ion+ but you need a Visa Infinite to access those better options.

One strategy to extract value from a pricey travel purchase is to apply for a card with an especially generous sign up offer (with corresponding high spend requirement) and use those welcome points to cover another part of the trip or put towards your next trip. For example, the TD Rewards First Class Travel Visa Infinite has a good offer ending soon. It's not a bad card or program but after the year is up you can decide whether to cancel or keep or downgrade/upgrade.

Perhaps you're aware, but Aeroplan brought back family pooling after a long hiatus. So multiple people can pool points for a redemption, which is handy. I also like the ability to get a one-way booking to Europe with Aeroplan to combine with one of those reasonable one-way WestJet seasonal nonstops. Google Flights and its predecessor ITA Matrix are great for cheap flight searching.

Porter and Air Transat are partners and Porter has a BMO card but I'm not very up to speed on that.