[READER QUESTION] What to do with Aventura Points?
I’m sure we’ve all seen lots of advertisements from CIBC about its Aventura points program. So can we do with Aventura points after we’ve collected a bunch?
First of all, there are currently 4 CIBC credit cards that you can sign up for to help you earn Aventura points:
- CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Card
- CIBC Aventura Gold Visa Card
- CIBC Aventura Visa Card
- CIBC Aventura Visa Card for Business
Unfortunately, we can not longer transfer our Aventura points to Aeroplan, unless you are holding one of the following credit cards before October 1, 2013:
- CIBC Aventura World Elite MasterCard Card
- CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Card
- CIBC Aventura Gold Visa Card
You can convert your Aventura points by telephone (1-800-465-4653) at a rate of 1 Aventura point for 1 Aeroplan point in increments of 10,000 points.
For those of you who do not have one of the above credit cards before October 1, 2013, you still have other option. First of all, you can redeem your points for a host of rewards which includes categrories such as:
- Children
- Fashion
- Electronics
- Home & Office Improvement
- House & Home
- Lifestyle
- Luggage & Bags
- Sports & Leisure
You can also redeem your points for gift cards or donate them to charity. Regardless of what you redeem you points for, I would aim for at least 2 cents in value per point. The reason being is that if you redeem you points for reward flight, you can potentially get up to 2 cents per point. Below is a breakdown on how you can redeem you points for reward flights.
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Aventura Flight Rewards Chart |
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Destination |
Points Required |
Maximum Ticket Price |
|
Canada and U.S. (Short Haul) Within a province or U.S. state or to an adjoining province or territory or U.S. state |
10,000 – 20,000 |
$400 |
|
Canada and U.S. (Long Haul) From any location in Canada or U.S. to any location in Canada or U.S. (except Hawaii and Alaska) |
25,000 – 35,000 |
$800 |
|
Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, Central America, Caribbean From any location in Canada or U.S. to Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Bermuda, Central America or Caribbean |
40,000 – 60,000 |
$1,000 |
|
Europe From a major gateway in Canada or U.S. to select destinations in Europe |
50,000 – 70,000 |
$1,300 |
|
Rest of the World From a major gateway in Canada or U.S. to select destinations in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, Middle East or South America |
75,000 – 125,000 |
$2,000 |
Ideally, you want to get as close as possible to the maximum ticket value to get closer to the 2 cents per point in value.
Pros: What I like about this type of program is that we do not have to worry about blackout dates and the maximum ticket price includes taxes and fuel surcharges.
Cons: What I do not like about the program is the lack of flexibility with the points because you cannot transfer the points to another reward program. Furthermore, you will need to have one affiliated credit card to keep the points balance active. All of their credit cards require you to pay an annual fee, which means you will have to pay a fee to maintain your points balance active, unless you can constantly get the fee waived.
Ideally, if they had one version of the credit card which has no annual fee, it would make this program more worthwhile. For this reason, I have never accumulated any Aventura points yet. Currently I prefer two similar programs above Aventura, they are the Capital One Aspire World Travel MasterCard and the RBC Avion points program.