If you opened the Air Miles app this year and found a different program staring back at you, you are not imagining it. Air Miles is gone. The program is now Blue Rewards, run by BMO, and the Miles you collected were turned into Blue Points on June 1, 2026.
Nothing was taken away from you, and you did not need to do anything. But the numbers in your account look wildly different, the redemption menu has changed, and a few deadlines are worth knowing about. Here is what actually happened.
Short answer: Air Miles became Blue Rewards on June 1, 2026, and your balance converted to Blue Points automatically. A thousand Miles became about 16,000 Blue Points, but each point buys less, so the bigger number does not mean more value. In stores and for e-gift cards, 1,500 Blue Points equals $10, about 0.67 cents a point. Cash Miles and Dream Miles no longer exist as separate balances.Key points from this guide
What Happened to Air Miles?
In simple terms: BMO rebuilt Air Miles and renamed it. BMO bought the program in 2023, and in January 2026 it announced what it called “a bold transformation of the iconic AIR MILES program”. The new program went live in the summer.
Balances moved over automatically on June 1, 2026. Redemptions, the app and customer service were down for that single day, and Blue Points became spendable on June 2. Anyone who tried to redeem on the changeover day simply had to wait a day, and nothing was lost in the gap.
Why it matters: Air Miles was one of the most widely held loyalty cards in Canada, sitting in millions of wallets since the 1990s. A rebrand of that size changes what your balance is called, what it buys and where you can earn it.
[IMAGE SUGGESTION: A simple before-and-after graphic: an Air Miles balance of 1,000 Miles on the left, a Blue Rewards balance of 16,000 Blue Points on the right, both labelled “about $107”]
How Many Blue Points Did Your Miles Become?
Your balance got roughly 16 times bigger, and that is the part that confuses people most. A thousand Miles became about 16,000 Blue Points, which looks like a windfall until you see that each point buys proportionally less. The purchasing power is meant to be the same.
Worth being precise here: BMO has not published a conversion ratio. It says only that Miles converted “with no loss in value”. The 16-to-1 figure comes from collectors and Canadian points sites, including Milesopedia, comparing balances before and after the switch.
Try this: if you wrote down your Miles balance before June, multiply it by 16 and compare. If your account is far off that, Blue Rewards customer care is the place to ask.
What Are Blue Rewards Points Worth in Dollars?
For the everyday redemptions, 1,500 Blue Points equals $10, which works out to about 0.67 cents a point. Big numbers, small units: a balance that reads 45,000 is $300 of groceries or gift cards, not $450 and not $45. It helps to divide by 150 to get the dollar figure in your head.
- 15,000 Blue Points is worth about $100.
- 75,000 Blue Points is worth about $500.
- 150,000 Blue Points is worth about $1,000.
What this means for you: a point here is worth far less than a point elsewhere, because the units are smaller. That is why comparing programs point-for-point is meaningless. What matters is what you get back per dollar you spend, which is why we value Scene+ points at 1 cent and PC Optimum points at a tenth of a cent, and both can still be fine programs.
Where Can You Spend Blue Rewards Points?
There are two main routes, and they behave differently. One is fixed and predictable, the other moves with the price of what you are booking, which means the same points can be worth more or less depending on where you spend them.
In store and on e-gift cards, points come off at that fixed 1,500-for-$10 rate. Reported daily limits sit around $750 of redemption, so a very large cash-out takes more than one day.
Through Blue Rewards Travel, powered by Expedia, there is no fixed rate. You pay the price shown, points can cover part or all of a booking, and BMO says points can now cover an entire airline ticket including taxes. Cruises are excluded.
Quick tip: check the travel option before cashing out in store. Because travel pricing is variable, the same points can be worth more or less than 0.67 cents, and the only way to know is to compare the cash price against the points price on the day you book.
What Happened to Cash Miles and Dream Miles?
They are gone as separate buckets. The old split, where Cash Miles paid for groceries at the till and Dream Miles paid for flights and merchandise, was merged into a single currency before the rebrand, so collectors now have one balance instead of two that could not be freely moved between.
That is a genuine simplification. The old system forced you to guess your future self’s preferences, since moving Miles from one side to the other was limited and easy to get wrong.
The bottom line: one balance, one rate for everyday redemptions, and travel priced like a travel agency. Less flexible in theory, less confusing in practice.
Where Can You Earn Blue Rewards Points Now?
BMO says the network covers more than 400 brands, with newer names including Porter Airlines and Instacart. There are three main ways in:
- Shopping with partner brands, the same way Air Miles worked.
- Scanning grocery receipts in the Blue Rewards app, which extends earning to stores that are not formal partners.
- Paying with a BMO chequing account debit card on gas, groceries, wholesale clubs and EV charging, which the account holder has to opt into.
One notable loss: Shell left the program in 2026, which removed a fuel partner many collectors used weekly. Scene+ arrived at Shell around the same time, so the fuel earning moved rather than disappeared.
BMO also says Blue Rewards credit cards are coming, with a waitlist open in the meantime. Existing BMO Air Miles credit and debit cards kept working through the transition, so there is no urgency to replace a card that still earns.
Do You Need to Do Anything?
For the conversion itself, no. Miles moved over automatically, your card and account number did not change, and there was no form to fill in or deadline to beat. If you have not opened the app since the spring, your points are still sitting there under the new name.
Two dates are worth noting, both reported by Canadian points sites rather than announced loudly by BMO. Revised program terms took effect in mid-September 2026, and October 14, 2026 is described as the last day to close your account at no cost if you do not accept them. Separately, status thresholds for the year run to December 31, 2026.
Quick tip: if a deadline like that matters to you, confirm it with Blue Rewards customer care rather than relying on any article, including this one. Program terms change quietly and the official line is what counts.
Key Takeaways
- Air Miles became Blue Rewards on June 1, 2026, and Blue Points became spendable on June 2.
- Balances grew about 16 times, a ratio reported by collectors rather than published by BMO, which says only that there was no loss in value.
- 1,500 Blue Points equals $10 in store or on e-gift cards, about 0.67 cents a point.
- Travel through the Expedia-powered platform has no fixed rate, so compare the cash price before you redeem.
- Cash Miles and Dream Miles no longer exist as separate balances.
- No action was needed to convert, but opting in on a BMO debit card and scanning receipts are now part of earning.
Deciding where to put your everyday spending? Our comparison of Aeroplan vs. Scene+ vs. Blue Rewards weighs the three against each other, and our points value calculator turns any balance into dollars.