New: Link Blue Rewards and Porter VIPorter to Earn Bonus Points

Fall seems to be the busy season for new partnerships in the Canadian rewards space, with Porter Airlines and Blue Rewards the latest to announce something exciting. BMO has ties to both programs, so the partnership comes as no surprise, and you can now earn more VIPorter points on every flight just by linking your Blue Rewards account.

At a Glance:

• Earn 500 Blue Rewards and 500 VIPorter points upon linking your Blue Rewards and VIPorter accounts
• Earn 1 bonus VIPorter point per $1 spent with Porter if you have a BMO card, 0.5 if not
• Earn up to 7,500 more Blue Points when booking Porter with the Blue Rewards Travel portal
• Until November 30, get up to 1,500 more Blue Points per eligible flight for BMO cardholders
• Coming soon: Convert 2 Blue Points to 1 VIPorter point

Connect Your Accounts: Earn 1,000 Points

Link your VIPorter and Blue Rewards accounts, and you’ll immediately receive 500 VIPorter points and 500 Blue points.

Earn 500 bonus VIPorter points after linking your Blue Rewards account

Online reports show the bonus VIPorter points arriving immediately after linking, though Porter says to allow up to 48 hours. Blue Rewards requires earning at least 1 point with a partner before the 500 Blue Points come in.

To link, log into your Blue Rewards account and navigate to the “Linked partners and programs” section.

Earn Additional VIPorter Points on Flights + Ancillaries

The headline perk of linking your Blue Rewards and VIPorter accounts is the ability to earn extra VIPorter points when you book Porter flights. Firstly, members already earn 5-7 VIPorter points per dollar spent depending on status level.

Now, earn an additional 1 VIPorter point per $1 spent if you have an eligible BMO debit or credit card attached to the Blue Rewards account. Without an eligible BMO card linked, you’ll earn a lower 0.5 VIPorter points per $1 spent.

Note that “eligible” BMO debit or credit card means any BMO debit or credit card per the terms and conditions:

If you hold a BMO-issued credit card or debit card that is linked to your Blue Rewards account, you will earn one (1) additional VIPorter point for every one dollar ($1.00) of eligible base fare and ancillary services (excluding taxes), on top of the existing VIPorter earn rate.

Remember to link your card to your Blue Rewards account.

The good news is the bonus points apply not only to the base fare, but also to ancillary services like seat selection and baggage fees. The only costs not eligible for bonus points are taxes.

Stack with BMO VIPorter Mastercard

One perk of the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard is that you automatically get VIPorter Venture status, which earns 6 points per dollar spent. This card also earns 3 points per $1 spent with Porter, so by linking your Blue Rewards account and using your credit card, you’ll earn the following points on an eligible $500 Porter Airlines purchase:

• 3,000 base points from Venture status
• 500 bonus points for linking Blue Rewards
• 1,500 points from your BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard
• Total of 5,000 VIPorter points

Stack VIPorter points from status, the Blue Rewards partnership, and your credit card

Earn Bonus Blue Points Buying Porter Flights

There’s also a new opportunity to earn bonus Blue Rewards points when booking Porter flights via the Blue Rewards Travel portal. The bonus points depend on the cost of the flight:

• Valued at up to $350: 1,000 bonus Blue Points
• Valued at $351-$450: 3,750 bonus Blue Points
• Valued at $451+: 7,500 bonus Blue Points

As a limited-time offer until November 30, Blue Rewards members with a linked BMO debit or credit card earn up to 1,500 additional Blue Rewards points when redeeming Blue Points towards Porter flights through Blue Rewards Travel.

The bonus Blue Rewards points are a nice perk if you’re redeeming Blue Rewards for Porter, anyway. If your flight is right at the cusp of $350 or $450, consider booking a slightly more expensive flight, as the difference in Blue Points bonus may make it effectively cheaper. The difference between 1,000 and 3,750 Blue Points is worth $18.43, and the difference between 3,750 and 7,500 Blue Points is worth $25.13 (Blue Points are worth 0.67 cents each).

Coming Soon: Convert 2 Blue Points to 1 VIPorter Point

In my opinion, this is the most exciting announcement of the partnership, with the caveat that it’s not yet live and the go-live date has not been announced. But soon, we will be able to convert 2 Blue Points to 1 VIPorter point, which provides a fantastic alternative way to use Blue Rewards for Porter flights instead of the Blue Rewards Travel portal.

Soon: Convert Blue Rewards to VIPorter at a 2:1 ratio

Blue Rewards points are worth 0.67 cents each (1,500 points = $10), so two Blue Rewards points are worth 1.34 cents, and I personally value VIPorter points at 1.5 cents per point, so you can believe I’ll be converting all my Blue Rewards points once this is live.

Note that while you can technically get over 0.67 cents in value through the travel portal, it’s becoming increasingly difficult, and my recommendation (if not converting to VIPorter) is to simply redeem for e-gift cards at a fixed value. For example, the BMO Blue Rewards World Elite Mastercard’s 100,000-point welcome bonus is worth $667 towards e-gift cards or can be converted to 50,000 VIPorter points.

The conversions must be made in increments of 1,500 Blue Points.

Analyzing the Blue Rewards VIPorter Partnership

The main point is that there are no downsides. If you don’t link your accounts and continue to book Porter flights the way you usually do, you’ll still earn the base points based on your status and the points earned from your credit card. If you link your accounts, you’ll earn a 500-point bonus from each brand, plus an extra 1 VIPorter point per $1 spent on base and ancillaries if you have a BMO debit or credit card, or 0.5 bonus points if not.

Obviously, the more you fly and book Porter, the more you’ll benefit because you’ll earn more bonus points. If you earn lots of Blue Rewards points through everyday partners like Instacart, Avis, and Dollarama and also fly with Porter, consider converting your Blue Rewards points at a 2:1 ratio.

More options are always a good thing, and because I fly frequently with Porter, I’m actually more interested in earning Blue Points than before. If you don’t fly with Porter, know that converting Blue Points to VIPorter is optional, and you can keep using your Blue Points the same way as before with e-gift card redemptions and the Blue Rewards travel portal. You should still link your Blue Rewards and VIPorter accounts to earn the 500-point bonus with both brands.

Takeaway

There’s really no reason not to link your Blue Rewards and VIPorter accounts, especially with 1,000 points available just for doing so. The upcoming ability to convert Blue Points to VIPorter at a 2:1 ratio is the much more interesting development, giving Canadians more options to use Blue Rewards and another practical way to earn VIPorter points beyond flying and co-branded credit cards.