Intentional travel with balance & ease
Every Day Ways to Earn Travel Points in Canada (That Actually Work)
Written By
Joba
July 1 2025
I've been travelling on my own dime for over 10 years now, and I have a regular full-time job. I am not independently wealthy (yet 😉), but I try to be very strategic about where my everyday spending goes.
Like a lot of people, I used to find the travel points system complicated until I realized that it just requires a one-time setup and a bit of consistency. Once you hack it, you can earn by spending on things you were going to buy anyway. I’m talking earning when you buy groceries, pay for streaming subscriptions, fill up on gas, and shop online. The points add up quickly, and then one day you see that you can cover a significant chunk of your flight cost with the points you have been quietly earning.
As a Canadian traveller with Canadian-specific programs and cards, here's exactly how I do it:
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you book or purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I genuinely use and love. Thank you for supporting Perfect Paths!
1. Get a travel credit card
This is the most obvious one but also the biggest single move you can make. We use our credit cards every day, so why spend money on a card that earns you nothing? A good travel credit card is the foundation of any points strategy because it turns the spending you're already doing into flights, hotel stays, and more travel perks.
The key is to find a credit card whose earn rates align with how you actually spend. If you spend heavily on groceries and dining, you want a card that rewards more for those categories. If you travel for work or book flights often, you want Aeroplan or a flexible points currency that transfers over to airlines, etc.
I chose the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite + Card as my primary travel card and it's paid for itself every single year. It was an easy choice because I spend a lot on groceries, dining, and streaming, and it earns 5-6x on all three. The no-foreign-transaction-fee perk alone saves me money on all my international trips and I also get travel insurance, airport lounge access and free car rental upgrades, among other benefits.
What to keep in mind when choosing a card:
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Welcome offer: Many of these cards offer 20,000–80,000+ sign-up bonus points just for meeting a minimum spend in the first few months. That alone can cover a one-way flight.
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FX fees: No foreign transaction fee cards save you the standard 2.5% on every purchase made outside Canada. On a $3,000 trip, that's already $75 back in your pocket just from your card choice.
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Point flexibility: Some points are more valuable and flexible than others. Aeroplan points and Amex Membership Rewards both transfer to multiple airline partners which gives you added flexibility. Scene+ points are great for booking through Expedia but have limited airline transfer options.
2. Join Aeroplan
If you're Canadian and you fly at all, you need an Aeroplan account. It's free to join, it's the most powerful travel loyalty program available to Canadians, and the math genuinely supports it. Aeroplan is Air Canada's loyalty program, which is a member of Star Alliance and connects you to over 40 partner airlines including Lufthansa, United, Turkish Airlines, etc. meaning points you earn on everyday spending can get you on a flight to virtually any continent, not only Air Canada routes.
While you might think loyalty programs apply to only frequent flyers, that's not true anymore. Here's where Aeroplan points come from in everyday life:
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Credit card spending: an Aeroplan co-branded credit card (like TD, CIBC, or American Express Aeroplan cards) earns directly into your account
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Retail partners: Shopping at Aeroplan partner retailers like grocery stores, gas stations, drugstores, LCBO and online shops earn you bonus points per dollar spent.
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Hotels: Book hotels through Aeroplan partner properties (Marriott, Hilton, and others earn points you can credit to Aeroplan via transfer)
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Car rentals: Rent cars through Avis, Budget, or other Aeroplan partners
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Rideshare apps: Connect your Aeroplan within the app and earn points on Uber & UberEats
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When you do fly: Effective January 2026, Aeroplan switched to a spend-based earning model — meaning you earn points based on dollars spent on Air Canada flights, not just distance flown. Higher fare classes earn faster.
P.S: Aeroplan points expire after 18 consecutive months of no earning or redemption activity, but this is easy to avoid. If you don’t actively using the account, simply set a reminder to make a small purchase through an Aeroplan partner every couple of months to reset the clock.
3. Use Rakuten to earn cash back
Rakuten is a cashback platform that pays you a percentage back on purchases you make through their site or app. To get the best out of it, check Rakuten before you shop online to see if the retailer is on their list so you can buy through their site and get a cut of the affiliate commission that the retailer pays them. The cashback percentages vary by retailer and you can get anywhere from a 1% to 15% payout quarterly.
I've been using Rakuten Canada for almost 6 years now and I use it for everything from clothing to electronics to booking travel. One of my favourite ways to use it for travel is to stack my benefits via Expedia. I go through Rakuten to make my Expedia booking, while paying with my travel credit card. So in one transaction, I’ve earned cash back on Rakuten, OneKeyCash on Expedia, and Scene+ Rewards on my Scotiabank credit card. Three rewards on one purchase. Literally a win-win-win and these add up fast.
How to stack on Rakuten with your credit card
Step 1: Open the Rakuten app or go to rakuten.ca
Step 2: Search for the retailer or travel site you're about to shop at (Expedia, Hotels.com, Amazon, Booking.com, etc.)
Step 3: Click through to the retailer from Rakuten to activate the cashback tracking
Step 4: Complete your purchase as normal, paying with your travel credit card
Step 5: Earn Rakuten cashback AND credit card points on the same transaction
4. Book travel with your earned points
Now that you've earned the points, you need to actually use them strategically rather than letting them sit until they expire or redeeming them for something underwhelming like a milkshake.
The key to maximising point value is booking through the right portal for the right type of purchase. For example, book flights using Aeroplan points directly through Air Canada or partner airlines. Scene+ points are best redeemed for hotels and vacation packages through Scene+ Travel (via Expedia) and the redemption is straightforward.
Some rewards points are extremely flexible and can be transfered to other reward systems to boost your redemptions towards flights or hotel bookings.
P.S: Points are most powerful when used for flights (especially business class on partner airlines) or hotel stays. Always check the cash price vs. points cost before redeeming to make sure the math makes sense.
Can’t figure out where to start? Here's what you can do this week in order:
1: Sign up for Aeroplan for free at aeroplan.com
2: Download the Rakuten Canada app and create an account. Make any qualifying purchase through the app to activate your welcome bonus.
3: Research travel credit cards and choose one that fits your spending. Don't apply for multiple at once; you only need one to start.
4: Identify an upcoming purchase you can route through Rakuten to test it out. It doesn’t have to be a big thing (groceries online, a clothing order, anything). Do it.
That’s it. You now have a points strategy. It runs in the background from here.
PPoints strategies only work if you're spending within your means. The advice in this post is for spending you're already doing: groceries, bills, subscriptions, travel you've already budgeted for. Putting yourself in debt to chase points is not a travel strategy. Pay your card balance in full every month, and the rewards are genuinely free.
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Written By
Joba
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