“WestJet is forcing us to look at other options.” – Tracey in Calgary
“Gold member here, the whole program is trash.” – Claudia on Vancouver Island
“Lipstick on a pig.” – Jay in Calgary
“They make it sound like they are doing us a big favour … laughable.” – Brady in Calgary
Those are just some of the responses I received when I asked WestJet Rewards members how they felt about the recently announced changes to the loyalty program.
Starting Jan. 1, 2025, qualifying for silver, gold or platinum status now requires spending $4,000, $6,000 and $10,000, respectively, up from $3,000, $5,000 and $8,000. To be fair, these increased thresholds shouldn’t be a surprise because they haven’t moved since 2018 – WestJet is essentially adjusting the tiers to account for inflation.
However, only the base fare counts toward status, so you may need to spend more than you realize.
For example, a return flight from Calgary to Toronto in March shows a base fare of $304, plus $174 in other transportation charges, taxes and fees, for a total of $478. Under the new rules, a business traveller must fly that route 33 times and spend $15,744 to achieve platinum status. Prices fluctuate, so earning status quicker or longer is possible.
WestJet is trying to spin the narrative, but members have quickly realized that all the changes are mostly negative.
Moving forward, status members and one other guest on the same booking are eligible for complimentary upgrades before check-in and at the gate. Before, just the status member was eligible. This sounds great, but deadheading pilots and bid upgrades are still ahead of you in the queue. You might get lucky and get upgraded on a short-haul flight, but good luck if it’s a longer trip.
Platinum members and those travelling in premium and business cabins now exclusively board first in Zone 1. Gold members previously also boarded in Zone 1, but now they’re relegated to Zone 2.
Julia Kaiser, a media relations adviser at WestJet, said the airline had previously improved Zone 2 by moving some rows to Zone 3, to help board the plane more efficiently. “However, with the introduction of extended comfort, we needed to protect access to overhead bin space, and thus we made the change to Zone 2 row assignments,” she wrote in an e-mail.
Milestone rewards have also been adjusted. Before, you could earn a WestJet-wide companion voucher, two gift of gold vouchers, four lounge passes or six seat selection vouchers when you spent $4,000, $6,000, $8,000 and every $2,000 increment thereafter.
Now the spending requirements are $2,000, $8,000, $12,000, $16,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and $50,000, and gifting gold status is no longer an option. Those spending gaps are ridiculous. WestJet is trying to highlight how you can now earn a milestone reward earlier, but you can only choose from 20 WestJet dollars, $200 in tier qualifying spend for the current year and a $25 Skip – formerly SkipTheDishes – gift card.
Companion vouchers issued as milestone awards now have a two-year expiry, up from one, and should be seen as positive. However, since you now need to spend at least $8,000 to get the award, it’s not that exciting, as many members will no longer qualify for the voucher.
“To help with the transition, we have automatically extended all existing milestone companion vouchers (and those that will be earned and issued before Dec. 31) for an additional year from their current expiry date,” Ms. Kaiser said.
To be clear, the extended expiration date only applies to companion vouchers earned through a milestone reward, not those earned by having a WestJet RBC credit card.
WestJet claims to have talked to members to better serve them and learn what features and benefits matter most, but the changes are clearly negative. That said, the carrier has said new milestone award choices will be revealed later, so there’s still time for them to course correct through this turbulence.
Barry Choi is a personal finance and travel expert at moneywehave.com. He was previously affiliated with RBC, WestJet and Aeroplan but currently has no relationship.
