When Hayley Kormann needed out-of-town medical treatment for a serious illness, she and her husband Cameron Stretch decided to get creative in an effort to cover the costs by relying on their shared Air Miles rewards.
But when Stretch, a loyal Air Miles collector for more than 20 years, went to convert their bank of more than 28,000 “Dream Miles” to “Cash Miles” using the reward program’s mobile app in August, the system wouldn’t let him.
The Air Miles program allows customers to choose how to collect and spend between “Dream Miles,” which can be applied to large purchases like flights and vacations, and “Cash Miles,” which can be used like cash to buy online gift cards towards various stores, or put towards purchases at the cash register at some businesses. The program advertises that collectors can transfer miles between Dream Miles and Cash Miles accounts.
When he tried to do just that in August and it didn’t work, Stretch called Air Miles and was told the rewards program was not allowing transfers due to system “updates.”
“It sounds silly because we’re talking about rewards points, but, you know, it’s false advertising,” said Stretch, who lives in Stratford, Ont.
“Half of the reward system just doesn’t exist, and they keep advertising it.”
Air Miles confirmed to the Star that customers are presently unable to make transfers between Dream and Cash Miles accounts and that the problem is affecting “nearly 10 million active accounts.” The program would not confirm exactly when the update began, but a customer service representative told the Star it started at least two months ago, and there is no timeline for completion.
In 2023, BMO bought Air Miles for $160 million after parent company Loyalty Ventures Inc. filed for bankruptcy. The ability to transfer points was announced by Air Miles in March of this year.
In the past, Stretch and his wife successfully used Dream Miles for things like vouchers for rental cars while traveling, and even a plane ticket to Ireland, all without issue.
This time, the couple planned to convert their 28,000 Dream Miles to roughly $2,800 Cash Miles to buy Airbnb gift cards for accommodations while Kormann receives daily treatments, which begin at the end of the month, for eight weeks at Sunnybrook Hospital.
Doctors told Stretch that his wife would not be well enough to drive the more than three-hour return trip to the hospital every day, while Stretch’s own health complications mean he cannot drive her.
Following weeks of calls to Air Miles, Stretch said the program offered no explanation why the transfers weren’t working, nor offered any compensation. Kormann even wrote a letter to Chris Meier, head of Air Miles customer care at BMO, explaining that she urgently needed help transferring the Dream Miles to Cash Miles for medical reasons.
“This is more than a rewards issue for me — it’s a life-impacting situation,” she wrote. “I will be going on a medical leave to start treatment. The ability to use these Dream Miles for housing during my treatment would make a tangible, essential difference in our lives.”
Stretch said the couple are still waiting for a reply to that email.
Aside from one single line on the Help page of the Air Miles website that reads, “Miles Transfer is currently unavailable while we perform updates. Please check back soon. Sorry for the inconvenience,” the rewards program continues to be advertised as if it is still possible to transfer between Dream and Cash Miles.
Jonatan Schroeder, associate professor in Computer Science at York University, said while it is normal for any company to have tech glitches and system updates that need to happen, it is “unusual,” that an update requires so much time to complete.
“It’s weird to me it was working for a while and then not,” said Schroeder.
“I don’t believe there is any malice here… the major fault of (Air Miles) is the lack of information to customers.”
Two days after the Star reached out to Air Miles and BMO, Stretch said Air Miles called him and offered an exclusive, one-time transfer of his Dream Miles to Cash Miles despite the ongoing system update preventing other customers from doing so. Stretch said the company also asked that he not tell anyone else about the offer.
While he did not agree to secrecy, Stretch confirmed he was able to use up all of the couple’s Cash Miles to buy a total of $2,900 in Airbnb gift cards. But he said he still encountered problems: on each of the days he redeemed his Cash Miles, he was locked out of his account and had to call Air Miles to be let back in.
The Star asked Air Miles why it was able to allow one customer to use the transfer feature during the update but not others.
The company said in a statement, “When a collector reached out to us, we immediately reviewed the matter. The case has now been resolved as part of our regular process. Given the priority we place on customer confidentiality, we cannot disclose details.”
When asked if Stretch still sees himself as a loyal Air Miles collector, he said he is looking at other travel credit cards.
“The situation is so soured at this point, I’m not interested in being burned again.”
