The Aventura loyalty program is CIBC’s in-house reward program, in which cardholders can earn CIBC Aventura points by holding one of several eligible credit cards.
The CIBC Aventura program offers a flexible points currency that can be earned and redeemed through a variety of methods, including redeeming points towards travel purchases to reduce the cost of your next vacation.
CIBC offers three personal credit cards that earn Aventura points:
| Credit Card | ||
|---|---|---|
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80,000 Aventura points Estimated value: $1,760 |
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35,000 Aventura points Estimated value: $770 |
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35,000 Aventura points Estimated value: $770 |
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There are also two business credit cards available that earn Aventura points:
| Credit Card | ||
|---|---|---|
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100,000 Aventura points Estimated value: $2,200 |
|
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100,000 Aventura points Estimated value: $2,200 |
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Let’s take a look at how you can earn more Aventura points and how you can get the most value out of your Aventura points when you redeem them.
Earning CIBC Aventura Points
Earning CIBC Aventura Points via Welcome Bonuses
Similar to other bank loyalty programs, the quickest way to earn CIBC Aventura points is through credit card welcome bonuses.
The CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege card is the crown jewel of the loyalty program, as it is a premium credit card that offers a welcome bonus of up to 80,000 Aventura points for a premium annual fee of $499.
The CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege card offers benefits that include an annual $200 travel credit, two $100 NEXUS credit rebates, and six airport lounge passes.
80,000 Aventura points
$25,000
$1,760+
$499
Yes
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The CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card is a great option for cardholders who are interested in a reasonable annual fee tied to a great welcome bonus, as it offers a welcome bonus of up to 35,000 Aventura points for a reasonable annual fee of $139.
The CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card offers benefits that include a $100 NEXUS statement credit and four annual airport lounge passes.
Check out our CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card review for more details.
35,000 Aventura points
$3,000
$770+
$139 (FYF)
Yes
–
If you don’t meet the minimum personal or household income requirements of the CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card, the CIBC Aventura Gold Visa card is a great alternative. It is very similar to the Visa Infinite card as it offers a welcome bonus of up to 35,000 Aventura points for an annual fee of $139.
The CIBC Aventura Gold Visa card offers benefits that include a $100 NEXUS membership credit and four annual airport lounge passes.
35,000 Aventura points
$3,000
$770+
$139 (FYF)
Yes
–
Depending on your ability to meet minimum spends, willingness to pay an annual fee, and overall income levels, you should definitely be able to find a CIBC Aventura credit card that fits your needs.
Earning CIBC Aventura Points via Daily Spending
CIBC Aventura points are also earned for all eligible organic spend on any CIBC Aventura credit cards. You can earn the most points possible by maximizing specific category spending on the correct CIBC Aventura earning credit card.
We’ve summarized the Aventura points earning rate for all eligible credit cards below:
- CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege Card
- Earn 3 Aventura Points per dollar spent on travel purchases made through the CIBC Rewards Centre
- Earn 2 Aventura Points per dollar spent on dining, entertainment, transportation, electric vehicle charging stations, gas, and grocery purchases
- Earn 1.25 Aventura Points per dollar spent on all other purchases
- CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Card & CIBC Aventura Gold Visa Card
- Earn 2 Aventura Points for every dollar spent on travel purchases made through the CIBC Rewards Centre
- Earn 1.5 Aventura Points for every dollar spent on gas station, grocery store, electric vehicle charging stations, and drug store purchases
- Earn 1 Aventura Point for every dollar spent on all other eligible purchases
- CIBC Aventura Visa Business Card & CIBC Aventura Visa Business Plus Card
- Earn 2 Aventura Points for every dollar spent on travel purchased through the CIBC Rewards Centre
- Earn 1.5 Aventura Points for every dollar spent on gas, electric vehicle charging, transportation, and travel purchases (such as flights, hotel stays, car rentals, and travel agencies)
- Earn 1 Aventura Point for every dollar spent on all other purchases
Earn rates on daily spending are very similar across all Aventura credit cards, so this most likely will not be a deciding factor in which card you add to your wallet.
Redeeming CIBC Aventura Points
Cardholders can redeem points via six methods: Aventura Airline Rewards Chart flight redemptions, CIBC Rewards Travel Centre, Shopping with points, statement credit, financial products, and gift cards or merchandise.
The best redemption value you should aim to achieve within the CIBC Rewards program is 1 cent per point when redeeming for cash equivalent products (in the right situation) and 2.2 cents per point when redeeming towards travel.
Aventura Airline Rewards Chart – Flight Redemptions
The Aventura loyalty program has its own flight redemption award chart, presenting a solid value proposition in redeeming your points. Cardholders can redeem a set number of Aventura points for a flight that costs up to a set dollar amount through the CIBC Aventura Airline Rewards Chart.
Within the Aventura Airline Rewards chart, there are multiple bands of redemptions:
- Canada & US Short Haul – 10,000 to 20,000 Aventura points (up to $400 in value)
- Within a province, territory or U.S. state or to an adjoining province, territory or U.S. state.
- Canada & US Long Haul – 25,000 to 35,000 Aventura points (up to $800 in value)
- From any location in Canada or U.S. to any location in Canada or U.S (except Hawaii and Alaska).
- Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, Central American, Caribbean – 40,000 to 60,000 Aventura points (up to $1,000 in value)
- From any location in Canada or U.S. to Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Bermuda, Central America, or the Caribbean.
- Europe – 50,000 to 70,000 Aventura points (up to $1,300 in value)
- From a major gateway in Canada or U.S. to select destinations in Europe.
- Rest of the world – 75,000 to 125,000 Aventura points (up to $2,000 in value)
- From a major gateway in Canada or U.S. to select destinations in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, the Middle East, or South America.
The maximum ticket price denoted above for each redemption band is before taxes and any other applicable charges. In order to book an Aventura Airline Rewards flight, log into the CIBC Rewards Center or call the Aventura Travel Assistant at 1-888-232-5656.
CIBC Rewards Travel Centre
When booking travel through the CIBC Rewards Travel Centre (CIBC’s in-house travel agency), Aventura points can be applied towards the booking at a rate of 1 cent per point which means that 10,000 Aventura points would be worth $100 towards your travel booking.
In order to book travel within the CIBC Rewards Travel Centre, simply log into your CIBC Rewards account and visit this page. You can then search for the hotel, car rental, or vacation package of your choosing.
While this can present an opportunity for redemption if you are looking to book a hotel, rental car, or any other travel expense, you should never use this feature for flight redemptions. Instead, look to the Aventura Airline rewards chart in the section above as you will be able to get much better value out of your points.
Shopping with Points
The CIBC Shopping with Points redemption gives cardholders the opportunity to apply their Aventura points towards a purchase of their choice that was charged to their card. Points must be redeemed while the charge is pending, as the charge is no longer eligible for redemption once it has posted.
In order to redeem Aventura using the “Shopping with Points” feature:
- Make an eligible travel purchase using your Aventura credit card that has the points you want to redeem
- Sign in to your CIBC online banking account
- Find the pending transaction, click on it, and click on the “Redeem with Points” button
- The redemption statement credit will be posted on your account within the next few business days
When using the “Shopping with Points” feature, points are redeemed at a value of 1 cent per point which is excellent value. The fact that you can use your CIBC Aventura points for flexible travel redemptions through this redemption method is fantastic and is one of the best ways to redeem Aventura points for the miles and points enthusiast.
Statement Credit
Similar to many other financial institution loyalty programs, you can apply CIBC Aventura points towards your credit card statement balance through the “Payment with Points” feature.
When redeeming Aventura points through this method, redemptions start at a minimum of 4,000 Aventura points required for a statement credit of $25 (a value of 0.625 cents per point).
This is far below the typical value of 1 cent per point you can expect to receive from your Aventura points when redeeming for cash equivalents, so it is recommended that you avoid this redemption option.
Financial Products
CIBC Aventura points can also be redeemed towards CIBC financial products including mortgages, lines of credit, and investment accounts (such as an RRSP or TFSA).
Redeeming Aventura points as a credit towards any of the above-mentioned financial products works out to a value of 0.83 cents per point which is below our 1 cent per point target for cash equivalent redemptions. Cardholders must have a minimum of 12,000 Aventura points to make a redemption with this method.
Gift Cards & Merchandise
CIBC Aventura points can be redeemed for both merchandise and gift cards, similar to many other bank loyalty programs.
Redeeming your points for merchandise is never a good option and should be avoided. On the other hand, while we typically are against redeeming for gift cards, there are a few pockets of brilliance within the CIBC Aventura program. For example, there have been promotions in the past where you could redeem Aventura points for Chevron gift cards at a rate greater than one cent per point.
One of the other strong options we have seen in the past is to redeem Aventura for Save on Foods gift cards at one cent per point. These gift cards can be used at Save on Foods to purchase other gift cards of your choosing. With this in mind, it might be worth considering if it makes sense for you to cash out your Aventura points for gift cards.
Frequently Asked Questions
CIBC Aventura points have a rough value of 1 cent per point when redeeming for cash equivalent products (in the right situation) and a rough value of 2.2 cents per point when redeeming towards travel.
Flight redemptions using Aventura points will vary in cost.
Cost depends on two things: the itinerary of your flight redemption and whether you are redeeming Aventura through the Aventura Airline Rewards chart versus the CIBC Rewards Travel Centre.
CIBC Aventura and Air Canada Aeroplan are very different programs and cannot easily be directly compared.
While Aventura may be more straightforward to redeem for flights, you can extract much more value out of Aeroplan, especially if you prefer to fly in premium cabins.
No, Aventura points cannot be transferred to your Aeroplan account.
If you hold an active CIBC Aventura credit card, your points will not expire.
If you close a CIBC Aventura card, your points will be available to be redeemed for 60 days. After 60 days, they will expire.
Yes, through a few methods, including redeeming for “Shopping with Points”, for statement credit, financial products, and gift cards. It is important to note that some of these methods do not present the best redemption value for your point,s so do your research before redeeming.
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We recently booked a flight using Aventura points. We collect them from both a Canadian Dollar Visa card and an American Dollar Visa card. When we searched flights using our Canadian account, we were given an option for flight selection that would have been included in the points. When we searched flights using our American account, we were NOT given an option for flight selection at all. Can anyone explain this?
Hello
Can Aventura points be used to fly Toronto Washington by Porter Airlines!
Thank you
Hi Surendra,
Yes, absolutely you can use Aventura points for flights on Porter. You can see the CIBC Aventura Flight Rewards Chart for more information.
Hello need info on how it works my adventures points for a trip, is it good for all inclusive trip.
Thank you
Hey Allan,
You can turn your Aventura points into a statement credit using the refundable hotel trick. From there, you can either withdraw the cash at a CIBC ATM (for no fees) or just make normal purchases on the card to draw down the balance. And hey, you could absolutely use the extra cash to book an All Inclusive!
I have not found a way of redeeming my mounting Aventura points. Please help.
Hi Norma,
The best way to currently redeem CIBC Aventura points is through the “Shopping with Points” feature, taking advantage of the refundable hotel trick. You can book a refundable hotel on Hotels.ca/Expedia.ca using your Aventura credit card, apply the Aventura points towards the hotel booking in your CIBC account, and then cancel the booking which will leave you with the redeemed cash value of the points.
Hi Josh,
Do you know can we use the points to partially cover a hotel expense? One time I got my all points partially covered my travel package. But another time the CIBC agent said it cannot be redeemed for partial hotel expense.
In addition, there is no option to use 50% less point when shopping with points. I have to call every time.
Lorus
Hi Lorus,
I’m actually not sure. I always cash out my full Aventura balance against a hotel booking, but have never tried a partial redemption using only some of the Aventura balance (unless if your total points balance only covered a portion of the hotel).
I would probably err on the side of what the rep told you since I haven’t experienced this myself. Personally, I would recommend cashing out all your Aventura points on a hotel booking via shopping with points, as that is the best value available at the moment.
Hi Josh,
I meant that the rep said my points is not enough to cover the full hotel expense and thus I cannot redeem it.
I am not sure what you did. Should the hotel fee less than the points value or more than it?
Thank you!
Hey Lorus,
Got it. For example, I just redeemed 41,000 Aventura this week (worth around $512) for a hotel booking that cost $900 total (which means that the Aventura did not cover the full balance). As long as you have Aventura points, once you make a valid hotel booking, you should be able to go into your CIBC credit card account and apply your Aventura points to the pending charge on your Aventura credit card (note the charge must be pending and cannot be finalized to use the “shopping with point feature”).
I’d like to browse the rewards catalogue to redeem for gift cards. How can I view the catalogue when I don’t do on line banking?
It is best to sign up for online banking. I am not sure you can browse without signing in, but you can redeem by calling the CIBC Rewards Center alternatively.
I don’t bank with CIBC. I would like to redeem my points for gift cards or cash…what are my options? Also I prefer to speak to someone re this. Thanks
Hi Wilma,
I would direct you to these two articles for redeeming points for cash: