Redeem CIBC Aventura Points for 1.25 Cents Per Point (Extended!)

One way to redeem CIBC Aventura points is by applying them to purchases made directly with travel vendors. This comes in handy for booking independent hotels, cruises, or anything else that you can’t book with other points currencies, such as Aeroplan points or British Airways Avios.

Typically, cardholders can redeem Aventura points for 0.625 cents per point (cpp) against any travel purchase, or 8,000 points for every $50 of credit.

In 2022, CIBC doubled that rate to 1.25cpp or 8,000 points for every $100 (CAD) of credit, and the bank has announced that this promotional redemption rate has once again been extended, this time to July 16, 2023.

Redeem CIBC Aventura Points for 1.25 Cents Per Point

Until July 16, 2023, all CIBC Aventura cardholders can redeem their points for 1.25cpp towards any and all travel purchases. The points are converted into a statement credit, which offsets the cost of your purchase.

This promotion is essentially a 100% bonus from the standard rate when redeeming Aventura points for a statement credit towards travel purchases. In other words, the value of each Aventura point is doubled, which works out to 1.25 cents per Aventura point redeemed, or a ratio of 8,000 Aventura points for every $100 (CAD) of statement credit.

Your purchase must code as travel in order to redeem Aventura points at this improved ratio, and the purchase must also be made in Canadian dollars in order to qualify.

When it comes time to redeem points at their maximum value, CIBC requires you to complete a three-step process:

• Purchase travel with your CIBC Aventura credit card
• Find the pending transaction
• Redeem your points for the pending transaction

The first step is the easiest of the three. You can book flights, vacation packages, cruises, hotels, car rentals, tours, trains, limousines, and any other travel.

You aren’t required to book through a specific channel, such as any particular online travel agency or the bank’s in-house CIBC Travel Rewards Centre. Rather, you can use any method that you’d like; just be sure to use your CIBC Aventura credit card for the purchase.

The second step is the most important of the three: you can only redeem Aventura points for 1.25cpp while the transaction is still pending.

This means that if the transaction has already posted to your account, you’re too late. However, as long as you find the pending transaction and apply points to it before it posts, you’re in luck.

To find your pending transactions, simply head to CIBC Mobile Banking or CIBC Online Banking. Your pending travel transactions should appear within your transaction history shortly after making the purchase.

If you can’t find a pending transaction, you may need to check back every so often, as it may take a day or two before it appears.

Once you’ve located the pending transaction, the final step is to apply your Aventura points towards the travel purchase to benefit from the elevated 1.25cpp value.

Select the travel purchase from within your pending transactions, and then click “Redeem with Points”.

If your purchase is an eligible travel transaction, the 1.25cpp value will be automatically calculated.

You should be redeeming 8,000 Aventura points for every $100 (CAD) you’re paying off. If you notice that something’s incorrect with the redemption value, the purchase likely doesn’t qualify as travel, or it wasn’t made in Canadian dollars.

Note that the requested amount must be equal to or lesser than your Aventura points balance. If everything works out well, you’ll see a credit posted on your account under “Shopping with Points”.

Should You Redeem Aventura For 1.25 Cents Each?

The ongoing ability to redeem CIBC Aventura points against any travel purchase for 1.25cpp is outstanding, and puts CIBC a step above all other fixed-value points programs with other Canadian banks, such as TD Rewards, BMO Rewards, and HSBC Rewards.

Prior to this promotion, redeeming CIBC Aventura points directly for a statement credit yielded a ratio of 8,000 Aventura points for a $50 (CAD) statement credit, or a value of 0.625cpp. Previously, one of the best ways to redeem Aventura points for optimal value was via the CIBC Rewards Travel Centre, which is CIBC’s own in-house travel portal, which resulted in a value of 1cpp. 

For the most part, 1cpp is the going rate for redeeming fixed-value points, and CIBC’s promotional rate of 1.25cpp outperforms that by a full 25%. 

Before CIBC Aventura’s current promotion, Scene+ was the fixed-value points program of choice for most Canadians, since you can redeem points for a statement credit at a value of 1cpp against any travel purchase.

With the extension of the increased redemption rate for travel booked any way, CIBC Aventura remains as the most valuable way to offset your travel expenses with fixed-value points.

Keep in mind that this isn’t the only, or possibly the most valuable, way to redeem Aventura points.

Using the Aventura Airline Rewards Chart, you can get up to 2.29 cents per Aventura point if you max out the redemption value by finding a base fare at the maximum price listed for each destination. Squeezing this extra value out of your points can be cumbersome, as you have to shop around for fares that don’t exceed the maximum permitted value.

It’s also possible to redeem Aventura points for gift cards, merchandise, financial products, statement credits, and even experiences, but you’ll be getting inferior value from your points if you choose to do so.

Conclusion

Until July 16, 2023, CIBC Aventura cardholders can redeem Aventura points towards a statement credit directly against any travel purchases at a rate of 1.25 cents per point.

Indeed, the ability to book any travel and redeem Aventura points at 1.25cpp is the most flexible way to get the travel you want and redeem points against the purchase, and makes CIBC Aventura credit cards that much more enticing.

Be sure to take advantage of the promotional rate by July 16, 2023, either by redeeming Aventura points you already have or adding a CIBC Aventura credit card to your portfolio.