CIBC unveils its own travel program

Aventura clients can travel any airline to any destination and in any seat, bank says

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is launching its own travellers’ loyalty program just two weeks after partially exiting Aeroplan.

CIBC says its new Aventura travel rewards program will allow clients to redeem their points on any airline and select any destination they want.

Aventura clients will also have access to every seat on the plane and can also use their points to pay for flight taxes and fees as well.

Just two weeks ago, CIBC reached a deal with TD Bank Group that gives each bank rights to half of the portfolio of accounts that offer loyalty points that can be exchanged for airline tickets and other goods through Aimia’s flagship Aeroplan program.

TD said at the time it expected to acquire about 550,000 cardholder accounts from CIBC, representing approximately $3 billion in card balances and $20 billion in annual retail spending.

CIBC will retain the half of the portfolio that includes Aerogold customers with broader relationships with the bank, which had been the primary Aeroplan credit card issuer for more than 20 years.

The three companies have been in negotiations for weeks, following Aimia’s decision to pick TD as the primary issuer of Aeroplan Visa credit cards for a 10-year term, starting Jan. 1, 2014.

CIBC objected to the decision and the three parties agreed to seek a compromise agreement.

Aimia says about $312.5 million will be paid to CIBC for the shift of half its Aeroplan cards portfolio to TD, with Aimia funding about $150 million of the payments.

CIBC said at the time it planned to quickly introduce its own travel loyalty rewards card.