Air Miles is offering a new choice for consumers who want to redeem reward miles more quickly.

Effective March 1, participants will have the option of allocating their points to the newly launched Air Miles Cash program and using them at participating retailers. In the past, participants had to accumulate points in their Air Miles Dream Rewards accounts and redeem them via their Air Miles' rewards catalogue.

The new program is strictly optional. Collectors can continue to keep their reward points in their original Air Miles Dream Rewards accounts and save up for merchandise, magazine subscriptions, free car washes, travel rewards and gift cards. They can also customize their settings, allocating some points to Air Miles Cash and some to Air Miles Dream Rewards.

The new program could change things up for long-time Air Miles users, and participants have been voicing their complaints and concerns in Air Miles' online forums. Yet Air Miles Cash does have some advantages for consumers.

Advantage No. 1: faster cash payouts
Under the new Air Miles Cash scheme, 95 reward miles are worth $10 toward purchases at participating retailers. That ratio is 8.5 per cent less than the going rate for similar Air Miles Dream prizes, where 175 points qualifies cardholders for a $20 grocery gift certificate or pharmacy gift card delivered via mail within four weeks.

However, the lower 95-point threshold gives consumers a reason to spend more, enabling them to access cash discounts sooner and more often. In an email interview, an Air Miles spokesperson revealed that the average Dream account holder redeems a reward within two and a half years, albeit for a higher-value item.

Air Miles has also announced a five-year expiry on all reward miles, another move that motivates consumers to speed up when they cash in their earned points.

Advantage No. 2: focused redemptions
Critics argue that only a handful of retail chains accept Air Miles Cash points as payment. For Ontario residents, redeemers are currently limited to Jean Coutu drugstores, Metro grocers, Rexall Pharma Plus pharmacies, RONA hardware shops and Shell gas stations.

Even then, many consumers will be able to target accessible grocers, pharmacies and gas stations that do accept Air Miles Cash points like money -- and reduce their bills.

Take groceries, for example. Based on Statistics Canada data, the average Canadian household spent $7,254 on food in 2009. If a family uses an Air Miles card to make those purchases, it could get about 764 reward miles -- that's eight $10 cash redemptions. In other words, strategic shopping could take a significant chunk out of yearly grocery costs.

Keep in mind, however, that Air Miles Cash is constrained by a $200 daily rewards limit, a feature that also encourages more frequent and smaller cash-outs. According to Air Miles' website, the daily maximum also helps to prevent large losses from lost or stolen Air Miles cards -- because, unlike online rewards, a PIN isn't required to extract cash rebates at checkout.

Advantage No. 3: intensified point collection
There are multiple ways to boost the number of reward points earned under the new Air Miles Cash option.

Air Miles promotions, coupons and bonus offers advertised in weekly flyers as well as through in-store displays can help build up reward miles faster, even as shoppers save money on price discounts. On the Air Miles website, the "Sponsors Near You" section includes a search feature that helps users find hundreds of nearby outlets where they can earn reward miles.

Certain Air Miles rewards credit cards can also significantly accelerate point accumulation. For example, the no-fee American Express Air Miles Card earns an extra reward mile for every $15 spent at qualifying retailers -- more than double the basic reward payout rate. Another no-fee rewards card, the BMO Air Miles MasterCard, doubles the number of earned points and entitles cardholders to a 50 per cent bonus for purchases at participating Shell gas stations.

See related: Save on groceries with price matching; Editor's Choice: The best air travel rewards