Canada's first AIR MILES Mile-ionaire crowned

    
    - Roy Enger from Chilliwack, B.C. wins One Million AIR MILES reward
    miles -
    

TORONTO , Sept. 14 /CNW/ - British Columbia resident Roy Enger had his life changed forever on Sunday, September 13 at 9:00 p.m. , when his name was read by Cheryl Hickey and Roz Weston from ET Canada as the first ever recipient of One Million AIR MILES reward miles, the largest prize give-away ever in AIR MILES history. Roy was one of eleven finalists of the Mile-ionaire contest who each were awarded 50,000 reward miles for qualifying and were treated to a Toronto VIP weekend including a film festival party hosted by ET Canada .

At home at the time of the awards ceremony, 74-year-old Roy and his wife Mabel were notified by telephone by their excited family members - daughter Janice Kouwenhoven and granddaughter Laurel - who attended the Toronto festivities on their behalf. His family accepted the grand prize with a photo of the couple in hand.

"We were so excited to get the news and it still hasn't sunk in that we are Mile-ionaires," said Roy Enger from his home in Chilliwack, B.C. "We already use our AIR MILES for gifts to share with family but now we can take those trips to all the places we have dreamed about like Australia , New Zealand and a cruise to Alaska. Our new favourite line when we go shopping will be - do you take AIR MILES?"

The other 10 Mile-ionaire finalists came from all across Canada:

    
    -   Darryl Silva from Toronto, Ontario
    -   Daniel Lemieux from St. Leonard, Quebec
    -   Barry Aucoin from Upper Brookside, Nova Scotia
    -   Elizabeth James from Mississauga, Ontario
    -   Lorraine Sousa from Burnaby, British Columbia
    -   Nancy McEvoy from Oakville, Ontario
    -   Francois Hache from Miramichi, New Brunswick
    -   Andre Bourgault from Drummondville, Quebec
    -   Leslie Scory from Medicine Hat, Alberta
    -   Judy Wells from Etobicoke, Ontario
    

"We are so proud to be able to positively impact the lives and experiences of not only our Mile-ionaire winner, Roy Enger and his wife Mabel, but also his entire family - children and grandchildren," said Bryan Pearson , president of LoyaltyOne Inc., operators of the AIR MILES Reward Program. "Our rewards portfolio offers a wide array of possibilities from entertainment, flights and cruises to merchandise, gift certificates or passes to local attractions. We're not sure how long it will take Roy to use up his one million miles but we know that he and his family will have a lot of fun trying."

The AIR MILES Mile-ionaire contest was run from May 6 to June 12, 2009 with over 1,000 prizes awarded to AIR MILES Collectors ranging from 100 to 50,000 reward miles. Collectors entered to win in one of four possible ways including shopping through airmilesshops.ca, using coupons from the Mile-ionaire Giveaway coupon book, paying with their BMO Debit or BMO AIR MILES Mastercard, or submitting their 'what I would do with a million reward miles' story at the AIR MILES Community forum at www.airmiles.ca/community. The grand prize ceremony of one million reward miles will air in a special segment on ET Canada tonight, Monday September 14, 2009 at 7pm ET / 7:30pm PT on Global.

About the AIR MILES Reward Program

Founded in 1992, the AIR MILES Reward Program is Canada's premier coalition loyalty program. More than 10 million active Collector accounts, representing approximately two-thirds of all Canadian households, actively participate in the Program. The AIR MILES Reward Program allows Collectors to indulge in leisure, entertainment, merchandise, travel and other lifestyle rewards quickly, simply by doing their everyday shopping for products and services at AIR MILES Sponsors. AIR MILES reward miles can be redeemed for more than 1,200 different rewards, such as movie passes, family attractions, electronic merchandise, sports and recreation, travel and more.

Collectors can shop and collect AIR MILES reward miles at more than 100 brand-name Sponsors across the country, representing thousands of retail and service locations nationally, including RONA, Shell, SportChek (Sports Experts), The Shoe Company, BMO, Metro, Sobeys, Safeway and IGA, and airmilesshops.ca. The AIR MILES Reward Program's website is airmiles.ca.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at

http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the

media/

For further information: or to arrange an interview with an AIR MILES spokesperson or one of the Mile-ionaire finalists, please contact the AIR MILES media desk at [phone]; or contact Sarah Daly, Libby Stunt, Veritas Communications at [phone], [email protected], [email protected]