Air Canada begins codesharing with TAP Portugal

Air Canada and TAP Portugal begin codesharing on flights this week with AC's number going on select TAP's flights out of Newark, London, Lisbon, Porto and Madrid. While TAP will codeshare on select AC flights out of Newark, Madrid and London.

For a full list of flights and flight numbers see Airline Route Updates

Bonus Pages Updates Mar 27, 09

Mar 27, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
American AAdvantage | Continental OnePass | El Al Matmid Club | Midwest Miles | Miles & More | QANTAS Frequent Flyer

Overview
- Earn up to 50,000 bonus AAdvantage miles on U.S. to U.K. flights
- Earn double OnePass miles between Newark and Charlotte
- Earn 15-20 bonus Matmid miles on flights between Tel Aviv and Kiev
- Earn double Midwest miles when you fly on day the Milwaukee Brewers win
- Earn double Miles and More miles between Frankfurt Rzeszow
- Complete update of the QANTAS Frequent Flyer page with new flight, car and hotel offers

Bonus Pages Updates Mar 26, 09

Mar 26, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
American AAdvantage | Priority Club | Thai Royal Orchid

Overview
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles on flights bewteen Chicago and Shanghai
- Complete update of the Priority Club pages with tons of new offers
- Earn up to Triple Royal Orchid Plus miles on Avis car rentals worldwide.

Bonus Page Updates Mar 25, 09

Mar 25, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
Brussels Airlines Privilege | Continental OnePass | Northwest WorldPerks | Priority Club | Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | United Mileage Plus

Overview
- Earn double Privilege miles on your first two flights with Lufthansa and/or Swiss
- Earn double Elite Qualifying Status miles for flying on Continental
- Earn 1,000 bonus WorldPerks Miles for National Car rentals in the U.S. or Canada
- Complete update of the Priority Club pages with many new offers
- Receive a free future upgrade when you fly on any Singapore Airlines flight in an fare class that accrues miles.
- Earn double Elite Qualifying Status miles for flying on United

Air Canada offers double Aeroplan Miles on new routes

Air Canada Aeroplan launched new bonus mile offerings on the majority of the new routes that are slated to start over the next few months. Those routes and the dates of the bonus offer are:


Calgary - London, ON Jun 1 - Jun 30, 09
Calgary - Portland Jun 15 - Jul 31, 09
Calgary - San Diego May 15 - Jun 30, 09
Toronto - Sydney NS May 1 - 31, 09

See all the details and registration links on our Aeroplan page.

Bonus Page Updates Mar 24, 09

Mar 24, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
Air Canada Aeroplan | Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | Delta SkyMiles | El Al Matmid Club | Northwest WorldPerks

Overview
- Earn double Aeroplan miles on Air Canada's new routes out of Calgary and Toronton
- Earn double Mileage Plan miles on Horizon's flights from Portland to the Bay Area
- Earn up to triple Elite Qualifying miles on Delta flights
- Earn bonus Matmid points on Tel Aviv - Sao Paulo flights
- Earn up to triple Elite Qualifying miles on Northwest flights

Most U.S. Majors now offering Elite Qualifying Bonuses

Following close on the heels of American Airlines Elite Qualifying offer launched last week, the rest of the major U.S. airlines have now launched their own Elite Qualifying offers for Spring 2009.

I have compiled all of them to date on one page on Rewards Canada and will continue to update it should more offers come up. You can visit the page here

To date these are the airlines with some sort of Elite Qualifying Offer
American
Continental
Delta
Midwest
Northwest
United

Porter expands Montreal and Ottawa service

Starting in mid-April Porter Airlines will increase the number of flights between Toronto Island Airport and Montreal to 14 round trips per day up from 9 and by May 6 that will increase further to 18 round trips per day.

Meanwhile flights to Ottawa from the Island Airport will see the current 10 round trips per day increased to 14 on April 30.

Saskatchewan's boom means more direct flights from Delta and United

As Canada's booming province, Saskatchewan is seeing the positive affects that are associated with being prosperous, namely more direct flights to more cities. This past week three new routes were announced.

First out of the gate is Delta. which will offer direct non-stop summer seasonal service between Saskatoon and Salt Lake City. The once daily service will be offered from Jun 18 - Nov 29 on a CRJ-200 with the following flight times:
YXE-SLC Dep 13:30 Arr 15:55
SLC-YXE Dep 10:00 Arr 12:30

Next United has announced 2 new routes to the province. First off is once daily CRJ-700 service between Saskatoon and Chicago that starts on June 4 and twice daily CRJ-200 service between Regina and Denver that starts on July 1. The Regina to Denver flights will depart YQR at 6:38 and 14:18 while the Saskatoon flights leaves for Chicago at 12:45.

Bonus Page Updates Mar 19, 09

Mar 19, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
Aerosvit Meridian | Air Canada Aeroplan | American AAdvantage | Continental OnePass | Hyatt Gold Passport | Malev Duna Club | Marriott Rewards | Midwest Miles | Miles and More | US Airways Dividend Miles

Overview:
- Earn bonus Aerosvit Meridian miles between Kiev and Tel Aviv, Almaty and Hamburg
- Earn up to 7,500 Bonus AAdvantage miles on AA flights to Moscow
- Earn double OnePass miles between Houston and Roatan, Honduras
- We have a complete update of the Hyatt Gold Passport program
- Earn up to 250% bonus Malev Duna Club miles between Budapest and Iasi, Hamburg, Tel Aviv or St. Petersburg
- Earn $50 Marriott Bonus Bucks for 2 night stays in the Mid-West and Eastern U.S.
- Earn 5,000 bonus Midwest Miles and double segments for 12 routes out of Milwaukee
- Earn double Miles and More miles of Lufthansa flights between Frankfurt and Jeddah or Riyadh
- Earn double U.S. Airways Dividend Miles for National Car Rentals in Canada and the U.S.

Emirates to use A380 on Toronto - Dubai Route

Beginning June 1, 2009 Emirates will use the Airbus A380 Super Jumbo to fly the 3 times weekly Toronto to Dubai route. The carrier cites strong demand on the route for the aircraft change.

As a result, the New York JFK-Dubai route loses the A380 service and reverts to twice daily Boeing 777 flights.

Some rumours are floating around stating that one reason behind the change is for Emirates to prove to the Canadian government that they should change or remove restrictions on how many flights are allowed between Canada and the U.A.E.. Whether this is true or not there are pros and cons to both sides. While it always good to have more direct flights out of Canada, airlines like Air Canada stand to lose connecting traffic to points beyond Dubai as many people flying on Emirates are not ending their travels in Dubai, they are continuing on to other locations in Asia, Australia and Africa. Emirates has even expressed interest in serving other Canadian cities like Vancouver and Calgary should the regulations be relaxed.

It will be interesting to see how all of this pans out over the coming months.

Porter Airlines adds Thunder Bay to its route network

Porter Airlines, based at Toronto's Island Airport will begin flights to Thunder Bay on June 26, 2009. They will offer three flights per day on the weekdays and two daily flights on Saturday and Sunday.

The flights are timed are for connections to other Porter destinations like Ottawa, Montreal, New York and Chicago.

Full details on Porter's website

Bonus Page Updates Mar 18, 09

Mar 18, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
Aeroflot Bonus | AeroMexico Club Premier | Air Algerie Plus | EVA Evergreen Club | Northwest WorldPerks

Overview
- Earn 500 Aeroflot Bonus Miles for joining the program
- Earn up to triple Club Premier Kilometers for stays at select Barcelo Hotels
- Earn Double Evergreen miles for Avis rentals in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Middle East
- Earn 500 bonus WorldPerks Miles for Avis rentals Worldwide

Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Executive Club miles on BA Flights from North America

British Airways has launched their North American Spring Executive Club promotion and it is quite a bountiful one! It available on all of BA's mainline flights from Canada, the U.S., Bermuda and Caribbean

If you fly in the World Traveller or World Traveller Plus you will earn 25,000 bonus miles per round trip (Eligible classes Y,B,H,W,E or T)

If you fly in Club World or First Class you will earn 50,000 bonus miles per round trip. (Eligible classes (F,A,J, C, D, R or I). That 50,000 is all you need to redeem for a economy class round trip ticket between North America and Western Europe.

The promo requires registration (free) and runs until June 30. By the way there is no limit to number of times you can earn the bonus miles, so if you have a lot of BA flights coming up be sure to register for this one.

For all details and registration click here to go to the offer on BA's website

United adds second Quebec City-Chicago Flight

As of June 4, 2009 United will operate 2 flights daily between Quebec City and Chicago. Rather then having one flight a day on a slightly large E-170, the two daily flights will operated with CRJ-200's

Schedule as follows:
UA5962 ORD1258 - 1625YQB CRJ D
UA6223 ORD1815 - 2142YQB CRJ D

UA5915 YQB0815 - 0952ORD CRJ D
UA6441 YQB1656 - 1835ORD CRJ D

Source: Airline Route Updates

Bonus Page Updates Mar 17, 09

Mar 17, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
British Airways Executive Club | Starwood Preferred Guest

Overview:
- Earn up to 50,000 bonus Executive Club miles on BA flights from North America, Bermuda, Caribbean to London and beyond
- Earn double Starpoints and third night free at locations in Northern China

RBC Avion Visa's to see increased redemption rate for Long Haul North American flights

In somewhat of a surprise move with one of Canada's most popular travel rewards credit cards, RBC is increasing Long North American redemption levels on its Avion cards from 30,000 to 35,000 points. This change will take place on May 1, 2009.

Why is it surprising? While it is not unusual for airlines to increase mileage requirements for reward flights, it is not so with credit card issuers. In the past year many of Canada's travel rewards credit cards have actually made their products and/or the reward rate of return more enticing to try and lure or keep their customers. Diners Club Club Rewards and Capital One's Mile Plus MasterCard are some that come to mind.

Will the change make RBC lose customers? Probably not, while many may not be happy with the change, the card still holds a pretty good redemption value for Long Haul North American tickets that are valued around $750 and why change if you have racked up lots of points with the card.

You can see the current redemption values of this card (30,000 points) against other travel points cards in our Travel Anywhere Credit Card Comparison. As you can see the Avion does not fare too well on lower value tickets under $500, but currently it is a top 3 card above the $500 level. With the new redemption rate it fares even worse under $500 and falls to the fourth best in the $500 category.

Now some other factors can come into play, if you have the Infinite Avion Visa you do earn 25% more points for booking travel with the card. So if you exclusively use the card for travel purchases the redemption rates are a bit better, but most people will not just use this card for travel purchases.

Is this a smart move by RBC? In our opinion of course not. We never like it when redemption levels are increased by a reward program but that may change if other credit card companies follow suit.

Thanks to Zorn on CanFlyer for revealing this.

Bonus Page Updates Mar 13, 09

Mar 13, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
American AAdvantage | Brussels Airlines Privilege | Delta SkyMiles | Emirates SkyWards | Marriott Rewards | United Mileage Plus

Overview:
- Earn Triple AAdvantage miles between BOS and LAX, SFO or SAN
- 1,500 bonus Privilege miles for World Hotels stays of 2 nights or more
- Double SkyMiles for Starwood Hotels stays in Mexico of 4 nights or more
- Complete update of the Marriott Rewards page with new offers all over the world
- Triple Mileage Plus miles for OMNI Hotel stays worldwide

Bonus Page Updates Mar 11, 09

Mar 11, 09 Pages with new an/or updated bonuses
Marriott Rewards | GoldpointsPlus | Northwest WorldPerks | Philippine Airlines Mabuhay | US Airways Dividend Miles

Overview
- Double Marriott Rewards points with Hertz rentals until the end of June
- Earn Double Gold Points at dozens of hotels in the U.S.
- Rent with Avis and earn 500 bonus WorldPerks miles
- Earn 50% more Mabuhay miles on flights between the Philippines and Japan
- Earn up to 5,000 bonus Dividend Miles on flights to Oslo Norway from the U.S.

Bonus Page Updates Mar 10, 09

Mar 10, 09 Pages with new and/or updates bonuses:
Emirates SkyWards | Miles and More | Priority Club

Overview:
- Earn up to Triple Skywards miles for flights Worldwide (see post below)
- Earn double Miles and More miles on Lufthansa's new flights out of Frankfurt and Munich
- Earn 25,000 bonus Priority Club points for two stays at Express by Holiday Inns in Europe

Earn up to Triple Skywards Miles on Emirates flights Worldwide

Emirates has launched a global/systemwide promotion where you can earn up to Triple Miles on Emirates flights Worldwide.

Earn Triple Miles in First and Business Class and Double Miles in Economy Class on selected flights during selected months. See the link below for the routes that offer the bonuses. The routes change each month and also the bonus availability: ie only First and Business or only Economy, etc.

Bonuses for flights from Toronto to Dubai are only being offered during the month of April

The promotion runs from March 15 - June 30, 09. Registration is required for the promotion.

Full Details, Registration and Online Booking

Bonus Page Updates Mar 6, 09

Mar 6, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonuses
Continental OnePass | Delta SkyMiles | Midwest Miles | Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Overview:
- Stay at Barcelo Hotels and Resorts to earn Quadruple OnePass Miles
- Earn 500 bonus SkyMiles for Choice Hotel Stays and free elite status with Choice Privileges
- Complete update of Midwest Miles pages with new car rental, hotel and other offers
- Complete update of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club with new car rental and hotel offers

Earn Double Asia Miles for Alaska Airlines flights out of Vancouver

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles members can earn double Asia Miles for Alaska/Horizon airlines flights between Vancouver and Boise, Portland or Seattle

The promotion also includes other flights within the Western U.S. which could be connected to from all Alaska/Horizon Canadian flights, see our link below for all the routes.

This offer runs until Apr 30, 09 and requires registration.

See our Asia Miles page for more info and the link to register.

Bonus Page Updates Mar 5, 09

Mar 5, 09 Pages with new and/or updated Bonuses
AeroMexcio Club Premier | ANA Mileage Club | Hilton HHonors

Overview:
- Earn double Club Premier Miles for stays at select resorts in Mexico
- Earn double Mileage Club miles for car rentals from Alamo or National
- Earn 1,000 bonus HHonors points with a 2 night mini break stay in Eastern Europe

Bonus Page Updates Mar 4, 09

Mar 4, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
Cathay Pacific Aiia Miles | Mexicana Frecuenta | US Airways Dividend Miles

Overview:
- Earn on Double Asia Miles on select Alaska Airlines flights, including some out of Vancouver
- Complete update of the Mexicana Frecuenta page for car rentals, hotels and other offers
- New Double Dividend Miles offer from Hertz

Bonus Page Updates Mar 3, 09

Mar 3, 09 Pages with new and/or updated bonus offers:
Emirates SkyWards | Marriott Rewards | Priority Club | United Mileage Plus

Overview:
- Emirates new online booking bonuses for bookings as of Apr 1/09 (They've gone down)
- Marriott has some new individual hotel bonus offers across the U.S.
- Earn 2,000 bonus Priority Club points for Hotel Indigo stays (Targeted offer - may not work for everyone)
- Complete update of the Mileage Plus page for flights, car rentals, hotels and other offers

Earn Triple Miles at the new Shangri-La Vancouver

Shangri-La Hotels first North American hotel has opened in Vancouver and so far we have found two airlines offering bonus mile offers for staying at this new location.

Both United Mileage Plus and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer are offering Triple Miles and a complimentary 4th night. United's offer is good until May 31 and Singapore Airlines is good until Mar 31

Stay at Delta Hotels in Canada and earn Triple Asia Miles

Until May 31, 09 you can earn Triple Asia Miles for stays at all Delta hotels and resorts across Canada

More details

Delta Hotels is having a huge sale right now for bookings made until Mar 16, however I cannot determine if the rates with this sale are 'eligible rates' for earning Asia Miles, Visit the sale here

See here for eligible rates for Asia Miles