Bonus Page Updates Aug 28,09

Air Canada Aeroplan | Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | American AAdvantage | bmi Diamond Club | Priority Club

Highlights
- Aeroplan Earn 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with the "Your Trip Your Way Promotion" when earn or redeem with 3 or more select Aeroplan partners.
- Alaska: Earn up to Triple Mileage Plan Miles on all Air Pacific flights. Earn double miles in Economy or triple miles for business class.
- American: Double AAdvantage Miles for flights between Dallas DFW and Manhattan, KS.
- bmi: Double Diamond Club Destinations Miles every time you fly for two months after joining the Diamond Club program.
- Priority Club: Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Priority Club Points for completing non-hotel stay partner activity.

Save 20% on Air Canada routes that Porter Airlines also flies

Use promo code 4C4XGCD1 at aircanada.com to receive a 20% discount off all fare types. Discount is valid for travel until December 16, 2009 and in effect until August 31, 2009. The promotion is available on the following routes:

Halifax, YHZ (NS) - Ottawa, YOW (ON)

Ottawa, YOW (ON) - Halifax, YHZ (NS)

Halifax, YHZ (NS) - Toronto, YYZ (ON)

Toronto, YYZ (ON) - Halifax, YHZ (NS)

Quebec, YQB (QC) - Toronto, YYZ (ON)

Toronto, YYZ (ON) - Quebec, YQB (QC)

Toronto, YYZ (ON) - Thunder Bay, YQT (ON)

Thunder Bay, YQT (ON) - Toronto, YYZ (ON)

St. Johns, YYT (NL) - Halifax, YHZ (NS)

Halifax, YHZ (NS) - St. Johns, YYT (NL)

St. Johns, YYT (NL) - Ottawa, YOW (ON)

Ottawa, YOW (ON) - St. Johns, YYT (NL)

Toronto, YYZ (ON) - Montreal, YUL (QC)

Montreal, YUL (QC) - Toronto, YYZ (ON)

Toronto, YYZ (ON) - Ottawa, YOW (ON)

Ottawa, YOW (ON) - Toronto, YYZ (ON)

Toronto, YYZ (ON) - Boston, BOS (MA)

Boston, BOS (MA) - Toronto, YYZ (ON)

Toronto, YYZ (ON) - Chicago, ORD (IL)

Chicago, ORD (IL) - Toronto, YYZ (ON)

Toronto, YYZ (ON) - New York, EWR (NJ)

New York, EWR (NJ) - Toronto, YYZ (ON)

Bonus Page Updates Aug 27, 09

Etihad Guest | Northwest WorldPerks | US Airways Dividend Miles

Highlights:
Etihad - Double Miles for flights between Abu Dhabi and Capetown or Hyderabad
Northwest - Triple WorldPerks Miles when staying at the Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo
US Airways - 1,000 bonus Dividend Miles for participating Starwood hotels stays in Arizona, San Diego and Las Vegas

Delta to increase seasonal service to Cranbrook

Delta's Salt Lake City to Cranbrook seasonal service will increase to 3x weekly from 2x based upon the success of last season which was the first year that Delta flew this route. The flights will start Dec 19

Flight timings as follows:
Cranbrook-Salt Lake City Dep 1350 Arr 1545
Salt Lake City-Cranbrook Dep 1110 Arr 1325

Air Canada reduces service to Seoul for Winter 09/10

According the Airline Route Updates, Air Canada will be reducing their Vancouver-Seoul service to 5 flights per week from daily. The reduced periods are between Nov 1 - Dec 15, 09 and Jan 7 - Mar 28, 10

Air Canada to launch non-stop service to Athens and Barcelona from Montréal and Toronto

Air Canada announced today that they will launch seasonal summer service between Montreal and Barcelona, Montreal and Athens, Toronto and Barcelona and Toronto and Athens. This comes as the Greek national carrier Olympic is pulling out of Canada. All the flights times are set up to allow connections from the many of AC's Canadian and U.S. cities plus connections on the European side Aegean in Greece and Spanair in Spain.

The flights will run for the busy summer season between Jun 3 and Oct 18 with the following timings:

Montreal-Athens (3x weekly) Dep 1825 Arr 1040+1
Athens-Montreal (3x weekly) Dep 1215 Arr 1530

Toronto-Athens (3x weekly) Dep 1750 Arr 1040+1
Athens-Toronto (3x weekly) Dep 1215 Arr 1610

Montreal-Barcelona (3x weekly) Dep 1845 Arr 0805+1
Barcelona-Montreal (3x weekly) Dep 1145 Arr 1400

Toronto-Barcelona (3x weekly) Dep 1815 Arr 0805+1
Barcelona-Toronto (3x weekly) Dep 1145 Arr 1440

Bonus Page Updates Aug 26, 09

GoldpointsPlus | Northwest WorldPerks | Priority Club

Highlights:
GoldpointsPlus - Earn 2,000 bonus Gold Points when you book a bed and breakfast package for stays in the Americas
Northwest - Earn Triple WorldPerks miles on Budget car rentals of 3 days or more
Priority Club - Receive a $25 Gift Card per night for Target, Lowes or Best Buy when you stay at the Hotel Indigo Fishers-Indy's Uptown

20% off Air Canada flights to FLL, MCO or TPA

20% off between Canada & Fort Lauderdale, Orlando or Tampa.
Book by Aug 30, 2009
For travel Sep 1 - 30, 2009.

Enter discount code 4C4V3GQ1 at Aircanada.com

Bonus Page Updates Aug 25, 09

Air Canada Aeroplan | Air France KLM Flying Blue | US Airways Dividend Miles

Highlights:
Aeroplan - Earn up to 10,000 bonus Aeroplan mile when you open a CIBC unlimited chequing account
Flying Blue - Canadians earn 3,000 bonus miles when you join the program and fly with Air France within 6 months
Dividend Miles - Earn up to 50,000 bonus miles (incl 4,000 status) for non-flight partner activity

Air Canada to launch new Montreal-Brussels flight (with same plane service from YYZ)

Announced on August 20th, the new Air Canada non-stop service between Montreal and Brussels will launch on June 12, 2010 and allow for connections with upcoming Star Alliance member Brussels Airlines. The flight includes same plane service to/from Toronto. Connections include some key destinations in France and Africa like Toulouse, Lyon, Abidjan and Dakar. The flights will operate daily on a year round basis with a Boeing 767-300ER.

Flight times are as follows:
Toronto-Montreal Dep 1700 Arr 1815
Montreal-Brussels Dep 1940 Arr 0840+1
Brussels-Montreal Dep 1045 Arr 1225
Montreal-Toronto Dep 1400 Arr 1515

Air Canada to offer more sun destinations for this winter

Air Canada (in conjunction with Air Canada Vacations) have announced a large winter expansion to new and existing sun destinations. The new destinations include Fort de France, Martinique and La Romana, Dominican Republic. Existing destinations like Varadero will see increase in weekly flights from Toronto and new flights from Vancouver.

The complete listing of new flights is as follows:
Toronto-La Romana, Dominican Republic - New destination with Air Canada
flights departing every Saturday beginning December 19 onboard 120-seat Airbus
A319 aircraft.

Toronto-Varadero, Cuba - Increase to five times weekly, departing
Mondays, Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays onboard 120-seat Airbus A319
aircraft.

Montreal-Fort de France, Martinique - New Air Canada flights launched in
July will continue year-round, departing every Sunday onboard 120-seat Airbus
A319 aircraft.

Montreal-Fort Myers, Florida - New Air Canada flights will depart Sundays
beginning December 6 onboard 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Montreal-Samana/El Catey, Dominican Republic - New Air Canada flights
will depart Saturdays beginning December 19 onboard 120-seat Airbus A319
aircraft.

Montreal-Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - New Air Canada flights will depart
Fridays beginning December 25 onboard 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Montreal-Tampa, Florida - Weekly flights doubled with flights departing
Thursdays and Saturdays beginning November 7 onboard 120-seat Airbus A319
aircraft.

Montreal-Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - Increase to four times weekly,
departing Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays onboard 140-seat Airbus A320
aircraft.

Ottawa-Turks & Caicos - New Air Canada flights will depart Mondays
beginning December 21 onboard 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Ottawa-Fort Lauderdale - Increase to daily flights beginning December 19
onboard 93-seat Embraer E-190 aircraft.

Halifax-Samana/El Catey, Dominican Republic - New Air Canada flights will
depart Thursdays beginning February 11 onboard 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Halifax-Tampa, Florida - New Air Canada flights will depart Mondays
beginning February 8 onboard 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Vancouver-Varadero, Cuba - New Air Canada flights will depart Fridays
beginning December 25 onboard Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.

Continental Airlines returns to Edmonton

In another Star Alliance connection, Continental will be returning to Edmonton as of November 2 with daily flights from Houston. Flights are timed to connect with Continental flights to Latin America and Southern U.S. and will be operated with a mix of Boeing 737-500s and 737-700s

Flight times as follows:
Edmonton-Houston Dep 0640 Arr 1156
Houston-Edmonton Dep 1800 Arr 2145

Sunwing to fly Montreal-Ft. Lauderdale

According to Airline Route Updates, Sunwing Airlines will fly a twice weekly service between Montreal and Ft. Lauderdale starting on Dec 13, 09.

Flight times are as follows:
Montreal - Ft. Lauderdale Dep 1645 Arr 2020
Ft. Lauderdale - Montreal Dep 1220 Arr 1545

Air Canada to launch service between Calgary and Honolulu and Maui

Calgarians can now avoid connecting in Vancouver (or LAX, SEA, SFO) to get to Hawaii as Air Canada announced on Aug 18 that they will launch direct service from Calgary this winter. Both cities will start with once weekly service on Dec 5 and by mid to late December will be running at twice weekly to Honolulu and three times weekly to Maui. The flights will run until the end of April and be operated onboard Air Canada's Boeing 767-300ER's. Hopefully they will run the XMed planes with the new interiors and not one of the three they did not retrofit. However as the non-retrofitted planes do get quite a bit of rotation on sun/vacation routes due to lower yields, chances are the route will see them at least some of the time. No matter what I think my family will be hitting Maui again this year (even more then once perhaps)

Flight times are as follows:
YYC-OGG Dep 1420 Arr 1835
OGG-YYC Dep 1955 Arr 0515+1
YYC-HNL Dep 1405 Arr 1820
HNL-YYC Dep 1940 Arr 0510+1

Air Canada to launch non-stop service between Montreal and Houston

Of course during the week I decide to take vacation, Air Canada and other airlines announce a bunch of new routes from Canadian cities. All the new routes had two main focuses, Sun Destinations and Star Alliance connections. So here I am playing catch up on the new routes.

The new Montreal-Houston route announced by Air Canada on August 19th, is a Star Alliance connection. Houston is a large hub for Continental Airlines which is joining Star Alliance on Oct 27. This new daily route starts on November 30th and is timed to arrive into Houston to connect to Continental flights across the southern U.S., Mexico, Central and South America.

Schedule:
Montreal-Houston Dep 0955 Arr 1155
Houston-Montreal Dep 1225 Arr 1640

Continental sets Oct 27 as entry date into Star Alliance

From Continental email sent Aug 12:

Travel through Oct. 24, 2009
OnePass members can continue to earn and redeem miles and make reward reservations on SkyTeam partners through Oct. 24, 2009. All reward travel on these partners must be completed on or before Oct. 24, 2010.

Travel on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26, 2009
If you travel on a Star Alliance airline on Oct. 25 or Oct. 26, we will make every effort to ensure you automatically receive OnePass mileage credit (including Elite Qualification Miles/Points) and eligible customers receive lounge access. Please save copies of your travel documents for Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 — eTicket receipts and original boarding passes — until mileage credit is confirmed on your OnePass statement.

Travel Oct. 27, 2009 and beyond
When the transition to Star Alliance occurs on Oct. 27, 2009, OnePass members will begin earning base miles and Elite Qualification Miles/Points and be able to redeem miles on Star Alliance airlines.

Emirates 2 Day World Sale for Toronto departures

Receive an additional $150 off roundtrip Economy Class fares and $1,000 off roundtrip Business Class fares when you book online. Save on flights from Toronto to any one of Emirates over 100 destinations worldwide. Bookings must be made Aug 11 or 12. Travel is valid until Mar 10, 10 with Dec 5-Dec 24 blacked out.

Book online at Emirates

Air Canada cuts Madrid for winter season

From Airline Route Updates:

According to online GDS timetables, Air Canada will not fly the Toronto-Madrid route this winter. Initially it was planned that AC would fly the route 3x weekly.

US Airways to resume Edmonton-Las Vegas Service for the fall

Earlier this year US Airways cut their routes to Las Vegas from Calgary and Edmonton as part of a larger program in flight reductions out of LAS.

It appears though that the Edmonton - Las Vegas route has been reinstated and will be starting on Sep 11 (the incoming flight will leave LAS on the 10th) . It looks to be a 4x weekly routing for September (Mo,Tu,Fr,Sa) and then goes daily in October. The direct link will then end on Dec 16. Flights are operated by regional carrier Mesa Airlines with a CRJ900 as follows:

YEG-LAS Dep 630 Arr 832 x
LAS-YEG Dep 2128 Arr 139+1

Why I think WestJet teamed up with RBC Royal Bank and MasterCard

A conversation on Twitter last night had me answering some questions as to why I think WestJet went with RBC and MasterCard for the credit card that will be associated with their frequent flyer program and here is what I came up with:

- Why RBC? I would have to speculate that RBC was chosen because WestJet wants (and should be) affiliated with a major Canadian bank. It could not be CIBC as they are heavily tied into Air Canada/Aeroplan, BMO has Air Miles and although they had a previous relationship together the new WestJet program will technically compete with Air Miles, TD has put a lot of time and effort into their new cards and in all reality since you can redeem for any travel, the TD points earned can simply be redeemed for WestJet bookings so no real need to tie in with WestJet, which leaves RBC and Scotiabank. Scotiabank is one of the weakest in the travel rewards department while RBC has proven their might in the industry with the Avion, British Airways and Cathay Pacific cards, hence the link up with RBC.

- Why MasterCard? I believe there are a few reasons why MasterCard was chosen. Many people are asking why because RBC is traditionally a VISA supplier. First, WestJet's previous credit card that was tied into Air Miles was a MasterCard and it was quite successful leading me to believe WestJet has a comfortable and good relationship with MasterCard. Second, MasterCard may have pushed WestJet as MasterCard is not partnered with any major airlines in Canada for a direct airline branded credit card. The closest they come to is the Alaska Airlines MasterCard but Alaska only serves B.C. and Alberta, so while they a major U.S. airline, they cannot be considered the same in Canada. Compare this to VISA who have Air Canada, American Airlines, British Airways and Cathay Pacific cards in Canada. With this link up MasterCard will have a major airline to call their own, although soon enough WestJet will not be the only one as there are hints of another major U.S. airline launching a credit card here. Some may say why the RBC and MasterCard connection when there are many other MasterCard issuers in Canada. I would have to answer that outside of BMO with whom WestJet will now compete, all the MasterCard issuers in Canada are U.S. based banks and to team up with them just does not have the same marketing prowess as being teamed up with a Canadian bank, if fact some people may have been angered if WestJet had teamed up with one of the U.S. banks (Keep it Canadian right?)

So there you have it, when you look at all these factors the whole WestJet-RBC-MasterCard connection seems to make sense. Now we just have to wait and see with great anticipation how the rest of the WestJet frequent flyer program looks.

WestJet selects RBC and MasterCard to supply the new WestJet Travel Rewards Credit Card

WestJet announced today that they have selected RBC and MasterCard to be the supplier of the credit card for the upcoming WestJet Travel Rewards program. The card itself will be the first MasterCard issued by RBC, who have been solely a VISA provided to this point. The card should be released in line with the launch of the yet to be named WestJet Frequent Flyer program this fall.

It will be interesting to see what the card offers and if different versions will be available, for example a no/low fee version, a higher fee version with a full suite of benefits. The card will definitely have a significant role in changing the rankings of next years Top Travel Rewards Credit Card (see 2009 rankings here) as WestJet is such a key player in the Canadian market.

Source: WestJet

Exclusive online sale: Summer of deals from Air Canada - Week 6

WEEK 6: Aug 3 - Aug 9

20% off all Economy class fares and 15% off all Executive First fares

Valid between Canada and Australia.
Valid on AC operated flights only.
Travel completed by Dec 11, 2009.
Enter 4F7HCUG1 under Promotion Code.

Discount code will be valid until Aug 9, 2009.