Oct 31 Update: Avion Transfer Bonus & US Airways Buy Miles Bonus start tomorrow!

Happy Halloween to all my Rewards Canada readers! One reason there haven't been as many feature articles or news the past week is that I have been taking some time making my daughters' Halloween costumes. My older daughter decided to go as Napoleon Dynamite (which wasn't too hard to put together) but my younger daughter decided that she wanted to be Deadmau5! So the past month has seen my wife and I putting together a Mau5 head complete with lighting. The final product is in the picture! I hope you all have a great night!

News, Tips & Tricks
Tomorrow will see the return of the RBC Avion 50% transfer bonus to British Airways Executive Club. I'll post the link on Facebook, Twitter, etc. as soon as its live! This is usually where its at http://www.britishairways.com/travel/avion50/public/en_ca/en_ca (but I will confirm it tomorrow)

Tomorrow will also see the return of the ever famous US Airways 100% Bonus on buying Dividend Miles, it can be a great way to get business class flights for a lot less to Europe and Asia. You can take advantage of the offer here



Today is the last day to register for the current Marriott MegaBonus so if you haven't done so yet please do so by 11:59EST to ensure you can get your bonus(es) should you have any planned or unplanned Marriott stays untikl January 15 (as I always preach: you should register for every offer regardless if you may or may not use it!)

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blueo
- Double Flying Blue Miles when booking the special rate ""Double Miles for Early Birds" 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1, 12 - Feb 28, 13

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- 5,000 Bonus Priority Club Points per booking for stays at IHG hotels Worldwide. Maximum of 5 booking. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles when you fly on Brussels Airlines between Brussels and Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, London, Manchester and Newcastle. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 750 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you join today Worldpoints and spend £10 or more in a single day. More... Until Dec 28, 12

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Earn up to 1,600 Bonus EuroBonus Points when you join the EuroBonus program. Earn 100 points simply for joining the program and then 1,500 points when you go through a 5-minute introduction to EuroBonus. More... Until ?

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 1,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles each time you use Miles Booster to purchase additional miles on your flight (Double or Triple Miles). More...

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to ensure you don't miss out on one of the 5,000+ bonus offers we post each year.

Oct 30 Update: 100 Free Miles in 4 programs, 2x Priority Club Points or Asia Miles in Hong Kong

Another relatively quiet day with a primary focus on bonus offers, although I am working on some items which should be going live over the next week or so on RewardsCanada.ca and the Rewards Canada blog so keep an out for them!.

News, Tips & Tricks
The main news today was covered in an earlier blog post on PointsHound.com, a new service that awards frequent flyer miles (from 4 programs at this time) for booking hotels via their online site. Read more about here and while you are at it be sure to join PointsHound via the referral conga line in the comments section to earn 100 free miles when you join and ensure that the referrer earns 100 miles on your first booking.

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays of 2 or more nights at NH Hotels in Mexico. More... Nov 1 - Dec 31, 12

Air Baltic Baltic Miles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Baltic Miles when booking the special rate ""Double Miles for Early Birds" 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1, 12 - Feb 28, 13

Air China Phoenix Miles
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne hotels in China. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Air Mauritius Kestrelflyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 1,000 Bonus Kestrelflyer Miles for flights between Mauritius and Europe, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, or Shanghai. More... Until Mar 31, 13
- 800 Bonus Kestrelflyer Miles for flights between Mauritius and Bangalore, Cape Town, Chennai, Singapore, Dubai, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Perth, or Delhi. More... Until Mar 31, 13
- 500 Bonus Kestrelflyer Miles for flights between Mauritius and Antananarivo, Durban, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Reunion, or Rodrigues. More... Until Mar 31, 13

BinterCanarias BinterMas (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double BinterMas Points for stays at the Barceló Jandía Mar, Barceló Jandía Playa or the Barceló Lanzarote Resort. More... Nov 1 - 30, 12
- Double BinterMas Points for stays at Iberostar Hotels & Resorts in Tenerife and Lanzarote. More... Nov 1 - 30, 12
- Double BinterMas Points for stays at the TRYP Lisboa Oriente or the Meliá Aldeia Dos Capuchos. More... Nov 1 - Dec 31, 12

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you stay on the “Double Bonus Package”. at participating IHG hotels in Hong Kong. More... Book by Dec 15 for stays until Feb 28, 13

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles for stays at the Fairmont The Norfolk Kenya. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Guest Miles when you stay at the Centro Capital Centre – Abu Dhabi. More.. Until Dec 30, 12
- Double Guest Miles for Budget rentals in France, Italy and the UK.. More.. Until Dec 15, 12
- 5x Guest Miles for every US$ 1 spent with Regus. More.. Until Dec 31, 12

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- Double Priority Club Points when you stay on the “Double Bonus Package”. at participating IHG hotels in Hong Kong. More... Book by Dec 15 for stays until Feb 28, 13

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple TrueBlue Points on all JetBlue flights systemwide that are booked online. More... Until Nov 15, 12

Le Club Accorhotels
- Quadruple Le Club Accorhotels Points and 4 nights for the price of 3 for stays at Novotel Properties in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to ensure you don't miss out on one of the 5,000+ bonus offers we post each year.

Earn 100 Free United, Delta, AeroMexico or HawaiianMiles with PointsHound.com

Back at the beginning of October I spoke with Peter Van Dorn, one of the founders of PointsHound.com, a new hotel booking service that awards you with Frequent Flyer miles for making bookings via their site. I played around with the site a bit during the private beta stage and believe that these guys should do relatively well especially with hotels that don't have their own loyalty program or if your are going to be making a one off stay at a big name chain brand that you normally don't use as there are instances you can earn more miles via PointsHound.com than you can from the hotel frequent guest program (see my example further below)

PointsHound.com is now out of beta stage and you can earn 100 free miles in one of their four participating programs just signing up. The four programs are AeroMexico Club Premier, Delta SkyMiles, Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles and United Mileage Plus. You can also earn more free miles by referring people to PointsHound.com who make a booking via the site. If you like you can use my referral link to start and feel free to start a conga with your referral links below! (A referral list has started, please use the next referral link below to sign up)

You can also earn more miles the more you book through the site:

Now you do have to note that since this is a third party booking site, many of the major hotel loyalty programs will not let you earn the standard points or miles or earn elite status credit for the stay (just as if you used Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz etc) but as I mentioned above in some cases you may earn more miles using PointsHound.com over using a hotel loyalty program directly. Take the following example of a stay at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, if you don't have status with Fairmont President's Club and don't care to earn status you can earn more miles (at least 631 versus a flat 500 with FPC) using PointsHound.com with the same room rates:

Oct 29 Update: Up to 15K Bonus Mileage Plus Miles for converting Hotel Points

Today was strictly updating home pages and getting some new bonus offers posted!

News, Tips & Tricks
Nada!

Bonus Offers
Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 50% FlyerBonus Points Discount on air ticket awards to any destination in the Bangkok Airways network. More... Until Nov 25, 12
- Double FlyerBonus Points for stays at participating Orient-Express Hotels in Southeast Asia. More... Until Dec 22, 12
- Earn up to Quadruple FlyerBonus Points on Avis rentals of 3 or more days in Asia, U.S, Canada, Europe, Middle East or Africa. More... Nov 7 - Dec 31, 12
- Double FlyerBonus Points on Avis rentals of 5 or more days in Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa, United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12


InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- Double Priority Club Points on qualifying Affordable Rate rentals of five or more days at participating Hertz locations in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Marriott Rewards
- Double Rewards Points on qualifying Affordable Rate rentals of five or more days at participating Hertz locations in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Thai Airways Royal Orchid
- Triple Royal Orchid miles for stays of 3+ nights at participating Millennium and Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Royal Orchid Miles when you stay at any participating Sofitel Luxury Hotels in Asia Pacific. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Royal Orchid miles for stays on the Best Available Rate at Shangri-La Hotels in Bangkok or Chiang Mai. More... Until Dec 28, 12
- Earn Double/Triple or 3,000 bonus Royal Orchid Miles on qualifying rates at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts across Europe, Africa & the Middle East. More... Until Dec 31, 12

United Mileage Plus

- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles when you convert your hotel program points into Mileage Plus Miles. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to ensure you don't miss out on one of the 5,000+ bonus offers we post each year.

Oct 26 Update: Shell Air Miles Bonus in YYC and a few bonus offers from around the globe

News, Tips & Tricks
I noticed while filling up my car at Shell this morning that this weekend only Air Miles members in Calgary can earn 50 Air Miles with a $50 purchase at Shell! Considering the normal earn ratio at Shell way less than the 1:1 you'll see this weekend in YYC, this is the time to go fill up! Of course, my car was on E so I had to fill up today and had I noticed the promo placard earlier I would have only taken enough gas to get me through to tomorrow so that I could take advantage of this bonus. I'll have to see if my wife's car is needing some gas....

Bonus Offers
Air Tran A+ Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple A+ Credits and save up to 35% when you rent any vehicle for one or more days at participating locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada. More... Until Jan 31, 13

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Earn up to 12,000 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles when you fly on Alitalia between Rome and Abu Dhabi. More... Dec 1 - 31, 12

Bangkok Airways Flyer Bonus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double FlyerBonus Points when staying for three nights or more at one or more of the 10 Marriott hotels in Thailand. More... Until Dec 30, 12

Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT when you choose the "Rewards rate plan - 1000 Bonus Points Per Night" for stays ay all Best Western hotels in Turkey. More... Until ?

Czech Airlines OK Plus
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus OK Plus Miles for flights between Prague and Warsaw. More... Nov 1- Jan 31, 13
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus OK Plus Miles for flights between Prague and Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg or Stuttgart. More... Until Dec 31, 12
  
Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus points and receive a 5% discount on all car rentals of 2 or more days in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. More... Book Nov 1 - 30 for rentals until Dec 15, 12


Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to ensure you don't miss out on one of the 5,000+ bonus offers we post each year.

Oct 25 Update: Big Carlson Bonus for Avis rentals, Triple Asiana Club Miles for Hilton stays and more!

News, Tips & Tricks
I mentioned yesterday that the next credit card to hit the Canadian market was going to be on Monday the 29th but that has been pushed back another week to November 6th 5th. 

A big congratulations goes out to my wife and her fellow bloggers on Royalnonsense.com as they were one of only ten blogs chosen to review W. Brett Wilson's new book before it gets released. The review will also include a contest to giveaway a signed copy of his new book. Watch for that review to come in the next week and a half or so!

Bonus Offers
Air Algerie Plus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 3,000 Bonus Plus Miles when you fly Air Algerie between Algiers and Beijing. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy Flying Blue Award Miles. More... Until Dec 31, 12

AmericInn Easy Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Easy Rewards Points for each night stay at AmericInn locations across the U.S.. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Asiana Club
- Triple Club Miles when you stay at any participating hotel and resort in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 6,750 Bonus Gold Points on a qualifying rental of three or more consecutive days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. More... Until Dec 31, 13

La Quinta Returns
- 20% Discount off of La Quinta Returns points when you purchase them for yourself or as a gift. More... Until Dec 6, 12

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Rapid Rewards Points when you rent a Mid-size car or larger vehicle from any Thrifty location Worldwide for three days or longer. More... Until Jan 31, 13

Thai Airways Royal Orchid
- Double Royal Orchid miles when staying 2 consecutive nights at any participating Centara Hotels or Resorts in Thailand. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Royal Orchid miles for stays of two consecutive nights or more at participating Dusit Hotels worldwide. More... Until Dec 30, 12
- Triple Royal Orchid Miles when you stay at any participating hotel and resort in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Royal Orchid Miles when you stay at any participating InterContinental® Hotels Group property in Australasia, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Royal Orchid miles when you book online at Delight Rates or Bed & Breakfast rates for two consecutive nights or more at any participating Mandarin Oriental hotel worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Royal Orchid miles when staying on the Marco Polo Winter Spectacular package for a minimum of 2 consecutive nights at participating Marco Polo hotels in the Asia Pacific region. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Royal Orchid miles for Budget rentals of 3 or more days in Thailand. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles on qualifying Affordable Rate rentals of five or more days at participating Hertz locations in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 50% Bonus Points for every stay at participating VOILÁ hotels worldwide. A maximum of 25,000 Bonus Points can be earned during the promotional period. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed

Ethiopian Airlines to use new Boeing 787 on Toronto-Addis Ababa route

OK,  I know this doesn't really have anything to do with travel rewards, well actually it can and does. Since Ethiopian is a Star Alliance member you can always use Aeroplan miles to redeem for this flight! Anyways, no airline is serving a Canadian city yet with Boeing's new state of art 787. Cities in the U.S., Japan, Asia and Europe are seeing or will see regular service soon and according to Airline Route Updates Ethiopian will begin using a 787 as of November 9 between Toronto and Addis Ababa. This is a relatively new route for Ethiopian which just launched earlier this year and is currently served with a Boeing 777-200.  So for all you 'avgeeks' out there keep an eye for that plane in YYZ and for those of you who like to use your Aeroplan miles to try a new plane here is your chance. For more information on Ethiopian's 787s please visit the special 787 section on their website

Oct 24 Update: New Credit Card on the 29th, Bonus Avios for 1st Hilton Stay and more

News, Tips & Tricks
If you go back a few months in my posts you may recall that a new credit card was to hit the market in Canada today. Well that has been pushed back to next Monday October 29th. This is good for me as I haven't completed my review of it yet and this will let me get it done in time for the 29th!

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles when you fly round trip between the U.S. and Tokyo on American Airlines or Japan Airlines. More... Nov 1 - Feb 28, 13 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Avios when you join Hilton HHonors and stay once within the Hilton HHonors portfolio of brands before the end of 2013. More... Register by Nov 30, 12 for stays until Dec 31, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles for stays at Anantara Hotels & Resorts in Bangkok, Phuket & the United Arab Emirates. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- 500 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles for Avis rentals of 3+ days at participating locations in the Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, U.S. & Canada. More... Until Jan 31, 13

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Triple TrueBlue Points for all eligible Emirates flights between Washington DC and Dubai. More... Until Nov 30, 12
- (Offer extended) Earn up to Quadruple True BluePoints when you rent any Hertz vehicle for one or more days at participating locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. More... Until Jan 31, 13

Thai Airways Royal Orchid
- Double Royal Orchid miles for stays at Anantara Hotels and Resorts across Thailand. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to Triple Royal Orchid miles for Avis rentals of 3 or more days in US, Canada, Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. More... Until Dec 31, 12

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles on qualifying Affordable Rate rentals of five or more days at participating Hertz locations in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to ensure you don't miss out on one of the 5,000+ bonus offers we post each year.

Oct 23 Update: RBC Avion BA Transfer Bonus is coming back, Air Canada fare changes, Aeroplan Airport Bonus, Etihad Guest Referral Bonus

RBC Avion Transfer Bonus to BA is coming back!

First update of the week and although I did work on Rewards Canada yesterday, I forget to post the update! So this post covers items from yesterday and today.

News, Tips & Tricks
The RBC Avion 50% transfer bonus to British Airways Executive Club returns for two months starting on November 1st. The landing page on BA has not been updated yet but thanks to Rewards Canada Twitter follower jorgeluis500 and the note on his latest statement we can share this news with you. This offer is one of the best transfer bonuses out there in the Canadian credit card market and with BA's award tickets costing as little as 9,000 Avios for a round trip between Toronto and New York, you can see why!

Last week the Air Canada Top Tier representative on Flyertalk announced some changes on Aircanada.com (and Air Canada as a whole). The primary changes are the Introduction of Tango fares on flights between Canada and Europe, Israel & South America and to the U.S. which means booking classes T, L and K move from Tango Plus to Tango on all international flights between Canada and Europe, Israel, South America, Asia & Australia. Luckily for Air Canada Elite and Super Elite members who booked before October 16 they have been rebooked into Tango Plus but for Prestige and Non-Elite members you are SOL and are now traveling on a Tango fare. For the U.S. portion, the Tango fares that have been introduced are only available on leisure markets (primarily Florida, Hawaii (boooo!) and Las Vegas). However to add even more confusion, Tango fares to the U.S. will not earn the standard 25% non-status miles, instead they will earn 50% Status miles. For complete details and to see how other Air Canada frequent flyers are reacting please read the FlyerTalk thread.

The MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard was downgraded today with the 3% cash back on Gas and Groceries after the first 6 months with the card being lowered to 2%. See my post from earlier today about this change

Many of you have asked and I have finally come around to adding the new Scotiabank American Express cards to the following Rewards Canada's comparison charts:
Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison - All Travel Rewards Credit Cards
Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison - Travel Points Credit Cards

If you haven't seen it yet, I posted details on Credit Cards that Canadians use to cover award ticket taxes, fees and surcharge (it's right below this post on the blog) but you can also read it here.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for every take-off or landing at 31 eligible airports Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles between Toronto and Nassau, Cancun, Antigua or St-Lucia; Vancouver and Honolulu. More... Until Dec 16, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles per stay at participating Marriott properties in Florida, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, California or Hawaii. More... Nov 1, 12 - Jan 31, 13

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles on qualifying Affordable Rate rentals of five or more days at participating locations in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Avios when you fly round trip on British Airways, between the U.S. or Canada and India. More... Until Dec 31, 12 Valid for residents of the U.S. and Canada only.

China Southern Sky Pearl Club
- 1,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers on your first eligible hotel booking made with Ctrip. More... Nov 1 - Jan 31, 13
- 1,800 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers for every 4 room nights of eligible hotel bookings made with Ctrip. More... Nov 1 - Jan 31, 13

Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus SkyMiles when you purchase Marriott Gift Cards. More... Until Dec 15, 12
- Double SkyMiles on qualifying Affordable Rate rentals of five or more days at participating Hertz locations in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at One&Only Resorts in The Bahamas, Dubai, Cape Town, Mauritius, Maldives and Mexico or at Mazagan Golf & Beach Resort in Morocco. More... Book by Dec 22 for stays until Apr 30, 13

Etihad Guest
- Earn 5,000 Guest Miles when you refer a friend to the Etihad Guest program. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Points per night when you stay on a Friday or Saturday night at the Munich Airport Marriott Hotel. More... Jan 7 - Mar 31, 13
- 5,000 Bonus Points per night for stays at the SpringHill Suites Chattanooga Downtown/Cameron Harbor. More... Nov 5, 12 - Jan 28, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Points when you stay any night Sunday-Thursda at the SpringHill Suites Irvine John Wayne Airport/Orange Count. More... Nov 18, 12 - Jan 26, 13
- 1,000 Bonus Points per stay including any night Monday through Friday at the Courtyard Dallas DFW Airport West/Bedford. More... Nov 3, 12 - Jan 27, 13

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Double Frequent Flyer Points for stays at any of the participating hotels and resorts within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. More... Nov 1 - Dec 31, 12

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus points when you take a FLYGTAXI in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Barcelona, Brussels, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Geneva, Helsinki, Katowice, London (Heathrow & Gatwick), Madrid, Manchester, New York, Nice, Oslo, Paris (Charles Du Gaulle & Orly) More... Until Nov 30, 12

United Mileage Plus
- Double Mileage Plus Miles on qualifying Affordable Rate rentals of five or more days at participating Hertz locations in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to ensure you don't miss out on one of the 5,000+ bonus offers we post each year.

Cool New Flight Bonus Offer from Aeroplan - Collect Miles at Airports Around the World

Being so entrenched in the "Bonus Offer" or "Loyalty Promotion" sector of the loyalty business because of my global site FrequentFlyerBonuses.com and the B2B side of my business developing promotions, I love it when a travel provider comes out with a new type of bonus or a twist on an existing type of bonus. Kudos to Aeroplan for this new offer, while essentially a flight bonus it is not route specific rather, airport specific and the more airports you visit (same or different) during the promotion period the more Aeroplan Miles you will earn!

Here is the offer as pulled from the Rewards Canada Aeroplan page:

Earn up to 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for every take-off or landing at 31 eligible airports Worldwide. Register Online (Registration is required)

Earn 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles at the following airports:
Boston, Chicago, Denver, Edmonton, Halifax, Honolulu, Kingston, London, ON, Miami, New York (JFK, LGA & EWR), Regina, San Francisco, Saskatoon, Seattle, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins, Toronto City Centre Airport, Washington (Reagan) and Winnipeg 

Earn 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles at the following airports:
Bogota, Geneva, Hong Kong, Lima, London, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo (Narita), Zurich 

To qualify, the flight segments must be travelled for each offer in the eligible airports in the following fare options (booking classes); for travel between Canada and the U.S. or within Canada: Tango (N,G,P,E,A), Tango Plus (M,U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T), Latitude (Y,B), Executive Class Lowest (D.Z), Executive Class Flexible (J,C) and for international travel: Tango (K,L,T, N,G,P,E,A), Tango Plus (M,U,H,Q,V,W,S), Latitude (Y,B), Executive First Lowest (C,D,Z), Executive First Flexible (J).

Which credit cards can be used to cover award ticket taxes, fees and surcharges?

If you live in the Calgary area you may have seen Global Calgary run a piece on their Sunday morning news about Fuel Surcharges on Aeroplan award tickets.

I mention in the piece that there are some travel rewards credit cards you can use to cover the taxes, fees and the fuel surcharges levied on frequent flyer award tickets. In Canada, the big three are Aeroplan, Air Miles and WestJet Rewards. All of these programs do not allow you to use miles, points or in the case of WestJet, dollars, towards the additional fees on these tickets. Those miles can only be used towards the base fare. So one question asked is how can you get those tickets totally free? The answer is to use a 'travel anywhere' card. Now some cards claim 'travel anywhere' like the RBC Avion or BMO World Elite cards but those cards work differently than what I consider a true 'travel anywhere' card. I consider cards that allow you to book travel with whomever you want and once that charge is on your statement you use that credit card's points or miles to pay for the charge as 'travel anywhere' cards. In fact most of these 'travel anywhere' cards even give you anywhere from 90 days to 12 months after the charge is posted to redeem against it.

The only cards in Canada that offer this and therefore allow you to cover the taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges on award tickets are as follows:

American Express Gold Rewards Card (minimum redemption amount is 1,000 points for $10 credit)

The Platinum Card from American Express (minimum redemption amount is 1,000 points for $10 credit)


Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard (minimum redemption amount is 10,000 points for $150 credit)

National Bank of Canada World Elite MasterCard (minimum redemption amount is 11,000 points for $100 credit)

National Bank of Canada Platinum MasterCard (minimum redemption amount is 11,000 points for $100 credit)

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card (minimum redemption amount is 5,000 points for $50 credit)

Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card (minimum redemption amount is 5,000 points for $50 credit)

Scotiabank American Express Card (minimum redemption amount is 5,000 points for $50 credit)

To recap, if you have enough Aeroplan Miles, Air Miles Reward Miles, WestJet Dollars or any other frequent flyer program miles for a redemption, go ahead and redeem them then use one of the above the cards to pay for the taxes, fees and surcharges. Once the charge for those amounts show up on your statement go online or call up your credit card issuer and redeem your credit card points or miles against that charge. This is the only way you will get that award ticket absolutely FREE. To see how all those credit cards compare please visit Rewards Canada's Travel Rewards Credit Card comparison chart.

* Disclaimer: Rewards Canada receives a approval fee for several of the credit cards listed above. I thank you for your continued support if you do select and apply for one those cards.

MBNA downgrades their Smart Cash MasterCard

Effective today one of the best Cash Back credit cards in Canada will get downgraded. The MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard, which offered up to 5% cash back on gas and grocery purchases for the first 6 months and up to 3% after that will has had that latter amount lowered to 2%. So new cardholders will still reap big bonuses for the first half a year but then after that the return will be 33% lower than people have enjoyed the past couple of years. That being said, the card retains a better level of return in those two spend categories than most other cash back cards with the Scotia Momentum Infinite and the ATB Platinum Cash being the only cards offering a higher percentage. To see how this card compares to other cards in Canada see our Cash Back Credit Card Comparison chart.

Visit the MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard for more details on this card or to apply for it