Last Day: 50% Transfer Bonus for RBC Rewards to British Airways Executive Club

The ever popular 50% transfer bonus from RBC Rewards to British Airways Executive Club for RBC Avion Cardholders comes to an end today. If you were planning on transferring and forgot to or if you are planning on redeeming some Avios in the near future be sure to take advantage of it by the end of today. Full details can be found here.

Dec 20 Highlight: New Marriott MegaBonus, Next set of IHG Stay X Get Y Bonuses and 3x Points @ Sofitel Montreal

Today is the last day of regular updates for 2012! For any breaking news or offers over the Christmas break please follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter.
I want wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all the best over the holidays!

News, Tips & Tricks
Today is a big day in terms of hotel bonuses as the next installments of Marriott's Megabonus and IHG's Stay X Get Y promos came out today. I don't believe I have the complete list of IHG Stay X Get Y codes yet but will update as they come out.

Over on the Frequent Flyer Bonuses blog I have some fun with the City Bonus Highlight feature. Be sure to check it out here.

Bonus Offers

Other Bonus Offers added today:
Air China Phoenix Miles
- Earn up to Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays at at participating Swissotel Hotels & Resorts worldwide. More... Until Feb 25, 13
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers 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
- Earn up to 20,000+ Bonus Priority Club Points with the Q1-2103 Stay X Get Y promotions at participating InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo™, Holiday Inn®, Express by Holiday Inn™ and Holiday Inn Express® hotels worldwide. More... Jan 7 - Apr 30, 13

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 3+ nights at participating Sofitels in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Jan 31, 13

Marriott Rewards
Marriott MegaBonus: Earn a Free Night or Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Register by Mar 15 for stays Feb 1 - Apr 30, 13

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Double Starpoints for stays at the W Bangkok. More... Book by Mar 31 for stays until Jun 30, 13
- Double Starpoints for stays at the Vana Belle, Koh Samui. More... Until Jul 15, 13
- Double Starpoints for stays at the Le Méridien Bali Jimbaran. More... Jan 31 - Jun 30, 13

Dec 19 Update: New United routes to Canada, new Hyatt hotel bonuses, Shangri-La bonuses in YVR & YYZ,

Second last day of full updates in 2012 for Rewards Canada brings us the following:

News, Tips & Tricks
United announced some new flights from Canada. They will launch Edmonton to Newark service in May 2013 and seasonal Vancouver to Washington Dulles service from June to August 2013.  This gives Canadian Aeroplan, Mileage Plus and other Star Alliance members more options for earning and burning miles! Source: Airline Route Updates

American Express Canada has finally launched on Twitter. Well that have launched two accounts that is: @AmexCanada and @AskAmexCanada. Great to see them take to my favourite social media channel.

Hyatt Gold Passport will be making some slight changes to their award chart effective February 7, 2013. The changes are minor and the only affected property in Canada is the Park Hyatt Toronto which actually moves down a category! More details can be found here

Hotel	Current Category	New Category
Hyatt Place Chantilly/Dulles Airport-South	2	1
Hyatt Place Tulsa/Southern Hills	2	1
Hyatt Place Sterling/Dulles Airport-North	2	1
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque	2	1
Hyatt Regency Greenville	2	1
HYATT house Chicago/Naperville/Warrenville	3	2
HYATT house San Ramon	1	2
Hyatt Place Las Vegas	3	2
Hyatt Place Louisville-East	1	2
Hyatt Place Pittsburgh-North Shore	1	3
Hyatt Regency Incheon	2	3
Hyatt Regency Oubaai Golf Resort and Spa	4	3
Hyatt Santa Barbara	3	4
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort	5	4
Park Hyatt Toronto	5	4
Hyatt 48 Lex	4	5
Grand Hyatt Tokyo	5	6

Finally check out the latest Golden Circle bonuses below for stays at Shangri-La hotels in Toronto and Vancouver.  These bonuses are great if you plan to stay at one of these locations since you can receive bonus points on regular rooms as in most cases Shangri-La Golden Circle tends to only run bonuses on higher end rooms and suites!

Travel Deals
30% off with The ‘Hotel Indigo® Winter Breaks Offer’ for stays at participating Hotel Indigo® hotels in Europe. Full Details and Online Booking Until Jan 14, 13

Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 5,000 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you join the Alaska Airlines Board Room. More... Until Dec 31, 12

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios for stay sof a minimum of two consecutive nights at any one of the Shangri-La hotel, resort, Traders hotel or Kerry hotels Worldwide when booking online. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you book and stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights at participating Langham Hotels worldwide. More... Until Feb 22, 13
- Earn up to Triple Asia Miles when you book at a qualifying rate at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Double Asia Miles for stays at qualifying rates in eligible room types at any Sino Group of Hotels property. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 13

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 3,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- 5,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays at the Park Hyatt Chennai. More... Until Mar 31, 13
- Double Gold Passport Points for stays at the Park Hyatt Busan. More... Feb 18 - Jun 30, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for weekend stays (Fri, Sat and Sun) in a newly renovated Deluxe guestroom at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok. More... Until Mar 31, 13

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Earn up to Triple GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto or Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver. More... Jan 1 - Apr 30, 13
- Double GC Award Points for stays of 2 or more nights at the Shangri-La Hotel, Haikou. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 13
- Double GC Award Points and a Guaranteed upgrade from a Garden View Room to a Horizon Hill View Room for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Hangzhou. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 13

Wyndham Rewards
- OFFER EXTENDED Double Wyndham Rewards Points on rentals of 2 or more days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S. or Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- OFFER EXTENDED Double Wyndham Rewards Points on rentals of 2 or more days at participating Budget locations in the U.S. or Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- OFFER EXTENDED 1,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points on National rentals of any car class with a rental 3 days or more in the U.S. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Dec 18 Update: Air Canada rouge, Starwood Bonuses in Eastern U.S.,

Here is a summary of whats going today on Rewards Canada and the world of travel rewards in Canada today:

News, Tips & Tricks
The big news today is the official launch of the much talked about leisure airline from Air Canada. Called Air Canada rouge, the airline will first take to skies on July 1, 2013 out of Toronto and Montreal to select destinations in Europe and the Caribbean. Targeting the family/leisure markets with (supposedly) lower fares Aeroplan members will still earn miles on these flights, albeit a flat rate of mile instead of the actual mileage flown:

If you haven't seen it yet, I am giving away a pair of Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge passes on the Rewards Canada Facebook page. You have to 'like' Rewards Canada first and then comment below my post with which lounge you would use the passes in. (Hint I'm also giving one away on the Frequent Flyer Bonuses Facebook page and the odds are even better there of winning!)
 
Bonus Offers
La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at select La Quinta locations in the United States and Mexico. More... Until Jan 10, 13

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points and up to 40% off for stays at participating Mercure Hotels in the U.K.. More... Until Apr 14, 13

Saudi Arabian Alfursan (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Alfursan Miles on Budget rentals in Saudi Arabia. More... Until Feb 2, 13
- Double Alfursan Miles when you stay for a minimum three (3) nights at Amwaj Rotana in a Club Rotana Room or a Club Rotana Suite. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 46,750 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles when you fly between Hong Kong via Singapore and San Francisco. More... Book by Mar 17 for travel Jan 1 - Mar 24, 13 Valid for residents of Hong Kong or Macau only

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 500 Bonus Starpoints and up to 35% off for Thursday-Sunday stays at participating Starwood Hotels in Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania or Virginia. More... Until Mar 31, 13

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Quadruple Victoria Miles for stays at the Dom Pedro Palace (Lisbon), Dom Pedro Golf, Dom Pedro Portobelo, Dom Pedro Marina and Meia Praia Beach Club (Algarve) or Dom Pedro Baía Club and Dom Pedro Garajau (Madeira). More... Book by Jan 31, 13 for stays until Feb 28, 13

Dec 17 Update: Instant Club Carlson Gold Status & Bonus Avios on Hotel Transfers

Another short week in store for bonuses as I will wrapping up Rewards Canada for 2012 on Thursday. Of course any amazing offers or breaking news will be posted here on the blog, Twitter and Facebook during the Christmas break.

News, Tips & Tricks
Philippine Airlines Mabuhay members will be happy to hear that they will be increasing their service to Toronto from 3x weekly to daily as of January 17, 2013. Source: Airline Route Update
 
Just in case you missed it earlier today I posted a Credit Card Showdown comparing the American Express Gold Rewards Card and the Scotibank Gold American Express Card. Read about it here

Jet Airways JetPrivilege members (free to join) can get instant Club Carlson Gold elite status and while it is supposed to be limited to residents in the Asia Pacific region people are having success signing up for it outside of the requirements simply by using a fake address from the Seychelles or Hong Kong. They are then planning on updating their address on file to their actual one at a future date. I am already Club Carlson Gold so I don't need to try this but if any of you do please report your success or lack there of below in the comments section!

Finally after Aerosvit announced their Double Miles bonus on buying miles (up to 30,000 only?) their latest offer provides a new way to fly Business Class between Toronto and Kiev or Europe for only ~US$1500 with Aerosvit Meridian's Gift Miles. Be warned however, Aerosvit's Business Class is pretty harsh compared to many other airlines and not even as good as some Premium Economy classes! You can do this by gifting 50,000 miles for US$1,500 which will come with 50,000 bonus miles. That 100,000 miles gets the person gifted the miles business class on Aerosvit from North America to any of their destinations served in Europe. Plus what makes the offer even less pretty is that you have to go buy the miles in person from an Aerosvit office. See below for the link. If you do take (dis)advantage of this, Aerosvit is also offering free mileage transfers between relatives until the end of March.

Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- 5,000 Extra Bonus Miles for every fifth round-trip flight with Aeroflot on qualifying fares between Moscow and Kiev, Riga, Samara or St. Petersburg. More... Jan 1 - Dec 31, 13

Aerosvit Meridian
- 100% Bonus Meridian Miles when you gift Meridian miles to friends or relatives. More... Until Mar 31, 13

Air China Phoenix Miles
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13

British Airways Executive Club
- 25% Bonus Avios when you convert your hotel loyalty points into Avios. More... Until Jan 13, 13

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Instant Club Carlson Gold Elite Status when you join Club Carlson via this Jet Airways JetPrivilege promotion. More... Until Mar 31, 13 Valid for residents of Asia Pacific region only

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13

Credit Card Showdown: American Express Gold Rewards Card vs Scotibank Gold American Express Card.

I have been asked by a few people and reminded by a few to provide a comparison of two very good credit cards in Canada, the American Express Gold Rewards Card and the Scotibank Gold American Express Card. Well I have finally got around to it and spent a lot of time determining how to articulate the comparison of the two cards without writing a novel. I am writing this piece with the intent that the reader has at least some knowledge of how travel rewards work and how credit card reward programs work. You don't have to be an expert but if you are new to the travel rewards game some of this may not make sense to you.

Annual Fees / Sign Up Bonus
In the straight line comparison below the Scotiabank Amex looks to be better but the American Express Gold Card has its annual fee waived in the first year, so technically speaking, the Amex Gold Rewards Card saves you money on annual fees in the first year. Once in the second year the cards equal out seeing that the Scotiabank Amex's sign up bonus is worth $50 more than the Gold Rewards Card. However if you add in one supplementary card for either card the cost of ownership nod goes to the Gold Rewards Card since the first card is free but is eroded if you add more than one.

Interest Rate:
Seeing as the American Express Gold Rewards Card is a charge card where the balance needs to be paid off every month, the interest rate is a lot higher if you miss paying your full balance. The Scotiabank card it the winner here if you carry a balance.


Now onto the primary factors people get travel rewards cards, the rewards and the benefits.

Point Earning & Redemption
The first thing to look at when comparing these two cards in the point earning and subsequently the redemption side (as the two go hand in hand) is how do you want to be rewarded?

For flights do you want to travel in business class or first class or want to convert points into airline and/or hotel programs?
If the answer is Yes, then the only choice is the American Express Gold Rewards Card. Out of the two cards it is the only one that offers a transfer option to frequent flyer and guest programs. This is by far the best way you can get yourself into a first class or business class seat. The two options to look at are Aeroplan and British Airways Executive Club. Both of thest programs have 1:1 transfers from Membership Rewards which means with the card's category spend bonuses you can actually earn 2 Aeroplan Miles or 2 Avios for each dollar spent. No other card in Canada can offer this on a broad range of spending. Add to this occasional transfer bonuses to each program means you can rack up the Aeroplan Miles/Avios even faster. It is well known in the industry that the best redemptions are the ones for first class or business class. Depending on what tickets you redeem for and what you spent to achieve the miles for the redemption you could possibily see return of over 10%! To keep this piece from being a novel please email me or comment below if you want more details on return calculations.

If you don't want premium class flights but want to redeem for economy class flights, hotels, vacation packages, etc. then a few more questions need to be asked as to what card may be right for you. Since both cards have the same redemption ratio of 100 points = $1 in credit and both have the travel anywhere option where you can book travel how you want, when you want, we don't have to look at the redemption side for this portion.The first question is how will you earn points and because of category spend bonuses each card has certain advantages:

How much do you spend on your credit card each year? If you spend more than $10,000 a month on your card chances are you will hit the $50,000 category bonus limit on the Scotiabank American Express Gold Card and you may be better off with the American Express Gold Rewards Card since there is no cap on the category bonuses. However if you spend less than $10,000 a month than the two cards have a heated battle:

Grocery Stores & Gas Stations
If the majority of your spending on your card is in the Grocery Store and/or Gas Station categories where both cards have bonuses, the Scotiabank American Express Gold Card is clearly the winner with its 4x points versus the GRC's 2x points.

Dining & Entertainment
The Scotiabank American Express comes out on top once again as this category also earns 4x points versus the GRC's 1 point per dollar.

Travel
In this category, only the American Express Gold Rewards Card offers a bonus, 2x points on all travel purchases worldwide (not just within Canada like all the other category bonuses from both cards) while the Scotiabank American Express Gold Card only earns 1 points per dollar.

Benefits
The last factor to look at when comparing these cards are the benefits that come with the cards. This section is easy as the Scotiabank American Express Gold Card takes the cake on virtually all the benefits compared. It provides longer out of province medical coverage, has trip cancellation, offer price protection and covers the $99 annual fee of Priorty Pass Business Class lounge membership (you still have to pay the entry fee each time you use a lounge).

Conclusion
Based on the comparison chart below and what I believe to be the travel goals of most non-frequent travelling Canadians, the Scotia Bank Gold American Express appears to be the better of the two cards for most situations. Where it is not the better card and the American Express Gold Rewards Card stands out is primarily if you are looking to move Membership Rewards points over to a frequent flyer or guest program, if you are a big time spender in all categories or if you just spend a lot on travel and/or at drug stores. As many of you know I am holder and big proponent of the American Express Gold Rewards card and considered switching to the Scotiabank card strictly for the Dining/Entertainment category bonus when it first came out. However my rewards needs/wants have shifted from using the Membership Rewards TripFlex feature to transferring my points to Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club and/or Starwood Preferred Guest, a benefit the Scotiabank Amex just can't provide. So for me at this point I am planning to stay with the American Express Gold Rewards card but ultimately in the near future I am thinking that I am going to move up to The Platinum Card from American Express for all the benefits it provides while travelling.

Chart Notes: Yellow highlighting signifies a clear winner in that category

Feature / Card	American Express Gold Rewards Card	Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
/	Fees/Costs
Annual Fee	$150*	$99
Supp. Card Fee	$0 for first card, $50* each additional card	Gold: $29
Interest Rate	30% Non Revolving	19.99%
Foregn Exchange Transaction Fee	2.5%	2.5%
Minimum Credit Limit	No Preset Limit	N/A
/	Reward Miles/Points Earning
Card	American Express Gold Rewards Card	Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
Welcome Bonus	15,000 Membership Rewards Points	20,000 points
Earning Ratio	1 Point/$	1 Point/$
Gas Stations	2 Points/$	4 Points/$*
Grocery Stores	2 Points/$	4 Points/$*
Drug Stores	2 Points/$	1 Point/$
Dining/Entertainment	1 Point/$	4 Points/$*
Travel	2 Points/$	1 Point/$
/	Redemption/Exchange Options
Card	American Express Gold Rewards Card	Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
Miles/Points deposited to:	Membership Rewards	Scotia Rewards
Travel Agency Redemption Value	10,000 Points = $100	10,000 Points = $100
Minimum Redemption Amount	1,000 Points	5,000 Points
Exchange Options	1 Point = 1 Mile with Aeroplan, British Airways 1 Point = .75 Miles with Alitalia,, Cathay Pacific and Delta 1 Point = 1 Point with Hilton 1 Point = .5 Points with SPG	N/A
Redemption Centre	Any Travel Provider or Membership Rewards	Any Travel Provider or Scotia Rewards
/	Benefits
Card	American Express Gold Rewards Card	Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
Travel Accident Insurance	$500,000	up to $500,000
Flight Delay Insurance	Yes	Yes
Delayed, Lost, Stolen, Damaged Baggage Insurance	Yes	Yes
Trip Cancellation Insurance	No	Yes
Trip Interuption Insurance	Yes	Yes
Travel Medical Insurance	15 Days	25 Days
Auto Rental/Loss Damage Insurance	Yes	Yes
Purchase Protection	Yes	Yes
Price Protection	No	Yes
Extended Warranty Plan	Yes	Yes
Business Class Lounge Access	No	Free membership in Priority Pass
Hotel Burglary Insurance	Yes	Yes
Travel Concierge Service	No	Yes
Enhanced Hotel/Dining Services	No	Hotels
Overlimit Extended Purchasing	Yes	No
American Express Front of the Line	Yes	Yes
Link to Apply	Apply Online	Apply Online
Notes:	* Annual fees waived the first year	On the first $50,000 in those categories

Dec 13 Update: SPG Q1 Promo Details, Air France KLM Sale, Tons of KrisFlyer bonuses

Last day of updates as I'm off tomorow:

News, Tips & Tricks
"In the News" The Rewards Canada Maximize your Miles for Holiday Shopping feature was covered by The Informed Traveler radio show on AM770 CHQR in Calgary, Rob Carrick's Money Matters in the Globe and Mail and will also be on AM770 CHQR's Alberta Morning News the weekend of the 22nd.

Marriott Rewards will be increasing the Platinum Elite Status bonus for stays at Courtyard Hotels to 400 bonus points or a food and beverage item when you arrive at any participating hotels in the US or Canada. Source: Marriott Rewards Insiders

In the bonus offers section I link to new Starwood Preferred Guest promotion for the first quarter of 2013. Registration is not open yet but you can find out all the details about it. The good thing about the promotion this time is that no locations are excluded!

Travel Deals
Air France and KLM are once again offering great business class fares for flights from Canada to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Fares start at $2499 including all taxes and fees for Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa departures, $2999 for departures from Calgary and Vancouver. They are also offering an economy class sale with fares staring at $899 all in. Bookings must be made December 15 for travel Dec 20 - Jan 15 in Business Class, Dec 25 - May 6 for economy. More details can be found at AirFrance.ca or KLM.com

Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to Triple Asia Miles for stays at the Fairmont Makati Manila. More... Until Mar 31, 13

EVA Air Evergreen Club
- Double Evergreen Miles for stays of two or more consecutive nights at participating Regent Hotels & Resorts properties worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Le Club Accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the "Magnigique Breakfast" offer at participating Sofitel Hotels in Germany. More... Until Feb 14, 12

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay at any participating InterContinental® Hotels Group property in Australasia, Japan, Southeast & Southwest Asia and the Middle East. More...Until Jan 31, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles for stays on the Winter Breaks offer at participating Kempinski Hotels in Worldwide. More...Until Jan 31, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles for stays of 2+ nights at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 22, 13
- Earn 10,000 KrisFlyer Miles (20x bonus) when you make a qualifying stay for at least two consecutive nights in a suite or villa at The PuLi Hotel & Spa Shanghai, The Datai Langkawi, Hotel Okura Amsterdam or Capella Singapore. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay on the Best Available or Bed&Breakfast rate at any participating Mandarin Oriental hotel Worldwide. More...Until Jan 31, 13
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you stay at a participating Claridge’s, the Connaught or the Berkeley property in London. More... Until Mar 31, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles for stays of 3+ nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More...Until Jan 31, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights at the Best Available Rate at participating Rendezvous hotels in Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you book online for stays of a minimum of two consecutive nights at any Shangri-La hotel or resort, Traders hotel or Kerry hotel Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- Earn up to Triple KrisFlyer Miles for stays at at participating Swissotel Hotels & Resorts worldwide. More... Until Feb 25, 13
- Double KrisFlyerMiles when booking the special rate ""Double Miles for Early Birds" 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Earn up to Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you rent with Avis in North America, Australia, New Zealand.Europe, Middle-East, Africa and Asia. More... Until Jan 31,13
- Earn up to Quadruple KrisFlyer Miles when you rent with Hertz in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand. More... Until Jan 31,13
- 1,000 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles when you renew or sign up on a contract with 4G smartphone on Singapore’s first nationwide 4G network. More... Until Jan 31, 13
Starwood Preferred Guest
SPG Power Up: Earn up to 18,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays at more than 1,100 participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Register by Feb 28, ,13 for stays Jan 15 - Apr 15, 13

Dec 12 Update: Hyatt removes Platinum Extras, Air Canada Vacations 1 day sale, bonus MilleMiglia Miles at Novotel

A relatively quiet day here on Rewards Canada:

News, Tips & Tricks
Hyatt Gold Passport will be removing the Platinum Extras program at the end of the year. Apparently 75% of Hyatt's Platinum Elites did not make use of this benefit. Source: Jeff Zidell VP Hyatt Gold Passport

Travel Deals
Air Canada Vacations is having a one day sale today on 12.12.12 with some great deals including upgrading your flights to Executive for $120, some flight and cruise packages have flights for $12 and there select sun destination flights for only $120 roundtrip before taxes and fees. Full details can be found here

Bonus Offers
Aerosvit Meridian
- Double Meridian Miles when you buy Aerosvit Meridian Award miles. More... Until Mar 31, 13

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- 1,500 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles for Novotel stays Worldwide that are booked 21 days in advance. More... Book by Dec 29, 12 for stays until Jan 31, 13

Etihad Guest
- Triple Guest Miles when you stay at The Merrion Hotel, Dublin. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 13
- Earn up to Quadruple Guest Miles for Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Gulf Air FalconFlyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double FalconFlyer Miles for stays at the Al Ghurair Rayhaan & Al Ghurair Arjaan by Rotana – Dubai. More... Until May 9, 13
- 1,500 Falconflyer Miles for all Budget car rentals in United Arab Emirates. More... Until Dec 31, 12

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double TrueBlue Points on qualifying rentals of 1 day or more at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. More... Until Apr 30, 12
- Triple TrueBlue Points on a qualifying rental at participating Budget airport locations in the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. More... Until Apr 30, 12

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Double QMiles for stays at all participating Golden Tulip Hotels worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- 1,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at participating Hyatt hotels within Southwest Asia. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- 1,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at 20 participating Marriott hotels in the Middle East & Africa. More... Until Feb 23, 12
- Double QMiles when you stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights at the Mövenpick Hotel Beirut or the Mövenpick Hotel Apartments The Square, Dubai. More... Until Mar 31, 13
- Double QMiles for stays of 3 nights or more at tthe Amwaj Rotana – Jumeirah Beach Residence - Dubai. More... Until Feb 15, 13
- Double QMiles when you stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights at the Best Available Rate or Corporate Rate at any of over 70 Shangri-La hotels or resorts, Traders hotels or Kerry hotels worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Double QMiles for stays at the W Bangkok. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Earn up to Triple QMiles for stays at at participating Swissotel Hotels & Resorts worldwide. More... Until Feb 25, 13
- Double QMiles for all Budget rentals in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany and the UK. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- Triple QMiles for every Sixt rental of 5 days or more Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Dec 11 Update: IHG Elite Qualification changes, Hilton 50% off sale, Cathay Pacific 2x Asia Miles out of YVR/YYZ

I am slowly getting caught up on my backlog of offers and news that accumulated while I was on vacation. I also have a huge backlog of emails and requests to get to, I promise to get to them as fast as I can so please be patient (Gerald B. that includes your request!)

News, Tips & TricksIn case you missed it, I posted another Rewards Canada Special Feature, this time its about maximizing your mileage and point earning for holiday shopping. Check it our here.

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club will be making changes to how status points are earned in the program as of January 1st 2013. Currently any and all Priority Club points earned count towards elite status within the program, which has made it really easy to make it to the various levels. Now that being said, Priority Club's elite program is one of the weakest from all the major chains so perhaps the upcoming change is insight to possible changes coming to their elite program. What are the changes? Well according to IHG's Chinese website their will now be Status and Non-Status points (much like we see from airlines etc.) Basically Status points will come from qualifying room stays and partner points earned from qualifying activities.Non-status points will cover promotional points (this is the big change as there are always so many Priority Club bonus points to be earned), point vouchers, point purchases, transfers and deposits. Source: FlyerTalk

Travel Deals
Hilton is running a friends and family sale that can let you save up to 50% off the Best Available Rate at participating hotels and resorts throughout the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. The sale is valid for stays between December 14 and January 7. Visit Hilton for more details

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- OFFER EXTENDED Triple Aeroplan Miles on qualifying rentals of two or more days in Canada, U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico and Europe. More... Unitl Apr 30, 12

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you fly round-trip on Cathay Pacific in Premium Economy Class between Hong Kong and Australia, Europe, India, the Middle East, South Africa, Canada and the US. More... Jan 1 - Apr 30, 13
- Double Asia Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... . Until Apr 30, 13
- Double Asia Miles when you stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights at the Best Available Rate or Corporate Rate at any of over 70 Shangri-La hotels or resorts, Traders hotels or Kerry hotels worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Earn up to Quadruple Asia Miles when you rent a car at participating Hertz locations in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Mar 31, 13

Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus SkyMiles on Hertz rentals in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada or Europe. More... Until Mar 31, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles for stays of two nights or more at participating Marco Polo hotels in Asia Pacific. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Double Skywards Miles and 15% off on rentals with Budget in Poland. More... Until Mar 31, 13
- Double Skywards Miles and up to 10% off on Sixt rentals worldwide. More... Book by Dec 30 for rentals until Feb 28, 13

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles and a 3rd night free when booking a minimum of 2 nights at the Fairmont Makati Manila. More... Dec 15 - Jan 31, 13
- Double Miles & More Miles for all stays booked online at participating Gran Meliá, Meliá, ME by Meliá, INNSIDE by Meliá, TRYP by Wyndham, Sol and Paradisus Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 13

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 25% Miles&Smiles Miles Discount on award tickets to Buenos Aires. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- 25% Miles&Smiles Miles Discount on all domestic award tickets in Turkey and 68 International cities. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days in Turkey. More... Until Dec 31, 12 & Jan 1 - 31, 13
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels in Turkey. More... Until Dec 31, 12

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Earn 3,000 Preferred-qualifying miles when you buy or renew an annual membership by December 13, 2012 plus get two free months in the US Airways Club. More... Until Dec 13, 12

Maximize your Mileage and Point Earning this Holiday Shopping Season

With only two weeks left to the big day for gift giving the push is on to finish your Christmas shopping. Whether it’s online or in store there are many ways to maximize the miles and points you earn holiday shopping. Ultimately you can make those reward dreams come closer by following one or more of our tips

Pay for everything with your rewards credit card
This is by far the easiest way to rack up miles outside of actual flights with the airlines or stays with hotels. Put everything that you buy on your credit cards even the pack of AA batteries you forgot to buy before Christmas and have to pick up at 7-11 on Christmas day. Be warned however, if you run a balance and pay interest on your credit cards, those miles you earn will never be worth the money you lose in paying the interest.

Double Dip & Triple Dip
Double dipping is the term coined for earning miles twice in one purchase or transaction. This basically involves your mileage earning credit card being used for a purchase where you also earn miles in the same program as the credit card. Buying a snow blower as a gift at Home Hardware? Using your Aeroplan Visa or American Express and then swiping your Aeroplan card ensures you are double dipping.

Triple dipping involves the above but then adding in any bonuses available. Look for emails, coupons or other promotions offering even more miles. With the above example, Aeroplan members can earn triple miles on all Home Hardware purchases until December 15th 2012. So the first dip is the base miles earned on the purchase, the second is the miles earned on your credit card and the third is the bonus miles from the promotion. See the next section on some specific online shopping bonuses that can let you hit that triple dip.

Double and Triple dipping does not have to involve the same program. You can always use a credit card that earns in one program while collecting the actual miles from another program for your flights, hotels, shopping or anything else you can earn miles on.

Online Shopping Tips
I’ll focus first on online shopping since you really need to get orders in this week to ensure delivery by the 24th from most retailers. All of the tips here are bonus promotion based but be sure to read the Aeroplan tip to see how you can earn even more miles.

Most loyalty programs, whether travel based or not now have online shopping malls where you can earn miles or points for shopping at many online retailers. Some programs are just getting into the game such as RBC Rewards who just launched their online shopping mall on December 7.

Aeroplan has their eStore online shopping mall where you can earn Aeroplan miles for your online purchases. There are bonus mile offers from individual retailers in the eStore but there is also a general bonus offer from Aeroplan that will award you up to 4x the base miles on all your purchases depending on how many retailers you shop at. But what isn’t being promoted very heavily is that you can actually earn up to 5x the miles instead of 4x. How can you do this? Simply register for an exclusive Aeroplan promotion on Facebook. So the question is why settle for the 4x miles if you can get 5? Both the 4x and 5x offers run until December 20, 2012

Air Miles has their AirMilesShops.ca online shopping mall that also offer many individual retailer bonuses like the Aeroplan eStore and also like Aeroplan has a general bonus offer of 10x the Air Miles on all purchase made via AirMilesShops.ca until December 25, 2012.

RBC Rewards which just launched their online shopping mall called eMall on December 7 does not have any general bonuses but their are individual retailer bonuses. The best thing about the RBC Rewards mall is that RBC Avion Visa cardholders can hold onto the points they earn via the online shopping for conversion to British Airways Avios during the often run 1.5x transfer bonus, actually it is running right now until December 31 but you may not have your points post in time. So essentially you can earn 1.5 Avios for every point earned via RBC Rewards’ eMall.

Don’t want miles or points? You can always earn a cash back rebate by doing your online shopping via GreatCanadianRebates.ca!

Though not as popular for Canadians as Aeroplan or Air Miles, many non-Canadian programs have bonus offers for their online shopping malls like American AAdvantage and US Airways Dividend Miles. American is awarding 500 Bonus Miles for every US$250 spent until December 17 and US Airways is offering up to 1,000 bonus miles until December 31, 2012. If you are from Europe and reading this even Air Baltic BalticMiles Shop&Earn is offering triple points until the end of the year. 

In-Store Shopping
The main tips given at the beginning of this article of putting everything on your credit card and double/triple dipping apply primarily for in-store shopping. There are however some not-so-well-known tips that I have heralded in past interviews and on Rewards Canada that can ensure you earn even more miles and points for your in-store shopping. These tips rely on you using a credit card that offers a category spend bonus at places like Grocery Stores, Gas Stations, or Drug Stores and involve the purchase of gift cards. These credit cards with category bonuses include but are not limited to the American Express Gold Rewards Card, CIBC Aerogold and Aventura Visas, Scotiabank American Express Cards and even cash back cards like the Scotiabank Momentum Visas and the MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard.

Gift Card Tip #1
Are you a gift card giver at Christmas or you don’t know what presents to give this year so you’ve settled on a gift card? If you can, and it depends on the retailer, don’t buy the gift card straight from them as on most credit cards you will only earn your base miles or points. Buy them at a place where you can take advantage of your category bonus. For example if I wanted to give my dad a Future Shop gift card I would only earn 1 Membership Rewards points on my Amex Gold Rewards Card if I bought it at Future Shop but if bought it at Rexall or Sobeys I would earn 2 Membership Rewards points.

Gift Card Tip #2
This one is similar to above but involves a little more time and effort. This tip is for those of you who know what gifts you are buying for your kids, family, relatives and friends. The reason why it will take more time is that it requires multiple stops and purchases but if you have the time and want the extra miles then go for it! Take the Future Shop example from above, you know that your child wants a new iPod Touch for Christmas. You could go buy it directly from Future Shop and earn your base miles on your credit card but by going to a grocery store, drug store or even a gas station that sells gift cards you can go buy yourself the Future Shop gift cards, earn the 1.5 or 2x or more miles/points/cashback on the purchase and then use the gift cards when you get to Future Shop. There is only one downside to this method other than the extra time required and that is you will not be able to take advantage of the purchase protection, price protection or extended warranty offered by many of the reward credit cards. (Maybe it would be better if I used Old Navy as an example instead of Future Shop since you don’t really require any of those benefits on Old Navy purchases?)

By following some or all of these steps you will be making sure that you are maximizing the miles and points you earn this holiday shopping season! The mileage or point balances in your accounts will escalate and then those reward flights, nights or merchandise will come to you sooner!


Care to comment, have questions or other tips? Please do so below!

Dec 10 Update: Triple Points for Choice Hotel Stays, Stash Hotels Free night, Japan Airlines Bonus Miles contest

News, Tips & Tricks
Japan Airlines is running a contest where 1,000 of their Mileage Bank members will win 2,500 Bonus Miles for completing an eligible international flight on JAL and/or a oneworld airline. To enter you must register first and then complete your eligible flight by March 15, 2013. For more details and to register please see here.

For those of you in Victoria or Vancouver, this offer may be the best for you, there a potential free night at the Island Inn at 123 West in Friday Harbor via Stash Hotel Rewards.  See the post from earlier today

As an update to my daily post last Thursday, the free United Mileage Plus miles from BCKSTGR.com have posted.

and finally in case you missed my other post from earlier today Hilton will be increasing their elite status requirements in 2013.

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Triple AAdvantage Miles on rentals of one or more days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, New Zealand and Australia. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- Double AAdvantage Miles on a qualifying rental of minimum one day at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Jan 31, 13

Choice Hotels Privileges
Triple Privileges Points on every qualifying stay starting with your second stay at Choice Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 13, 12 - Feb 20, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for Japan Airlines flights between Tokyo and Helsinki. More... Feb 25 - May 31, 13

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Points per stay at any of 75 AC Hotels By Marriott locations throughout Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. More... Book by Apr 19 for stays Jun 1 - Aug 24, 13
- 3,000 Bonus Points per night for stays at the Auburn Hills Marriott Pontiac at Centerpoint. Up to a maximum of 21,000 points per stay. More... Until Feb 12, 13

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays on the 'Linger Longer for Less' offer at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 14, 12 - Feb 22, 13
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at participating Radisson Blu hotels in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. More... Until Jan 31, 13



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

Another Stash Hotels Rewards Sale: Free night at The Island Inn (Friday Harbor) is possible!

This summer the independent boutique hotel loyalty program Stash Hotel Rewards starting running flash sales for very cheap reward nights.

This continues tomorrow where 10 one night awards will be available at The Island Inn at 123 West in the Pacific Northwest's San Juan Islands for only 1,000 points. The best part is that you can join Stash Hotel Rewards via FFB's link and you will earn 1,000 points for free. That is enough for this flash sale. You just have to pray that you will be one of the lucky 10 to get in on the deal.

Details on this limited, first-come-first-serve offer will be announced on Tuesday, December 11th at 9am-ish PST, exclusively on Stash’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Hilton to increase elite qualification requirements in 2013

For some of you this is old news as you may have caught it on other blogs or forum but I as I play catch up on items and clean out my email I was reminded of this change from the email I received from Hilton:

So as of January 1, 2013 most of the elite qualifying requirements to achieve Hilton status in 2014 are increasing.

Currently to achieve Gold Status the requirement is 16 stays, 36 nights or 60,000 points. Those are going up to 20 stays, 40 nights or 75,000 base points.

For Diamond Status the current requirement is 28 stays, 60 nights, or 100,000 points. In 2013 it will be 30 stays, 60 nights or 120,000 base points.

For those of us in Canada this definitely made it tougher to achieve status without finding a fast track option. I do list some of those options on RC's HHonors page. In the U.S. they have it easier as their HHonors credit cards typically come with elite status. Perhaps Hilton will follow suit and launch a credit card here in Canada like 5 of the other major hotel brands have.

Dec 6 Update: 5,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles for Canadians, up to 1,000 Free Mileage Plus Miles & Avianca TACA's 100% Buy Miles Bonus is back

I'm back from vacation but today will be my only day of 'Rewards Canada' operations this week as I have a full slate tomorrow. I have a quite a few emails from many of you and I promise to get to them as soon as I can! Other than that I'm playing catch up and will try to push out as much news, information and bonus offers as I can over the next week. The following is what I got to today:

News, Tips & Tricks
If you frequently travel to Beijing and have stays of less than 72 hours or are transiting via Beijing there is good news in that Canadians (and residents of 44 other countries) do not need to apply in advance for a visa. As of January 1, 2013 a transit visa will now be issued upon arrival into Beijing. For more details please see this article from Business Traveller.

Air France KLM's Flying Blue has a launched a nice acquisition campaign for Canadians: 5,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you join the program by February 28 and fly by August 31, 2013. I have seen lots of these promos for other countries but most have not been this generous in regards to the amount of bonus miles, the time period allowed to get the first flight in and the best part? This promotion for Canadians is not limited to flights on Air France KLM only, it is open to any SkyTeam member airline flight! That means if you have upcoming Delta, Alitalia, Korean Air or anyone of the 19 member airline flights you can earn this bonus if you credit the flight to Flying Blue. See the link below for more details.

December sees the return of the amazing 100% Bonus on buying Avianca TACA LifeMiles. I don't think I need to go into much detail here, you can check out my last post on it for some of the in's and out's of this promotion otherwise you can find the link to the promotion below.

The latest set of IHG Priority Club Point Breaks is out. This is one of the best redemption promotions seen from any hotel program and allows Priorty Club members to redeem at select IHG hotels for only 5,000 points per night regardless if the original redemption rate is 15,000 or 50,000 points. See my last post for more details or just click here to see the current list of hotels that run until January 31.(2 Canadian properties are included)

Short Term Bonus offer alert: If you are planning any shopping at Home Hardware before December 15 you can earn 3x the Aeroplan miles. More...

Finally, another free miles offer. This time when you join BKSTGR.com you can earn up to 1,000 United Mileage Plus miles. This offer appears open to Canadian residents as I signed up and received the initial 400 miles for registratoin but have not seen the miles for linking my social media accounts yet. See the link below for more details.

Travel Deals
IHG is running a 2 day sale on Dec 7 and 8 for select properties in the U.K, with rates as low as £20.12! More details can be found here.

Bonus Offers
Air Baltic Baltic Miles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Baltic Miles on all purchases made via the BalticMiles Shop&Earn online shopping portal. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 5,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles if you enrol in Flying Blue and fly with Air France KLM or any other SkyTeam airline by August 31, 2013. More... Register by Feb 28, 13. Residents of Canada only

Avianca TACA LifeMiles
- 100% Bonus LifeMiles when you buy LifeMiles online. More... Until Dec 28, 12 Applies only to members enrolled in the program prior to December 3rd, 2012

Frontier Airlines Early Returns (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Early Returns Miles for flights between Princeton/Trenton NJ and Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, New Orleans, Orlando, or Tampa. More... Jan 31 - Feb 28, 13
- Double Early Returns Miles for flights between Denver and Fargo, Minot or Phoenix/Mesa-Gateway. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Early Returns Miles for flights between Greensboro, NC or Princeton/Trenton NJ and Orlando. More... Until Dec 31, 12

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- 5,000 points per award night - Priority Club Point Breaks Redeem only 5,000 points for stays at select hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 13

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus Starpoints per stay at participating Le Méridien Hotels in North America and French Polynesia. More... Register by Jan 15 for stays until Feb 28, 13

United Mileage Plus
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles for registering with BCKSTGR.com and linking your Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts. More... Until ?

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Points for every stay at participating VOILÁ hotels worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13