Earn your share of 5,000,000 Aeroplan Miles if you book Air Canada flights online by Dec 22

This is the last day of Air Canada's 12 Days of Holiday Deals and it can be a very lucrative one. It all depends on how many people book by Sunday with this promo code (its almost like we shouldn't post it here as it may dilute the eventual bonus) but our mandate is to help everyone make the most of their reward programs and this is one that shouldn't be passed on!

Here is the promotion pulled straight from Aircanada.com

If Aeroplan Miles for travel or other treats are on your holiday wishlist, then look no further! Earn your share of 5,000,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you use the promotion code MILESHARE.
Your exact share of the pot of miles will depend on the total number of bookings made with the promotion code. For example, if 100 people use the code, each person will receive 50,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles, with a guarantee of a minimum of 150 Miles per booking. Plus, the more bookings you make, the more miles you'll get in total.

About this offer:

• Valid for all new bookings made on aircanada.com between December 20 and 22, 2013, inclusively
• For travel until April 30, 2014 on Air Canada and Air Canada rouge worldwide.
• Bookings must include a round-trip or two one-way segments

Find all the details here

What are your 2014 New Year’s Miles and Points Resolutions?

With 2014 right around the corner it is a good time to start thinking about your strategies and ideas for earning and burning miles and points in the upcoming year. Will it be a focus on earning to pad your travel rewards accounts with lots of miles and points or will be a year of divesture as you burn through them to ensure you aren’t hit (again) with all the recent program devaluations. 

We here are Rewards Canada would love to hear what you have planned for 2014 and share it with our readers. The pool of knowledge of all of our readers, followers and subscribers is extremely vast and one person’s strategy may be unknown to another who sits in the exact same position as you!



If you aren’t sure where to start here are just a few ideas or strategies from us that may be able to help you kick off an amazing year in the world of Miles & Points!




Give me some Distinction!


Earlier in the year Aeroplan announced a bunch of changes and one was the launch of their new status recognition program called Distinction. Think of it as Air Miles Gold on steroids. Separate and different than Air Canada Altitude, Distinction recognizes those Aeroplan members who earn a lot of miles but may not earn a lot of butt in seat miles like those in the Altitude program. Earning status began this year for benefits to be used in 2014. It is yet to be seen whether the Distinction benefits will live up to its promises, in particular with the Market Fare award tickets but there is no harm in trying to reach the various status levels for 2015 if you haven’t jumped on board for Distinction status in 2014.

 Learn more about Distinction here.

 

From RC's Top Travel Rewards
Credit Card Ranking!

I want to cut through the Credit Card Confusion!

With all the confusion abounding about the TD/CIBC/Aeroplan love triangle, many consumers are shopping around for new credit cards. A lot are fed up with the availability issues with programs likes Aeroplan, Delta SkyMiles, Air Miles and others but some are torn as they want that best value out of their points by redeeming for business class flights. That best value only comes from the airline programs themselves, so how can one solve this dilemma? The Hybrid Credit Card is the answer. A term coined by us many years ago the Hybrid Credit Card gives you the best of both worlds. You collect points in the credit card’s reward program which can then be used for flexible travel redemptions via the card’s travel agency or any travel supplier  with a few cards but you also have the option of converting those points into airline or hotel programs. The top two cards in the hybrid category are the American Express Gold Rewards Card and the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card. For a comparison of the current hybrid cards in the Canadian market check-out our Hybrid Credit Card comparison chart.



I pledge to save money on my travels and online shopping!

With the Canadian dollar slowly losing traction and analysts expecting it to dip below 90 cents, many frequent travelers and online shoppers will be looking at ways to save money. One way to do this is to get a credit card that comes with a no foreign transaction fee feature. Our favourite in this category is the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card which not only has the no forex fee but also includes a host of other bonuses that will get you free nights and elite status with Marriott. If this card is not your cup of tea the Sears Voyage MasterCard and Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card also feature no forex fees. 


I’m going to get that Elite Status
!
One thing you can strive for in 2014 is to achieve or requalify for elite status in 2015. It is never to early to start this and should be a strategy right from the get go. Whether it is the short cut to Star Alliance Gold with Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus or getting free status with Le Club accorhotels and then using that to get status matches from other hotels chains, being an Elitist definitely makes travel easier and more enjoyable. We even have a page Rewards Canada tracking elite status bonus offers, status matches and more. Check it out here: 

rewardscanada.ca/statusoffers.html

Hilton Any Weekend Anywhere Sale: Up to 33% off Weekend stays in EMEA in 2014 - book by January 31

Here is another major sale from the folks at Hilton! Once again a big push for stays at their properties in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This is the same offer we saw at this time last year and is good for weekend stays throughout 2014!! The main restrictions is that you need to book by 23:59GMT on January 31st  and the rates are fully prepaid and non-refundable so only book if you are 100% sure that you will complete your stay(s). If you ready to pull the trigger on this one you can do so at:  Hilton's Any Weekend Anywhere Sale

If you are planning a weekend stay before Jan 31st don't forget to register for: More Nights, More Points: Earn up to 4x HHonors points for stays at over 4,000 Hilton family of hotels Worldwide. Stay two nights and earn double HHonors Points for your entire stay. Stay three nights to triple your points, and four nights or more to quadruple your points. Full Details, Online Registration and Booking  (Registration is required) Valid until Jan 31, 14
 For a list of hotels that are not participating please click here.

Full terms and conditions:
Offer is subject to availability at participating hotels within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Book between December 9, 2013 and January 31, 2014. Stay on weekends between December 13, 2013 and December 28, 2014 except as otherwise indicated. For purposes of this offer, “weekend” is defined as Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights in Europe and Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in Middle East & Africa. Full non-refundable prepayment required at time of booking. Discounts vary by property and range from 15% to 33% off the easy cancellation rate and the easy cancellation Bed & Breakfast rate. Other blackout dates may apply based upon which day of the week a stay is consumed, geographical location of hotel and/or by brand. *Prices displayed above are the lowest rates available for the next 60 days and are subject to change. The dates shown represent the earliest availability for each nightly rate. Please enter exact dates for specific pricing and availability.

Dec 20 Update: Rob Carrick’s six tips to help you build wealth in 2014, Weekend Air Miles & Aeroplan shopping bonuses

This will be last Daily Update of 2013! We are going to slow things down over the Christmas break so you won't see the daily update until the New Year.The last Rewards Canada News Newsletter of the year will be sent out this Monday. That being said if there are any major new bonuses or breaking news that is released over the next week and a half we will post it here on our blog and/or on Twitter and Facebook. Make sure you follow us to keep on top of all the latest news and finally:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

News, Tips & Tricks
The Globe & Mail's Rob Carrick offers a great article called "Rob Carrick’s six tips to help you build wealth in 2014". Rob is a well known and extremely well respected Finance Columnist who also understands that reward programs make up part of your financial portfolio, hence the mention of Rewards Canada in the article. Thanks to Rob once again for all his support of Rewards Canada in 2013!

Going Christmas shopping this weekend? Here are couple of bonuses only availble for this weekend:

Staples: Earn 7x AIR MILES reward miles on eligible purchase(s) of $100 or more in a single transaction on Saturday December 21st only! Full details

Rexall: Earn 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you spend $50 or more in a single transaction. Full details. Dec 20 -22 only.

Bonus Offers
China Southern Sky Pearl Club
- Receive up to a 55% Sky Pearl Kilometers Discount on Sky Pearl award tickets for select China Southern routes. More... Book by Jan 17 for travel until Mar 31, 14

Hilton HHonors
- 2,000 HHonors Points after you join Gilt Group and make your first purchase of US$50 or more. Plus, following such first purchase, earn six Bonus Points for every additional US $1 spent during the first six months after you join. More... Until ?

Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- 2014 Bonus Safar Flyer Miles if you fly on Royal Air Maroc on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. More... Dec 31 - Jan 1, 14

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Double Royal Orchid Plus for stays at select Anantara Hotels in the Middle East and Asia. More... Book by Mar 31 for stays Jan 1 - Dec 31, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus for stays of 2+ nights at Centara Hotels & Resorts in Thailand. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Earn up to Triple Royal Orchid Miles when you stay at any participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotel Worldwide. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Earn up to Triple Royal Orchid Plus miles for stays at Okura Hotels Worldwide. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Triple Royal Orchid Plus miles when staying at least three consecutive nights or Double Miles for two consecutive nights at any Shangri-La Hotel and Resorts, Traders Hotel or Kerry Hotel at the Best Available Rate. More... Until Feb 28, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus miles when booking the Double Miles for Early Birds rate for stays of 2 nights or more at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 14
- Earn up to Quadruple Royal Orchid Miles on Avis rentals in Asia, US, Canada, Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Earn up to Quadruple Royal Orchid Miles on Avis rentals in Thailand. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus and a 50% discount when you rent any car from any Budget location in Thailand for 3 or more days.More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Earn up to Quadruple Royal Orchid Plus and a 20% discount when you rent from Hertz at participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Earn up to Triple Royal Orchid Plus and a 20% discount when you rent from Hertz in Thailand for 3 or more days. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- 500 Bonus Orchid Plus miles with every 5,000 miles earned flying with THAI, are also earned.More... Until ? Residents of Thailand only
- 400% Bonus Royal Orchid Plus miles when you purchase any KTC World Travel Plus Packages in Royal Silk Class between Bangkok and THAI destinations in Australia and Europe, up to a maximum of THB one million. More... Until ? Residents of Thailand only

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 500 Elevate Points and an extra 20% off your first Gilt purchase. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Dec 19 Update: WestJet to add inflight Wi-Fi in 2014, Marriott MegaBonus returns, Great Aeroplan offer at Rexall

The second last day of updates for 2013 shows further quieting down of the industry save for the launch of Marriott's newest MegaBonus promotion.

News, Tips & Tricks
According to an article in the Edmonton Journal, WestJet is set to begin offering in flight Wi-Fi sometime in 2014. "CEO Gregg Saretsky confirmed in an interview that WestJet is in the final phases of negotiations with an inflight Internet provider". Air Canada has been testing inflight Wi-Fi between Montreal/Toronto and Los Angeles when in U.S. airspace for a couple of years but have not expanded on that service yet which means WestJet will more than likely be the first airline in Canada to offer it on Canadian flights. Here is a link to the article

The guys running the Milebuzz Canada thread over on FlyerTalk alerted us to a Rexall promotion that ends today where if you include tax (well here in Alberta where it is only 5%) you can get Aeroplan Miles for 1.4 cents each. The offer is 800 bonus Aeroplan Miles when you buy 2 Adidas or Playboy Body Spray or Shower Gel.

Travel Deals
Book your Latin America or the Caribbean vacation with IHG this winter and save 25% when you stay 4 nights!.



Bonus Offers
Delta SkyMiles
- 1,500 Bonus SkyMiles for Delta Medallion members on your first Gilt purchase of $50 or more. More... Until ?

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double HawaiianMiles on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Marriott Rewards
- Marriott MegaBonus: Earn Free Nights or Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Register by Mar 31  for stays between Feb 1 and Apr 30, 2014

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Triple GC Award Points for stays of a minimum of three nights in an Ocean Wing Premier Room at Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort, Kota Kinabalu. More... Jan 5 - Jun 30, 14

Stash Hotel Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Lodge at Tiburon. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Caribe Royale Orlando. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays of 3 or more nights at the Hotel at WaterWalk Wichita. More... Jan 1 - 31, 14
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Westford Regency Inn and Conf Center. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Wilshire Grand Hotel West Orange. More... Jan 1 - 15, 14
- 500 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Wilshire Grand Hotel West Orange. More... Jan 16 -31, 14
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays that include a Sunday night at The Strand New York. More... Jan 1 - Feb 28, 14
- 1,500 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays in a Suite at the The Nittany Lion Inn or the The Penn Stater Conf Center HotelState College. More... Until Feb 28, 14
- Triple Stash Rewards Points and a complimentary upgrade for stays at the Hotel Andra Seattle. More...Until Feb 28, 14
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Edgewater Hotel Seattle. More... Until Feb 28, 14

United MileagePlus
- Double MileagePlus Miles when booking the Double Miles for Early Birds rate for stays of 2 nights or more at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 14

Marriott MegaBonus returns: Earn Free Nights or Bonus Points on your Marriott stays (Feb 1 - Apr 30, 14)

This is the week of major hotel promotion announcements, well Starwood's was announced sometime ago but opened up for registration yesterday. The latest is the newest version of Marriott's MegaBonus and it is virtually the same as we have seen in past iterations of the promotion. For those of you who collect airline miles instead of Marriott Rewards points, we were told by a Marriott rep at a recent conference that MegaMiles will also return however we do not have the details yet of that promotion yet.

Here is the MegeBonus offer as it will appear on RCs Marriott page later today with the variety of bonuses that we are aware of (Thanks to Flyertalk!)

Marriott MegaBonus: Earn Free Nights or Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. Full Details, Online Registration and Booking Register by Mar 31  for stays between Feb 1 and Apr 30, 2014
Some of the Offer Variations:
- Earn one free night certificate for a category 1 to 4 hotel after every two stays. Maximum of 2 free nights
- Earn one free night certificate for a category 1 to 5 hotel after every two stays. Maximum of 2 free nights.
- Earn 35,000 points after 20 nights and another 15,000 bonus points after 25 nights - up to 50,000 points
- Earn 25,000 points after 15 nights and another 15,000 bonus points after 20 nights —up to 40,000 bonus points
- Earn 35,000 points after 20 nights plus an additional 2,000 bonus points after each additional night  - up to 55,000 points.


What offer did you get? We got the free night for Cat 1-4 after every two stays. Did you get an offer that is not one of the ones listed above? Please let us know about it so we can add it to the list!

Dec 18 Update: Latest Flying Blue Promo Awards are out for 3 Canadian cities, 1,000 Free points with Air India, United Transcontinental Bonus

Third last day of updates for 2013!

News, Tips & Tricks
The latest set of Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo awards are out and this time there are three Canadian cities included instead of the two we saw earlier this month (which are still bookable until Dec 29) . The latest set of offers will be bookable as of December 30th and are good for award travel until the end of February, which is quite odd since the last set of awards had travel periods into March! The offers this time are for 50% off Business Class between Toronto or Montreal and Europe and 25% off economy class between Vancouver and Europe. All very good deals if you have the miles and want to travel to Europe in January or February. Don't have the miles? You could always consider transferring Starpoints earned via the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to Flying Blue.

What are the promo awards? The promo awards are a discount of 25-50% off the regular Flying Blue mileage requirement for select AF KLM flights in select cabins.  Due to increases in the regular award mileage requirements earlier in the year the promo awards not as grand as they used to be but overall are they are still considered a great deal when compared to the regular mileage requirements or even to what mileage would be required in other programs for a similar ticket. Here is an example of this increased rate: previously you could get a round-trip Montreal-Europe Business Class promo award ticket for 50,000 miles but now it will cost you 62,500 miles. Overall this is still a great deal but of course not as great as it used to be. To take advantage of an award ticket deal you must book your promo award ticket between Dec 30 and Feb 26 for travel until Feb 28. More details can be found here.

SkyTeam has announced the date that Garuda Indonesia will join the alliance and that date is March 5, 2014. Source: SkyTeam

Want some free points? Air India is offering 1,000 of them for joining their Flying Returns program. Really should only be of use for those of you who plan on using the program otherwise you'll probably end up with 1,000 stranded points!. See the bonus offer section below for details.


Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Save up to 50% with Promo Awards Save 25% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. More...Book between Dec 30 and Feb 26 for travel between Jan 1 and Feb 28, 14

Air India Flying Returns
- Air India Flying Returns 1,000 Bonus Points when you join the Air India Flying Returns program. More... Until ?

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at the Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa. More... Jan 6 - Mar 31, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double TrueBlue Points on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Feb 28, 14

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles on all paid nonstop flights marketed and operated by United between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO). More... Jan 7 - Mar 31, 14

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles when booking the Double Miles for Early Birds rate for stays of 2 nights or more at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 14

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn Double Status Credits when flying on all eligible Virgin Australia flights. More... Book by Dec 31 for travel between February 1 and June 20, 2014.

PointsHound: 50% Bonus Miles or Points on all bookings made by January 1, 2014

Here is a nice Christmas present from the crew at PointsHound! They are offering 50% bonus points or miles on all bookings made until January 1st, 2014. We let you know earlier this month about the individual offers of 50% more points for BalticMiles and Etihad Guest but now you can earn the bonus for any of PointsHound's partners/

If you haven't joined PointsHound yet you can do so via our referral link, which offers 1,000 bonus miles or points* on your first booking made by Dec 31. So if you join and book by New Year's Eve you'll not only earn the 1,000 mile sign up bonus but you'll also get the 50% bonus on the miles/points earn on the stay.

* - The normal bonus is 250 miles for referrals via most referrers save for a few other bloggers who have also been extended this increased referral bonus offer from PointsHound.  To get the 1,000 Bonus Miles/Points simply make your first booking before the end of the year after you signed up via our referral link.

Programs you can earn miles/points with PointsHound.com

SPG Bring On The Nights now open for registration! Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Starpoints

Back on November 25th we brought you the details of Starwood Preferred Guest's newest systemwide promotion called Bring On The Nights. At that time it wasn't open for registration but we are pleased to let you know that it is now open as of this morning! While not the strongest promotion from SPG or when compared to yesterdays promo announcement from Hyatt the one positive with Bring On The Nights is the lack of an excluded hotel list, that's right all Starwood properties are participating this time.

Here is the offer as found on our Starpoints Bonus Offer Page:

SPG Bring on the Nights: Earn 2,500 bonus Starpoints for every five eligible nights you stay (up to 10,000 bonus Starpoints and 20 eligible nights) at all Starwood hotels Worldwide. Plus, get an additional 5,000 bonus Starpoints when you hit 25 eligible nights. Full Details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Register by Feb 28 for stays between Jan 5 - Apr 30, 14

Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our Starpoints Bonus Offer page for dozens of other stay bonuses!

Hyatt announces Winter 2014 promotion: Earn Free Nights or Bonus Gold Passport Points

Jeff Zidell, the VP of Hyatt Gold Passport passed along this announcement on FlyerTalk this morning.

Beginning January 15, 2014, there will be more ways to reward yourself with our Hyatt Gold Passport® Endless Possibilities promotion. You can earn a free night or thousands of bonus points after every five nights you stay with us by April 30.

Choose Free Nights
Earn a free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel worldwide after every five nights. Enjoy 4 free nights after you stay a maximum of 20 nights. Redeem your free nights with no blackout dates through July 31, 2014.

Or, Choose Bonus Points
Earn 5,000 Hyatt Gold Passport bonus points after your first five nights and thousands more for every additional five nights. After 20 nights, you’ll earn 50,000 bonus points. Here’s how the points add up:

Stay 5 Nights, Earn +5,000 Points = 5,000 Total Points Earned
Stay 10 Nights, Earn +10,000 Points = 15,000 Total Points Earned
Stay 15 Nights, Earn +15,000 Points = 30,000 Total Points Earned
Stay 20 Nights, Earn +20,000 Points = 50,000 Total Points Earned

So which will you choose — free nights or bonus points?

Registration begins on January 9, 2014, for stays from January 15, 2014 through April 30, 2014.

Along with the latest IHG Big Win it appears that the trend of lackluster hotel promos may be over as Hyatt even appears to be climbing out of the hole with this latest offering. In our opinion it is still not amazing like the Faster Free Nights of old (no Category cap, less nights required to earn free nights) it is definitely stronger than some of the other promos that have been announced (Starwood and Choice for examples)


What are your thoughts on this promotion? Which option will you choose? I personally am thinking I will go for the free night as I don't for see me having more than 5 nights at Hyatt during the first four months of 2014 and that free night is worth up to 15,000 points versus the 5,000 bonus in the points version. I'm not 100% sure yet though and at least I have until Jan 9 to decide!

Dec 17 Update: SPG & Caesars announce partnership, Targeted 100 Free Air Miles offer, AAdvantage Buy Miles offer updated

A relatively quiet day here on Rewards Canada:

News, Tips & Tricks
 

Starwood Preferred Guest and Caesars Total Rewards have announced a new partnership. It seems as if the major chains are going with Las Vegas focus since many of them had limited offerings in Sin City. IHG partnered with the Venetian and Palazzo, Hyatt teamed up with MGM and now it is Starwoods turn. Soon SPG members will be able to earn and redeem Starpoints with select Caesars Hotels. You will also be able to double dip and continue to earn Total Rewards points if you are member of Caesars own program.

You’ll like these odds: SPG® members can soon redeem Starpoints® for stays at participating Caesars Entertainment hotels in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Lake Tahoe, and more. Plus, once registered, members can earn Starpoints as well as SPG elite qualifying night credits for stays at Caesars.

But that’s not all. SPG members also can redeem Starpoints for exclusive access to amazing experiences in Las Vegas and beyond through MomentsSM by SPG.
Register now. Earn and redeem begins January 9.


More ways to redeem. Go all in.

• SPG members can redeem Starpoints for stays at participating Caesars Entertainment hotels.
• Plus, SPG members can redeem Starpoints for exclusive MomentsSM by SPG experiences. See what's live now at SPG.com/moments

More ways to earn. No luck required.

• Registered SPG members earn 2 Starpoints® for every eligible $1 charged to their hotel folio at Caesars Entertainment hotels (in addition to Reward Credits earned through Total Rewards, Caesars Entertainment’s award-winning loyalty program).
• Plus, registered SPG members earn credit toward SPG elite qualification for redeemed and paid Caesars Entertainment stays, up to 10 nights per calendar year.

Register now. Earn and redeem begins January 9.

 
There is a targeted offer floating around for 100 Free Air Miles if your provide American Express with your email address. I tried it out and my Air Miles number is not one that is targeted. I assume it is for holders of an actual American Air Miles credit card. I am providing the link here just in case you may have deleted the email if you were one who was targeted or for those who didn't see an email, give it a try, you never know when it may work for you. Try your luck here.

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- OFFER UPDATED Earn up to 18,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles + 20% Bonus Miles (or other gifts) when you buy AAdvantage Miles online. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 2,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays at the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Casino Manila. More... Until Jan 12, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- IHG Rewards Club - The Big Win - Earn at least 31,000 IHG® Rewards Club bonus points or at least 7,000 miles when you stay at any IHG hotel, including the InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo® Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels, Holiday Inn Resort® Hotels, Holiday Inn Club Vacations®, Holiday Inn Express® Hotels, Staybridge Suites® Hotels or Candlewood Suites® Hotels brands Worldwide. More... Jan 1 - Apr 30, 14
- Double IHG Rewards Club Points on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Malaysia Airlines Enrich (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Enrich Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at the Dana Langkawi More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at the Dorsett Regency Kuala Lumpur. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for stays at the Dorsett Grand Subang. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for stays at the Gili Lankanfushi Maldives. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at the G Tower Hotel Kuala Lumpur. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for stays at the G Hotel Penang. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for every qualifying stay at participating InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express Hotels & Resorts in Asia, Australasia, Middle East and Africa. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Earn up to Triple Enrich Miles on stays of 2 or more nights at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for stays at the new INNSIDE Düsseldorf Hafen and other Meliá hotels in the following destinations: London, Paris, Germany, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg and Dubai. More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until Mar 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for stays at the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali Resort. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Double Enrich Miles for stays at the Seri Pacific Kuala Lumpur. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Earn up to Quadruple Enrich Miles when renting with Avis for 3+ days in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Earn up to Quadruple Enrich Miles when you rent a car on an Affordable Rate (leisure retail rate) from a participating HERTZ location in the USA, Canada, Europe*, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Jan 31, 14

Marriott Rewards
- Double Rewards Points on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Dec 16 Update: Triple Aeroplan Miles on select Air Canada fares, Air India to join Star Alliance, 4x MileagePlus Miles on Avis rentals

Welcome to another week of loyalty news, views, bonuses and more here on Rewards Canada! One more full week after this then we'll be shutting down for the Christmas break.

News, Tips & Tricks
First we'll rehash some great bonus miles offers that we mentioned in separate posts here on RC. First is the 500 Bonus Air Miles offer for spending $200+ at Safeway and second is the US Airways Up to 100% Bonus for buying/gifting Dividend Miles. Be sure to check both of these out!

If you missed it over the weekend, the registration for IHG Rewards Club's The Big Win opened up. See our post here and feel free to let us know of the details of the offer you received!

If you haven't visited Aircanada.com recently, they are running 12 various promotions in their 12 Days of Holiday Deals offering and the latest is a bonus mile offer:

Whether you've been naughty or nice this year, you'll still earn Triple Aeroplan® Miles on Business Class fares in North America and Premium rouge fares between Canada and the U.S. With these Bonus Aeroplan Miles, you'll be saying "Ho, ho, ho!" all the way home from your next trip.

This offer is valid for every round-trip or 2 one-way flight segments and is applicable on new bookings only.

Register and book on December 16, 17 or 18, 2013 for travel between December 16, 2013 and June 17, 2014.
See all the details here.

Yesterday's offer is also worth checking out. If you buy a$250 Air Canada Gift Card you'll receive 10% off a future Air Canada flight. Flight Booking must be made online between December 19 and 31, 2013 for travel between January 10 and June 17, 2014, excluding travel between April 16 and 22, 2014. Full detals here

According to he Ben Mutzabaugh of USA Today, Air India is back on track to join the Star Alliance.  Their application was suspended back in 2011 but with stabilization in the market in India is looks like it is back on. Full details

Over on FlyerTalk we learned that Virgin Atlantic will begin to charge for seat selection as of April 1st.  See more here.
Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- Double Miles&Bonus Miles on your purchases at Hellenic Duty Free Shops. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Etihad Guest
- Triple Guest Miles when you stay at any Viceroy Hotel or Resort in North America , Abu Dhabi or the Maldives. More... Until Feb 28, 14

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S. More... Until Jan 9, 14

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles on all car rentals booked via rentalscars.com. More... Until Jan 31, 14

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 50% Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles on all Turkish Airlines domestic routes and select routes to Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East and Houston. More... Jan 1 - 31, 14
- 25% Miles&Smiles Miles Discount for awqrd tickets on all Turkish Airlines domestic routes and select routes to Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East and Houston. More... Jan 1 - 31, 14

United MileagePlus
- Quadruple MileagePlus Miles on rentals of 1 or more days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Mexico, the Middle East and New Zealand. More... Until Feb 28, 14

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you buy or gift Dividend Miles. More... Until Dec 20, 13

US Airways: Up to a 100% Bonus when you buy/gift Dividend Miles until Dec 20

As we mentioned last week, US Airways was planning to have one more bonus on buying Dividend Miles in 2013 and here it is:

Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you buy or gift Dividend Miles. Full details Until Dec 20, 13

Buy/Gift	Bonus
10,000 - 19,000 Miles	50%
20,000 - 29,000 Miles	75%
30,000 - 50,000 Miles	100%

Much like last week's share miles promo this one is only available for 5 days and is one of the easiest, cheapest and best ways to buy American AAdvantage miles. Why? Well in case you have been stuffed under a rock like Patrick Star you'll know that US Airways and American Airlines are merging and the program of choice when all is said and done will be the AAdvantage program. Ultimately your Dividend Miles will become AAdvantage miles if you don't use them while the two programs run separately. Overall whether you buy miles now and redeem them immediately for US Airways or Star Alliance awards until March 30 or wait until after that for a oneworld redemption, this is always one of the best buy miles offers to take advantage of as you are buying the miles for just under 1.9 cents each when you buy at the 100% level of 30,000 to 50,000 miles. Remember you can get business class to North Asia from North America for only 90,000 miles!

Air Miles: 500 Bonus Rewards Miles for a $200 Safeway purchase!

Over the weekend I received an email from Canada Safeway with some bonus Air Miles coupons and within a few hours a few of our readers had tweeted and emailed us about it as well. Why is it such a big deal? It is one of the biggest one time shopping bonuses we have ever seen for shopping at Safeway. Normally we see 100 bonus miles for $100 or 300 bonus for $200 or more spent. Well for this week you can earn 200 bonus miles for the $100 or 500 bonus Reward Miles for that $200 or more! I wasn't too sure if this was targeted but it seems to be open based on the response from our readers telling us about it. Just remember to go shopping by December 24!

Earning 2.5 Air Miles per dollar spent is almost unheard of for Air Miles members so this is a huge bonus that comes at the right time, buying groceries for those Christmas dinners! If you don't think you can hit the $200, Rewards Canada reader Randy M suggests to "share the joy" by buying food for a food bank to get you over that $200 and ultimately you can feel good about the Air Miles you earned as you helped out the less fortunate!

To get the bonus miles you have to use a coupon and you can get those here.

IHG Big Win 2014 now open for registration - our offer is for 31,000 bonus points, what's yours?

Just tried logging into the new Big Win page on IHG and am happy to say it appears to be open for registration!

Earn IHG® Rewards Club bonus points or airline miles throughout the promotional period when you stay at any IHG hotel, including the InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo® Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels, Holiday Inn Resort® Hotels, Holiday Inn Club Vacations®, Holiday Inn Express® Hotels, Staybridge Suites® Hotels or Candlewood Suites® Hotels brands Worldwide. Members will be awarded with 1,000 bonus points or 500 miles for their first night’s stay. Members will begin to earn when they register and stay between January 1 and Apr 30, 2014.  To find out what your customized offer and register visit here

Here is the offer I received:
One Night Win: Stay at any IHG Hotel and earn 1,000 Points
Stay More and Earn More: Stay a total of 3 nights and receive 3,000 Points
Explore our brands: Stay at 3 different IHG brands and earn 7,000 points
Book with IHG: Book 2 separate stays through an IHG^® hotel website or mobile device to get our Best Price Guarantee and earn 2,000 points
Win in a Weekend: Stay 3 Saturday nights and earn 8,000 points
Win Big: Complete 5 of your offers and earn 10,000 points

My offers are pretty low as I hit only the 31,000 point mark whereas others will more than likely get higher offers. This time the Big Win isn't as easily achievable for me as certain portions like the "Win in a Weekend went from 2 Saturdays to 3 Saturdays but other parts have become easier such as "Win Big" and "Stay More and Earn More" require less steps. I really don't know if I will go for the Big Win for only 31,000 points but you never know as I don't really even know my schedule for the 2014 yet!

What offer did you receive? Feel free to share it with the Rewards Canada readership below and let us know if you are going to try for some or all of your offer.

Dec 13 Update: United removes SIA award space online, short term Air Miles bonuses, Petro-Points gift card bonus

Final day of updates this week! Bonuses and news are definitely slowing down as we approach the Christmas break!

News, Tips & Tricks
United Airlines MileagePlus announced via FlyerTalk that you will no longer be able to see Singapore Airlines inventory on their award flight search results on united.com and on the United Mobile App. You will have to call into United for availability and booking (and United has confirmed that they will NOT waive the phone in booking fee on these award tickets)

Here are some Air Miles coupons or deals that are short term (ie not added to our Air Miles page)
- Earn up t0 50 Bonus Air Miles at Rona (4 different coupons) See here.
- Earn 30 Bonus Air Miles at Staples on December 14 only when you spend $100 or more in store. Full details (no coupon needed)
- Earn 25 Bonus reward miles when you redeem you Air Miles at select AIR MILES Cash Sponsors. Full details (no coupon needed)

Petro-Points members whe subscribe to Petro-Points emails can collect 1,000 bonus points when you purchase any gift card at a Petro Canada by December 31, 2013

Travel Deals
AutoEurope is offering up to a 30% off sale for car rentals in Europe. Book online tby Dec 31 and receive up to 30% off of your rental car in Europe.

Bonus Offers
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore, Marina Mandarin Singapore or Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort & Spa, Langkawi. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14

Norwegian Reward (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Cash Points on Norwegian flights between London and Alesund, Aalborg, Bergen Gothenburg, or Stockholm; Liverpool or Edinburgh and Copenhagen More... Book by Dec 20 for travel Jan 1 - Feb 28, 14

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Triple GC Award Points when staying in the Valley Wing at the Shangri-La Hotel, Qingdao. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Triple GC Award Points when staying in a Executive Suite or Premier Suite at Traders Hotel, Manila. More... Dec 30, 13 - Mar 20, 14

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Earn up to Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you rent with Avis in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Jan 31, 14

Sun Country UFly Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double UFly Points on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Feb 28, 14

United MileagePlus
- Double MileagePlus Miles on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Dec 12 Update: Air Canada chooses 737 Max for narrow body fleet, British Airways enhances Household accounts, Bonus Points at Four Points Edmundston

Today's update is running a bit late.....

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Canada has announced that they have selected the Boeing 737 Max series of aircraft to replace their narrow body Airbus fleet. Deliveries of the aircraft are scheduled for 2017-2021. Some frequent flyers are already unhappy at this move as the 737 Max's fuselage is narrower than the Airbus A320NEO aircraft that were also being considered which may mean narrower seats. (Source: Air Canada)

British Airways Executive Club had a great announcement for their members who have household accounts or have been considering them. Previously members of BAEC who created household accounts could only redeem their pooled Avios for those members who held the same address as the primary member. Now members can name up to 5 family and/friends who are not in the same household to be part of the household account. One caveat is that once you add a member, they have to stay on the account for six months before you can remove them. (Thanks for Rewards Canada reader Fred for the details) More details on household accounts can be found here.

SAS Scandinavian EuroBonus members will earn the double the standard points on Best Western stays starting January 1, 2014. Currently those members who credit BW stays to their accounts earn 300 point per stay but that will increase to 600 in the New Year. (Source: SAS)

Travel Deals
AutoEurope is offering up to a 30% off sale for car rentals in Europe. Book online tby Dec 31 and receive up to 30% off of your rental car in Europe.

Bonus Offers
Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles on Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and Zurich. More... Jun 1 - 30, 14
- Double Guest Miles on Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and Medina. More... Feb 1 - Mar 2, 14

Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 25% GFF Miles Discount orn Economy and Executive Class Award Tickets for all Garuda Indonesia domestic routes. More... Until Mar 10, 14

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Fly On Points (Status Qualifying Points) on Japan Airlines flights between Tokyo and Frankfurt. More... Jan 1 - Dec 31, 14

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays of 2 or more nights at the Traders Hotel, Penang. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 3,000 Bonus Starpoints when you stay in a suite at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for Thursday - Sunday stays at the Le Centre Sheraton Montreal Hotel. More... Until Dec 30, 13
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for stays at the Four Points by Sheraton Edmundston. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Earn up to 1,500 bonus Starpoints with any spa treatments* at Shine Spa in Macau. More... Until?
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays of 2+ nights at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel Atlanta Airport. More... Book by Dec 14 for stays until Mar 31, 14
- Earn up to 1,250 bonus Starpoints with the Park Sleep Go package at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel Atlanta Airport More...Until Dec 30, 13

5,000 Bonus Miles for Rocketmiles bookings of 3+ consecutive nights

Rocketmiles keeps doling out the bonuses! Here is the latest one from them for 3+ night stays:

The promotion awards 5,000 Bonus Miles or Points  in the program of your choice that is partnered with Rocketmiles for stays or 3 or more consecutive that are booked by December 18 and completed by April 1, 2014. You must book your stay via the special promotion page at www.rocketmiles.com/winter  but if you are not a member of Rocketmiles yet you can join via our referral link to earn 1,000 more miles on your first booking and we'll get a referral credit of the same amount. So if this will be your first time using Rocketmiles you should be able to get 6,000 bonus miles over and above what they award for the 3+ night stay itself.

IHG Big Win Returns for 2014

Hot on the heels of the end of the first ever Big Win promotion from IHG Rewards, the pre-registration for the next incarnation of  “The Big Win” promotion will begin on Dec. 16, 2013 here. The page is not live yet but should be sometime over the weekend. Details of the promotion also aren't out yet but should be when the The Big Win page goes live. All we can tell you is the promotion starts on Jan 1 and ends April 30, 2014.  We can only assume the offers will be individually tailored to each member as we saw in the first version of The Big Win.

From IHG:
Once registered, members will begin earning IHG® Rewards Club points or airline miles when they stay at any IHG®-branded hotel between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2014. This includes the InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo® Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels, Holiday Inn Resort® Hotels, Holiday Inn Club Vacations®, Holiday Inn Express® Hotels, Staybridge Suites® Hotels and Candlewood Suites® Hotels brands.


You can pre-register for the offer here starting on Dec 16, 2013

Dec 11 Update: Mileage Plan expands EQM earning, Delta SkyMiles actually enhances their Elite Program, ANA to start Vancouver-Tokyo Service

Lots of news to bring you here in the middle of the week!

News, Tips & Tricks
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan keeps getting better in our eyes! The latest announcement from them sees Mileage Plan members being able to earn miles and segments towards Elite Qualification on flights taken with all of their international partner airlines including: British Airways, Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and Fiji Airways beginning January 15, 2014. Full details

Delta Airlines SkyMiles has improved their Elite level program with several changes taking place March 2014. Quite possibly the best change is that these new Upgrades are available on nearly all paid fare classes whereas the previous Systemwide upgrades could only be used on the most expensive economy fare classes plus these new upgrades are confirmable in advance so that you don't have to play the upgrade lottery a few days before your flight or at check in.

Beginning March 1, 2014, Systemwide Upgrades will be replaced by Global and Regional Upgrades as a Choice Benefits selection. Global Upgrades are available on all routes and Regional Upgrades are available on the same routes as Medallion Complimentary Upgrades, but have a higher priority. Both can be used on all Economy Class fares except for E, allowing you more redemption options and convenience.

• Diamond Medallion members may choose either four (4) Global Upgrades or eight (8) Regional Upgrades.
• Platinum Medallion members may choose four (4) Regional Upgrades.
  
• You may continue to select Systemwide Upgrades as a Choice Benefit through February 28, 2014.

Also, we are pleased to announce new Choice Benefits options to select from beginning March 1, 2014. Complimentary Global Entry will be added as an option for members who wish to save time re-entering the U.S. or going through security. Diamond Medallion members can select two Global Entry application vouchers as a Choice Benefits selection and Platinum Medallion members can select one.

Diamond Medallion members may also select two Tiffany & Co. premium luggage tags as a Choice Benefits selection beginning March 1, 2014.

For more information about Global and Regional Upgrades, click here.

ANA All Nippon has announced new service between Vancouver and Tokyo Haneda. This represents the airline's first route into Canada and allows for more earning and redemption optoins for Aeroplan, MileagePlus and other Star Alliance members in Canada. The flight will operate daily with a Boeing 767-300. For years Rewards Canada has tracked ANA Mileage Club bonus mile offers in our bonus section even without them serving Canada since they were a Star Alliance partner. ANA typically has route launch bonuses for their Mileage Club members so hopefully this will be the case with their new YVR flight. Keep an eye out on our Mileage Club page for any and all Mileage Club bonuses. (Source: Airlineroute.net)

British Airways has announced that a second Canadian city will be getting Boeing 787 service and that city is Rewards Canada's hometown of Calgary! BA's current 767 offering on the route will be replaced with the 787 as of July 5. Great news for Executive Club members in Alberta. Source: British Airways)

On another good Star Alliance note, LOT Polish Airlines will be increasing their Toronto-Warsaw service for summer of 2014 to 9 flights per week.(Source Airlineroute.net)

In the world of Cash Back credit cards the Capital One® Aspire Cash™ Platinum MasterCard® lost it's 25% extra cash rewards annual bonus as of yesterday. You'll find this change reflected on our Cash Back Credit Card Comparison Chart and on our Capital One®  page 

Travel Deals
AutoEurope is offering up to a 30% off sale for car rentals in Europe. Book online tby Dec 31 and receive up to 30% off of your rental car in Europe.

Bonus Offers
Air Miles
- Earn up to 10X Air Miles for buying gas at participating Shell locations across Canada. More... Until Jan 5, 14

airBaltic BalticMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double BalticMiles Points on all hotel reservations booked through PointsHound.com (plus earn 1,000 bonus points on your 1st booking if you join via our referral link by Dec 31, 13) More... Until Jan 15, 14
- Double BalticMiles Points for stays of two nights and more that are booked at least 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels locations Worldwide.More... Until Feb 28, 14

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Double Elite Qualifying Miles when you fly between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, San Jose or Seattle. More... Register by Jun 15, 14 for travel Jun 9 and Aug 1, 14
- Double Mileage Plan Miles for stays at all participating Coast Hotels in the U.S. and Canada. More... Dec 15 - Jan 31, 14

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- 50% Bonus MilleMiglia Miles when you book a hotel via venere. More... Book by Dec 18, 13

SAS Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points for stays at the Sheraton Stockholm Hotel. More... Until Jan 31, 14

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Save up to 25% when you buy or gift Southwest Rapid Rewards points online. More... Until Dec 22, 13

WestJet Christmas Miracle: real-time giving (Must see video)

If you have been anywhere near any social media over the past two days then chances are you have seen this great WestJet video. Reminds me of Aeroplan's Bentley promotion done a few months ago where everyone on an Air Canada flight received a new piece of luggage but this one gets even more personal and exciting as Santa grants these WestJet guests with the presents they want for Christmas! Kudos to WestJet. Great Work!



Oh and there are a few behind the scenes videos of the making of the above!
Santa Bloopers


Here's Richard B from WestJet obviously still sporting his Movember 'stache!

Dec 10 Update: B.C. bans loyalty incentives on prescriptions and Executive Hotels bonuses for December

Tuesdays tend to be a relatively quiet day in the loyalty world, especially in December but we do have one big piece of news for you in regards to earning points and miles on prescriptions in B.C.:

News, Tips & Tricks
Randy M, a loyal Rewards Canada reader for years has been keeping me abreast of the recent ban of awarding loyalty points and miles on prescriptions in British Columbia. The ban took effect on December 2nd and has already spurred a lawsuit by Canada Safeway and Thrifty Foods against the action taken by the B.C. Government. I know Alberta was looking into this but shelved the idea due to a real lack of data showing that prescriptions were only filled for points when they weren't actually needed. I can only recall one such time where this may have been the case and that was when Rexall offered 15,000 Aeroplan Miles for transferring and filling your first prescription with them on a single Saturday. Say what? A short haul flight for as low as a dispensing fee? Yes that happened but it hasn't happened again as Rexall was overwhelmed by the response. This is an extreme case however and is probably the reason behind some of these actions as I'm sure many other pharmacies saw a bunch of prescriptions being transferred out that day! However on a day to day basis the typical rewards offered usually aren't enough for people to transfer prescriptions back and forth. Most pick one location (with or without rewards and stick with it) I know personally I haven't moved my prescriptions around to take advantage of incentives and go to my pharmacy as a matter of convenience.  As a disclaimer that is a Sobey's Pharmacy so I do earn Aeroplan Miles with them. 

Randy has forwarded me a few articles and some of his research as this affects him greatly. He stands to lose about 1,200 Air Miles Rewards Miles a year with the ban, being a pensioner he relied on those miles to fly his kids out to visit him. He has even been quoted in a recent article about the ban (see here). Rewards Canada will provided a more detailed post about this in the near future as I reach out to different parties to provide feedback. In the meantime I'd love to hear from all of our readers what their thoughts are of this ban in B.C. and how it might affect the loyalty industry as a whole across Canada. Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 5x Aeroplan Miles when you purchase sound equipment from Bose stores in Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Executive Hotels Executive Rewards
- Earn up Triple Executive Rewards Points for stays select Executive Hotel locations in Canada and the U.S. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Germanwings Boomerang Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 1,500 Boomerang Miles and 33EUR Germanwings Voucher when you book an Airbus A320 Flight Simulator session at any one of Flightdecksystems locations in Europe. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Oman Air Sindbad (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Sindbad Miles on all eligible stays at Golden Tulip locations Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 14
- Triple Sindbad Miles when staying at least three consecutive nights or Double Miles for two consecutive nights at any Shangri-La Hotel and Resorts, Traders Hotel or Kerry Hotel at the Best Available Rate. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 14
Oman Air Sindbad
- Double Sindbad Miles for Avis rentals of 3+ days in UAE, Kuwait, KSA, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland & UK. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- 25% Bonus Sindbad Miles at Joyalukkas outlets in Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and United Kingdom. More... Until Dec 31, 13

S7 Airlines Priority (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Priority Miles for stays at the Marco Polo Hotel St Petersburg. More... Dec 29 - Jan 3, 14

PointsHound: Double-Up Hotels expanded and increased first time booking bonus of 1,000 Miles/Points

We got an email late last night from the team at PointsHound letting us know that they expanded the Double-Up program to include eligible rates from hotel brands participating in the Club Carlson and Wyndham Rewards frequent guest programs. This amounts to another 5,000 Double-Up rates at hotels in U.S. destinations.

What is Double-Up?
Double-Up refers to a specific rate type that gives members of major hotel loyalty programs the opportunity to earn frequent guest points, status credit and elite benefits in addition to the frequent flyer miles awarded by PointsHound.

Essentially with Double-Up rates you get the best of both worlds on your hotel bookings!

As a show of their appreciation of Rewards Canada's support of PointsHound since their inception the first time booking bonus for new members has been increased to 1,000 miles for those who join via our referral link. The normal bonus is 250 miles for referrals via most referrers save for a few other bloggers who have also been extended this increased referral bonus offer from PointsHound.  To get the 1,000 Bonus Miles/Points simply make your first booking before the end of the year after you signed up via our referral link.

Dec 7 Update: US Airways and American officialy merged and US to join oneworld on Mar 31, AC to launch YYZ-Tokyo Haneda 787 service

Welcome to another week of loyalty news, views, bonuses and more here on Rewards Canada! One more full week after this then we'll be shutting down for the Christmas break.

News, Tips & Tricks
US Airways and American Airlines officially merged today. US Airways will join the oneworld alliance on Mar 31, 2014. In terms of their frequent flyer programs here is an excerpt from today's press release:

During the transition period as they work towards their full integration, American and US Airways will maintain their current loyalty programmes.   

US Airways underlined today that all its Dividend Miles cardholders will maintain all miles earned and their tier status.  Dividend Miles Preferred members will be sent new membership cards with the oneworld logo, for use from 31 March.

Dividend Miles Chairman cardholders will have the top Emerald status in the oneworld programme.  Dividend Miles Platinum and Gold will be equivalent to oneworld Sapphire and Dividend Miles Silver will be oneworld Ruby.

From 31 March, Dividend Miles Chairman, Platinum and Gold members will be able to access some 600 airport lounges worldwide offered by oneworld member airlines when they fly with one of the alliance's carriers.  As oneworld Emeralds, Dividend Miles Chairman cardholders will be able to use First Class lounges, where available – and receive an additional baggage allowance and access fast tracks through departure security at select airports.

All Dividend Miles members will be able to earn mileage and status points when flying on any oneworld member airline from 31 March, but the ability to redeem mileage rewards for flights on other  oneworld airlines may be phased in shortly afterwards.  

Air Canada has announced another 787 route launch for 2014, Toronto to Tokyo Haneda. the new daily service will start on July 1st. Tickets go on sale tomorrow. Flight schedule per Airlineroute.net:
AC005 YYZ1300 – 1455+1HND 788 D
AC006 HND1740 – 1640YYZ 788 D

The latest Miles & More Mileage Bargains are out. These are Miles & More's discounted reward tickets that are similar to Air France KLM's Flying Blue promo awards. These ones are good for booking by Dec 31 for travel until Jan 16, 14. There are 143 options out of Canada with many European cities available in Business Class for only 55,000 Miles & More miles instead of the regular 105,000 miles. Full details

We have added yet another program to Rewards Canada's bonus offer section: Enterprise Plus, the loyalty program for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. They have a promo on now for Double Points but also has an element from Air Canada's Earn Your Wings and IHG's Big Win promos where you earn badges for additional points and some seem relatively easy to earn (ie sharing on Social Media. For complete details see the link in the bonus offers section below.

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you shop online via the AAdvantage eShopping portal. More... Full details Until Dec 22, 13

Enterprise Plus
- Double Plus Points (+many more points for collecting badges) on qualifying rentals at participating locations in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Gulf Air FalconFlyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double FalconFlyer Miles when you fly on Gulf Air between Bahrain and Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, Thiruvananthapuram, or Mashad. More... Until Feb 15, 14

Hilton HHonors
- Earn up to 100,000 Bonus HHonors Points when you stay at multiple Hilton brands Worldwide. More... Unitl May 31, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
- Triple HHonors Points when you rent any size car at any participating Alamo location in the United States or Canada and save up to 25%. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Triple HHonors Points when you rent any size car at any participating Alamo location in the United States or Canada and save up to 25%. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Iberia Plus
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Avios simply for collecting Avios with Iberia Plus partners. More... Until Jan 31, 14

TD Aeroplan Visa Card details revealed? (Rumour Only at this time!)

The first hints of the new TD Aeroplan Visa's are out on the Aeroplan website but there are very little details about it. When I started writing this post I had not seen that the details of the cards that seemed to have been leaked on Redflagdeals.com. I am awaiting confirmation back from Aeroplan whether the details on RFD are correct.

Here is the gist of my post before coming across the RFD thread:

Essentially the interim TD Card will offer the same 1.5x Aeroplan Miles bonus multiplier as the current the CIBC Aerogold cards for Gas, Grocery and Drug Store purchases. As well it is limited to $80,000 per year for those categories. We had a meeting with Aeroplan a few weeks and believe this may not be the actual offering from the card once it is officially launched. Why is this? The cards that are being issued as of January 1st will have TD branding but will still be managed by CIBC (which means the statement will actually read CIBC even though the card will have a TD logo) and this will be the case until CIBC and TD determine which cardholders move to each respective bank.

The card will also offer special benefits from Air Canada including priority check-in, boarding and access to the Maple Leaf Lounge with Aeroplan flight rewards (these kick in on January 16 and appear that they will also available on the CIBC cards)

They will also have Enhanced insurance coverage with a full suite of comprehensive travel, purchase protection and auto rental insurances all of which will be detailed on January 1st.

Now back to the start of my post and the supposed details of the cards as pulled from the thread on RFD:

TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum
Enrolment Bonus: 10,000 miles
Miles Earned: 1 Aeroplan Mile/$1.50
Bonus #1: 1 mile/$1 on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases
Bonus #2: Aeroplan Card and TD Visa can be used together at Aeroplan partner locations
Insurance: Delayed/Lost Baggage, Flight Delay, Collision Loss and Damage Insurance, Common Carrier, Purchase Security & Extended Warranty, Emergency Travel Assistance
Annual Fee: $89 Primary User, $35 Authorized User
Income Requirement: None
Interest Rate: 19.99%
Minimum Credit Limit: $1,500
Exclusive Privileges: None
Air Canada Benefits: None

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite
Enrolment Bonus: 15,000 miles
Miles Earned: 1 Aeroplan Mile/$1.00
Bonus #1: 1.5 mile/$1 on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases
Bonus #2: Aeroplan Card and TD Visa can be used together at Aeroplan partner locations
Insurance: 15 Day Travel & Medical Insurance, Trip Cancel/Trip Interrupt, Delayed/Lost Baggage, Flight Delay, Collision Loss and Damage Insurance, Common Carrier (incl. Auto Rental), Purchase Security & Extended Warranty, Emergency Travel Assistance
Annual Fee: $120 Primary User, $50 Authorized User
Income Requirement: $60,000 or $100,000 household
Interest Rate: 19.99%
Minimum Credit Limit: $5,000
Exclusive Privileges: Concierge
Air Canada Benefits: When travelling on Reward flights: One annual one-time use Maple Leaf Lounge access pass, First checked bag free, Priority check-in, Priority boarding

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege
Enrolment Bonus: 25,000 miles
Miles Earned: 1.25 Aeroplan Mile/$1.00
Bonus #1: 1.5 mile/$1 on gas, grocery and drugstore, and Air Canada purchases
Bonus #2: Aeroplan Card and TD Visa can be used together at Aeroplan partner locations
Insurance: 22 Day Travel & Medical Insurance, Trip Cancel/Trip Interrupt, Delayed/Lost Baggage, Flight Delay, Collision Loss and Damage Insurance, Common Carrier (incl. Auto Rental) - (expanded vs. Infinite coverage), Purchase Security & Extended Warranty (expanded vs. Infinite Coverage), Emergency Travel Assistance
Annual Fee: $399 Primary User, $99 Authorized User
Income Requirement: $200,000 household
Interest Rate: 19.99%
Minimum Credit Limit: $10,000
Exclusive Privileges: Privilege Concierge, Global Lounge Service, Security VIP Fast Lane (Selected Airports), Golf Program, Sports packages (Olympics; FIFA), Music, food and wine experiences
Air Canada Benefits: First checked bag free on Air Canada flights, Priority check-in on Air Canada flights, Priority boarding on Air Canada flights, Four annual one-time use Maple Leaf Lounge
access passes (when travelling on Reward flights), 50% discount on companion tickets for eligible Executive Class fares on Air Canada Flights available once per calendar year

If these details are correct then the cards aren't living up to the hype that seems to have been surrounding the new TD cards. The Platinum version is a slightly better card than the current CIBC AeroClassic card with more insurance and higher mileage earning but also with a higher annual fee. The Infinite is essentially the same as the CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite Card except for the Air Canada benefits when traveling on an Aeroplan award ticket (based on the Aeroplan wesbite wording the CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite will also offer this but we'll have to confirm this) and then there is theTD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege with more base mileage earning at 1.25 miles and a host of decent Air Canada benefits as seen above. However a minimum household income of $200,000 seems high and the annual fee is pretty high as well for the benefits. Honestly the American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum card is a better bet even with an even higher annual fee and you only need a household personal income of $40,000.

Of course until these details are either confirmed or refuted by Aeroplan and/or TD I can only stress that these details are strictly a rumour at this time! Please don't make any credit card decisions yet based on this post!

Finally I'd love to hear your thoughts on these "potential" cards from TD!

Mon 12:47pm MST UPDATE: Here is the response from my contact at Aeroplan neither confirming nor denying the details:

"We look forward to sharing details once the deal is officially closed, and, when the TD product is available as of January 1, 2014."

Come to think of it, perhaps this potential leak of information was done on purpose to see the reaction from people and it gives them time to further tweek the cards based on "once the deal is officially closed" statement from Aeroplan? That's just me thinking out loud.....