Apr 30 Update: Marriott Rewards 'Unexpected Bonus', Starwood Asia Pacific sale and Increased Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses

Its the end of month which means... not too much to pass on to my readers! I promise things will pick up here as most programs like to release news and bonuses at the start of the month and on my end the 'big' projects I have been working on behind the scenes should be coming to fruition soon.

News, Tips & Tricks

Best news out today is the return of the tripling of the sign up bonus for the MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard. See my post from earlier today for the deets.

Another Canadian credit card with a travel portion will have an increased sign up bonus as of tomorrow. Watch for a post in the morning on that one.

Travel Deals

Starwood is running a new sale called "Your Stay Your Way" for stays in the Asia Pacific region. You can choose from enjoying special rates when you book early or breakfast for 2 and a late checkout. This offer is for stays until May 12. Full details.

Bonus Offers

airberlin topbonus

• 1,000 topbonus Miles on all Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Book by May 12 for rentals until Sep 30, 13

Best Western Rewards

• 500 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays on the Best Western Rewards® Premium Rate at all Best Western hotels in Italy. More...

Choice Privileges

• 24,000 Bonus Points + Elite Gold Status when you apply for and receive the MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard. More... Until Jul 31, 13 

Marriott Rewards

• Marriott Unexpected Bonus: Earn Free Nights or Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Register by Jul 31 for stays between May 15 and Sep 2, 2013

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)

• Earn up to 200 Bonus Elevate Points when you join and book a hotel via PointsHound.com. Earn 50 points simply for signing up with PointsHound and an additional 150 points when you complete your first booking. More... Until May 31, 13

MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard sign up bonus tripled to 24,000 points

THIS CARD IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE


For a limited time (until Jul 31, 13) MBNA is tripling the sign up bonus for the MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard to 24,000 Privileges points. The bonus is enough points for 3 free nights at over 1,500 Choice Hotels locations in North America. For a list of Canadian properties that have reward nights at the 8,000 points or less level please see here. Considering there is no annual fee and if you don't mind an inquiry on your credit rating once again this isn't a bad offer to go for just to get the 3 free nights!

• Until July 31, 2013 only, earn up to 24,000 points - enough for 3 FREE Nights¹ at over 1,500 Choice Privileges locations across North America! 


• Using the no annual fee Choice Privileges® MasterCard® is an easy way to earn free hotel nights as you'll earn points every time you use it. Plus, you'll get automatically upgraded to Elite Gold status earning you more points for every eligible stay. 


• Up to 15 points for every $1 in net retail purchases at over 5,000 Choice Privileges locations in Canada, the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and Australasia² 


• 2 points for every $1 qualifying net retail spent on everyday purchases‡ 


• Plus you get automatically upgraded to Elite Gold status – earning you more points for every eligible stay 


• 2,000 Bonus Points every year on your account anniversary‡


• Up to an additional 4,500 Bonus Points when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year


• No annual fee


• Enhanced security and protection with Chip & PIN technology and PayPass

For more details or to apply for the card please visit MBNA Canada.

April 29 Update: Air China Bonus for YVR-PEK flights and up to a $100 Gift Card for Holiday Inn Resort stays

Not too much to bring you today outside of the posts already posted today ...

News, Tips & Tricks

Air China is bonusing up many of their long haul and some of their regional routes. This promotion can be of interest to Canadian Phoenix Miles members as it includes flights between Vancouver and Beijing. What's even bigger news is the potential for super cheap award tickets on the same route! See my post from earlier today for more details!

IHG has extended their current Stay More Earn More bonuses to May 31st. These are the loosely targeted offers also known as the Stay X Get Y bonus. I'm guessing they are being extended as the IHG Rewards Club team (nee Priority Club) are busy preparing for the change over to the new name and program. See the link below for details on the offers.

Bonus Offers

Air China Phoenix Miles

• 30% Bonus Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you fly in Q Class or higher between Beijing and Dusseldorf, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Singapore, Hong Kong or Seoul. More... May 1 - Jun 30, 13


• 85% Phoenix Miles Kilometers Discount for award travel in Economy Class, Business Class and First Class on Air China from Beijing to Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Singapore. More... May 1 - Jun 30, 13


• Earn up to Triple Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays at Hilton Hotels Worldwide. Stays in China, Hong Kong, Macao or Huanying hotels will earn triple Phoenix Miles while stays in the rest of the world will earn you double miles. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 13


• 800 Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you join the Phoenix Miles program. More... Ongoing
  

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer

• 2,000 Bonus Dynasty Flyer Miles for every CNY 2,000 of eligible hotel booking via Ctrip. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 13

IHG Rewards

• Earn up to a $100 Airline, Car Rental or Rail Gift Card for stays of two or more consecutive nights at participating Holiday Inn Resorts in North America. More... Until Jun 30, 13


• OFFER EXTENDED Earn up to 20,000+ Bonus Priority Club Points for a certain amount of nights or completing a certain amount of stays at participating InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo™, Holiday Inn®, Express by Holiday Inn™ and Holiday Inn Express® hotels worldwide. More... Until May 31, 13


• 1,500 Bonus Priority Club Points for your next stay at any IHG hotel Worldwide. Stay must be made within 90 days of registering. More... Until ?

MEA Middle East Airlines Cedar Miles

• Double Cedar Miles for stays at the Centro Barsha by Rotana. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Club Carlson: 2013 Category Changes for Reward Nights

Sometime on Friday, Club Carlson, the FGP for Carlson Rezidor Hotels announced their 2013 Hotel Reward Night Category changes. They follow a long line of hotel programs who have announced changes already (Hilton, Marriott, Starwood etc.) this year. The difference here is that Club Carlson's changes are not that drastic. In Canada alone only 5 hotels are changing (3 are moving up 1 category, 2 are moving down a category, see graphic below for locations) and overall 97 hotels are going up globally while 151 are moving down. There are a couple of hotels moving up 2 categories which are big increases but overall the changes are minor.

The number of points required for a category redemption have not changed. For a complete list of the changes please see here. (thank you Club Carlson for posting this)

Air China: Only 15,000 Phoenix Miles for Business Class Award Ticket from Vancouver to Beijing?

UPDATE: This does turn out to be a translation error as I guessed below, the discount is only 15% (which is nothing to laugh at it!). Thanks to Jeff K and his mom who gave me the correct translation

I found this offer over the weekend as part of Air China's new bonus for flying on many of their long haul routes and several regional ones too. It only takes up the last half of the promotional paragraph but if this is true, this is a huge redemption discount for flights! According to the wording on the page, Phoenix Miles members can enjoy an 85% discount on award tickets between Beijing and Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Singapore until June 30, 13! You do have to register for the offer to partake in it.

That means for flights between Vancouver and Beijing you only have to redeem 21,750 Phoenix Miles Kilometers for First Class, 15,000 Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Business Class or 9,000 Kilometers for Economy Class! This seems too good to be true, perhaps their translation of the Chinese page for the offer meant you can get the ticket for 85% of the original cost or in other words a 15% discount. I am going to do some more digging on this one but it may be worth taking a look at! If this does turn out to be the amazing deal it sounds like then the best bet to get Phoenix Miles Kilometers is to transfer Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints at a 1:1 ratio (and of course 5,000 bonus Kilometers for every block of 20,000 converted).

Full details on the promotions can be found here

I'll try to keep you updated on this offer and/or if you can find out more details please post them below in the comments..

Marriott: This summer earn 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night at 14 locations across Canada

This offer seems to be a recurring one that we see a couple of times each year although each time the hotels that participate do vary. For this summer's version of the promo 14 Marriott Hotels across Canada have jumped on for stays between June 10 and August 31. The bonus 1,000 Rewards Points per night for a maximum of 5 nights per stay. I did a couple of spot checks on rates and the bonus offer is the same as the regular and/or standard rate at all the locations I checked (3 out of the 14). The only rate I could find cheaper was the AAA/CAA rate which was $10 less. With varying accounts of what a Marriott Rewards point is worth those 1,000 Bonus Points per night can be valued between $5 and $10. So if you are a CAA member you are probably better off going with the AAA/CAA rate however if you are not paying for your room (ie Screw your employer rate) than paying the bonus offer rate will reward you more.  You can also increase the amount of points you earn by putting the hotel stay on the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa. (Read my review of the card here)

Here is the offer as it was posted on Rewards Canada earlier today:

1,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at any one of 14 participating Marriott locations in Canada (Maximum of 5,000 bonus points per stay) .Full Details and Online Booking Jun 10 - Aug 31, 13

Participating Hotels:
Courtyard Calgary Airport
Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel
Residence Inn Calgary Airport
Montreal Airport Marriott Hotel
Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort
Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel
Ottawa Marriott Hotel
Vancouver Airport Marriott Hotel
Renaissance Toronto Downtown Hotel
Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre Hotel
Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel
Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel
Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel
Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel

Apr 26 Update: Air Canada & Etihad to offer reciprocal Frequent Flyer benefits, 1,000 Bonus Points at select Marriott's across Canada

Last day of the week brings us the following and be prepared as next week is going to be a big week for RewardsCanada and even bigger for FrequentFlyerBonuses.com! Stay tuned...
 
News, Tips & Tricks   
Air Canada and Etihad Airways have sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance their relationship beyond an interline agreement to a full fledged codeshare partnership to offer customers through-checked bags, reciprocal codeshare services and frequent flyer benefits. The following is from Etihad's press release:

The MoU provides for reciprocal codeshare services to Etihad’s Abu Dhabi hub and select points in North America served by Air Canada via its Toronto hub.  The two parties have commenced discussions to finalize details with the objective of introducing codeshare services in the third quarter 2013.

The agreement will also allow frequent flyer mileage accrual on codeshare flights by members of Etihad Guest and Aeroplan programs and reciprocal premium lounge access at Toronto and Abu Dhabi airports for eligible passengers of both airlines.

This announcement follows the recent decision by the Governments of the UAE and Canada to restore the previous visa regime which means Canadian nationals can once again obtain a free visa on arrival in the UAE.

The reciprocal Frequent Flyer benefits is great news for us Canadians and I am looking forward to them! RewardsCanada.ca has a great relationship with both Aeroplan and Etihad (both were sponsors Rewards Canada's 10th Anniversary back 2011) and this may present more opportunities for such events as I imagine Etihad will want to make a bigger push for the Canadian market as has been witnessed by Emirates and their push for Canadian traffic via WestJet and Alaska Airlines (my Emirates contact tells me that they have quite a few of us Westerners using Alaska Airlines to connect to Emirates' Seattle-Dubai flight)

In the bonus offer section we once again see a decent per night bonus from Marriott for stays at select Marriott Hotels across Canada!


Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at participating BW Hotels in Ireland. More... Until ?

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles on Cathay Holidays Limited packages to Australia. More... Book by May 31, 13 for travel until Mar 31, 14
- Double Asia Miles + up to 1,500 Bonus Miles when shopping Chic Outlets in Europe. More... Jun 1 - Aug 31, 13

Emirates Skywards
- 500 Bonus Skywards Miles for stays at any of 14 Marriott Resorts across Europe, Asia and the Middle East and Africa. More... Until Jun 30, 13

IHG Rewards Club
- 1,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Points per stay at any IHG hotel Worldwide. Stay must be made within 90 days of registering. More...Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at any one of 14 participating Marriott locations in Canada More... Jun 10 - Aug 31, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Points PER NIGHT at the TownePlace Suites Pensacola. More... Until May 28, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Points per stay at the Courtyard Naples. More...Until May 31, 13

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for LOT flights between Warsaw and Chicago, New York, or Beijing More... Until May 31, 13
- Double Miles & More Miles for LOT flights between Warsaw and Milan, Stockholm, Madrid, Amsterdam, Zurich, Berlin, Vienna, or Budapest and on the routes Katowice to Munich and Wroc?aw to Frankfurt. More... May 1 - 31, 13

Olympic Air Travelair Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Travelair Miles for stays at Atlantica Hotels & Resorts in Rhodes, Kos, Crete or Corfu. More... May 2 - 7, 13

Air France KLM overhauls Intercontinetal Flying Blue Award Tickets (Good and Bad news)

In what can be seen as a great move for those who fly Transatlantic in Economy Class but not a great move for those in Premium Economy or Business Class Cabins, Air France KLM is making changes to their Intercontinental award tickets that will come into effect sometime in June.

Economy

• For Economy Class redemptions they are reducing the Fuel Surcharge to a flat EUR50 each direction from the previous 147 EUR (Round trip fuel surcharge will now by 100 EUR, previous was 296)
• For Intercontinental Award tickets that include a connection Europe (ie Montreal-Paris-Milan) the connection no longer has a separately charge fuel surcharge as it is included in the above rate
• There will now be more award availability for Economy Class tickets however they will be at varying mileage amounts (think Aeroplan) 

Premium Economy

• For Premium Economy Class redemptions they are reducing the Fuel Surcharge to a flat 110 EUR each direction from the previous 188 EUR (Round trip fuel surcharge will now by 220 EUR, previous was 376)
• For Intercontinental Award tickets that include a connection Europe (ie Montreal-Paris-Milan) the connection no longer has a separately charge fuel surcharge as it is included in the above rate
• The mileage required for Premium Economy Class is increasing (this is the bad news)
• They have increased the amount of booking fare classes you can upgrade to Premium Economy from using miles

Business Class

• Fuel surcharges are not changing
• For Intercontinental Award tickets that include a connection Europe (ie Montreal-Paris-Milan) the connection no longer has a separately charge fuel surcharge as it is included in the above rate
• The mileage required for Business Class is increasing (this is the bad news)
• There will now be more award availability for Business Class tickets however they will be at varying mileage amounts (think Aeroplan) 
• They have increased the amount of booking fare classes you can upgrade to Business Class from using miles 

 Complete details on the changes can found here

Loyalty Lobby has put together a great post detailing how many miles will be required pre- and post- changes. For those of us in Canada here are the changes on flights from Canada to Europe (see LoyaltyLobby for other routes):

- Premium Economy goes from 37,500 Flying Blue one way to 50,000 Flying Blue Miles
- Business Class moves to 62,500 from 50,000.
- First Class (where available) jumps to 162,500 from 125,000

As you can see these are some significant increases for those flying in the premium cabins! A round trip flight in Business Class will now cost 125,000 Flying Blue Miles instead of the current 100,000. Which means when they run their Flying Blue Promo awards the discounted round-trip will now be 62,500 instead of 50,000 (still a pretty decent deal but sad to see the devaluation nonetheless!)

The true winner in these changes are Economy Class redemptions as the mileage amount required has not changed and in fact have become cheaper with the new 50EUR each way fuel surcharge.


What are your thoughts on the changes? Chime in below!

Apr 25 Update: US Airways increasing some change fees, Melia Hotels sale & Triple Voyager Miles for Taj stays

Two of biggest new pieces had their own posts today (SPG and US Airways) so the daily update is a little thinner:

News, Tips & Tricks
US Airways is following in the footsteps of United and increasing their domestic ticket change fees by $50 to $200. All other tickets remain the same except Brazil have gone up by $50 as well to $300. (HT One Mile at a Time)


Travel Deals
Melia  Hotels is offering up to 30% off for stays in the U.S. and Latin America. Stay 1 night to get 10% off, 2 nights to get 20% or 3+ nights to get 30% off. Book by May 19 for stays until Sep 8. More details can be found here.

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles for rentals at participating Hertz locations in Europe, North America, South America, New Zealand and Australia. More... Until May 31, 13

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you book the “Summer Triple Miles” offer at participating Jumeirah Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 13

Hilton HHonors
- 1,000 Bonus HHonors Points for stays at the DoubleTree by Hilton Alice Springs. More... Until Jul 31, 13
- Double HHonors Points for stays at the DoubleTree by Hilton Montgomery Downtown.More... Until Sep 30, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles when you stay two or more consecutive nights at any Regent Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. (three consecutive nights at Regent Palms Turks & Caicos) on the Summer to Remember package. More... Jun 1 - Aug 31, 13

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Double JetPrivilege Miles when you stay at participating IHG hotels in Australasia, Southeast & Southwest Asia, Japan & Korea and the Middle East & Africa. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- 1,000 JetPrivilege Miles for stays at the Café Royal or the The Landmark London. More... Until May 31, 13
- Earn up to Triple JetPrivilege Miles when you stay on an eligible rate at any participating Mandarin Oriental Hotel Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 13
- 2,000 Bonus JetPrivilege Miles for stays at the Bengaluru Marriott Hotel, Whitefield Courtyard by Marriott, or the Kochi Airport Courtyard by Marriott, Bhopal More... Until May 20, 13
- Double JetPrivilege Miles when you book Club rooms or Suites at participating Meritus Hotels & Resorts. More... Until May 31, 13
- OFFER EXTENDED Earn up to 40% JetPrivilege Miles when you purchase JPMiles online.. More... Until Jun 30, 13

South African Airways Voyager
- Triple Voyager Miles for stays at any Taj Hotel Worldwide.More... Until Jul 31, 13

US Airways Double (100% bonus) Miles on buying Dividend Miles returns in May

So far in 2013 we have seen a targeted 100% buy miles bonus and a 50 to 100% buy miles bonus (seems like most people got 50%) from US Airways but we have yet to see the standard 100% or  Double Miles for buying Dividend Miles that seemed to be the norm from the Dividend Miles program for the past couple of years.

Well my sources tell me the Double Miles (as they call it) or 100% bonus will return in May. I don't have all the details yet but they say it will be the biggest one in 2013 which leads me to believe it will be open to everyone and will be the straight 100% Bonus. I'm going to see if I can get more details but May isn't too far away so if I can't get the details in the next 5 days I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. As has been posted here on RC in the past this buy miles bonus along with Avianca TACA buy miles bonus are the two best offers to take advantage of in the world of 'Buying Miles'.

SPG's Double Take now open for registration

I brought you the details of SPG's latest systemwide promotion a few weeks ago and am pleased to let you know that it is now officially open for registration. I am looking forward to this promo as I already have 13 nights planned at Starwood Hotels before July 31st and quite possibly will have a few more on top of that. Here is the offer once again as it has been on FFB's SPG page for the past few weeks:

SPG Double Take: Double Starpoints + 500 Bonus Points for stays at more than 1,000 participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide.
Bonuses as follows:
- Earn Double Starpoints® for every eligible stay
- Earn 500 bonus Starpoints for each eligible booking made through the spg.com mobile site, the SPG® App for iPhone® or the SPG App for Android (Valid for all Starwood hotels Worldwide)
Full Details, Online Registration and Booking (Registration is required)
Register by Jun 30,13 for stays May 1 - Jul 31, 13

Apr 24 Update: 3x WestJet Dollars for WJ Vacations bookings, AA 2013 Elite Rewards & Raffles Hotels Suite Upgrade Offer

Wednesday proves to be a quiet day on RC and FFB!

News, Tips & Tricks
Earlier today I had a separate post detailing American AAdvantage's new 2013 Elite Rewards. In case you missed it you can read all about it here. I hope but am doubtful that other airlines will loosen the purse strings like AA did here.

And in the bonus offers section you will the 'mentioned earlier today' offer from WestJet Vacations for Triple WestJet dollars.

Travel Deals
Select Raffles Hotels in Asia are offering a complimentary Suite Upgrade, breakfast, return airport transfer , Internet access and more for stays on the Short & Suite package until May 31, 13. Find out more or book online here.

If you are a charter airline flyer (ie using your Travel Point or Hybrid Credit Card points from cards like the TD First Class Infinite Visa, Capital One Aspire Travel™ World MasterCard® or any number of others) looking to go to the UK this spring, Canadian Affair has released their latest sale offers with flights between Canada and the U.K. starting at C$786 including all taxes and fees. Fares and dates of departure vary depending on your departure city. You can check out the offers here.


Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles for stays at Gran Meliá, Meliá, ME by Meliá, INNSIDE by Meliá, TRYP by Wyndham, Sol and Paradisus resorts Worldwide. More... Book by May 31 for stays May 1 - Jul 31, 13

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- 500 MilleMiglia Miles for stays at any one of 70 participating Accor Hotels in Italy. More... Until May 23, 13
- 2,000 MilleMiglia Miles for stays at the Petriolo SPA Resort. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- 1,000 MilleMiglia Miles for stays at the Principi di Piemonte Turin or the Atahotel Villa Pamphili, Rome. More... Until May 31, 13
- Double MilleMiglia Miles for stays at any Best Western Hotel in Italy. More... Until May 30, 13
- Double MilleMiglia Miles for stays of two nights or more from Monday to Thursday at NH Hotels in Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- 50 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles for stays at Starhotels Tourist in Milan, StarhotelsMajestic in Turin, Starhotels President in Genoa, Starhotels Du Parc in Parma. City More... Until Aug 31, 13
- Triple MilleMiglia Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Marriott Rewards
- 1,500 Bonus Points per stay on Sunday-Thursday nights when you book and stay in a premium room at the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel. More... Until May 30, 13
- 1,000 Bonus Points per stay at The Inn at Opryland, A Gaylord Hotel Nashville. More... Until May 31, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Points per stay when you stay Friday or Saturday night at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. More... Until May 31, 13

Stash Hotel Rewards
- 500 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays of 2+ nights Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club Redondo Beach, CA. More... Book by Jun 30 for stays Jun 1 - Aug 31, 13
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Gateway Canyons Resort Gateway. More... Book by May 31 for stays until Dec 31, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays of Stay 3+ nights Sunday - Thursday at the Hidden Pond Kennebunkport. More... Until May 31, 13

United Mileage Plus
- Double Mileage Plus Miles when you fly nonstop between Chicago and Shannon. More... Jun 1 - Aug 27, 13

WestJet Rewards
- Earn Triple WestJet Rewards Dollars on new WestJet Vacations bookings More.. Book by Apr 30 for travel until Oct 31, 13

American AAdvantage announces 2013 Elite Rewards

This year's American AAdvantage Elite Rewards are way better than they have been in the past. The news started breaking yesterday about how much more generous they are this year and how they can be potentially easier to achieve. In the past the Elite Rewards were strictly based on Elite Qualifying Points which basically meant those Elites flying on higher fare classes were awarded and gone are the Elite Level requirements for earning these rewards (Gold at 40K points, Platinum at 75K and Executive Platinum at 125K points) Now all Elite members will be able to choose 1 Elite Rewards at each qualifying level (see the graphic below, there is no better way of explaining it or rehashing it here).

You must register online by Dec 31, 13 and choose your reward(s) by Feb 28, 14. If you've already qualified for a milestone, look for your first notification email by the end of May.  Full details and online registration can be found here.

Triple WestJet Dollars for WestJet Vacations bookings

I received this offer in my email this morning and I know that we have such a broad mix of readers here on Rewards Canada that someone will probably use this offer (I know you are all not hard core Star Alliance/Aeroplan flyers ;-) ) and if you are planning a packaged vacation why wouldn't you take advantage of this? Had this offer been for next winter I probably would have looked into it as Turks & Caicos are on the radar for my family (Beaches Resort of course for the kids!). But alas the offer is not for next winter so I'm not taking advantage of it.  The offer had a start date of April 4 so I assume some of you may have already received this offer prior to this. Here is the offer as it will appear on Rewards Canada's WestJet Rewards page later today:

Earn Triple WestJet Rewards Dollars on new WestJet Vacations bookings made by April 30 for travel until October 31. Members with eligible earn rate of 0.5% on WestJet Vacations packages will earn 1.5% back in WestJet dollars; members with eligible earn rate of 1% will earn 3% back in WestJet dollars. Full details and online booking

 

Apr 23 Update: Changes to the AC Earn Your Wings promo, and not much else!

Super quiet day on Rewards Canada as I test out and learn some new software, work on some consulting stuff and other boring items!

News, Tips & Tricks
In case you saw my post this morning on the additional Avianca TACA buy LifeMiles bonus, it appears that the methodology doesn't work per comments on my FFB Blog and the LoyaltyLobby blog. Sorry to say but this offer is truly targeted! I have updated the post to announce this.

It appears that Air Canada has changed the Terms & Conditions of their Earn your Wings promo after the launch by stating the Olympic, TCA and Commonwealth badges can only be earned once. (HT: yerffej201 on FlyerTalk)

Bonus Offers
Air Baltic BalticMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 1,000 BalticMiles for stays of 2+ nights at the Baltic Beach Hotel. More... Until Jun 20, 13

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Triple JetPrivilege Miles for stays at the Hyatt Bangalore MG Road, Hyatt Pune, Hyatt Hyderabad Gachibowli, Hyatt Ahmedabad, and Hyatt Amritsar. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Double JetPrivilege Miles for stays at the Leela Palace Chennai More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Triple JetPrivilege Miles when you book the ‘Unforgettable Holidays' offer at participating Oberoi Hotel India. More... Until Jul 31, 13
- Double JetPrivilege Miles for stays at all Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts worldwide (Except Swissôtel Le Concorde, Bangkok) More... Until May 31, 13
- Double JetPrivilege Miles for Hertz rentals of 3+ days at participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia or New Zealand. More...Until May 31, 13

Marriott Rewards
- 5,000 Bonus Points when you stay any nights at any Gaylord Hotel in Florida, Maryland,  Tennessee or Texas. More... Until May 31, 13

Ukraine International Panorama Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Panorama Club Miles for stays at the Radisson Blu Resort, Bukovel. More... May 1 - Jun 30, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you shop online with any of US Airways Dividend Miles StoreFront participating partners. More.. Until Jun 23, 13

Extra Bonus on buying Avianca TACA LifeMiles during the 100% Bonus Period (Targeted, YMMV)

Back on April 8th I showcased the latest version of Avianca TACA LifeMiles' 100% Buy Miles promotion and now there is a targeted offer floating around adding extra miles on top for those who have not been active with their accounts in the past 12 months.

The offer I got in my email:

It looks like LoyaltyLobby got it as well and John points out that you can take the targeted link from the email
https://www.lifemiles.com/eng/mya/prt/myaprtone.aspx?id=1&action=oto&codpro=LMAB06&ftnum=Numberhere
and replace Numberhere with your LifeMiles number to register for the offer. There is no guarantee that this will work and that you'll get the extra bonus miles but if you were contemplating buying LifeMiles before the end of the month to take advantage of this great offer it doesn't hurt to try to get the extra little bit of miles

It appears that using the method of adding your LifeMiles # to the URL does not work. LifeMiles definitely worked this one good to ensure only those targeted would get it.

Apr 22 Update: 1,000 Free HHonors Points (New Members), Accor Hotels Platinum Status (again), Aeroplan bonus for Miele appliances

Happy Monday Everyone! A decent amount of news and bonus offers to bring you today however the next two weeks there is a lot going to happen behind the scenes here so there may not be as many featured posts etc. on Rewards Canada until May. I will try to pass along the usual news and bonus offers however each and every business day!

News, Tips & Tricks
The best tip I can offer today is that if you are not a Hilton HHonors member yet and plan on some stays soon you can earn 1,000 Free HHonors points for joining the program via the Aeroflot/Hilton offer listed below in the Bonus Offers section. The offer is written out in Russian but the whole sign up process is done in English so it should be pretty easy to do.

LoyaltyLobby outlines another Le Club accorhotels instant Platinum status offer. You can sign up for the program here (and get the instant status) however you cannot use an email address that they already have on file, so you basically need to create a new account. The sign up page does not state it is a Platinum offer but once you sign up and log into your account you should be able to see that you have received the status. These offers come and go very quick so I would sign up now rather than wait as the offer can (and will be) pulled at anytime.

EVA Air announced over the weekend that they will be officially joining the Star Alliance on June 18th.This is good news for not only Aeroplan members but also the large contingent of United MileagePlus, Miles&More and other Star Alliance members in Canada. It is always good to have more earning and redeeming options that are actually travel based. ;-) EVA Air currently serves both Toronto and Vancouver from their hub in Taipei.

View from the Wing outlines the details on United Airlines increasing their ticket changes fees by $50. Domestic tickets will now cost US$150 to change and International tickets are now US$300.


Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- Double Miles&Bonus Miles for car rentals with Hertz in United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, Greece, Cyprus and Czech Republic. More... Until May 31, 13

Aeroflot Bonus
- Earn up to 6,000 Extra Bonus Miles + 1,000 HHonors Bonus Points for stays at Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 13

Air Canada Aeroplan
- 10,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on the purchase of every Miele major appliance. More... Until May 31, 13

Delta SkyMiles
- Double SkyMiles per stay at any participating Prince Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Jun 14, 13

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 2,500 Bonus HawaiianMiles for stays at Prince Resorts Hawaii properties: Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia between Madrid or Barcelona and San Jose, Costa Rica. More... Register by May 7 for travel May 9 - Jun 30, 13

United Mileage Plus
- Double Premier Qualifying Miles & Double Mileage Plus Miles when you fly roundtrip on Copa between Colombia and select destinations in the Caribbean and Central America. More... Until Jun 15, 13 Targeted Offer - may not work for everyone

Apr 19 Update: Aeroplan Earn Your Wings update, Bonus Miles+ Elite Qualiftying on China Southern & Scandic Hotels Systemwide bonus

Final day of updates for this week and this is what I have for you:

News, Tips & Tricks
In case you were one of the people who had issues signing up for the Air Canada Earn Your Wings promotion (I know two of you commented that you did) here is the response from Air Canada as their are no known technical issues:

Thank you for your email about our Earn Your Wings promotion. I've taken a look at the comments on your blog to better understand the nature of the issues experienced by two of your readers. Currently, the promotion is running without any known issues but the following may help to explain certain problems:
-On the afternoon of April 15, a fix was implemented addressing an issue where customers who have a hyphen or an apostrophe in their name could not register (they would of received an error saying their Aeroplan information is invalid).
-In order to register, the name that is provided needs to be an exact match to what would appear on someone's Aeroplan card. If it's not an exact match, an 'invalid information' message will appear.
-As the promotion needs to authenticate every user against the Aeroplan database, a good internet connection is required. We know of at least one occurence where due to what was likely an intermittent connection, someone's registration failed because the authentication check with the Aeroplan database timed-out. The easiest option is to try again.

In order to assist customers who may be experiencing issues, we've also set-up the following email address in order to provide customer support: earnyourwings@aircanada.ca. Should you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer them.

 Some decent bonus offers in the section below, there is a new Aeroplan Coast Hotels stay bonus (book online at Coast Hotels to make the most of it) and you can earn bonus SkyPearl Kilometers + Bonus Elite Qualifying segments on China Southern's Vancouver-Guangzhou route (and every other route they fly).

Travel Deals
Accor Hotels is once again running a 'Private Sale' where you can save up to 50% on stays at their hotels across the globe. Stays must booked by April 25 and have various stay periods depending on the regions. For stays in Canada the offer is up to 40% off for stays between Jul 1 and Sep 15. You can check out the sale here.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles on all qualifying Coast Hotels stays in Canada and the U.S. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays of two nights or more with Regent’s signature ‘Summer to Remember’ package at any Regent hotel or resort worldwide. More... Jun 1 - Aug 31, 13
- Triple Flying Blue Miles on all Europcar rentals worldwide.More... Book by May 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 13

China Southern SkyPearl Club
- Earn up to 8,000 Bonus SkyPearl Kilometers when you fly on any China Southern flight Worldwide in Premium First Class (A), First Class (F/P), Business Class (C/D), or Premium Economy Class (W) More... Apr 20 - Jun 20, 13

Czech Airlines OK Plus
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus OK Plus Miles for flights between Prague and Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg or Stuttgart. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at the Hyatt Bangalore MG Road, Hyatt Pune, Hyatt Hyderabad Gachibowli, Hyatt Ahmedabad, and Hyatt Amritsar. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Scandic Hotels Friends
- 500 Bonus Points per night for stays at any Scandic Hotels location in Europe. More... May 1 - Jun 20, 13

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays in a Horizon Club room for a minimum of two nights at Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun More... May 1 - Jun 30, 13
- Double GC Award Points for stays on the Explore Tokyo in Style room package at the Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo. More... May 1 - Jun 30, 13

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 15% Velocity Points Discount when you book any marketed and operated Virgin Australia Reward Seat for Domestic and International routes. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Double Velocity Points when you book and stay at InterContinental Resort Sanctuary Cove. More... Until May 30, 13
- Double Velocity Points when you book a stay on Best Available Rates at participating Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 13
- Double Velocity Points when you book and stay at participating PARKROYAL Hotels & Resorts in Asia and Australia. More... Until May 31, 13

Apr 18 Update: Primus offering 12,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles, Bonus points for new Marriott property in Newfoundland, Targeted United Elite Status offer

Here is the Thursday round up from Rewards Canada

News, Tips & Tricks
As posted earlier today, the main news around here is the updates of some of Rewards Canada's Credit Card comparison charts.

Thanks to Andy N. for forwarding the Aeroplan Primus offer listed below. As always if you find an offer before I do feel free to send it my way so that I can get it posted onto RC as soon as possible! You can use my contact form to forward them to me

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 12,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you sign up for an Unlimited Internet and Home Phone Bundle with Primus. More... Until May 31, 13

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 500 Bonus Flying Blue Miles for stays of two or more consecutive nights at any Meliá Hotels International property worldwide on eligible rates. More... Book by May 31 for stays until Jun 30, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles when staying at any Vivanta by Taj Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 13

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points for stays on the 'Stay and Save' rate at participating Best Western Hotels in Ireland. More... Until May 31, 13
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night on qualifying stays at Best Western Hotels in Germany and Luxembourg. More... Ongoing

China Southern SkyPearl Club
- 2,500 Bonus SkyPearl Kilometers when you fly on China Southern between Guangzhou and Auckland. More... May 1 - 31, 13
- Triple SkyPearl Kilometers for stays on the Best Available Rate at Langham’s portfolio of properties in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. More... Until May 31, 13

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Points when you stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites St. John's Newfoundland More... Jun 30 - Aug 31, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Points when you stay at the Heidelberg Marriott Hotel. More... Jul 1 - Aug 31, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Points when you stay two nights at the Renaissance Barcelona Fira Hotel. More... Aug 9 - Oct 19, 13
- 1,000 Bonus Points when you stay two nights at the Istanbul Marriott Hotel Asia. More... Jul 1 - Aug 31, 13
- 1,000 Bonus Points when you stay two nights Thursday to Sunday at the bed & breakfast rate at participating Marriott hotels in Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Glasgow. More... Sep 1 - Nov 17, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Points when you stay two nights Thursday to Sunday at participating Marriott hotels in Southern UK More... Jul 1 - Aug 31, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Points when you stay two nights at the Courtyard New York Manhattan/Times Square West More... Jun 15 - Sep 3, 13

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- 2,000 Bonus EuroBonus points on weekend rentals with Budget in Scandinavia. More... Until May 17, 13
- Earn up to Quadruple EuroBonus points on Hertz rentals of 7 or more days Worldwide.More... Until Jun 30, 13

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Bonus Starpoints & Elite Qualifying Nights when you complete group bookings and stays.More... Until Dec 31, 13

United Mileage Plus
- 50% Bonus Premier Qualifying Miles on all United flights Worldwide in United Global FirstSM, United First®, United BusinessFirst®, United Business® or United Economy® fare classes More... Until May 23, 13 Targeted Offer - may not work for everyone
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles per night on paid qualifying hotel stays booked through united.com/hotels. More... Book by May 17 for travel until Jul 14, 13

RC Credit Card Comparison Chart Updates

I managed to make some updates to several of Rewards Canada's Credit Card comparison charts yesterday. The updates were as follows:

I added the new National Bank World MasterCard to the 'All' Chart and the 'Travel Points' chart. Links to all the charts are below. This card is essentially an enhanced version of their Platinum MasterCard. The only difference that I can tell is that this card awards .5 more points per dollar spent in the $20,001 to $30,000 spend range and offers Travel Concierge Service due to the World branding.

A lot of the Capital One cards were updated as Capital One has allowed us to publish more information on the benefits side. Now we just have to wait for them to allow us to publish more details on the redemption side.

And finally, I don't know how this one escaped me but I never updated the Platinum Card from American Express after the big revamp last year so that has been done now as well.

Rewards Canada's Credit Card Comparison Charts:
1. Most Popular Travel Rewards Credit Cards
2. All Canadian Travel Rewards Credit Cards
3. Travel Points Credit Cards Only
4. Hybrid Credit Cards Only
5. Airline (Frequent Flyer) Credit Cards Only
6. Hotel (Frequent Guest) Credit Cards Only
7. Cash Back Credit Cards Only

Apr 17 Update: Diners Club Personal Assistant, Le Club accorhotels bonus points in Montreal, Ottawa & Toronto

Another quiet day here on RC as I focused on some consulting work and some upcoming Rewards Canada projects.

News, Tips & Tricks

The only news I have for you comes from one of my favourite credit cards, Diners Club. I got a letter yesterday from them outlining the travel services/benefits provided by the card. Most of them I knew about but I had never heard about the new concierge service they now offer call Diners Club Personal Assistant. Now there are numerous articles out there and I believe even in some of my reviews that I don't find concierge service to be a huge benefit offered by credit card companies (typically found on Visa Infinite and World MasterCard cards along with some Amex cards) and I usually don't make use of it on my other cards and I most likely won't use it with my Diners. I will check it out however and I believe there are some people who are so time crunched that these concierge services come in handy and I'm sure that those of us Diners Club cardholders (you can't apply for the card at this time) who need a concierge service will greatly appreciate this one especially considering that this card costs less per year then most other premium cards with similar benefits. If you are a Diners cardholder you can check out the Personal Assistant at www.dinersclubassistant.ca


Bonus Offers
China Eastern Eastern Miles
- Double Eastern Miles Points for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Regal Hotels in China. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 13

Garuda Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double GFF Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating World Hotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Triple GFF Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating World Hotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- 3,000 GFF Miles for stays of 2 or more nights in a Suite at participating World Hotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13

IHG Rewards Club
- 3,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at select hotels in Europe. More... Unti Jul 31, 13
- 1,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at select hotels in Europe. More... Unti Dec 31, 13

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple TrueBlue Points when you fly JetBlue between Long Beach or Seattle and Anchorage. More... May 16 - Oct 15, 13

Jumeirah Sirius
- Double Sirius Points for stays on the "Sirius Summer" rate at the Jumeirah Frankfurt. More... May 1 - Aug 31, 13
- Double Sirius Points for stays of 5 or more nights on the Summer Flavours offers at the Madinat Jumeirah Dubai. More... May 1 - Sep 30, 13
- Double Sirius Points for stays of 5 or more nights on the Summer Flavours offers at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Dubai. More... May 1 - Sep 30, 13
- Double Sirius Points for stays of 5 or more nights on the Summer Flavours offers at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel Dubai. More... May 1 - Sep 30, 13
- Double Sirius Points for stays of 5 or more nights on the Summer Flavours offers at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel Dubai. More... May 1 - Sep 30, 13
- Double Sirius Points for stays of 2 or more nights in a corner or duplex suite at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel Dubai. More... Apr 19 - Sep 30, 13
- Double Sirius Points for stays of 3 or more nights in a suite on the "Live the Fabergé Life" rate at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower or Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in London. More... Book by May 3 for stays May 27 - Jul 7, 13

Le Club accorhotels
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points and a credit of $20 per room daily for stays at participating Sofitel Hotels in North America. More... Jun 26 - Sep 6, 13
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points and save up to 20% for stays of 3+ nights at any Novotel Hotel in Montreal, New York, Toronto or Ottawa. More... Book by May 31 for stays until Jun 15, 13
- Quadruple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the "Japan Spring Offer" at participating hotels in Japan. More... Until May 31, 13
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at the Novotel Wellington, Mercure Wellington & Mercure Willis Street Wellington or ibis Wellington.More... Until May 31, 13

Apr 16 Update: Our Air Miles page is back, Aeroflot Bonus Miles for Toronto-Moscow flights, Saudia Alfursan now on RC

Today was a short work day for me so I didn't get too much added to Rewards Canada:

News, Tips & Tricks
After a hiatus of over 5 years (or more) I am pleased to announce the return of Rewards Canada's Air Miles Bonus Mile Opportunities page. Many moons ago there were some legal wranglings that forced us to remove this page and other Air Miles items but in that time the relationship between Rewards Canada and Air Miles has changed significantly which warrents the relaunching of this page. The page will stand to benefit Rewards Canada readers, the Air Miles program and the Air Miles partners whose offers are posted. On the page you will find select major offers from Air Miles and its partners that are available to the generally all Air Miles members but not all offers as there are just too many to list along with many being have a short duration that by the time I post the offer it could be over. Check out the page here.

 

Saudia Airlines has announced that they will start service between Toronto and Riyadh this coming October. The service will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays utilizing their new Boeing 777s. As with any new airline starting service to Canada, there is a page added to Rewards Canada's Bonus Offer section for that airline's loyalty program. So even though they are not starting service for another 6+ months I have added their Alfursan program today for those using the program so that you can find ways to earn more miles right away.

In the bonus offer section the primary Canadian offer posted has Aeroflot bonusing up their Toronto-Moscow route for June and July and the addition of Fairmont's Everyone's an Original Summer offer that I posted here on the blog yesterday.


Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Earn up to 6,000 Extra Bonus Miles when you fly on Aeroflot between Toronto and Moscow. Earn 3,000 extra miles per segment in business class or 1,500 extra miles for each segment in economy. More... Jun 2 - Jul 31, 13

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
- Earn up to Quadruple Dynasty Flyer Miles on Avis rentals of 3 or more days in US, Canada, Europe, Middle East & Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Guam and Taiwan). More... Apr 22 - Jul 31, 13
- Double Dynasty Flyer Miles on Avis rentals of 4 or more days in Australia or New Zealand. More... Apr 22 - Jul 31, 13

Fairmont President's Club
- Double Airiline Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original Summer rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 13 Participating Airlines: Air Canada Aeroplan Air China Phoenix Miles American AAdvantage Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Miles & More United Mileage Plus

Saudia Alfursan
- Triple Alfursan Miles for stays at the Rotana Manama, Bahrain.More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Double Alfursan Miles on Budget rentals in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Kuwait. More... Until May 31, 13
- Triple Alfursan Miles on all Sixt rentals or 5 or more days Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 13

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 50% Bonus Miles&Smiles Status Miles when you fly Turkish Airlines between Istanbul and Bishkek or Osh. More... Until May 31, 13
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles for stays at all participating Kempinski Hotels Worldwide.. More... Until Jun 15, 13

Fairmont Hotels: Everyone's an Original Summer Promotion = Double Airline Miles & Discounts

Now that winter is pretty much over (well not here in YYC!), we will see the end of Fairmont's Everyone's an Original Winter promotion on April 30th which will be replacedd as it is every year, with the Everyone's an Original Summer promotion. The promotion has not changed for years, its still Double Airline miles but the rest of the offer usually changes on an almost weekly basis. Sometimes they throw in free nights or Food & Beverage credits depending on the week and the location.

To launch the latest version of this offer, Fairmont is offering up to 20% off or a free night depending on the location you book at. Fairmont President's Club members will enjoy an additional 5% off the Everyone's an Original summer rate. The 20% off/Free Night is good for bookings made by April 30th for stays until Sept. 30. In addition to these discounts you can earn double miles with participating airlines which for the summer version has a lot more of Fairmont's airline partners when compared to this past winter's offer.  The double miles is not affected by April 30 booking deadline and is available straight through to Sept. 30.

Here is the offer as it will appear on FFB's Fairmont page tomorrow and also provides access to the complete offering as listed above.

Fairmont Hotels
Double Airiline Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original summer rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. Full Details and Online Booking Until Sep 30, 13
Participating Airlines:
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air China Phoenix Miles
American AAdvantage
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Miles & More
United Mileage Plus

Apr 15 Update: 2 New Big Aeroplan offers, Petro-Points Monthly Top Up, Bonus Skywards Miles for Hertz rentals

A big start to the week for us Canadian mileage hounds with a couple of big promos out of the Aeroplan camp:

News, Tips & Tricks
Both new Aeroplan offers had separate posts on RC today, visit them here: Earn Your Wings and Transfer Bonus.

Air Miles has announced YMCA as a new earning partner for their Reward Miles. You can now earn 1 Air Miles Reward Miles for every 4 visits in a calendar month. Find our more here.

In the non-travel rewards department although it can have a travel component, Petro-Points, the loyalty program from Petro Canada has launched a new Monthly Points Top Up where you will earn bonus points at the end of each month depending on how many Litres of fuel you bought. Earn 750 bonus points for 150-249 Litres, 1,000 bonus points for 250 Litres plus. Since Petro-Points is my primary gas program due to the convenience of a Petro Canada station in my neighbourhood, I welcome any and all extra points! More details can be found here

Bonus Offers
airBaltic BalticMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Triple BalticMiles for every rental in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK. . More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals May 1 - Jun 30, 13
- Double BalticMiles for every rental in in Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Malta. More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals May 1 - Jun 30, 13

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn Your Wings - Various Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you travel on Air Canada Worldwide. Collect badges and wings for your flights. Any combination of wings and badges that total 2,000 wings will receive 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles. Any combination of wings and badges for a total of 10,000 wings will receive an additional 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles, for a combined total of 10,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles. More... Apr 11 - Jun 16, 13
- Earn up to 40,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert points from a wide selection of Aeroplan partner loyalty programs to Aeroplan. More... Until May 13, 13

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... Until Jun 30, 13

China Eastern Eastern Miles
- 2,000 Eastern Miles Points when you book at the Best Available Rate for a minimum of 2 nights stay in Langham’s portfolio of properties in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. More... Until May 31, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to Quadruple Skywards Miles on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More...Until Jun 30, 13

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at any participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels and Resorts worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Triple Guest Miles and 3 nights for the price of 2 at Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Double Guest Miles on all Budgete rentals of 5 or more days in Europe, Middle East and Africa (excluding Finland & Serbia) More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Triple Guest Miles on all Europcar rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at Palace Hotel Tokyo. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 13

Marriott Rewards
- 10,000 Bonus Points for stays of 5 or more nights at the Residence Inn Montreal Westmount. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles for stays on the Best Available Rate at the Gili Lankanfushi Maldives. More... Until Jul 31, 13
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you stay at any select Jumeirah Hotels Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 13
- Earn up to 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles (10x bonus) when you stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights at a participating Leading Hotels of the World property. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Earn up to Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you stay at participating hotels of The Leela Palaces Hotels and Resorts in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Mumbai and New Delhi. More... vUntil Sep 30, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay on the Best Available or Bed&Breakfast rate at any participating Mandarin Oriental hotel Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 13
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you stay at a participating Claridge’s, the Connaught or the Berkeley property in London. More... Until May 31, 13
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you rent a car on an Affordable Rate from a participating Hertz location in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until May 31, 13
- 2,000 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles when you renew your contract or sign up for a new one with a BlackBerry® handset on M1 Smartphone Plans. More... Until May 31, 13

Transfer points to Aeroplan to earn up to 40,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles

Aeroplan has once again brought back their partner transfer bonus that we saw last November and last spring. Basically what it entails is transferring points out of other select loyalty programs into your Aeroplan account. Just like in November, the offer is once again cumulative across all participating partners. That is, you can transfer from partners like CIBC, Starwood, Hertz and more (see the last graphic) and as long as the total Aeroplan miles deposited from all of them reaches one of the bonus target levels you will be awarded the respective bonus miles.

And just like last November, American Express Membership Rewards is unfortunately not included. so chances are I will not use the promo this time.

If you are a Starwood Preferred Guest collector you can really up the bonus by taking advantage of their 5,000 Mile bonus offer when you convert 20,000 Starpoints into Aeroplan. Which means in this promotion you can get 29,000 Aeroplan Miles for 20,000 Starpoints or if you transfer 20k four times, you'll get 125,000 Aeroplan Miles for 80,000 Starpoints. Of course I like to keep Starpoints for award nights or cash+points stays within the Starwood family but some of you may like this transfer option.

The offer as pulled from our Aeroplan Bonus Mile Promotions page is as follows:

Earn up to 40,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert points from a wide selection of Aeroplan partner loyalty programs (hotel, car rental, credit card and points.com). Bonuses are as follows and are awarded on a cumulative basis. Convert Points to
5,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 1,000 Mile bonus
10,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 2,000 Mile bonus
20,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn 4,000 Mile bonus
50,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 10,000 Mile bonus
100,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 25,000 Mile bonus
150,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 40,000 Mile bonus
Full details Valid until May 13, 13

Air Canada Earn Your Wings Promo

On Thursday Air Canada and Aeroplan launched their latest promotion for flying on Air Canada called Earn Your Wings. The promotion not only awards you with bonus Aeroplan Miles for select flights on Air Canada but you will also have the chance to share in a pot of 10,000,000 Aeroplan Miles if you land in the top 25 'Wings' earners.

What is Earn Your Wings? Earn Your Wings is a promotion strictly for flying (great for Frequent Flyers!) on Air Canada unlike the recent Star Challenge which was more coalition based by including lots of partners outside of Air Canada and basically you will 'Wings' for flying on Air Canada and also earn 'Badges' for select routes/cities/actions which translate to additional wings earned.  What I like about this promo is something that I have promoted from the FFB Group for a long time, an out of the box flight promotion that is not your standard double miles this or triple miles that. Now like many of these promotions with more complex earning options there are some vague rules and terms and conditions that I am sure Air Canada and Aeroplan will either fix or clarify along the way. As with the majority of promotions these days you have to register for it and you can do so here.

Straight from Air Canada, here is how to play this promotion:

HOW TO PLAY:

• Aeroplan members must register for this promotion, book their flights and fly between April 11 and June 16, 2013 inclusively in order to be eligible to participate in this promotion and earn wings and badges.
• The objective of the promotion is to earn and collect wings and badges. Wings and badges can be earned in several different ways. Participants will earn wings for each flight segment of their journey. For example, participants who fly roundtrip from Calgary to Toronto will earn 400 wings. That’s 100 wings for each take off and landing. Select airports have been assigned a higher value of wings. For a list of those select airports and the value of wings assigned, please visit the Badge Legend.
• Participants must earn wings and/or badges in order to earn Bonus Aeroplan Miles. Any combination of wings and badges that total 2,000 wings will receive 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles. Any combination of wings and badges for a total of 10,000 wings will receive an additional 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles, for a combined total of 10,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles.
• Additionally, there will be 10,000,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles to be distributed equally amongst the participants who place in the top 25 ranking (the “Top 25”) of all participants at the end of the promotion period. All participants will be ranked using the online “Leaderboard” and each participant’s ranking is determined by number of wings earned and accumulated. By registering for this promotion, all participants understand and agree that their user name, destinations travelled and wings and badges accumulated will appear publically on the Leaderboard. The participants who place in the Top 25 at the end of the promotion, will receive their equal share of 10,000,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles. If there are participants tied in the Top 25, then the 10,000,000 bonus miles will be split among each of the Top 25 participants equally.

Some key rules pop out right away: just like the Star Challenge, any Air Canada bookings made before the start of the promotion (April 11) do not count towards badges/wings. This is from the 'additional terms and conditions':

New bookings made as of April 11, 2013, for travel between April 11, 2013 and June 16, 2013, will be eligible. Any booking made prior to April 11, regardless of travel date, will not be eligible.

And when you book your tickets they must meet the following:

To qualify, the flight segments must be travelled in the following eligible fare options (booking classes) : To/From Canada and Canada/USA/Caribbean (incl. Central America) & Mexico: Tango (N,G,P,E,A); Flex (M,U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T) ; Latitude (Y,B) ; Executive Class Lowest (D,Z); Executive Class Flexible (J,C); To/From Canada and South America/Atlantic /Asia/South Pacific: Tango (N,G,P,T,E,L,A,K); Flex (M,U,H,Q,V,W,S); Latitude (Y,B); Executive First Lowest (C,D,Z); Executive First Flexible (J)

Now that we got that out of the way lets look out how the earning works. Basically once you earn 2,000 Wings (any combination of badges/wings) you will earn Bonus 1,000 Aeroplan Miles. If you reach 10,000 Wings (once again any combination of badges/wings) you will awarded with an additional 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles. When combined with the 2,000=1,000 means you will get 10,000 Aeroplan Miles for every 10,000 Wings collected with no apparently no limit to the number of wings you can earn. If you fall into the top 25 wings earners you will also share an equal part of 10,000,000 Aeroplan miles.

How do you earn Wings? The first and easiest way is simply by flying any Air Canada flight. Per the 'How to Play' above you will earn 100 Wings for every take off and landing. Which means 400 wings for a round trip flight without connections (per example above). Then you can and/or will earn additional wings by collecting badges for traveling to select airports or on select routes. The complete list of badges is below.

Here are some examples of how you can earn a little or a lot of badges with just a few flights

Example 1:
Fly between Ottawa and Toronto Billy Bishop (City Centre Airport) to earn 1,400 Wings
400 Wings for the flight (2 Take offs & 2 Landings)
500 Wings for the YOW Badge
500 Wings for the YTZ Badge

Example 2:
Fly between Vancouver and Seattle to earn 6,900 Wings
400 Wings for the flight (2 Take offs & 2 Landings)
1,000 Wings for The SEA Badge
500 Wings for the YVR Badge
5,000 Wings for the TCA Badge

Then do a flight between Vancouver and Victoria to earn 11,400 more wings
400 Wings for the YVR-YYJ flight (2 takes and 2 landings)
500 Wings for the YYJ Badge
500 Wings for the YVR Badge
5,000 Wings for the Pacific Coast Badge
5,000 Wings the Canadian Olympic Badge

With just these two flights you would earn 18,300 Wings plus 5,000 bonus Wings at the 10,000 level for 23,300 Wings.

As you can see with some creative thinking and planning you can potentially earn a lot of wings/badges which can translate into a decent amount of Aeroplan miles and perhaps a shot at the top 25 leaderboard.

For reference here are all the Badges:

Badge Legend

Destination Badges

Touch down or take off from anywhere Air Canada flies and earn at least 100 wings. Want to earn wings faster? Collect Destination Badges at over 30 airports worldwide and earn between 500 and 2,000 wings.

The YYT Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at St. John’s International Airport.

500 wings

The YHZ Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

500 wings

The YOW Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport.

500 wings

The YVR Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Vancouver International Airport.

500 wings

The YYJ Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Victoria International Airport.

500 wings

The YTZ Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

500 wings

The I♥NY Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Newark Liberty International Airport or LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

1,000 wings

The BOS Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Boston Logan International Airport.

1,000 wings

The DCA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Reagan National Airport in Washington.

1,000 wings

The LAX Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Los Angeles International Airport.

1,000 wings

The IAH Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

1,000 wings

The DEN Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Denver International Airport.

1,000 wings

The ORD Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

1,000 wings

The SFO Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at San Francisco International Airport.

1,000 wings

The MSP Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport.

1,000 wings

The ATL Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

1,000 wings

The SEA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

1,000 wings

The PHX Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

1,000 wings

The PHL Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Philadelphia International Airport.

1,000 wings

The CMH Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus.

1,000 wings

The GRR Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

1,000 wings

The BRU Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Brussels Airport.

2,000 wings

The CPH Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Copenhagen Airport.

2,000 wings

The GVA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Geneva International Airport.

2,000 wings

The FRA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Frankfurt Airport.

2,000 wings

The LHR Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Heathrow Airport in London.

2,000 wings

The CDG Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.

2,000 wings

The ICN Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Incheon International Airport in Seoul.

2,000 wings

The NRT Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Narita International Airport in Tokyo.

2,000 wings

The PEK Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Beijing Capital International Airport.

2,000 wings

The PVG Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

2,000 wings

The SYD Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Sydney Airport.

2,000 wings

The GRU Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo.

2,000 wings

Social Media Badge

Share your Leaderboard ranking with your friends on Facebook or Twitter to collect this badge.

200 wings

Premium Badges

Receive 5,000 wings every time you earn a Premium Badge, which is awarded to participants who take off or touch down at combinations of select airports.

The TCA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you fly between YVR and SEA, the first route by Air Canada’s predecessor Trans-Canada Airlines in 1937.

The Celebrity Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you hang out with the paparazzi in at least 3 of the following airports: YTZ, LGA, EWR, LAX, LHR and CDG.

The Foodie Badge:

Collect this badge when you chow down in 3 of these foodie towns: YTZ, LGA, ORD, LAX, SFO, LHR, NRT, CPH and PVG.

The Sunshine Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you bask in the sunshine in at least 2 of these sun-filled destinations: LAX, IAH, SFO, ATL, PHX, GRU and SYD.

The All-Canadian Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down in at least 5 of these Canadian airports: YHZ, YOW, YVR, YYJ, YTZ and YYT.

The Presidents Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or land in at least 2 of these airports named after U.S. presidents: DCA, IAH and GRR.

The Euro Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or land in at least 2 of these European airports: BRU, CPH, GVA, FRA, LHR and CDG.

The Chocolate Badge:

Satisfy your sweet tooth and collect this badge when you take off or touch down in at least 2 of the following cities known for their chocolate: BRU, GVA, FRA and CDG.

The Pacific Coast Badge:

Hang out in at least 3 of these cities on the West Coast to earn this badge: YVR, YYJ, LAX, SFO and SEA.

The East Coast Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or land in at least 3 of these cities that touch the Eastern seaboard: YHZ, YYT, LGA, EWR, BOS, DCA and ATL.

The Mid-West Badge:

Find yourself in at least 2 of these Midwest airports to earn this badge: ORD, MSP, CMH and GRR.

The Asia-Pacific Badge:

Fly into at least 2 of these airports in the Asia-Pacific region to earn this badge: ICN, NRT, PEK, PVG and SYD.

The Stars & Stripes Badge:

Earn your Stars & Stripes when you take off or touch down in at least 4 of the following U.S. airports: LGA, EWR, BOS, DCA, ATL, LAX, IAH, DEN, ORD, SFO, MSP, SEA, PHX, PHL, CMH and GRR.

The Lord Stanley Badge:

Be part of the team and collect this badge when you take off or touch down in at least 4 cities whose teams have won the famous hockey champions cup: YVR, YYJ, YTZ, LGA, EWR, BOS, LAX, DEN, ORD, SEA and PHL. Some even pre-date the NHL.

The Commonwealth Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down in at least 2 Commonwealth member capitals: YOW, LHR and SYD.

The Year of the Snake Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down in both PEK and PVG.

The Canadian Olympic Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or touch down in YVR and YYJ, which both saw Olympic action during the 2010 Winter Games.

The Opera House Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or touch down in at least 2 of these cities with world-class opera houses: SYD, LHR, CDG and LGA.

The International Football Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or touch down in at least 2 of these cities where the passion for football runs deep: GRU, LHR, CDG, FRA, GVA, BRU, CPH, NRT, ICN and SYD.

So what do think of the Earn your Wings promo? How many wings or badges do you forsee earning? Is there anything about this promo you don't like? (I for one am a little peeved that cities in Alberta, Sask, Manitoba and Quebec are not included in any of the badges, the promo is much better for those based in YVR, YYJ, YYZ, YOW!) Feel free to comment below with your thoughts!!