July 18 Update: Major changes coming to LifeMiles award flight mileage requirements, Marriott updates its Plus Points promotion

A busier day to close off the week! Aeroplan contest winner, not so good news from Avianca and Marriott...

News, Tips & Tricks
Congrats to Jason S. of Newfoundland who is the winner of our Aeroplan Turns 30 contest! Thanks to all of you who participated.

A few months ago we let you know about the beta launch of Marriott Rewards Plus Points where you could earn points for completing social media activities. When this new Marriott initiative posted it was quite easy to earn 2,000 Rewards points in a month with only 8 or so social media actions however that has changed now and to earn the same amount of points will require ten times that! I know I won't be making the effort to complete 80 actions in a month as it a big time draw so this easy point earning strategy will dwindle for me as I'll get points each month for the Marriott follows I already have but not as much as before. You can find out more at www.marriottrewardspluspoints.com

Avianca LifeMiles sent out emails to their members over the past 24 hours or so giving advance notice of some upcoming award chart changes that take effect on October 15th. Kudos to them for giving a heads up this time as they are notorious for making changes without any advance notice but that is all they can get kudos for as it seems that award flights in general may get more expensive. We say 'may' as the email and corresponding page on the LifeMiles website is quite vague in what the changes will be. The page with the details shows what redemptions will be on Avianca flights which for us Canadians only affects their flights from Toronto which for example jump from 60,000 miles to 80,000 miles for flights to Barcelona all on Avianca metal. Here are the new award flight rates for Avianca flights out of Toronto:

However of more interest to all us and especially those who have taken advantage of the numerous 100% bonus on buying LifeMiles is the Star Alliance award chart changes. All they tell us is the following:

As for changes in air ticket redemption with Star Alliance member airlines, these include increases up to 13.000 miles in Economy Class and up to 26.000 miles in Business Class. Both cases apply for roundtrip flights from North America.

For roundtrip flights from Mexico, there will be reductions up to 15.000 miles and increases up to 14.000 miles in Economy Class, also reductions up to 20.000 miles and increases up to 28.000 miles in Business class.

We are led to believe this is for flights to/from Europe as that is where many of the 'buy miles' miles are being used but could be for their entire Star Alliance chart as we don't forsee them reducing rates on European awards. Complete (well not so complete) details on the changes can found here


Bonus Offers
Hilton HHonors
- 2,500 Bonus HHonors Points when you join HHonors and complete your first stay at a Hilton Hotel in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. More... Register and book by Aug 31 for stays until Dec 1, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points and up to 40% off for stays at participating Accor Hotels in France More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Novotel Hotels in Poland More... Until Aug 29, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Mercure & Novotel Hotels in Russia More... Until Sep 2, 14
- 2,000 Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Ibis hotels in the U.K. More... Book by Jul 27 for stays Jul 21 - Nov 2, 14

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles when you fly on Brussels Airlines between Brussels and Bari, Cagliari, Krakow, Montpellier and Seville. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- 1,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at Courtyard properties in United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. More... Until Sep 27, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 35% Starpoints Discount on award night stays at 6 Starwood resorts Worldwide. More... Until Mar 3, 15

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights on the “Club and Suite Retreat” offer at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide More... Book by Sep 15 for stays until Sep 21, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More...Until Sep 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Up to Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at any selected Shangri-La Hotel, Traders Hotel or Kerry Hotel when booking at the Best Available Rate. More... Until Aug 31, 14


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