News, Tips & Tricks
We are still asking you for your Aeroplan redemption stories whether they are good or bad! Find out how to submit your story here. We'll compile all the responses later this week and follow up with a summary post.
IHG Rewards Club has announced some new changes coming to the program. Most of it is good news, some of it is bad but the the bad news is easily avoided. Lets start with the bad news. IHG is implementing an expiry rule on the program. Just like Aeroplan, if your account doesn't have any activity for 12 months your points will expire unless you hold elite status in the program (which is relatively easy to earn!) That being said to keep your account active all you simply have to do is redeem for a digital music download for as little as 150 points. Really unless you have less points than that you shouldn't have to let your points expire. Now you do still have some time as the expiry rule doesn't kick in until May 16. The other sort of bad news comes in upcoming award night redemptions, on 1 May 2015, they will be changing the point requirements for Reward Nights at approximately 450 hotels. Less than 300 will be increasing by 5-10,000 points and 150 will be decreasing by 5,000 points. I guess this last tidbit is both good and bad.
Onto the good news! IHG is introducing a new top tier elite level this July that can be reached by earning 75,000 qualifying points or staying at IHG hotels for 75 qualifying nights, over the course of a year. That level will have an industry first 100 percent extra bonus points on qualifying stays. Members of this newest level will also be able to choose between receiving 25,000 points or upgrading a friend or family member to Platinum. In addition to this addition to the elite levels IHG has restructured the qualification requirements for all membership levels to make it easier for members to be rewarded for their loyalty. Club members will need to earn just 10,000 qualifying points or stay for ten qualifying nights to be eligible for Gold membership. Gold members will need to earn 40,000 qualifying points or stay for 40 qualifying nights to reach Platinum membership. Finally IHG is enhancing its ability to learn about members and then utilize this information through a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This system will enable hotels to respond to members’ preferences at every stage of the guest journey and offer services and experiences that are personally relevant to them. From recognizing stay preferences such as room location or pillow type and tailoring their booking options, to relevant post stay offers.
You can learn all about the changes here.
We'd love to hear your comments about these changes to IHG Rewards Club as we know it is one of the most popular programs of Rewards Canada's readers.
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The following comment was left on our Air Miles increasing mileage requirements for flights within Canada, to the U.S., Mexico and Caribbean to cover fuel surcharges post:
"Just received an offer from bmo for a new bmo airmiles elite world mastercard, or rather an offer to upgrade from the BMO Air Miles World MasterCard, for free for a year. Plus, the letter informed me that the 25% flight discount will only be available on airmiles flights in North America starting in may 2015! Guess it's a way to take the focus off the once again downgrated rewards program by offering a new card. it's time to use up the airmiles I have accumulated and look for a new travel rewards Program."We have reached out to BMO for confirmation but haven't heard anything back yet however I'm guessing this is correct and will be a major hit to the card by removing the "save 25% on Air Miles flights worldwide" feature. Granted I tend to believe the amount of flights that Air Miles members redeem for for travel outside of North America drops exponentially as the amount of miles you have to redeem for flights to Europe, Asia etc. are beyond what most members earn so the 25% off feature was probably not used very often for Internationl trips but would be a welcome discount if you could and did use it. There is still no mention of this change on the BMO site however.
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Posts since our last update!
- Qatar Airways Seat Sale from Montreal: Fares from as low as $835 in Economy / $2657 in Business
Qatar Airways has launched a new seat sale on flights out of Montreal to over 140 destinations Worldwide. Fares…
- 100 Bonus AIR MILES Rewards Miles (+Double Miles) when you join Hilton HHonors and complete your 1st stay
Air Miles and Hilton have teamed up for this new bonus! If you aren't a Hilton HHonors member yet…
Don't forget to enter our first FFB10 contest!
FFB10 - The FrequentFlyerBonuses.com 10th Anniversary Celebration - Contest #1: Win a package of 50,000 Miles & points
Travel Deals
Porter Airlines is offering up to 50% off their flights if you book by April 16th for travel until August 24th! Find out more here.
Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers on weekend stays at participating NH Hotels. More... Apr 1 - May 31, 15
- 500 Bonus Club Premier Kilometers when you enroll in Thanks Again. More... Until Jun 2, 15
- 5,000 Bonus Club Premier Kilometers when spending at least USD $1,000 in the Network of Thanks Again each calendar quarter.. More... Ongoing
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles on your next purchase of $35 or more at a participating Uniprix store. More... Until Apr 30, 15
Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Double MilleMiglia Miles for stays at Best Western hotels in Italy. More... Until Apr 30, 15
American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 60,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy AAdvantage Miles online. More... Until Apr 30, 15
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Triple Gold Points (+1,000 Bonus Points) on Eligible Stays at more than 1,000 Carlson Rezidor hotels worldwide. Earn 1,000 bonus points on those eligible Stays if booked through the Club Carlson mobile app. More... Until Jun 28, 15
Hong Kong Airlines Fortune Wings
- Fast to Track to Elite Status Match for major airline status worldwide. Within 100 days from application, fly with Hong Kong Airlines, Grand China Air, Hainan Airlines, Lucky Air & Tianjin Airlines and achieve a certain amount of miles/sectors to receive status. More... Until Dec 31, 15
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Double QMiles on all Qatar Airways flights Worldwide. Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone. You must have received the email to be eligibile. More... Until Jun 30, 15
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating Anantara, Per Aquum, and Avani Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Earn up to Triple Royal Orchid Plus Miles when you stay at participating Okura Hotels & Resorts, Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Royal Orchid Plus Miles when you book hotels via Kaligo. More... Until May 31, 15
- Earn up to Triple Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 4 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 4 or more nights at participating Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 15
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating Sukosol Hotels in Thailand. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Triple Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at paticipating World Hotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple Royal Orchid Plus Miles for Avis rentals of 5 or more days in Asia, Canada, Europe, the U.S. Middle East , Africa. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple Royal Orchid Plus Miles for Avis rentals of 5 or more days in Thailand. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple Royal Orchid Plus Miles when you rent from Hertz for 3 or more days in Asia, Canada, Europe, the U.S. Middle East, Africa, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Quadruple Royal Orchid Plus Miles when you rent from Hertz in Thailand for 3 or more days. More... Until Jun 30, 15
United MileagePlus
- Receive up to a 30% Discount when you buy or gift MileagePlus miles. More... Until Apr 20, 15
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I received the same BMO offer in the mail.
ReplyDeleteBummer! Are you going to keep the card?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, I upgraded and am waiting for my new cards. The new card earns Air Miles at 1/$10 instead of 1/$15 so I will earn more Air Miles, and the annual fee is the same given that I was paying extra for the second card and now they are free. The 25% discount is not as important for me as you pointed out that international travel via Air Miles is already super costly.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to see when BMO updates their site with this card so we can see all the details! I'm surprised at the better earn rate given the changes in our credit card system but I guess that is a good thing!
ReplyDelete