Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Apr 28 Update: British Airways Executive Club devaluation kicked in today, list of IHG Hotels changing categories, over 30 new bonuses

A busy Tuesday of news and bonuses!

News, Tips & Tricks
Exactly three months ago we let you know about some changes coming to the British Airways Executive Club program. Well today marks the day those earning and redemption changes kick in. Here is an excerpt from our piece in January that highlights the redemption portion that affects most of us:
Changes to Reward Flight Pricing
This is where there is good news but mostly bad news. The amount of Avios required for redemptions in some cases have gone down but some key awards for Canadians have gone up. Avios is now introducing off-peak award mileage rates that only apply to flights on British Airways  and are lower than some of the rates we have become accustomed to. For example you'll now be able to fly between London and Paris during an off peak period for only 4,000 Avios instead of 4,500. The bad news is premium class redemptions for medium and long haul routes are going up. Right now you can redeem for travel between Toronto and London for only 40,000 Avios in Business Class but that is getting a serious increase to 60,000 Avios as of April 28. For those out west who were used to 50,000 Avios Business Class redemptions out of Calgary or Vancouver will see those also grow by 50% to 75,000 Avios. Even the off-peak rates for these redemptions are more than the current redemption rates.

The key thing to note here is that the off-peak rates are only for travel on British Airways. All partner awards (AA, CX etc) are charged at the peak rates year round. The good news for a lot of us is that we utilize Executive Club for short haul redemptions out of Canada to the U.S. for only 4,500 Avios one way and those awards have not changed. So you can still fly on AA (or TAM soon) between Toronto and New York or on Alaska Airlines between Calgary or Edmonton and Seattle for the 4,500 Avios. Be sure to read and bookmark our post on how to take advantage of this short haul redemption option

We also let you know about some changes coming to the IHG Rewards Club program a few weeks ago and one of those changes of course were to redemption rates at several hundred locations. At the time we knew approximately 450 locations were affected (300 going up, 150 going down) and now we know which properties are changing. As many of us travel domestically, here are the changes for the Canadian properties:

As you can see 7 properties have been increased by 5,000 to 10,000 points while 6 have gone down by 5,000 points. You can view the complete list here. (PDF)

Hotels.com has something happening in a little over a day but we don't know what it is yet! Find out more here.


Travel Deals
British Airways
has some great economy class fares between Canada and the U.K.. Fares start as low as C$745 all in for travel to Paris. Book by Jun 2 for travel May 1 - Sep 30 . Find out more here.


Bonus Offers

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 3,000 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Dec 31, 15 for stays until Aug 31, 16

American AAdvantage
- OFFER EXTENDED Quadruple AAdvantage Miles on rentals of a compact car or larger vehicle for three days or longer at all worldwide Thrifty Car Rental locations. More... Until Aug 31, 15

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands

- 500 Bonus Infinity MileageLands Miles when you book 5 room nights or more via HRS. More... Until May 31, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple Infinity MileageLands Miles on Avis rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 15

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 7,000 Bonus TrueBlue Points when you join TrueBlue and complete your first JetBlue flight by June 18. More... Until Jun 18, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club accorhotels points when you join the Le Club accorhotels program and complete your first stay. More... Until May 31, 15

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay two consecutive nights or more at participating hotels in the Czech Republic. More... Jun 29 - Aug 31, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the SpringHill Suites Arlington Near Six Flags. More... Until May 15, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the TownePlace Suites Arlington Near Six Flags. More... Until May 15, 15
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay 2 or more nights at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Lincoln. More... Until May 15, 15
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay 2 or more nights at The Rochester Marriott Mayo Clinic Area. More... Until May 16, 15
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for Friday or Saturday night stays at the Courtyard Santa Fe. More... Until May 16, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for Friday - Sunday stays at participating AC Hotels in Spain. More... Until May 17, 15
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Marriott Hotel. More... Until May 17, 15

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer miles per qualifying night when you stay on the Best Flexible Rate at any participating Ascott, Citadines or Somerset serviced residence in China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Double KrisFlyer miles and a host of other benefits when you stay for at least two consecutive nights on the Suite Life package at Concorde Hotel Singapore. More... Until May 31, 15
- Triple KrisFlyer miles when you stay for at least two consecutive nights at Hard Rock Hotel Bali. More... Until May 31, 15
- 3,000 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles and complimentary breakfast when you stay at any participating Jumeirah hotel or resort in Abu Dhabi, Baku, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kuwait, London, Maldives, Mallorca, Rome or Shanghai. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Earn up to Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you stay on the Best Available or Bed&Breakfast rate at any participating Mandarin Oriental hotel Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 15
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you stay stay on the Best Available Rate at Claridge’s, the Connaught or the Berkeley in London. More... Until May 31, 15
- 500 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles for stays at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore, Marina Mandarin Singapore or Meritus Pelangi Beach Resorts & Spa, Langkawi. More... May 25 - Aug 31, 15
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay on a qualifying rate for 4 or more nights at any participating Millennium & Copthorne hotel or resort. More... Until May 31, 15
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay for at least two consecutive nights at a participating Park Regis hotel anywhere in the world. More... Until May 31, 15
- Double KrisFlyer Miles for stays of 2 or more consecutive nights at participating Preferred Hotel Group properties Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 15
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles for stays on the Best Available Rate at the new Raffles Jakarta. More... Until May 31, 15
- Quadruple KrisFlyer Miles when you stay in the Swiss Executive Room on the Best Available Rate at all participating SwissĂ´tel Hotels & Resorts around the world. More... Until May 31, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple KrisFlyer miles when you rent with Avis for three or more days in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until May 31, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple KrisFlyer Miles when you rent for at least 1 consecutive days at a participating HERTZ location in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe or Asia. More... Until May 31, 15
- 12,000 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles with a Premium subscription of The Economist in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia or Singapore. More... Until May 31, 15
- Up to 1,000 KrisFlyer miles plus free issues when you make a subscription for a minimum term of 54-issues to TIME All Access More... Until May 31, 15

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles for stays at Marriott Hotels and Resorts in Hawaii. More... Until Jul 9, 15
- Earn up to 12,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you book a Marriott Rewards Travel Package. More... Ongoing

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Triple Elevate Points for stays at Morgans Hotel Group Hotels in the U.S. and the U.K.. More... Book by May 15, 15 for stays until Mar 31, 15

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Velocity Points and Double Status Credits when you fly Virgin Australia between Darwin, Alice Springs and Adelaide. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 15

No comments:

Post a Comment