Last day! Starwood Preferred Guest - Save up to 25% when you buy or gift Starpoints

Today is the last day to  get up to 25% off the regular price for buying Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints. With the full 25% off you would be buying the points at 2.625 cents each which is a so-so price, but when you take into account airline conversion bonuses where that 20,000 points will net you 25,000 airline miles you are buying the miles at 2.1 cents each which isn't bad for some airline currencies!

Offer Details
Save up to 25% when you buy or gift Starpoints online. Full details
Buy 5,000-9,500 Starpoints Save 10%
Buy 10,000-14,500 Starpoints Save 15%
Buy 15,000-19,500 Starpoints Save 20%
Buy 20,000 Starpoints Save 25%

Grab the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite by January 4th for 20,000 Aeroplan Miles and first year free

It has been part of our top 5 credit card sign up offers for the past two months but the current offer for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card will expire on January 4th. The new offer to be released on the 5th is pretty good but not as good as the current one so if you want the card and have not applied for it yet we would recommend you do so now!

Offer Details
Earn up to 20,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles and a 100% rebate off your first year annual fee when you apply for and receive the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card. Earn 15,000 miles when you complete your first purchase and an additional 5,000 miles when you keep your Account active and in good standing for 90 days. Full details Apply by Jan 4, 16

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
• Receive a Welcome Bonus of 15,000 Aeroplan Miles with your first Purchase
• Get an additional 5,000 Aeroplan Bonus Miles when you keep your Account active and in good standing for 90 days!                                                          
• 100% Fee Rebate (Primary Cardholder only) for the first year – that’s $120 in savings
• Offer Valid until Jan. 4, 2016
• Earn 1.5 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, grocery, drugstore and aircanada.com Purchases made with your Card.
• Earn 1 mile for every $1 you spend on all other Purchases on your Card.
• Earn miles twice when you pay with your TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card and present your Aeroplan Membership Card at over 150 Aeroplan partner brands and with 100 online retailers
• Your Aeroplan miles will not expire as long as you are a TD Aeroplan Credit Cardholder                                                                                                
• Enjoy an extensive suite of travel insurances for peace of mind on your next getaway.

Air Canada Benefits:
• Your 1st checked bag is complimentary when travelling on an Aeroplan flight reward operated by Air Canada (for Primary Cardholder)
• You get Priority Check-in when travelling on an Aeroplan flight reward operated by Air Canada (for Primary Cardholder)
•  You’ll enjoy Priority Boarding when travelling on an Aeroplan flight reward operated by Air Canada (for Primary Cardholder) 

Once again! Big Air Miles Bonuses for Gift Card Purchases at Safeway! Up to a $22 return per card (until Dec 31, 15)

As we've mentioned since November we love this time of year as it is big bonus time for Gift Cards at Safeway! We've already seen multiple offers but they weren't as good as the December 2014 offer of 70 AIR MILES per $50 card until now! This is the best offer we have seen yet, 75 BONUS AIR MILES per $50 card! With this offer you'll earn 1.5 miles per dollar on these cards or if you work the other way, we value AIR MILES at 11 to 15 cents a piece so you are essentially earning $8.25 to $11.25 with each card. However if you look at our post about hacking the Air Miles program you'll know that you can actually get value of over 30 cents per mile on car rentals which means you can technically earn ~$22 on each these gift cards!

You have to print out the coupons and you can find them here
Hint: Print multiple copies and go through the till multiple times if you want to buy more than one card for the same retailer!

The merchant gift cards included are Spafinder, Bass Pro Shops, Roots, The Keg, La Senza,  Mark's, and Moxie's. There is also an offer of 35 Bonus Air Miles when you purchase a $25 Spring Gift Card.

I bought many cards during the last few go rounds for a lot of bonus Air Miles plus the double Membership Rewards points as I purchased them on my American Express Gold Rewards card which awards 2 points per dollar spent at grocery stores.

Other credit cards you can look at using to really bump your miles/points earning on these types of purchases include (earning is per dollar spent):
American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card: 1 Mile/$10
BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard: 1 Mile/$10
CIBC Aerogold Visas: 1.5 Miles
CIBC Aventura Visas: 1.5 Points
Scotiabank American Express Platinum/Gold: 4 Points
Scotiabank American Express: 2 Points
TD Aeroplan Visas: 1.5 Miles
To learn more about these cards visit our Travel Rewards Credit Card Comparison page

I don't know if I'll buy any this round as I am still sitting on a few gift cards.  How about you? What cards will you jump on?

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The American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card
• Earn a bonus of 2,000 AIR MILES reward miles when you charge a total of $500 in purchases to your Card within your first three months of Cardmembership
• Enjoy your first year free
• Earn 1 reward mile for every $10 in Card purchases at AIR MILES®* Sponsors
• Earn 1 reward mile for every $10 in Card purchases at other eligible grocery stores, gas stations, and drugstores in Canada
• Plus, earn 1 reward mile for every $15 in Card purchases everywhere else
• Shop at participating AIR MILES Sponsors across Canada with your Card and show your AIR MILES®* Collector Card, and you can earn reward miles twice
• More than 1000 rewards to choose from! Redeem for a wide range of rewards - everything from electronics to travel and more
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link.
Apply now
Conditions apply

Hilton HHonors will match your status with any other hotel program!

Earning that first level of status within a hotel program may take a little bit of work but once you got it can usually parlay it into status with other programs! Best Western, has for years, had their Status Match No Catch promotion, Hyatt was just matching people's status on Twitter about a month ago and now we have this offer from Hilton HHonors. Hilton will match your status as long as you register by January 11th. So whether you earned your status the hard way or got it via a card like The Platinum Card from American Express now is the time to get even more elite benefits!

Offer details
Hilton HHonors Elite Status Match to preferred and elite status levels in other hotel programs. Register Online (Registration is required) Until Jan 11, 16

December 18 Update: Final update of 2015! United increaes Elite Qualifying earning, Free Points and more

Today's update is actually filled with items we added to the site yesterday and will be our final for 2015!! For the remainder of 2015 their won't be any daily updates nor major updating of the main Rewards Canada website however if there is some major news or crazy new bonus that comes out you can be sure we'll put it right here on the RC blog! So be sure to check back often or follow us on our various social media channels for all the latest updates.


News, Tips & Tricks
We are running the seventh and final contest of our FFB10 celebration! This contest is to last one to celebrate 10 years of our global site, FrequentFlyerBonuses.com. Check out it today and be sure to enter for your chance to win WestJet Rewards Gold Elite Status and 10,000 Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints. Find out more here!


United MileagePlus is increasing the number of elite qualifying miles (PQMs) you earn on Business Class fares for flights on United and select Star Alliance carriers including Air Canada. Depending on the fare class you book you will now earn between 200 and 300% of the flown miles compared to the current 150%. This change takes affect on January 1st, 2016. Find out more here.

If you hold The Platinum Card from American Express check your email for an exclusive promo code to save 15% on Air Canada flights to South America or Europe!

There are two new offers of free points! Check out the bonus offers section below for details on earning free points from Le Club accorhotels and Voila Hotel Rewards!


Posts since our last update:

• Hilton HHonors - Double Points or Miles on all stays January 1 - April 30, 16
  The major hotel promotions for the first part of 2016 are being released rapid fire, one after the other!…
• AIR MILES: 40 Bonus Reward Miles for Best Western stays in Canada, the US and the Caribbean
  Offer Details: 40 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles for each qualified stay at any Best Western® branded hotel in…
• IHG Rewards Club Accelerate 2016 - Earn at least 33,500 Bonus Points for stays Jan 1 - Apr 30, 15
  IHG Rewards Club's Accelerate Promotion is wrapping up in two weeks and since it is nearing the end IHG…
• Starwood Preferred Guest: Double Starpoints on 2+ night stays + 250 Bonus Points at select locations
  Starwood has released the details of their first systemwide promotion for 2016. Called Take Two the promotion is very…

Bonus Offers

AIR MILES (Canada)
- 40 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles for each qualified stay at any Best Western® branded hotel in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands. More... Until Feb 29, 16

Hilton HHonors
- Double HHonors Points or Double Airline Miles for all eligible stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Jan 1 - Apr 30, 16

IHG Rewards Club
- IHG Rewards Club Accelerate - Earn 33,500 or more IHG Rewards Club points when you stay at IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Jan 1 - Apr 30, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- Earn up to 1,100 FREE Le Club Accorhotels Points for participating in their Rewards Quest online promotion. More... Until Feb 14, 16

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 16
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-la Hotel, Guilin. More... Until Feb 7, 16
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. More... Jan 1 - Jun 30, 16

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Double Starpoints for stays of 2 or more nights at all Starwood Hotels Worldwide. Select hotels from around the world will also award 250 bonus Starpoints per night. More... Register and book by Apr 10 for stays Jan 11 - Apr 30, 16

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 50% Bonus Miles&Smiles Status Miles when you fly Turkish Airlines to Bishkek and Osh. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles for stays of 2 nights or more at Kalyon Hotel Istanbul. More... Until Feb 28, 16
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles and 3rd night free for stays at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Istanbul Atakoy. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 16
- Earn up to Triple Miles&Smiles Miles when you rent a Nissan Qashqai from Hertz in Turkey. More... Until Jan 31, 16

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 1,000 FREE VHR Points for simply being a Voila Hotel Rewards member. More... Until Dec 31, 15 

Hilton HHonors - Double Points or Miles on all stays January 1 - April 30, 16

The major hotel promotions for the first part of 2016 are being released rapid fire, one after the other! The latest to be released is Hilton's Double Points or Miles. Same offer that we saw earlier in the year and just like Starwood, the great news is that ALL hotels are participating, no long list of opt outs.

Now you must choose Double Points or Miles when you register and you can't change this once you do. If you stay at Hilton's frequently Double Points is the obvious way to go but if you don't know if you'll have any Hilton stays or maybe just one or two you may be better off going the Double Miles route.

Offer Details
Double HHonors Points or Double Airline Miles for all eligible stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Jan 1 - Apr 30, 16

AIR MILES: 40 Bonus Reward Miles for Best Western stays in Canada, the US and the Caribbean

Offer Details:
40 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles for each qualified stay at any Best Western® branded hotel in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands. Full details, Online Registration and Booking (Registration is required) Until Feb 29, 16

IHG Rewards Club Accelerate 2016 - Earn at least 33,500 Bonus Points for stays Jan 1 - Apr 30, 15

IHG Rewards Club's Accelerate Promotion is wrapping up in two weeks and since it is nearing the end IHG has released the details of their next major systemwide promotion..... also called Accelerate! The new promotion launches on January 1st but members can log in and register as of today to see their new personalized offer.

Here is the offer I received for up to 33,500 bonus points:

Let us know what offer you received and we'll add it to this post and the offer details on our IHG Rewards Club page.

Offer Details
IHG Rewards Club Accelerate - Earn 33,500 or more IHG Rewards Club points when you stay at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Jan 1 - Apr 30, 15
Some offer Variations:
- Earn up to 33,500 points
- Earn up to 35,000 points
- Earn up to 40,000 points
- Earn up to 55,000 points
- Earn up to 87,000 Points
- Earn up to 118,800 points

Starwood Preferred Guest: Double Starpoints on 2+ night stays + 250 Bonus Points at select locations

Starwood has released the details of their first systemwide promotion for 2016. Called Take Two the promotion is very similar to the last few promotions, Double Starpoints on stays of 2 or more nights at Starwood Hotels Worldwide. The good news is that all hotels are participating and we don't have a big list of locations that chose to opt out. On top of the double Starpoints, select locations around the world will also offer 250 bonus Starpoints per night. These locations are in the U.S., and 13 other countries around the globe.

Offer details
Double Starpoints for stays of 2 or more nights at all Starwood Hotels Worldwide. Select hotels from around the world will also award 250 bonus Starpoints per night.  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Register and book by Apr 10 for stays Jan 11 - Apr 30, 16

December 15 Update: Win WestJet Gold Status + 10,000 Starpoints on FFB, up to 500 Free TAP Portugal Victoria Miles

First update since our major system crash last week!

News, Tips & Tricks
We are running the seventh and final contest of our FFB10 celebration! This contest is to last one to celebrate 10 years of our global site, FrequentFlyerBonuses.com. Check out it today and be sure to enter for your chance to win WestJet Rewards Gold Elite Status and 10,000 Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints. Find out more here!




Posts since our last update:

• Why proprietary credit card reward programs are the best option for most Canadians
  This feature article was posted to the main Rewards Canada website last Wednesday December 9th right before our computer crashed.…
• Canadian Points University - Come learn the ins and outs of travel rewards programs in Vancouver
  If you follow lots of the U.S. based miles and points bloggers you'll know that several times per year there…
• Canada's Fairmont Hotels to be acquired by Accor Hotels
  Why is that some sort major news always happens on the day that we are not in the office! I…

Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- 50% Bonus Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you fly Air China between China and Bangkok, Osaka or Tokyo. More... Until Jan 15, 16
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you book a Langham’s “Linger Longer” package at Best Available Rates at selected worldwide properties of Langham Hotels and Resorts. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- Earn up to Quadruple Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays at participating Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 16

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- OFFER EXTENDED Triple Mileage Plan Miles on all rentals of three days or longer at any Dollar location Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles on all Sixt car rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Dec 31, 15 for rentals until Mar 31, 16

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S.. More... Until Jan 7, 15

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Up to 500 Bonus Victoria Miles when you refer friends to the TAP Portugal Victoria program. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- Earn up to 10x Miles&Smiles Miles for stays at the Rixos The Palm Dubai. More... Until Jan 15, 16

Why proprietary credit card reward programs are the best option for most Canadians

This feature article was posted to the main Rewards Canada website last Wednesday December 9th right before our computer crashed. Hence not much action here on Rewards Canada since then!

As much as Canadians love their reward programs there are two universal truths: a.) It takes too long to accumulate meaningful points and b.) There are never enough flights available when you want to travel.

While I’ve written and conducted numerous media interviews on the topic, the best advice I can offer is to understand your options.

At their core, true frequent flyer programs such as Aeroplan are all about rewarding your travel behavior. Sure you can earn miles through your credit card spend but the bulk of your earning power is still associated with travel.

The AIR MILES Reward Program funny enough is less about frequent travel and more of frequent shopping. You earn a bulk of your miles by shopping at partner retailers, taking advantage of bonus offers and double or triple dripping by using your associated credit card.

So are you a frequent flyer or a frequent shopper? Knowing this is the first step to understanding how you can earn more points faster.

Problem is it still doesn’t solve the reward redemption part of the equation. Sadly, flight inventory continues to plague both programs and unless you’re either super flexible on where you want to go or can plan months and months in advance, there are limited options.

Or are there???

Continue reading the whole article here.

Canadian Points University - Come learn the ins and outs of travel rewards programs in Vancouver

If you follow lots of the U.S. based miles and points bloggers you'll know that several times per year there are seminars/conferences for the general public to go learn tips and tricks of the travel rewards industry. Well now the first such Canadian conference, the Canadian Points University is taking place in Vancouver on Saturday January 16th. This is the place to learn more about travel rewards programs for Canadians and how to make the most of earning and burning miles and points, achieving elite status and much much more.

There is Early Bird Pricing of $129 for the conference that ends at midnight on December 15th! Plus if you use our promo code REWARD20 you'll save an additional $20 so you can attend for only $109! If you aren't sure yet if you can attend you can buy tickets right up to the date of the event for $159 and still use our promo code of REWARD20 to save that $20 and pay only $139.

To learn more about the Canadian Points University and to buy tickets you can visit their website at www.pointsu.ca

Canada's Fairmont Hotels to be acquired by Accor Hotels

Why is that some sort major news always happens on the day that we are not in the office! I mean we did tweet about this via our FFBonuses twitter account the minute we saw the email from Fairmont announcing this and that tweet surprised a lot of people but of course we couldn't write about it yesterday. The news is France's Accor Hotels has agreed to buy FRHI (Fairmont Raffles Hotels Inc) which includes Fairmont Hotels, Raffles Hotels and Swissotel for US$2.9 billion.

As with any consolidation nothing changes now as it takes time to integrate the companies but word is the deal and integration should be ready later in 2016 around the same time that Marriott and Starwood finalize everything. I would wager a guess that the hotel brands will remain (Fairmont, Raffles, Swissotel) as they are each iconic in their own right however we will more than likely see the end of our beloved Fairmont President's Club to only be rolled in Accor's Le Club accorhotels program. The two programs are very different and President's Club is well known here in Canada while Le Club not as much. Surprisingly both are part of the benefits package of The Platinum Card from American Express, you get automatic Platinum status with Le Club and the accelerated offer to Platinum with Fairmont. So best guess is that the accelerated offer will not be around in 2017.

Overall the feeling isn't great with many as Fairmont President's Club fills a niche and treats its members very well, less can be said about Le Club accorhotels.

While it is too early to speculate exactly what will happen if and when the reward programs amalgamate we can almost guarantee it won't be good for Fairmont President's Club members.

I know we have lots of Fairmont President's Club members who visit Rewards Canada and follow us on social media so we'd love to hear your thoughts on this news!!

Avianca LifeMiles - 140% bonus miles when you buy miles online Dec 9 - 11 (1.375 cents per mile)

Avianca LifeMiles has sweetened the pot on their 100% bonus on buying miles with the added incentive bonuses for buying higher amount of miles! Up until yesterday they would tack on an additional 15% to 25% depending on the level you buy at.

BUT BETWEEN TODAY AND THE 11th THEY"LL GIVE YOU A 40% BONUS NO MATTER WHAT LEVEL YOU BUY AT!

 If you have followed us for sometime you'll know this is a decent option to get Star Alliance flights on the cheap especially in business class. However Avianca announced back on September 30th of 2014 the price to buy miles will go up 10% and had changes to their award chart on October 15th which were a devaluation. So what should you do? If you know that you can make your travel work and get the LifeMiles redemption(s) of your choice go ahead and buy the miles however I wouldn't buy them if you don't think you'll use them over then 3-6 months just in case another award chart devaluation comes along.

If you go ahead with this offer the miles will cost you US 1.375 cents a piece! So buying 150,000 LifeMiles will cost you US$4,950 but you will get a total of 360,000 miles with the bonus.


Normally a decent feature of LifeMiles is their Cash + Part Miles option but that was devalued over a year ago. This option only requires that you have 40% of the points for a reward but that offer has you buy the rest of the miles (the other 60%) at about 1.56 cents per mile so you are better off buying the whole amount of miles required for an award through this promo.

Some things to consider with the buy miles option before you pull the trigger is that their call center tends to be on the less helpful side so you are better off booking award tickets online which also means you are limited to the powers of that source, mixed class awards are not allowed unless you book each award ticket as separate one way flights and they have devalued the program without notice in the past so only buy these miles if you think you will use them in the next short while

Offer details
140% Bonus LifeMiles when you buy LifeMiles online. Full details Until Dec 11, 15

December 8 Update: Hyatt Gold Passport offline next week, 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for Best Western mobile app bookings

A quiet Tuesday for you..

News, Tips & Tricks
Hyatt Gold Passport is letting their members that their website will be down from Tuesday Dec 15 to Fri Dec 19. At that time you will not be able to access your account online or even via the 1-800 #.

"We know how important it is to have up-to-date Hyatt Gold Passport account information. So, we wanted to let our members know that from December 15 to December 18, 2015 Hyatt Gold Passport will be undergoing system maintenance and account information will not be accessible during this time.

What members are able to do:
• Earn points and stay/night credit toward tier status for all eligible stays
• Earn points for eligible dining and spa services
• Book paid reservations

What members are unable to do:
• Cannot access your account information, including point balance and promotional awards, either online or by calling a Global Contact Center
• Cannot redeem new promotional awards or points for free nights, room upgrades, or miles
• Cannot purchase or combine points

Any account activity accrued after December 12, 2015 will not be reflected on member’s account until the week of December 28, 2015. Members can be assured that any points earned during this time will be credited to their account. We appreciate your patience during this time.

We don't want you to miss out, so if you're planning an upcoming trip using your points or awards, start exploring and book before December 15, 2015. Otherwise, you’ll have full access to your account beginning December 19, 2015."

Come join us at the Canadian Points University in January! You can save $20 off the ticket price when you use promo code REWARD20 ! Visit the site here.

Posts since our last update:

• RBC Rewards teams up with airbnb - Now earn bonus points on airbnb stays until Feb 29, 16
   In many of my past meetings with credit card issuers I have always been asked the question what can…

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 5,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you fly KLM World Business Class between Edmonton and Amsterdam. More... Until Feb 29, 16

Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for each qualified stay at Best Western hotels Worldwide that are booked via the Best Western to Go Mobile® app. More... Until Feb 7, 16

Caribbean Airlines CaribbeanMiles
- Earn up to 6x Caribbean Miles on Hertz car rentals at participating locations in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Up to Double GarudaMiles on all Garuda Indonesia flights Worldwide. More... Dec 20 - Jan 10, 16
- 25% GarudaMiles Discount for award travel on all Garuda Indonesia flights Worldwide. More... Book by Dec 31 for travel Jan 1 - Mar 31, 16

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios for a 4 night stay at participating Hoteles Andaluces con Encanto. More... Until Dec 31 , 15
- Quadruple Avios for stays at Iberostar Hotels in the Canary Islands. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Triple Avios for stays at NH Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Double Avios for stays at Paradores hotels. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Earn up to 9,000 Bonus Avios when you purchase Rusticae Gift Cards. More... Until Jan 7, 16
- 25% Bonus Avios when you transfer U.S. Membership Rewards Points to Iberia Plus. More... Until Dec 31 , 15
- Earn up to 12,000 Bonus Avios when you subscribe to the Economist. More... Until Jan 10, 16

IHG Rewards Club
- 2,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points on your first Uber ride in the U.S. when you book it via the IHG app. More... Until ?

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Triple TrueBlue points and save up to $1,000 when you fly Emirates from the U.S.. More... Register and book by Feb 7 for travel Jan 11 - Apr 30, 16

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 30% Bonus Elevate Points when you buy points online. More... Until Dec 23, 15