April 28 Update: Stay tuned for lots of news on Monday, What will happen to loyalty rewards and Tangerine Card changes tomorrow

News, Tips & Tricks
Not much news today outside of what we already posted on the site but Monday is going to be super busy! There are several new credit card offers launching on Monday (we have alluded to these already) but the most exciting is the launch of a new Rewards Canada Exclusive promotion! We will also provide details on a new flight bonus offer that we helped develop via the consulting side of our company. Podcast 24 will be released, the Hilton Honors double points goes live and that's just Monday! Next week as a whole should be busy as the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite offer wraps up on Friday so we should get details of the new offer before that and will pass that along. Quebec may pass Bill 791 which will have huge implications on our industry. And I'm sure there will be even more going on!

Remember as well that the Tangerine Money Back Credit Card changes kick in tomorrow. Existing and new cardholders will only earn 0.5% cash back on non bonus category purchases plus be subject to higher service fees. 

Posts since our last update:

• What is going to happen to loyalty rewards in Canada if Quebec passes Bill 791 and programs have to retain point/mile value?
  The coming weeks could see drastic changes in the loyalty landscape in Canada. Earlier this year new legislation was…
• Book your everyday travel via our partners page and in turn support Rewards Canada
  Years ago and I mean pre-2012 years we had a page on the old Rewards Canada where we listed…
• What's going on with the mbna Alaska Airlines MasterCard?
  You may have noticed that as of April 26th the mbna Alaska Airlines MasterCard disappeared from the mbna website…
• IHG Rewards Club Accelerate returns for Summer 2017 - Earn 30,000 or more bonus points for your IHG stays!
  We told you that when IHG launched their one month long spring promotion a few weeks that seemed like…
• Kaligo: 1,000 Bonus Miles/Points on your 1st booking and/or 20% on all bookings
  Kaligo has launched a couple of great new bonus offers that aren't program specific. You can earn these bonuses…

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A


Other Bonus Offers
Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles when you fly Alitalia between Rome and Male. More... Book by May 15 for travel Oct 31 - Dec 15, 17

IHG Rewards Club
- IHG Rewards Club Accelerate: Earn 500 to 30,000 or more Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Bonus varies by member More... May 15 - Aug 31, 17

Miles & More
- Earn up to Triple Miles & More miles for Budget rentals Worldwide. More... Book by May 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 17

Scandic Hotels Friends
- 2,000 Bonus Scandic Friends Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Scandic Kista Stockholm. More... Until May 31, 17

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- Earn up to 8x Miles & Smiles Miles when you rent with Europcar. More... Book by Jun 30 for rentals until Jul 15, 17


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What is going to happen to loyalty rewards in Canada if Quebec passes Bill 791 and programs have to retain point/mile value?

The coming weeks could see drastic changes in the loyalty landscape in Canada. Earlier this year new legislation was proposed in Quebec that followed in the foot steps of Ontario. The Ontario legislation covered the expiry of loyalty points and was passed so that points and miles earned from programs would not expire based on time but could due to inactivity. Quebec is now wanting to do the same but are going a step further, they want to make it illegal for programs to change redemption rates (ie mile/point value) from what you get when you sign up.

Excerpt from Bill 791:

REWARDS PROGRAM CONTRACTS
“187.6. Before entering into a rewards program contract, the merchant must inform the consumer of the conditions applicable to obtaining and using rewards points.
“187.7. Subject to any applicable regulations, any stipulation of or amendment to the contract providing for an expiry date on the rewards points obtained by the consumer is prohibited.
“187.8. Any stipulation providing that the merchant may retroactively change the value of the rewards points accumulated by the consumer is prohibited.”

Line 187.7 is essentially the same as Ontario's bill however line 187.8 goes that step further. It does not allow programs to change the value of reward points accumulated. This means programs cannot change redemption rates as that effectively changes the value of the rewards points accumulated. We saw last year the conclusion of a class action lawsuit against TD in Quebec when they changed their reward redemption rates in the TD Travel Reward program. TD settled and let Quebecois keep the old better redemption rates until August 31, 2017 whereas the rest of Canada had to book at higher rates. Then there was the whole AIR MILES debacle in 2016 and the risk of rates going higher with them since they aren't expiring miles and you can see why Quebec has added this line into the legislation.

This is why the mbna Alaska Airlines MasterCard will no longer be available in Quebec as we know that Alaska Airlines will want to change redemption rates in the future. But what does this hold for existing members of Mileage Plan and all other programs? What is Aeroplan going to do? Quebec is huge for them - they could get rid of Classic Flight rewards and go strictly market fare but that would kill their membership base in the province. Then there is AIR MILES, Shoppers Optimum and scores of other programs. How are programs going to deal with not being able to change the value of the points and miles earned by their consumers in Quebec? This is huge. It looks great for the consumer in the way that you won't have to worry about your points devaluing through redemption but the programs need to stay alive and changes every few years were the norm. So we'll pay for it somehow and the logical option is changing the earn rate. Will we see lower earn rates on credit card spend? Will we see AIR MILES earning go from 1 per $20 spent at merchants to 1 per $25? By changing earn rates you aren't changing the value of your point or mile which means if and when this bill passes don't be surprised if we see earn rates drop over time.

Remember this is just Quebec at this time proposing this law  however it is setting precedent for other provinces. There is nothing stopping Ontario from amending theirs to include point value retention as well and after having two provinces with reward program rules in place it won't be long before we see other provinces follow suit.

Book your everyday travel via our partners page and in turn support Rewards Canada

Years ago and I mean pre-2012 years we had a page on the old Rewards Canada where we listed all our partners that you could book travel with but that disappeared when we redesigned the site. The page was created for several reasons. First off, family and friends kept asking me how they could book travel with us and I had to explain well we are more based on travel rewards not a travel agency but yes if you go to so and so bonus offer page on our site and click a register now link for a flight bonus or hotel bonus you would be taken to that airline or hotel and you could book with them. This was a convoluted process and the landing page of a reward offer isn't usually your easiest booking page since it is a registration page. Secondly, we had our regular readers asking us how they can support the website. Someone suggested putting one of those 'Support our site with a donation via Paypal' icons but we didn't want that so we just asked years ago that if you are booking travel you book it via us as we get a small commission on those bookings. That way you are getting something for your money and in turn you help support us.

Fast forward to now and people still ask how they can help us out. Whether it is a fellow parent at a volleyball tournament, the gentlemen in the shared office space we work out of or the numerous emails with people looking for advice on credit cards and reward programs who are very thankful and ask us how they can help us out.

To answer this and make it easy we have re-created our partners page where you can go to book your travel. The great thing is that you are not booking your travel with Rewards Canada. You are booking with the end provider, so if you have status with Marriott and want to ensure you get all your points and elite status benefits on your stay you don't have to worry as that booking is made with them not us.

We have well over 100 airline, hotel, car rental and OTA partners listed on the page that you can make your bookings with and we thank you in advance for any and all bookings you do make via the page as you are helping support the site.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions please do not hesitate to post them in the comments section below.

Other than that you can check out our Partner Booking Page here!

What's going on with the mbna Alaska Airlines MasterCard?

You may have noticed that as of April 26th the mbna Alaska Airlines MasterCard disappeared from the mbna website and even when you click on the link for the card from Alaska's website you get the following:

We talked to our contact at TB/mbna today for some clarification on what is happening.

The card is not being discontinued. It is the third most popular card in the Canadian market in terms of an airline co-brand with membership somewhere in the five figure range. Less than Aeroplan and WestJet but definitely way more than other airline co-brand cards like British Airways and Cathay Pacific, so it has a strong following. When mbna reached out to us earlier to remove all links for the card they did ask if we have geo-targeting capabilities for the card in the future so we wanted that answered as well. What we learned from that is that this card will no longer be available to residents of Quebec. Why? Well the card is being changed slightly, it is going to have higher income requirements and a minimum spend requirement which does not meet Quebec laws apparently (not sure how other World Elite MC's still work in Quebec)  Now for the rest of Canada to get the initial sign up bonus of 25,000 miles and your first year companion ticket you will have to reach a minimum spend of $1,000 on the card in the first 90 days of having it. The higher income requirement is now matching the number set by MasterCard for World Elite cards of $80,000 personal or $150,000 household. That leaves the WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard as one of the few World Elite MC's with the older lower numbers of 70k/120k.

If you were thinking about this card you'll have to wait for perhaps a week or so (maybe less) to apply for it again or in the meantime if you are looking for a credit card that can earn Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles (mainly for those of you in Quebec) we'd recommend the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express as Starpoints convert 1:1 to Alaska (and they throw in 5,000 more miles when you convert 20,000 points at a time)

UPDATE:
We have learned more about the reasoning behind the Quebec issue. It is due to Bill 791 which should be introduced shortly in Quebec that follows the legislation set in place by Ontario but goes even further than just banning expiry dates but is also including the provision that you cannot change redemption rates on consumers! So this is why you won't see this card in Quebec anymore because it would prevent Alaska Airlines from making changes to their award charts! And now the bigger question is, outside of all the cash based programs (like proprietary credit card programs, WestJet, Petro) what is going to happen to them in Quebec? Aeroplan is huge in Quebec, what will happen to their classic flight rewards and merchandise catalogs?

IHG Rewards Club Accelerate returns for Summer 2017 - Earn 30,000 or more bonus points for your IHG stays!

We told you that when IHG launched their one month long spring promotion a few weeks that seemed like a stop-gap measure until the next Accelerate offer came out and we were correct! As soon as the spring bonus ends the summer Accelerate offer launches! As we have seen before, each Accelerate promotion they come out with has new personalized offers for each member. The total bonus available per member ranges from a minimum of 30,000 points to well past 100,000. You can register for Accelerate here.

Here is the offer I received (the same as every time for me since I didn't have any IHG stays)

This is the baseline offer that any IHG Rewards Club member should receive however many of you will receive more rewarding offers. From past experience it does appear the more active you have been in the program the better the offer you'll receive. Let us know in the comments section what offer you received.

If you receive the above offer you'll need to complete three stays with four nights to get the bonus and you'll want to have them all at Holiday Inn Hotels.  These are the stays in no particular order:

• Stay 1: Holiday Inn for a Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday nights on a member exclusive discount rate. This will complete the 'A Bonus Weekend Stay' and earn you 2,000 bonus points. It will also cover off 1 of 3 hotel requirements for 'Comfort Seeker', 1 of 2 requirements for 'Your Rate' and 2 of 3 nights for 'Stay More, Earn More'  
• Stay 2: Holiday Inn for one night on a member exclusive discount rate. This will complete the 2nd requirement of 'Your Rate' and earn you 2,000 bonus points. It will also cover off the third night of 'Stay More, Earn More' so you'll earn 2,000 more points. It will also cover off the 2nd of 3 hotel requirements for 'Comfort Seeker'  
• Stay 3: Holiday Inn for one night on a member exclusive discount rate. This will complete the 3rd of 3 hotel requirements for 'Comfort Seeker'  and get you the 2,000 bonus points. You have now hit all your achievements and you will get 21,500 bonus points.

If you could keep your costs to $100 per night you are looking at $400 in stays to earn the 30,000 bonus points. Not great but not bad at all, you are actually looking at about a $150 return with those 30,000 points.  Of course if you have a different offer you may get even better value out of the promotion!

Let us know what offer you get in the comments below!

Offer details
IHG Rewards Club Accelerate: Earn 500 to 30,000 or more Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Bonus varies by member  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) May 15 - Aug 31, 17

Kaligo: 1,000 Bonus Miles/Points on your 1st booking and/or 20% on all bookings

Kaligo has launched a couple of great new bonus offers that aren't program specific. You can earn these bonuses into the airline or reward program partner of your choice.  Of course if have not booked via Kaligo before take advantage of the 1,000 mile first time booking bonus then take advantage of the 20% bonus on all your other bookings. Both offers must be booked by May 8 for stays right through 2017 and 2018

Offer details:
1,000 Bonus Miles or points in the program of your choice on your first hotel stay of US$300 or more booked via Kaligo. Full details and online booking

Offer details
20% Bonus Miles or points in the program of your choice on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo.  Full details and online booking

Here are all of Kaligo's partners:

April 26 Update: Hilton Honors Points Pooling is live, Qatar Airways sale out of Montreal, Accor Hotels multi stay bonus

News, Tips & Tricks
Hilton Honors went through some changes earlier this year and one of the announced changes is now live. The ability to pool points between family and friends came into effect yesterday. You and up to 10 other members can pool points to reach an award faster. Once people are in a pool, members can transfer points to the person who created the pool. There is a 1,000 point minimum and a maximum of 500,000 points per transaction. Here is an excerpt from the terms and conditions with more details:

• Transfers of points are non-refundable.

• Any transferred points will not count toward qualification for any increased or improved status in the Hilton Honors

• You may transfer or pool up to 500,000 points per transaction. Points must be transferred in 1,000 point increments.

• Each Hilton Honors Member is limited to transferring or pooling no more than five hundred thousand (500,000) Points and receiving two million (2,000,000) Points per calendar year.

• Each Hilton Honors Member is limited to six (6) Transfer and six (6) Points Pooling transactions per calendar year. Any points beyond these limits will not be posted to any Member's account.

Posts since our last update:

• Hilton Honors - Double Points on all stays this summer (Triple for Diamond Members)
  As the month of April wraps up so does the current systemwide Hilton Honors bonus of 2,000 bonus points…
• Alaska Airlines Buy Miles Flash Sale: 40% Bonus on every 10,000 miles purchased (max 5 purchases)
  Alaska has launched a limited time and participation offer for buying their miles. The bonus amounts to 40% as…

Travel Deals
 
Qatar Airways has launched a new global sale. As they serve Montreal from their Doha hub YUL is included in this sale. You can fly out of Montreal to global destinations for as little as C$910.  Find out more here

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A


Other Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Double Bonus Miles for stays at the Novotel Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. More... May 1 - 14, 17
- Double Bonus Miles for stays at the Metropol Hotel. More... Until May 31 , 17
- 7,000 Bonus Miles when you apply for the Aeroflot-Citibank MasterCard® credit card and make purchases worth minimum 10,000 RUB. More... Until Jul 31, 17
- Double Miles when you shop at La Vallée Village, La Roca Village and Las Rozas Village. More... Until May 19, 17

American AAdvantage
- OFFER EXTENDED 500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for rentals of 3+ days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Caribbean. More... Until Jun 30, 17
- OFFER EXTENDED 500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for rentals of 3+ days at participating Budget locations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Caribbean. More... Until Jun 30, 17

Hilton HHonors
- Double Honors Points on all eligible stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide. Diamond members will earn Triple Points. More...May 1 - Aug 31, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at all participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by May 23 for stays May 9 - Sep 3, 17

South African Airways Voyager
- 1,000 Bonus Voyager Miles + 20% off for stays at any participating Protea Hotel by Marriott or the Cape Town Marriott Hotel Crystal Towers. More... Until Sep 30, 17

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Double Starpoints for stays at the Four Points by Sheraton Manado. More.. Until Sep 30, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

Hilton Honors - Double Points on all stays this summer (Triple for Diamond Members)

As the month of April wraps up so does the current systemwide Hilton Honors bonus of 2,000 bonus points per night. Good news is there is no gap between that offer and the start of Hilton's summer bonus. The summer bonus is double points on all stays Worldwide with all hotels participating. The bonus gets even better if you are a Diamond Elite member as you'll get Triple Points. This bonus is good for those more expensive stays compared to the flat 2,000 bonus points we over Spring but for those stays that don't cost much you'll earn less with the double points offer. Remember as well if you book via a mobile you can earn 500 more points.

Offer details
Double Honors Points on all eligible stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide. Diamond members will earn Triple Points. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)  May 1 - Aug 31, 17

Find many more HHonors bonus offers here.

Alaska Airlines Buy Miles Flash Sale: 40% Bonus on every 10,000 miles purchased (max 5 purchases)

Alaska has launched a limited time and participation offer for buying their miles. The bonus amounts to 40% as you can only buy 10,000 miles at a time and they'll throw in 4,000 more miles. You can make up to 5 separate purchases. They are also limiting the offer to the first 2,500 members who purchase miles. This bonus is significant as usually to get the 40% bonus you have to buy 40,000 or more miles when they have these bonus sales. Remember you can fly between Alberta or B.C. to Seattle for as little as 5,000 miles one way or even 7,500 one way to places like Portland.

Offer details
4,000 Bonus Mileage Plan miles when you purchase 10,000 miles. Full details. Until May 3 or when 2,500 members purchase the package, whichever comes first.

Find many more Mileage Plan bonus offers here!

April 25 Update: Hold off on the Scotia Gold Amex & Momentum Infinite Visa, Marriott eBreaks, 9 new bonus offers

News, Tips & Tricks
Hate to do this to those who have already applied but right now you'll want to wait to get the Scotia Gold American Express Card. The sign up offer for the card gets even better on May 1st! If you have applied recently and were approved wait until the new offer is out and call in, many cardholders have had success having their points boosted to match the offer. Stay tuned next week for complete details!

There will also be an updated sign up offer for the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card that for most will be better so wait to apply for that card as well.

Posts since our last update:

• WestJet Rewards Exclusive Member Offers: Complete a set number of flights in Canada to save up to 50% on a future flight
  WestJet launched a new promotion today for members of the WestJet Rewards program. The promotion varies based on your…

Travel Deals
Marriott's eBreaks for this week have 4 Canadian locations. 3 in Alberta and in Newfoundland. Book by Thursday for stays this weekend!! Find out more and book here.

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A


Other Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 1,888 Asia Miles for any rental with Europcar Worldwide except in the U.S./Canada. More... Book by Jun 30 for rentals until Jul 15, 17
- Triple Asia Miles when you book and use Blacklane car service. More... Book by Jun 30 for rentals until Dec 31, 17

Czech Airlines OK Plus
- Triple OK Plus Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia. More... Until May 31, 17

Kaligo
- 1,000 Bonus Miles or points in the program of your choice on your first hotel stay booked via Kaligo.  More... Book by May 8 for stays until Dec 31, 18
- 20% Bonus Miles or points in the program of your choice on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo.  More... Book by May 8 for stays until Dec 31, 18

Marriott Rewards
- Up to 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at any one of 27 Marriott hotels in a variety of cities throughout the US. More... Until May 9, 17

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at participating Novotel, Novotel Suites and Mercure hotels Worldwide. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 17

Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- 60% Bonus Safar Flyer Miles when you fly Royal Air Maroc on select Europeand and African route. More... Until Jun 15, 17
- Double Safar Flyer Miles on all Qatar Airways flights including Qatar Airways codeshares on Royal Air Maroc. More... Until Jun 30, 17


Follow Rewards Canada: