Rewards Canada's Guide to Credit Card Cash Back Liquidity

For nearly a month now we have been looking at how you can use your loyalty programs and credit cards to help you out financially during these difficult times. In many of our articles we talk about the liquidity of your points, miles and even cash back as there is a lot of variation from each of the programs and card issuers. It is the latter where much of that variation comes in - that is how quickly or how easily can you access your credit card points or miles or cash back to help lower your credit card statement balance.

The reason we look at this is front and centre in our news and world today. Thousands of Canadians are being laid off from work or are working much less hours from home or at their workplace and this means lower to even no income. On the date of publishing this article a survey reported that 49% of Albertans were already feeling a financial pinch. That's where you can look at your credit card reward programs as source of financial aid by using the rewards or cash back to help pay down your expenses. We won't go into huge detail in this article since we have covered it in great depth in the following articles:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
• In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card
• Low Interest Credit Card Options

The one recurring theme you'll notice in many of those articles is our warning about many of the most popular cash back credit cards. They are being heavily promoted right now since travel is almost nonexistent but you have to be aware that a lot of them don't give you easy access to that cash back. Many of them only provide you your cash back return once annually - something that doesn't work for many who may need access to those rewards in the short term. That is why we developed this feature so that you can compare the various cash equivalent redemption options of many of Canada's popular credit cards.

Continue on the the main feature....

March 31 Update: Earn up to 48,000 Avios for free, major schedule update from Air Canada, 20x PC Optimum points with Beauty Boutique & more

With the new HSBC World Mastercard World Elite offer we updated our Travel Hacking 101 post. With this new card offer you can now earn up to 48,000 British Airways Executive Club Avios at no cost outside of credit card spend. Learn more here.

Our feature on What you actually have to spend to get some of the best credit card welcome bonus offers has been updated with the new HSBC World Elite Mastercard offer. See the feature here.

Air Canada provided a major schedule update yesterday amidst their announcement of up to 16,500 lay offs. It's insane as to how little their entire operation will be in April Their page shows a small amount of flights within Canada and flights to the U.S. are only out of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver (and there aren't very many of those flights). To Europe there will be up to 30 flights per week out of the three same cities, five flights per week in total from Vancouver to Hong Kong and Tokyo. Air Canada will also operate a handful of flights from Toronto to Mexico City and Barbados. All other international flying including all flights to Australia, Africa, and South America will not fly in April. You can find all their scheduled flights for April here.

WestJet provided an update yesterday on in-flight service:

WestJet is committed to providing our guests and WestJetters a safe travel and work environment. We have taken many extra precautions since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak and as of today have made additional changes to our inflight service. 

On flights under 90 minutes:
We will no longer offer service on these flights in any cabin
Water and complimentary snacks will be available for emergency use only

On flights over 90 minutes:
We are suspending beverage service in all cabins
Economy Guests will receive a complimentary snack, water bottle (small) and napkin on their seat prior to boarding for all occupied seats
Additional water will be available on request
Premium and Business Guests will receive a premium snack box, napkin and water bottle (small) on their seat prior to boarding Additional water will be available on request

You can earn 20x PC Optimum points when shop online at the Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutique. This offer runs until April 3. Find out more here.

 Last week we had a post stating If you want to redeem your points and miles for gift cards you may want to do so sooner than later as some U.S. based loyalty programs had removed the option to redeem your points or miles for gift cards. The trend south of the border continues with both American Airlines AAdvantage and Delta SkyMiles cutting off access to gift cards. It also appears Capital One in the U.S. has done the same. We haven't seen this happen yet here in Canada, in fact we are seeing the opposite with AIR MILES adding the cash eVoucher options for Uber Eats and Door Dash (read about that here) and Scotia delaying the points increases to some cash back and gift card options. Still you may want to take these moves from the U.S. and be proactive here in Canada. (Source Doctor of Credit)

Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel, lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.
Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• AIR MILES adds Uber Eats and Door Dash as Cash Miles redemption options
  AIR MILES let us know this morning that they have added two new awesome Cash Miles redemption options. You can…
• OFFER EXTENDED RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card - 35,000 points upon approval, no minimum spend requirement
  RBC has once again extended the great offer of 35,000 RBC Rewards Points on the RBC Avion Visa Infinite…
• Last day to apply for Tangerine Mastercards with their $250 welcome bonus
  Today is the last day that you can apply for either the Tangerine World Mastercard or Tangerine Money-Back Credit…
• Hertz waiving young renter fees for those aged 18-24 on rentals in Canada and the U.S.
  Similar to the Enterprise offer we posted about last week, Hertz is also waiving young renter fees on their…
• New HSBC +Rewards Mastercard offer - Up to 10,000 bonus points + first year annual fee waived with an 11.9% interest rate
  Now that we are covering low interest cards more due to demand we wanted to let you know about…
• New HSBC World Elite Mastercard offer - Up to 60,000 bonus points + first year annual fee waived (90,000 points + annual fee for Quebec)
  HSBC's latest offer for their World Elite Mastercard is out now and it is one of the better ones…
• March 30 Update: Low interest credit card offers, WestJet provides schedule updates & more
  One credit card topic we have covered very little of on Rewards Canada in our almost 20 year history…

Deals:

Doordash $5 Deals. Use Code: 5DEALS at checkout! Expires April 15. Find out more here

Enterprise: Student Travel Assistance – Waiving young renter fees and reducing the minimum age to 18 for rentals through May 31, 2020. Find out more here

All 2020 Books $10, 15% off 2 or more with code SPRING + Free Shipping at Shop.Entertainment.com! (Valid 03/30 - 04/06 @9:00 am EST)


Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers

No new bonus offers added today

Other Bonus Offers

No new bonus offers added today




Follow Rewards Canada:

---

AIR MILES adds Uber Eats and Door Dash as Cash Miles redemption options

AIR MILES let us know this morning that they have added two new awesome Cash Miles redemption options. You can now redeem your AIR MILES Reward Miles for eVouchers to use with Uber Eats or Door Dash. Here is what they told us:

Effective today, AIR MILES Collectors can use Cash Miles towards Uber Eats and Door Dash eVouchers. For 190 Cash Miles, Collectors will get a $20 eVoucher code to use on their next Uber Eats or Door Dash order!

These redemption options follow the same the redemption rate of all other Cash Miles rewards of 95 miles = $10 however you do have to redeem 190 at a time to get that $20 eVoucher. I applaud AIR MILES for adding these two options - they couldn't come at a better time and I expect them to be extremely popular among AIR MILES collectors. We as a society in this pandemic are using food delivery services more than ever yet many Canadians are already feeling the financial strain that is ever too present so being able to use AIR MILES Cash Miles to supplement your dining budget in this matter is awesome.

If you have heeded our advice from a couple of weeks ago in our feature Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times you have shifted your AIR MILES earning to 100% Cash Miles instead of Dream Miles and hopefully you have built up those balances so that you can redeem for Uber Eats or Door Dash.

You can learn more about the Uber Eats redemption option here and the Door Dash redemption option here

---

All images via AIR MILES

OFFER EXTENDED RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card - 35,000 points upon approval, no minimum spend requirement

RBC has once again extended the great offer of 35,000 RBC Rewards Points on the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card. It was supposed to end today but that has now been pushed back to April 30.

The 35,000 RBC Rewards Points are awarded on approval - no minimum spend, no spend this much each month over this many months. You simply have to be approved for the card and the bonus is yours. Yes you do have to pay the annual fee of $120 but it is more than worth with the value of the bonus and the fact you get the points in your first billing period. No waiting 3 months, 6 months or longer. You can travel a lot sooner with this bonus.

Here is what the 35,000 points will get you:

• One economy class flight anywhere in Canada or the U.S. (Hawaii and Alaska excluded) or two economy class flights to a neighbouring province or state when redeeming via the RBC Avion Air Travel Redemption schedule. Taxes and fees are not included but you can redeem points towards them at 100 points to $1 rate or just pay for them with your credit card
• $350 credit towards any other travel booked via RBC Rewards (100 points = $1)
• Convert the 35,000 points to WestJet Rewards at a 100 to 1 ratio. This means the offer provides 350 WestJet dollars. Several times per year RBC also offers a bonus when you transfer to WestJet. That bonus tends to be 10% so these 35,000 points could be converted to 385 WestJet dollars or more if the bonus is higher
• Convert the 35,000 points to British Airways Executive Club at a 1:1 ratio. 35,000 Avios will get you an economy class flight between Toronto and Dublin (as little as 26,000 Avios required) or a whole slew of other flight options. RBC also offers transfer bonuses several times per year (which should see the next one around May or so) and those range from 30% to 50% meaning you could potentially have 52,500 Avios. 

Recommended reading: Utilizing British Airways' Executive Club for flights in North America
 
Now the above redemptions are all travel related - which of course at this time is next to non-existent but it doesn't hurt to start planning for the future and this card with this offer can be a great boost towards those future vacations.

On the non-travel side the 35,000 points are worth a little over $200 as a statement credit towards your card balance. With a $120 annual fee the means you would be $80 ahead if you are looking for some access to a cash equivalent right now.

Going back to travel - this is a pretty amazing offer considering there is no spending required at all other than paying your $120 annual fee. You have until April 30 to apply for the card and get this bonus offer. Note the excerpt from the terms that I have listed below - there are restrictions for those who hold existing RBC products.

Find out more and apply for the card here.


T&C's Excerpt:
Additional cardholder(s), as well as existing RBC Avion Visa Infinite or RBC Avion Visa Platinum, Cathay Pacific‡ Visa Platinum, British Airways‡ Visa Infinite, RBC Rewards Visa Preferred, RBC Rewards+ Visa, RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege and RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege for Private Banking cardholders, applying for or transferring to an RBC Avion Visa Infinite card or RBC Avion Visa Platinum as of the offer eligibility period, are not eligible for this offer.

Last day to apply for Tangerine Mastercards with their $250 welcome bonus

Today is the last day that you can apply for either the Tangerine World Mastercard or Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card to receive their current welcome bonus offer of $250.

To receive the bonus on either card you have to spend $5,000 in your first three months and you'll get a $250 bonus over and above the regular cash back you earn with the card. Since you can earn 2% cash back in select categories with the cards (3 for World, 2 for Money-Back) that means you could pull a 7% cash back return on that first $5,000 if you funneled all your spending on the 2% categories. All other purchases earn 0.5% so you could come out with no less than 5.5% cash back on that first $5,000 in spending.

Learn more about and apply for the Tangerine World Mastercard® here or  the
Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card here  

The card details below show the latest offers on this card and may not be representative of the discussion above:
 

---

Hertz waiving young renter fees for those aged 18-24 on rentals in Canada and the U.S.

Similar to the Enterprise offer we posted about last week, Hertz is also waiving young renter fees on their car rentals. The Hertz offer seems a little better in that you don't have to present a student ID to have the fee waived, it is automatically waived if you fall into the 18-24 age category and book with CDP 117049 and PC Code 204991. This offer runs until May 31, 20

Find out more and book this offer here.

Here are the terms and conditions:

*Minimum rental age is 18 years old (except in Alabama and Nebraska, where the age limit is 19 years old). Offer applies to reservations made on or after 3/17/20 for pick up through 5/31/2020. Offer applies to Economy car class and higher, excluding Dream, Prestige, and Adrenaline car classes. Offer valid at participating Hertz airport and neighborhood locations in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands. Offer does not apply to applicable taxes, fees, surcharges, refueling, or any optional product or service. This offer cannot be combined with any other discount or special rate and cannot be applied to a previous or existing reservation or rental. Offer is subject to vehicle availability at the time of booking. Renter and additional driver(s) must meet standard driver, credit, and rental requirements, except for the minimum age per this offer. Young renter fee will be removed at the counter. Hertz reserves the right to terminate the offer or change the terms at any time.

[OFFER EXPIRED] New HSBC +Rewards Mastercard offer - Up to 10,000 bonus points + first year annual fee waived with an 11.9% interest rate

THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED

Now that we are covering low interest cards more due to demand we wanted to let you know about another new offer from HSBC that launched today. Earlier we brought you details of the new offer on the HSBC World Elite Mastercard and now they have this limited time offer for their HSBC +Rewards Mastercard.

Related: Low Interest Credit Card Offers

This card is interesting in the fact that not only is it a low interest card with a standard low interest rate (not limited time)) but it also provides rewards. It's not the first card to do so but there sure aren't many that combine the two.

This card is still a relative newcomer to our market (here's our post about when it launched in August 2019) so it is still a relatively unknown card option for Canadians. You may be asking how are they able to offer low interest rates and rewards on the card? Well there is a trade off (isn't there always?). You see the rewards earning on the card is on the lower end of the spectrum which is the trade off for the low interest rate.

The card earns 1 HSBC Rewards point for every $1 spent on the card except for dining and entertainment where it earns 2 points per $1 spent. HSBC Rewards points are worth 0.5 cents each when redeeming towards travel which means this card gives a 0.5% return on all spending outside of the 1% for dining and entertainment. The return goes a bit lower when redeeming for statement credits or other reward options.

The interest rates on the card are 11.9% for both purchases and fund advances.

The good news is that as of today the new offer on the card sees its $25 annual fee waived in the first year and sees it's welcome bonus boosted from 5,000 points to 10,000 points. To earn the full bonus you have to spend $2,000 on the card in the first 180 days of having it. This offer runs until June 29, 2020 and conditions do apply.

Here are the most current details for this card:  

The offer is not available to residents of Quebec. If you reside in Quebec you can get 15,000 points with the card as long as you have the card 180 days and pay the $25 annual fee.

[OFFER EXPIRED] New HSBC World Elite Mastercard offer - Up to 60,000 bonus points + first year annual fee waived (90,000 points + annual fee for Quebec)

[THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED]

HSBC's latest offer for their World Elite Mastercard is out now and it is one of the better ones for this card. This offer is very similar to the offer we last fall however they have made the bonus based on a flat rate spend of $5,000 instead of a per dollar multiplier.


 A little background on this card - this is not their 'Premier World Elite' which is meant for people who bank at HSBC but rather this card is for any Canadian and it is essentially the same as the Premier version. When HSBC launched this card in 2018  it became obvious they didn't want to only market their credit cards to those who bank with them, rather they wanted to get into the entire lucrative Canadian credit card market.  To learn more about this card outside of this bonus offer I would recommend reading our review of the card. 

From now until June 29th you can apply for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard and get up to 60,000 bonus HSBC Rewards Points along with having the first year $149 annual fee waived on the primary card.  The bonus is awarded as follows:

• 20,000 Point Welcome Bonus on your first purchase
• 40,000 when you spend $5,000 in the first 180 days

The 60,000 points once achieved are worth $300 in travel rewards but this card isn't just a travel points card, it is actually a Hybrid Card. This means points can also be converted to partners outside of HSBC Rewards. In this card's case, they can be transferred to British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. The points convert as follows:

• 2.5 points to 1 Avios
• 3 points to 1.35 KrisFlyer Miles 
• 3 points to 1.2 Asia Miles 

This means the sign up bonus is worth 24,000 Avios in British Airways' Executive Club which if you have followed us for sometime now know that is a good amount for a lot of various redemptions.

Here are some options to check out

• How to get select Canada to U.S. award flights faster by utilizing British Airways' Executive Club 
• How you can easily get a free flight between Toronto and Dublin, Ireland (pre taxes/fees) or 4 flights for $240+fees 

The sign up bonus isn't the only good feature about this card however. It is one of only eight cards in Canada that has No Foreign Transaction fees, it also comes with a $100 annual travel enhancement credit (to use on bag fees, seat selection etc) and like most World Elite Mastercards in Canada it has airport lounge access membership via LoungeKey.

Recommend Reading: No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians 
& The Ultimate No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Card Portfolio

Now, with travel being curtailed due to the Coronavirus pandemic you may be more interested in cash back options to help with your financial situation and this card does have that option. The points can also be redeemed for many other non-travel items like merchandise, experiences, gift cards, HSBC financial products and even for any purchases made on the card. HSBC calls this last option their Cash Back Rebate and is 25,000 points for a $75 statement credit. That works out to a 0.9% to 1.8% return (based on 3 points for everyday spending and 6 points for travel) and also makes the welcome bonus of 60,000 points worth $180 for cash back rebates.


Here are the most current details for this card:

March 30 Update: Low interest credit card offers, WestJet provides schedule updates & more

One credit card topic we have covered very little of on Rewards Canada in our almost 20 year history are low interest credit cards as we always focused on the rewards side. Typically rewards and low interest cards don't go hand in hand so that is why there hasn't been much coverage on the latter. The past few weeks has changed that all however and the need for low interest cards is greater than ever now (hopefully only for the short term) but if you find that you are in a spot where you can going to need to carry a balance on a credit card you should look at a low interest card option as rewards cards all have very high interest rates. You don't have to cancel your rewards cards but you may need to add a low interest one to your portfolio for the time being. Many of them even include low interest rates on balance transfers so you could move a balance from a high interest rewards card to one of these low interest cards. We have started building a page of low interest card offers and now have that live on our website at: https://www.rewardscanada.ca/lowinterestcards.html.

The page is broken down into two sections - cards that offer low interest rates all the time and cards that have limited time low interest rate offers. Some cards will fall into both sections. If you see any cards we haven't listed yet or see other limited time offers please let us know and we'll add them to that page as soon as we can.

WestJet provided some schedule updates over the weekend for domestic flights and also some seasonal flights that were set to start over the next few weeks.

Here are the updates on international seasonal flights:

Seasonal international route starts dates have been updated as follows:

• Toronto – Barcelona starts June 5, 2020
• Calgary – Rome starts June 4, 2020
• Halifax – Manchester has been cancelled for summer 2020. WestJet will be reaccomodating guests on Halifax – London (Gatwick)

Their domestic schedule hasn't changed since we reported it last week except for their Grande Prairie flights and they have pushed back the launch of some summer seasonal routes:

Due to newly reduced airport operating hours, we have reduced the daily Calgary – Grand Prairie schedule by two flights. WestJet will continue to fly once daily. In addition, Edmonton – Grande Prairie has been suspended until further notice.
Select seasonal domestic routes will start July 3, 2020 including:

• Calgary – Whitehorse
• Calgary – Dawson Creek
• Calgary – Windsor
• Toronto – Deer Lake
• Halifax – Gander

You can find all these schedule updates on WestJet's blog. Of course all of the above routes and dates are subject to change.

Image via WestJet

Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel, lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.
Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• Travellers showing COVID-19 symptoms will no longer be able to travel domestically by plane or train
  During his daily update on Saturday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new measures to stop the spread of COVID-19…
• Here's what Air Canada is doing with their onboard fresh food amid so many flight suspensions
  This is a topic many of us probably haven't pondered during the past few weeks but what are airlines…
• Enterprise Canada waiving young renter fees for Canadian post-secondary students
  With our world turned upside down we are seeing many initiatives from companies to help consumers in these unprecedented…
• March 27 Update: You can no longer earn any points or miles with Amazon Canada, Japanese Airlines delay points expiry + double elite points on flights, Qantas offers elite status extension
  Amazon Canada has now been pulled from Aeroplan eStore - you officially cannot earn any miles, points or cash…

Deals:

Doordash $5 Deals. Use Code: 5DEALS at checkout! Expires April 15. Find out more here

Enterprise: Student Travel Assistance – Waiving young renter fees and reducing the minimum age to 18 for rentals through May 31, 2020. Find out more here

All 2020 Books $10, 15% off 2 or more with code SPRING + Free Shipping at Shop.Entertainment.com! (Valid 03/30 - 04/06 @9:00 am EST)


Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 60% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy 4,000 or more miles online. More... Until Apr 30, 20

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to a 100% bonus when you buy AAdvantage Miles. More... Until Apr 12, 20

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles for all hotel stays booked via Hotels.com (Hong Kong and Taiwan sites). More... Book by Apr 9 for stays until Aug 31, 20

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles when you fly on Emirates to/from Penang via Singapore. More... Register & book by Apr 30 for travel May 1 - Jul 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel More... Until Apr 30, 20



Follow Rewards Canada:

---

Travellers showing COVID-19 symptoms will no longer be able to travel domestically by plane or train

During his daily update on Saturday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 within our own country. As of right now (Noon ET Monday March 30) anyone looking to travel by plane or train within their own province or to other provinces will not be allowed to travel if they are showing any symptoms.

The onus is on the airlines and the rail companies to check their passengers before boarding and denying them travel should the be exhibiting any symptoms.

This an excerpt from the Transport Canada directive for air travel:

• Beginning on March 30, 2020 at 12:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time:
  • Domestic Flights: Notify passengers, before boarding the aircraft for a domestic flight, that they may be subject to a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 taken by provincial or territorial government with jurisdiction at the destination airport for that flight; and
  • Domestic Flights and Flights Departing Canada: Conduct a health check of every passenger before the passenger boards the aircraft and advise every passenger that they are not to provide answers that they know to be false or misleading.

 And their guidance on how airlines should ask and handle their guests:

If the response (or non-response) to any of the four questions below results in the answer that is in bold, then a denial of boarding must be applied, in accordance with the Interim Order.

1. Do you have a fever and a cough? If YES or passenger refuses to answer, deny boarding.
2. Do you have a fever and breathing difficulty? If YES or passenger refuses to answer, deny boarding.
3. Have you been refused boarding in the past 14 days due to a medical reason related to COVID-19? If YES or passenger refuses to answer, deny boarding.
4. Are you the subject of a provincial/territorial or local public health order? If YES or passenger refuses to answer, deny boarding.

You can learn more about the rules being applied to air travel here. For train travel you can read TC's directive here.

Title screenshot via Government of Canada

Here's what Air Canada is doing with their onboard fresh food amid so many flight suspensions

This is a topic many of us probably haven't pondered during the past few weeks but what are airlines doing with all the food that has been bought to supply flights that are no longer operating? Think about it -  airlines must plan ahead so lots of food items were ordered months ago and with lots of it being delivered before those orders could be cancelled. And with schedules reduced to just a trickle of what they were before that would mean there is the possibility of a lot of food going to waste due to so few flights being catered.

Well, Air Canada has tackled that problem by donating fresh food items to Second Harvest:

Air Canada and the Air Canada Foundation are working with Canadian food rescue organization Second Harvest's FoodRescue.ca to redistribute fresh food items from Air Canada's in-flight kitchens as the airline begins suspending the majority of its international and U.S. transborder flights as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

"While so many of us are staying home during these extraordinary times, we also remain united in taking care of each other. These difficult moments remind us of the importance of continuing to support our communities and help Canadian families in need.  Since we work with catering facilities across Canada, the network that Second Harvest offers through their national FoodRescue.ca platform enables us collectively to get these ready-to-eat food items to those who need it most as quickly as possible. To date, we have redistributed 2,330 kg of fresh veggies, salads, sandwich wraps, muffins and milk, and there will be more to distribute in the coming days," said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer at Air Canada.

The re-distribution of the fresh food has taken place in 7 Canadian cities and as stated in the press release will continue in the coming days.

Title Image via Air Canada

Enterprise Canada waiving young renter fees for Canadian post-secondary students

With our world turned upside down we are seeing many initiatives from companies to help consumers in these unprecedented times. From positive changes in policies to free products or services for healthcare workers we are seeing many of the world's best known corporations step up to the plate. I'm sure there's lots of this happening north of the border here in Canada but I just don't seem to be reading as much about it as I do for these nice acts south of the border.

This offer here from Enterprise is one of the first major ones I have seen being promoted here in Canada. They are waiving the fee normally charged to young renters until the end of May. Simply show your student ID at the time of rental and they'll take care of it.

Here are the complete details of the offer:

With colleges and universities announcing campus closures in response to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, Enterprise wants to make it easier for students to get home to their families by reducing the age minimum and waiving the young renter fees for rentals through 31 May, 2020. 

• Available to College Students 18 – 24 years of age
  
• Valid for rentals of an economy through full size cars, minivans, small pick-up trucks and cargo vans
  
• Offer valid at participating Canada locations only for car rentals reserved in advance. 
  
• Standard driver and credit requirements apply, except for the minimum car rental age per this offer
  
• Official Student ID must be presented at the time of rental
  
• Offer expires 31/5/2020
  

Find out more about this offer here.

Title image via Enterprise

March 27 Update: You can no longer earn any points or miles with Amazon Canada, Japanese Airlines delay points expiry + double elite points on flights, Qantas offers elite status extension

Amazon Canada has now been pulled from Aeroplan eStore - you officially cannot earn any miles, points or cash back for shopping at Amazon via any of the online portals.

Japan's two major airlines, JAL and ANA have both issued extensions of mileage expiry by one year and both have also initiated double elite status point earning on all their flights. ANA's double premium points offer is good for all flights to June 30 and JAL's double Fly On Points is valid on flights until July 31. Learn more about the ANA details here and the JAL details here.

Qantas has also revealed that elite status members in the Qantas Frequent Flyer program will get 12 month extensions on their status. Find out more here

The extension will be actioned in two phases - if your membership year ends:

• between March and June 2020, it will be automatically extended by 27 March 2020; and
• between July 2020 and February 2021, it will be automatically extended by 9 April 2020.

The processing date for the 12 month status extension cannot be changed. And here is the chart of when the extensions will be valid to:

Your current Membership Year end date:	Your status will be extended by Qantas to:	New Frequent Flyer card will be sent to you:
31 March 2020	31 March 2021	Mid March 2020
30 April 2020	30 April 2021	Mid April 2020
31 May 2020	31 May 2021	Mid May 2020
30 June 2020	30 June 2021	Mid June 2020
31 July 2020	31 July 2021	Mid July 2020
31 August 2020	31 August 2021	Mid August 2020
30 September 2020	30 September 2021	Mid September 2020
31 October 2020	31 October 2021	Mid October 2020
30 November 2020	30 November 2021	Mid November 2020
31 December 2020	31 December 2021	Mid December 2020
31 January 2021	31 January 2022	Mid January 2021
28 February 2021	28 February 2022	Mid February 2021

 
*** Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel, lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.
Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• Canadian Transport Agency states airlines can provide vouchers instead of refunds
  The Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) issued a statement yesterday in regards to vouchers that are being issued by airlines instead…
• March 26 Update: BMO AIR MILES Mastercard review updated, Aer Lingus providing 10% extra on vouchers, British Airways suspends all Canadian flights until April 17
  The Rewards Canada review of the BMO AIR MILES Mastercard has been updated! We haven't touched it since 2015…

Deals:

Doordash $5 Deals. Use Code: 5DEALS at checkout! Expires April 15. Find out more here

Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- OFFER EXTENDED 50% Bonus Elite Qualifying Mileage Plan miles when you fly on Alaska Airlines or Horizon Airline including their Canadian flights. More... Until May 31, 20

ANA Mileage Club
- Double Premium Points on all ANA fligthts Worldwide including Vancouver to Tokyo. More... Until Jun 30, 20

JAL Mileage Bank
- Double Fly On Points on all JAL fligthts Worldwide including Vancouver to Tokyo. More... Until Jul 31, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to Quadruple Asia Miles when you rent with Hertz for 3 or more days in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the USA. More... Book by May 31 for rentals until Aug 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the SpringHill Suites - Springfield North. More... Until May 31, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

---

Canadian Transport Agency states airlines can provide vouchers instead of refunds

The Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) issued a statement yesterday in regards to vouchers that are being issued by airlines instead of refunds. Essentially they are allowing airlines to go ahead with the voucher route and not issue refunds to customers for the time being. Here is an excerpt from the statement:

The legislation, regulations, and tariffs were developed in anticipation of relatively localized and short-term disruptions. None contemplated the sorts of worldwide mass flight cancellations that have taken place over recent weeks as a result of the pandemic. It's important to consider how to strike a fair and sensible balance between passenger protection and airlines' operational realities in these extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances.

On the one hand, passengers who have no prospect of completing their planned itineraries with an airline's assistance should not simply be out-of-pocket for the cost of cancelled flights. On the other hand, airlines facing huge drops in passenger volumes and revenues should not be expected to take steps that could threaten their economic viability.

While any specific situation brought before the CTA will be examined on its merits, the CTA believes that, generally speaking, an appropriate approach in the current context could be for airlines to provide affected passengers with vouchers or credits for future travel, as long as these vouchers or credits do not expire in an unreasonably short period of time (24 months would be considered reasonable in most cases).

I believe with this statement there is still room to get a refund as this isn't a set in stone decision but you may not get your refund right away. As it mentioned in the statement there needs to be a balance between the consumers and the airlines. The airlines have very little to no cash flow at this time and if they refunded every single traveller they would be in dire straights. However some travellers may also need that money back in their pockets right now, especially those who have no need for future travel. In that case you can call the airline and push for refund but expect to get push back based on this CTA statement. If you don't need the cash right right away you can take the voucher now and then you could go for a refund in the future just as WestJet is stating to their customers:

We are not processing refunds to original form of payment at this time. The full value of your flight has been refunded to a WestJet travel bank (for WestJet bookings) or WestJet Dollars account (for WestJet Vacations bookings), which is valid for 24 months from date of issue. If you prefer a refund to original form of payment, we will provide information about when that can be requested at a later date.

Overall this is news I know lots of our readers don't want to hear right now and if you want a refund and aren't getting one no matter how much you push you'll have to wait to proceed via the CTA as they have suspended all dispute resolution activities until June 30.

You can read the entire CTA statement here

Ends Today - 500 Bonus Plum Points on book orders with !ndigo (You can execute a quintuple dip with this offer!)

Need some new reading material to help you pass the time for self isolation? We came across this offer from Indigo quite late - as it ends today but if you order any books online today you'll earn 500 bonus Plum Points per book ordered. And shipping is free on most orders. You can learn more and take advantage of the offer here.

You can also choose to initiate this purchase via an online shopping portal like Rakuten, Aeroplan eStore or others to earn even more rewards. In fact with this bonus you could potentially execute a quintuple dip if you shop via airmilesshops.ca. Here's how the quintuple dip would work:

• Dip 1: Base Miles earn for purchase via airmilesshops.ca 
• Dip 2: 50 Bonus Miles if you spend $100 or more in one transaction via airmilesshops.ca
• Dip 3: Base points for your Indigo purchase
• Dip 4: 500 bonus point per book via Indigo
• Dip 5: the points or miles earned on the credit card that you use for the purchase