WestJet RBC Mastercards will earn 2x rewards on grocery and restaurant purchases until August 31

Sometimes it can be a good thing to take a wait and see approach to get a feel of what the market and your competitors are doing. That's exactly what WestJet and RBC have done for their WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and WestJet RBC Mastercard cardholders. For the next two months those who have a card or apply for and get one of the cards will earn 2x rewards on grocery and restaurant purchases once they register for the offer. For these type of purchases this translates to a 3% return for the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and a 2% return on the WestJet RBC Mastercard.

We've seen accelerator offers from a handful of Canada's credit card issuers which have revolved around dining, groceries and/or food delivery and WestJet and RBC have followed suit. Where their offer differs from some of the others is that they are giving you three options to choose from on how you want to receive your double rewards.  Those options are double your WestJet dollars (the regular type of earn for these cards), a statement credit (cash back) or a donate those rewards to help support your community.

When you go to the offer registration page you will be asked which reward you want and you'll need to  input your 16 digit card number as well as your WestJet Rewards ID.

This is a smart move by WestJet and RBC to offer the various reward options due to the uncertainty of travel for many Canadians right now and have been holding back on using their WestJet cards for purchases. By providing the additional reward options outside of just earning WestJet dollars it will definitely encourage cardholders to shift their spend back to these cards. I have a feeling there will be a lot of those cardholders who will be choosing the statement credit option to help keep finances in check. The good news about the  statement credits is that they will post within 3-5 days after each transaction, you don't actually have to wait until your statement date to receive them. Then there will be some who are planning for future travel who will obviously be choosing to earn the extra WestJet dollars while a smaller percentage will say I don't need more WestJet dollars, I don't need statement credits, I'm going to donate those double rewards which by the way will be going to Food Banks Canada.

The double rewards will be awarded on all eligible grocery, restaurant and fast food purchases until August 31 with Mastercard's Merchant Category Codes: 5411, 5812 and 5814. Popular food delivery services likes UberEats and DoorDash are included in those. However some like Costco are not but I do recall some readers of ours letting us know that Walmart Supercentres do code as grocery so it should count towards double rewards.

The double rewards will be offered on all eligible purchases up to $10,000 per primary and secondary card. That means if you have one WestJet card and have a supplementary user on your account you can each earn the double rewards for $10,000 spend on each card ($20,000 in total). For example in our household both of our kids are supplementary cardholders on my wife's account which means each cardholder gets that $10,000 cap or the potential to earn double rewards on up to $30,000 in spending. Add in my separate WestJet card (my wife and I each have our own accounts: Why my wife and I each grabbed our own WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercards) and we have $40,000 total in our household that we can earn double rewards on. I don't think we'll be spending $40,000 over the next two months in those categories but it's nice to know we're not capped like some other issuers who have done so at amounts as low as $1,000.

Click here to learn more and to register your card to take part in the 2x rewards on grocery and restaurant purchases on WestJet Mastercards

If you don't have a WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard or WestJet RBC Mastercard the great news is that you can also get in on this offer. As soon as you apply and are approved for the cards be sure to register for the offer and you'll start earning those double rewards. I would recommend applying sooner than later so that you can maximize the time period you have for earning the double rewards. Ideally you'd want to go for the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard as it has a boosted welcome bonus of 350 WestJet dollars (which has now been extended until October 31) and the ever famous companion flight vouchers and first bag free benefits for when you are ready to travel again but if you don't need those extra benefits or don't meet the eligibility criteria for it the WestJet RBC Mastercard is also a great option.


Images via WestJet/RBC

Grandfathered Capital One Aspire World Elite Mastercard will be devalued this August

Once upon a time there was a credit card that ruled the land. The Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite Mastercard was king. There was almost no matching it, it ranked as the number one travel points card in our annual rankings for years on end (even its predecessor the Miles Plus card won our rankings in 2009!) as it offered a nice simple 2% back towards travel, had an amazing insurance package and provided an annual anniversary bonus worth $100 towards travel. In the end the card aspired to be too much (no pun intended) and proved to be too expensive for Capital One to maintain. They stopped issuing the card several years ago but original cardholders were grandfathered the anniversary bonus and all cardholders were able to keep earning that 2%.

Thanks to our Twitter follower Dan Donovan we now know that all changes on August 5th. Grandfather Capital One Aspire World Elite Mastercard holders will no longer get the anniversary bonus but even worse the earn rate is dropping to 1.5% from that trend setting 2%.  Why Capital One is doing this. I believe it is still an expensive card for them to offer as Capital One has shifted their focus in the market to new credit (Students, newcomers to Canada, etc) and secured credit. Those type of card offerings bring down the average interchange rate fees they are collecting and would eat away at what is earned on the World Elite card. We know the card wasn't making the company money when it was an active card in the market so one has to assume it's not making it any money now. By making these changes the reward rate of 1.5% will closely match what Capital One is earning but not only that I'm pretty sure they know that by making this change people will cancel the card which means the company will have less cardmembers carrying a card that doesn't make them any money.

Recommended reading: The cards Rewards Canada recommends to replace the devalued Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite Mastercard

So that brings us to the question for those of you who still have the card - should you keep it or switch to another card? For the most part, I'd say switch, I mean 1.5% isn't a bad earn rate but there are a lot of cards that also earn that much but also have accelerated rates in certain spend categories where you can earn more. For example, if you want to keep earning and redeeming for travel at 2% the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard is a good alternative option since it provides that straight 2% towards travel booked via MBNA and 1.67% towards cash back rewards (which can be used to book any travel from any provider). Both of those rates are higher than the Capital One card but know that the MBNA card doesn't have as strong of an insurance package. You have the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard which earns 1.5% on all spending, so the same as the new Cap One earn rates but then it earns 2% on WestJet purchases, has the first bag free benefit and of course the companion vouchers. Another really good card to consider would be the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. It earns 1.5% on all spending except travel which is 3% but then the card also has No Foreign Transaction fees, annual travel credits and you can choose to convert those points to several airlines including British Airways and Cathay Pacific. The list goes on from there with cards like the BMO Rewards World Elite Mastercard, the Rogers World Elite Mastercard and so on. There are lots of options out there and in my mind the front runners are the first three I mentioned.

New tool shows you where you can travel within Canada and what countries are open to Canadians

Many of Canada's travel providers, agencies and tourism boards joined forces in May to create the Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable. What is the Roundtable? It's best described by them as follow:

The Canadian Tourism Roundtable is a cross-Canadian coalition of leaders in the tourism and travel sector – including representatives from airports, airlines, hotels, and chambers of commerce across the country – committed to working together to restart the sector smoothly and safely. Travel and Tourism is a $102 billion sector, employing millions of Canadians across the country and accounting for 2.1% of the country's gross domestic product. It advocates for a safe and prosperous tourism and travel sector across Canada.  

One of the first big initiatives they have launched for the Canadian consumer is their website Time-To-Travel.ca and its primary feature is showing you where you can travel to within Canada and also abroad. For travel within Canada you can select what province you live in and the site will display a map of which provinces you can and cannot travel to. For example, here is the map set for my home province of Alberta:

You can click on each province for more details, for example here is Newfoundland:

Green shows where travel is possible, light purple allows travel with restrictions while the darker purple shows where I am not able to travel to right now. This is a very handy tool for today's market seeing that the majority of Canadians who are going to travel are going to do so within our own borders. You will want to note the map is for current rules and regulations and does not provide information for future travel. It would be nice if that function was integrated into the site where you can put your travel dates in and the map show you that yes or no you can travel for so and so time (so long as that information is available). Having that feature would make it useful for promotions such as Aeroplan's 50% miles back offer on right now so you could see if it is worthwhile to redeem at this time. Yes, Aeroplan's refund policy is amazing and negates pre-planning until August 31 however you're still subject to go through the booking and refund process and knowing beforehand simply saves you the time and effort.

The site also provides details on which countries are also open to Canadian travellers:

It does seem like the list of countries isn't complete as we know of more countries allowing Canadians in however the website does show the last update was June 26 so perhaps those other countries will show up in the next update.

You can try the page out for yourself here and we will also provide a link to it (and reference it) on our COVID-19 Resource page.

All images courtesy of Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable.

Earn 10x miles when you shop online at select retailers via the Aeroplan eStore from June 29 to July 5

It's time to earn extra miles again for your online shopping! This time Aeroplan is providing 10x the miles when you shop online with specific retailers on specific days. Those days and retailers are as follows:

If you do have any shopping in mind with the above retailers make you shop via the eStore on the specific day so that you can earn those extra miles to boost your balances.

Learn more about the Aeroplan 7 Days of Summer Event here.

Earn 1,000 bonus points per night at the newly opened Element Toronto Airport

Before the pandemic hit Marriott Hotels was planning on opening 14 new hotels in Canada in 2020 but of course COVID-19 has delayed some of those openings. One such hotel was the Element Toronto Airport which originally had a slated opening date of April 5. That was pushed back to last week when the hotel officially opened on June 24. Like many new hotels they are celebrating the opening with a bonus points offer. For stays between June 30 and September 7 you can earn 1,000 bonus points per night for up to five nights per stay.

Offer details:
1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per night for up to five nights at the Element Toronto Airport. Full details & online booking. Jun 30 - Sep 7, 20

The offer not only provides bonus points but it actually prices out cheaper than the best available rate. However the prepaid rate does come out $7 cheaper (the points are worth anywhere from $8 to $10 or more for compariso) and can be cancelled one day in advance per Marriott's COVID-19 global cancellation policy. However that policy will change on July 6 and will revert back to each individual hotel's cancellation policies and as we all know for most hotels that means the prepaid rate is not cancellable.

Here's a comparison of the rates for a night stay in the middle of July:

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Air Canada and WestJet to stop blocking middle seats on flights as of July 1, Air Canada will let you rebook if your flight is close to capacity

 News came out over the weekend that Canada's two major airlines will stop blocking middle seats on their flights as of July 1. Following guidance from the International Air Transport Association which both airlines are members of they will be not providing this one step in physical distancing measures.

Here is what WestJet provided to the media late last week on IATA's guidance

 IATA’s guidance supports the removal of seat distancing as the following protections are provided in the cabin:

• The installation of HEPA filters to help clean recirculated air (all WestJet aircraft are equipped with HEPA filters);

• The direction of airflow from ceiling to floor reduces forward and aft movement of air;

• The physical barrier of seat backs.

Basically for the past few months Air Canada and WestJet have blocked the middle seat on flights to help provide distance between passengers and that will end in a couple of days here. South of the border American Airlines will be doing the same however other airlines like Southwest Airlines have committed to keeping their middle seats blocked until the end of September. Both Air Canada and WestJet will continue to provide all of their other published safety measures such as temperature checks, the requirement to wear face masks and increased cleaning and disinfection of cabin interiors.

WestJet Economy Class seating

This morning Air Canada released news that with the change in the policy of not blocking middle seats the have revised their re-booking policy for flights for those who feel uncomfortable flying on a plane that will at or near capacity:

Starting July 1, Air Canada will replace its policy of guaranteeing adjacent seats in Economy Class are empty with a new transparent process offering flexible rebooking options for customers. On flights where Economy Class is booked close to capacity, notification emails will be sent to Economy Class customers in advance of check-in and announcements will be made at the departure gate. Customers will have the option to change to another flight operating within three days or to the next available flight without additional fees. 

If you have flexibility in your travels and you get that notification you can at least take a little bit of control but you still have the unknown if the flight you are rebooking to will be less full or not. Basically you'll be playing roulette with the hopes of getting on a flight that will be less full.

Although these changes from Air Canada and WestJet don't affect me directly right now as the Rewards Canada family has no flights planned in the near future I know that if I was to fly soon I'd be in the worried camp. Seeing photos of some flights in the U.S. on social media with people using their face masks as eye masks and not covering their mouths is concerning. It's tough when you can't control things like that - we as individuals can control we what we do ourselves however we have no control of those around us and that's the scariest part - not just traveling on planes but in everything we do everyday in our lives. If I was to fly now I'd probably stick to the front end of the plane, emergency exit rows or choose the very back - I know it's not scientific but I'd try to minimize the amount of people I'm around and/or maximize the space between and of course wear a mask, not touch my face and sanitize like crazy.

How do you feel about Air Canada and WestJet opening up the middle seats? Will it make you rethink any planned travel you have? Let us know below in the comments.

June 26 Update: Choice Hotels earn a free night promo won't start until July 10 for Canadians, 2 new RBC offers & Canadians could possibly visit Europe soon

Early in June we passed along the details of Choice Hotels new where you book 2 stays and earn enough bonus points for a free night. Well it turns out the promotion launched at that time was for the U.S. only even though it did state it was open to Canadian residents. Choice has decided that for Canada the promotion will launch on July 10th instead. The promotion registration page has been updated to reflect this. Thanks to long time Rewards Canada follower Kevin A. for catching this development!

We added two new RBC offers to our Guide to RBC Royal Bank 'RBC Offers'. There is a 15% statement credit offer for Pet Value that works on purchases of $30 or more (up to $100 in total) and a a 15% discount code for shopping at State & Liberty. See these and all other RBC offers here.

Thanks to Rewards Canada Facebook follower Aaron R. for passing along info that shows what countries the EU is planning to allow visitors from when they reopen. It is currently in draft stage and being debated in Brussels and it does appear most countries, including Canada will be allowed. However countries like The U.S., Brazil and Russia will not be. The opening date is also being debated as to whether it will be July 1 or later. If and when they do open you still need to check each individual country's rules and regulations for mask wearing, whether you need to submit test results et. (Source EuroNews)

Airline Schedule Updates
This will now be a standard feature in our daily update posts as we summarize Canadian operations based on data from RoutesOnline and other sources. Remember that many of these route plans are subject to change and right now they are changing frequently!

China Airlines will be offering one flight per week during the month July between Vancouver and Taipei. (Source RoutesOnline)

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.

Posts since our last update:

• My experience getting a refund from WestJet for cancelled U.S. flights
  Earlier this month we let you know that WestJet began to offering refunds for those travellers who had flights…
• Every second night free at the Fairmont Tremblant for the rest of 2020 - book by July 24
  Since our last Fairmont Stay Close update the hotel chain has added three more hotels to the list of…
• June 24 Update: Receive up to $325 in gift cards for hotel stays in Edmonton, new Amex Offer for HelloFresh & your weekly Be Well and PC Optimum beauty bonuses
  In a similar fashion to the StayVancouver offer we let you know about last week there is a gift…

Deals:

Fairmont Hotels Stay Close - Buy Night 1 Get 1 Night free at select hotels in Canada, U.S. and Mexico. Find out more here

Instacart: Get $10 when you place your first order with Instacart! Register here.

SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. Find out more here

WealthSimple Trade:  Receive $5 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $5 when you receive $5)

Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.

Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Avianca LifeMiles
- 20% Bonus LifeMiles when you book hotel stays via the dedicated LifeMiles Hotels website. More... Book by Aug 15 for stays until Dec 31, 20

Best Western Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Reward Points and up to 30% off on rentals 3 days or longer at participating Avis locations in the U.S and Canada. More... Until Sep 15, 20

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 750 Miles&Smiles Miles and a 20% discount for stays at NG Hotels. More... Until Jul 29, 20

Follow Rewards Canada:

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My experience getting a refund from WestJet for cancelled U.S. flights

Earlier this month we let you know that WestJet began to offering refunds for those travellers who had flights to the U.S. and U.K. cancelled by the airline. In the article here we detailed how and when you could approach WestJet for a refund from waiting to get the email from them to the time period of when you should be calling in. What follows is my experience in getting such flights refunded.

The time period to get a refund for U.S. and U.K. flights

Photo Credit: YYCCL3 on FlyerTalk

The Rewards Canada family had flights booked to the U.S. for Easter Break in April under two reservations. The reason for two reservations is that both my wife and I used our companion vouchers from our WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercards for our kids. When you want to book flights using those vouchers from two different accounts they have to be made under separate reservations. We took the wait and see approach when the pandemic started and eventually those flights were cancelled by WestJet (not by us) in late March.

Snippet from the email about our flight cancellation

The money we paid was put into a travel bank and the companion vouchers were placed back into our accounts. At that time it state that if we preferred a refund the information would come at a later date - it's almost like WestJet knew that legally flights to the U.S. would have to be refunded but they wanted to wait if the DOT may loosen that restriction to the help the airlines.


On June 8th we received emails from WestJet that we could now contact them for a refund:

This email came 8 days sooner than the chart we referenced in our earlier post and the next day I looked to call WestJet to process those refunds. Unfortunately this was the wait time to call in and WestJet didn't have their 'schedule a call back' button available.

I decided to wait a few days to see if those times subsided at all. Nine days later on June 17th I was lucky to find that the WestJet website had the schedule a call back button showing and it allowed me to schedule a call back to process the refund. This was the first time in nine days that I saw the schedule a call back button.  I scheduled the call back around 9am MT and again the wait time stated over 600 minutes so I wasn't expecting a call back until late afternoon or early evening but I actually received it just after 1pm MT. The call itself took 51 minutes because the two separate reservations meant everything had to be done twice. Add in the fact that part of our original flight payments also used WestJet dollars and some travel bank credits and that extended the phone call duration - mainly due to some back end issue with transferring around the travel bank credits. All said and done everything worked out and the agent on the other end was cordial and very helpful - she got everything sorted and I was happy to have it complete. She said we could expect to see the refunds to our WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard in about 3-5 business days and sure enough by June 30 the funds were back on the credit card.

I have a couple of thoughts in the process, first I don’t know if it will ever happen but how awesome would it be if one day WestJet day allowed multiple vouchers from the same family or household to be used in a single booking! That would really simplify any potential issues surrounding flights changes or in this case cancellations and refunds as well as status recognition. The latter issue arises if only one family member has status those benefits won't be extended to the other reservation. This happened to us sometime ago before the entire family became Gold elite members - two of us were Zone 1 for boarding while the other two family members were Zone 2. Second, it would be nice if you could request refunds online somehow rather than having to call in. It would definitely help in reducing those call wait times!

Overall though I'm happy that we got our money back - something I know thousands of Canadians are also hoping for but not getting right now. I'm in the camp that all flights should be refunded - not just those for the U.S. and U.K.. Most of Canada's airlines have the liquidity to make this happen but there not doing it and the government has basically done nothing. The fight is going strong from Air Passenger Rights and other consumer protection groups to push the government to change its stance on refunds. Hopefully with enough of push this is something that will happen soon. I know its not ideal for the airlines but it is even less ideal for consumers right now who have lost jobs or have reduced income, having that money in their pocket is critical for some to survive.

What boat are you in? Have you had tickets cancelled on you and have not received a refund? Are you OK with travel vouchers or is it critical for you to get that cash back? Let us know in the comments below.

Every second night free at the Fairmont Tremblant for the rest of 2020 - book by July 24

Since our last Fairmont Stay Close update the hotel chain has added three more hotels to the list of participating hotels including the Fairmont Tremblant. This promotion if you are unfamiliar with it provides every 2nd night or 2nd room free for stays at select hotels in Canada, the United States and Mexico!

Here is our previous coverage of the offers:

• Fairmont Stay Close buy 1 get 1 night offer expanded to six more hotels in Canada and the U.S.
• Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu now part of Stay Close offer
• Fairmont Stay Close extended for Canadian mountain resorts
• Vancouver's Fairmont Pacific Rim now part of Stay Close Buy 1 night get 1 free offer!
• Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac and Fairmont Winnipeg now part of Stay Close Buy 1 night get 1 free offer!  
• Fairmont Chateau Laurier Ottawa and Faimont Royal York Toronto now part of Stay Close Buy 1 night get 1 free offer!
• Fairmont’s Canadian mountain resort hotels offering every 2nd night or 2nd room free for the rest of 2020!
• Fairmont Hotels Stay Close – Every 2nd night or 2nd room free for the rest of 2020 at three U.S. locations!

In the latest update we see 3 more hotels added and those are the :

• Fairmont Tremblant  (Book by July 24)
• Fairmont Olympic Hotel (Book by July 24)
• Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa (Book by July 24)

These hotels have now officially ended with the offer:

• Fairmont Banff Springs  
• Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge  
• Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise  
• Fairmont Chateau Whistler

Stays must be completed by December 31, 2020

Here’s a quick look at the rates for the Fairmont Tremblant (July 22 -24 ):

The deal works out to $139.50 a night! That's a good deal!

 Just like all the other hotels this deal is exactly 50% off the daily rate and is also significantly cheaper than other special rates. The rates must be prepaid in advance however they are fully refundable as long as you cancel in advance. Some hotels show a cancellation policy of only 24 hours before so there is lots of flexibility while others have a  7 day cancellation policy which is still pretty good!

Black out dates:
Fairmont Tremblant: December 25-31, 2020
Fairmont Olympic: Not specified
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa: July 4; September 5; November 27; December 31, 2020.

Remember that Fairmont Hotels is now part of the ALL Accor Live Limitless program so stays at Fairmont Hotels will rack up points in that program

For more details or to book this offer you can do so via these links:

• Fairmont Chateau Laurier Ottawa
• Fairmont Royal York Toronto
• Fairmont Winnipeg
• Fairmon Le Chateau Frontenac 
• Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel
• Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu
• Fairmont Empress
• Fairmont Hotel McDonald
• Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
• Fairmon Le Chateau Montebello 
• Fairmon Queen Elizabeth
  
• Fairmont Tremblant
• Fairmont Austin
• Fairmont Chicago
• Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
• Fairmont Washington D.C. Georgetown
• Fairmont El San Juan Hotel
• Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghiradelli Square
• Fairmont Miramar 
• Swissotel Chicago
• Fairmont Olympic Hotel
• Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa
• Fairmont Heritage Place Mayakoba
• Fairmont Mayakoba
   

Here are the terms & conditions of the offer:

Buy one night and receive a complimentary second night during the same stay. A 1 night prepaid fully-refundable deposit is required. This promotion is subject to availability and may not be combined with any other offers, promotions or packages. For stays through December 31, 2020. Blackout dates may apply.

*You may also use your complimentary night as a second room on the same night. Should you wish to do so, please book a two night stay and then you must call the hotel directly to amend the reservation. The reservation will be amended to have two rooms in the same room category for the price of one for one night.

ALL Rewards points may not be redeemed to cover the cost of any charges associated with stays booked on the “Stay Close” offer either at time of booking or during the stay. This includes, but is not limited to charges for room rate/restaurant/in-room dining/spa/golf. Members who book through the “Stay Close” offer will receive the on-property benefits associated with their tier level at time of stay. Members will earn points at standard earn rates for room charges and all eligible spend that is charged to their room during the stay.

June 24 Update: Receive up to $325 in gift cards for hotel stays in Edmonton, new Amex Offer for HelloFresh & your weekly Be Well and PC Optimum beauty bonuses

In a similar fashion to the StayVancouver offer we let you know about last week there is a gift card offer for stays in Edmonton. The YEG offer provides up $100 in gift cards per night for up to three nights when you stay at any one of 57 locations in Edmonton. Then if you use boost code SUMMER they will add in a one time $25 gas card! The $100 in gift cards per night is actually broken down to two $50 cards - one for Costco and one for Ikea. The offer is good for stays until July 31 and must be booked at least 48 hours in advance. If you do end up staying three nights you'll earn $325 in gift cards. Find out more about the offer here. Thanks to Cheryl T. who let us know about this offer on the Rewards Canada Facebook page.

And another awesome Amex Offers offer came out today. This one is a $20 statement credit when you spend $80 or more with HelloFresh! The offer is good to August 31 and we received it on our Cobalt, Marriott Bonvoy and Platinum Amex cards. You can find this and all other current offers on our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

Plus what now seems to be a weekly thing - here's are your drug store beauty bonus points offers for this week:

You can earn 40,000 bonus PC Optimum points (worth $40) when you spend $125 or more with Shoppers Drug Mart online today and tomorrow. Find out more here.

and you can can 30,000 bonus Be Well points (worth $12) when spend $60 or more at Rexall stores on June 25. Find out more here.

And a one week reminder for the Scotia Momentum® VISA* Infinite card - it's welcome bonus of 10% on all spending up to $2,000 ends on July 1!

Airline Schedule Updates
This will now be a standard feature in our daily update posts as we summarize Canadian operations based on data from RoutesOnline and other sources. Remember that many of these route plans are subject to change and right now they are changing frequently!

EgyptAir is looking to restart flights between Toronto and Cairo on July 2. For the first two weeks it will be 1 flight per week and then move to 2x weekly service.. (Source RoutesOnline)


Looks like things may be picking up for Pacific Coastal Airlines as they have chosen to add even more frequencies to their July schedule then previously announced. (Source RoutesOnline)
New frequencies are as follows:
Kelowna – Cranbrook 4 weekly (Previous plan: 3 weekly)
Kelowna – Victoria 10 weekly (Previous plan: 6 weekly)
Vancouver – Campbell River – Comox – Vancouver 12 weekly (Increase from 5 weekly in June 2020; Previous plan: 9 weekly)
Vancouver – Cranbrook 6 weekly (service resumption)
Vancouver – Port Hardy 4 weekly (Increase from 3 weekly in June 2020)
Vancouver – Powell River 12 weekly (Increase from 6 weekly in June 2020; Previous plan: 9 weekly)
Vancouver – Tofino 5 weekly (Increase from 3 weekly in June 2020)
Vancouver – Trail 3 weekly (Increase from 3 weekly in June 2020; Previous plan: 3 weekly)
Vancouver – Victoria 12 weekly (Increase from 3 weekly in June 2020; Previous plan: 11 weekly)
Vancouver – Williams Lake 3 weekly (Identical to June; Previous plan: 4 weekly)

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.

Posts since our last update:

• Save 25% on TAP Air Portugal’s new routes out of Montreal and Toronto - good for travel until March 2021
  TAP Air Portugal has provided us with 25% Discount Code for their new flights between Montreal  and Lisbon and…
• Amex Shop Small promotion returns for the summer and it's better than ever - earn up to $50 in statement credits nationwide!
  Amex's awesome Shop Small offer is back again for the summer and it is better than ever! American Express…
• More details on the pause and future evolution of WestJet Rewards Member Exclusive Fares
  Last Friday we brought you the news that WestJet will be pausing their Member Exclusive Fares as of June…
• June 23 Update: Amex Shop Small promotion returns tomorrow, potential to make money with Best Western's promotions & Dubai to open up on July 7
  American Express' Shop Small promotion returns tomorrow! The ever popular promotion sees cardmembers in select Canadian cities earn a…

Deals:

Fairmont Hotels Stay Close - Buy Night 1 Get 1 Night free at select hotels in Canada, U.S. and Mexico. Find out more here

Instacart: Get $10 when you place your first order with Instacart! Register here.

SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. Find out more here

WealthSimple Trade:  Receive $5 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $5 when you receive $5)

Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.

Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 500 Bonus Mileage Plan miles when you $200 or more online shopping via the Mileage Plan online shopping portal More... Until Jul 1, 20

ALL Accor Live Limitless
- Quadruple (4x) ALL Rewards Points for stays at participating new or renovated hotels in Germany and Switzerland. More... Book by Jul 31 for stays until Aug 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- OFFER EXTENDED 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points, free breakfast & 1000THB daily hotel credit for stays at any one of 18 hotels in the Bangkok area. More... Until Aug 31, 20



Follow Rewards Canada:

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Save 25% on TAP Air Portugal’s new routes out of Montreal and Toronto - good for travel until March 2021

TAP Air Portugal has provided us with 25% Discount Code for their new flights between Montreal  and Lisbon and their new route from Toronto to Ponta Delgada! While overseas travel may not be on most of your minds this offer covers flights until March 2021 as long as they are booked by July 8, 2020. Portugal is a country that has been itching to reopen to tourists as soon as they can. For the most part they will begin opening up on July 1 to international travel ( but there will be some restrictions in place, see below for the current requirements of the Azores as an example but this could change). I would recommend reading this page on Visit Portugal to learn more about their opening plans and what it will entail as a Canadian travelling to Portugal.

Passengers flying to the Azores archipelago will be subject to one of the following options:
1. Submit proof of testing to COVID-19 up to 72 hours prior to flight departure;
2. Perform test on arrival and stay in prophylactic isolation until the result is obtained;
3. Perform voluntary quarantine for a period of 14 days in a hotel indicated for the purpose;
4. Return to the destination of origin or travel to any destination outside the Region, fulfilling, until the time of the flight, prophylactic isolation in a hotel indicated for this purpose.
More information at https://covid19.azores.gov.pt    

This offer is good for Toronto to Ponta Delgada flights between July 1, 2020 and March 27, 2021 while Montreal to Lisbon is for July 30, 2020 to March 27, 2021

The promo code, NEWROUTE saves you up to 25% on most fare classes (and includes 25% off the YQ) The only fares classes the discount doesn’t work on are the lowest economy fare called Discount and Top Executive which is the more expensive business class fare.  Simply book by July 8 for travel within the dates listed above. Note that December 19 to January 10 are blacked out for this offer.

Book this offer here!

Here’s an example for Business Class between Toronto and Ponta Delgada – only C$1737 with the discount applied!

Amex Shop Small promotion returns for the summer and it's better than ever - earn up to $50 in statement credits nationwide!

Amex's awesome Shop Small offer is back again for the summer and it is better than ever! American Express knows how much small businesses in Canada have suffered over the past few months and are looking to support them with this iteration of the Shop Small campaign:

"Small businesses across the country need our support now more than ever. Shop Small is about standing by the small business owners who have given so much to our communities," says Lisa Kalhans, President and CEO of American Express Canada. "As an organization, we understand the critical role we can play in encouraging not only our own Cardmembers, but all Canadians to get out there and show up for small businesses."

And how is American Express doing this when you compare it to past Shop Small offers? There are three primary differences with this summer's Shop Small promotion. First, it isn't limited to Shop Small merchants in only four cities, this time it is any Shop Small merchant in Canada - from coast to coast to coast. Second, there isn't a cap on the number of cardholders who can register for the promotion and third they have doubled the number of times you can earn the statement credit from the usual 5 times seen in past promotions to 10 times for this one!

The offer
The offer is the same for every American Express cardmember and card. Each time you spend $10 at Shop Small merchant you will receive a $5 statement credit. This statement credit can be earned up to 10 times for a maximum of $50 in statement credits. The offer is available for purchases made until September 13, 2020.

If you aren't familiar with American Express' Shop Small program we have a feature to help you out:  A step by step guide to the American Express Shop Small Program which shows you how to find merchants who participate in the program. Essentially American Express Shop Small merchants aren't your major nationwide chain stores. You won't find Wal-Mart on the list but you will find mom and pop shops, small regional chains, restaurants and other small businesses. The best way to find out which merchants you can use your American Express Card at to earn the statement credit is to go to the American Express Shop Small website and look for the Shop Small icon beside the merchant:

Ideally, those looking to maximize the offer will only spend $10 at each location to come out with what is essentially a 50% discount but I know for me I don't even think about that. I'll simply go to my local merchant and buy what I need to buy whether it is $10, $30 or $300. I will however consider spending more if I am only at $7 I'll look to see if there is anything else I can grab to get to that $10 since I'll be getting the $5 back - and that is the gist of this promotion. Getting you to spend a little more at these merchants to help them out!

You can register for Shop Small promotion the via Amex Offers on the app or Amex Canada website and you must register your card(s) to start earning the credits:

If the offer doesn't show up in the app or in your account on the web you can register for it right here.

Happy shopping!

Learn more about Shop Small here.

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