Receive a $100 hotel credit when you stay 2 or more nights at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa (beats the Stay Close offer!)

Guess what? Here's another Fairmont Hotels offer to pass along! If there was an award for a hotel chain pushing out offers left right and centre it would have to go to Fairmont. They sure have been aggressive with their offers to get people in the door. This offer is for only one of their hotels, the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Ottawa and is part of a larger promotion where Ottawa Tourism teamed up with a bunch of hotels in the area to provide a $100 credit on multi night stays.

This offer provides a $100 hotel credit for stays of 2 or more nights and it must be booked by December 31 for stays until January 31, 2021.

 

 

 

Capital One ending its relationship with Costco and Hudson's Bay

 

While perusing Twitter last night I came across this tweet from Andrew Clarke (who used to do PR at Capital One Canada) announcing the changes coming to the American bank's Canadian operations:

 

Marriott Bonvoy launches new work anywhere packages

The COVID-19 pandemic created a new (well not really new but definitely brought it front and centre) trend from hotels around the world and that is a work away from home option. Whether it was booking a room to use as an office during the day or taking a long 14+ day vacation (since that is the typical quarantine period) at a resort with dedicated work spaces and activities for kids, hotels have been and are trying to do what they can to bolster a huge downfall in revenue.  Earlier this week news came out from Marriott that they were jumping on the trend and came out with three of their own work anywhere but home packages:

October 29 Update: Earn up to 80 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles for free, save 20% on Air Canada flights and five new bonus offers

 

Over on our global site FrequentFlyerBonuses.com we detail how you can earn 80 free Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles. It's not a lot of miles but they are free and it doesn't take a lot of effort to earn them. See how to get hem here.

Image via Singapore Airlines

Save an extra C$50 when you book flights with Swiss by November 4 for travel until October 31, 2021

Swiss International Air Lines revealed a new promo code today just for us Canadians! This special Halloween offer provides an extra $50 off economy class flights departing from Canada and is good for bookings made by November 4.

Click here to learn more about and/or book with this voucher code

Swiss only flies out of Montreal but the code is valid on itineraries where flights are operated by SWISS or Air Canada which means you can use it for bookings that include connecting flights on AC or even itineraries that are completely on AC as long as the have Swiss flight numbers. For example here's Calgary to Zurich that is only on Air Canada metal (no actual flights on Swiss):

New RBC Offers for Well and Fujifilm printlife, Dresst offer extended to end of January

Over the past week RBC has come out with two new offers plus added an extension to one existing offer. Be sure to login to your RBC account right away to load these offers (if required) or get the promo codes for them. 

The new offers are as follows:

Well.ca: Spend $60 or more at Well.ca and get a $10 statement credit when you pay with your eligible RBC card. This offer is good until Jan 15, 20

Fujifilm printlife: Get 35% off your eligible purchase, by using the promotional code RBC35 and pay using your eligible RBC Credit Card. This offer is good until Jan 31, 21

October 28 Update: Massive devaluation to Delta SkyMiles partner award flights, Amex offers Amazon Prime Update + another 3x/5x multiplier & OWG delays first flights

 News out of the U.S this morning that Delta SkyMiles has significantly increased redemption requirements for award travel on partner airlines between the U.S. and Europe & Asia. Delta pretty much considers Canada as the same as the U.S. so these new non-published award rates would apply to us Canadians as well. In some ways it almost appears that Delta looked at Aeroplan's new partner Reward charts coming on November 8 and figured they could raise their amounts as well. For example Delta's one way partner flights to Europe used to start at 25,000 miles now they look to be 35,000 miles, the latter is the same for Air Canada. For Asia it used to be 32,500 SkyMiles now it's 40,000 - Air Canada starts at 35,000 now. (Source Thrifty Traveller)

Image via Delta Airlines

 

Another American Express multiplier to let you know about. Wow Chicken here in Calgary codes properly for dining - I paid for it on my Platinum Card as I had forgotten my Cobalt Card. (I know how dare I!) and that purchase earned 3x the points which means it would earn 5x points on the Cobalt Card. See all the confirmed American Express mulitplier locations here.

image via Wow Chicken

 

WestJet's flagship Elevation Lounge set to open on November 2 in Calgary

 Despite the serious downturn in travel in Canada and globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic WestJet is going ahead with the opening of their flagship business class in Calgary. The lounge which was officially announced just over a year ago was due to open this past summer but of course due to reasons we are all aware of that was pushed back. Now we know WestJet will officially open that lounge next week on November 2.

Called the WestJet Elevation Lounge, the new flagship space for airline is set to deliver a true business class experience for those entering the lounge.

Working in partnership with The Calgary Airport Authority, the Elevation Lounge will open to the public on November 2, 2020 and is conveniently located at Concourse B of the Domestic Terminal and is accessible to guests departing from Concourses A, B and C, as well as Concourse D of the International Terminal (when accessed from security checkpoint B or C).

Hilton Honors provides further extension to elite status, points expiration and lowers thresholds for select benefits

 

Hilton is next out of the gate with further adjustments and extensions for their frequent guest program. The hotel chain announced the following Hilton Honors updates today:

New global program adjustments to 2020 and 2021 policies include:

 

• Extending Points Expiration so that no Points will expire until December 31, 2021.  
• Extending Status to March 31, 2022 for Silver, Gold and Diamond members that were set to downgrade in 2020 or 2021. This means members can keep their status longer and continue to enjoy their benefits. 
• Reducing Status Qualification Requirements by 50 percent across all tiers, including stays, nights and Base Points in 2021, to allow members to achieve status in half the time. For example, this means to earn Gold status, a member must complete 20 nights, 10 stays or 37,500 Points instead of 40 nights, 20 stays or 75,000 points. And, as previously announced, all 2020 nights will automatically roll over to the 2021 calendar year to help Hilton Honors members upgrade their tier status even faster.
• Lowering Milestone Bonus Night Threshold to begin at 20 nights in 2021 (was previously 40 nights) to align with new Gold status qualification and allow members to earn rewards faster. Gold members will earn 10,000 Bonus Points for 20 nights stayed and will continue earning the additional 10,000 Bonus Points every 10 nights above that level in a calendar year. At 60 nights, a member would still earn the additional Milestone Bonus of 30,000 Bonus Points. 
• Reducing Gifting Status Night Threshold to the new Diamond status night qualification. Diamond members who stay 30 nights in 2021 will be able to gift Gold status (was previously 60 nights) or 60 nights to upgrade the gift to Diamond status (was previously 100 nights). 

 Earlier in the year Hilton had announced status extensions and pausing of points expiration but has extended those even further. Previously the pausing of points expiration was set to December 31, 2020 and that has been extended by a year. The status extension remains the same for those who have 2020 status but is a boon for those with 2019 status that was extended as that will now be kept until March 2022. On top of that they have also now added lower qualification requirements in 2021 for those who don't have status or want to achieve a higher status than what is being extended plus they are lowering the thresholds for earning milestone bonuses and status gifting. 

Learn more about these changes here.

Image via Hilton

Air Canada to launch flights to Doha this December!

 

According to RoutesOnline Air Canada will be launching flights between Toronto and Doha, Qatar in just over a month! This comes as a big surprise not only for the route itself but even the timing of launching it in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Qatar Airways already flew the route for about a month this past summer when out of the blue they announced the flights and started up the route a few short days after that! The route didn't last very long but perhaps it was being done more as a test for this upcoming Air Canada flight. The airlines do have agreements in place with Air Canada providing feed to Qatar's flights out of Montreal and will be doing so on the vice versa out of Doha. This is why you have the option to choose additional Canadian cities on Qatar Airways' website even though Qatar Airways only flies out of Montreal. In fact a recent email from Qatar Airways even mentioned utilizing Air Canada for those connecting flight.

Marriott Bonvoy further extending free night award expiry and points expiration to August 1, 2021

 

Excellent news coming out from Marriott today - they are providing further extensions to free night awards and points expiration! These changes will be effective as of December 11, 2020:

Free Night Award (FNA): Members who currently have a Free Night Award (FNA) that had an original expiration date in 2020, or which will expire before July 31, 2021, as part of their co-brand credit card benefit, annual choice benefit, promotions or travel package will now be able to redeem it through August 1, 2021. Free Night Awards with an original expiration date prior to 2020 will not be eligible for the additional extension.

Points Expiration: Points expiration won’t resume until August 1, 2021 so they have more time to use them for free nights, gift cards and more. At that time, your points will only expire if your account has been inactive for at least 24 months.

Early on during the onset of the pandemic Marriott announced they will extend free night awards which were due to expire in 2020 to January 31, 2021. Today's news will see those awards being extended an extra six months. This is very welcome news for those members who have not undertaken travel yet and most likely weren't going to travel by the end of January. I see this as a good move by Marriott - not only to look good in the eyes of its members but to potentially increase the likelihood of having members return to Marriott instead of other chains thereby increasing potential revenue. That is, having members redeem free nights may add to their revenue in hopes those members may be booking longer stays using the free night and paying for other nights as well as those members eating and drinking on site thereby increasing the revenue stream on the F&B side.  Hotels have struggled here in Canada with occupancy rates dropping to below 30% again and worldwide the numbers aren't much better so the chains are doing anything possible to grow those numbers and these extensions are just one example of that.

We have two Free Night Awards that were set to expire this past September which were extended to January 31, 2021 and should now be extended to that August 1, 2021 date. Our Free Night Awards include those provided as an anniversary bonus from the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card.

Marriott also realizes those members who haven't stayed with them due to the pandemic shouldn't be losing their points balances either so we see the company extend that pausing of points expiry from the previous date of February 2021 to August as well.

Marriott becomes the second major hotel chain to provide extensions on extensions after Hyatt Hotels. The latter who's news came out early in October did go a step further than Marriott by providing extension on points expiry and earned awards all the way to the end of 2021. That's not to say Marriott won't either. I bet they will be evaluating the use of these awards on a monthly basis and before we know it we may see further extensions.

Image via Marriott

Changes coming to CIBC's cash back Dividend cards on February 1, 2021

 

CIBC reached out to us yesterday to let us know they are revamping their suite of cash back credit cards. These are the cards better known as their Dividend Cards and all the cards in the portfolio are seeing an update. There are both positive and negative and negative changes being applied to all the cards. We'll delve into those individual changes below but the most important change that is portfolio wide is a great one! You will be able to redeem your cash back balance from any of these cards at any time now so long as your cash back balance is at $25! This is the same redemption option seen on the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite* Card and it is welcome change! If you are familiar with the Dividend Card(s) you'll know that your cash back rewards balance is only available once per year but that all changes February 1st. Called On Demand Redemption CIBC Clients can redeem their cash back anytime as long as their account is open, in good standing, and they have a minimum of $25 in cash back. You will be able to redeem cash back at any time through the CIBC mobile app or online.

October 23 Update: Double PC Optimum or Esso Extra points at Esso & Mobil this weekend, IHG extends the Ambassador free night offer, Air Transat winter flight schedule

This weekend you can earn double the PC Optimum or Esso Extra points at participating Esso and Mobil stations across Canada. The offer runs Oct 23-25. ` 

Image via Esso

IHG Rewards Club has extended the free night offer when you buy an IHG Ambassador membership. Originally it was set to end on November 15, now you have until December 31 to register, book and stay to get that free night. You do have four hotels in Canada to achieve this bonus! Learn more here

These are the four hotels:

• InterContinental Toronto Yorkville
  
• InterContinental Toronto Centre
  
• InterContinental Montreal
  
• Kimpton St. George Toronto

 Image via IHG

Airline Schedule Updates
A summary 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!

Air Transat has published their schedule for the winter season and the list is quite a bit bigger now so I won't post it here. Check out the list on RoutesOnline Remember Air Transat is a Rewards Canada partner and you can book their flights right here! (We earn a small commission on those bookings so we thank you in advance if do choose to book via our link!)

Image via Air Transat

I can't recall if I covered this before in this spot but for the Winter season KLM will be returning to Edmonton as part of the airline's Calgary service. 2 of 5 flights per week between Calgary and Amsterdam will have a stop in Edmonton. Meanwhile Toronto is being bumped up to 9 flights per week and Vancouver is being scaled back to 3. (Source RoutesOnline)

For the month of November British Airways will be increasing service between Toronto and London to 11 flights per week. (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:

• Reward night sale at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas – Stay for as little as 30,000 IHG Rewards Club points
    The following offer may only be of interest to a select few of you as I know a…
• Governments of Canada and Alberta to run COVID-19 rapid testing program at Calgary International Airport & Coutts land border crossing
  The Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta announced a new 26 week pilot project for rapid COVID-19…
• WestJet expands refund policy - more tickets are now eligible for full refunds including domestic flights (leads to a Twitter fight with Air Canada!)
    The events of yesterday afternoon and evening played out quite interestingly for the airline industry in Canada, namely…
• An introduction to Neo Financial - one of Canada's newest credit card and savings reward programs
   About a year and a half ago one of the founders of SkipTheDishes reached out to me to discuss…
• October 21 Update: 50% discount on award nights at the Shangri-La Toronto and Save up to 25% on last minute stays at 50+ Marriott Hotels in Canada
  In the bonus offers section below you'll note a new redemption offer from Shangri-La Hotels that provides a 50%…

Deals:

Earn $300 cash when you open a new Scotiabank Ultimate Package! Plus earn Scotia Rewards or SCENE Rewards points. Find out more here.

Enterprise Rent A Car - Weekend Car Rental Special! Available now through 20/5/2021 at participating locations .Find out more here.

Fairmont's Stay Close offer of every 2nd night free returns with a vengeance and you can earn triple ALL Accor Live Limitless points on those stays

If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more 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

AIR MILES
- 5x AIR MILES Reward Miles when purchase a qualifying Pennzoil or Shell Rotella oil change at a participating Jiffy Lube locations in Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 20

Other Bonus Offers

ALL Accor Live Limitless
- Earn up to 1,000 bonus ALL Rewards Points for stays at Accor Hotels in Europe. Bonus can be earned up to 5 times. More... Register and book by Nov 16 for stays until Dec 13, 20
- Earn up to Triple ALL Rewards Points plus a status match in Europcar's program when you rent a car for 1 or more days with Europcar in France, Germany, Australia, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Portugal or Belgium. More... Book by Dec 15 for rentals until Dec 31, 20

American AAdvantage
- Triple AAdvantage Miles for stays at participating Hyatt Hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - may not work for everyone Register by Dec 1 for stays until Dec 31, 20

Hainan Fortune Wings
- Triple Fortune Wings Points for hotels booked via Booking .com More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Dec 31, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- OFFER EXTENDED Receive a free night (worth up to 40,000 points) when you enroll in or renew an InterContinental Ambassador membership and stay once at an InterContinental, Kimpton or Regent Hotel. More...   Enroll/join/stay by Dec 31, 20

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles, 35% off and daily breakfast for stays at the Gili Lankanfushi Maldives. More... Until Nov 30, 20

World of Hyatt
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night at the Grand WUJI Hotel, Hyatt Regency Lanzhou or the Andaz Xiamen More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt Place Atlanta / Perimeter Center or the Hyatt Place Atlanta / Centennial Park More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt House Louisville - East More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt Place National Harbor More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Grand Hyatt Nashville More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt Place Austin / Lake Travis / Four Points More... Until Dec 30, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

 

Reward night sale at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas – Stay for as little as 30,000 IHG Rewards Club points

 

The following offer may only be of interest to a select few of you as I know a lot of Canadians are avoiding travel to the U.S. for numerous reasons like their high case counts and 14 day quarantine upon return etc. However there are a bunch Canadians who winter in the U.S. and are itching to get those homes way down south regardless of those reasons listed above. One such popular destination is Las Vegas which I know some of you like to visit from those winter homes in Arizona and the Palm Springs areas. Not to mention Air Canada will be launching Toronto-Las Vegas flights on November 5 and Montreal-Las Vegas flights on December 1. Then with the new rapid COVID-19 testing at YYC launching on November 2 we may see WestJet relaunch Vegas flights before we know it! That's why I'm bringing you this offer that I published earlier today on Frequent Flyer Bonuses right here on Rewards Canada.

Governments of Canada and Alberta to run COVID-19 rapid testing program at Calgary International Airport & Coutts land border crossing

The Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta announced a new 26 week pilot project for rapid COVID-19 testing at Calgary International Airport:

“YYC Calgary International Airport is proud to be the first and only airport in Canada to have a government-approved testing pilot for arriving international passengers—which we hope will lead to reducing and one day eliminating the current 14-day self-isolation requirements. This innovative testing is the lifeline our airport and airline partners need to instill confidence in air travel,” said Bob Sartor, President & CEO, The Calgary Airport Authority. (Source Calgary Airport Authority)

The project will start on November 2nd for residents of Alberta and eligible international travellers arriving into Calgary on a non-stop flight. Results should be available within two days which could shorten those arriving passengers quarantine period from 14 days to 2 days. 

After taking the rapid test, guests must:

• stay within Alberta after their arrival
• enter quarantine until test results are delivered in as little as 2 days
  • If the results are negative, guests are no longer required to stay at home. If results are positive, the 14-day quarantine is still required.
• commit to submitting a second test after 6-7 days for validation and data collection
• provide daily check-ins
• avoid large events and senior care facilities
• wear a mask in public

**This pilot project may be restricted or broadened at any point as the Governments of Canada and Alberta evaluate through the trial.

Guests who do not participate in the pilot must adhere to the 14 day quarantine. (Source WestJet)

This is such welcome news for the travel industry! It is that much needed boost and first step the industry requires to bounce back from the pandemic. I would assume that it may be expanded to other airports in short order after seeing how it goes in Calgary. Calgary's probably a good choice as there aren't very many passengers arriving each day from the U.S. or internationally compared to Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. Once they get the hang of things here and show success I would think it will be quickly expanded to those other airports. Should it be successful I think many more Canadians would look at travelling outside of Canada knowing that they could potentially only quarantine for two days versus 14 days. It's that latter amount that people just can't afford to do, especially those who can't work from home. Right now if you want to take a one week vacation out of Canada you pretty much have to plan on three weeks of time off due to that quarantine period.

FYI the program is also being introduced the Coutts land border crossing on the Alberta-Montana border.

WestJet expands refund policy - more tickets are now eligible for full refunds including domestic flights (leads to a Twitter fight with Air Canada!)

 
The events of yesterday afternoon and evening played out quite interestingly for the airline industry in Canada, namely on Twitter. Around 3:30pm MT WestJet came out with a news release stating they were the "first national carrier in Canada to voluntarily provide refunds to original form of payment" to which that statement was quickly challenged by Air Canada and then just as quickly rebutted by WestJet:

 

An introduction to Neo Financial - one of Canada's newest credit card and savings reward programs

 About a year and a half ago one of the founders of SkipTheDishes reached out to me to discuss rewards programs and credit cards in Canada as he and other founders were getting ready for their next venture utilizing some of the funds they earned from selling the big food delivery service. That venture would be a new rewards program for Canadians. Fall of 2019 saw me meet with one of them again to further discuss the market and their planned intentions. In our discussions they wanted to create something new and exciting by taking what was good from most other programs, add their own twist to it and in the end they created Neo Financial. 

Neo Financial is based in Calgary and in their short lifespan so far are already employing over 100 people at their office located just on the outskirts of downtown YYC. Their initial product plan was a rewards credit card but that has quickly expanded to include other financial products like savings accounts. Neo  partnered with ATB (Alberta Treasury Branch) to be the issuer of their Mastercard and have Concentra Bank being the supplier of Neo's savings account.

October 21 Update: 50% discount on award nights at the Shangri-La Toronto and Save up to 25% on last minute stays at 50+ Marriott Hotels in Canada

In the bonus offers section below you'll note a new redemption offer from Shangri-La Hotels that provides a 50% discount when you redeem point for free nights at the majority of thier hotels worldwide. Since travel is so limited right now those of you with GC Award Points (Golden Circle Award Points) who are interested in getting in on this offer have to look within our borders to use them and you would think that would leave you with two locations right? Wrong. Unfortunately the Shangri-La Vancouver is one of the locations excluded from the deal however the Shangri-La Toronto is part of it so that's your one choice unless of course you are travelling outside our borders then you have a few more options. Learn more about the promotion here.

Image via Shangri-La Hotels

 

The next set of Marriott Bonvoy Escapes are out. These are their last minute offers that have to be booked by this Sunday for stays over the next four weekends. This week sees 56 properties in Canada participating by offering at least 25% off. Find out more here.

Here are the rates at the JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District for this weekend. The $227 room rate is discounted to $179 with the Escapes offer:

 Images via Marriott

 

Air Canada will fly their all business class AC Jetz aircraft to select winter destinations

 

Air Canada announced today that they will be deploying their fleet of all business class AC Jetz charter aircraft on popular routes for the Christmas season. You'll be to purchases tickets or redeem Aeroplan miles to fly on these planes that feature 58 business class seats on routes like Montreal to Barbados, Toronto to Cancun and Vancouver to Phoenix.

 The aircraft, which features a cabin of 58 business class seats, will be departing from prime locations, minimizing walking time in the airport, and begin boarding only 35 minutes before departure. Enjoy an exclusive travel experience with a spacious cabin configuration that offers more comfort and less waiting time when boarding and deplaning, as well as Chef Park’s menu and a wine selection curated by Véronique Rivest.

Customers will be able to book their Jetz flight beginning October 21, 2020 for travel during the Christmas period between December 12, 2020 and January 6, 2021, with a second schedule for March Break flights currently under development. Customers should consult aircanada.com/acjetz for schedule details, including operating days

The routes that will feature these planes are as follows:

New increased welcome bonus of 3,000 miles on the American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card

 

During the first six or so months of the pandemic American Express shifted their focus to enhancing card offers and encouraging spending for existing cardmembers. Those offers were extended to almost all of American Express' cards except for one part of their portfolio, the AIR MILES co-brand partnership. Their AIR MILES cards seemed to be forgotten during this time as Amex supported their Membership Rewards Cards, the Marriott Bonvoy cards and their small business card portfolio save for AIR MILES. But now as the economy is slowly recovering American Express has moved dollars back to acquiring new customers including see some love for the AIR MILES side of things! 



Update: Amex reached out to me to let me know that there were various initiatives Amex offered on their AIR MILES Card portfolio during the pandemic which included wireless credits for select Consumer and Business Cardmembers along with extensions to the companion flight and annual travel benefits. Terms and conditions apply.

They also let me know that select Cardmembers will be seeing additional offers In the near future.

 

As of today there is a new increased welcome bonus offer for the American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card.

Here are the exact details wording of the new offer:

New American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card Cardmembers, earn a Welcome Bonus of 3,000 AIR MILES®* Bonus Miles when you charge a total of $1,500 in purchases to your Card within your first three months of Cardmembership. That’s enough to redeem for $310 towards your purchases with AIR MILES®* Cash

30% bonus when you buy World of Hyatt points until November 24

Hyatt has released another buy points bonus!  This bonus is the same 30% offer we saw in June and with the bonus you would be buying points for US$ 1.85 cents each. There is potential value in buying these points for select Hyatt stays around the globe as you can easily get more value than that per point on the right redemptions.

Offer details:
30% Bonus World of Hyatt Points when you buy 5,000 or more points. Buy points here. Until Nov 24, 20

Here are some other World of Hyatt offers to check out:

• Triple World of Hyattt Points on all Hyatt stays Worldwide starting right with your first stay. World of Hyatt credit cardholders will earn quadruple points on eligible spend at over 350 Hyatt Resort locations. Plus earn one Tier-Qualifying Night credit toward elite status the year in which they earn it and they will receive one bonus Tier-Qualifying Night credit toward elite status in 2021. Full details, online registration & booking
• 15% World of Hyatt points rebate when you redeem for award nights or points+cash stays or when using points for hotels incidentals like room upgrades or spa services. Register Online (Registration is required)
• Receive one night free for every night your redeem points for stays at Miraval Resort & Spas. Full details
• Find our complete list of Hyatt offers here.

October 20 Update: Targeted Delta SkyMiles Medallion status match offer, Family Fry Guy in YYC codes as 5x points with the Cobalt Card & hotel occupancy rates continue to drop

 

Delta SkyMiles has brought out a new targeted status match promotion that goes one step further than their ongoing status match offer we have all become accustomed to. This new offer requires registration by the end of this month and is one step further in that SkyMiles will give one tier higher in their Medallion program than the status you have with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, jetBlue, Southwest Airlines or United Airlines. That is, silver gets gold, gold gets platinum (as a basic example). Now this offer is targeted so you should keep an eye out from an email from Delta SkyMiles telling you that you are eligible. If you didn't get the email you can give it a go via this link but there are no guarantees it will work out. If you are successful in your match you'll get that one tier higher status until March 31, 2021 and can extend it by meeting a set number of qualifying flights ( If you receive Gold Medallion® Status: Fly 2 Qualifying Round Trips or 4 One Ways; If you receive Platinum Medallion® Status: Fly 4 Qualifying Round Trips or 8 One Ways; If you receive Diamond Medallion® Status: Fly 6 Qualifying Round Trips or 12 One Ways). If you don't have status with one of the above airlines but do with Air Canada check out our post: A reminder that you can match your Air Canada Altitude Status to Delta SkyMiles Medallion Status

 

Images via Delta

 

 
We added one more merchant to our American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations feature. This one was my own purchase and it was from The Family Fry Guy which is a food truck here in YYC. The transaction coded as a 5x multiplier on my Cobalt Card. Let us know your success with this card with other food trucks from around Canada!  See the Confirmed Multiplier Locations feature here.

Image via The Family Fry Guy

And the decline of hotel occupancy rates in Canada continues - only 32.2% for October 4 to 10. (Source HNN)

"Occupancy for previous weeks came in at 34.0% (3 October), 35.6% (26 September), and 37.0% (19 September), respectively."

Airline Schedule Updates
A summary 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!

Lufthansa will be keeping once a day service between Toronto and Frankfurt for the winter season but will be reducing Vancouver to Frankfurt flights to 5x per week from 7x during this same time period. (Source RoutesOnline)

Panama's Copa Airlines resumed service between Toronto and Panama City last week. The airline is flying the route three times weekly. (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:

• Aeroplan provides details of transition period to the new program - temporary system outages, removal of Star Alliance Upgrade Awards until 2021 & more
    In a little over two weeks the Aeroplan we know now will be gone and the new Aeroplan…
• Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – October Edition
     Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available. We are…
• The Rewards Canada Weekly Wind Up for October 10 to 16, 2020
   Here is the weekly wind up of all the blog posts from the past week here on Rewards Canada:…
• Save up to 25% at five of Marriott's Canadian mountain resorts
    Marriott has a lot of different discount offers and codes out in the market that provide various savings…
• Amazing award night redemption opportunity at the new Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown (Book by October 25)
    Earlier this week we let you know that the first Radisson Blu Hotel in Canada opened up its…
• Another round of new RBC Offers - Discounts for Ebay, Hello Fresh and Venque plus Little Burgundy offer extended
    Amex and RBC sure seem to be battling it out with exclusive offers for their cardmembers! RBC just…
• StayVancouver's Visa Gift Card offer returns - Earn up to a $125 Visa Gift Card for your first night + $50 Visa Cards for additional nights
    StayVancouverHotels has brought back their awesome gift card offer. You may remember them as BeVancouver previously and that…
• Earn Triple ALL Accor Live Limitless points at Fairmont and Accor Hotels in Canada, the U.S. Mexico & Panama
    Yesterday we brought you details of the rejuvenated Fairmont Stay Close offer and in that post we mentioned…
• October 15 Update: More confirmed Amex Cobalt Multipliers, Sunwing resuming flights on November 6 while Porter pushes relaunch date back to December
    We have another update to our American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations page. Regular provider of Cobalt…

Deals:

Earn $300 cash when you open a new Scotiabank Ultimate Package! Plus earn Scotia Rewards or SCENE Rewards points. Find out more here.

Fairmont's Stay Close offer of every 2nd night free returns with a vengeance and you can earn triple ALL Accor Live Limitless points on those stays

If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more 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

Delta SkyMiles
- Receive Complimentary Medallion Status if you have status on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, jetBlue, Southwest Airlines or United Airlines. More... Register by Oct 31, 20

Hyatt World of Hyatt
- 30% Bonus World of Hyatt Points when you buy 5,000 or more points. More... Until Nov 24, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- Book Reward Nights starting as low as 30K points at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. More... Until Dec 15, 20 

Millennium Hotels My Millennium
- Double Millennium Points + an extra 10% off for every stay when you book direct at any participating Millennium hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 31, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

Aeroplan provides details of transition period to the new program - temporary system outages, removal of Star Alliance Upgrade Awards until 2021 & more

 

In a little over two weeks the Aeroplan we know now will be gone and the new Aeroplan will be here. There's a lot of anticipation in the air for the new Aeroplan program and as can be expected with any such migration there is a need to pause certain aspects of the program. Aeroplan let us know this morning what we can expect to happen from now until November 8th and beyond:

Generally speaking, between the evening of Nov. 6, 2020, and the afternoon of Nov. 8, 2020, Aeroplan will be temporarily unavailable. However, some features will be put on hold ahead of Nov. 6, to make the transition more seamless.

Detailed information can be found at aircanada.com/aeroplanupdate, but here are some notable highlights:

· Flight Rewards - Flight rewards will be temporarily unavailable for new reservations, changes and cancellations from the evening of Nov. 6, through the afternoon of Nov. 8. If a member is traveling during that time and needs immediate support for a previously booked flight reward reservation, they can contact the Aeroplan Contact Centre at 1-800-361-5373.

· Non-Air Rewards – Members will be unable to redeem points for merchandise (including gift cards) and other travel rewards starting from the evening of Nov. 6, through the afternoon of Nov. 8.

· Crediting points – For points earned with partners between Oct. 30 and Nov. 9, there will be a delay in points crediting. They will automatically be credited beginning Nov. 10.

· Altitude members – As in previous years, Altitude status members must choose their Select Privileges no later than Oct. 31. All status benefits, including eUpgrades, will remain available throughout the transition period.

· Star Alliance Upgrade Awards (SAUA) - Star Alliance Upgrade Awards will be paused for Aeroplan members starting Oct. 31. Members will be able to request these upgrades again later in 2021.

(We made the difficult choice to temporarily pause Star Alliance Upgrade Awards to allow for more focus on the implementation of new program features. This decision was reinforced by lower international travel demand as a result of COVID-19, and a related drop in demand for SAUA. We’re eager to reintroduce this product later in 2021. In the meantime, take note that Star Alliance Upgrade Awards will continue to be available on Air Canada flights for members of partner frequent flyer programs.)

When you visit Aeroplan's migration update page there are two more notable disruptions to be aware of:

· Between October 17 and the afternoon of November 8, 2020, it will not be possible to request missing Aeroplan points for flight activities.

· Between the evening of November 6 and the afternoon of November 8, 2020, the option to convert partner points to Aeroplan points will be unavailable.

Many of these disruptions to the Aeroplan are to be expected and given that most of them will take place over the weekend of November 6 to 8 it should hopefully not affect a lot of members. When you think about it this is the perfect time for Aeroplan to make the transition - November tends to be quiet for travel regardless of the year but now with the travel being so much lower due to COVID-19 it is the perfect time for the switch and it provides Aeroplan time to also work out the kinks before they see an uptick in travel again.

Some of you may be disheartened about the pause of Star Alliance Upgrade Awards until 2021 and it is unfortunate if you had this award in your sights over the next few months but at least Aeroplan has made the promise to reintroduce them in 2021. In all likelihood the SAUA makes up a very small percentage of awards redeemed for by members so it shouldn't affect too many members.

You can learn more about the Aeroplan migration here.

Recommended reading:

• The new Air Canada Aeroplan program revealed - it all goes live on November 8!

   
  

Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – October Edition

 

 Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available. We are continuing to see more offers emerge as hotel companies try to encourage any sort of travel now that there is even the smallest glimmer of hope that parts of the world are starting to return to normal.

One of the easiest ways to rack up lots of hotel points is to take advantage of these systemwide bonuses that come from many of the big chain programs and also from the lesser known programs. In fact, right now it should be rare for you NOT to earn a bonus. Unless you are staying at a boutique hotel or perhaps an independent hotel most other hotels out there have a bonus. So take advantage of it! These systemwide bonuses simply require you to register beforehand and they do not affect hotel pricing as long as you book a point eligible rate which are most rates out there. Of course booking through a third party site like Expedia or Rocketmiles does not count as most chains only award points on bookings that are made directly with them. Without further ado here are all the current promotions that are available to everyone:

Provider	Offer	Validity Date
ALL Accor Live Limitless	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all ALL Accor Live Limitlessbonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's ALL Accor Live Limitless page
Best Western Rewards	Receive a $25 Best Western Gift Card for each night you stay at Best Western hotels in the United States, Canada or the Caribbean. You can receive one gift card for each night up to four nights in total ($100 in gift cards) Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)	Sep 14 – Nov 23, 20
	Receive a $25 Best Western Gift Card for each night you stay at a Best Western Hotel in Australia or New Zealand. You can receive one gift card for each night up to four nights in total ($100 in gift cards) Full details, online registration & booking  (Registration is required)	Sep 14 – Oct 19, 20
	For a complete listing of all Best Western Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Best Western page
Choice Hotels Privileges	Earn up to 8,000 Bonus Privileges Points after every two separate qualifying stays at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) For residents of the U.S. and Canada only	Sep 21 – Nov 15, 20
	For a complete listing of all Choice Privileges bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Choice page
Coast Hotels Coast Rewards	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Coast Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Coast Rewards page
GHA Discovery	Double Elite Night Credit for stays at participating GHA Hotels Worldwide. Register online (Registration is required)	Until Dec 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all GHA Discovery bonus offers please visit Rewards Canada's GHA page
Hilton	Double Honors Points & Double Elite Night Credits per stay at Hilton Hotels worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required)	Sep 8 - Dec 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Hilton HHonors bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hilton page
Hyatt	Triple World of Hyattt Points on all Hyatt stays Worldwide starting right with your first stay. World of Hyatt credit cardholders will earn quadruple points on eligible spend at over 350 Hyatt Resort locations. Plus earn one Tier-Qualifying Night credit toward elite status the year in which they earn it and they will receive one bonus Tier-Qualifying Night credit toward elite status in 2021. Full details, online registration & booking	Register by Nov 30 for stays until Jan 4, 21
	For a complete listing of all Hyatt Gold Passport bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hyatt page
InterContinental Hotels Group	Earn Double IHG Rewards Club points on every eligible stay you make at participating IHG Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required) U.S. based IHG credit card holders will also earn an additional 10,000 bonus points on their first stay	Register and book now for stays Oct 1 – Dec 15, 20
	For a complete listing of all IHG Priority Club bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's IHG page
Marriott	2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stay at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. Plus earn a one time bonus of 5,000 points when you complete 3 stays. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)	Until Nov 1020
	For a complete listing of all Marriott Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Marriott page
Millennium Hotels My Millennium	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Millennium Hotels My Millennium bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's My Millennium page
Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's iPrefer page
Radisson Rewards	Earn 5,000 Bonus Radisson Rewards points on each stay at all Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson hotels worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required)	Until Dec 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Radisson Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Radisson Rewards page
Red Lion Hello Rewards	10 bonus Hello Bucks when you complete stays at participating Red Lion hotels across the US and Canada. Full details	Book by Oct 22 for stays until Nov 15, 20
Red Roof Inns RediRewards	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Red Roof bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's RediRewards page
Sandman Hotels	Double Lucky13 rewards stamps for stays at all participating Sandman Hotels in Canada and the U.S. Full details	Until Dec 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Radisson Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Sandman Hotels Lucky13 Rewards page
Shangri-La Golden Circle	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Shangria-La bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Golden Circle page
Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Sonesta Hotels bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Travel Pass page
Voila Hotel Rewards	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Voila Hotel Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's VHR page
WorldHotels Rewards	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Wyndham Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's WorldHotels page
Wyndham Rewards	Earn 7,500 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points when you complete two consecutive nights at participating Wyndham Rewards Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)	Book by Jan 13 for stays until Jan 18, 21
	For a complete listing of all Wyndham Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Wyndham page

 

The Rewards Canada Weekly Wind Up for October 10 to 16, 2020

 Here is the weekly wind up of all the blog posts from the past week here on Rewards Canada:

• Amazing award night redemption opportunity at the new Radisson Blu Hotel Toronto (Book by October 25)
    Earlier this week we let you know that the first Radisson Blu Hotel in Canada opened up its…
• Another round of new RBC Offers - Discounts for Ebay, Hello Fresh and Venque plus Little Burgundy offer extended
    Amex and RBC sure seem to be battling it out with exclusive offers for their cardmembers! RBC just…
• StayVancouver's Visa Gift Card offer returns - Earn up to a $125 Visa Gift Card for your first night + $50 Visa Cards for additional nights
    StayVancouverHotels has brought back their awesome gift card offer. You may remember them as BeVancouver previously and that…
• Earn Triple ALL Accor Live Limitless points at Fairmont and Accor Hotels in Canada, the U.S. Mexico & Panama
    Yesterday we brought you details of the rejuvenated Fairmont Stay Close offer and in that post we mentioned…
• October 15 Update: More confirmed Amex Cobalt Multipliers, Sunwing resuming flights on November 6 while Porter pushes relaunch date back to December
    We have another update to our American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations page. Regular provider of Cobalt…
• Marriott Bonvoy extends the 2,500 bonus points per stay + extra points after multiple stays offer to November 10
    In the last episode of the Rewards Canada Podcast I discussed the outlook for loyalty programs for the…
• Fairmont's Stay Close offer of every 2nd night free returns with a vengeance and you can earn triple ALL Accor Live Limitless points on those stays
    From May to August of this year we provided an abundant amount of coverage of Fairmont's Stay Close…
• New Amex Offer for Mobile Service Providers - 4 Bonus Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent
    Another Amex offer became available today that you can check your accounts to see if has been sent…
• Earn 3x RBC Rewards Points at McDonald's with eligible RBC Visa credit cards
    There is a new RBC Offers offer that came out last week that I caught on the RBC…
• October 14 Update: WestJet cuts majority of Atlantic Canada flights, American AAdvantage lowers elite qualifying requirements & Air Canada's U.S. flight schedule for November
   Some unwelcome news from WestJet today as they have announced that they pulling the majority of their flights from…
• Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Calgary reopening on October 15
  Tomorrow will mark the day that Air Canada will re-open their third Maple Leaf Lounge in Canada. Following earlier…
• October 13 Update: The first Radisson Blu Hotel in Canada has opened in Toronto, Air India launching Vancouver-Delhi flights & five new bonus offers
    The first Radisson Blu Hotel in Canada has officially opened its doors. The Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown. This…
• Radisson Rewards: 25% points rebate when you redeem for award nights
   Now it's Radisson Hotels turn to have an award night sale! They have launched a 25% rebate offer when…
• Alaska Airlines will officially become part of the oneworld alliance on March 31, 2021
    First it was summer of 2021 then it was before the end of 2020 but now it appears…
• Receive a 100% bonus for buying Hilton Honors points until the end of the year
    Instead of running a 100% bonus for buying points every few weeks like we have seen over the…
• Fairmont Hotels Air Canada Altitude Member offer - Room upgrade, $50 hotel credit and daily breakfast for 2
    Yet another Fairmont Hotels offer to pass along! This offer is for those who are Air Canada Altitude…
• The Rewards Canada Weekly Wind Up for October 3 to 9, 2020
   Today we are starting a new feature here on Rewards Canada that seems to a popular blog thing to…
• Aer Lingus Flash Sale - Fly from Canada to Ireland for as little as $299 round trip including all fees
    A day late with this offer since it actually came out yesterday but there are still about 7…
• October 9 Update: Purchase Give A Mile's limited edition Pilsner to help fund flights of compassion, Amex Centurion Lounge in JFK now open & Turkish Airlines further delays Vancouver launch
   Shout to our friends at Give A Mile who sent us their limited edition Reservoir Pigs Pilsner brewed by…
• Top 7 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for October - These cards provide the best value out of their welcome bonuses
    Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 7 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month…
• Have credit with Alaska Airlines? You might be targeted to convert it to Mileage Plan miles at an amazing rate!
   Today Alaska Airlines launched an initiative similar to Air Canada when you can convert Alaska Airlines wallet credit to…
• Top 5 Small Business Credit Card Sign Up offers for October - These cards provide the best value out of their welcome bonuses
    Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Small Business Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of…
• Marriott Bonvoy Week of Wonders - Hotels pricing at off-peak award night rates when you book by October 15
    Marriott Bonvoy is celebrating its members and kicking off a Week of Wonders starting today through October 15,…
• October 7 Update: Double Miles & More Miles on all Lufthansa flights, 50,000 bonus PC Optimum points when you spend $150 with Shoppers online & 9 new bonus offers
      As you know a big part of Rewards Canada and pretty much 99.9% of our global site…
• Wyndham Rewards: 7,500 Bonus Points when you complete 2 stays in Canada & Worldwide
   Wyndham Rewards has come out with their fall/early winter promotion and it is similar to their last offer in…
   
  

I would also recommend subscribing to our newsletter as that is your other way to get your summary of what has happened on  Rewards Canada during the week and it tends to have even more information as it also covers our bonus offers posted etc.