Rewards Canada: Your premier points, miles & credit cards resource: March 2021

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Alaska Airlines has officially joined the oneworld Alliance

We've talked it about here on Rewards Canada for many months now and are excited to bring you the news that we all knew would happen today and that is of Alaska Airlines officially joining the oneworld Alliance! This is huge for the airline that prior to this dabbled in partnering with airlines from across all three alliances and thankfully will still have some of those other partnerships but now with the power of belonging to one alliance. Alaska Airlines 14th airline to become a full member of oneworld and this plays well for many Canadians - well mainly for those that know the value of Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan program as there are those who have never considered the program since the airline only serves cities in Alberta & B.C.. This was even despite some amazing partnerships with airlines that do serve many Canadian cities where the program can be utilized and now there are even more airlines to add to the mix.

March 31 Update: Last day to score 450 WestJet dollars on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard & Flair Airlines announces new service to Montreal

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

Today is the last day to get in on the best ever offer for the WestJet RBC World Mastercard. The offer sees a limited time $0 companion voucher and up to 450 WestJet dollars. After today the $0 companion voucher will remain on offer until May but the bonus dollars will drop. We still don't know what it will drop to exactly but have double confirmation from WestJet that it won't be 450. Do note that to get the 450 WestJet dollars you do have to be able to spend $5,000 on the card in the first three months of having it. If you know you can't spend $5K in three months then wait until the next offer comes out but if you can meet that spend then you should probably apply for the card today. You can apply for the card here

Image via RBC

Hot on the heels of our popular post from earlier this week showing our readers how they can earn over 118,000 Aeroplan points for nothing other than credit card spend is that you can do the same for several other programs in Canada. One of the most popular non-Canadian frequent flyer programs for Canadians is British Airways Executive Club and thanks to many of the same card offers seen in the Aeroplan post plus one additional card you can earn a boat load of BA Executive Club Avios at no cost other than credit card spending. That's where the asterisk * in the title comes into play. * We mean free as in paying no annual fees on this list of credit cards in the first year - you simply need to make the minimum spending requirement on some or all of the cards to garner those points. Some of you may have one or two of these cards so you can jump on some of the offers to earn a portion of the points for free or are sitting at a position in the points and miles game where you can re-apply for them now and get yourself those points while some of you may not have any of the cards and can potentially score the full 98,000 Avios.

We've said it before and we'll say it again - Air Canada's Aeroplan has been one of the most proactive, member oriented and rewarding loyalty programs during this pandemic and today's news from them just builds on that.

Aeroplan let us know that they will provide an automatic extension of Aeroplan Elite status, they are instituting an elite status jump start program and are further extending the pause on points expiry.

WestJet secures slots for London Heathrow flights

News came out over the past week about the allocation of coveted new slots for flying to London's Heathrow airport and Canada's WestJet was one of the airlines that was awarded some of them. We haven't seen an official announcement from WestJet just yet but according to Canadian Aviation News WestJet received 732 slots which means they could operate 28 flights per week which further translates to 2 daily flights. Here's a further description from Canadian Aviation News:

At the start of March Laurentian Bank came out with a new offer for their Visa Infinite Card. The offer provides new approved cardholders with 8 points per dollar spent on gas, groceries, transportation and travel purchases for the first three months from account opening. The 8 points per dollar will be awarded on the first $2,000 in spending in those categories. On top of this they will provide a $130 credit which covers the first year annual fee on the card.

Hyatt has released another buy points offer and this time it is in the form of a discount just like we saw at the end of 2020. The discount is a flat 25% off when you buy 5,000 or more points. This 25% discount works out to 1.8 cents per point which is better than the 30% bonus we see quite often but not as good as the 40% that we have seen from them as well. Still it could make sense to buy points for an award in the short term before a 40% bonus comes along again. This 25% discount offer runs right through to the end of the April.

It is surprising to think that in a year where we saw travel be extremely curtailed that frequent flyer program expansion would also be limited. Such is not the case with Air Canada's Aeroplan as they have added six new airline partners to their roster over the past year. The sixth just being announced today and that airline is Air Dolimiti. The Lufthansa Group owned Italian airline primarily serves major Italian cities and several other European cities from Lufthansa's major hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. Both of those cities are major connecting points for Air Canada flights so one can easily see where this new partnership with Aeroplan makes sense.

March 29 Update: Update on Buddy Pass Conversion - not good news for new applicants plus two days left to get your Shangri-La status and to get better cash back value from Scotia

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

Update on Buddy Pass conversion: We have been notified The Buddy Pass from Air Canada co-brand cards can only be converted to Aeroplan points by April 30th. This means it is very unlikely any new applicants for the TD card will be able to get the pass in time to convert. Air Canada likely did this to keep the card from having an influx of new applicants just to convert the Buddy Pass over to points. This is an unfortunate turn of events and may affect anyone who applied for the card since the news broke last week about this conversion option. We have reached out to Aeroplan about their plans for those people who did apply over the past few days and how they'll handle it as I'm sure there were quite a few people who did apply in hope of getting those extra points and with there being no indication until today that it would be cut off so soon those new applicants may be PO'd! We'll be sure to provide an update as soon as we hear back from Aeroplan. Learn more about the conversion option here.

GREAT NEWS: According to an interview with Air Canada Aeroplan execs that Anshul at Points, Miles & Bling had over this past weekend the buddy pass conversion option is based on the date you apply not the date the buddy pass posts to your account - this means you can apply for this card by April 30 and be able to convert the buddy pass to Aeroplan points once it posts to your account. Please note there are mentions on other sites the conversion option is being extended. There is no confirmation of this just yet - we have reached out to Air Canada and should know by April 23 if this will be happening

MAJOR UPDATE: We have been notified The Buddy Pass can only be converted by April 30th which means it is very unlikely any new applicants for the TD card will be able to get the pass in time to convert. This is likely to keep the card from having an influx of new applicants just to convert the Buddy Pass over to points. This is an unfortunate turn of events and affects this post. That being said there is still the potential to get 118,000 Aeroplan Points + a buddy pass (with the hope that Air Canada lets people convert them beyond the April 30 date)

Over the past week we have seen some developments in the Canadian credit card mark that hugely benefit the Canadian consumer, travelers and points & miles aficionados alike. Here at Rewards Canada we've already covered all the developments in several posts but the crazy thing is you can bring them all together to rack up a ton of Aeroplan points at no cost other than credit card spending. That's where the asterisk * in the title comes into play. * We mean free as in paying no annual fees on this list of credit cards in the first year - you simply need to make the minimum spending requirement on some or all of the cards to garner those points. Some of you may have one or two of these cards so you can jump on some of the offers to earn a portion of the points for free or are sitting at a position in the points and miles game where you can re-apply for them now and get yourself those points while some of you may not have any of the cards and can potentially score the full 147,000 points.

March 26 Update: Earn up to 25x points when booking travel with More Rewards and WestJet further expands summer schedule with flights to B.C. from across Canada

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

More Rewards members can earn 10x points for booking Sandman Hotel stays via More Rewards Travel. This means you will earn 10 points per dollar spent on those stays (before taxes and fees of course) plus what points/miles you earn on your credit card. This offer is valid for stays until December 31, 2021. Learn more here.

An exclusive offer came out this month for Canadian Visa Infinite cardholders the provides 500 bonus points for stays at Accor Hotels in North and Central America. For most of us this means for stays at Fairmont Hotels across Canada along with the handful of Novotel and Sofitel Hotels in the eastern triangle. If you are traveling beyond our borders you can look to utilize the offer in the U.S., Mexico and so on.

Now's the time to grab an Air Canada Aeroplan credit card - get up to 50,000 points at no cost other than card spending!

GREAT NEWS: According to an interview with Air Canada Aeroplan execs that Anshul at Points, Miles & Bling had over this past weekend the buddy pass conversion option is based on the date you apply not the date the buddy pass posts to your account. Then Aeroplan confirmed with Rewards Canada that there is no set end date for this buddy pass conversion. Ultimately it comes down to the TD end date of this offer on May 30. We feel that after that date the buddy pass will not be offered on the card (pure speculation on our part however!)

~~this means you can apply for this card by April 30 and be able to convert the buddy pass to Aeroplan points once it posts to your account.~~
Please note there are mentions on other sites the conversion option is being extended. There is no confirmation of this just yet - we have reached out to Air Canada and should know by April 23 if this will be happening

Earlier on the Rewards Canada blog we detailed how you can now convert the Buddy Pass portion of the welcome offer on half a dozen Aeroplan co-brand credits to 30,000 Aeroplan points. This is a huge deal! To be able to get an extra 30,000 points out of a welcome bonus is unprecedented. Yes - the buddy pass can have huge value in its own right but by converting it to points you do take out some uncertainty over shorter term travel (think less than 2 years). Plus the buddy pass is meant for North America travel including Hawaii and only in economy class. By taking the points you can use them to build up your balance for travel to anywhere in the world that you can redeem Aeroplan points for (and that's a lot of places) in any fare class you like including First Class.

March 25 Update: Video - Exciting new hotels opening in Canada in 2021, WestJet resuming flights to Atlantic Canada & Quebec City and 500 free Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

The latest Rewards Canada Podcast that covers new hotel openings in Canada from Hilton, Hyatt, IHG & Marriott is now in video format on our YouTube Channel - Check it out here

The latest AIR MILES Bonus Boom event kicked off today with a whole bunch of bonus miles offers for shopping or completing actions with various AIR MILES partners. Most of the bonuses are available between today and April 14 and once again if you use three different Bonus Boom offers you'll get 95 bonus AIR MILES. New this time however is the ability to get the 95 bonus miles all from one retailer so long as they have multiple offers. For example Sobeys has three different offers available so if you meet the criteria for those three offers you'll get the 95 bonus miles.

Shout out to Ashul at Points, Miles & Bling and Ricky from Prince of Travel who broke the news last night that Aeroplan is now allowing members to convert the Air Canada Buddy Passes earned from an Aeroplan co-brand card into Aeroplan points! The option to convert has not been published publicly by Air Canada however Anshul and Ricky have confirmed with the airline that this indeed is true. And it is an awesome deal - Air Canada will give you 30,000 Aeroplan points if you choose to convert your Buddy Pass to Aeroplan points. To do so you simply have to call Aeroplan and tell them you would like to convert your Buddy Pass to points.

One week left for the best ever offer on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard: 450 dollars + a $0 companion fare

For just over a month we have the seen the best offer yet on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and this is a reminder there is only one week left to score this great deal. The offer might be prime for the picking right now for some of our readers who are excited about the news that came out today from WestJet on how they are going to restart flights to Charlottetown, Fredericton, Moncton, Sydney and Quebec City and resume flights between Toronto and St. John's.

Earlier today we let you know about the new increased welcome bonuses on Amex's Marriott Bonvoy cards and in that post we mentioned the Platinum Card seeing an increased bonus as well. That's what we'll cover here and it is the return of what had been the standard bonus on The Platinum Card and that standard bonus is 50,000 points.

For the better of a year now Canada's Top Ultra Premium card has had a low welcome bonus of 25,000 points and for good reason. American Express shifted from putting money behind new acquisitions on this card to supporting those that already had it during the pandemic. Existing cardholders saw some pretty amazing offers during this time from Double Points and Double Redemption value to $250 in grocery store credits and much more. Now that there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel with the pandemic albeit a very long tunnel still, American Express appears to be getting ready for everyone looking for revenge travel! They now have increased sign up bonuses on all their travel based cards except one - the American Express Gold Rewards Card stands alone as the forgotten child!

Now back to this new offer on the Platinum Card of 50,000 welcome points. Those points will be earned when you spend $3,000 on the card in the first three months of having it. Those 50,000 points are worth no less than $500 towards travel when you redeem via the Flexible Points Travel Program, up to $1,000 when you redeem via the Fixed Points for Travel program or $500 to well over $2,000 when you convert to programs like Aeroplan and redeem for business or first class flights.

Now the card does have one of the highest annual fees around - $699 per year but it comes with a slew of benefits and features that more than make up for that fee. There is a reason why this the best Ultra Premium credit card (well charge card) in Canada:

3 points per dollar spent on dining, 2 points per dollar on travel & 1 point on everything else
$200 annual travel credit when you book travel via American Express
The best airport lounge access program in Canada which includes Priority Pass Prestige for the cardholder and one guest
Elite status with various hotel loyalty programs including Marriott and Hilton
Access to Fine Hotels & Resorts which can add up to US$550 or more in value at luxury hotels around the world
and much much more

Like we mentioned in the Marriott post from earlier today we are excited to see Amex boosting their welcome offers once again. It has been an unprecedented 12 months that I don't think any of us expected and it changed everything in the points and miles world. However when we see news like we did today it provides a glimmer of hope that in due time things will return to normal as now the Platinum Card is back to normal!

Learn more about and apply for the card here.

There is also a 60,000 point offer for the card via Amex's refer a friend channels. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in receiving that offer link.

Awesome new increased welcome bonuses on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Cards - 60,000 points + statement credits

After spending most of 2020 supporting existing customers we can say 2021 is the year American Express is back in the game for acquiring new customers! We've seen increased welcome offers on the American Express Cobalt™ Card, the Choice Card from American Express™ and the SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express and now we can add three more cards into the mix! As of today there are now increased welcome bonuses for the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card, the Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express® Card and the The Platinum Card® . In this post we'll cover the new Marriott bonuses and follow up with separate coverage on the Platinum Card.

Earn 1,000 bonus points per night for stays at the Sheraton Montreal Airport Hotel

For the months of April and May, Marriott Bonvoy members can earn 1,000 bonus points per night for stays at the Sheraton Montreal Airport Hotel. Remember as well if you stay by April 27 you can earn Double Bonvoy Points and Double Elite Night credit for each stay of 2 or more nights. You can register separately for that offer here.

March 23 Update: Aeroplan points posting from the new Starbucks partnership, earn & redeem Be Well points with Well.ca & Mogo products now on Rewards Canada

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

Aeroplan points are starting to post now from the Starbucks partnership that was announced earlier this month. To recap you earn 75 Aeroplan points when you load $50 to $74.99 on your Starbucks card or 150 points for $75+. On top of that there are limited time bonuses to celebrate this partnership of 25 bonus points when you make 4 or more transactions and 50 bonus points when you make two 150 Starbucks Stars redemptions. You can see from the screenshot of my account that I have already earned both of the limited time bonuses plus some of the standard points for reloading my account on the Starbucks app. Learn more about the Aeroplan Starbucks partnership here!

This episode is sponsored by the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®

In this episode we look at some of the exciting new hotels that are set to open in Canada this year. In a year where most Canadians will be staying in Canada for their travels staying at a new local hotel can make for an awesome staycation. We highlight a handful of hotels from the 29 properties that are set to open from Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott that should be on your list if you do want to check out some place new! Scroll down for links to the topics in the episode.

Receive up to a 100% bonus when you buy Aeroplan Points

We are just short of a year since Air Canada began selling Aeroplan points full time and without being a top off for an offer. In this short time period Air Canada has already made a name for itself in running some pretty lucrative bonus offers for buying their points and today we get another one of those limited time offers!

Air Canada Aeroplan is running a 'Spring Refresh' event where you can earn up to 5x points for shopping online at select retailers via Aeroplan's eStore. This offer runs until April 4 and the participating retailers are Linen Chest, TSC, Well.ca, simons, Macys, Hudson's Bay, dyson & Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Today is the last day for Marriott Bonvoy’s buy points bonus! Depending on the member that bonus will either be 40% or 50%. If it’s 50% you’ll definitely want to check it out as it can be worth buying the points with that bonus.

Earn up to 2,000 Aeroplan Points when you rent with Avis

One thing we haven't seen too much of from the new Air Canada Aeroplan program are bonus offers for flying (that one is a bit obvious as to why), hotel stays, car rentals and more. Yes, the current situation due to the pandemic in Canada and globally has curtailed travel and thus the promotions around them. However we track bonus offers from 170+ loyalty programs from around the world and are definitely starting to see the bonus offer market make a come back. With Aeroplan this really hasn't been the case however - right now we only have the small bonuses with the new Starbucks partnership and of course the ongoing offers for credit cards but beyond that nadda. Aeroplan used to be king of the castle when it came to bonus offers - in fact back in 2014 when kept detailed notes on the 5,000 or so bonus point offers we posted on our global site FrequentFlyerBonuses.com Air Canada came out on top in the number of promotions released that year.

Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card Review

The best hotel credit card in Canada is the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card and in fact is one of the best overall travel rewards credit cards! It consistently ranks in the Top 5 Cards in Canada in our annual rankings thanks to its ability to provide huge outsized value and by providing some amazing benefits that can be used year after year. We hope with this review that more Canadians can learn about the value hotel loyalty programs can provide as the last major survey showed only 13% of Canadians participated in a hotel loyalty program.

A look at the benefits Delta Medallion elite members will receive for flying on WestJet

Earlier today we brought you details on the new reciprocal elite status frequent flyer benefits announced by WestJet and Delta Airlines. In that post we focused on the details for WestJet Rewards elite tier members and now we'll take a look at the benefits that being afforded to Delta Medallion elites for flying on WestJet. For the most part they look exactly like the benefits WestJet members get for flying on Delta.

Today we see the launch of WestJet Rewards' first ever reciprocal frequent flyer benefits for their elite tier members. Up until now all of WestJet's frequent flyer partnerships were limited to the earning and burning of WestJet dollars (or the reciprocal airline's points or miles) with no recognition of status or benefits with those partnerships. Well that's changed now as WestJet and Delta have expanded their partnership on the frequent flyer side despite their joint venture being put on hold. They are also introducing reciprocal benefits for non-elite and elite members alike who are fly WestJet Business Class or Delta One (Delta's business class).

Here's a nice little bonus offer to take a look at if you have been itching for a staycation in Southern Ontario. Starting tomorrow and running through to June 4 you can earn 2,500 bonus Bonvoy points for a 2 night or longer stay at the new TownePlace Suites by Marriott, Hamilton. This offer can be combined with Marriott Bonvoy's current systemwide promotion offering Double Bonvoy Points and Double Elite Night credit for each stay of 2 or more nights at all Marriott Hotels Worldwide. Be sure to register for the double points offer prior to completing your stay at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, Hamilton.

Receive a 20% bonus when you buy Best Western Travel Cards

For the third time in less than a year Best Western is offering a 20% bonus on Best Western Travel/Gift Cards! When you buy a C$100 gift card they will give you a C$20 bonus card to use. You can buy up to $500 worth of gift cards with this promotion to receive $100 in bonus cards. Note the terminology difference in the cards – the travel/gift card is a true gift card – that is it has no expiry date as they can’t put one on them due to laws against it in countries like the U.S. and Canada. However the bonus card is not considered as such since it is an incentive and you are not paying cash for it. That means they can put an expiry on the bonus card and they have done so. Any bonus cards you receive are only valid until June 30, 2021. Nonetheless if you think you’ll be traveling and staying at Best Western hotels by the end of June then by all means avail of this offer to garner those savings! Also note that you can buy the travel cards in USD, EUR or GBP currencies.

March 17 Update: Amex Offer for Godiva Chocolates, are we going to see a NEXUS fee increase & an unannounced British Airways Executive Club devaluation

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

A new Amex Offers offer came out this week. This one is for Godiva Chocolates (perfect timing for Easter!) and provides a one-time $10 statement credit when you spend at least $50 in qualifying purchases using your registered Card at www.godiva.ca by May 15. I received it on my Platinum Card but I do believe it is open to all Amex cards since it is listed on their general registration page. Learn more about this and other Amex Offers in our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

Continuing on with our new hotel openings in Canada series we now take a look at what Hilton has in store for 2021.

Hilton Hotels definitely falls into the category of a major hotel chain as they have over 6,400 hotels globally with a significant presence here in Canada that sees 150+ hotels in nine provinces. That number is growing quickly as Hilton has many hotels in the pipeline for Canada over the next few years.

Earn 1,000 to 7,500 bonus Wyndham Rewards points on all stays until May 31

Week three of Wyndham Hotels Member Month promotion sees them release a bonus offer for actual Wyndham stays! The previous weeks saw an online shopping bonuses and a buy points bonus (both of those promotions are still live for a few more weeks) and now was have a stay bonus being marketed as stay 3 nights and get a free night. That’s due to the fact that if you complete a 3 or more consecutive night stay you’ll be awarded with 7,500 bonus points which are enough points for a free night at select Wyndham Hotels. Not staying 3 nights? Don’t worry you’ll still get bonus points. 1 night will get you 1,000 bonus points and 2 nights will earn 3,000 bonus points. The bonuses can be earned multiple times so if you have 3 night stay planned and then a 2 night stay during the promotional period you’ll walk away with 10,500 bonus points. This offer must be booked by May 28 for stays until May 31, 21.

March 16 Update: Alaska Airlines buy miles bonus extended & PC Optimum Bonus Beauty Redemption Event - get up to $75 extra value

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has extended their buy miles bonus offer until March 18. If you buy 35,000 or more miles at once you'll get a 50% bonus. Find out more here.

It has only been a few days since we last saw Hilton run their 100% bonus for buying points and it’s back again! You can earn a 100% bonus for buying Hilton Honors points right through to May 11, 2021. Once again however you can only buy up to 80,000 points as they’ve dropped last year’s doubling of your annual amount of points you can buy. That 80,000 cap does not included the bonus points so if you max out this offer and buy 80,000 points you’ll receive 160,000 into your account. Hilton however has kept the lower purchase threshold of 5,000 points for where the bonus starts rather than the 10,000 we used to see.

Falling into the Rewards Canada "Hotel" category the consumer version of this card used to always take top spot in that category in our annual credit card rankings. However with the demise of most hotel credit cards in Canada we no longer have a hotel category. However the consumer version still ranks in the Top 5 Cards overall in Canada so in reality this card is right there as well since s it is very similar to the consumer Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card.

When it comes to earning points & miles for shopping online we are all familiar with Aeroplan's eStore and AIR MILES Shops to name a few. However there is one online shopping portal that is relatively unknown and that is Flying Blue's Shop for Miles. Flying Blue is the frequent flyer program for Air France and KLM, both very popular airlines for Canadians as prior to the pandemic they were a major player flying from Canada to Europe and beyond. Suffice to say there are quite a Flying Blue members here in Canada and outside of flying on Air France, KLM or other Star Alliance airlines it can be difficult to earn those Flying Blue miles, especially so with the pandemic right now. So that's where shopping online comes in!

March 15 Update: Marriott elites can now select their annual choice benefits, Accor Hotels offering COVID-19 test kits at Canadian & US hotels, World of Hyatt peak & off peak pricing coming soon

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

To all our Marriott Elite Status readers who have 50 nights or more in their accounts it's time ti select your annual choice benefits! From suite night awards to gifting status to additional elite night credits you can now log in via this page and make those selections. Remember once you make your selection you cannot change them.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO BOOK THIS OFFER FOR STAYS UNTIL JUNE 30

For nearly nine months now we've provided an abundance of coverage on Fairmont Hotels' Stay Close offer. It has been one of the best hotel promotions to emerge during the pandemic and this is a reminder that there are only two weeks left to book the current version of it.

Why the American Express Cobalt Card is the best card to get for your future travel plans

It has now been over a year since the Rewards Canada family has set foot on a plane and like many Canadians we are itching to get away! That being said we are fine to continue to wait to travel until things are safe to do so and also as important, enjoyable to do so. I say enjoyable in the terms of less restrictions in place when a lot of the current measures are lifted. So what do you do until said time? Do what we are doing. You make sure you rack up as many points and miles possible for those future travels. That's our motto of the year and of our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings from which the number one card overall in Canada is your best bet for those future travels. The American Express Cobalt Card is one of the best options in Canada to score a lot points - and valuable flexible points at that - to help fund future travel. In fact in our household we actually run with two Cobalt accounts to maximize the points we earn off the cards.

Earn up to 10,000 bonus AeroMexico Club Premier Points with just one Choice Hotels stay

Here’s an offer that has the potential to provide a lot of value – AeroMexico’s Club Premier is offering bonus points for stays at Choice Hotels. I should rephrase that – for a single stay and if you have never stayed at a Choice Hotel before you’ll get the big bonus of 10,000 Club Premier points. That’s right 10,000 points for a simple one night stay and with Choice Hotels having a lot of budget locations you could complete a very cheap stay to earn those points. Now, 10,000 points isn’t enough for a flight on its own but it gets close – when we just check one way flights within Mexico were going for as low as 12,000 points and one way flights within North America (we checked Toronto to New York City) were available at 22,000 points. Ideally then this offer is for adding extra points or topping off your Club Premier account. If you don’t utilize Club Premier and don’t think you’ll earn any more points beyond a stay like this then no need to bother.

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Small Business Credit Card Sign Up offers for this month! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards for small businesses that have very good acquisition (welcome/sign up) offers. As always when choosing a card you should always take other factors into account other than the just sign up bonus, but when some of these cards are first year free, they can and do pay off even when you grab them strictly for the sign up rewards. This month we see four first year free cards on the list! And remember this list is based on minimum value towards travel which we calculate as the minimum value of the welcome bonus less the annual fee. It is entirely possible to receive more value out of the welcome bonuses on some the cards below namely those like Aeroplan and Marriott.

March 11 Update: AIR MILES Bonus Boom returns later this month, lots of bonus for shopping online from the U.S. & two new Rexall Be Well bonus offers

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

AIR MILES and BMO sent out a teaser email about the return of the AIR MILES Bonus Boom. This promotional event that we are now seeing with increasing frequency will run from March 25 to April 14. It appears it will be the standard 95 bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you utilize offers from three different partners. One of the offers will provide 50 bonus AIR MLES when you opt-in and spend $350 at one partner (I'm assuming you have to use a BMO AIR MILES card for these 50 bonus miles). Learn more about Bonus Boom here. (The website has not been updated yet since the last promotion)

Air Canada Aeroplan has formally rolled out the Status Pass feature that was announced last year as part of the new Aeroplan program. This feature allows Aeroplan 50K Elite Status and higher members to share some elite benefits with friends and family who are not travelling with them.

IHG Rewards has brought back their fast track offer to elite status that we saw during the last half of 2020. The offer makes it very easy to obtain status in the recently rebranded IHG Rewards program! It is perfect for those who don’t have status in the program as it takes very few nights to reach elite with this promotion. The main difference between this 2021 version of the offer from 2020 is that there is now a 90 day time limit for completing the required nights whereas in 2020 you had until the date the promotion ended which was December 31. So in this case you'll want to time your registration for the offer correctly so that you can make sure you can complete the 2 or 5 nights within those 90 days. And that brings us to the elite status you get. After you register if you complete 2 nights within those 90 days you'll be granted IHG Rewards Gold Status. Complete 5 nights and Platinum Status is yours. By comparison if you don't register it would take a COVID-19 adjusted level of 7 nights to earn Gold Status or 30 nights to reach Platinum. As you can see it doesn’t take a lot of nights to earn status with this offer!

Great new limited time redemption offer from American Express for prepaid cards or using points for Amazon purchases

Yesterday American Express launched an pretty awesome points redemption special for prepaid American Express Cards and for using your points for Amazon.ca purchases. This limited time offer runs until March 22 and the rates match the good rates seen for when you redeem Points for Travel Purchases. That is, you get $10 in value for every 1,000 points you redeem.Which translates to a 1% to 5% return depending on which American Express card you earned those points with.

March 10 Update: Up to 750 Bonus Miles when you shop online via AIR MILES Shops & CIBC clarifies the Aventura NEXUS credit

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

There's some big bonuses for shopping online via AIR MILES Shops. Until March 28 when you shop at multiple online retailers you can earn bonuses as follows:

750 Bonus Miles when you spend $500 across 5 participating stores
375 Bonus Miles when you spend $300 across 3 participating stores
75 Bonus Miles when you spend $100 across 2 participating stores

Learn more about the offer here.

Image via AIR MILES

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A few weeks ago we mentioned how CIBC shows a US$50 credit for NEXUS applications for their Aventura cards but saw that the T&Cs state C$100 so we wondering if they boosted the NEXUS credit to match what TD was offering on some of their Aeroplan cards.. CIBC has clarified this for us and let us know the credit has not changed. They will provide a rebate for a US$50 NEXUS fee once and the C$100 in the terms and conditions is set in place to cover currency exchange since the NEXUS fee is paid in US$. I also tend to believe it will cover any increases in the NEXUS fee as we did hear some talk of the fee going up in price. So for those of you who have an Aventura card or are planning on getting it you'll know the benefit essentially covers one NEXUS fee. Learn more about CIBC Aventura cards here.

Image via CIBC

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Posts since our last update:

One week only – 100% bonus when you buy Radisson Rewards points
Radisson Rewards has brought back a 100% bonus for buying their points but only for a week. This…
Up to a 50% bonus when you buy Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles
Alaska Airlines has launched a new buy miles offer that only runs for a week this time until March…
March 8 Update: PC Financial downgrading World Elite Mastercard cardholders who didn't hit the $15,000 annual spend requirement & 8 new bonus offers
Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and…

Deals:

Save up to 25% for stays at Radisson Hotels in the U.S., Canada, Latin America & Caribbean

Simplify the way you trade cryptocurrency by joining me on NDAX – Use my referral link and we will both get $10. Learn more here.

Join Chapters Indigo plum today and earn 1,000 bonus points, join plum PLUS and earn 8,500 bonus points. Learn more here.

H&R Block - File online for free or use code HRBAFFILIATE20SAVE15 at checkout to get 15% off their Assistance and Protection features. 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 $10 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $25 when you sign up with our link)

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

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Other Bonus Offers

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Up to a 50% bonus when you buy or gift MilleMiglia miles online. More... Until Mar 31, 21

All Accor Live Limitless
- Double ALL Rewards Points for stays at over 340+ ALLSAFE hotels, resorts and apartments in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, French Polynesia and Hawaii. More... Until May 31, 21

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Double Frequent Flyer Points when you convert Choice Privileges Points to Qantas Frequent Flyer Points. More... Until Mar 31, 21

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