April 29 Update: Air Transat will now provide refunds for flights cancelled by COVID-19, Amex Offer for Kinton Ramen & we added a Brim Financial page!

 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 Transat released news today that they will receive $700 Million in funding from the Federal Government and as such will now allow travellers who received travel credits as a result of COVID-19 to request refunds for those credits. It's been a long time coming for Canadian consumers to get refunds on all the flights and vacation packages that had to be cancelled since last March. WestJet took the initiative first out of the big carriers with Air Canada and now Air Transat only announcing refunds once they were granted loans from the government. Air Transat has set up a dedicated page on their website where you can request a refund for your travel credit. Visit that page here and please let us and our fellow readers know how the process works out for you!

Marriott Bonvoy further extending free night award expiry to January 2022 and points expiration to March 2022

 

 

Once again 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 May 6, 2021:

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 January 2, 2022, as part of their Cobrand Credit Card Benefit, Annual Choice Benefit, promotions or travel package will be able to redeem it through January 3, 2022. Please note that FNAs with an original expiration date before 2020 will not be eligible for the additional extension. Members do not need to take any action because the system will automatically update their account with these extensions on May 6, 2021.

Why I think Aeroplan didn't put an expiry date on the Buddy Pass to Points conversion option

 
Earlier today Rewards Canada broke the news that Air Canada nixed the April 30 end date for the Buddy Pass to Aeroplan Points conversion option and have left it open indefinitely. And here's my opinion piece why I think they didn't put a set end date on it. Before I start however I must stress that this is just a guess and a prediction - so please do not take this at full value but use it perhaps to guide and inform you in what may happen in the next month.

Earn 7x points when shopping with Apple via the Aeroplan eStore

 

Aeroplan has brought back their 7x points offer for shopping online with Apple! This works for all eligible online purchases, even those you pick up in store! This is how I used to do all my Apple purchases, buy online and pick up typically within 2-3 hours at the Apple store all the while earning tons of Aeroplan points (plus the points or miles earned on the credit card!). Now with the pandemic however I have had my Apple orders shipped to my home but I wanted to let you know you do have that option of doing the in store pick up. This offer of 7x points runs until April 30 and note that some items on the Apple store are excluded from earning points.

Learn more about this offer here.

HT Points, Miles & Bling

Confirmed! Air Canada removes the April 30th end date for the Buddy Pass to Aeroplan Points conversion option (no set expiry for now)

For the better part of month now most of the discussion surrounding Air Canada's Aeroplan has been on the officially unpublished but well documented option to convert Air Canada Buddy Passes to Aeroplan points. News surfaced in March that you could call up Aeroplan and have the Buddy Pass that comes as part of the welcome bonus on numerous Air Canada Aeroplan co-brand credit cards to Aeroplan points. This was welcome news for those who had applied for one of the new cards but were solo travellers who would never use the pass or for those whose future travel plans may have changed due to the ongoing pandemic creating so much uncertainty.

April 27 Update: Share your hotel award night finds, Seniors' Bonus Day at Shoppers Drug Mart on April 29 & Novotel Toronto Centre closed for renos

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.

 
Hey Rewards Canada readers! Let us know about your Marriott Bonvoy award night finds in Canada or other hotel programs for that matter! Yesterday we published a new article detailing some great free night options for using the 60,000 points you can earn on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card. In that article we only look at a handful of hotels as there are so many dates and hotels to choose from in Canada that it is tough for us to find them all. That's where we know the Rewards Canada Community can help! With thousands of you out there we know some of you are searching and booking award nights here in Canada and we would love to be able to share those amazing finds with the rest of our readers! So if you have booked or even just come across some amazing ones in your searches feel free to share your finds in the comment section below or by email to info@rewardscanada.ca with the details!

Join Air Canada for Business by June 30 and unlock some benefits immediately without having to spend $10,000

 

Air Canada has revealed a new offer, well I believe it to be an extension of an offer from 2020 for their Air Canada for Business program. The offer allows any small business that joins the program to receive some of the benefits right from enrollment rather than having to reach the $10,000 annual minimum spend normally required to get them!

New welcome offer of 100,000 PC Optimum points on PC Financial Credit Cards

 
We see the return of the 100K offer for PC Financial Mastercards. You can receive this bonus when you apply by May 6 and it is good for any one of the three cards in their portfolio:

• PC Financial Mastercard
• PC Financial World Mastercard
• PC Financial World Elite Mastercard
  

How to use the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card to get some awesome free hotel stays in Canada this summer

 
We are on the cusp of the summer travel season and right now the way things are shaping up it looks like for most Canadians who do choose to travel it will be within our own fine borders. That means staycations and road trips for the most part but even perhaps flights to another province. Of course when you get to your destination your going to need accommodations and one of the best ways to save money on those stays is by utilizing a hotel rewards program. One of the best in Canada is Marriott's Bonvoy program and the easiest way to rack up those points quickly is with their co-brand credit cards from American Express. In as little as one month and no more than three months you can have enough points for some amazing hotel stays in Canada this summer and beyond.

April 26 Update: Voila Grocery Delivery/Pick up codes as 5x points for Cobalt Card and Turkish Airlines set to launch Vancouver route on May 2

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.

 
Added one more merchant to our American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations listing! That merchant is Voila.ca - which is the online ordering for curbside pick up/delivery from the Sobeys family of grocery stores. They launched out east in 2020 and f I'm not mistaken are relatively new out west - well to me at least they are! Here in Calgary we can only use it at four locations and for curbside pick up only. I used it for a Safeway purchase last week and the transaction shows up as Voila with American Express. The good news is Voila codes as a grocery partner (as it should!) and earns 5x points. See it and other confirmed locations here.

AIR MILES Bonus Boom returns on May 13 - earn 95 bonus miles when you use three different Bonus Boom offers

 

AIR MILES and BMO sent out a teaser email about the return of the AIR MILES Bonus Boom. This promotional event now seems to appear almost every month with the last one just ending on April 14! Once again it will be the standard 95 bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you utilize offers from three different partners between May 13 and May 26, 2021.

[OFFER EXPIRED] Ending Soon: Increased welcome bonus offer of 12,500 points for the no fee Choice Card from American Express

 

THIS OFFER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

In early December American Express resurrected and relaunched the Choice Card from American Express TM. This is their no fee reward cards that just recently just took second spot in the Top No Fee Travel Rewards Credit Card category in our 2021 Travel Credit Card rankings. When it was relaunched it came with a decent 10,000 point welcome bonus but for a few months has seen a 25% boost to 12,500 points when you spend $1,250 on the card within the first three months of having it. That's equivalent to a $125 credit towards any travel booked on your own or $87.50 when using it to redeem for any purchase that isn't travel related. It also equates 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points which is a pretty sweet deal as we value Marriott Bonvoy points at no less than 1 cent a piece so that makes the welcome bonus worth at least $150 but wait that's only a minimum. Read on to find out more.

Podcast Episode 79 - Converting the Air Canada Buddy Pass to Aeroplan Points & Plaza Premium Lounge set to leave Priority Pass & LoungeKey

In this episode we bring you the latest news surrounding the unadvertised option to convert Air Canada Buddy Passes received from several Aeroplan co-brand credit cards to Aeroplan points (it's good news!). Then we move into the not so good news of one of the largest third party airport lounge operators, Plaza Premium, deciding to leave the Priority Pass and LoungeKey lounge access programs

Click Here to download the podcast (mp3)

Receive a $20 bonus for every $100 Best Western Travel Card purchase

 

Best Western is once again offering a 20% bonus on Best Western Travel/Gift Cards! This is fourth incarnation or should we say extension of this offer. When you buy a $100 gift card they will give you a $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 have done so. Any bonus cards you receive are only valid until November 15, 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, CAD, EUR or GBP currencies.

April 22 Update: Changes coming to the GHA Discovery program, up to 70,000 bonus SkyMiles for booking Delta Vacations & more!

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.

 
As first reported by Loyalty Lobby there are some changes happening at the GHA (Global Hotel Alliance) Discovery program. These changes don't affect travel within Canada but if you do utilize the program and their hotels outside of Canada you'll want to note these changes. The first is that U.S. based Omni Hotels are leaving the program at the end of June 2021. That hotel chain will focus on its in house loyalty program called Select Guest. The second bit of news sees Spanish based NH Hotels joining the program in 2022 at which time that hotel chain's NH Rewards will be merged into the Discovery program. Finally in that same press release about NH joining Discovery they note that the Discovery program will be revamped in Q4 of this year including the addition of a digital currency. That means they should be moving to a points based system and away from their current non-point awarding program. 

Aeroplan Availability Alert: Air Canada Lie Flat Business Class between Toronto & Cancun in February 2022 for under 50,000 points round trip

Thanks to Trusty Suitcase for alerting us to this one! Right now you can find lie flat business class seats on Air Canada's flights between Toronto and Cancun for select dates in February 2022. These flights are currently scheduled to be operated with Airbus A330-300 aircraft that feature Air Canada's lie flat business class seats.

New Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card Amex Offer: 3 bonus points per dollar spent on grocery purchases

 

Thanks to Rewards Canada contributor Jeff W. for alerting us this morning to this amazing new Amex Offers offer that came out for the  Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card:

JetBlue is finally coming to Canada! Vancouver to New York JFK and Boston service starts in 2022

 
Another shout out to Anshul at PMB as I saw this on his Twitter feed and then started to see it all over the place! JetBlue has finally announced service to Canada after years of being asked to do so by travelers on both sides of the border! The airline announced yesterday that they will start flying to Vancouver from New York JFK and Boston in the summer of 2022.

Changes coming to Radisson Rewards and it's a mixed bag for Canada but definitely worse for the rest of the world

 
I've been meaning to write about changes to the Radisson Rewards program for a couple weeks now and thanks to even more changes revealed by the program yesterday I am actually getting around to it now! First off, the changes from a couple weeks ago sees the loyalty program and booking websites being split into two and the changes announced yesterday are to the award night chart categories, the amount of points required for award nights and hotels moving about in those categories.

Awesome new welcome bonuses on American Express Small Business Cards!

You can definitely tell that American Express has returned to the business of acquiring new customers in 2021. After spending most of 2020 focusing on existing cardmembers rather than acquisition we have seen Amex increase the welcome offers on many of their consumer cards and now today we see their three proprietary small business cards get major boosts for new customers! Those three cards are the American Express Business Edge™ Card , Business Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card

Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – April Edition

 
Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available. 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.  Here are all the current promotions that are available to everyone this month:

Targeted RBC Offer for WestJet Mastercard holders: 50 bonus WestJet dollars for making $1,000 in pre-authorized payments

 
If you have the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard or WestJet RBC Mastercard check your in box to see if you have been targeted for this new offer. Select cardholders will be able to earn 50 bonus WestJet dollars after they enroll in the offer and spend at least $1,000 or more on reoccurring pre-authorized payments. You have to register by April 25 and the payments have to be made between May 1 and July 31.

April 20 Update: Air Canada Buddy Pass conversion based on application date not posting date and convert Coast Rewards points to Aeroplan with a 4x points bonus

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.

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 however 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. In the mean time we have updated a trio of articles we posted back at the end of March / beginning of April to note this change on being able to convert the pass based on the date you apply:

Triple ALL Rewards Points + up to 40% off stays at Fairmont & Accor Hotels in Canada

 

Last week saw the end of Accor Hotels offer for double points for stays at their locations in North American and select Latin American countries but that didn’t mark the end of earning bonus points in the Americas. Right away they released a new offer entitled Get Real – Experience it all which offers triple points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Barbados and Bermuda. On top of triple points the promotion provides up to 30% off stays plus an additional 10% off for being an ALL Accor Live Limitless member. For most of this means Triple Points on Fairmont stays across Canada and for stays at the Novotel and Sofitel locations in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. On top of this all members earn double status points and nights on all stays in 2021!

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

 
An amazing offer from RBC that we last saw in 2020 has returned! The offer is for their flagship card, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card and it provides a flat 35,000 RBC Rewards Points, that get this - are awarded on approval - no minimum spend, no spend this much each month over this many months. You simply have to be approved for the card and the bonus is yours. Yes you do have to pay the annual fee of $120 but it is more than worth it with the value of the bonus (minimum $350 in value) and you get the points at the end of your first billing period. No waiting 3 months, 6 months or longer.

Hilton Hotels: Earn up to triple Honors points on all stays between May 3 and September 6

 

Hilton revealed the details of their next global systemwide promotion today. The More Night More Points promotion will award Hilton Honors members double or triple points on all their stays from May 3 to September 6. Once registered you’ll earn double points for stays of 1 or 2 nights, stays that have 3 or more nights will earn triple points. If you are staying prior to May 3 you can still earn 2,o00 bonus points per stay with their current promotion.

A look at the Canadian airport lounges that may be left for Priority Pass and LoungeKey come July

 
Last week we brought you the news that Plaza Premium airport lounges will be leaving the Priority Pass and LoungeKey access programs as of July 1. This doesn't mean that you can't access the lounges, you can but unless you get access from a card like the Platinum Card from American Express or are flying business or first class with an airline you won't get the discounted entry that Priority Pass and LoungeKey provide. So that begs the question that our Twitter follower Joshua asked:

And that's what we'll look at that in this post, what lounges will be left for members of Priority Pass and LoungeKey seeing that Plaza Premium operates the most third party lounges in Canada?

[OFFER EXPIRED] Last Day for the 40,000 point welcome bonus and no fee in the first year for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard

 
THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED

Today is the last day to apply for the elevated offer of 40,000 points for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. As of tomorrow the standard welcome offer of 20,000 points with an annual fee will be back. By no means does this 40K offer come close to the 100K offer they ran for the last four months of 2020 and we are hopeful a bigger bonus will be seen from them in the near future. If you do need to the grab the card sooner than later then go for it today as it provides up to 40,000 bonus HSBC Rewards Points along with having the first year $149 annual fee waived on the primary card.  The bonus is awarded as follows:

AIR MILES Shops Birthday Offer - Shop online and earn 10x Miles sitewide until April 23

AIR MILES' online shopping portal airmilessshops.ca is 18 years old now and to celebrate they have brought back their huge site wide 10x miles offer.

April 16 Update: New Amex offer of 4 bonus points per dollar with mobile service providers & earn bonus points for Marriott stays in Kelowna and Kingston

 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.

Another new Amex Offers promotion came out yesterday and personally we received this one on the American Express Cobalt Card and it is one we have seen before for other cards and that is bonus points for mobile service providers. Time to swith the payment method for our mobile phones for the next three months! Let us know if you happened to receive it as well but on a different Amex card! The offer is as follows:

The Platinum Card from American Express just became more valuable for your future travels

If you didn't see the news from earlier this week about Plaza Premium lounges leaving the Priority Pass and LoungeKey lounge access networks. I recommend that you read that first (read it here) and then continue on with this post to see how this move just boosted the value of the Platinum Card from American Express.

MBNA Best Western Mastercard® Review

 

There is only one no annual fee hotel credit card in Canada and that is the MBNA Best Western Mastercard®. This card has been around for quite sometime now and has survived the turmoil seen in our market for hotel loyalty program co-brand credit cards. Just a few years ago we had no less than half a dozen hotel card to choose from but that has now dwindled down to two - well actually three if you include the business version of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. Both the Best Western and Marriott cards have definitely fit a niche in the Canadian market which have helped them outlast all the other hotel cards we seen come and go and the Best Western fills that no annual fee, road warrior, not looking for luxury travel niche perfectly. In fact this card has ranked in the top three in our annual rankings in the no annual fee travel rewards card segment so there is something to attest to here.

Major News: Priority Pass and LoungeKey losing access to most Plaza Premium lounges worldwide

 

Australia based Executive Traveller broke the news today that airport business class lounge provider Plaza Premium will be cutting ties with two of the biggest lounge access programs. As of July 1, 2021 members of Priority Pass and LoungeKey will no longer be able to access most Plaza Premium lounges worldwide. This change affects numerous lounges here at home as Plaza Premium operates 13 lounges with two in Edmonton, six in Toronto, four in Vancouver, and one in Winnipeg. There is word that some Plaza Premium lounges will remain part of those programs but they haven't been revealed yet. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed that some of the Canadian locations are part of that list.

April 14 Update: Aeroplan's generous refund policy extended, What you actually have to spend to get a credit card bonus & Maximizing elite status benefits from The Platinum Card

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 Canada's generous refund policy for Aeroplan flight rewards tickets has been extended by one month to May 31 from April 30. This means all flights booked by that date can be changed or cancelled free of charge. Learn more here.

Here are the latest RBC Offers including statement credits from Boston Pizza & Indigo

 

It's been a couple of months since we last updated the RBC offers on our site as there were issues with RBC's system that wouldn't show them to me when I logged in That seems to be fixed now so here is the update with all the latest offers. Most of these are available on all RBC cards. You can view RBC's card offerings here. 

Top 5 Small Business Credit Card Sign Up offers for April - 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 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. 

Air Canada will provide refunds for all flights affected by COVID-19

 

Yesterday Air Canada concluded an agreement with the federal government to receive a financial support package of up to $5.89 billion. To receive the financing from the government Air Canada had to agree to refund tickets to consumers who had flights cancelled by Air Canada or had themselves proactively cancel flights due to the pandemic. 

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards - Double points on all stays until May 6

 

Coast Hotels has brought out another double points promotion for stays at all their locations. Right now members can earn double Coast Rewards points until May 6. Those points can be used for free night award with Coast Hotels or be converted to programs like Air Canada Aeroplan or Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. Coast Rewards does not have their own co-brand credit card so you are best using a card that has a travel category multiplier like the American Express Gold Rewards Card or the HSBC World Elite Mastercard to maximize your earning on these stays. There is also a separate promotion offering Double Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles until April 30 if that is more appealing to you!

Offer details:
Double Coast Rewards Points on all stays at Coast Hotels in Canada & the U.S.. Full details & online booking. Until May 6, 21

April 12 Update: The upcoming Hampton Inn & Suites Bradford destroyed by fire, 50% bonus when you convert points to Etihad Guest & Alaska Airlines increasing lounge access pricing

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.

 
Over the weekend the number of new Hilton Hotels opening in Canada changed from nine to eight. This is due to the unfortunate news that the under construction Hampton Inn & Suites in Bradford was destroyed by fire on Saturday morning. This hotel was set to open in August of this year. It is too early to stay right now what the future will hold for this hotel and whether ir will be rebuilt. (Source Orillia Matters)

Receive up to a 60% bonus when you buy Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles

Some of the best frequent flyer miles out there are Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan miles so when they are offered with a bonus when buying them people take notice. For the longest time the biggest bonus on buying Mileage Plan miles was 50% but in the latter half of 2020 we saw that boosted to 60% and even 70% for select members. Well we’re happy to tell you that that  the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan buy miles bonus is back and once again we see it up at the 60% level!

The American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card sees its base earn rate boosted to 1.25 points per dollar spent

 
Great news for those of you who have the American Express® Aeroplan®* Reserve Card or having been eyeing on getting it! There is a positive change to card that took on April 7 that sees it become more valuable. We were first alerted to it on Twitter by our follower Joshua:

The highly anticipated Humaniti Hotel Montreal, Autograph Collection opens on June 10 with a 2,000 bonus point grand opening offer

 

UPDATE: It appears the hotel will now open on June 1st! With the pool and rooftop bar opening on June 8th!

Back in February we started off our 2021 series of looking at new hotels opening in Canada with what Marriott has planned and one of those that we were most excited about has revealed its opening date and grand opening offers! We placed the opening of the Humaniti Hotel Montreal, Autograph Collection as one of the most anticipated Marriott openings in Canada this year. 

American Express will issue replacement Annual Travel Credits for Platinum Cardmembers who didn't use them during the pandemic

 
The Platinum Card from American Express may be one of the most expensive cards to carry in your wallet at $699 per year but there's good reason for that. You have an amazing lounge access program, you get automatic hotel elite status with numerous hotel chains, you get the Fine Hotels & Resorts program and much more. All of which are amazing travel benefits but there isn't much travel going on.  The $699 fee is softened by an annual $200 travel credit that you can utilize for bookings made via American Express Travel, which pre-pandemic was utilized by many. But now that we are in the thick of things many Platinum Cardmembers have not been travelling and have not been able to use the travel credit (unless you know the hotel refund trick ;-) ). American Express knows that cardmembers have stayed and like everything else great they have done during the pandemic they are appeasing the customer and extending or issuing new travel credits for those that expired after October 1, 2020 or will expire by September 30, 2021

Top 5 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for April - These cards provide the best value out of their welcome bonuses

Here are Rewards Canada's Top 5 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of April 2021. This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Cash Back Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards 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.

Earn Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Elite Status & Star Alliance Gold Status from home

 

In a move that is very similar to Air Canada Aeroplan's Travel at Home campaign from spring 2020, Singapore Airlines has revealed a new promotion where you can earn elite status with their KrisFlyer program without even setting foot on a plane. With this promotion you have the ability to get yourself KrisFlyer Silver or Gold Elite status which translate to Star Alliance Silver or Gold status respectively. 

Yes, you can achieve a return of 20% or higher on your credit card spending

 
When we talk about returns on credit card spending it is usually in the fashion of a percent return for each dollar you have spent on a card. Percent returns help us gauge and compare cards against each other as they are so many variables in how cards in the Canadian market earn points and how those points can be redeemed. This means you can't really compare a point earned on this card with a point earned on that card without looking at the big picture. For example, our second most popular article of 2021 to this date compares earning 5x points on the American Express Cobalt Card versus earning 5x points on the BMO Eclipse Visa Infinite Card and how they don't equal each other despite having the same earn rate. 

April 6 Update: Fairfield Inn & Suites Salmon Arm now open, $150 grocery credit for Amex Aeroplan Reserve Cards & 7x miles on Aeroplan eStore for fashion retailers

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.

 
Another hotel that we listed in our New Marriott Hotel openings for 2021 opened up recently. The Fairfield Inn & Suites Salmon Arm in B.C.'s interior officially opened on March 19. This location seemed to open up with little fanfare as there isn't even an grand opening bonus points or rate offer. It does seem as the hotel is performing a soft opening right now. The hotel is a Category 3 property (Standard award night: 17,500 points // Off peak: 15,000 // Peak: 20,000) which means you can use your Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card annual free night award here. Learn more about Marriott's new hotel openings in Canada here.

Aeroplan Availability Alert: Business Class on Turkish Airlines out of Toronto for up to 4 people for Fall 2021/Winter 2022 travel

 

Spencer at Straight to the Points sent out an alert about business class tickets for up to 4 people being available on Turkish Airlines and since the airline is a Star Alliance member you can use your Aeroplan points to redeem for these flights. Availability is showing from September 2021 through to February 2022 for flights to Istanbul and beyond. Aeroplan charges 70,000 points each way for partner award flights in business class plus the $39 partner award booking fee.

The Anndore House in Toronto is officially a JdV by Hyatt Hotel!

 
We have exciting news for fans of Hyatt Hotels and the World of Hyatt program here in Canada! The Anndore House, a boutique hotel in Toronto officially became a JdV by Hyatt hotel on April 1st! As we had noted in our New Hyatt Hotel Openings in Canada for 2021 - Now 6 hotels confirmed including the reopening of the Park Hyatt Toronto we knew it was coming this year but not this soon so this is great news! The Anndore House becomes the first Joie de Vivre Hotel in Canada and will be followed closely by The Walper Hotel in Kitchener in May.