Rewards Canada: Your premier points, miles & credit cards resource: April 2022

Saturday, April 30, 2022

You can now top off your Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Awards with an additional 15,000 points

As part of last October's announcement that Marriott Bonvoy was moving to dynamic pricing for awards, they also promised that they would add a feature where you can top off Free Night Awards with an additional 15,000 points to cover hotels that were charging more. The hotel chain promised to have this feature available in April 2022 and on the last of the month, it has officially launched.

CIBC has an increased limited welcome bonus offer on their CIBC Aventura® Visa Infinite* Card† via select partners like Rewards Canada that is actually higher than what you'll find on their site. Thanks to the awarding of a 5,000 points anniversary bonus the total amount of welcome bonus points that can be achieved on the card up to 40,000 with this offer.

The card we labelled as a 'sleeper card' back in 2017, the Scotiabank®* Platinum American Express® Card, will be receiving some major changes that take effect on July 1, 2022. The card is currently ranked as the fifth best Ultra Premium Card in Canada (Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2022) and with these upcoming changes should continue to remain in that spot. The Platinum Card is not the only one that Scotia is revamping as they are also making changes to the entry level no fee Scotiabank American Express card which we'll look Let's take a look at what's changing on these cards.

AIR MILES Shops is celebrating Mother's Day by offering up to 5x miles for shopping with select retailers until May 8, 2022. As long as your purchase meets the minimum requirement for earning at least 1 AIR MILES Reward Mile you'll receive the bonus. Some of the participating retailers include lululemon, Walmart, Simons, Michael Kors and more.

Last chance to get the increased welcome bonuses on the Signature RBC Rewards Visa or the RBC Rewards+ Visa

A pair of entry level rewards cards will see their limited time welcome bonus offers come to a close in just a couple of days. Those two cards are the Signature RBC Rewards Visa and the RBC Rewards+ Visa which are offering 7,000 bonus points and 2,500 points respectively. The offers are available until May 2, 2022 and will not be extended.

The very popular Scotia Gold American Express Card is currently offering 45,000 points which are worth $450 towards any travel that you book via any method and charge to the card. The bonus is broken up into two separate requirements. the first 25,000 points are awarded when you spend at least $1,000 on the card in the first 3 months and then you can earn an additional 20,000 points when you spend at least $7,500 in your first year of having the card.

Aeroplan Availability Alert: Business Class on Austrian Airlines out of Montreal for up to 4 or more people for Winter 2022/2023 travel

Spencer at Straight to the Points sent out another alert about business class tickets for up to 4 people being available on Austrian 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 November 2022 through to March 2023 for flights to Vienna and beyond. Perfect timing to visit all the Christmas markets! Aeroplan charges 70,000 points each way for partner award flights in business class plus the $39 partner award booking fee.

Shangri-La Hotels revamped program is here and you can earn up to 1,800 bonus points with their launch offer

Shangri-La Hotels officially launched their revamped frequent guest program today and have a launch offer to celebrate. Formerly known as Golden Circle, the new Shangri-La Circle program adds more flexibility, ease of use and more benefits for elite members including an ultra-exclusive invite only level called Polaris.

We review the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard, Air Canada Premium Cabin sale & last chance to convert Esso Extra Points to PC Optimum!

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your near daily dose of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more. Today's update is brought to you by the HSBC High Rate Savings Account with which you can enjoy a total annual interest rate of up to 2.65% on new deposits± Click here to learn more about this offer

The next card to have an updated review completed on Rewards Canada is the MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard®. The card was first reviewed on Rewards Canada way back in 2016 and since then the card has undergone numerous changes. Most recently in 2021 it became the third true 5x points travel card in Canada. With that change and several others this review has basically been redone from top to bottom so be sure to check out it to see if this card is the right fit for your wallet and rewards goals! Read the review here!

You can now convert Aeroplan Points to Starbucks Rewards Stars - but should you?

Air Canada Aeroplan and Starbucks Rewards took their partnership one step further today with the option to now convert Aeroplan Points to Starbucks Stars. Aeroplan points can be redeemed at a rate of 1,000 points for 200 Starbucks Rewards Stars, up to a maximum of 10,000 Aeroplan points in one transaction. I know many of you will be asking is this good deal? So let's take a look to see if it is worth it to convert your points.

Check out these hotel passes if you are travelling to Scandinavia this summer & a new Tap to Pay Amex Offer

If you are planning any travel to Scandinavia this summer you might want to check out these two offers from Nordic Choice Hotels. The hotel chain has brought back their popular stay passes that can be used at over 100 of their hotels over the summer. The first pass, is the Unlimited Nights pass where you can stay as many nights as you like between June 24 and August 21. These stays are generally for two people and include breakfast for two. This pass costs 3000EUR will earn one qualifying night and 1,000 bonus points per stayed night with this pass. Click here for more details and/or to book the Unlimited Nights offer.

Earn up to 1,000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles for free

Offer details:

Earn up to 1,000 FREE KrisFlyer Miles when you connect your KrisFlyer account to KrisShopper and subscribe to KrisShopper news and updates. Valid until Jun 30, 22 or when 30,000 members enroll. Click here for more details.

Earn up to 105,000 bonus Aeroplan Points with the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card

This past March TD came out with new welcome offers on most of their credit cards including the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card. For this card they went away from the Buddy Pass offer and moved to an all points offer. That offer provides up to 105,000 bonus Aeroplan points which is a new record high offer in terms of the number of points awarded. You have to apply online to get this bonus and there is just over a month left to get in on it as it is scheduled to end on May 29, 2022. This offer is not available for residents of Quebec. For Quebec residents, please click here.

We released a new feature today on the main Rewards Canada site for those of you who are new to the world of points, miles, cash back and loyalty rewards in general. This feature takes a look at the first credit card you should consider getting to get yourself started down this rabbit hole! The great thing about this card is it is perfect to get before you have even started to learn about and research loyalty programs. It covers the best of the best for earning, burning, value and more and thus it gives you a head start to collecting points while you begin to educate yourself and learn what reward or rewards will be best for you.

To celebrate Mother's Day, Aeroplan is offering up to 5X points for shopping at select retailers via the Aeroplan eStore. The offer runs until May 8 and includes retailers such as Sephora, The Body Shop, Simons and more.

CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card - 10% cash back on all purchases up to $2,500 and a first year annual fee rebate

The highest welcome bonus for non-American Express Cash Back cards in our market has typically been 10% cash back on up to $2,000 of spending ($200 cash back). That changed when CIBC bumped up the spend limit for their offer to $2,500 over the first four statement periods. This means that 10% welcome bonus can earn you up to $250 cash back!

Right now Aeroplan members who have linked their Aeroplan accounts to their Uber accounts can earn triple points on rides until May 20. I received the offer via an Aeroplan email over the weekend however I cannot find any offer details on the Aeroplan site which made me think at first it was a targeted offer however the terms and conditions in the email seem to imply this is open to all members. There is also no registration required so I would assume all members who do have their accounts linked will earn the triple points.

April 25 Update: 12 new confirmed Amex Cobalt multiplier locations and a new Amex Offer for Mirvish Productions

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your near daily dose of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more. Be sure to subscribe to the Rewards Canada News email newsletter so that you don't miss out on any loyalty program news and offers! You can subscribe to the newsletter here

Another good sized batch of American Express Cobalt™ Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations were added this morning. Here are the additions:

Earn up to a 75% bonus when you buy Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Miles - a great deal even for Canadians!

Turkish Airlines has brought back their rare bonus for buying Miles&Smiles miles! The bonus is tiered and maxes out at 75% when you buy 50,000 to 99,999 miles. The cost of the miles are US$30 per 1,000 which means buying 50,000 miles will cost you US$1,500 but you’ll end up with 87,500 miles after the bonus. That ends up being 1.71 cents per mile which is a great deal considering Turkish Miles&Smiles has some real gems for reward flight options.

Earn up to 3,000 bonus Aeroplan Points on Air Canada flights to the U.S.

Air Canada has a new flight bonus offer for Aeroplan members travelling out of Canada to the U.S. This offer awards up to 3,000 bonus Aeroplan points depending on which fare class you buy. You must register for this offer and book flights between April 20 and May 4 for travel until August 31, 2022

April 21 Update: The Ultimate Guide to Credit Card & Loyalty Programs for the All Inclusive Vacationer & Air Canada Chauffeur Service, Now Electrified by Porsche

We have updated our feature The Ultimate Guide to Credit Card & Loyalty Programs for the All Inclusive Vacationer. When it comes to travel loyalty programs and credit cards, all inclusive vacations are often neglected. Think about it, have you ever seen a credit card ad detailing an all inclusive vacation? No, it’s almost always flights and to a lesser extent hotel stays. That’s because we've been trained to think that credit card and travel reward programs are just for flights.

Earn 2x ALL Rewards Points at Fairmont & Accor Hotels in Canada, the U.S., Mexico & Panama

Accor Hotels has brought out a new bonus points offer that runs for the rest of the year for stays at their locations in North America and select Latin American countries. This includes all 19 Fairmont Hotels in Canada and the 8 Accor Hotel locations in Canada. This time the bonus is double points and you simply need to register by September 7 for stays until December 31, 2022. You can easily tie this in with the new It’s ALL Possible discount promotion that offers up to 30% stays in the same regions.

Air Canada has a new flight bonus offer for Aeroplan members travelling out of Canada to Australia! That offer awards up to 10,000 bonus Aeroplan points depending on which fare class you buy and you must register for this offer and book flights between April 20 and May 4 for travel until December 15, 2022

Today is the last day to register for Marriott Bonvoy’s global promotion that awards 1,000 bonus points and double elite night credits on stays up until May 4.

Offer details:

Earn 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points + Double Elite Night Credit for each night you stay at Marriott Hotels Worldwide. Register by Apr 20 for stays until May 4, 22. Click here to register for this offer & to book your stays (Registration is required prior to completing any stays)

April 20 Update: New 20% statement credit Amex Offer for QANTAS flights, earn 10x miles site wide on AIR MILES Shops & Scene+ hopes for a fix by May

For the third day in a row we see another new statement credit from Amex Offers. Today's new offer is for buying tickets on QANTAS. I received it on my Platinum Card and it is as follows:

For the next 5 days when you convert points from any of five hotel programs to British Airways Executive Club you will receive 25% bonus Avios on those conversions. The five hotel programs participating in this bonus are IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, Radisson Rewards Americas, Radisson Rewards Worldwide and World of Hyatt. The promotion runs until April 25, 2022

Earn 10x Aeroplan points and get 15% off Air Canada flights when paying with a CIBC Aeroplan card

Just like a previous offers we saw for TD Aeroplan Cards we now see a bonus points + discount offer from Air Canada Aeroplan and CIBC. Eligible CIBC cardholders can earn 10x Aeroplan points for travel purchases including Air Canada and Air Canada vacations up to a maximum of 7,500 points. The 10x points offer is valid on all eligible purchases made until May 31. On top of the bonus points members can receive 15% off base fares for travel in Canada, to the U.S. or Sun Destinations by using code promo code ZTRMTKD1 for bookings made by May 1 for travel until December 15, 2022. Aeroplan members must register their Aeroplan numbers to earn the bonus points.

April 19 Update: You can no longer earn Aeroplan Points at Home Hardware & spend $500 with United, get a $250 statement credit Amex Offer

One area that many loyalty programs don't do very well in is letting their members know when a partnership of theirs is ending. Such was the case here as we had no idea of this news until Randy S. told us on our Facebook page that Home Hardware is no longer a partner where you can earn Air Canada Aeroplan points. According to Home Hardware's site this partnership just ended on March 31, 2022. Click here to learn more.

The 35,000 point welcome bonuses on the RBC Avion Visa Infinite, RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege and the RBC Avion Visa Platinum Card have now been be extended to May 15. What is best about these welcome bonuses is that they 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 ($399 for Infinite Privilege) but it is more than worth it in terms of 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.

Summary of global hotel 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 global/systemwide/regional bonuses that come from many of the big chain programs and also from the lesser known programs.

RBC is now making a push for their co-brand Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Visa card with the release of the best ever bonus offer seen for this card. Right now until the end of October when you apply for and receive the RBC Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum Card you can earn up to 40,000 Asia Miles. This a 5,000 mile jump over the offer we have seen in the market since 2018.

April 18 Update: American Express Business Edge Card Review (Updated for 2022) and ALL Accor Live Limitless adds a new range of experiences in partnership with Fever

Over the weekend we released an update to our review of the American Express Business Edge™ Card.This card is one of the best Small Business Credit Cards in the market that is modelled on Amex's award winning Cobalt Card. The review didn't change a whole lot, primarily updated the redemption side of things to now include the option to convert points directly to Aeroplan and other airline partners. Read our review here to find out why it is one of the best Small Business Cards!

A great new Amex Offers offer became available today for SkipTheDishes. The offer provides a big $20 credit when you spend at least $40 with the restaurant delivery service. For me, what made it even better is that I received it on my Cobalt Card so not only can I get the credit but the purchases will earn 5x points!

The registration cap the Skip offer has been met - the information in this post is being kept for reference purposes

Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Aeroplan Points and pay no annual fee in the 1st year with the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card

In March, TD's Aeroplan co-brand cards moved to a points only bonus instead of points + bonus buddy pass which made a lot of individual travellers happy as for the better part of 18 months the welcome offer on this card offered less points but also a Buddy Pass. Well if you don't travel with a companion that Buddy Pass didn't provide any value for a solo traveller. That being said, this new offer isn't just for solo travellers - this offer is just as great for couples, families or whomever, it's just that the old Buddy Pass offer was more conducive for non-solo travellers.

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Student Program offers flight discounts and bonus miles

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles has a special program for students (both in Turkey & abroad) that provides discounts on Turkish Airlines flights, bonus Miles&Smiles miles and more. The program doesn’t state what level of student you have to be, I would assume college or university but who knows maybe high school and even lower grades of students can join as well. You have to upload proof of being a student like a student card or other document if you are not a Turkish citizen or not studying in Turkey. With Turkish Airlines flying to and from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Canadian students should take note of this program!

There are some great new promotions in the latest batch RBC Offers that were revealed over the past couple of weeks including a Fairmont Hotel stay offer and for shopping with Simons! In total there are nearly 30 offers in place with this program.

Keep track of your savings and rewards with The Vantage Snapshot from RBC

This post was sponsored by RBC. The views and opinions expressed in this article, however, are purely those of Rewards Canada.

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Hilton has revealed the details of their next global systemwide bonus points promotion that will run for the summer. Hilton Honors members can register and book right away to earn up to triple Honors points on stays between May 2 and September 5, 2022. The bonus awards double points on stays of 1 or 2 nights and triple points on each stay of 3+ nights. There is no limit to the number of bonus points that a member can earn with this promotion!

Offer details:

2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stay at Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour. Valid for stays until Jun 24, 22 Click here to learn more and to book this offer.

Don’t forget to stack this offer with the Marriott global promotion offering 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points + Double Elite Night Credit for each night you stay until May 4. (Must register by Apr 20) Click here to register for this offer (Registration is required prior to completing any stays)

April 14 Update: Ritz-Carlton Reserve joins Marriott Bonvoy, a couple more confirmed Cobalt multipliers & 15% off home improvement gift cards via CIBC Rewards

Marriott's Ritz-Carlton brand has an small even more luxurious off-shoot known as Ritz-Carlton Reserve and as of today the five hotels in this collection will be participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program. Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties are not like most of your Ritz-Carlton properties, these are much smaller as they offer an average of 75 spacious, residential style suites and villas.

Radisson Hotels Americas has come out with a new systemwide offer for stays at all Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson hotels in Canada and the rest of the Americas. This new offer is flat 5,000 bonus points per stay offer. That’s very lucrative bonus for those one night stays! This bonus is earned on top of the base 20 points per US$1 spent and any elite tier bonuses as well.

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

The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan buy miles bonus is back and once again we see it up at the 60% level which continues to be new normal for the airline. The bonus is tiered in that if you buy 3,000 to 19,000 miles you’ll get a 40% bonus, 20,000 to 39,000 you’ll get a 50% bonus and the 60% kicks in at the 40,000 mile level.

The wait is finally over. The refreshed and revamped IHG Hotels & Resorts loyalty program is here. Now branded as IHG One Rewards, the program that has had a quite few names through its history is upping its game for those who stay frequently at the chain's 6,000 hotels worldwide. The first update to the program was revealed this past January and that provided a peek at the changes to the elite status tiers which included some name changes and the addition of one more tier. Today, the rest of the new program was revealed and included such things as more benefits for elite members and milestone rewards.

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 three 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 all of these cards since they earn Aeroplan points or Marriott Bonvoy points - both of which can provide some huge outsized value rewards!

Buy World of Hyatt points with a 30% discount (1.68 cents US per point!)

Hyatt has come out with yet another buy points offer and this time it is a discount instead of a bonus. When you buy 5,000 or more points in one transaction they will give a 30% discount on the price. This is different than the typical 30 to 40% bonus that we usually see with Hyatt. With the discount the price works out to 1.68 cents (US$) per point which is lower than the 1.714 cents per point (US$) seen when they run their highest 40% bonus. Depending on how you redeem them it could be worthwhile to purchase them for rewards at high end hotels like Park Hyatt’s around the globe or even if you just need a few thousand points to top off for an award.

April 12 Update: Air France KLM Flying Blue launches a family pooling option, up to a 2.4% interest rate with HSBC High Rate Savings & Alaska Airlines introduces $8 flat rate Wi-Fi

Air France KLM Flying Blue announced a new family pooling option to the program today. Similar to family pooling programs from Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club and other airline programs, Flying Blue members can now set up a "Flying Blue Family" for up to 8 people to share/pool miles so that it can be easier to get to an award. Learn more about Flying Blue Family here.

Today we published a new detailed guide for Canadian Credit Card Car Rental Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) Insurance on the main Rewards Canada website. This guide takes a deep dive into one of the most popular and widely used benefits provided on most premium and ultra premium credit cards. It is one of the few insurance benefits that actually has front end value as it can save cardholders significant amounts of money by not having to pay for the car rental company’s insurance. That value can grow exponentially should the renter damage their rental car in an accident or if the car is stolen. However there are steps renters should take to make sure they are properly covered and not violating the terms of their card’s insurance policy and that’s where Rewards Canada’s new guide comes in handy.

April 11 Update: Changes to some new Hilton Hotels opening dates, a new Amex Offer for Fubo & a min. income requirement change for the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card

We made an update to our New Hilton Hotel Openings in Canada for 2022 feature (Check out the feature here). Thanks to our reader Min'ai for letting us know the opening of the Hampton Inn by Hilton Midland, ON has been pushed back to May 26. We also decided to check the other hotels that were to open during February, March and April and have learned on has opened in Montreal and in addition to the Midland hotel four others have had their opening dates pushed back as follows:

Here are Rewards Canada's Top 5 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of April 2022. 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.

TRENDING Scene+ is not just for movies anymore - it's become a versatile powerhouse for all types of rewards

TRENDINGScene+ is not just for movies anymore - it's become a versatile powerhouse for all types of rewards

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Friday, April 29, 2022

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Offer details:

Monday, April 25, 2022

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Friday, April 22, 2022

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Offer details:

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Monday, April 18, 2022

Saturday, April 16, 2022

Friday, April 15, 2022

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Offer details:

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Monday, April 11, 2022

TRENDING
Scene+ is not just for movies anymore - it's become a versatile powerhouse for all types of rewards