August 12 Update: TD & Aimia confirm agreement, new sign up bonus for the True Earnings card, 1,000 bonus Le Club points at Sofitel in Montreal

Monday's tend to be busy and today was no exception. Three interviews so far on the TD Aimia agreement and of course all the regular work!

News, Tips & Tricks
Of course the big news today if you haven't seen it yet is confirmation that the TD Bank and Aimia (Aeroplan) agreement will be going ahead. Other than the confirmation there really aren't any new details than what we learned back in June. See our post from earlier today with the TD press release or the post from June detailing the Aeroplan changes.

The following offer has expired

American Express has brought back another statement credit bonus for new approvals on the The TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express. You can earn a $20 Statement Credit with the TrueEarnings Card when you apply  by August 25th 2013 and charge a total of $100 or more on Costco.ca to your new TrueEarnings® Card by October 6, 2013. Here are the full details on the card:
• You can earn a $20 Statement Credit with the TrueEarnings Card. Apply by August 25th 2013.
• You can earn cash back when you use your TrueEarnings® Card inside and outside of Costco.
• Plus, there’s no limit to the amount of cash back you can earn annually.
• Earn 3% CASH BACK on eligible restaurant purchases
• Earn 2% CASH BACK on eligible gas purchases
• Earn UP TO 1% CASH BACK on everyday purchases - including at Costco®†
• Add a FREE Supplementary Card – that person just needs to be a current member on your Costco account
• Show your TrueEarnings Card for entry into any Costco warehouse and use it to pay for your purchases
• Enjoy a special low interest rate on purchases: 2.99% for the first 6 months of Cardmembership, 19.75% thereafter, 21.99% on funds advances, provided you make your minimum monthly payments on time
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link.
Conditions apply.





Bonus Offers added today:
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at any Novotel Hotel in Canada. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Sep 2, 13

Air China Phoenix Miles
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you fly Air China between Beijing and Wuhai. More... Aug 15 - Sep 30, 13
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers when booking the special rate "Double Miles" for stays at 140 participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for stays at participating Accor Hotels in Europe. More... Aug 16 - Oct 31, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at participating Best Western locations in Ireland, Central Europe or the Netherlands. More... Sep 1 - Oct 31, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles for each eligible stay at participating Hyatt properties throughout France. More... Until Oct 31, 13
- 500 Bonus Flying Blue Miles for each stay of two nights at any participating AC Hotel by Marriott in France, Italy, Portugal or Spain. More...Aug 21 - Oct 13, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays on the Best Available Rate for a minimum of two consecutive nights at any Shangri-La Suite and Horizon Club or Traders Club at city hotel. More... Sep 1 - Nov 30, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at participating Taj Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles on all Budget rentals Worldwide. More... Aug 16 - Oct 31, 13
- Quadruple Flying Blue Miles when you book a taxi service in any country where Driving Blue operates. More... Sep 1 - Oct 15, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles on qualifying rentals at any participating Sixt location worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 13

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn up to 40% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when buy miles online. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Earn up to 50% Bonus MilleMiglia Miles when buy or gift miles online. More... Until Aug 31, 13

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 30% Bonus Avios when buy or gift Avios online. More... Until Sep 19, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Dusit Hotels Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Dusit Thani Pattaya. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn up to 40% JetPrivilege Miles when you purchase JPMiles online. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Le Club accorhotels
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points when you stay at any Novotel hotel in Canada. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Sep 2, 13
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points stays at participating Sofitel Hotels in the U.S. and Canada. More...Booking Book by Aug 29 for stays until Sep 3, 13

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- Double Miles&Smiles for stays of 2 or more nights at the Titanic Business Kartal Hotel. More... Until Aug 31, 13



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May 1 Update: American & Delta up domestic ticket change fees, Etihad partners with Accor & 2x Skyward Miles for Emirates flights to Japan

What does Wednesday bring us? Quite a bit of news and a small amount of bonus offers!

News, Tips & Tricks

On the earning side the two biggest new pieces had their own posts today on RC. The increased sign up bonus for the American Express Choice Plus Credit Card and the US Airways Buy Dividend Miles bonus.

Etihad Airways Guest has become the latest airline program partner of Le Club accorhotels. Le Club points transfer at a rate of 2:1 into the Guest program. (HT LoyaltyLobby)

Both American Airlines and Delta Airlines have jumped on the "Let's increase our ticketing change fees" bandwagon as they follow in the footsteps of United and US Airways.  Delta has chosen to raise their domestic change fees (US and Canada) to $200 and American did exactly the same, raising their domestic ticket change fees to $200 as well.

Bonus Offers

airBaltic BalticMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)

• Double BalticMiles Points on all Avis rentals in the Baltics. More... Book by May 31 for rentals between Jun 1 - 30, 13

American AAdvantage

• Double AAdvantage Miles for nonstop flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Hermosillo or Zacatecas. More... Jun 12 - Sep 15, 13

Emirates Skywards

• Double Skywards Miles when you travel in any class to Japan, via Dubai, from any Emirates destination. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Etihad Guest

• Earn up to 350 Bonus Guest Miles when you join and book a hotel via PointsHound.com. Earn 100 miles simply for signing up with PointsHound and an additional 250 miles when you complete your first booking. More... Until May 31, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank

• Double Mileage Bank Miles for Japan Airlines flights between Tokyo and Helsinki. More...  Jul 1 - Aug 31, 13


• Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Langham Place, Fifth Avenue New York. More... May 7 - Sep 2, 13


• Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Maritim Hotel Berlin or the Maritim proArte Hotel Berlin. More... Jun 1 - Aug 31, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles

• Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you purchase Dividend Miles online. More... Until May 31, 13

Nov 15 Update: Accor Hotel Sale up to 50% off, 5,000 Bonus Points for Park Plaza stays, 500 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles for online shopping

News, Tips & Tricks
For those of you traveling frequently between Toronto and Los Angeles on Air Canada you'll be pleased to know that they are reintroducing 767-300ER service on the route for two flights a day during the busy Christmas season and then once a day from February to April. This means if you are flying up front or get upgraded you'll get to enjoy the Executive First pods instead of the typical Domestic Executive class found on the rest of the LAX flights operated by a mixture of Airbus aircraft (Source: airlineroute.net)

In other Star Alliance news, Lufthansa is launching summer seasonal service between Vancouver and Munich on May 16, 2013. Another option for Star Alliance flyers out of YVR (or connecting via YVR) to earn miles on or to redeem miles for.

In case you missed them earlier today I had a post on Diners Club Canada removing the Priority Pass feature and I provided further detailed coverage on PointsPay, the technology that allows the conversion of loyalty points and miles into cash.

Once again in the Calgary area, Shell will be offering 50 Bonus Air Miles when you spend $50 or more ($20 of that has to be on fuel) This is valid Nov 17 and 18.

Travel Deals
Accor Hotels is running another great sale for stays at over 2,000 locations worldwide. If you are a member of their Le Club loyalty program you will get up to 50% and if you are not a member you can get up to 40% off. Worthwhile to join for free to get that extra 10%. Bookings must be made by Nov 22 for stays between Dec 15 and Feb 10. Visit Accor Hotels for more details.

Bonus Offers
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 5,000 Bonus Gold Points and 40% off for stays on the Bed & Breakfast Package at select Park Plaza Hotels and art'otels in Europe. More... Book by Feb 28,13 for stays until Mar 31, 13

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Priority Club Points for individual hotel stays in Japan and South Korea. More... Until Jan 31, 12
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Priority Club Points for individual hotel stays in Southeast Asia and India. More... Until Jan 31, 12

United Mileage Plus
- 500 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles for every $250 you spend via Mileage Plus Shopping up to a maximum of 2,500 bonus miles. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Nov 1 Update: Coast Hotels Sale, Skywards Nov. Miles Accelerator, Bonus Avios for Accor stays and more!

News, Tips & Tricks
I've already mentioned these in separate posts but the RBC Avion 50% transfer bonus to British Airways Executive Club and the 100% Bonus on buying US Airways Dividend Miles both launched today. These are great offers to take advantage if they fit your travel and reward plans!

Travel Deals
Coast Hotels is running a Coast Rewards member exclusive sale offering $98 rates for stays on Friday and Saturday nights at many of their hotels. The offer also includes some other benefits like free upgrades, breakfast etc. depending on the location. Reservations must be booked by Nov 7 for stays until Dec 30, 12. You can join Coast Rewards for free although they are no longer offering 500 free Aeroplan miles for joining.

Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Avis rentals of 3 or more days in the US, Canada and Australia. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Belavia Leader (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Leader Points for Belavia flights between Minsk and Riga (flights B2 841/B2 842), Moscow (flights B2 983/B2 994), Stockholm, Helsinki, or Prague (flights B2 861 / B2 862). More... Until Nov 30, 12

British Airways Executive Club
- 2,000 Bonus Avios on your first or next Accor Hotels stay of 2 nights or more Worldwide. More... Book by Dec 31, 12 for stays until Jan 31, 13
- 50% Bonus Avios Points when you transfer your RBC Rewards Points to British Airways Executive Club. More... Unitl Nov 30, 12 Residents of Canada only

Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to 16,000 Bonus Skywards Miles with Emirates' October Miles Accelerator offers which enables you to earn more Skywards Miles when you fly with Emirates, irrespective of the fare you pay or where you buy your ticket. More... Nov 1 -30, 12

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Triple Victoria Miles on TAP Portugal flights between Lisbon and Horta, Ponta Delgada or Terceira. More... Until Nov 30, 12
- Double Victoria Miles for Avis car rentals of 2 days or more Worldwide which are reserved via the website flytap.com at the time of booking the flight. More... Until Dec 15, 12

US Airways Dividend Miles
100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you buy US Airways Dividend Miles online.More... Until Nov 30, 12
Please note that Dividend Miles accounts less than 12 days old are not permitted to Buy, Share or Gift Miles.

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to make sure you don't miss out on amazing travel rewards deals, news and more!

Oct 18 Update: Wyndham offer quashed, Triple Le Club Accorhotels points Worldwide, Bonus Marriott Rewards points in Alberta

News, Tips & Tricks
The Wyndham offer I posted very early today is pretty much over. That's the beauty and the beast of the Internet, a great offer comes along that the first adopters can make use of but then that offer goes viral throughout the blogosphere, forums and social media and gets shut down (which I along with all the other bloggers and posters are guilty of but hey how else would you find out about an offer?). Kudos to everyone who did get in on it, there was nothing in the T&Cs that stated you couldn't.

Starwood is offering an amazing Starpoints redemption offer at 21 of their resort locations in the U.S. and Canada. See my post from earlier today for more details.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has teamed up with Air Miles to offer 20 free Reward Miles for subscribing to their eNewsletter. The landing page states the offer is good until Dec 31 and then I was made aware (by a not-so-happy Facebook follower of Rewards Canada) that the offer stated Oct 2 as the end date. I found out about this offer today from Air Miles themselves on Twitter. I assume the first round of the offer went great and ended on October 2nd so they decided to rerun the promotion and forgot to change the confirmation page and confirmation email end dates. I sent off a note to Air Miles for clarification but have not heard back yet. Here is my post from earlier today about the offer.

Bonus Offers
Le Club Accorhotels
Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for weekend stays at all participating Accor properties Worldwide.
 Full Details & Online Booking Book by Nov 25 for stays until Dec 30, 12

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles when you book a stay with Golden Tulip Hotels, Suites & Resorts Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at the Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront Cape Town, Park Inn by Radisson Sandton and Park Inn by Radisson Cape Town Foreshore. More... Nov 1 - Dec 31, 12
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays on a 3-night detox package at the Regent Hotel Zagreb. More... Until Dec 30, 12
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for stays at the Taj Palace Marrakech. More... Until Dec 22, 12
- 100 Bonus Flying Blue Miles for all Avis rentals that are booked online More... Ongoing
- 100 Bonus Flying Blue Miles per day for rentals of minimum 4 days at any Sixt location worldwide. More... Until Jan 13, 13

American AAdvantage
- 2,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for New Otani Club members who are also AAvantage members per stay of two consecutive nights or more at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo or Hotel New Otani Osaka. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 10,000 AAdvantage Miles for stays at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 3,000 AAdvantage Miles per stay of two consecutive nights or more Hotel New Otani Makuhari Hotel New Otani Osaka The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, Honolulu Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong, Beijing. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN PLUS Hotel de Chassieu - Chassieu, BEST WESTERN Le Benhuyc - Binic, BEST WESTERN Hotel Eurociel - Montpellier or the BEST WESTERN PLUS Palais des Congres - Evreux. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Delta SkyMiles
- 1,000 Bonus SkyMiles when you register book and fly with Delta. More... Register by Jan 1, 13 for travel Nov 1 - Feb 1, 13 Targeted offer - May Not Work for everyone
- 2,000 Bonus SkyMiles for New Otani Club members who are also SkyMiles members per stay of two consecutive nights or more at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo or Hotel New Otani Osaka. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 10,000 SkyMiles for stays at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 3,000 SkyMiles per stay of two consecutive nights or more Hotel New Otani Makuhari Hotel New Otani Osaka The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, Honolulu Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong, Beijing. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Emirates Skywards
- 1,000 Bonus Skywards Miles for stays at the Park Hyatt Hyderabad. More... Book by Jan 15 for stays until Jan 31, 13
- Double Skywards Miles when you book a minimum two-night stay at Shangri-La and Traders Hotels in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and the Shangri-La Resort in Oman. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Garuda Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double GFF Miles for weekend stays at the Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Hainan Fortune Wings
- Triple Fortune Wings Kilometers when renting for 7 days at Hertz worldwide locations. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 2,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays on any eligible rate at 7 participating Hyatt Hotels in Japan. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 13

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios for stays at participating Barceló Hotels in Spain, Guatemala and Turkey. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per Night when you stay any Thursday-Sunday night (Friday or Saturday night stay required) at the: Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel, Courtyard Calgary Airport, Residence Inn Calgary Airport, or the Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort. More... Nov 1 - Jan 23, 13
- 2,500 Bonus Points per stay when you stay a minimum of three nights at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Pierce. More... Nov 18, 12 - Jan 26, 13
- 2,500 Bonus Points per stay when you stay a minimum of three nights at the Residence Inn Port St. Lucie. More... Nov 18, 12 - Jan 26, 13

Millennium & Copthore Hotels Loyalty Club
- Double Loyalty Points for qualified stays at the Copthorne Kings Hotel, Singapore. More... Until Nov 15, 12

Red Lion R&R Club
- 5,000 Bonus R&R Club Points and 15% off the lowest public available rate per stays at participating Red Lion Hotels in the United States and Canada. More... Until Jan 31, 13

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Earn up to Quadruple EuroBonus points on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Nov 30 for rentals until Jan 31, 13

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points and a guaranteed upgrade to a Club Premier Room for stays in Club Room at the Kerry Hotel, Beijing. More... Nov 1, 12 - Jan 31, 13
- Double GC Award Points for stays in a in a Traders Club room at Traders Fudu Hotel, Changzhou. More... Nov 1, 12 - Feb 28, 13
- Double GC Award Points for stays in a Horizon Deluxe Room at the Shangri-La Hotel, Guangzhou. More... Nov 1, 12 - Feb 28, 13
- Double GC Award Points for stays of two consecutive nights in a Traders Club rooms at Traders Hotel, Penang. More... Nov 1, 12 - Dec 31, 12

United Mileage Plus
- Earn up to 12,000 Mileage Plus Miles for stays of 3+ nights on the 'Mileage Plus Bonus Miles Package" at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo or Hotel New Otani Osaka. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 2, 000 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles for New Otani Club members who are also Mileage Plus members per stay of two consecutive nights or more at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo or Hotel New Otani Osaka. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 10,000 Mileage Plus Miles for stays at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 3,000 Mileage Plus Miles per stay of two consecutive nights or more Hotel New Otani Makuhari Hotel New Otani Osaka The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, Honolulu Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong, Beijing. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles when you download and shop with the MileagePlus shopping assistant. More... Until Oct 31, 12

Wyndham Rewards
- 16,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points for each qualified stay at one of 20 new Wyndham and Hawthorn hotels in the U.S. (Bonus can be earned a maximum of 3 times). More... Until Dec 31, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Oct 17 Daily Update: Up to 2,000 free Accor LeClub points, Double Aeroplan Miles for Hilton stays, 4,000 Miles for joining RAM Safar Flyer

Today was a day filled with bonus offers. All those that I added to my sites that are available to us Canadian's are listed below in the bonus offer section!

News, Tips & Tricks
Accor Hotels is running a Facebook contest for their recently rebranded loyalty program called LeClub . The contest has several portions, one of which awards you with up to 500 Accor Leclub points for matching hotels to locations on a map (hint: open up another browser tab or window and use Google to search for locations you don't know) You earn 50 points for each correct answer and really you should be able to earn all the points each day of the contest up to a maximum of 2,000 points during the contest period. The grand prize is 1 Million LeClub points plus 40 prizes of 15,000 points. Check out the contest on Accor's Facebook page.

At the time of posting this, voting will be closed for our Canada's Choice - Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Card feature. I want thank each and everyone of who voted. Watch for the results to come out the first week of November!

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles when you stay at any participating hotel and resort in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Double Mileage Plan Miles when you stay at any participating Hilton hotel and resort in Hawaii. More... Until Dec 31, 12

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles for nonstop flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Puebla, Mexico. More... Nov 15, 12- Feb 15, 13
- Double AAdvantage Miles when you stay at any participating Hilton hotel and resort in Hawaii. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Triple Guest Miles on all Etihad flights Worldwide. Fly Diamond First Class and receive triple bonus miles. Fly Pearl Business Class and receive double bonus miles. More... Book by Nov 26 for travel until Nov 27, 12 Targetted Offer - May not work for everyone

Gulf Air Falconflyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 50% Falconflyer Miles Discount on rewards tickets for any Gulf Air route Worldwide. More... Nov 1 - Dec 5, 12
- Double Falconflyer Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 12
- 12,000 Bonus Falconflyer Miles when you apply for and receive the Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card. More... Until Dec 31, 12 Residents of Bahrain only
- Earn up to Quadruple Falconflyer Miles on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double HawaiianMiles when you stay at any participating Hilton hotel and resort in Hawaii. More... Until Dec 31, 12

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- 1,000 Bonus Priority Club Points, complimentary breakfast and a signature drink for stays on the It's not all business offer at Hotel Indigo locations Worldwide. More...
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Priority Club points for stays a participating IHG locations across Europe. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night when you stay two nights Thursday-Sunday (Friday or Saturday required) at participating hotels in Belgium or the Netherlands. More... Nov 1 - Jan 24, 13

Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- Double Safar Flyer Miles on the following Royal Air Maroc routes: - Marrakech and Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Munich, Nantes, Nice, Paris or Toulouse - Tangier and Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, London, Madrid, or Paris. - Nador and Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Paris - Agadir and Nantes or Paris - Oujda and Marseille or Paris - Rabar or Fes and Paris. More... Until Dec 15, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Safar Flyer Miles for every 3 flights completed within Morocco. More... Until Dec 15, 12
- Double Safar Flyer Miles for each Sixt car rental Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 12
- Earn up to 4,500 Bonus Safar Flyer Miles for joining the Safar Flyer program. Earn 3,000 for joining plus an additional 1,000 if you do it online. Plus receive 500 extra Miles for your first trip with Royal Air Maroc before December 31th, 2012. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- 500 Bonus EuroBonus Points for each new member you refer to the EuroBonus program. Those members must have at least one activity on their account before end of December, 2012 to receive the bonus points. Maximum bonus is 6,000 points (12 referrals). More... Until Dec 31, 12

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 20% Off the regular price when you buy or give Starpoints online. More... Until Nov 30, 12

United Mileage Plus
- Earn up to 100% Bonus Mileage Plus Miles when you fly United between Washington Dulles (IAD) and San Salvador. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 13
- Double Mileage Plus Miles when you stay at any participating Hilton hotel and resort in Hawaii. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles when you buy Marriott Gift Cards online. More... Until Nov 26, 12

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles when you stay at any participating Hilton hotel and resort in Hawaii. More... Until Dec 31, 12
 

Options outside of Aeroplan and Air Miles. Part 3: Hotel Frequent Guest Programs

The majority of Canada's loyalty program market share is held by two programs, Aeroplan and Air Miles. While both programs have strong roots in travel they have grown into what the industry calls coalition loyalty programs, which in layman's terms means many earning partners and a varied rewards catalog. Its hard not to be a member of at least one of these two programs since you would miss out on some potential rewards because of their vast coverage within Canada. With that being said, I receive numerous emails from my readers on how they are fed up with Aeroplan or Air Miles or both and they want to know what other options they have, particularly for travel rewards. This piece will look at the other options Canadians have for travel reward loyalty programs and while you can take any of these routes as your primary program I would recommend keeping Aeroplan and/or Air Miles as a secondary program. One thing you will notice is that to make one of these other programs your primary one, it will require the use of a credit card to maximize your reward potential. For travel reward programs, credit card use is the easiest way to rack up points and miles outside of actual travel. I've broken out the choices into four parts and will focus on the pros and cons of making one of these choices as your primary program.

Part 1: Frequent Flyer Programs
Part 2: Credit Card Programs

Part 3: Hotel Frequent Guest Programs

Part 4: Non-Travel Reward Programs



HOTEL FREQUENT GUEST PROGRAMS

InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa

The third category we look at in our Other Options Series are hotel frequent guest programs. Here at Rewards Canada this one category I have been pushing onto Canadians as they are typically overlooked or even unknown to most of us Canucks. A 2010 survey conducted by American Express Canada and Starwood Preferred Guest showed only 13% of Canadians participated in hotel programs compared to much larger numbers for airline or credit card programs. To me, as someone who is entrenched in the loyalty industry, this number is surprisingly low but outside of the industry it does not surprise me. In Canada, I find the hotel programs don't advertise their loyalty offerings outside of their own hotels save for Best Western who run frequent commercials promoting their latest Best Western Rewards offers. I believe its because of this lack of marketing that many Canadians are missing out on frequent guest programs. They tend to have less restrictions than frequent flyer programs, they can provide a good rate of return, they offer flexibility in reward options and can be used to make vacations more luxurious.

Many Canadians who participate in travel reward programs seem to focus on getting that free flight but don’t realize that often the hotel they stay at can cost as much if not more than the flights themselves. The above survey also showed that more than a quarter of Canadians said that they would prefer not to travel at all than to stay at a budget hotel. This seems to stem from the general lack of knowledge that average Canadian’s have with regards to the hotel programs. Frequent travellers do have this knowledge and I would suspect they make up the majority of the 13% of Canadians who are members of one or more frequent guest programs.

Historically, for Canadians, the number one way to earn points in a hotel frequent guest program was by staying at hotels only but in the last 3-4 years we finally saw the emergence of credit cards tied to several hotel frequent guest programs. In fact five major hotel chain programs are now vying for market share in the already crowded credit card space in Canada. Those chains are Best Western Hotels (Rewards), Choice Hotels (Privileges), InterContinental Hotels Group (Priority Club), Marriott Hotels (Rewards) and Starwood Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest).

Related: See how all the Hotel credit cards performed in our 2012 Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings

Which card you choose will depend on which hotel brands you like and which chain has properties in locations you tend to stay at so that you can double dip on the stay and finally where you are most likely to redeem your points for.

Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme

 Why would you choose to use a hotel frequent guest program? Well have you ever been on vacation and were staying in a budget or mid-scale hotel a few blocks off the beach and wished you were able to afford the 4 and 5 star hotels right on the beach? The frequent guest program can do that for you. Same goes if you are in an amazing city like Paris, you may not be able to afford the locations closest to the Eiffel Tower or Champs-Élysées but once again you have a better chance at staying at those locations by utilizing a hotel reward program. Think of it this way: when choosing between an airline and a hotel program (knowing that you cannot maximize the value both of them) would you rather fly in business class from Toronto to Paris and enjoy 8 hours of luxury or stay at a 5 star location and enjoy, say, 7 days of luxury? This stance may get me some heat from the frequent travellers and people who want to maximize the return on their spending but while some of us can maximize both frequent flyer and frequent guest programs, the average Canadian cannot. Another good example is a family of four with the Toronto-Paris example, it would take heaps of credit card spending and/or mileage earning scenarios to get 4 business class tickets on that route but the stay at the five star hotel does not change. In most cases its the same amount of points whether you have 1,2,3, or 4 people! 


Another reason to join one or more frequent guest programs is loyalty to your favorite airline frequent flyer program. Hotel stays have always been a good source of earning extra miles in frequent flyer program and this option can make sense for those who do not stay in hotels too frequently or are staying in a city that does not have a property participating in the hotel program of their choice. So why do you need to join a hotel program to earn airline miles? Because you have to! Most hotel chains will only award you airline miles if you are a member of their frequent guest program and have selected ‘earning miles‘ as your reward option. Very few hotels or hotel chains will accept your frequent flyer card at check in unless you sign up for their program right there and then.

Pros of Hotel Frequent Guest Programs and Hotel Frequent Guest Credit Cards:

1. Most of the redemptions can give you a mid to high rate of return on your credit card spending. As an example some numbers I have seen show up to a 7% return for certain Starwood Hotel redemptions.

2. Cash + Points: Some chains likes Starwood and IHG offer a cash+points option that allows you to redeem partial points for a stay and pay cash for the difference. This is a good benefit if you don’t have enough points to redeem for the full stay.

3. Elite Status: When you achieve elite status in a hotel program you stand to benefit from more points, complimentary room upgrades, meals, check-in amenities and more depending on the program

4. Convert to Airline Miles: All the hotel programs allow you to convert the hotel points to various airline frequent flyer programs.
5. Many hotels give their members (Elite or not) extra perks likes free wi-fi and in the case of Kimpton InTouch, minibar credits of up to $15.

Cons of Hotel Frequent Guest Programs and Hotel Frequent Guest Credit Cards:

1. They are less flexible than Travel Points Credit Cards (ie TD Visas, Amex Gold Rewards Cards, etc) as you are limited to only one or several brands of hotels and/or frequent flyer transfer partners

2. If the brand you are being loyal to has no properties in a location you are travelling to, you will lose out on earning points or you won’t be able to redeem for that area. A good example is Banff and Canmore Alberta. Huge travel destinations in their own right but you are limited in major hotel brands that have loyalty programs, in particular some of the higher end chains like Starwood, Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton have no presence in the Canadian Rockies.

Hotel Frequent Guest Programs available to Canadians
Accor Hotels Le Club
Best Western Rewards (formerly Gold Crown Club)
Canalta Hotels Rewards
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
Choice Hotels Privileges
Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
Delta Hotels Privilege 
Executive Hotels Executive Rewards
Fairmont President's Club
Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) Discovery
Golden Tulip Flavours
Hilton HHonors
Hyatt Gold Passport
InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
JAL Hotels My JALHotels
Jumeirah Sirius
Kimpton InTouch
La Quinta Returns
Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club
Loews Hotels YouFirst
Marriott Rewards
Melia International Mas Rewards
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Loyalty Club
NH Hotels & Resorts World
Preferred Hotel Group I Prefer
Red Lion Hotels R&R Club
Red Roof Inns Redicard
Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Rotana Rewards
Scandic Hotels Guest Programme
Shangri-La Golden Circle
Qube Hotels Q Club
Starwood Preferred Guest
Stash Hotel Rewards
Sutton Place Hotels Prestige Guest
Swissotel Club Swiss Gold
Taj Hotels InnerCircle
Travelodge Guest Rewards
Trident Hotels Privilege
Voila Hotel Rewards
Wyndham Rewards

Hotel Frequent Guest Program Credit Cards for Canadians
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
MBNA Best Western Platinum Plus MasterCard
MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard
Priority Club® World MasterCard® from Capital One®
Priority Club® Platinum MasterCard® from Capital One®
The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

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