Amex Offers - Spend $25 with Amazon and receive a $5 statement credit

 

An Amex Offers offer that everyone likes to see came back today. That is an offer for shopping online at Amazon.ca - thanks again to Rewards Canada contributor Jeff W. who let us know he received some of these offers on his Marriott Bonvoy American Express card and Scotiabank Gold American Express Card. In our household we also received it on the Platinum Card and the Marriott Bonvoy card as well. No luck for the Gold Rewards Card or Cobalt cards (although that could be different for you!) That being said the offer does appear on Amex's general page for Amex Offers so you can try registering your card there should it not show up in your Amex Offers section of your account

The American Express Cobalt Card Amazon Perk returns - 4 bonus points per dollar on purchases made between November 27 and 30

Right in time for the holiday shopping season we see the return of the Cobalt Perks offer for Amazon.ca purchases!

November 21 Update: New hotel openings in Canada, Amazon Mastercard added to comparison chart & more confirmed Amex multipliers

As you know, early in the year we have posts that highlight upcoming hotel openings for the year here in Canada. What we don't do so much is follow up when they actually open. Thanks to Canadian Lodging News we can let you know when some of these hotels actually open their doors. Here are some of the new hotels that have opened up for business over the past few weeks:

• Days Inn by Wyndham Wainwright
• Executive Residency by Best Western Calgary City View North
• Four Points by Sheraton Windsor Downtown
• Holiday Inn Express & Suites Halifax-Dartmouth in Dartmouth
• Hotel Place Dupuis Montreal

It has also been announced that the second AC Hotels by Marriott in Canada will be in Ottawa. "The new hotel will be located between Byward Market and the Rideau Centre" and will open in summer of 2022. Thank you to Canadian Lodgiing News for providing all these details!

With the relaunch of the Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard we have added it to our Cash Back Credit Card comparison chart and also to our No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians feature.

A couple more additions to our American Express Confirmed Multiplier Locations - we've added Naturamarket.ca and Hello Fresh (thanks to Ciana for this one) to the 5x multiplier category. See the list here.

Posts since our last update:

• New increased sign up bonus of up to 30,000 points for the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard
  Earlier in the year we saw MBNA bump the welcome bonus for the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard to…
• November 20 Update: Scotia credit card updates, new Amex offer for mobile service providers, Aer Lingus cuts Montreal & 30% off Canadian North flights
  Finally got around to updating the Scotiabank credit card offers as many were set to end on October 31.…
  

Travel Deals

Canadian North Christmas Seat Sale! Save 30% when you use promo code ELF30. Book by Nov 25 for travel Nov 22 - Dec 31. Find out more here.

Save up up to 20 percent when you book stays at Delta Hotels by Marriott™ locations across Canada. Valid for stays until Dec 30, 19. Find out more here.

IHG Cyber Sale – Save up to 30% on stays around the globe

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 100,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy miles online. More... Until Nov 28, 19

Choice Privileges
- 40% Bonus Privileges Points when you buy 5,000 or more points. More... Until Dec 5, 19

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles on all car rentals booked via CarTrawler. More... Book by Dec 15 for rentals until Feb 15, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 4,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stays at the Courtyard or Residence Inn Houston Sugar Land/Stafford. More... Until Dec 30, 19

SAS EuroBonus
- Earn 6,000 EuroBonus Points in tottal when you rent with Avis for 4 or more days in in the US (North America and Canada), Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. More... Book by Nov 30 for rentals until Mar 31, 20

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Up to a 50% ROP Miles Discount when you redeem for award flights between Bangkok and Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo or Moscow. More... Book by Nov 30 for travel until Mar 31, 20

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 30% VHR Points Discount when you redeem for an award night at any participating VOILÀ hotel Worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 20

Follow Rewards Canada:

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The MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard is available again

Back in June we let you know about the new MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard. At that time it was only around for a few days and then disappeared due to some technical issues. It returned with no fan fare about a month ago (thanks to our reader Alan Trembley for alerting us to this!)

I've been meaning to bring this to light ever since Alan posted that comment back in October. Apologies to Alan and to our readers for forgetting about it!

Once again, here are the details of the card:

• For the first six months after your Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard account is opened, you will receive 5% back on eligible purchases at Amazon.ca, Whole Foods Market stores in Canada and at grocery stores or restaurants in Canada, until $3,000 in such purchases have been made.
• 2.5% back on eligible purchases at Amazon.ca, Whole Foods Market in Canada and on foreign currency purchases, with an eligible Prime membership
• Otherwise 1.5% back at Amazon.ca and Whole Foods Market in Canada
• 1% back on all other purchases
• No annual credit card fee
• No annual points caps and no expiration date for points
• Every 2,000 points earned are automatically redeemed as a $20 Amazon.ca Gift Card that can be applied on millions of items when shopping at Amazon.ca
• Protection benefits include 90-day purchase assurance coverage, extended warranty and trip interruption coverage
• Mastercard contactless-enabled for a frictionless checkout – simply tap your card at participating merchants in millions of locations across the globe to process payments securely 

Right off the bat you see the card has a pretty decent sign up bonus and and then you'll see it has a pretty good return - if you are an Amazon Prime member. The 5% back for the first $3,000 in spending ($150 return) is good sign up bonus for a no annual fee cash back card. The 5% is limited to Amazon, Whole Foods, and for Grocery Store and restaurant purchases in Canada so for most it should be no problem hitting $3,000 in 6 months to earn the full $150.

As you can see however Amazon have narrowed the focus of who they want using the card. The higher earn for Prime Members, the Amazon.ca gift card reward and elimination of the foreign transaction fee really limits this card's audience to heavy Amazon users. Not a heavy Amazon user? You have a lot of better options out there for you. 

Learn more about the Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard here! 

Amazon Prime Day bonus miles & points offers from Aeroplan, AIR MILES, American Express & more

Amazon Prime Day 2019 is here! The highly anticipated two days of shopping via one of the world's largest retailers offers deals on thousands of items so it is no wonder that many other companies look to capitalize on it! This includes online shopping portals, credit card companies and even competitors! All of this benefits you, the collector, as you can earn a slew of points and miles for all those Amazon deals you are looking to score.

If you are planning to shop via Amazon.ca today or tomorrow you'll want to initiate each purchase via an online shopping portal as most, if not all of them are offering have a bonus for Amazon. Here are the offers from the four most popular online shopping portal:

Aeroplan's eStore is offering 5x Aeroplan Miles on all Amazon.ca purchases for Prime Day.  Find out more about this offer here.

airmilesshops.ca is also offering 5x miles for Amazon Prime Day purchases for today and tomorrow. Click here to find out more about this offer. 

You can also choose to go via a cash back online shopping portal. Both ebates.ca and Great Canadian Rebates are offering up to 10% cash back for Amazon purchases over the next two days. Personally I prefer the mileage earning sites, not only to build up my balances but mainly because ebates and GCR's bonuses are limited to select categories and not all Amazon purchases like we see from Aeroplan & AIR MILES.

If you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards or Membership Rewards Select points, you'll want to make your Amazon purchases on those cards. As we detailed last week you can earn 5x points on up to $500 of Amazon purchases on the American Express Cobalt Card or earn 3 bonus points per dollar spent up to $2,000 in purchases on either the American Express Gold Rewards Card or The Platinum Card. You need to register for these offers via the emails sent by American Express, if you didn't receive the email call the customer service number on the back of your card and ask them to register you for the offer) Of course, don't go straight to Amazon after registering your card, go via one of the shopping portals listed above and then use your Amex card to complete the purchase and double dip on your miles and points!

American Express bonus points offers for Amazon Prime Day

One of the most anticipated online sales events, Amazon Prime Day, will take place next week on July 15 and 16. This is such a big event that many companies want in on it and know that lots people will be shopping on those days. American Express is no stranger to this as they offered bonus points last year for Prime Day and are doing so once again this year! Here are the two offers we are aware of:

The first is for the Cobalt card:

And the other for the Platinum Card:

These are some great bonus offers to take advantage of for some of the biggest shopping days of the year. If you have either of these cards (or both) check your in box for the email and don't delete it! There are registration links in the email that you must click for each specific card to make sure you'll earn the bonus points! This is the case for both primary and supplementary cardholders.

Now let's take a closer look at the offers:

When you use your registered American Express Cobalt Card on Amazon.ca on July 15 and 16 you'll earn 5 points per dollar spent instead of only 1 point per dollar on the first $500 of spending. If you can spend that much you will earn 2,500 Membership Rewards Select points which are worth $25 towards any travel, $17.50 cash back towards any purchase or 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

Related: American Express Cobalt Card Review

For the Platinum Card offer, it is 3 bonus Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on the first $2,000 spent on Amazon.ca on July 15 and 16 with your registered card. Now the wording is a little vague in their T&C's for the offer. We would read it as 3 bonus points meaning you earn the 1 point base amount + 3 bonus points for 4 points per dollar in total. However the T&C's state you'll earn a total of three (3) bonus Membership Rewards^® points for every $1 spent. Bonus usually means on top but they also put the word 'total' in there a few times which could be construed as the max you'll earn. So it is a little unclear if you'll end up earning 3 points per dollar or 4 points per dollar. Either way if you can spend the full $2,000 on those two days you should end up with no less than 6,000 Membership Rewards points which are worth $60 towards any travel, $42 cash back towards any purchase or 6,000 Aeroplan Miles or British Airways Executive Club Avios.

Related: Get elite status with ten hotel reward programs, one airline and one cruise program with The Platinum Card from American Express


If you have either of these cards, or both, and are planning to shop on Amazon Prime Day be sure to register your cards so you can earn these extra points. But don't stop there for earning. Make sure you initiate those purchases via an online shopping mall like Aeroplan's eStore, Air Miles Shops, eBates or others to earn even more miles or cash back.

June 26 Update: Technical issues ground the Amazon Mastercard temporarily, Double Dip with Air France KLM & Accor Hotels, Air Canada enhances inflight entertainment selection

We have received confirmation from MBNA/TD that a technical issue arose in the application process for the new Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard and that is why it has been temporarily pulled from the market. As soon as it available again we'll be sure to pass that news along.

 Air France KLM and Accor Hotels have announced a new partnership that follows in line with partnerships we have seen in the past like United & Marriott, Emirates/Delta & SPG etc. At the moment it is strictly based on points/miles earning and conversion but hopefully it is expanded in the future with some reciprocal elite benefits like the other airline/hotel tie ups we've seen. This may be of interest to some Canadian's seeing that Le Club AccorHotels is now the loyalty program for Fairmont Hotels. Click here to find out more and to link your accounts.

Air Canada is expanding their inflight entertainment selection with a new partnership with Crave and and more offerings from Stingray. (Source Air Canada)

The new offerings are part of an enhancement of the airline's entertainment system that will increase the content selection by 50 per cent on certain aircraft types, including many of its longest-haul wide-body Boeing 777s and 787s, as well as Air Canada Rouge's A319s, A321s and Boeing 767s, offering enough content that a customer would have to fly around the world 22 times to consume it all. 

 We completed another major update to our American Express American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locationsfeature thanks to the conributions of the Rewards Canada community! Lots more locations in Canada plus new additions for Chile, Ecuador and Peru!

Posts since our last update:

• Maximize the amount of Aeroplan Miles you earn on eats and drinks by using the American Express Cobalt Card
  There are several, if not many reasons why the American Express Cobalt Card is ranked the number one travel…
• June 22 Update: Carrot Rewards shuts down, Alaska Airlines adds award redemptions on Aer Lingus & MBNA Amazon card temporarily unavailable
  Carrot Rewards, the app that rewarded your well being and trying to promote healthier lifestyles with SCENE points, RBC…

Travel Deals

Enjoy up to a 100EUR daily hotel credit for stays at participating Marriott Hotels & Resorts in Europe! Book by Aug 25 for stays until Sep 14, 2019. Find out more here.

IHG Global Sale! Book now and save up to 20% at thousands of IHG® Hotels & Resorts worldwide when you book between now and July 31st.! Full details

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points when your stay includes either a Sunday or Thursday night at The Courtyard Montreal Airport More... Until Jul 29, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Federal Hotels International Gracious Rewards
- 2X Gracious Rewards Points and 2x Enrich Miles for stays at the Federal Kuala Lumpur, Hotel Capitol Kuala Lumpur and The Grace Sydney. More... Until Sep 30, 19

Le Club AccorHotels
- Quadruple Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at participating new Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Jul 29 for stays until Sep 15, 19

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Triple QMiles when you rent with Sixt for 3+ days Worldwide. More... Until Sep 15, 19

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Earn up to Triple KrisFlyer Miles on Europcar rentals of 3+ days worldwide excluding USA, Canada, China, India More... Until Jul 31, 19

Stash Hotel Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays of 3+ nights at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and Conference Center in Staunton. More... Until Aug 31, 19


Follow Rewards Canada:

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June 22 Update: Carrot Rewards shuts down, Alaska Airlines adds award redemptions on Aer Lingus & MBNA Amazon card temporarily unavailable

Carrot Rewards, the app that rewarded your well being and trying to promote healthier lifestyles with SCENE points, RBC Rewards Points and until recently Aeroplan Miles, has shut down. The program lasted four years and reports are saying they couldn't find a buyer for the program after government funding had run out.

 Alaska Airlines has announced that Mileage Plan award redemptions are now available on Irish carrier Aer Lingus. Mileage earning on the airlines has been available since 2018 and this marks a further expansion of the partnership between the two. You will now be able to redeem your Mileage Plan miles on all Aer Lingus flights starting at 8,000 miles one way for Intra-Europe flights and from 30,000 miles one way from North America to Europe. Aer Lingus currently only serves Toronto but is adding Montreal to their route network next year after delaying an initially announced launch date of this summer. The redemption rates for Canada to Europe are pretty standard (30,000 one way) for a program and actually may not be your best bet for flying on Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus and its program, Avios can have you flying between Toronto and Dublin for as little as 13,000 Avios one way. most Mileage Plan miles and Avios earned in Canada are on credit cards, and the earn rates are essentially equal meaning it is a lot easier to get to 26,000 Avios for a round trip economy class ticket via Avios than 60,000 miles with Mileage Plan. Still it is great to have this new redemption option from Alaska Airlines as I am sure there are some rewards that can make sense for some of our readers. (Source Alaska Airlines)

Earlier in the week we brought you details of the new MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard but now it has been pulled from both the Amazon.ca and MBNA websites. We will reach out to TD/MBNA on Monday to see if they can give us details on why the card was suddenly removed.

Posts since our last update:

• Earning Stories: Completing the Wyndham Rewards Elite Status Match Challenge
  Back in the fall of 2018 Wyndham Rewards launched an elite status match offer to elite members of competing…

Travel Deals

Enjoy up to a 100EUR daily hotel credit for stays at participating Marriott Hotels & Resorts in Europe! Book by Aug 25 for stays until Sep 14, 2019. Find out more here.

IHG Global Sale! Book now and save up to 20% at thousands of IHG® Hotels & Resorts worldwide when you book between now and July 31st.! Full details

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Finnair Plus
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Plus points when you earn points with Finnair Plus partners. More... Until Aug 31, 19

Hilton Honors
- Earn 5,000 Bonus Honors points PER NIGHT when you stay at least two nights at any participating Hilton Resort hotel in the Americas. Bonus can be earned for up to 6 nights  More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Until Jan 31, 20
Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at participating Marriott Hotels in Japan, Korea, Guam and Hawaii. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Dec 31, 19

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Earn up to Triple Mabuhay Miles when you rent with Hertz for 3 or more days in USA, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. More...Book by Aug 31 for rentals until Sep 30, 19


Follow Rewards Canada:

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Details on the newly launched MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard

 MBNA (and parent company TD) along with Amazon announced today the launch of a new Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard. You may remember there used to be an Amazon.ca co-brand credit card up until early 2018. That old card, a Visa, was issued by Chase Bank (who have now left the Canadian market) and was very popular thanks to its no annual fee combined with no foreign exchange fee.

It is exciting to see the return of an Amazon card but the questions many will ask is "how does it compare to it's yesteryear option"  Let's start by looking  the main details of the new Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard:

• For the first six months after your Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard account is opened, you will receive 5% back on eligible purchases at Amazon.ca, Whole Foods Market stores in Canada and at grocery stores or restaurants in Canada, until $3,000 in such purchases have been made.
• 2.5% back on eligible purchases at Amazon.ca, Whole Foods Market in Canada and on foreign currency purchases, with an eligible Prime membership
• Otherwise 1.5% back at Amazon.ca and Whole Foods Market in Canada
• 1% back on all other purchases
• No annual credit card fee
• No annual points caps and no expiration date for points
• Every 2,000 points earned are automatically redeemed as a $20 Amazon.ca Gift Card that can be applied on millions of items when shopping at Amazon.ca
• Protection benefits include 90-day purchase assurance coverage, extended warranty and trip interruption coverage
• Mastercard contactless-enabled for a frictionless checkout – simply tap your card at participating merchants in millions of locations across the globe to process payments securely 

Right off the bat you see the card has a pretty decent sign up bonus and and then you'll see it has a pretty good return - if you are an Amazon Prime member. The 5% back for the first $3,000 in spending ($150 return) is good sign up bonus for a no annual fee cash back card. The 5% is limited to Amazon, Whole Foods, and for Grocery Store and restaurant purchases in Canada so for most it should be no problem hitting $3,000 in 6 months to earn the full $150.

You can also tell in development of this card by MBNA, TD and Amazon that they really wanted to focus the card on Amazon purchases. Not many cards will give you a 2.5% return on Amazon.ca purchases (at least directly with Amazon, there are workarounds like buying Amazon gift cards at grocery stores to earn up to 5% back with other cards) The card with the sort of return will definitely be popular with the Amazon Prime members who are frequent Amazon purchasers. Next the card also earns the 2.5% back on Whole Foods purchases. This is a specific benefit to those living in the Toronto and Vancouver primarily as Whole Foods only has 14 stores in Canada of which 12 are in those two city regions. Of course now we get to the big question, what about the foreign transaction fee. Well the card charges a 2.5% foreign transaction fee and rewards you with 2.5% in rewards on foreign currency purchases so it is a wash. If the No FX fee is your prime goal than you are better offer with other cards in our market that don't charge the fee and still reward you over and above that. See our feature No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians for complete details on those cards! And let me remind you the one big caveat to this entire paragraph - those earn rates are only available to Amazon Prime members. Not a Prime Member? You'll get 1.5% back on Amazon.ca purchases and Whole Foods purchases in Canada.  All other purchases on both cards will earn 1%. All of this is with no annual fee. 


All those returns are detailed as percentage but you are actually awarded points and when you reach 2,000 points it will automatically be redeemed for a $20 Amazon.ca Gift Card. That means I would classify this card as a retail cash back card since in the end you are getting cash back but that cash back can only be used at one retailer, Amazon. Again you see how specific this card is as you can only get rewarded at Amazon, not that it is bad thing, that's what co-brand cards are meant to be but unless you are a major, almost full time user of Amazon.ca you are likely better off with other cards in our market that don't limit your high earn to one or two retailers and limit your rewards to only one place. The old card worked well since the 2,000 points earned automatically became a $20 statement credit so it was in fact a true cash back card.

As you can see Amazon et al. have narrowed the focus of who they want using the card. The higher earn for Prime Members, the Amazon.ca gift card reward and elimination of the foreign transaction fee really limits this card's audience to heavy Amazon users. Not a heavy Amazon user? You have a lot of better options out there for you. 

Learn more about the Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard here!

Aeroplan Members will soon be able to earn miles at Amazon.ca

Some good news from the fine folks at Aeroplan this week which is needed after the news of the breakup with Esso last week. Starting late in April, Aeroplan members will be able to earn miles for shopping online at Amazon.ca. Here are some excerpts from today' press release:

Starting April 24, 2018, Aeroplan Members who visit Amazon.ca through Aeroplan.com, will be able to earn at least 1 Aeroplan Mile for every $1 dollar spent.

Aeroplan status members will earn even more miles when shopping at Amazon.ca.  Members with silver and black status will earn up to 2x the miles while members with diamond status receive up to 3x the miles per transaction. 

How it works:

1. Aeroplan Members simply visit aeroplan.com/estore;
2. Using the search function on the page, find Amazon.ca;
3. Enter your Aeroplan Number and last name;
4. Click on the 'Shop Now' button to be redirected to Amazon.ca.  Happy shopping!  Members will earn a minimum of 1 Aeroplan Mile per $1 spent.

For me I like this news, my family does shop a lot via Amazon.ca and usually go through ebates.ca but ebates only pays 1% back on most categories except during promotional periods - with Aeroplan offering 1-3 miles on all purchases the return is 1.5% to 4.5% at a minimum.

You may ask though what about the Aeroplan and Air Canada break up that is coming in a little over two years, well I am still accumulating Aeroplan miles as I do use them quite quickly and know those I start earning via Amazon next month will be going towards flights over the next 24 months.

What do you think of this news?

Read the full press release here

Chase Marriott and Amazon Visas come to a complete close on March 15

Nearly a year ago Chase stopped accepting new applications for the Amazon.ca Visa and then late in summer 2017 they also stopped accepting applications for the Marriott Premier Visa card. Now we have received the news that both cards will come to a close on March 15 for existing cardholders. This will officially mark the end of Chase bank in Canada and any hopes of a Sapphire Preferred, Reserve or other great U.S. cards coming up here.

Holders of both cards are starting to receive letters (we're still waiting on ours) or have called into to Chase and their representatives confirm the news.

• For Marriott cards, once all are closed on March 15 all outstanding points will be transferred to Marriott. You should receive a pro-rated credit on your annual based on the number of months it has been since you paid the fee. No annual fees are being charged on the card after January 1st if yours has not come up yet, also if you are entitled to your anniversary free night between now and March 15th you will also still get that. There is some confusion on the latter however as it isn't worded the best in the letters and it almost makes it seem everyone will get it even if you already got it on your card anniversary. For example, my wife's card was renewed in October so the annual fee was paid then and she received the free night certificate. So the question is will she get another one or because she already has for this year she won't? We'll reach out to Chase and Marriott for clarification on this! Update on this here (It's good news!)
• For Amazon cards, once all are closed on March 15 you will get a statement credit for your outstanding points.

Both of these cards were very popular for their no foreign transaction fee benefit and the Marriott card for its large sign up bonus, free night benefits and elite status credits. There are still several cards in Canada that have no foreign transaction fee (HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard and HomeTrust Preferred Visa are examples) if that is the main reason you had either of these Chase cards.

For Marriott Rewards members who not only had the card for the foreign transaction but were using the card to build up your points account, you still have the option of getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express as Starpoints convert to Marriott Rewards Points at a ratio of 1 to 3. The card comes with a 20,000 Starpoint sign up bonus which equates to 60,000 Marriott Rewards points (that's higher than the Marriott Visa ever offered) and everyday earn is 1 Starpoint per dollar spent or 3 Marriott Rewards points per dollar spent. Remember the Marriott Visa was only 1 Marriott Rewards point per dollar on most spend (2 points for Dining, 5 for Marriott/Starwood stays) so you can see how the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card is better in many ways. The SPG card is also offering 2 Starpoints per dollar spent at Marriott and Starwood Hotels until the middle of February and we are hoping that is extended as the UK version of the card has the offer until the end of 2018.

And you may ask, as we were on Twitter earlier today about acceptance and true Amex does have lower acceptance rates at retailers, it isn't that far off from Visa and Mastercard.

In our household I would estimate 85-90% of our spending goes on American Express cards. You can visit this page we created for the American Express Cobalt card to see what retailers accept the card and you can even visit Amex's Shop Small website to see what non-major retailers accept the cards.

November 9 Update: 10x Plum Points at Chapters Indigo (tie in with other offers), $75 Statement credit for SimplyCash Preferred via Amazon + more!

Chapters Indigo have launched a new 10x Points offer on all purchases over $40 in store or online. If you do the latter, wait until tomorrow as you can earn 10x Plum Points AND 10x AIR MILES for those purchases. Or make your first purchase via Marriott Rewards More and score 1,000 Marriott Rewards Points plus the 10x Plum Points. Those aren't your only options so we recommend checking out our Top 6 tips for maximizing miles & points earning on your holiday shopping that we updated and re-released today for the upcoming holiday season!

Petro-Points and iTravel2000 have teamed up once again for another booking bonus. If you book a pre-packaged vacation by November 12th you can earn 50,000 bonus Petro-Points. Those points are worth $50 so you can look at this as being a $50 rebate on your booking. Find out more here.

Air Canada has introduced a Boeing 787 Dreamliner virtual reality experience that is aimed at Travel Agents:

Air Canada is the first Canadian airline to use virtual reality technology to simulate the experience of flying on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner for travel agents and potential customers. Through a fully immersive, interactive experience, users can explore all three cabins of service offered on board the aircraft, including enjoying a virtual International Business Class meal complete with wine in an Executive Pod.

It will be available at the following events:
Air Canada Pop-Up Poutinerie, Shoreditch, London (UK), until November 11, 2017.
True Patriot Love Gala, Toronto, November 9, 2017;
BAZAR ED, Santiago, Chile. November 22 to 26, 2017;
WX Top 100 Leadership Summit, Toronto, November 23, 2017;
EY Entrepreneur of the Year National Gala, The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, November 30, 2017.

If you have been eyeing Canada's Top Cash Back Credit Card, The Simply Cash Preferred Card from American Express, you may want to get it right now. Amex has partnered with Amazon to offer a $75 statement credit if you spend $75 at Amazon.ca with the card. This is on top of the standard sign bonus of 5% cash back for the first 6 months (up to $300 back) and 2% back on all purchases. Find out more here.

We're going to keep this reminder going in each update until Christmas:
Check out the Give A Mile Flight Hero campaign! The charity can really use donations of miles to help provide flights to those who otherwise would be unable to travel to visit terminally ill or critically sick family and friends. Rewards Canada has pledged to raise 100,000 miles and we are half way there! We are putting the call out to all of our fans, readers and even new visitors, if you can give please do so. It can be as little as 1,000 miles! You can find out more and donate here.


Here is an update from Give A Mile on their Christmas campaign:

• 9 flights confirmed on our goal of 50 flights given
• 300,422 miles donated towards our goal of 3,000,000 miles raised

Looks like things are shaping up but there is still a long way to go! Be sure to donate today!

Posts since our last update:

• Top 6 tips for maximizing miles & points earning on your holiday shopping
  Today we dusted off and updated our 2014 piece on the Top 6 tips for maximizing miles & points…
• This Friday Only - 10x AIR MILES Reward Miles on all airmilesshops.ca purchases
  The online shopping bonuses continue and we'll have more coverage of them tomorrow but when one of Canada's largest programs…

Travel Deals
No travel deals today
Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers
No Canadian specific offers today other than those listed above!


Other Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- 1,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles on rentals of 3+ days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Mexico, Latin America, and Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 17
- 1,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles on Budget rentals of 3 more days in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and Caribbean.. More... Until Dec 31, 17

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Up to a 10,000 Infinity MileageLands Miles Discount when you redeem for an upgrade from Economy Class to Premium Economy n EVA/UNI Air scheduled international flights. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at 14 hotels in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York or Rhode Island. More... Dec 1 - Feb 10, 18

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus QMiles when you join Qatar Airways Privilege Club and complete your first flight. More... Until Jan 31, 18
- Earn up to 14,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Cardiff and Doha. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 18
- Double QMiles when you complete your first hotel stay booked via Rocketmiles. More... Book by Dec 31, 17

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you book a stay at selected Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts properties in Asia. More... Until Dec 31, 17

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