Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near
daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses,
deals and more.
Earlier today we brought you details on the new reciprocal elite status frequent flyer benefits announced by WestJet and Delta Airlines. In that post we focused on the details for WestJet Rewards elite tier members and now we'll take a look at the benefits that being afforded to Delta Medallion elites for flying on WestJet. For the most part they look exactly like the benefits WestJet members get for flying on Delta.
News out of the U.S this morning that Delta SkyMiles has significantly increased redemption requirements for award travel on partner airlines between the U.S. and Europe & Asia. Delta pretty much considers Canada as the same as the U.S. so these new non-published award rates would apply to us Canadians as well. In some ways it almost appears that Delta looked at Aeroplan's new partner Reward charts coming on November 8 and figured they could raise their amounts as well. For example Delta's one way partner flights to Europe used to start at 25,000 miles now they look to be 35,000 miles, the latter is the same for Air Canada. For Asia it used to be 32,500 SkyMiles now it's 40,000 - Air Canada starts at 35,000 now. (Source Thrifty Traveller)
Image via Delta Airlines
Another American Express multiplier to let you know about. Wow Chicken here in Calgary codes properly for dining - I paid for it on my Platinum Card as I had forgotten my Cobalt Card. (I know how dare I!) and that purchase earned 3x the points which means it would earn 5x points on the Cobalt Card. See all the confirmed American Express mulitplier locations here.
image via Wow Chicken
Delta SkyMiles has brought out a new targeted status match promotion that goes one step further than their ongoing status match offer we have all become accustomed to. This new offer requires registration by the end of this month and is one step further in that SkyMiles will give one tier higher in their Medallion program than the status you have with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, jetBlue, Southwest Airlines or United Airlines. That is, silver gets gold, gold gets platinum (as a basic example). Now this offer is targeted so you should keep an eye out from an email from Delta SkyMiles telling you that you are eligible. If you didn't get the email you can give it a go via this link but there are no guarantees it will work out. If you are successful in your match you'll get that one tier higher status until March 31, 2021 and can extend it by meeting a set number of qualifying flights ( If you receive Gold Medallion® Status: Fly 2 Qualifying Round Trips or 4 One Ways; If you receive Platinum Medallion® Status: Fly 4 Qualifying Round Trips or 8 One Ways; If you receive Diamond Medallion® Status: Fly 6 Qualifying Round Trips or 12 One Ways). If you don't have status with one of the above airlines but do with Air Canada check out our post: A reminder that you can match your Air Canada Altitude Status to Delta SkyMiles Medallion Status
Images via Delta
Image via The Family Fry Guy
And the decline of hotel occupancy rates in Canada continues - only 32.2% for October 4 to 10. (Source HNN)
"Occupancy for previous weeks came in at 34.0% (3 October), 35.6% (26 September), and 37.0% (19 September), respectively."
Lufthansa will be keeping once a day service between Toronto and Frankfurt for the winter season but will be reducing Vancouver to Frankfurt flights to 5x per week from 7x during this same time period. (Source RoutesOnline)
Panama's Copa Airlines resumed service between Toronto and Panama City last week. The airline is flying the route three times weekly. (Source RoutesOnline)
Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page
where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel,
lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.
Earn $300 cash when you open a new Scotiabank Ultimate Package! Plus earn Scotia Rewards or SCENE Rewards points. Find out more here.
If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more here
SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. Find out more here
WealthSimple Trade: Receive $5 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $5 when you receive $5)
Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.
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Delta SkyMiles
- Receive Complimentary Medallion Status if you have status on Alaska
Airlines, American Airlines, jetBlue, Southwest Airlines or United
Airlines. More... Register by Oct 31, 20
Hyatt World of Hyatt
- 30% Bonus World of Hyatt Points when you buy 5,000 or more points. More... Until Nov 24, 20
IHG Rewards Club
- Book Reward Nights starting as low as 30K points at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. More... Until Dec 15, 20
Millennium Hotels My Millennium
-
Double Millennium Points + an extra 10% off for every stay when you book
direct at any participating Millennium hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 31, 20
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At the start of this week news broke from United Airlines that they were permanently removing some of those dreaded fees that airlines charge when making changes to tickets. It didn't take long for other U.S. based airlines to follow suit as American and Delta removed fees next and then followed by Alaska Airlines. There is no word yet here in Canada whether our airlines will follow suit and do away with at least some of those pesky fees but I don't hold my hopes up. In fact WestJet just increased some fees on domestic flights citing increased fees from Nav Canada. That being said, most Canadian airlines do offer at least one change to tickets for free based on the current COVID-19 circumstances and that is also what the U.S. airlines have been doing but with this weeks news have gone on to not just consider COVID but make those changes permanent.
As United was first out of the gate with the news here is what they are changing in regards to these fees. They are permanently removing change fees for most economy and premium class tickets for travel within the U.S. (including Alaska, Hawaii Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands) This change doesn't help us Canadians very much unless you are booking a purely U.S. itinerary. United's COVID policy will cover flights out of Canada until the end of the year however after that it is entirely possible those flights will once again incur change fees. This same policy is in effect for Basic Economy fares and other international flights on United.
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| Image courtesy of United |
United also added free same day standby for any flights in their network.
Learn more about United's changes here.
American Airlines took what United did, copied it and went one step further - they included Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico for destination where the ticket change fees were removed from. Ticket types are the same as United's in that it covers all types except Basic Economy. However AA will waive fees on Basic Economy and other International flights until the end of the year as part of their pandemic policy.
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| Image courtesy of AA |
American will also offer free same day standby as of October 1st. They are also allowing those who buy Basic Economy fares to buy extras like upgrades, priority boarding and others as of October 1.
Learn more about AA's changes here.
Delta Airlines copied United to a tee and didn't expand it like AA did. This means Delta has eliminatied change fees for travel within the domestic U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. It covers pretty much all fare classes except Basic Economy tickets.And just like AA and United, Delta is waiving fees on all fares and flights until the end of December.
Learn more about Delta's changes here.
Alaska was the last out of these four to announce the elimination of ticket changes fees and they chose to be like American Airlines and expand on what is offered beyond what United first set out. Alaska went beyond by eliminating ticket change fees for their entire network which means the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Just like all the other airlines this elimination covers all fares except their lowest saver fare. Where Alaska went one step further is that they have also eliminated the change and cancellatoin fees on Mileage Plus award tickets that for travel on Alaska Airlines.
Learn more about Alaska'a change here.
As you can see, American and Alaska have included us Canadians in their policies so it is possibly something the two big Canadian airlines may be eyeing. However given the current travel situation, both Alaska and American have very flights from Canada and not many Canadians are even traveling to the U.S.. If history is any indication Canadian airlines tend not to follow U.S. or other international carries with removing revenue sources (they do like to copy policies that increase revenue) so I don't suspect our carriers will follow suit just yet. Given that the airlines have pandemic policies in place already granting some change fee waivers it is entirely possible they'll just keep extending that policy until travel levels return to a somewhat normal level and then start charging everyone again.
Title image via AA
This post is a reminder to our readers that Delta's SkyMiles Status Match Challenge has been open to Air Canada Altitude members and some other international airlines for nearly a year now. Prior to that it was only available to a handful of U.S. airlines. The challenge will grant you status with Delta for three months that is comparable to the status you have with another airline, in this case we're mainly concerned with Air Canada and here is how they match up:
To learn more about each of Delta's elite tiers I recommend checking out this page on Delta's website.
If you want to extend your status past three months you'll need to meet
the following requirements (Note The qualifying dollar component is not
required for Canadians)
You do have be aware however that your
Air Canada Altitude status had to be earned by flying - so if you are
thinking hey I just got my 25K status a few months ago thanks to the
Travel at Home promotion and now I can get Delta status think again as
they won't match status earned from promotions like that.
Delta is part of the SkyTeam alliance which means you'll get some perks flying on any those airlines. Outside of Star Alliance, SkyTeam is the next biggest alliance serving Canada with multiple airline partners like Air France, KLM, Korean Air, AeroMexico and others all flying here. This means there are many more potential opportunities to enhance your travels from this status match especially if you happen to get Delta Medallion Gold or higher status as you'll be a SkyTeam Elite Plus member which provides lounge access and more.
I wouldn't recommend signing up for the challenge right now unless you know you will be flying Delta over the next three months so that you can enjoy the elite benefits. Plus you'll want to time it right so that you can reach the requirements to have that status extended to full blown status that will run until January 31, 2022. On the other hand if you are only planning on flying Delta as a one off and will never fly them again it wouldn't hurt to sign up for the challenge so you get those perks for that one flight! 😜
Basically I just wanted to let you know about this offer again at this time so it doesn't go forgotten by our Air Canada Altitude readers and that
you have in the back of your mind for the future if and when the opportunity may arise that you can get the most value out of this challenge.
Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles Medallion Status Match Challenge here.
IHG Studio allows guests to:
- Connect and stream content securely from guests’ personal devices to their guest room TV
- Make service requests such as order extra pillows, arrange for a late checkout and review room charges
- Access the TV remote from the IHG Rewards Club mobile app
- Order room service and purchase on-property amenities
- Pay with Points, a new pilot program that allows guests to use IHG Rewards Club points to make in-hotel purchases
IHG Studio is currently available in nearly 40 hotels in the U.S. and will expand to other regions by the end of 2019, including the U.K., Greater China, Canada and Latin America. The system will become a standard across all brands globally over the coming years.Accessing the TV remote from the app is cool as we all know the TV remote is one of the dirtiest items in a hotel room!
Who is eligible for Elevate Your Status?
- If you are a Platinum, Gold or Silver Medallion Member, you are eligible for Elevate Your Status unless you received complimentary Status for a Tier above the Tier you earned Status for.
- Example: If you were given complimentary Gold Medallion Status, but earned Silver Medallion Status through the published requirements, you are not eligible for Elevate Your Status.
- If you are a General SkyMiles Member, you must be within range to reach Silver Medallion Status by purchasing the maximum bundle of MQMs, MQSs and MQDs, in order to be eligible.
- Example: If you have 12,000 MQMs, you will not be eligible because the maximum amount of MQMs that can be earned through Elevate Your Status to reach Silver Medallion Status is 12,500 and the MQMs requirement for Silver Medallion Status is 25,000.
- If you are a Diamond Medallion Member, you are not eligible, because you have already reached the top Tier of Medallion Status.
