February 11 Update: Wait. What? Diners Club actually sent an email? Plus Swoop announces a major domestic expansion

 Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your bear daily dose of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more. This update is brought to you by the HSBC World Elite Mastercard which is currently offering a welcome bonus of up to 100,000 bonus points worth $500, has no foreign transaction fees and no annual fee in the first year! 

 
I received a bit of shock in my email inbox yesterday. BMO actually sent a Diners Club email that wasn't strictly an automated statement or payment reminder! First thing I thought is "What is going on?" I haven't had an email from BMO or Diners Club like this in years! And by years I'm thinking nearly a decade if not more. Are they actually starting to pay some attention to the card and the Club Rewards program now?

September 14 Update: 10% cash back offer on Tangerine cards extended, Diners Club loses access to Plaza Premium lounges & more confirmed Amex Cobalt multiplier locations

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.

 The limited 10% cash back welcome offers for the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card and Tangerine World Mastercard® have been extended to October 4 after being slated to end today. The offer is the same for both cards which is 10% cash back on all purchases up to $1,000 ($100 cash back) made in the first two months of having the card.

Image via Tangerine

December 5 Update: Le Club AccorHotels now ALL - Accor Live Limitless, Diners Club loses 5 airline/hotel partners & save up to 40% with Expedia's Escape sale

AccorHotels and their loyalty program Le Club AccorHotels has now become ALL - Accor Live Limitless. This change was announced back in February (see our post here) and at that time the rebranding was supposed to take place in 2020 but it looks like they got everything in order early and have launcehd the change. The program will see the addition of a Diamond elite status level, enriched benefits for elite members and new partnerships that will expand the experience side of the program. Learn more here.

We have added the Laurentian Bank Visa DOLLARS card to our Cash Back Comparison chart. See the chart here.

Diners Club Club Rewards has reduced the number of airline and hotel transfer partners for Canadians. I'm not exactly sure when this happened - it could have been quite sometime ago as I haven't look at the full list in awhile. Anyways they used to have 21 airline and hotel programs that you could transfer Club Rewards points to and that has now dropped to 16. Gone are Amtrak Guest Rewards, World of Hyatt, Marriott Bonvoy and Korean Air SkyPass. Learn more here.

Give A Mile 2019 Flight Hero Christmas Campaign - Help Rewards Canada raise 50,000 miles for flights of compassion. Learn more here.

Posts since our last update:

• World of Hyatt to introduce Peak and Off Peak pricing and add more value from Dining, Spa & More Awards
  The World of Hyatt frequent guest program revealed details this week of some upcoming changes to the program that…
• Marriott Bonvoy Moments has some incredible Super Bowl LIV packages that you can bid on!
  Calling all NFL fans! Marriott Bonvoy has released a bunch of packages for Super Bowl LIV on their Moments…
• Earn Double Aeroplan Miles when you fly on GOL
  Travels taking you to South America? Check out this new bonus from Aeroplan to earn extra miles when flying on…
• December 4 Update: Condor Airlines adds Edmonton-Frankfurt flights, Tangerine World added to comparison chart & new Amex Offers added
  Condor Airlines, the German leisure airline that serves several cities in Canada has announced a new destination, Edmonton! The…

Travel Deals

Expedia Escape Sale! Save Up to 40% Off hotel stays. Find out more here.

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

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles when you fly on GOL Airlines in an eligible fare class. More... Register by Jan 13 for travel until Mar 31, 20

Other Bonus Offers

AeroMexico Club Premier
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Club Premier Points when you stay at any Choice Hotels property Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 19

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios for stays at NH Hotels in Europe. More... Until Dec 31, 19

IHG Rewards Club
- Receive Spire Elite Status and earn up to 15,000 bonus IHG Rewards Club points for stays at participating IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 19 Targeted offer for corporate travelers - May not work for everyone
- Receive Platinum Elite Status and earn up to 15,000 bonus IHG Rewards Club points for stays at participating IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 19 Targeted offer for corporate travelers - May not work for everyone
- Double IHG Rewards Club Points for stays all December at the Staybridge Suites® Times Square - New York City. More... Until Jan 1, 20

Wyndham Rewards
- 1,500 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points on your next stay at a Wyndham Rewards Hotel worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Jan 7, 20



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Convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to British Airways Executive Club Avios and receive a 40% bonus

Last seen in November of last year, the Diners Club to British Airways conversion bonus is back and is once again a 40% bonus.

If you are thinking of redeeming soon for travel on British Airways or any of their oneworld partners this may be the time to transfer. This one is for those select few of us who have held onto to our Diners Club Mastercards as the card isn't technically available for new applications. The regular transfer rate is 1,250 Club Rewards Points to 1,000 Avios so with this bonus that equates to 1,400 Avios. That equates to 1.12 Avios per dollar spent on the card. Nothing special and it's not great like the 2+ Avios you can earn on eats and drinks (convert to Marriott to BA) with the American Express Cobalt Card or the category bonuses of 2 Avios per dollar with The American Express Gold Rewards Card and that doesn't take into account the transfer bonuses that Amex also runs from time to time. No matter what for Diners Club it is still better than the regular transfer rate so this is a good time to transfer! I may end up transferring some of my Club Rewards points to BA however it may work out better if I transfer to Alaska Airlines instead of BA, just have to do some research. (hopefully Diners runs an Alaska Airlines transfer bonus!)

Remember you can use British Airways Executive Club to fly to many destinations in the U.S. from Canada for between 15,000 and 25,000 Avios round trip (See here for details on that)

Offer details:
40% Bonus Avios when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club. Full details Until Oct 31, 19

Find many more Executive Club Bonus Avios offers here

May 6 Update: 25% Bonus HawaiianMiles for Diners Club transfers, 3x Aeroplan Miles at Costco.ca & a Cathay Pacific seat sale

We don't provide too much coverage of the Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles program here on Rewards Canada but wanted to let you know that Canadian Diners Club members can earn bonus miles with the program right now. For the month of May those of you who still have the Diners Club Club Rewards Mastercard you can earn a 25% bonus on point conversions to HawaiianMiles. This means you would receive 1,250 HawaiianMiles for every 1,250 Club Rewards points you convert. Might make sense for some of you looking to redeem for intra-island flights or if you are like us at Rewards Canada and make your way to Hawaii via Hawaiian Airlines gateway in the U.S. Read our review of Hawaiian Airlines First Class from San Francisco to Maui right here!

Another AIR MILES coupon for you if plan on hitting Rexall in the next three days. 80 bonus miles for $60 spend until May 8. Get the coupon here.

Finally you can three times the Aeroplan Miles for your online Costco.ca purchases until May 12. Use promo code AERO3. Find out more here. 

Posts since our last update:

• Best Western Rewards - 3,000 Bonus Points on all stays this summer for select members
  An email came through this morning offering 3,000 Bonus Best Western Rewards points on all stays until September 2nd…
• Choice Hotels: Earn up to 8,000 bonus Privileges points when you complete 2 stays Worldwide from May 7 - August 9
  Choice Hotels summer promotion is here and drum roll please! It is the same offer we always see from…

Travel Deals

Cathay Pacific has a decent economy class seat sale for flights between Vancouver and Hong Kong. Fares start as low as $896. Book by May 14. Find out more here.

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

Air Algerie Plus
- Save up to 50% Plus Miles when you redeem for award tickets on any Air Algerie flights including Montreal. More... Book by Jun 2 for travel until Jun 15, 19
Choice Privileges
- Earn up to 8,000 Bonus Privileges Points (enough for a free nights) for 2 separate stays you complete at participating Choice Hotels in Canada and Worldwide. More... Restrictions For Residents of the U.S. and Canada only May 7 – Aug 9, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Marriott Bonvoy
- 4,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf Hotel San Francisco. More... Until Jul 15, 19
- 3,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the The Laylow, Autograph Collection Honolulu. More... Until Jun 7, 19

World of Hyatt
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Regency Algiers Airport More... Until Jul 31, 19
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Regency Liberation Square Chongqing or the Hyatt Regency Beijing Shiyuan. More... Until Jul 31, 19
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Place Dubai/ Wasl District. More... Until Jul 31, 19
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt House San Jose/ Cupertino. More... Until Jul 31, 19
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt House Augusta/ Downtown. More... Until Jul 31, 19
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Nam Nghi Phu Quoc Island. More... Until Jul 31, 19


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Convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to British Airways Executive Club Avios and receive a 40% bonus

Last seen this past spring, the Diners Club to British Airways conversion bonus is back but with a higher bonus but the not highest we've seen. Last summer the bonus was 50% and for this spring it is 30%, this time it is right in between at 40%. I may actually take advantage of it with a small transfer even though its not 50%. I'm still holding out for an Alaska transfer bonus from Diners but it has been a long time since they have offered one.

If you are thinking of redeeming soon for travel on British Airways or any of their oneworld partners this may be the time to transfer. This one is for those select few of us who have held onto to our Diners Club Mastercards as the card isn't technically available for new applications. The regular transfer rate is 1,250 Club Rewards Points to 1,000 Avios so with this bonus that equates to 1,400 Avios. That equates to 1.12 Avios per dollar spent on the card. Nothing special and it's not great like the 1.25 you can earn on everyday spend with The Platinum Card from American Express or the category bonuses of 2 Avios per dollar with The American Express Gold Rewards Card and that doesn't even take into account the transfer bonus that Amex has right now. You can even more Avios with The American Express Cobalt card but for Diners it is still better than the regular transfer rate. Don't forget that RBC has a transfer bonus as well right now to British Airways! Heck if you have multiple cards from these issuers you can really boost your Avios balance right now!

Remember you can use British Airways Executive Club to fly to many destinations in the U.S. from Canada for between 15,000 and 25,000 Avios round trip (See here for details on that)

Offer details:
40% Bonus Avios when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club. Full details Until Dec 31, 18

Find many more Executive Club Bonus Avios offers here

Convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to British Airways Executive Club Avios and receive a 30% bonus

Last seen in the summer of 2017, the Diners Club to British Airways conversion bonus is back albeit it is lower this time. Last summer the bonus was 50% and for this spring it is 30%. I personally took advantage of the 50% bonus last year but will not move on this on as I am hoping we'll see a transfer bonus from Diners to Alaska soon.

Still if you are thinking of redeeming soon for travel on British Airways or any of their oneworld partners this may be the time to transfer. This one is for those select few of us who have held onto to our Diners Club Mastercards as the card isn't technically available for new applications. Right now through to the end of March any Diners Club cardholder that transfers Club Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club will receive a 30% bonus on those transfers. The regular transfer rate is 1,250 Club Rewards Points to 1,000 Avios so with this bonus that equates to 1,300 Avios. That equates to 1.04 Avios per dollar spent on the card. Nothing special and it's not great like the 1.25 you can earn on everyday spend with The Platinum Card from American Express or the category bonuses of 2 Avios per dollar with The American Express Gold Rewards Card or even potentially 3.14 Avios with The American Express Cobalt card but still better than the regular transfer rate.  Remember you can use British Airways Executive Club to fly to many destinations in the U.S. from Canada for between 15,000 and 25,000 Avios round trip (See here for details on that)

Offer details:
30% Bonus Avios when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club. Full details Until Mar 31, 18

Find many more Executive Club Bonus Avios offers here

September 27 Update: Meet Swoop, WestJet's Ultra Low Cost Carrier, Diners Club redemption to BA with a 50% bonus & more

WestJet revealed more details on their Ultra Low Cost Carrier today. The big news is the name, the new ULCC airline will be called Swoop. Takes me back to the days of Zip and Tango! The airline is set to start selling tickets in early 2018 and will take on Flair Airlines, Canada Jetlines and potentially FlyToo. (Source WestJet or should we say Swoop?)

"The name Swoop denotes exactly what we plan to do," said Bob Cummings WestJet Executive Vice-President, Strategy and the executive member responsible for the launch of Swoop. "It's a powerful verb that demonstrates we plan to swoop in to the Canadian market with a new business model that will provide lower fares and greater opportunity for more Canadians to travel." 

It’s too early to tell whether Swoop will be participating in the WestJet Rewards program. Stay tuned as more news comes out on Swoop I’m sure we’ll learn what if any participation the airline will have in the program. Either way you can always look at a proprietary credit card rewards program that allows you to book travel with whomever you want and then redeem the points against that charge. Think about, you have a Swoop ticket that costs $100, with a card like the new American Express Cobalt card that's only $2,000 in food and drink purchases to get that flight.....

A little over a month ago we brought you the details of the Diners Club to British Airways conversion bonus of 50%. Normally it costs 1,250 Club Rewards Points to get 1,000 Avios but with the bonus it is 1,250 points to get 1,500 Avios.  I bit the bullet today and converted 50,000 Club Rewards points to BA which means I'll get 60,000 Avios. The online redemption process was painless and while it says it can take a few weeks for the Avios to show up in my account it should only be a few days based on past experiences with Diners. If you are still one of those who holds onto the card like we do (it has the best CDW out of all cards and that's the main reason I keep it now) you have 3 days left to take advantage of this bonus. Read more about the bonus here.

Posts since our last update:

• Bid on a VIP Weekend at the David Foster Foundation 30th Anniversary Miracle Gala in Vancouver with your Marriott Rewards points
  The Marriott Canada team reached out to us to let us know and pass along a very cool Marriott…

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Quadruple AAdvantage Miles when you rent at participating Hertz locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Avianca LifeMiles
- Double LifeMiles on all your Marriott stays when you join Marriott Rewards. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Etihad Guest
- Triple Guest Miles for all stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More,.. Sep 30 - Nov 30, 17

Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings
- Double Fortune Wings Points when you fly on select Virgin Australia flights. More... Until Dec 15, 17

Iberia Plus
- 450 Bonus Avios for stays of 4 or more nights at Hoteles Andaluces con Encanto. More... Until Oct 31, 17

Le Club AccorHotels
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Accor hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 22 for stays Oct 3 - Dec 31, 17

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Double VHR Points and Double Elite Status Credit for stays of 2 or more nights at participating at select Swiss International Hotels & Resorts. More... Until Oct 31, 17

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Convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to British Airways Executive Club Avios and receive a 50% bonus

Alright here is an offer I may take advantage of towards the end of September. This one is for those select few of us who have held onto to our Diners Club Mastercards as the card isn't technically available for new applications. Right now through to the end of September any Diners Club cardholder that transfers Club Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club will receive a 50% bonus on those transfers. The regular transfer rate is 1,250 Club Rewards Points to 1,000 Avios so with this bonus that equates to 1,500 Avios. That equates to 1.2 Avios per dollar spent on the card. Not bad, not great like the 1.25 you can earn on everyday spend with The Platinum Card from American Express or the category bonuses of 2 Avios per dollar with The American Express Gold Rewards Card but still better than the regular transfer rate. I have transferred Club Rewards points to Avios in the past when the bonus was 30% so the 50% is even better, but part of me wants to hold out to see if an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan bonus will come along from Diners as I'd rather transfer to that program. Good thing is I have the better part of a month to decide. Remember you can use British Airways Executive Club to fly to many destinations in the U.S. from Canada for between 15,000 and 25,000 Avios round trip (See here for details on that)


Offer details:
50% Bonus Avios when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club. Full details Until Sep 30, 17

Find many more Executive Club Bonus Avios offers here

40% Bonus Avios when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to British Airways Executive Club

This offer is for a dying breed of cardholders out there. Since Diners Club is no longer offered to new applicants in Canada this promotion is only really of note to those of us who still hold onto this card. I know that those numbers are down to the five figures now from previous six figures or more. Really too bad but what can you do. If BMO offered up the Diners Club card to the open market it would dilute the value of their own BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard as the Diners Card is a better card that costs less. Anyways back to the offer!

Until Dec 16th, Diners Club cardholders members can convert their Club Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club and receive a 40% bonus Avios. For us Canadians it normally it costs 1,250 CR points for 1,000 Avios which means with this promo members will receive 1,400 Avios for the 1,250 points. A little over 1 Avios per dollar spent on the card which is OK but when compared to your regular transfer option now is the time to transfer if you want to take advantage of it! I'm only sitting a small balance of around 12,500 points so I could boost my Executive Club account by 14,000 Avios. Not sure if I will yet but will definitely decide before the 16th if I want to.

Complete details on the offer can be found here

Receive a 20% Bonus when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to American AAdvantage

It has been sometime since we've seen a partner transfer bonus from Diners Club. For those of you who hold this card still you can receive a 20% bonus when converting Club Rewards points to American AAdvantage miles. The normal transfer rate is 1,250 points to 1,000 miles but with this bonus you'll receive 1,200 miles. This equates to roughly just under 1 AAdvantage mile per dollar spent on the card, not great, but better than the regular transfer rate! May make sense to transfer over to AAdvantage to top off for an award or take advantage of their new under 500 mile flight award category.


Offer details:
20% Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you convert Diners Club club Rewards Points to AAdvantage Miles.  Full details. Until May 31, 16

Why you need to be careful with rental car upgrades when using the CDW coverage from your credit card

If you recall we've had a couple posts surrounding one of my family's car rentals recently. More specifically the 10 day rental in Maui:

• Earning Stories: 2,500 Aeroplan Miles on a Hertz SUV rental in Maui 
• Redemption Stories: Using Diners Club Club Reward Points for a Hertz Car Rental

Everything was fine for us and as we mentioned in those posts we were upgraded from a Ford Explorer or equivalent to a Infiniti QX80 that was fully loaded. When I looked up what this car was worth it was in the $70,000 to $80,000 range. The rental was with Hertz as being Hertz Gold Plus Rewards members makes the pick up easy and fast as Maui usually has pretty long line up at all their car rental offices. Also being Hertz Gold Plus rewards means they have my credit card on file, the Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard and that I decline all insurance coverage, primarily the CDW. However, CDW coverage varies by card and by issuer. So when I found out about the upgrade I wasn't concerned as Diners Club does not put a dollar limit on the car but they do exclude certain makes of cars. Here is Diners' coverage note:

Here are the exclusions:

However if I had used another card and got into an accident I could have been screwed as many issuers cap the limit of the value of a car to C$65,000. Here is the excerpt from all Visa's general coverage:

and BMO World Elite MasterCard's:

Consider this a reminder, a tip and/or a warning. If you are renting a car and you get upgraded (or even pay for a higher end car right off the bat) double check the coverage from your credit card to ensure you are covered for the type of vehicle you get. Even if you have your personal car insurance as back up, some of those also limit vehicles to $65,000, so double check that as well.  In the end you may just have to dish out the money to buy CDW from the car rental company if you want that Cadillac Escalade to drive a bride and groom around for their wedding!

REMINDER: Redeem your Diners Club Club Rewards points by the end today for Tailored Travel credits at 1.7%

Just a reminder that today is the last day to receive 1.7% back from Diners Club Club Rewards for Tailored Travel Credits as it drops to 1.5% tomorrow. Just called in myself and redeemed $515 worth of points to a recent WestJet ticket. I think even with the change I'll keep the card but will use it less and use whatever points that I do earn on it to redeem against car rentals due to the card's superior CDW or as a top off card by converting points  to Alaska Airlines or other programs if I am short some miles for awards.

In case you missed it, here is what we posted back on March 17th about this change:

Ouch, one of the cards that has been in my wallet the longest and one of my favourites is about to get devalued! The tailored travel credit for the Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard is getting cut back. This is the book any travel and redeem points against the charge feature of the card. Granted to start with the rate was a 1.7% return which is lower than other cards out there with 2% however the card comes with an awesome airline lounge programs, costs less then those other cards and has one of the best CDW insurance coverage of any card out there as they don't put a dollar limit on cars (just types of cars like all others) so when we were in Maui last month our free upgrade to a fully loaded Infiniti QX80 didn't concern me as Diners doesn't max out at $65,000 like other cards.

Redemption Stories: Using Diners Club Club Reward Points for a Hertz Car Rental

For our Maui trip back in February we rented a large SUV to shuttle us around the island. We picked a 7/8 passenger SUV (Ford Explorer or similar) from Hertz as they had some of the best pricing and we could take advantage of an Aeroplan bonus mile offer for Hertz rentals.

Related: Earning Stories: 2,500 Aeroplan Miles on a Hertz SUV rental in Maui

I put the car rental charges on my Diners Club MasterCard for two reasons. It has no cap on rental car value for the CDW just in case we got an upgrade (and we did, read the related story above!) and the possibility of using Club Rewards points for the charge. In the end I did end up using points for the rental:

So as you can see the rental ended up costing us 47 cents as you don't redeem points for portions under $1. I pretty much only use the Diners Club card for the Tailored Travel Credit redemptions to save us money on our vacations (see my other Diners Club redemption stories here). The redemption rate works out to a 1.7% return on my spending, of course there are cards out there that could have got me 2% however I wouldn't have been able to drive around in an upgraded luxury SUV with those cards. This is one card where I am willing to give up the .3% return for the benefits it provides like the great CDW and airport business class lounge access. 

That being said, the Club Rewards Program is changing on April 6th and the tailored travel credit drops to a 1.5% return. So that has got me thinking about my main MasterCard choice. It may be time to move to another card but keep this one for car rentals and the airport lounge access. The good thing is you can also convert Club Rewards points to 19 airline and hotel programs at OK but not great ratios unless they run a promotion. For example I did convert Club Rewards points during their last bonus for British Airways where the redemption rate of 1,250 points gave 1,300 Avios instead of 1,000.

Unfortunately the Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard is not available for new applications but you could use some of the following cards to do the same type of partial (or full) redemption towards the travel charge:

• American Express Gold Rewards Card
• Capital One® Aspire Travel™ World Elite MasterCard®
• mbna Rewards World Elite MasterCard
• Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
• TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card
• and more! Simply look for "Any Travel Provider" in the Redemption Centre row of this chart: Travel Points comparison chart

Ultimately this redemption shows the power in proprietary credit card programs. You don't have to redeem for flights only, you have lots of options. You also earn points on the charge at first not to mention potential frequent flyer miles like we did (2,500 Aeroplan Miles) and technically you don't have to have all the points, you can do a  partial redemption or wait  longer to redeem more points against that charge. This is why we believe proprietary credit card programs are the best option for most Canadians.

Related: Why proprietary credit card reward programs are the best option for most Canadians