Koho prepaid switches to Mastercard from Visa and JetBlue nixes Vancouver to Boston prior to next month's launch

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

 
Koho which provides prepaid credit cards has switched to issuing Mastercard cards as of this week instead of Visa cards. This means you'll be able use it at places such as Costco. New users who signup for a KOHO account will be receiving a Mastercard from this point forward. Existing KOHO users will have the option to switch their existing card to a Mastercard before October 2022. A new KOHO Physical Mastercard will be sent to the user within 10 business days once they receive the requests. Users will still be able to utilize all of the same features available in the KOHO mobile app. Click here to learn more about Koho.

April 5 Update: JetBlue's Vancouver flights launch in June, one new Cobalt Multiplier in Calgary & World of Hyatt introduces a new all-inclusive resort award chart

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

Nearly a year ago JetBlue Airways announced they were launching flights to Canada - more specifically Vancouver and that got me wondering as to when the flights would be starting up!, JetBlue has published those start dates and we'll see Vancouver-New York JFK launch in June 9 while Vancouver-Boston will launch on June 16. Both of these routes are available for purchase on JetBlue's site. The New York JFK flight will be operated with an Airbus A320 while the Boston flight will be an Airbus A220 - so unfortunately no Mint Products are available on these flights. That's too bad as the flights departing from Vancouver are redeyes and it would be great to have those Mint seats as an option!

July 21 Update: Canalta Rewards adds elite tiers with more benefits, JetBlue TrueBlue added to Rewards Canada & 2,500 free Qatar Airways Qmiles

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.

Western Canada's Canalta Hotels has made changes to their Canalta Rewards program. You may have received an email from them stating this:

Some of you may be aware already that we are making a few changes to our rewards program. Your points will remain the same, and you will still earn points the same way. 

We are moving our program to a new platform, so please bare with us while we work out some of the kinks during the move. 

Some exciting news with the new platform: We will be bringing back Gift Cards again! And we will be adding a brand new tier system.

With a number of technical issues with our Canalta Hotels App - we will be retiring the app. However, the new site is totally mobile friendly! 

JetBlue is finally coming to Canada! Vancouver to New York JFK and Boston service starts in 2022

 
Another shout out to Anshul at PMB as I saw this on his Twitter feed and then started to see it all over the place! JetBlue has finally announced service to Canada after years of being asked to do so by travelers on both sides of the border! The airline announced yesterday that they will start flying to Vancouver from New York JFK and Boston in the summer of 2022.

Groupon expands mileage/point earning to six more airline & hotel programs

Back in May we detailed Groupon's first foray into the world of miles and points with their partnership with fellow Seattle based company Alaska Airlines. Now exactly a year after we met with Groupon to discuss details of them offering points and miles for purchases they have expanded their offerings with six more programs now available. In addition to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan you can now earn points and miles on Groupon purchases with American AAdvantage, Choice Privileges, IHG Rewards Club, JetBlue TrueBlue, La Quinta Returns and United MileagePlus.

Here are all the earning details:

For American Airlines AAdvantage^® program, Alaska Mileage Plan^™, JetBlue TrueBlue^®, United MileagePlus^®:

1. Earn 5 miles or points per $1 spent on Groupon Local
2. Earn 4 miles or points per $1 spent on Groupon Getaways
3. Earn 3 miles or points per $1 spent on Groupon Goods
4. New Groupon customers whose first purchase on Groupon is a Local offer that is $30.00 or greater before taxes will receive an additional 1,000 miles or points in addition to the 5 miles or points indicated above.

For Choice Privileges^®, IHG^® Rewards Club, La Quinta Returns^™:

1. Earn 10 points per $1 spent on Groupon Local
2. Earn 8 points per $1 spent on Groupon Getaways
3. Earn 6 points per $1 spent on Groupon Goods
4. New Groupon customers whose first purchase on Groupon is a Local offer that is $30.00 or greater before taxes will receive an additional 2,000 points in addition to the 10 points indicated above.

After signing into Groupon via the special Loyalty page you'll click on the program of your choice, input your reward program number and once you have you'll be presented with the following (will vary by program):

Make sure you input the promo code at check out, which you can confirm is applied when it states Miles post within 14 days:

Overall this is great news as there are lots of you who use Groupon to save some money on local deals and even travel purchases and now you can earn more miles for doing so! Will you start earning miles and  on your Groupon purchases? Now the question has come up about using an online shopping mall for Groupon purchases since you'll earn miles and be able to use discount codes. The mileage earned through online malls does vary (for example Alaska is 3 miles, so less than the 4 or 5 here potentially) but you can then add in coupon codes to save on the purchases. So the choice is yours but if you have never shopped via Groupon before make your first purchase directly via the Groupon loyalty page to take advantage of the first purchase bonus and then decide on future purchases what the better route is.

Click here to learn more about this partnership and to start earning miles on Groupon purchases

Mar 19 Update: JetBlue Status Match Offer, Coast Rewards 50% off redemption sale, Etihad Business Class sale out of YYZ

The loyalty world is more active today with the Marriott changes, 50% discounts on Coast Hotels redemptions and the JetBlue status match offer

News, Tips & Tricks
If you missed it earlier today, we detailed the Marriott Rewards 2014 Hotel Category Changes. Over 25% of their properties in Canada are moving up to a higher award category which means they will cost you more points. Read all about here.

There is a great Elite Status Match and Fast Track to Elite Status offer from south of the border. The offer is from JetBlue and while they do not fly to Canada if you happen to hold elite status with any of the 6 major U.S. airlines you can get 2014 Mosaic status with JetBlue. This can come in handy if you fly within the U.S. or from the U.S. to the Caribbean. The offer also provides a fast track to Mosaic status in 2015 by simply earning 3,750 TrueBlue base flight points within 90 days of registering for the offer (that 3,750 points requires US$1,250 in spending on flights). I don't believe too many of you will take advantage of the Fast Track offer unless your work has you jetting around within the U.S. quite a bit. Still this is an offer worthy of a mention for the Status Match as there should be quite a few of you who hold status with the big 6 U.S. airlines. Click here for complete details on the offer

Air Canada has suspended flights to Venezuela due to the unrest happening in the South American country. If you have tickets booked to fly on AC to Caracas you can call them up for a full refund.



Travel Deals
Etihad has launched a business class sale for their flights out of Toronto. With savings of up to 15% off now is the time to book your Pearl Business Class seats for travel until the end of the year. Book by Mar 31 for travel until Dec 31. For more details or to book visit Etihad.com

^Flights to Jaipur commence April 1, 2014. ^^Outbound travel to Pakistan is only valid until June 15, 2014.

Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles for stays at IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts in hotels in Majorca and Andalusia. More... Apr 14 - May 4 , 14

Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays on the "1000 extra Rewards points offer" at Best Western Hotels in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. More... Until ?

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
- 50% Coast Rewards Points Discount when you redeem for Comfort or Superior rooms, parking or room upgrades. More... Until May 31, 14

Gulf Air FalconFlyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Falconflyer Miles for stays of 3+ nights at any participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Falconflyer Miles for stays at the Salalah Rotana Resort. More... Until Dec 31, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 1,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays on the Hyatt Gold Passport package at the Hyatt Place Orlando/Universal. More... Until Dec 31, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Elite Status Match and/or 2015 Elite Status Fast Track with the Mosaic Challenge. Receive 2014 Mosaic Status if you hold elite status with an eligible competitor's program and/or receive 2015 Mosaic status simply complete the Mosaic Challenge by earning 3,750 base flight points in 90 days. More... Register by Apr 18, 14

Rocketmiles
- 5,000 Bonus Miles/Points in the Rocketmiles partner program of your choice for stays of 5+ nights More... Book by Mar 28 for stays until Sep 23, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays at participating Starwood Villa Resorts in the U.S.. More... Book by Apr 1, 14 for stays until ?

United MileagePlus
- Triple MileagePlus miles on all qualifying roundtrips on United. More... Book by Apr 30 for travel Apr 1 - Jun 30, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
- Double MileagePlus miles on all qualifying roundtrips on United. More... Book by Apr 30 for travel Apr 1 - Jun 30, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
- Triple MileagePlus Miles for Hertz rentals at participating locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Jun 30, 14