October 16 Update: Vote for your favourite Travel Rewards Credit Card, Amex Travel Hotel Sale, 2x Sears Club Points on travel purchases

Final update of the week!

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet and Disney will be launching a new initiative this weekend. Don't have any details yet but it is an 'Announcement by WestJet, WestJet Vacations and The Walt Disney Company (Canada) Ltd. Parks & Resorts. '. I'm guessing more of a flight+hotel+ticket package initiative seeing that WestJet Vacations is included. (Source WestJet)

There are only two weeks left to vote for your favourite travel rewards credit card! We are closing in on 5,000 votes already and would love to hear from you if you haven't voted yet. Vote here!

We added a new loyalty program to Rewards Canada today. Federal Hotels International Gracious Rewards. This small hotel chain from Asia is offering Triple Points for all stays at their Kuala Lumpur and Sydney hotels. Check them out if your travels take you to that part of the world over the next few months. See our Gracious Rewards bonus points page here.

Over on our global site we detailed how you can an elite status match with Sonesta Hotels Travel Plus program.

Posts since our last update:

• AIR MILES and Uber team up - Earn AIR MILES Reward Miles on Uber rides + first ride bonus + earn Mystery Miles today + win miles
  Just as we posted our daily update which featured the Uber Calgary launch and linking your Uber account to…
  
  

Travel Deals
American Express Travel is once again offering their up to 40% off hotels sale. Book by Oct 31 and remember you earn 1 additional Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on all bookings. Find out more here.

Etihad Airways has their business class on sale out of Toronto. Book by Oct 31 for travel until Jan 6, 16. Find out more here! 

 



Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays at the Las Brisas Galería Plaza Veracruz. More... Until Dec 20, 15
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays of 2 or more nights at participating NH Hotels in Mexico and Europe. More... Until Nov 30, 15
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays at participating Starwood Hotels in Latin America and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Earn up to 3,600 Club Premier Kilometers on Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Triple Guest Miles on all Etihad flights Worldwide. More...  Register and book by Oct 22 for travel Oct 15 - Mar 31, 16
- Double Guest Miles when you fly with Air Seychelles in Business Class. More...  Book by Oct 31, 15

Federal Hotels International Gracious Rewards
- Triple Gracious Rewards Points for stays at all Federal Hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Sydney. More... Until Dec 28, 15

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles when you fly JAL between Tokyo (Haneda) and Guangzhou More... Oct 25 - Jan 31, 16
- Up to a 10,000 Mileage Bank Miles Discount when you redeem for an award ticket on Finnair. More... Nov 16 - Feb 29, 16
- Receive a 2,000 Mileage Bank Miles Discount on all JAL Mileage Bank Domestic Award Ticket redemptions. More... Dec 1 - Feb 29, 16
- Earn up to Triple Mileage Bank Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More...  Until Jan 31, 16

Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
- Double iPrefer Points on all stays Worldwide More... Book by Oct 22, 15

Sears Club
- Earn up to $200 BONUS Sears Club Points & Earn 2X Sears Club Points. More... Book by Nov 24 for travel Nov 1 - Oct 31,16

Wyndham Rewards
- 750 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis locations worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Sears MasterCards officially drop their Forex fees

As you know Rewards Canada has been pushing for the removal of foreign exchange fees on Canadian Credit Cards since last summer. We brought the topic up as the trend emerged in the U.S. over the past two or so years and has been proven to be a very popular selling point to many travellers south of the border. Fast forward to earlier this year and we saw Chase release their new Amazon.ca Rewards Visa which was the first publicly available credit card in Canada with no foreign exchange fee. It seems a no-brainer that the Chase issued Sears cards would follow suit and they have (see our post last week). This is particularly interesting feature for the recently released Sears Voyage MasterCard which in itself is not a bad travel card, it falls somewhere in the middle of the pack of all travel cards but now suddenly it has become stronger. The only thing with it is that you are still stuck booking via Sears travel if you want to use the points earned on the card. Here is the press release announcing this change on the Sears cards:

Sears Financial says farewell to foreign currency transaction charges for over two million Canadians

Half of Canadians would swap their existing credit card for one that doesn’t charge this fee, survey reveals

TORONTO, ON – July 12, 2012 – Sears Canada’s Financial Services division, Sears Financial, announced today that as of July 23, 2012, foreign currency transaction charges will no longer be incurred on the Sears Financial MasterCard® and Sears Financial Voyage™ MasterCard®.  With over two million MasterCard credit cards in the market, and hundreds of thousands of vacations booked through Sears Travel annually, eliminating the fee is part of Sears Canada’s renewed commitment to do more for the customer.

The foreign currency transaction charge is applied in addition to the exchange rate when a customer uses a credit card for a transaction outside of Canada.  Most Canadian credit cards charge 2.5 percent.

Half of Canadians (51 percent) said they would consider switching to another credit card if it meant they didn’t have to pay the foreign currency transaction charge, revealed a recent survey commissioned by Sears Financial, which looked at travel and spending habits. 

The results also showed that 65 percent of Canadians travel abroad at least once every two years and that the overwhelming majority (92 percent) use their credit card to pay for meals, entertainment, and other purchases when travelling. In fact, 61 percent always or frequently use credit cards as their primary form of payment when travelling. 

A recent Statistics Canada survey found that during the first quarter of 2012 travellers spent $8.3 billion outside the country, $5 billion spent in the United States alone.  These numbers include “snowbirds” who travel to warmer climates, and suggest Canadians pay millions of dollars a year to use their credit card abroad.

“Many of our customers are snowbirds.  They and others will benefit significantly from this change,” said Peter Kalen, Senior Vice-President, Sears Financial and Home Services. “While many travellers will continue to incur additional charges on all their foreign purchases, over two million Sears Financial MasterCard cardmembers will enjoy the freedom to spend without being charged  2.5 percent on foreign purchases. We also see this as a positive move for our Sears Travel customers.”

Sears Financial made the decision to remove foreign currency transaction charges as part of Sears Canada’s company-wide initiative to do more for the customer.  This includes recently lowering the price on over 5,000 items, an improved return policy and satisfaction guarantee, and the re-launched ‘The Baby’s Room,’ offering new brands and more selection of nursery and juvenile products at great prices.

“Removing this charge is another demonstration of our ongoing commitment to provide customers and cardmembers with the quality and value they’ve come to expect from Sears,” added Kalen.

In addition to no foreign currency transaction charge, Sears Financial cardmembers will also earn valuable Sears Club Points everywhere MasterCard is accepted. These points can be redeemed for almost anything in-store and online, including a full range of flight and travel bookings at Sears Travel.  Canadians can apply for a Sears Financial MasterCard at any Sears store.

Survey Results Highlights:

·         Most Canadians (92 percent) use their credit card while travelling, with nearly two-thirds (61 percent) using it as their primary method of payment

• Canadians spent an average of $880 using a Canadian credit card on their last trip abroad

·         Travellers cheques are a thing of the past, with 82 percent saying they rarely or never use them, while 64 percent rarely or never use their debit card abroad

·         Transaction fees are more important than any other consideration when choosing to use a credit card outside of Canada; 82 percent of Canadians describe transaction fees as very or moderately important, followed by:

o   Interest rates  64 percent

o   Travel insurance  61 percent

o   Rewards points  60 percent

·         Half of Canadians (51 percent) said they definitely or probably would switch to another credit card if the other card does not charge a foreign transaction fee

For more information on foreign currency transaction charges, please visit searsfinancial.ca/fx. 

Now the question is will this be further extended to other Chase cards (Marriott Visa hint hint) and will other banks/credit card issuers follow suit?