Shangri-La Hotels revamped program is here and you can earn up to 1,800 bonus points with their launch offer

 

Shangri-La Hotels officially launched their revamped frequent guest program today and have a launch offer to celebrate. Formerly known as Golden Circle, the new Shangri-La Circle program adds more flexibility, ease of use and more benefits for elite members including an ultra-exclusive invite only level called Polaris.

December 13 Update: 25% bonus when you convert Shangri-La Hotels points to Aeroplan & other airlines; earn 25,000 bonus Be Well points at Rexall tomorrow

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. 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! 

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle is offering a conversion bonus to several of their airlines. From now until December 31 you'll receive a 25% bonus when converting GC Award points to Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France KLM Flying Blue and several other airlines. Points convert to miles 1:1 so you would receive 1.25 miles for every GC Award point and they have lowered the minimum conversion requirement of 2,500 points to 1,000 points for this promotion. While GC Award points are hard to come by if you don't have a lot of them ie. enough for a free night stay, this option could make sense for you to use up some points that you may never end up using. Click here to learn more.

October 13 Update: Earn up to 1,000 bonus points at Shangri-La hotels in Canada, save up to 40% with Kimpton's Secret Sale & more!

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. 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 and no annual fee in the first year! 

 
You can earn up to 1,000 bonus GC (Golden Circle) Award points for stays at the Shangri-La Vancouver or Shangri-La Toronto Hotels. This offer runs from tomorrow to January 15, 2022. There are also five other hotels globally that are participating in this offer. The offer awards 250 bonus points on stays of 2 nights, 500 bonus points on 3-5 night stays and 1,000 bonus points for 6 or more nights.. Click here to learn more about and to book this offer.

October 5 Update: Thank you for voting, Shangri-La Hotels extends elite status & an amazing business class fare from Toronto to the Maldives

 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. 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 and no annual fee in the first year! 

I want to thank everyone who voted in Canada's Choice 2021! Voting has now closed. We will tally up the votes over the coming days and you can expect to see the winners announced soon!

Amex Offers: $100 statement credit for stays at Shangri-La Hotels in Canada

 
A bunch of new Amex Offers were released this week that we'll cover in a couple of posts here on RC but as usual the travel offers get their own billing! This one that came out yesterday provides a $100 statement credit if you spend $500 at Shangri-La Hotels in Canada.  I actually received this offer for my American Express Cobalt Card which I was a little surprised by as the majority of offers have been coming to my Platinum Card and let's be honest Shangri-La are considered luxury hotels and the Platinum Card is considered a luxury card so you would think the offer would be on that card but I digress. Let us know if you have the Platinum Card and did receive this offer for it.

June 10 Update: American Airlines extending pause on AAdvantage miles expiry & save 20% on Shangri-La Hotel stays in Toronto and Vancouver

 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. This update is brought to you by the HSBC World Elite Mastercard which is currently offering a welcome bonus of up to 70,000 bonus points and no annual fee in the first year! 

American Airlines has further extended their pause for expiring AAdvantage miles. Miles will now be current until December 31, 2021. Learn more here. 

"If your miles are scheduled to expire on or before December 31, 2021, they will now expire in January 2022, if there’s no additional activity in your account before then. You can find the expiration date of your miles in the Wallet section of your AAdvantage® account."

Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – June Edition

 Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available. One of the easiest ways to rack up lots of hotel points is to take advantage of these systemwide bonuses that come from many of the big chain programs and also from the lesser known programs. In fact, right now it should be rare for you NOT to earn a bonus. Unless you are staying at a boutique hotel or perhaps an independent hotel most other hotels out there have a bonus. So take advantage of it! These systemwide bonuses simply require you to register beforehand and they do not affect hotel pricing as long as you book a point eligible rate which are most rates out there. Of course booking through a third party site like Expedia or Rocketmiles does not count as most chains only award points on bookings that are made directly with them.  Here are all the current promotions that are available to everyone this month:

Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – May Edition

 Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available. One of the easiest ways to rack up lots of hotel points is to take advantage of these systemwide bonuses that come from many of the big chain programs and also from the lesser known programs. In fact, right now it should be rare for you NOT to earn a bonus. Unless you are staying at a boutique hotel or perhaps an independent hotel most other hotels out there have a bonus. So take advantage of it! These systemwide bonuses simply require you to register beforehand and they do not affect hotel pricing as long as you book a point eligible rate which are most rates out there. Of course booking through a third party site like Expedia or Rocketmiles does not count as most chains only award points on bookings that are made directly with them.  Here are all the current promotions that are available to everyone this month:

March 29 Update: Update on Buddy Pass Conversion - not good news for new applicants plus two days left to get your Shangri-La status and to get better cash back value from Scotia

 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.

 
Update on Buddy Pass conversion: We have been notified The Buddy Pass from Air Canada co-brand cards can only be converted to Aeroplan points by April 30th. This means it is very unlikely any new applicants for the TD card will be able to get the pass in time to convert. Air Canada likely did this to keep the card from having an influx of new applicants just to convert the Buddy Pass over to points. This is an unfortunate turn of events and may affect anyone who applied for the card since the news broke last week about this conversion option. We have reached out to Aeroplan about their plans for those people who did apply over the past few days and how they'll handle it as I'm sure there were quite a few people who did apply in hope of getting those extra points and with there being no indication until today that it would be cut off so soon those new applicants may be PO'd! We'll be sure to provide an update as soon as we hear back from Aeroplan. Learn more about the conversion option here.

The Platinum Card from American Express will lose its Shangri-La Golden Circle Jade Elite Status benefit on March 31

 
Earlier in the month the U.K. based points and miles blog Head for Points announced the U.K. version of the Platinum Card from American Express was losing its Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle Jade elite status benefit. Rewards Canada immediately reached out to American Express Canada who confirmed this is the case for Canadian cardholders as well. At Amex Canada's request we didn't release the details until now as Platinum Cardmembers will be receiving details on their next statement about the departure of this benefit. Based on the U.K. and Canada losing this benefit I am under the impression this is a change seen by American Express globally.

October 21 Update: 50% discount on award nights at the Shangri-La Toronto and Save up to 25% on last minute stays at 50+ Marriott Hotels in Canada

In the bonus offers section below you'll note a new redemption offer from Shangri-La Hotels that provides a 50% discount when you redeem point for free nights at the majority of thier hotels worldwide. Since travel is so limited right now those of you with GC Award Points (Golden Circle Award Points) who are interested in getting in on this offer have to look within our borders to use them and you would think that would leave you with two locations right? Wrong. Unfortunately the Shangri-La Vancouver is one of the locations excluded from the deal however the Shangri-La Toronto is part of it so that's your one choice unless of course you are travelling outside our borders then you have a few more options. Learn more about the promotion here.

Image via Shangri-La Hotels

 

The next set of Marriott Bonvoy Escapes are out. These are their last minute offers that have to be booked by this Sunday for stays over the next four weekends. This week sees 56 properties in Canada participating by offering at least 25% off. Find out more here.

Here are the rates at the JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District for this weekend. The $227 room rate is discounted to $179 with the Escapes offer:

 Images via Marriott

 

February 27 Update: Shangri-La Hotels extending Golden Circle Elite status due to Coronavirus, Lufthansa to fly Calgary-Frankfurt with their Eurowings subsidiary & 5x More Rewards Points for Coast Hotels stays

If you listened to the latest Rewards Canada Podcast episode you'll have heard us discussing hotel loyalty programs extending elite status for members in China or those who travel to China frequently. Shangri-La Hotels is the latest to do so and they are going beyond just residents of or frequent travellers to China and giving all their elite members an extension of status. We received our status via the Platinum Card from American Express so it would automatically renew anyways but this still a great move by the hotel chain in just extending it for everyone!

Looks like the with the sale of Condor Airlines to Poland's LOT, Lufthansa will be bringing in their charter carrier Eurowings to the Calgary-Frankfurt route for the 2020 Summer season. It will operate 4x weekly for most of the season and can be booked directly with Lufthansa (great for Miles & More, Aeroplan and other Star Alliance members). Details aren't out yet if you can book direct with Eurowings and choose to credit to Eurowings' own loyalty program - the cool named Boomerang Club. We cover Boomerang Club on our global site (see that page here) and will add it shortly to the Rewards Canada site if it does become available. If I'm not mistaken this will be first city served in Canada by Eurowings. The flight will operate with an A330-200. (Source RoutesOnline)

Image via Oliver Brandt - Wikimedia Commons

Posts since our last update:

• WestJet Seat Sale - $350 off Business fares to Europe, today only ($700 savings on round trip)
  WestJet released a promo code that is only available for use today and that code offers $350 off business…
• Earn 1,000 Bonus Points per night + 15% off for weekend stays at the Residence Inn Montreal Airport
  Offer details: 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per night and 15% off for stays on Thursday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday…
• February 25 Update: Wyndham Rewards Stay Twice Earn A Free Night offer, 99% of retailers in the U.S. accept Amex now & 15 new bonus offers
  Wyndham Rewards has released their first systemwide promotion of 2020. The offer is being promoted as a stay twice…

Travel Deals

Fairmont Chateau Whistler 96 Hour Sale - Save up to 30% on stays until the end of April

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
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per night and 15% off for stays on Thursday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday required) at the Residence Inn Montreal Airport. More... Until Apr 18, 20

 
More Rewards
- 5x More Rewards when you book direct and stay at any Coast Hotel in Canada or the U.S. More... Book now for stays Mar 1 - Apr 30, 20

Other Bonus Offers

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
- Double Dynasty Flyer Miles when you fly between Taipei and Cebu More... Until Sep 30, 20
- Double Dynasty Flyer Miles when you fly between Taipei and Chiang Mai. More... Until Dec 15, 20
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus Dynasty Flyer Miles when you fly between Taipei and Penang. More... Until Jun 14, 20
- Receive a Dynasty Flyer Miles Discount when you book award tickets for flights between Taipei and Penang. More... Until Jun 14, 20

Kaligo
- Double Miles/Points in the program of your choice on all hotel bookings made via Kaligo. More... Book by Mar 3 for stays until Aug 31, 20

Stash Hotel Rewards
- 500 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays at the El Cordova Hotel Coronado More... Until May 31, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

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35% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert hotel loyalty program points is now live - Shangri-La is the star this time

Last week when we launched our contest to celebrate Aeroplan's Black Friday Cyber Monday offers, one of them we let you know about was the hotel transfer bonus.

Here are the hotel partners participating in the Black Friday version of the hotel transfer bonus:

As you can see the most popular hotel transfer partner, Marriott Bonvoy, is not included this time so this version of the transfer bonus is more about cleaning out accounts. If you have points in any of the above hotel programs that you know you will never use towards a free night award but are enough to be transferred to Aeroplan then this may be the time to do so. These transfer bonuses are a really good way to use up 'orphaned points'. This transfer bonus runs until December 3, 2019.

Learn more about Aeroplan's Black Friday Hotel Transfer bonus here!

You can find this offer and many more Black Friday Cyber Monday offers on our BFCM Deals page!

One program you may want to look at a little closer is Shangri-La's Golden Circle. If you have points in this program they are offering their own bonus incentive on converting points of 25%. That means Shangri-La will give you 25% bonus miles and then you'll get the 35% on top of that from Aeroplan. For example if you convert 5,000 Golden Circle Points to Aeroplan the transfer should look like this:
5,000 Golden Circle Points = 5,000 Aeroplan Miles but with Shangri-La's bonus that will become 6,250 Aeroplan Miles and then you'll get the 35% from Aeroplan for a final total of ~8,438 miles.

Learn more about the Shangri-La Transfer bonus here. 

and don't forget to enter our contest for a chance to win 10,000 Aerooplan miles!

British Airways Executive Club: 35% Bonus Avios when you transfer hotel points into Avios until December 2

 
British Airways Executive Club has brought back their transfer bonus for moving points from hotel programs into Avios. The bonus is 5% more than we saw this past spring as it is 35% this time which we haven't seen since March of 2018. It good for six major hotel programs: Marriott Bonvoy, IHG Rewards Club, Radisson Rewards, Shangri-La's Golden Circle, MeliáRewards  and  Best Western Rewards. If you are looking to boost your BA balance your best bet is converting Marriott Bonvoy points. 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points will get you 20,000 Avios + the 5,000 bonus miles from Marriott + the 35% for a total of 33,750 Avios. Although unlikely, there may just be enough time for you to get in on this even if you don't have enough Marriott points by grabbing the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card with its 50,000 point Welcome bonus and getting some spend on it right away.  This is also a good way to use up orphaned points in these hotel programs that you may never use otherwise!

For details on some of the best ways to use British Airways Executive Club Avios read our article on Utilizing British Airways' Executive Club for flights in North America
 
Offer details
35% Bonus Avios when you convert hotel points to British Airways Executive Club.  Full Details Until Dec 2, 19
Participating loyalty programmes include:
Marriott Bonvoy™
IHG® Rewards Club
Radisson Rewards®
Shangri-La's Golden Circle
MeliáRewards
Best Western Rewards®



Here are some other BA Executive Club bonus Avios offers to check out:

• Earn Double Avios on all British Airways flights Worldwide as well as British Airways flights operated by American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair when travelling between Europe and North America. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required)
  Bonus will be awarded for up to 10 flights (one way sectors, round trip counts as two)
• 30% Bonus Avios when you covert American Express Membership Rewards points to Avios. Full details
• 40% Bonus Avios when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club Full details
  

Find more Executive Club bonus Avios offers here.

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

THIS POST HAS NOW BECOME A PERMANENT FEATURE ON THE MAIN REWARDS 
CANADA WEBSITE - VISIT IT HERE AS IT WILL HAVE ALL THE LATEST UPDATES 

Here is one of those non-point or miles hacks to consider if you travel at least a few times per year. If you travel lots chances are you hold elite status with at least one or a couple of hotel chain frequent guest programs so this may not apply to you. But what if you only travel semi-frequently and can't hit those 25, 50 or more nights required from various programs. Or maybe you just got hired on with a company and will travel lots in 2019 but won't get hotel status until later in the year or in 2020? Or maybe your company books the lowest rates for each of your trips and has you with a different brand every time so that you can't hit those stay or point level requirements in each program for status? Then what do you do? You get yourself The Platinum Card from American Express.

January 31, 2019 Update: Taj Hotels Inner Circle Gold Status added!

The card has some of the most exceptional benefits of any card in Canada but also comes with a somewhat hefty annual fee of $699. That being said you can easily make use of the $699 with the annual $200 travel credit (use it for one of those hotel stays or for flights etc.), the airport lounge access (see our Guide to Business Class lounge access here) and tying in with this post, it gives you elite status with three hotel frequent guest programs that can then be extended to other programs that match status. In the end you should hold some sort of elite level status with a minimum of six hotel chains covering over 15,000 hotels worldwide.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with the following Elite Status benefits:

Here are just some of the benefits you get with each of the above programs:
Marriott Rewards Gold Status

Hilton HHonors Gold Status

Radisson Rewards Gold Status

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle Jade membership

Singapore Airlines Silver Elite Status
Shangri-La has a partnership with Singapore Airlines that is called Infinite Journeys and provides Shangri-La Jade members with automatic Silver status in KrisFlyer program. There is also a fast track where you only have to take three Singapore Airlines flights within four months of registering to get KrisFlyer Gold status.  Find out more about Infinite Journeys here


Taj Hotels Inner Circle Gold Status
Shangri-La has a partnership with Taj Hotels that offers reciprocal benefits in each other's programs. The partnership is called Warmer Welcomes and provides Shangri-La Jade members with automatic Gold status in Taj Hotels Inner Circle Program. There are some other benefits included in this partnership. Find out more about Warmer Welcomes here (Thanks for HFP for the details on this one!)

This screenshot shows 2 upgrade vouchers, but TAJ's website states Gold members get 20 upgrade vouchers -
perhaps that is only for those who earn Gold the hard way

When you receive your Platinum card, register for all the above elite hotel offers. Once you have confirmed you have elite status then you're set to extend those statuses to other programs that guarantee status matches:

1. Best Western Rewards Status Match
Best Western has had one of the longer running status match offers and it is very easy to get.  Simply put the Elite Level Status Match Best Western Rewards will match your other Hotel Reward program status with no catch. The level you get depends on what Best Western thinks the equivalent level is in their program. My Hyatt Platinum status gave me Best Western Diamond status. I would use the Marriott Gold as the program to match since that one technically needs 50 nights to achieve versus SPG's 25 nights so Best Western may see you as more frequent guest deserving a higher status. Full details
Some benefits of the three levels you would be matched to:

2 Choice Hotels Privileges Status Match
An offer that has been around for a couple years but was only opened up to Canadian residents in 2018 is the Choice Hotels Privileges Status Match. After you submit your details including proof of your other status you'll receive an answer in 7-9 days as to what level they will match you to. Full details
 Some of the benefits of the Choice Hotels elite levels:

3. Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass Status Match
This small chain with hotels in the U.S., South America, Caribbean and Egypt will Elite Status Match to preferred and elite status levels in other hotel programs. Full details

 Some Sonesta Travel Pass benefits:

4. Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
Not well publicized, the Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer program also offers status matches - they only state this in their FAQ. Seeing they only have two levels, you should be matched to Elite status as you see below. Full details

 

5. MSC Cruises Voyager Club
Per the comment from Andrew P. in our post from 2016,  MSC Cruise will status match in their Voyager Club to hotel programs as long as you register 14 days prior to your cruise date.  Full details

NOVEMBER 7 UPDATE:
Another hotel chain offering a status match!

6.  Wyndham Rewards
Wyndham Rewards now offers an Elite Status Match. Match from your best status above to get WR status for stays at Ramada's Days Inn's etc. Full details

You can then also try other hotel programs like Voila Hotel Rewards or the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels My Millennium program who seem to be good at matching programs (sourced from Statusmatcher.com)

Its not only you who can get status!
Now what makes the card even better, is that if you add a supplementary Platinum Card ($175) that additional card holder is offered all the same benefits. So your spouse or significant other or even maybe your adult children who still live at home can all get the same elite status offers that are listed above! We've done this in the Rewards Canada household and it makes for great travel for your loved ones when they don't travel with you as they don't have to rely on you for those special status benefits! And for only $175 its a great deal! Not to mention the supplementary cardholder also gets the lounge access and other associated benefits with the card.

Here are the details of the card:

September 6 Update: The Platinum Card from Amex now offers Shangri-La elite status which provides Singapore Airlines status, Cobalt Multipliers updated and more!

Following suit of what we saw on the U.K. version of The Platinum Card from American Express earlier this year, our Canadian version of the card now provides Jade Elite Status in the Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle program. This new benefit continues to enhance the hotel elite offers the card provides including status with Marriott (SPG), Radisson, and Hilton. Albeit the SPG Gold status the card provides is worth less now not because of Amex but due to the changes in the new combined Marriott Rewards SPG program. Remember as well that the statuses you get automatically with the card can be parlayed into status in other programs. We covered it in this post: Get elite status with at least six hotel reward programs with The Platinum Card from American Express (which needs some serious updating now as there are even more programs matching status and we'll do that shortly)

You can find out more about the Shangri-La status here and get more info on The Platinum Card here.

Of note, Shangri-La has a partnership with Singapore Airlines in the likes of Marriott's with United and how SPG had with Delta, Emirates etc. The partnership is called Infinite Journeys and provides Shangri-La Jade members with automatic Silver status in Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer program and a fast track offer to Gold Status (only 3 Singapore or Silk Air flights required). There are some other benefits included in this partnership. Find out more about Infinite Journeys here

And continuing on the American Express front, out Amex Cobalt Multipliers page has been updated once again with many 5x multipliers from the Calgary and Newport Beach areas!  Feel free to contribute any locations that are not on the list! Check out all the locations where you can 5x, 2x and 1x points!

Posts since our last update:

• Save 50% on Premium Economy award flights between Toronto and Europe with the latest Flying Blue Promo Rewards
  The newest set of Air France KLM's Promo Rewards came out late last week and for this month we see…
• Save up to 50% on Economy and Business Class award tickets between Montreal or Vancouver and Europe
  As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" or Mileage Bargain discounted…
• World of Hyatt: Earn up to 60,000 bonus points for stays at Hyatt Hotels Worldwide
  Offer details: Earn up to 60,000 Bonus World of Hyatt Points when you stay 5 or more nights at all…

Travel Deals
Marriott Enjoy 20% off leisure rates at beautiful vacation destinations worldwide when staying Sunday-Thursday nights. Choose from 60 resorts across the U.S., Caribbean, Europe or Southeast Asia for your fall getaway. Full Details and online Booking Sep 16 - Dec 6, 18

Air Canada has launched their Worldwide Fall Seat Sale a day after WestJet's. Book by September 12! Find out more here

Planning to book a flight on Etihad out of Toronto? (or anywhere else for that matter) then you should book via their moblie site over the next week as you can enjoy 10% Off on all Etihad flights, across the Etihad network until 12th September 2018. Users must purchase on Mobile with code AMXD0830. Find out more here
 
Radisson Blu Suite Sale - 20% off for non-members on Junior Suites and Suites. Up to 5% extra off for members. Book by Sep 16 for stays until Nov 30 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
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Triple JP Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Sep 10 - Nov 30, 18

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any one of six Marriott Hotels in the Seattle Area. More... Until Nov 3, 18

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Double Mabuhay Miles when you fly between Clark and Siargao. More... Until Oct 1, 18

Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
- Double iPrefer Points for stays at the Marigot Bay Resort and Marina St Lucia. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Jun 30, 18

Radisson Rewards
- 30% Bonus Gold Points when you buy 10,000 or more Gold Points online. More... Until Sep 30, 18



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