February 1 Update: PC Optimum first day fail, WestJet Link delayed, new Embassy Suites open at YYZ

Today is the big day of the PC Plus - Shoppers Optimum merger. However with so many millions of members it looks like there are issues happening on the IT side of things. I tried setting up my new account and keep getting errors when trying to link my Shoppers Optimum card both online and via the new app.  A major fail on their part for the first day of the new PC Optimum program. Not a good way to kick things off. How are things working for all of you? Were you able to link your accounts before the site went down today?

Read our post on the merger here.

WestJet's new regional service, WestJet Link which is provided by Pacific Coastal Airlines has been delayed until June 20th. Anyone with bookings prior to that will be contacted by WestJet to get a refund or find alternative travel. If you are booked on any of these flights I would call in rather than wait to be contacted to make sure your travel plans don't get disrupted any further. (Source WestJet)

Hilton Hotels has opened their first Embassy Suites Hotel in the Greater Toronto area. The newly renovated Embassy Suites by Hilton Toronto Airport is now open for stays! Find out more and book the hotel here.

Posts since our last update:

• Rewards Canada Giveaway - Enter for a chance to win a pair of Maple Leaf Lounge Guest Passes!
  Rewards Canada Contributor Bill W. has graciously donated 2 Maple Leaf lounge passes to give away! Enter by tomorrow…

Travel Deals
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 Rewards
- Earn up to 7,500 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the TownePlace Suites London. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Other Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- 500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you spend $200 or more via the AAdvantage eShopping portal. More... Until Feb 11, 18

Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- Triple Safar Flyer Miles for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 25, 18

United MileagePlus
- 500 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you spend $200 or more via the MileagePlus Shopping portal. More... Until Feb 11, 18

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles and save up to 15% off the base rate on qualifying Affordable Rate Hertz rentals of one or more days at participating locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and St. Thomas. More... Until Jun 30, 18

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January 19 Update: All Chase Marriott Visa cardholders to receive free night award, 20x Shoppers Optimum points tomorrow and a trio of Aeroplan hotel bonuses

We reached out to Marriott for clarification on the Free Night and Elite Status Night credits that will be given to those who have the soon to end Chase Marriott Premier Visa card.  The clarification we were looking for is who would be getting the nights/credits as some people (my wife included) just got them not too long ago when the card hit the anniversary date late in 2017. The news is great:

All cardholders will be receiving their 2018 Annual Free Night Certificate and 15 Elite Night Credits regardless of when their anniversary is in 2018

Marriott wanted to soften the blow by the end of this card and this is a great way for the card to go out. Cheers to Marriott and Chase for doing this with some grace. And stay tuned for some more news tomorrow for Chase cardholders!

Wyndham Hotels announced they are buying La Quinta Hotels. The U.S. based chain has a very small presence in Canada with only 2 hotels but does have almost 900 hotels in the U.S. and Latin America. Of note for most Canadian is the La Quinta Returns program will be absorbed into Wyndham Rewards which means you 'll be able to use the latter to redeem for stays at La Quinta Hotels once the sale is approved and the programs are integrated.

Receive 100 bonus AIR MILES Reward miles when you spend $50 or more at Rexall today or tomorrow!

Or go shop at Shoppers Drug Mart tomorrow to earn 20X Shoppers Optimum Points when you spend $50 or more. Remember right now is the time you want to rack up as many Shoppers Optimum Points as come February 1st your points will convert to the new PC Optimum program and the more points you have the more value you'll get for them. Read more about that here.

Posts since our last update:

• Earn Triple Aeroplan Miles on all IHG hotel stays until April 30
  We've already brought you the details of the new Accelerate promotions for those people who like to earn IHG…

Travel Deals
KLM has brought back their always awesome business class sale! You can fly in style from any of their Canadian cities (Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto or Montreal) for as little as $3,220 all in. 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
- Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at any IHG Hotels worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 18
- Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at any Accor Hotels worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 18
- 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays at any Best Western Hotels worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
-Earn up to Quadruple Asia Miles for Sixt rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Mar 30, 18

Choice Privileges
- 40% Bonus Privileges Points when you buy 5,000 or more points online. More... Until Feb 5, 18

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn 10x bonus JPMiles when you rent for 4 or more days with Avis in Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Asia (excluding India), USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. More... Book by Feb 28 for rentals Apr 1 - Aug 30, 18

SAS EuroBonus
- 5,000 Bonus EuroBonus Points on Avis rentals of 2 or more days in Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Asia, USA and Canada. More... Book by Feb 28 for rentals until Dec 18

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PC Plus and Shoppers Optimum to merge - becomes PC Optimum on February 1, 2018 (details inside)

Big news today, that really wasn't a big surprise because the question wasn't if  PC Plus and Shoppers Optimum it was when. We all know Loblaw bought Shoppers a few years and then the RBC Shoppers Optimum Card was discontinued in the Summer of 2016 so  everything was pointing to an eventual merger.

Now we know that it is going to happen, news came out today that Loblaw will merge the programs to become PC Optimum on February 1, 2018. In Quebec, the Pharmaprix Optimum program will come to an end on January 31, 2018 and members will have until May 2 to redeem their points.

In general the changes of the merged program aren't that huge outside of now being able to earn at more locations for members of either program.

Here are the highlights of the new program

• At Loblaw stores (Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills etc.) you will continue to earn via your personalized offers that are sent out each week if you buy those items
• At Shoppers Drug Mart you will earn 15 PC Optimum Points per dollar spent  
• Redemption is simplified and follows the PC Plus model of 10,000 points equals $10. Gone is the tiered reward chart of Shoppers Optimum

So how does the new program fair when compared to the two separately?

• For PC Plus there is no real change other than now being able to earn and redeem at Shoppers Drug Mart and BeautyBoutique.ca. 
• For Shoppers Optimum members not only can you now earn and redeem at Loblaw stores you will now earn more for each dollar spent at Shoppers stores but you are losing the tiered reward chart. So let's compare the old earn and burn on Optimum to the new program
  

  Old Points	Spend Required	New	Minimum Spend Required
  8,000 = $10	$800	10,000	$666.67
  22,000 = $30	$2200	22,000	$1466,67
  38,000 = $60	$3800	38,000	$2533.33
  50,000 = $85	$5000	50,000	$3333.33
  95,000 = $170	$9500	95,000	$6333.33

• This is a direct comparison however, as the new program will only let you redeem in 10,000 point increments so technically to get to a level like 38,000 you would have to wait to get to 40,000 points for $40 or $2666.67 in spend - which is still better than the $3800 in the old program. 
• As you can see you will have to spend less with Shoppers in the new program to reach reward levels. But we need to compare point per point value - right now at the 8,000 point level your points are worth about 1.25 cents whereas in the new program at 10,000 points they worth 1.5 cents. In fact in the new program it is 1.5 cents across the board. In the old program the value is higher at the 38,000 and higher levels (1.57, 1.7, 1.79 respectively)
• As you can see Shoppers Optimum members are getting a better program if you are a low redeemer or low points earner. Those who earn lots of points at Shoppers will be losing value  in the new program but you get more places to earn so we can see the thinking behind this change that Loblaw did  (Thanks to Ben for prompting this and having us look at it again and correcting it)
• Good news is that your current points will hold their value in the new program:

Overall this is still good news for members of both programs and good news for our industry as you actually have a program that is getting stronger - and it needs to. The loyalty space in Canada will get even more competitive in the coming years as we can expect Aeroplan to make a huge push for keeping members and expanding due to them losing their Air Canada partnership in 2020. And other programs won't sit on their laurels - you can expect AIR MILES to ramp up offers and the program in response to Aeroplan and programs like PC Optimum will be keeping an eye on them and responding accordingly.

Tells us what you think about today's news in the comments section below!

March 2 Update: WestJet Flight Promo update, Aeroplan adds Budget as new partner, new Shoppers Optimum bonus

News, Tips & Tricks

A quick update to the WestJet Rewards promotion we brought to you earlier this week. We posed the question to WestJet to see what happens if you mix and match fare classes on the promotion.
Our question:

"If you book one econo fare, then a plus fare, then a econo fare etc. how will the bonus be awarded? ....  Say you fly your first 2 flights in Plus you’ll get 20wsd per flight, but your third flight is Econo, do you get 10wsd since its your first econo fare or do you get 20wsd since its your third flight? Then if you go back to Plus for the 4th flight will it be 40wsd or 50wsd?"

And WestJet's response:

"You can mix and match the fare class and it will still count as an eligible flight for the flight count each time. So per your example. If they fly first 2 flights in Plus, they will receive 20 WSD for each one, third flight as Econo will earn 20 WSD, 4th flight as Plus will earn 50 WSD. J It’s a win, win, win!"

This is great news to know that you don't 'drop' down to a lower bonus when you book into a new fare class!

Shoppers Drug Mart is once again sending out big bonuses for shopping tomorrow. We got an 18,500 bonus point offer for spending $75 or more, it may be different for you. You can print out the coupon we got here.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has expanded its Enterprise Plus loyalty program. Members can now earn rewards and free rental days at locations in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Tortola, Trinidad & Tobago and Uruguay. (Source Enterprise)

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Aeroplan was adjusting its car rental partners. As of today Budget returns as partner of Aeroplan but we also lose Hertz. Here are the details of the Budget partnership:

• Earn – Starting today, members can earn 250 Aeroplan Miles for each eligible rental with Budget at participating locations on- and off-airport in Canada, the United States and abroad.
• Redeem – Members can now use their miles to get Budget rental certificates worth $50 or $100 on aeroplan.com. Soon, members will also be able to redeem Aeroplan Miles for Budget car rentals for their choice of date and destination and will be able to earn 100 miles every time they do so.

We will also see Payless Car Rental join Aeroplan soon. (Source Aeroplan)

Aeroplan is sending out emails to select members offering bonus miles for purchases at ESSO. We received it and you should check your inbox as well to see if you were targeted!

More Rewards has lost Canadian Direct Insurance as a partner. Too bad as this program needs all the partners it can get to become the coalition program they want to be!

Posts since our last update:

• Earn Double Aeroplan Miles for Coast Hotels stays in Canada and the U.S.
  We see the return of bonus Aeroplan miles for stays at Coast Hotels. Double Miles is always a nice…
• Earn up to 500 FREE La Quinta Returns Points for connecting to LQ Social Media
  La Quinta Returns has brought back their offer of earning up to 500 points for free by connecting to…
• The Ultimate Credit Card Portfolio for Family Travel
  In this feature of Rewards Canada's Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios we look at the ultimate wallet for families who like…

Travel Deals
Starwood Sunsational savings offers a free night, up to a $200 resort credit and a room upgrade for stays at Starwood Resorts in the Americas! Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 2,000 Bonus Gold Points and a minimum $25 gift card when you book the Shopping Package at participating Country Inns & Suites By Carlson hotels in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia between Johannesburg and Madrid. More... For residents of South Africa only Register & book by Mar 31 for travel until May 31, 17
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Express between Madrid and Cardiff, Sardinia or Heraklion. More... Register & book by Apr 30 for travel Apr 6 - Sep 30, 17
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Regional Air Nostrum between Valencia and Barcelona More... Register & book by Apr 2 for travel Mar 26 - Aug 31, 17
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Regional Air Nostrum on select flights in Europe More... Until Apr 30, 17

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to 500 Free La Quinta Returns Points when you connect with La Quinta on several social media channels. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- Earn up to 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating AccorHotels in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. More... Book by Apr 24 for stays until May 5,17

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 14,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Dublin and Doha. More... Jun 12 - Sep 15, 17
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Auckland and Doha. More... Until May 5, 17
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Yanbu and Doha. More... May 9 - Jul 31, 17
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Tabuk and Doha. More... Jun 19 - Sep 30, 17
- 2,000 Bonus QMiles when you complete your first hotel stay booked via Rocketmiles. More... Book by Mar 31, 17
- Earn up to 3,500 Bonus QMiles on all Avis rentals of 3 or more days in Europe, Middle East and Africa. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals Apr 1 - Jun 30, 17

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February 1 Update: Air Canada to Iceland, 20% off at 9 Marriott Hotels in Canada this weekend, 20x Shoppers Optimum Points

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Canada is taking on WOW Air and Icelandair! They are launching summer seasonal service between Toronto and Montreal and Reykjavik Iceland! (Source Air Canada)

Shoppers Optimum is once again offering 20x points on Friday if you purchase $25 or more in one transaction. Get the coupon here.

Posts since our last update:

• Hilton makes changes to the HHonors program - now spelled Honors, no more award categories, variable points+cash & more
  Yesterday news broke that Hilton is making changes to their reward program. First off, the name gets a slight change,…
• Hilton Honors - 2,000 Bonus per night for all stays Worldwide until April 30
  We gave you a heads up last week on the newest Hilton Honors promotion which has now gone live…
• Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Awards - Save 25% on award tickets between Montreal or Toronto & Europe
  The newest set of Air France KLM's Promo Awards went live today and for us Canadians this set has two…

Travel Deals
Marriott's ebreaks for stays this weekend features 9 hotels in Canada that are 20% off. There are 3 hotels in Alberta, 1 each in Newfoundland and Saskatchewan as weill as four in Nova Scotia. These are great offers for last minute weekend getaways! Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- February Promo Awards - Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket from Toronto or Montreal. More... Book by Feb 28 for travel Apr 1 - May 31, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Edmonton North. More... Until Mar 31, 17

Other Bonus Offers
Avianca LifeMiles
- 1,000 Bonus LifeMiles per night for up to 5 nights when you complete your first hotel stay booked via Rocketmiles. More... Book by Mar 31, 17

Hilton Honors
- 2,000 Bonus Honors Points per night on all eligible stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at participating Marriott Hotels in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York or Rhode Island. More... Until Mar 31, 17

Miles & More
- Earn up to Quadruple Miles & More Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels Worldwide. More... Feb 1 - Apr 30, 17

SAS EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points for stays at the Grand Hotel Stockholm. More... Until Mar 29, 17
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus EuroBonus points for Avis rentals of 2 or more days in Worldwide. More... Book by Feb 28 for rentals Mar 1 - Dec 31, 17


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