Resumption of mandatory random COVID-19 testing for international travellers & earn 2x points for stays at Sonesta Hotels locations in Toronto

Here's your Rewards Canada update! Your near daily dose of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

The Canadian Government announced the resumption of COVID-19 mandatory random testing for those entering Canada by air. As of July 19 the random tests will return for fully vaccinated travellers arriving into Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Click here to learn more.

July 12 Update: The end of an era - Amex to discontinue the Gold Rewards Card and earn up to 8,000 bonus points at Sonesta Hotels in Toronto

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.

 
GREAT NEWS! American Express has reached out to us to let us know the Gold Rewards Card IS NOT being discontinued. We'll provide more details as soon as we can about this news.

We have received word that the American Express Gold Rewards Card will be coming to an end. The iconic card that really seemed to get things restarted for American Express over a decade ago and was crowned the best card in Canada for many years will no longer be available for new applicants. It does appear it will be grandfathered for those who choose to keep it - an Amex customer service rep said my card isn't going anywhere so I can only assume that means it will be grandfathered. 

February 17 Update: Double Points for stays at the Yorkville Royal Sonesta Hotel Toronto, new Centurion Lounge to open at Washington's DCA airport & this week's PC Optimum offer is 50,000 points

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 +Rewards Mastercard which is currently offering a welcome bonus of up to 30,000 bonus points, no annual fee in the first year and a low 11.9% interest rate! 

 
Late last year the InterContinental Hotel Yorkville Toronto converted over to Sonesta Hotels and was rebranded the Yorkville Royal Sonesta Hotel Toronto. The celebrate they had a bonus points offer that ran until the end of January and now once again the hotel chain's loyalty program called Travel Pass is offering bonus points for stays at this location. The offer this time is for Double Travel Pass Points on all stays. The end date of the promotion has not been published but in my experience of covering Sonesta's promotions for years on end the offer should be available for quite some time. Learn more here.

January 6 Update: Spend $150+ online with Shoppers Drug Mart and get 50,000 bonus PC Optimum points & Sonesta buys Red Lion Hotels

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.

You can earn 50,000 PC Optimum bonus points (worth $50) when you spend $150 or more on almost anything online with Shoppers Drug Mart. This offer runs until January 7. Find out more here.

Two Toronto Area IHG Hotels offering bonus points as they are now part of Sonesta Hotels - including the InterContinental Toronto Yorkville

 
Back in August we let our readers know that two of IHG's hotels in the Toronto area would be moving from that family of hotels to the Sonesta Hotels brand. That transition has now happened which means the following two hotels have changed as such:

Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions - April Edition

One of the easiest ways to rack up lots of hotel points is to take advantage of the 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.  Without further ado here are all the current promotions that are available to everyone:

Provider	Offer	Validity Date
Best Western Rewards	Earn a Free Night when you complete 2 eligible stays at a Best Western® branded hotel in the United States, Canada or Caribbean. Limit of 1 free night voucher per member and that voucher is valid for 60 days.  Full details, online registration & booking(Registration is required)	Until Apr 14, 19
	For a complete listing of all Best Western Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Best Western page
Choice Hotels Privileges	Earn up to 8,000 Bonus Privileges Points (enough for a free nights) for 2 separate stays you complete at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. Stay must be booked via ChoiceHotels.com, the Choice Hotels mobile app, or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates. Members will be awarded a minimum of 5,000 bonus points and a maximum of 8,000 bonus points, depending on the number of base points earned for 2 separate qualifying stays. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Restrictions For Residents of the U.S. and Canada only	Until Apr 26, 19
	For a complete listing of all Choice Privileges bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Choice page
GHA Discovery	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all GHA Discovery bonus offers please visit Rewards Canada's GHA page
Hilton	Earn 2,000 Bonus Honors points per stay at Hilton Hotels Worldwide plus earn an additional 10,000 bonus points for every 5th stay or 10th night completed, whichever comes first.  Full details, online registration and booking(Registration is required)	Until May 5, 2019
	For a complete listing of all Hilton HHonors bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hilton page
Hyatt	2,000 Bonus World of Hyatt Points for your first stay at each of Hyatt's new brands of Thompson Hotels (starting March 28), Joie de Vivre (starting May 15), Alila and Destination Hotels (both coming soon) Maximum bonus of 8,000 points. Plus earn a free night if you stay at all four brands. Full details and online booking	Until Dec 31, 19
	For a complete listing of all Hyatt Gold Passport bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hyatt page
InterContinental Hotels Group	Earn 500 to 40,000 or more Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Bonus varies by member. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)	Until Apr 30, 19
	For a complete listing of all IHG Priority Club bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's IHG page
Le Club AccorHotels	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Le Club AccorHotels bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Le Club AccorHotels page
Marriott	Double Bonvoy Points on all eligible stays at participating Marriott Hotels Worldwide starting with your second stay. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required)	Register by May 21 for stays between Mar 19 and Jun 4, 19
	For a complete listing of all Marriott Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Marriott page
Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer	Earn 25,000 Bonus iPrefer Points for eligible stays of 2 or more nights at participating Preferred Hotel Group hotels Worldwide.  Full details & online booking	Book by May 14, 18
	For a complete listing of all Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's iPrefer page
Radisson Rewards	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Radisson Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Radisson Rewards page
Shangri-La Golden Circle	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Shangria-La bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Golden Circle page
Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass	Double Travel Pass Points for stays at participating Sonesta Hotels Worldwide. Full details	Book by May 31 for stays until Jun 30, 19
	For a complete listing of all Sonesta Hotels bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Travel Pass page
Voila Hotel Rewards	5,000 Bonus VHR Points for every stay completed at a participating VOILÀ hotel. Bonuses capped at 100,000 points per member. Full details & online registration (Registration is required)	Until Apr 30, 19
	For a complete listing of all Voila Hotel Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's VHR page

October 19 Update: Scotia buys Sears Card portfolio from Chase, Sonesta Hotels added to Rewards Canada

Election day here in Canada and lots of things going on behind the scenes mean our daily update is being posted later than usual today!


News, Tips & Tricks
Last Thursday news broke the Scotiabank had bought JP Morgan Chase's credit card portfolio here in Canada. There was mixed news as to whether it was just the Sears card portfolio being bought seeing as that agreement ends in November or if it was all of Chase's cards including Amazon and Marriott. We have spoken with both Chase and Scotiabank representatives and have confirmed it is strictly the Sears Card portfolio that Scotia has bought. This is good news as I know some of you were worried about what might happen to your Marriott Premier Visa in particular. We don't have the details yet as to what the Sears cards from Scotia will be like but hopefully they keep the Voyage MasterCard as it was a decent card.


We added yet another new loyalty program to Rewards Canada today. Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass. This hotel chain has over 30 hotels in the U.S.,  4 in the Caribbean, over 15 in South America and several Egyptian properties. They have an elite status match so if you hold status in another hotel program be sure to get it matched before you stay with Sonesta! See our Travel Pass bonus points page here.


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Posts since our last update:

• WestJet's Disney Frozen themed plane - Disney magic inside and out!
  We mentioned in our October 16th update that there was to be news about a new initiative coming from…
  
  

Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- Double Miles&Bonus Miles for stays at the Domotel Anemolia. More... Until Nov 30, 15
- Double Miles&Bonus Miles for Hertz rentals of 3 or more days in Greece. More... Until Nov 30, 15

airBaltic PINS (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double PINS for Avis rentals of 2+ days in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Air Canada / Aeroplan
- 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles and a $50 SHOP.CA voucher for Thursday - Sunday night stays at 70 participating hotels across Canada. More... Until Jan 31, 16

Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 50% Bonus GarudaMiles on Garuda Indonesia flights between Surabaya or Denpasar and Banyuwangi. More... Until Nov 30, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in Czech Republic and Slovakia. More... Nov 1 - Dec 31, 15

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Double QMiles for stays at any participating Shangri-La Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 15

Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass
- Elite Status Match to preferred and elite status levels in other hotel programs. More... Ongoing
- Double Travel Pass Points for stays at the Sonesta Coconut Grove Miami. More... Until Jan 31, 16
- Double Travel Pass Points for stays at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Double Travel Pass Points for stays at the Sonesta Philadelphia Downtown. More... Until Mar 31, 16