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.
A trio of new offers are available as part of the Amex Offers program. Check your card accounts to see if you have been targeted for these. The offers are from Burberry (we received it on Marriott Bonvoy American Express Cards and The Platinum Card), the Chesterfield shop (not sure which cards, this is on Amex's general shopping page) and Lululemon (we received it on the American Express Cobalt Card and The Platinum Card). You can find these and all other current offers on our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'
An update to follow up on our post from Friday about the new Walmart Rewards World Mastercard. Walmart Financial let us know the card will have the same welcome bonus of $25 as the base card and provided the card art as to what the card will look like. Learn more here.
Airline Schedule Updates
A summary Canadian operations based on data from RoutesOnline and other
sources. Remember that many of these route plans are subject to change
and right now they are changing frequently!
The latest inventory update from Austrian Airlines shows their Montreal-Vienna route not returning for the winter season. (Source RoutesOnline)
Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel, lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.
TAP Air Portugal released a new us 15% Discount Code for new bookings made between today and August 18. The discount applies for flights from Canada to Europe. The discount code MULTI15 is good for travel until March 31, 2021 (Black out from Dec 17 to Jan 10) and is valid on all fares except Discount and Top Executive. Bookings made with this promo code are allowed 1 free booking change should your travel plans change due to COVID-19. Find out more here.
If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more here
Fairmont Hotels Stay Close - Buy Night 1 Get 1 Night free at select hotels in Canada, U.S. and Mexico. Find out more here
SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. Find out more here
WealthSimple Trade: Receive $5 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $5 when you receive $5)
Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.
AIR MILES
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus AIR MILES Rewards Miles when you earn miles at multiple AIR MILES partners. More... Until Sep 10, 20
Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points or Airline Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at the Best Western Plus Hilltop Inn Redding More... Until Oct 31, 20
-
Double Rewards Points or Airline Miles for stays at the Best Western Royal Palace Inn & Suites Los Angeles. More... Until Sep 7, 20
British Airways Executive Club
- 800 Bonus Avios on Avis rentals of a Group C vehicle or higher for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book now for rentals Sep 1 - 30, 20
Miles & More
- Triple Miles & More Miles per night for stays at H-Hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. More... Until Sep 30, 20
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The market continues to get flooded with new credit cards. One of the latest to be announced is the Walmart Rewards World Mastercard. The card is being released just as the original Walmart Rewards Mastercard celebrates its 10th anniversary in Canada. The new card will open up for applications in September and offers some increased earn rates and benefits over the basic version of the card.
Recommended reading: There is a rewards card out there for everyone - including the Walmart Rewards Mastercard
We don't know yet what the welcome bonus will be. Seeing that the basic card offers $25 we would have to assume it will be at least that if not more. Also being a World version it will most likely have higher income requirements ($60,000 individual, $100,000 household) to qualify for the card.
Update: The card will have the same $25 welcome bonus as the base card
Here is what Walmart has provided to us so far for what this card will offer in terms of earning Walmart Rewards Dollars:
Walmart Rewards Dollars work just like cash so 1 Walmart Reward dollar equates to $1 you can spend at Walmart.
We also that since this is a World Mastercard it will get the benefits that are afforded to all World Mastercards and those are:
Recommended reading: A look at the new benefits that have been added to all World & World Elite Mastercards in Canada
At this time we don't know yet if there will be any additional benefits or insurance added to the card as well.
In general this card will appeal primarily to the more affluent Walmart shopper, especially those making those Walmart purchases online. Outside of that there are other no fee card options out there that may be better suited for most as this card limits you to strictly redeeming at Walmart. That being said this card earns no less than 1% cash back which is pretty good considering other no annual fee cards like Tangerine, BMO et al only earn a 0.5% base rate. Some food for thought....
Following an evaluation of credit card transaction fees in Canada and the rest of the world, we have concluded the fees applied to Visa credit card purchases remain unacceptably high.This leaves MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Interac and Cash as the methods of payment at Walmart. Of course this will mean an even bigger push by Walmart for their own Walmart Rewards MasterCard and many, unfortunately, will jump on the card when at the cash register finding out Walmart no longer accepts Visa. The sad thing is there are many other options that are better than the Walmart MasterCard here in Canada (whether it is a MasterCard or Amex card).
Walmart’s purpose is to save customers money so they can live better. We are committed first and foremost to this purpose, which requires us to keep costs as low as possible.
To ensure we are taking care of our customers’ best interests and delivering on our promise of saving customers money, we constantly work to reduce our operating costs, including credit card fees. Unfortunately, Visa and Walmart have been unable to agree on an acceptable fee for Visa transactions. As a result we will no longer accept Visa in our stores across Canada, starting with our stores in Thunder Bay, on July 18, 2016. This change will then be rolled out in phases across the country.
Carry different credit cardsThe whole idea of carrying all three major card brands is the premise of our Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios, so if you only carry a Visa card but want to continue shopping at Walmart and continue earning your favourite rewards like Aeroplan miles be sure to check out our Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios.
Some bonus mile offers or other offers like free gift cards (see Cash in on other rewards below) require that you only use a specific credit card like a Visa. So if it is economically viable for you to do so, carry a Visa card, a MasterCard and an American Express. Think it may be expensive? Well there are quite a few no fee credit cards that earn points. Of course you don't even have to get a mileage card for your additional card, you could go for cash back rebates or merchandise but since this is an article on miles, why wouldn't you?"
