45,000 point offer on the Scotia Gold American Express ending early, Oman Air will join the oneworld Alliance & Novotel Hotels celebrates the LIGHTYEAR Movie

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

We have been advised that the current welcome bonus offer on the Scotiabank Gold American Express card will now end on June 29 instead of July 4. The offer provides a bonus of up to 45,000 Scene+ points. At this point in time we have not yet been told what the new offer will be as of June 30. However with the revamp of the Platinum Card and the Red Amex cards from Scotia happening in June we feel there will be a focus on those card rather than the Gold so if I was to guess I would say the offer on the Gold will either remain the same or be lowered. But remember that's just a guess on my part. Click here to learn more about Scotiagold American Express Card offer.

Match your Air Canada or WestJet elite status to Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer (oneworld elite status)

 
April 1 Update: Matches to Safar Flyer Gold are no longer available. Silver is still available however.

The fine people at Statusmatch.com have revealed another status match opportunity that they are running on behalf of an airline. This time that airline Royal Air Maroc and you could potentially be matched to have elite status in the airline's Safar Flyer program. Some of you, most likely in the Montreal area are probably familiar with Safar Flyer since Royal Air Maroc serves your fine city. For others probably not so much but don't dissuade this opportunity as Royal Air Maroc happens to be part of the oneworld Alliance which counts airlines like American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways as just some of the partners.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has officially made Avios its loyalty currency and includes easy transfers from British Airways Executive Club

Back in February Qatar Airways announced they will be adopting Avios in place of Qmiles as the loyalty currency in their Privilege Club program. That time has come and as of March 22 the switch has been made. Qatar Airways Privilege Club members now earn and burn Avios and any Qmiles in accounts up to this date have been converted 1:1 to Avios. 

Alaska Airlines has officially joined the oneworld Alliance

We've talked it about here on Rewards Canada for many months now and are excited to bring you the news that we all knew would happen today and that is of Alaska Airlines officially joining the oneworld Alliance! This is huge for the airline that prior to this dabbled in partnering with airlines from across all three alliances and thankfully will still have some of those other partnerships but now with the power of belonging to one alliance. Alaska Airlines 14th airline to become a full member of oneworld and this plays well for many Canadians - well mainly for those that know the value of Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan program as there are those who have never considered the program since the airline only serves cities in Alberta & B.C.. This was even despite some amazing partnerships with airlines that do serve many Canadian cities where the program can be utilized and now there are even more airlines to add to the mix.

December 11 Update: Alaska Airlines reveals oneworld benefits for Mileage Plan elite members, American Airlines to offer Elite Choice Rewards & changes to Avianca's LifeMiles program

 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.

 
Earlier this week Alaska Airlines revealed what their Elite Mileage Plan members will receive as oneworld tier status in the global alliance. The airline officially joins oneworld on March 31, 2021 and the matching oneworld tier status happens automatically at that time. Here is how the status will line up:

Alaska Airlines will officially become part of the oneworld alliance on March 31, 2021

 

First it was summer of 2021 then it was before the end of 2020 but now it appears to be that Alaska Airlines will officially become a member of the oneworld alliance on March 31, 2021. 

Recommended reading: Alaska Airlines to join oneworld alliance and rehashes partnership with American Airlines 

As we mentioned in the above linked post there is both good and bad news to Alaska Airlines joining oneworld. The good news is the airline will gain more partners that you will be able to redeem Mileage Plan miles with. The Alaska's Mileage Plan program is a key program for Canadian miles aficionados thanks to its current breadth of partners, relative ease at earning miles (earned from tthe MBNA Alaska Airlines Mastercards and Alaska's frequent buy miles bonuses) and amazing redemption rates for premium class travel on airlines like Cathay Pacific, JAL, Emirates and more - let alone award flights on their own metal starting at only 5,000 miles. It is these amazing redemption rates where the bad news will likely come in. Those 5,000 mile redemptions on Alaska will likely remain but the big question will be what will happen to their current partner redemptions and those actual non-oneworld partnerships? Here's what Alaska states about those partnerships:

Also, you might be wondering about our partnerships with our current Global Partners that are not a part of oneworld. We value the benefits those partnerships provide our guests, and we’ll continue to maintain them as long as it’s mutually beneficial to do so.

So as long at is beneficial they will remain and if the current loyalty space is any indicator I don't think Alaska will lose many of those non oneworld partners. The reason why is that in recent years we've actually seen a trend of alliance airlines partnering with airlines from competing alliances or airlines that have no allegiance. Both Aeroplan and Lufthansa's Miles & More added long time competitor and oneworld carrier Cathay Pacific as a partner and we've also seen Aeroplan add the likes of Etihad and Vistara which are non-alliance airlines. Currently Alaska has one Star Alliance partner (Singapore Airlines) and one SkyTeam partner (Korean Air) both of whom I feel have beneficial relationships with Alaska - if we were to lose one I would wager a guess on Singapore Airlines since they are closely matched with Cathay Pacific. I don't think they'll drop Emirates as a partner either - Alaska provides a good feed to Emirates west coast US flights and vice versa. In fact I do see each of their current non oneworld partnerships as being quite beneficial. Hopefully I'm not wrong and Alaska will continue to partner with all of these airlines.

Now on to the actual redemption of miles for those partner airlines. This is where the inevitable bad news will lie. Although it is just speculation one can only imagine that Mileage Plan will do away with an award chart for each individual partner and make one set chart for oneworld redemptions that would also likely cover their non-oneworld partners. It is also being assumed that the redemption amounts that will be higher than what they are now. Now, while nothing has been published to corroborate this we can go on past experience from other airlines joining alliances that this will happen. Remember back in the early 2000s when several SkyTeam airlines had the best redemption rates between Canada and Hawaii (namely Air France, KLM & Czech Airlines) that went away quickly once the alliance blossomed and all the airlines began bring the award charts more inline with other partners who ultimately were charging more miles (Delta is one example). Ultimately this means you'll want to book some of those best Mileage Plan redemptions sooner than later - the 70K Cathay Pacific first class award, 60K JAL business class award and so on. If you book now you can book travel to roughly this time next year and of course if you book in January you can book something into 2022. You should have right up until March 30 to do so but there's no rules in place that Alaska can't issue new reward charts for their partner airlines prior to that date.  

Overall let's hope there will be more good news out of Alaska joining oneworld than bad and that if and when Alaska reveals new redemption rates for their partner airlines that they aren't far from what they are now.

Learn more about Alaska's joining oneworld here.

Alaska Airlines to join oneworld alliance and rehashes partnership with American Airlines

Last week while the Rewards Canada family was enjoying the teacher's convention and Family Day holiday Alaska Airlines came out with some news that was rather unexpected from them! There's other news from other programs that we will catch up on this week as well but we wanted to get to this article first.

Alaska Airlines has announced a refreshed partnership with American Airlines that comes only weeks before their existing partnership was set to end - looks like they came to terms and a realization its better to work with each other rather than against each other. In this announcement also came the news that Alaska Airlines will join the oneworld alliance as a full fledged member airline, not just a 'connect' airline as mentioned a few years ago.

These are the key takeaways from the news (excerpt from Alaska's press release):

• Alaska Airlines intends to join the oneworld^® alliance, the world's fastest growing and most highly rated global airline alliance, by summer 2021, which will connect Alaska guests to more than 1,200 destinations worldwide.
• American will launch the first service from Seattle (SEA) to Bangalore, India (BLR) beginning October 2020. A new American route from SEA to the global business hub London Heathrow (LHR) will begin flying in March 2021.
• The airlines will continue their domestic codeshare that offers customers hassle-free booking and travel between the two networks. The codeshare will expand to include international routes from Los Angeles (LAX) and SEA.
• Alaska and American loyalty members will enjoy benefits across both airlines, including the ability to earn and use miles on both airlines’ full networks, elite status reciprocity and lounge access to nearly 50 American Admirals Club lounges worldwide and seven Alaska Lounges in the U.S.

The good news from this is that it will give Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members, which is a very popular program for us Canadians (well popular for many of miles and points enthusiasts) a broader range of airlines and flights to earn and redeem Mileage Plan miles with. On top of that, if you have elite status with Alaska (or vice-versa with AA or oneworld airlines) is the recognition of that status when flying on any of the oneworld airlines.

The bad news at this time is purely speculation however it is very likely we may see some changes in the mileage requirements when redeeming Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles. Right now the program is one of, if not the best for redeeming on many of the world's best airlines like Cathay Pacific and Emirates but that may change when Alaska joins oneworld. One can hope they won't change their award charts but typically we have seen redemptions become more expensive when an airline joins an alliance. The other bad news is that once Alaska Airlines joins oneworld you have that many more airline partner frequent flyer programs, namely American AAdvantage, that will be vying for seats on Alaska metal itself so finding seats may be more difficult if you are someone who does redeem for flights on Alaska.  We probably can also expect changes to status earning requirements for Mileage Plan to be brought more inline with those of other oneworld carriers so as to not make an easy path for people to receive alliance wide benefits. So one word of advice would be to try to earn that Alaska status as soon as you can!

One other concern that may come into play would be Alaska's non oneworld airline partners, will they continue on as partners? I would think for the most part yes, despite the old way of thinking at alliances that we saw emerge in the 90's and 00's where it was alliance partners only (no partners from other alliances)  the last few years we've seen airlines bring in partners that were part of other alliances. For example Air Canada has a relationship with Cathay Pacific even though they are both part of different alliances. I think the mindset within the airlines is that they know they have to forge other partnerships that work for them and their frequent flyer membership base regardless of their partner airlines' alliances.

Here is the timeline of the implementation of all the news:

Overall I think this could be a positive change for the Canadian market as it opens more airlines and routes that you'll be able to earn and redeem Mileage Plan miles with. Many of you have jumped on the MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard with it's 30,000 mile welcome bonus and not just once, but once every 3-6 months ;-) so that you have built up sizeable balances in your Mileage Plan accounts. Not only that I'm sure many of you have also bought Mileage Plan miles with their great bonus offers and in about a years time you'll be able to use them on even more airlines. You can start planning for those oneworld airlines that aren't partners with Alaska like Royal Air Maroc (which joins oneworld in only a few weeks) which flies between Montreal and Casablanca or Qatar Airways which also flies out of YUL. Of course it may take you more miles than you are accustomed to if they do increase mileage requirements but only time will tell if that will happen.

What about WestJet? I know this really doesn't have much to do with this article but in terms of WestJet's frequent flyer program they have kind of followed in Alaska's footsteps in forging relationships with airlines from various alliances and stating they have had no intention of joining one. Will Alaska's news change the way WestJet thinks? If so, it would seem likely that WestJet would move to SkyTeam since most of the airline's partners are in SkyTeam, are in the process of creating a joint venture SkyTeam's Delta Airlines and the SkyTeam alliance does serve the most cities in Canada after Star Alliance. Of course this is just a thought on our part but I would bet that this news form Alaska does have some of the heads at WestJet shifting their thinking.

Images via Alaska Airlines

Official - American AAdvantage going revenue based on August 1st plus they detail some elite changes coming in 2017

We've known since last November that the American Airlines AAdvantage program was going to move to a revenue based earning system in the second half of 2016. We now know that date will be August 1st. The move places American AAdvantage to the same league as United MileagePlus and Delta SkyMiles who over the past 2 years already went revenue based. American even went so far to copy the exact earn rates for prices paid on tickets as United who in turn had copied Delta with the exact amounts. No creativity here at all nor any with any balls to at least take a chance at being more competitive in the revenue based market. That is being left to the benefits being provided to elite members who in the AAdvantage program will see some more changes coming in 2017 with today's announcement.

We detailed the major changes in the AAdvantage program back in November with the post:

American AAdvantage changes coming in 2016 - Most of it isn't good news and its worse for Canadians than our US counterparts

and won't cover all those changes again. We knew at that time about the revenue based earning coming and knew the amounts. So as of August 1st here is how many AAdvantage Miles you'll earn:

• AAdvantage^® member – 5 miles for every U.S. dollar
• Gold member – 7 miles for every U.S. dollar (40% bonus)
• Platinum member – 8 miles for every U.S. dollar (60% bonus)
• Executive Platinum member – 11 miles for every U.S. dollar (120% bonus)
   

As you can see these earn rates favour elite members plus those who spend more on their tickets. For most people however the amount you earn on flights will be less than you earn now.

How does this translate to less miles on a flight? Let's look at an American Airlines flight between New York and Orlando. We took a random week day flight for the 944 mile flight which priced out at $256.60 before taxes and fees for the roundtrip.

Under the old earning rate, this flight would earn 1,888 base AAdvantage Miles but under the new system of 5 miles per dollar on the base fare it will only earn 1,283 miles. So many members will be losing out on 600 miles on this flight.

As we've seen with United and Delta, this change isn't good for most travellers.

This is even worse for Canadian AAdvantage members as our AAdvantage award flights became more expensive in the changes announced in November and already in place since Canada is no longer part of the U.S. 48 section of the award chart but rather we are now categorized with Alaska. Gone are 25,000 mile round trip flights from Canada to the U.S. as they are now 30,000 for the round trip. So more miles to redeem, less to earn just makes the AAdvantage program less appealing to those of us north of the border. In fact those flying AA may be better offer using Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan or British Airways Executive Club as their program to credit American Airlines flights.

What other changes are coming to the program? These are elite program changes that will kick in on January 1st 2017.

The first is a new mid level elite status called Platinum Pro. Think of this as a match to Air Canada Altitude's Super Elite 75K. Still AAdvantage will only 4 levels compared to AC's 5. Here are all of AA's levels and requirements for qualification:

You'll notice that there also now EQDs or Elite Qualifying Dollars required. So just like Air Canada's Altitude program you can no longer achieve AAdvantage status based on miles or segments only. You now also have to have a spend component and reach one of the other two either the miles or segments requirement. The good thing is that Alaska Airlines flights plus all oneworld flights count towards the EQD requirement. The bad thing is that both United and Delta don't put this EQD requirement on Canadians.

The final two elite changes coming in 2017 have to do with upgrading. Upgrade priority will change to:

"The way your upgrade request is prioritized will change later in 2017. You’ll be listed according to your elite status level followed by the number of EQDs earned in the last 12 months."

So the more you spend with AA the better your chances are at being upgraded. The last upgrade change coming is that Executive Platinum members will be able to "use their complimentary 500-mile upgrade benefits on AAdvantage award tickets for travel on American from Main Cabin to the next class."

That's all the changes in a nutshell! What are your thoughts? Are you a regular American Airlines flyer? We'd love to hear from you about the latest AAdvantage  changes!

Dec 1 Update: Miles & More quadruple dip opportunity, oneworld enhances elite benefits, Air Canada Cyber Monday sale

First update of the week and the month gives us the following:

News, Tips & Tricks
Over on the FrequentFlyerBonuses.com blog we highlight a quadruple dip mileage earning opportunity by buying Best Western Travel Card. This offer is however from Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss etc.) and is for buying gift cards in Euros so we didn't have a separate post for it here on RC but you should be able to take advantage of it nonetheless since the Travel Cards can be electronic and sent to your email. You'll have to incur a foreign exchange transaction fee however unless you use a card like the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card which has no forex fees. You can read all about the offer here.

oneworld alliance announced additional elite member benefits that took effect today. Those additional benefits are Priority baggage delivery for Emerald and Sapphire cardholders and Additional checked baggage allowance for Sapphire tier customers. Here are some more details from the oneworld press release:

Priority baggage delivery for Emerald and Sapphire cardholders

Most oneworld member airlines already aim to deliver as a priority checked baggage for their own top-level frequent flyers, along with other passengers flying in First or Business Class.
Now, this benefit is being extended to all frequent flyers with the equivalent of oneworld Emerald and Sapphire in any of the alliance member airlines' loyalty programmes when they fly in any cabin class with oneworld member airlines anywhere in the world.

Additional checked baggage allowance for Sapphire tier customers
Following the launch last year of an additional baggage allowance for the alliance member airlines' most loyal customers - those with the top tier oneworld Emerald status - now cardholders with the next highest status, Sapphire, will also receive an additional baggage benefit.
From today (1 December 2014), when travelling on any flight operated and marketed by any oneworld member airline, the following special baggage privileges will apply to all Sapphire cardholders:

• On international or domestic itineraries using the baggage allowance "weight" system - 15 kgs in addition to the ticketed Economy allowance.
• On international itineraries (including domestic sectors flown as part of international itineraries) using the baggage allowance "piece" system – a second bag, weighing up to 23 kgs, when the ticketed allowance is one bag.
• On purely domestic itineraries with flights using the baggage allowance "piece" system – the assurance of at least one piece of checked baggage, weighing up to 23 kgs, even when the regular ticketed allowance has no free allowance.

Customers travelling in First and Business Class cabins will in most cases receive an even greater free checked baggage allowance.
With all oneworld member airlines already granting Sapphire-level members of their own frequent flyer programme an additional baggage benefit when they fly on their "own" airline, today's move extends this privilege to when those customers travel on oneworld partner airlines.

Notes

1         For the full range of oneworld's services and benefits for frequent flyers and full details of these new baggage benefits, including frequently asked questions about the new Sapphire baggage benefit, see oneworld.com

2         Priority baggage delivery is not available on flights operated by British Airways.

3         The Sapphire baggage benefit does not apply to tickets issued using British Airways' "hand baggage only" fares. 

4         For domestic routes operated by LAN Airlines, Sapphire cardholders may check in up to two bags with a combined weight not exceeding 23 kgs. 

oneworld Elite Benefits as of December 1, 2014

Travel Deals
Air Canada has a Cyber Monday sale that offers 15% off Tango and Flex fares to anywhere Air Canada flies. Fares must be booked by 11:59pm in your local time zone tonight using promo code CYBERMONDAY. Valid for travel Jan 12 - Jun 15, 15. Find out more here.

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for stays on the Warm Winter Package at participating Regent Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 15 - Feb 28, 15

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Triple Mileage Plan Miles for stays at the The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui. More... Until Dec 19, 14

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles for stays at participating Golden Tulip Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 15

Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 70% FlyerBonus Points Discount on all Bangkok Airways award tickets. More... Book by Dec 31 for travel Apr 20 - May 31, 14

Germanwings Boomerang Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Boomerang Miles when fly between Köln-Bonn, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Berlin-Tegel, Düsseldorf or Hannover and London (Stansted or Heathrow) More... Until Dec 31, 14

Miles & More
- Earn up to 6,500 Miles & More Miles when you buy Best Western Travel Cards. Earn 500 miles for every 75EUR up to a maximum of 1000EUR or 6,500 miles. More... Until Dec 23, 14

Oman Air Sindbad (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 20% Sindbad Miles Discount on Sindbad award tickets purchased between Muscat and Amman, Abu Dhabi , Bahrain, Bangalore, Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Colombo, Dammam, Dar-es-salam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Karachi, Kathmandu, London, Male, Milan, Munich, Muscat, Paris, Salalah, Tehran, Zanzibar and Zurich. More... Book by Jan 31 for travel until Mar 31, 15

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Apr 1 Update: Canadian North flight bonuses, Avianca will sell you LifeMiles Elite Status, more oneworld celebration promos

A status matches, a buy status offer and many bonuses round out Tuesday on Rewards Canada!

News, Tips & Tricks
As mentioned on the blog yesterday in the post detailing Canadian North's new Aurora Rewards we would bring you the details of the new bonus offers in the program and you'll find those listed below in the bonus offers section.

Avianca LifeMiles will now sell you status in the program. For US$1,200 you can buy Silver status while Gold runs US$2,200. Both statuses will run for 12 months from the date of purchase and hold the equivalent status in the Star Alliance (ie LifeMiles Silver = Star Alliance Silver). For more details or to buy status see here. To see what benefits each status level provides click here.

Do you hold status with the TAM Airlines Fidelidade program? If so you may be granted a status match with a Star Alliance partner since the airline has left Star to join oneworld and of course Star Alliance would prefer to have you flying with their carriers! Find all the details here.

Over on the FFB blog we have created a summary post for all the promotions surrounding the entry of US Airways and TAM into oneworld. Click on the following for full details:
Summary of promotions celebrating US Airways and TAM joining oneworld
 
Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles on all TAM flights Worldwide when flown in an eligible booking class. More... Register by Apr 30 for trave May 1 - 31, 14
- Double topbonus Miles on all US Airways flights Worldwide flown in eligible fare classes. More... Register by Apr 30 for travel until Jun 30, 14

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles on all eligible TAM Airlines flights Worldwide (includes codeshare flights booked as an American Airlines flight and operated by TAM Airlines)  More... May 1 - 31, 14
- Up to 26,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy AAdvantage Miles. More... Until Apr 30, 14

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios on all US Airways flights Worldwide flown in eligible fare classes. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Canadian North Aurora Rewards
- 50% Bonus Aurora Rewards points on Canadian North flights between Iqaluit and Ottawa. More... Until Jul 20, 14
- 250 Bonus Aurora Rewards points on Canadian North flights between Iqaluit and Halifax or St. John's. More... Jun 20 - Sep 5, 14
- 200 Bonus Aurora Rewards points when you join Canadian North Aurora Rewards. More... Until Jun 30, 14

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
- 100 Bonus Dynasty Flyer Miles when you join China Airlines Dynasty Flyer via the China Airlines global website. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 30,000 Bonus QMiles for Qatar Airways flights between Doha and Miami. More... Jun 10  - Sep 15, 14
- Double QMiles on all TAM flights Worldwide when flown in an eligible booking class. More... May 1 - 31, 14
- Double QMiles on all US Airways flights when flown in an eligible booking class. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Earn 5,000 Bonus QMiles when you complete your first booking through Rocketmiles More... Book by May 31  for stays until Dec 31 14 Valid for Privilege Club Silver, Gold and Platinum Elite Members only
- Earn 3,000 Bonus QMiles when you complete your first booking through Rocketmiles. More... Book by May 31  for stays until Dec 31 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn up to Triple Starpoints for stays at the Sheraton North Houston at George Bush Intercontinental Hotel. More... Until Sep 1, 14

Mar 31 Update: Promos for US Airways & TAM joining oneworld, Delta & Alaska remove elite benefits on each others flights and more!

You take a few days off and what happens? Tons of news, lots of bonuses surrounding the entry of US Airways and TAM into oneworld and more!

News, Tips & Tricks
Today is the last day to register for Marriott's MegaBonus promotion and Hyatt's Endless Possibilities promotion.

Aeroplan partner Bearskin Airlines will be nixing their Ottawa - Kitchener/Waterloo service as of tomorrow. (Source: Airlineroute.net)

Delta Airlines is removing several benefits for Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Elite members namely free checked bags are being removed for all levels plus priority check in and baggage handling along with several other benefits. See it all on Delta's site. Meanwhile Lucky over at One Mile Time also notes that Alaska Airlines has removed priority check in and free checked bags for Delta Medallion members. It looks like the fight for Seattle isn't close to ending just yet.

A few months ago we mentioned that Air Canada was going to be using the 787 between Toronto and London, well it looks like that planned service has be canned while the service to Zurich has been delayed. (Source: Airlineroute.net)

A bunch of Air Canada's routes to the U.S. are being transferred over to Air Canada Rouge service which means no more Executive Class on those flights, only economy and premium economy. (Source: Airlineroute.net)

eff 29MAR14 Toronto – San Diego 1 daily
eff 28APR14 Calgary – Las Vegas 1 daily
eff 28APR14 Vancouver – Las Vegas 1 daily
eff 01MAY14 Calgary – Los Angeles 2 daily (A319 replaces E190)
eff 01MAY14 Vancouver – Los Angeles 4 daily (A319 replaces E190/A320)
eff 04MAY14 Toronto – Phoenix 1 daily (A319 replaces A320)
eff 16MAY14 Vancouver – Anchorage 1 daily (Seasonal)
eff 01JUL14 Vancouver – San Francisco 4 daily (A319 replaces E190)
eff 17DEC14 Calgary – Phoenix 1 daily
eff 17 DEC14 Vancouver – Phoenix NEW 1 daily service

A few weeks ago we let you know about some issues one reader of ours was having with his new TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card and we are happy to report he is reasonably pleased with the outcome:

In the bonus offers section check out the Discounted Saver Award offer from United to fly to Japan from Canada. This is a really good deal if you can take advantage of it and go to Japan in April. You will however incur some booking fees if you are traveling soon because of their 21 day window rule. In reality only travel in the last week of April or being a United Elite member will help you avoid those fees.



Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles on all US Airways flights Worldwide flown in eligible fare classes. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Delta SkyMiles
- Double SkyMiles for SkyMiles Medallion members registered for Crossover Rewards for all eligible stays at any Sheraton hotel or resort in the United States or Canada. More... Apr 1 - 30, 14

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles on all TAM flights Worldwide when flown in an eligible booking class. More... May 1 - 31, 14
- Up to a 33% Mileage Bank Miles Discount for Mileage Bank Economy Class Award Tickets for travel on TAM. More... Apr 4 - Oct 3, 14
- Double Mileage Bank Miles on all US Airways flights Worldwide including American Airlines codeshares flown by US Airways. More... Until Jun 30, 14

United MileagePlus
- 25% MileagePlus Miles Discount on MileagePlus Economy Saver Awards for flights from the U.S. or Canada to Japan. More... Book by Apr 17 for travel Apr 1 - 30, 14

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Earn up to 25,000 Bonus Dividend Miles when you fly with oneworld partner airlines. Each partner airline will only count once, so the more partner airlines you fly, the more miles you earn. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Oct 30 Update: Qatar Airways oneworld flight bonuses, Mileage Plan now showing Korean award space, Country Inns Shopping Package

What does the middle of the week bring? The official entrance of Qatar Airways into the oneworld Alliance and the first set of bonus offers celebrating this!

News, Tips & Tricks
A little over a week ago Alaskaa Airlines Mileage Plan online award booking engine began displaying Korean Air award space. Once again another boon for this great program from the Pacific Northwest. (Source: One Mile at a Time)

Star Alliance Gold members can no longer take three free checked bags with them on domestic United flights. That benefit has been reduced to one free checked bag at 23kg. United Gold Premier members can still take three bags at 32kg each for free. (Source: LoyaltyLobby)



Travel Deals
Book a Hotel Shopping Package with Country Inns & Suites and receive shopping coupons or a gift card valued at $25 for use during your stay, now through December 31, 2013.



Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Earn Double AAdvantage Miles when you fly on any Qatar Airways flight Worldwide (including AA codeshares on QR) More... Nov 15 - Dec 19 & Jan 6 - 31, 14

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Earn Double Mileage Bank Miles for flights on Qatar Airways Worldwide in all eligible booking classes. More... Nov 15 - Dec 19 & Jan 6 - 31, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn 4x TrueBlue Points on all JetBlue flights systemwide. More... Register and book by Nov 30 for travel until Dec 31, 13

Oman Air Sindbad (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 50% Sindbad Miles Discount for award tickets on most Oman Air flights Worldwides. Flights not included in the promotion are to and from London, Kuwait, Riyadh, Khasab and code share flights. More... Until Nov 30, 13

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Earn Double Frequent Flyer Points on eligible flights and fares on Qatar Airways Worldwide. More... Nov 15 - Dec 19 & Jan 6 - 31, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn double Qmiles when you fly on any oneworld partner airline Worldwide More... Nov 15 - Jan 31, 14

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Earn up to 1,200 Bonus GC Award Points for playing the Golden Circle 3rd Anniversary Game. More... Until Dec 6, 13

oneworld alliance to celebrate Qatar Airways entrance with double miles

oneworld posted two new press releases on their website on the subject of Qatar Airways officially joining the alliance as of Midnight tonight! We haven't come across any of the offers on the individual airlines websites but assume they will be out shortly and some if not most of them will require registration. So be sure to keep checking back here on FFB for each of those airlines' offers! We do know from the press release the Qatar Airways Privilege Club members do have to register.

Here is an excerpt from oneworld's release on the double miles:

Members of Qatar Airways' Privilege Club loyalty programme will receive double Qmiles rewards when flying between 15 November 2013 and 31 January 2014 (until 24 January 2014 for Cathay Pacific),  apart from during the holiday peak (20 December 2013 to 5 January 2014), on the airline's new oneworld partners - airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and around 30 of their affiliated airlines, provided they register first by logging into their account at qmiles.com

Similarly, members of existing oneworld airlines' loyalty programmes will receive double mileage awards when flying on Qatar Airways between 15 November 2013 and 31 January 2014 (until 24 January 2014 for Cathay Pacific's The Marco Polo Club cardholders) - apart from during the holiday peak (20 December 2013 to 5 January 2014).  For further details, see member airlines' websites.

Feb 5 Update: Lots of great bonus offers, oneworld elite benefits enhancement, Voila Hotel Rewards in Canada

Lots of great bonus offers added today to RC plus some good news for oneworld Emerald elite members and Voila Hotel Rewards adds Canadian properties

News, Tips & Tricks
The oneworld Alliance announced two more top tier benefits on January 31st that oneworld Emerald members will be able to take advantage of:

An extra checked baggage allowance, above the standard limit for the cabin class in which they are traveling - either one additional item where the piece concept applies, or an extra 20 kg (44 lbs) where the weight concept applies - when they fly on any oneworld member airline.

Use fast track lanes through security when flying from select key airports worldwide on select oneworld member airlines.

Last week when I mentioned the St. Regis deal for Voila Hotel Rewards members I had to dig deeper into the program as roughy a year ago they had no hotels participating in Canada and only one in the U.S.. A quick check shows that VHR now has 14 hotels in the U.S. and 2 in Canada. The two in Canada are the St. Regis in Vancouver of course and the Lexington Inn & Suites Windsor. Nice to see another hotel loyalty player enter the Canadian market in regards to properties and though small I'm sure those hotels have loyal visitors who will welcome the addition of VHR.

Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles on all prepaid Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Feb 17 for rentals until Dec 31, 13

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Triple Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you spend $30 or more on your everyday purchases at Rexall. More... Until Feb 21, 13

Avianca TACA LifeMiles
- Double LifeMiles for every 1,000 miles you transfer to the account of a relative or friend. More... Until Feb 20, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to 16,000 Bonus Skywards Miles with Emirates' February Miles Accelerator offers for select flights Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Hilton HHonors
- 10,000 Bonus HHonors Points and Double Airline Miles for stays of four or more nights at any Hilton hotels and resorts in Hawaii. More... Until Dec 20, 13

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 3,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for every 3 nights completed at Hyatt Hotels Worldwide. Maximum of 45,000 bonus points awarded. More... Registration opens on Feb 15. Mar 1 - May 31, 13

Saudia Alfursan (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Alfursan Miles for stays at participating Wyndham Rewards hotels Worldwide. More... Until May 6, 13

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Rapid Rewards Points on all Southwest Airlines flight systemwide. More... Until May 15, 2013
- Double Tier Qualifyying Points every time you fly into or out of Milwaukee. More... Until May 15, 2013

US Airways Dividend Miles
- 1,000 Bonus Dividend Miles when you fly on US Airways Shuttle routes between Boston, New York and Washington, DC. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you use your US Airways Dividend Miles credit card to buy or gift bonus miles online. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you buy Dividend Miles online. Targeted to only those members who bought miles in 2012. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 25% Bonus Points for every stay at participating VOILÁ hotels worldwide. A maximum of 25,000 Bonus Points can be earned during the promotional period. More... Until Apr 30, 13