Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express is now available

After many months of hype from American Express and their PR team, the Starwood Preferred Guest®* Credit Card from American Express fro Canadians is finally open for applications. In fact it went live last Wednesday (Mar 31) but we have been quite swamped with the 5 Years 5 Ways to Win Contest that I have not had time to post about this card.

We revealed many of the details in an earlier post of ours but now we can see everything that this card has to offer including its insurance benefits. One main thing that has changed since our last post, is that AMEX and SPG are offering on a limited time basis 11,000 bonus Starpoints instead of 10,000 and the first year's annual fee of $120 is waived for the primary cardholder.

Once again here are the details of the card including the insuracne benefits
* Earn 1 Starpoint for every CDN$1 in purchases charged to the Card.
* Receive a Free Weekend Night Award (category 1-4) when you reach CDN$40,000 in purchases on the Card each year.
* Earn Gold Preferred Guest status when you reach CDN$30,000 in purchases on the Card each year.
* Take advantage of many American Express Card membership benefits, including Front Of The Line®* access to some of the hottest events,5 plus a host of travel-related insurance benefits.
* Enjoy the flexibility to pay balances in full or over time.
* CDN$120 annual fee.
* $500,000 Travel Accident Insurance
* Complimentary Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance
* Flight Delay Insurance
* Baggage Delay Insurance
* Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance
* Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance
* Buyer's Assurance Protection Plan
* Purchase Protection Plan

Overall the card itself is pretty decent and being tied to one of the world's best Frequent Guest programs makes it relatively attractive. However if you compare it to SPG's previous offering in Canada with MBNA, the card is expensive in terms of annual fees and does not offer much more then the old card did. When quickly compared to cards it is trying to compete with (RBC Avion, CIBC Aerogolds) is stacks up nicely and is a contender against those cards. While the card will definitely have its followers, SPG and AMEX will have to do some legwork to try and pull people away from their airline cards or from the travel anywhere cards like Avion and TD Visa's. Many people outside of the pavement pounding high flying frequent travellers are unaware of hotel programs in general and they need to be educated on the value of a hotel program especially when hotels can cost as much if not more then flights on their vacations. In this case the card can be a decent proposition for leisure travellers versus the airline or travel anywhere cards.

To find out more or to apply for the card click here.

OK Tire becomes latest Aeroplan partner

Aeroplan members can now earn Aeroplan miles at over 270 OK Tire locations across Canada. Members will be able to earn 1 Aeroplan Mile per $2 spent on all tire and wheel purchases and 1 Aeroplan Mile for every $1 spent on parts, labour & mechanical services.

Source: Colloquy

Jazz Air signs agreement with Thomas Cook

Jazz Air, the regional carrier of Air Canada will operate a charter airline for Thomas Cook beginning with the 2010-11 Winter Vacation season with up to 6 Boeing 757's. The move comes after SkyService who provided planes for Thomas Cook, shut down last week. The agreement will see Jazz Air fly for Thomas Cook until Apr 30, 2012 with a possible extension to Apr 30, 2015.

Source: The Globe and Mail

FrequentFlyerBonuses.com: 5 Years 5 Ways to Win Contest

I am pleased to announce that our global site, FrequentFlyerBonuses.com is 5 years old and to celebrate we have launched the 5 Years - 5 Ways to Win contest where you can win a US$250 Marriott Gift Card for participating in any or all of the 5 different ways such as subscribing to our newsletter, following our blog, participating on Twitter and Facebook and for completing a survey.

If you live in the U.S. you also have a chance at winning 10,000 FREE SPIRIT miles.

See it all at:
http://www.5years5waystowin.com

Canadian charter airline SkyService shuts down

From the Globe and Mail:

"Skyservice Airlines has abruptly shut down, leaving tour operators that hired the charter carrier scrambling to find other planes for travellers.

Toronto-based Skyservice confirmed Wednesday that a receiver has been appointed to oversee the winding down of the debt-laden company.

The closing of Skyservice comes after Sunwing Travel Group, which has its own planes, merged recently with Signature Vacations. Industry insiders say Sunwing had held talks with Skyservice for an early cancellation of the charter airline's deal to continue flying on behalf of Signature until 2013."

Porter increases flights on Eastern Triangle

" Porter Airlines takes leading position with Toronto-Ottawa, Toronto-Montreal routes

Up to 46 Montreal, 38 Ottawa daily flights

TORONTO/March 18, 2010 – Porter Airlines is significantly expanding its service on the key Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa Eastern Triangle routes, offering up to 84 combined daily flights.

Flights between Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Montreal Trudeau Airport will grow to 46 daily trips from the current peak of 28. On the Toronto City Airport-Ottawa route, flight frequency increases to 38 daily trips from 34. The majority of flights will operate every 40 minutes on the Montreal route and every hour on the Ottawa route. These changes take full effect May 5.

“Porter now has more weekday flights on these two important routes than any other carrier,” said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines. “Business people enjoy travelling when the flight is convenient for their schedule and Porter gives them extensive choices with high frequency and flexibility.”

Source: Porter Press Release

Air Canada moving to Credit Card only cabins

Effective May 1, Air Canada (excluding Jazz) will be moving to credit card only cabins for all flights that offer On-Board Cafe or Duty-Free Boutique. Jazz will remain as Cash and meal voucher cabins.

Full details can be found on Air Canada' s website.

Porter Airlines set to launch service to Moncton

Starting on June 25, 2010, Porter Airlines will offer two flights per day for the summer season between Moncton and Ottawa with same plane service continuing to Toronto Island Airport. At the end of the summer season the flights will be reduced to once per day on Thursday and Fridays, plus two flights per day on Sundays.

Source: Porter

Virgin America plans to serve Toronto by June

If approved, Virgin America will start serving Toronto as early as June 2010 from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Subject to receipt of authority from the U.S. DOT, Virgin America would offer one flight per day from Toronto to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Toronto would be Virgin America's first International destination.

Should these routes be approved it gives Canadian's another frequent flyer option as Virgin America does have its own program called Elevate.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Marriott changing reward night levels at 20% of their hotels

As of this past Sunday (March 8) Marriott changed the points requirements for free nights at 20% of its Worldwide hotels. 300 of the hotels (roughly 9%) will increase by being moved up to a higher category level while 350 (11%) will decrease by being moved down to lower categories. Approximately 95% of the 650 hotels affected fall into the first 5 redemption categories.
Visit this thread on FlyerTalk.com to see a compiled list of the individual hotel changes

Source: Hotel Check-In