According to Airline Route Updates, China Southern Airlines will start 3x weekly service between Vancouver and Guangzhou on June 15, 2011. The flights will be operated with a Boeing 777-200ER. A member of the SkyTeam alliance, China Southern's frequent flyer program is called the Sky Pearl club and with the launch of these flights we welcome the program to Rewads Canada's Bonus Offer listings.
Flight timings:
Vancouver - Guangzhou Dep 1100 Arr 1450+1
Guangzhou - Vancouver Dep 1300 Arr 0920
Monday, January 17, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Air Canada to stop awarding Aeroplan Miles for online bookings
The bonus Aeroplan miles that members have earned for booking flights online at AirCanada.com over the past few years will come to an end on February 15, 2011. While the bonus was not huge for many of the fares unless you bought really expensive business class flights (1 Bonus Aeroplan Mile for every $3 spent on Tango fares, for every $2 spent on Tango Plus fares, for every $1 spent on Latitude, and Executive Class fares) it does take away the nice triple dip feature that members could take advantage of to earn some extra miles. Now, when you fly Air Canada with tickets booked after February 15th you will only be able to double dip, that is, you will earn the actual flight miles and the miles/points on your credit card if you use a rewards credit card for the purchase.
Source: Air Canada
Source: Air Canada
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
LAN Airlines to cancel Tororto service
Chile's LAN Airlines will stop serving Toronto as of April 2, 2011. The airline has served the city for the past couple of years with a 5x weekly service from Santiago that went via New York.
Source: Airline Route Updates
Source: Airline Route Updates
COPA Airlines to launch Toronto - Panama City service
According to Airline Route Updates, Latin American carrier COPA Airlines will launch a 4X weekly service between Toronto and Panama City on Jun 16, 11. COPA has ties with Continental Airlines (you can earn/burn OnePass miles on COPA) and is set to join the Star Alliance sometime in 2012.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Aeroplan Expiry Rules
As a follow up to our recent appearances in the Globe and Mail and on Global Vancouver we want to give our readers some insight on the Aeroplan expiry rules that are making waves in the news right now:
The news revolves around the 7 year shelf life of Aeroplan miles that the company announced in late 2006 and became effective January 1, 2007. Basically what this means is that any miles earned prior to January 1, 2007 will expire on January 1, 2014. Miles earned after January 1, 2007 will expire at the end of the month they were earned in seven years later. So if you are still collecting and redeeming miles with Aeroplan then you still have some time to start worrying about losing those miles prior to 2007. The reason this news is surfacing now is that Aeroplan is slowly getting to work on systems to notify members on when their miles will expire starting in 2014 on a monthly basis and word is it that it will be started sometime in 2011.
This is a separate rule then the one that has made the news the past few years and that is the inactivity rule whereby if you do not earn or redeem at least 1 Aeroplan mile every 12 months then you lose all your miles regardless of how long you have had them. Many members have complained about this rule and not being notified about it. Aeroplan states they make all attempts to notify its members but the communications may get lost in all the emails received from Aeroplan.
One question posed to me is when you redeem miles which go first? Aeroplan runs on a first in first out basis which means your oldest miles are redeemed first on any Aeroplan redemption.
Other criticisms I have seen and been noted of is why is Aeroplan doing this but truth be told they were not the first frequent flyer program to do this and in fact their Canadian competitor, WestJet, has a 5 year shelf life for their WestJet dolllars earned in the WestJet Frequent Guest Program.
Please feel free to pose any questions, comments or concerns below.
The news revolves around the 7 year shelf life of Aeroplan miles that the company announced in late 2006 and became effective January 1, 2007. Basically what this means is that any miles earned prior to January 1, 2007 will expire on January 1, 2014. Miles earned after January 1, 2007 will expire at the end of the month they were earned in seven years later. So if you are still collecting and redeeming miles with Aeroplan then you still have some time to start worrying about losing those miles prior to 2007. The reason this news is surfacing now is that Aeroplan is slowly getting to work on systems to notify members on when their miles will expire starting in 2014 on a monthly basis and word is it that it will be started sometime in 2011.
This is a separate rule then the one that has made the news the past few years and that is the inactivity rule whereby if you do not earn or redeem at least 1 Aeroplan mile every 12 months then you lose all your miles regardless of how long you have had them. Many members have complained about this rule and not being notified about it. Aeroplan states they make all attempts to notify its members but the communications may get lost in all the emails received from Aeroplan.
One question posed to me is when you redeem miles which go first? Aeroplan runs on a first in first out basis which means your oldest miles are redeemed first on any Aeroplan redemption.
Other criticisms I have seen and been noted of is why is Aeroplan doing this but truth be told they were not the first frequent flyer program to do this and in fact their Canadian competitor, WestJet, has a 5 year shelf life for their WestJet dolllars earned in the WestJet Frequent Guest Program.
Please feel free to pose any questions, comments or concerns below.
Marriott keeps Elite Rollover for 2011
Marriott heralded an industry first this past year when they introduced Elite Rollover nights that essentially allowed you to keep any extra nights over and above your latest elite level and use them towards your elite status for the following year. Earlier this week Marriott was please to announce via their Marriott Rewards Insiders forum that will continue to offer this great feature for the 2011 year. This means that any extra nights you have at the end of 2011 will count towards your requalification in 2012.
Source: Marriott Rewards Insiders
Source: Marriott Rewards Insiders
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
US Airways to award lifetime Silver Elite Status to Million Milers
US Airways has introduced a million miler program (much like Air Canada did recently) where they will offer lifetime Silver Elite status to Dividend Mile members who have flown 1,000,000 status miles. To achieve the lifetime status the miles must have been flown on US Airways metal only which means that just like Aeroplan's program, partner flights do not count.
Friday, December 17, 2010
US Airways joins Star Alliance Upgrade Award program
US Airways is the second North American Star Alliance carrier to announce this month (Air Canada did so earlier) their participation in the Star Alliance Upgrade Award program. Basically allows you to use miles to upgrade full fare economy or business class flights based on each carriers availability.
For complete details please see US Airways Star Alliance Upgrades
For complete details please see US Airways Star Alliance Upgrades
2011 Air Canada Top Tier Program - Modifications to Benefits
Less then a week after initially being released, Air Canada has listened to their top flyers and have adjusted some parts of the 2011 Top Tier program due to the numerous complaints they received. The primary changes come in the number of credits required for upgrading certain fare classes with Air Canada lowering the amount in three categories.
Once again this was announced on FlyerTalk.com by Air Canada representative Andrew Yiu. Following is an excerpt from his post that covers the modifications
Thanks to everyone for the comments that have been posted here the last few days, and especially those who took the time to post some very valuable, constructive feedback. While it's not our intent to address every issue raised on this forum on the changes to the 2011 Top Tier program, some very valid points were raised which we agree should be addressed to the best of our ability. These modifications are our attempt to do just that. As I've explained here previously, the eUpgrades program is designed to give our customers more flexibility in terms of what types of fares and flights they would like to use their upgrades on. All credits can now be used to upgrade from Tango Plus and Latitude fares, instead of a system where fixed types of certificates were being offered, which resulted in some customers not being able to fully utilize their upgrade benefit. eUpgrades will allow a customer to choose between using more credits to upgrade lower fares, or less for higher fares. The zone system was developed to take into account the fact that all credits will be valid on all Tango Plus and Latitude fares. We need a simple system to reflect the value of an Executive Class/Executive First seat in a particular market; hence the 1500 miles cutoff within NA and 5000 miles cutoff for International.
Having said that, our Marketing and Revenue Management teams sat down today and reviewed all the constructive feedback we've received. Following that, we have decided to make the following adjustments to the 2011 eUpgrade Program:
All Tango Plus Flight Passes will be booked in M class
(Edit to add: North America + Sun Passes only.)
This one has actually been in the works as the Flight Pass program is independent of both the eUpgrade and Top Tier programs. All Tango Plus Flight Passes that are currently booked in U will be rebooked into M effective Jan 1, 2011 (Passes for flights to our Sun markets are the only ones that are currently outstanding). Existing Flight Pass bookings that are booked in U will be rebooked in M. You will be able to upgrade using your eUpgrade Credits based on the requirement for M class for travel effective March 1, 2011.
Adjustment of credits required for Tango Plus (M class) on International flights
The credits required for Tango Plus (M class) on an international flight will be modified as follows:
• For flights that are < 5000 miles: 8 credits (instead of 10)
• For flights that are 5001 miles or longer: 12 credits (instead of 15)
There is no change to booking windows, which remains the same versus 2010.
This change will become effective on the eUpgrades system later this week.
The rationale behind the change is that we took another look at all the current M fares across our markets and as some of you have pointed out, the differential between Y/B and M is not always the same. The new revised requirement better reflects the average of the fare differential between M fares and the rest of the Tango Plus fares on our International markets.
Adjustment of credits required for Tango Plus (U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T class) on International flights
The credits required for Tango Plus (U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T class) on international flights will be modified as follows:
• For flights that are < 5000 miles: 14 credits (no change)
• For flights that are 5001 miles or longer: 17 credits (instead of 20)
There is no change to booking windows, which remains the same versus 2010.
Once again this was announced on FlyerTalk.com by Air Canada representative Andrew Yiu. Following is an excerpt from his post that covers the modifications
Thanks to everyone for the comments that have been posted here the last few days, and especially those who took the time to post some very valuable, constructive feedback. While it's not our intent to address every issue raised on this forum on the changes to the 2011 Top Tier program, some very valid points were raised which we agree should be addressed to the best of our ability. These modifications are our attempt to do just that. As I've explained here previously, the eUpgrades program is designed to give our customers more flexibility in terms of what types of fares and flights they would like to use their upgrades on. All credits can now be used to upgrade from Tango Plus and Latitude fares, instead of a system where fixed types of certificates were being offered, which resulted in some customers not being able to fully utilize their upgrade benefit. eUpgrades will allow a customer to choose between using more credits to upgrade lower fares, or less for higher fares. The zone system was developed to take into account the fact that all credits will be valid on all Tango Plus and Latitude fares. We need a simple system to reflect the value of an Executive Class/Executive First seat in a particular market; hence the 1500 miles cutoff within NA and 5000 miles cutoff for International.
Having said that, our Marketing and Revenue Management teams sat down today and reviewed all the constructive feedback we've received. Following that, we have decided to make the following adjustments to the 2011 eUpgrade Program:
All Tango Plus Flight Passes will be booked in M class
(Edit to add: North America + Sun Passes only.)
This one has actually been in the works as the Flight Pass program is independent of both the eUpgrade and Top Tier programs. All Tango Plus Flight Passes that are currently booked in U will be rebooked into M effective Jan 1, 2011 (Passes for flights to our Sun markets are the only ones that are currently outstanding). Existing Flight Pass bookings that are booked in U will be rebooked in M. You will be able to upgrade using your eUpgrade Credits based on the requirement for M class for travel effective March 1, 2011.
Adjustment of credits required for Tango Plus (M class) on International flights
The credits required for Tango Plus (M class) on an international flight will be modified as follows:
• For flights that are < 5000 miles: 8 credits (instead of 10)
• For flights that are 5001 miles or longer: 12 credits (instead of 15)
There is no change to booking windows, which remains the same versus 2010.
This change will become effective on the eUpgrades system later this week.
The rationale behind the change is that we took another look at all the current M fares across our markets and as some of you have pointed out, the differential between Y/B and M is not always the same. The new revised requirement better reflects the average of the fare differential between M fares and the rest of the Tango Plus fares on our International markets.
Adjustment of credits required for Tango Plus (U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T class) on International flights
The credits required for Tango Plus (U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T class) on international flights will be modified as follows:
• For flights that are < 5000 miles: 14 credits (no change)
• For flights that are 5001 miles or longer: 17 credits (instead of 20)
There is no change to booking windows, which remains the same versus 2010.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
WestJet signs interline agreement with British Airways
OK, I know this news is over a week old but better late then never right?
Anyways, WestJet has signed another agreement like those previously with Air France KLM, China Airlines and American Airlines whereby customers travelling on British Airways flights from the U.K. connecting to a WestJet flights will be able to do so on a single ticket.
Source: The Globe and Mail
Anyways, WestJet has signed another agreement like those previously with Air France KLM, China Airlines and American Airlines whereby customers travelling on British Airways flights from the U.K. connecting to a WestJet flights will be able to do so on a single ticket.
Source: The Globe and Mail