1.5 million Etihad Guest Miles to be won with Hilton Worldwide

Another contest from Etihad Airways to celebrate the 5th anniversary of their Guest Rewards program. This time they have teamed up with Hilton where members will be entered into the contest each time they complete a stay at any Hilton hotel. Every stay between 1 October and 21 December 2011 gives you an entry into the prize draw to win one of the following prizes
• 1st Prize =  750,000 miles
• 2nd Prize = 300,000 miles
• 3rd Prize =  200,000 miles
• 4th Prize =  150,000 miles
• 5th Prize =  100,000 miles

Full details can be found on the Etihad website

The American Express Gold Rewards Card: How does it stack up?

Over the last five to seven years, there has been an emerging trend in the travel loyalty industry when it comes to credit card rewards. It used to be that credit cards were strictly tied into another provider’s loyalty program – or what they call in the industry a co-brand card. These cards, such as those tied into a frequent flyer program, meant you had to keep your loyalty in one program and had no flexibility in choosing how you would like to be rewarded.

With the advent of travel anywhere credit cards, flexibility is the new rewards reality. You’ve seen the ads – “any airline, anytime.” The explosive emergence of these cards would make you think that they all offer the same value. This, however, is not the case. When you look at all the cards in the Travel Points and Hybrid* categories of our latest rankings and how you can be rewarded with each one, you’d be surprised at how different the cards can be.

The primary difference lies in the flexibility the cards offer in terms of redeeming the points or miles you have earned. The American Express Gold Rewards Card is among the most flexible cards in its category, and one of my favourites. Why do I consider the American Express Gold Rewards to be one of the most flexible in its class? Here’s a re-cap:

1. With the TripFlex option, you do not need the full amount of points to redeem for a flight or other travel – you can start at as little as $10 all the way up to the entire amount, right down to the cents.

2. You can book your travel with who you want, when you want, where you want. You can even be on your vacation, put a tour on your card and redeem your points for that charge when you get back from your vacation. The good news for mileage hounds and points junkies is that your bookings are your standard revenue tickets and hotel stays – which means you can still earn frequent flyer miles and frequent guest points while continuing to build up your elite status qualification

3. You have up to 12 months after the charge posts to your account to redeem your points towards it.

4. There is no set reward chart that you have to follow when redeeming for flights, which allows you to redeem the least amount of points possible. Programs that have set reward charts have a maximum ticket price level, and if your ticket does not reach it, you still have to redeem the set amount of points.

5. You are not limited to flights. You can book any travel to redeem your points against whether it is air travel, hotels, car rentals, rail, cruises and more.

See how the Gold Rewards stacks up against the competition:

RBC Avion Visa: You have to book 14 days out to get the best redemption rate and the travel has to be booked through RBC.

Capital One Aspire World MasterCard: You have to the have the full amount of points to redeem against the charge on your card

BMO World Elite MasterCard: To redeem you have to book travel via BMO Elite Rewards and if you book over the phone you are charged a booking fee.

MBNA Travel Platinum MasterCard: You have a set reward chart and only 22 cities in Canada that you can depart from for flights.

CIBC Aventura Visa/MasterCard: You have to book via CIBC’s travel agency and there are only a select amount of redemptions available at their lowest redemption levels

Most other travel points credit cards force you to redeem via their own travel agency and do not allow you to book travel anywhere which typically means you have to redeem before you travel with no option of redeeming afterwards.

Click here to learn more about the American Express Gold Rewards Card,

* "A Hybrid card is a combination of an airline and/or hotel card and a travel points card. You can convert your points to airline or hotel frequent travel programs or use the points to book travel via the credit card's travel agency or with some cards to book travel how you want and then redeem the points against the charge on your account."

Turkish Airlines: Married Couples get a companion ticket for only 1 Euro or 1 Miles&Smiles miles

Turkish Airlines has launched an interesting companion ticket promotion for their Miles&Smiles members that are married. For the month of October, members who book a revenue ticket can buy a second ticket for only 1 Euro or for those who book a Miles&Smiles award ticket a companion ticket can be had for only 1 Miles&Smiles mile. The offer is good for both Economy and Business Class tickets to the following Turkish destinations:

Europe 1: Chisinau, Tirana, Podgorica, Pristine, Skopje, Belgrade, Sofia, Bosnia, Zagreb
Europe 2:Baku, Bucharest, Odessa, Dnepropetvosk, Athens,Kiev, Donetsk,Tbilisi, Budapest, Lviv,Simferopol, Prague, Thesaloniki,Batumi
Europe 3: Milan, Rome, Ljublajana, Venice, Bologna, Naples, Turin, Cenova, Nice, Toulouse, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Valencia, Paris, Lyon
Lisbon, Brussels
North Africa: Cairo, Alexandriaelnohza, Dakar, Khartum, Tunis, Casablanca, Algeria, Nairobi, Darusselam, Lagos, Accra, Tripoli, Benghazi, Adisababa, Entebbe
Near East: Amman
Middle East: Muscat
Central Asia: Askabat,Bombay
Far East: Beıjıng, Osaka
South Africa: Johannesburg, Cape Town

Full details of this promotion can be found here.

Terms and Conditions

• Member with award ticket may get an another award ticket which will be 1 mile, will be redeemed for the passenger accompanying miles&smiles member.
• Promotin is valid only for married couples. Document (Marriage Certificate) will be checked during check-in . Marriage date will be disregarded.
• Promotional award tickets shall be issued for travels between 1 October- 31 October 2011 and travel must be completed between these dates.
• A member can only benefit once from this promotion.
• Promotion is valid for seat limited Economy, Comfort and Business reservation classes .
• Promotion will be applied for only Miles&Smiles members howewer membership obligation for second passenger in the reservation will not be needed.
• The member and accompanying passenger must travel together on all sectors.
• The member and accompanying passenger must be on the same reservation.
• Promotion will be applied on condition that 2 passengers exist in the same reservation. If there are more than 2 passengers in the reservation, regular mileage value will be redeemed.
• The promotional award ticket will only be issued by Turkish Airlines Sales Offices and Call Center, it will not be available through the web site.
• Refund: refund is not allowed .
• Rebooking/rerouting:Rebooking/Rerouting is allowed on condition that the reservation is made within promotion dates and promotional destinations for two award tickets at the same time.
• The validity of the award tickets will be restricted as 31 october.
• Member is also responsible for all taxes and other charges of one mileage ticket.
• This promotion will be applied only for Turkish Airlines scheduled flight. Promotion is not permitted on Codeshare flights and Star Alliance member airlines flights.

4th Quarter Hotel Promotion Round Up

Taking a page from Ric Garrido's Loyalty Traveler blog, we thought it best to also do a round up for our readers of all the fourth quarter hotel loyalty promos that are currently underway 

Best Western Rewards
Earn up to Triple Rewards Points after your 2nd qualified stay at any Best Western branded hotel worldwide. Earn double points for your 2nd qualified stay* or triple points if you stay at 2 different types of Best Western® branded hotels (BEST WESTERN®, BEST WESTERN PLUS® or BEST WESTERN PREMIER®).
Full details, Online Registration and Booking (Registration is required) Until Nov 20, 11
Restrictions
* For residents of North America, Asia, Afica, and South America
* Bonus can be earned twice for regular members, four times for elite members

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
Earn a Free Night when you stay two or more consecutive nights, Sunday-Thursday, at participating Country Inns & Suites By Carlson hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Use promo code 'FALLSTAY' when you book online at Country Inns & Suites  Until Dec 1, 11
To get the free night, members must register their 2 nights stay on or before December 22, 2011, and Club Carlson will send you a Free Night Reward Certificate that you can use for a free night between December 15, 2011 and February 15, 2012.

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
Triple Aeroplan Miles on all qualifying Coast Hotels stays in the U.S. and Canada. Full details. Until Nov 30, 11

Hilton HHonors
Double HHonors Points or Free Night Stays when you stay at participating Hilton locations Worldwide. If you select double points, the bonus will be earned on each night you stay. If you select free night, you will earn a free night certificate after every 4 stays or 10 nights. The free night certificate is valid at participating hotels in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio for 6 months after the date of issuance, as noted on the certificate.
Register online (Registration is required) then book online at Hilton.com. Until Dec 31, 11
For a list of excluded properties please see here

Hyatt Gold Passport
5,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points after every 3 eligible nights at Hyatt hotels Worldwide. Maximum bonus is 30,000 points. Full details and online registration. Until Nov 15, 11

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
500 Bonus Priority Club points PER NIGHT+ Double, Triple or Quadruple Points for stays at participating InterContinental® , Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn®, Express by Holiday Inn™, Holiday Inn Express® and Holiday Inn Club Vacations® hotels, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® worldwide. You will earn 500 points per night and at the end of the promotion the total points will be
doubled if you stay at any 2 IHG brands
tripled if you stay at any 3 IHG brands
quadrupled if you stay at 4 or more IHG brands
up to a maximum of 80,000 points.
Full Details, Registration and Online Booking (Registration is required) Until Dec 31, 11

Marriott Rewards
Marriott Rewards MegaBonus - Bonus Points or Free nights for stays at Marriott locations Worldwide during the promotion period that are paid for with a VISA card. Bonus offers depends on each member and will be revealed once you log in and register. You can log in and book your stays at Marriott.com Register by Oct 31 for stays Sep 15, 11- Jan 15, 12
Here are some of the offer members are getting:
- 1 free night after 2 paid stays (up ot 2 free Categaory 1-4 nights awarded)
- Earn 5,000 points for each 2nd paid stay—up to 20,000 points
- Earn 25,000 points after 15 paid nights + an additional 15,000 points after 20 paid nights- up to 40,000 points
- Earn 35,000 points after 20 paid nights + an additional 15,000 points after 25 paid nights - up to 50,000 points

Melia International Mas Rewards
1,500 Bonus Mas Points per stay a Melia Hotels Worldwide. Bonus can be earned a maximum of 4 times. Full details and Online Booking. Book by Oct 31 for stays until Dec 15, 11

Starwood Preferred Guest
Earn up to Triple Starpoints for stays at more than 875 participating hotels and resorts worldwide.
* Earn triple Starpoints on stays including a Thursday or Sunday night
* Earn double Starpoints on all other stays
There is no limit to number of bonus Starpoints you can earn.
Full Details, Registration & Online Booking. Register by Nov 15, 11 for stays Sep 6 - Dec 18, 11

Voila Hotel Rewards
1.Double Voila Rewards Points for every stay at all VOILÀ hotels Worldwide when you Donate 1,000 Points to World Reader. Register Online (Registration is required) Until Dec 30, 11
2.Double Elite Qualification Credit for every night you stay at all VOILÀ hotels Worldwide. Register Online (Registration is required) Until Dec 31, 11

Wyndham Rewards
Double Wyndham Rewards Points for 3 separate qualified stays at Wyndham locations Worldwide. Valid for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd qualified stays. Plus receive a $20 (USD) VISA gift card after 2nd qualifying stay, 4th qualifying stay, and a 6th qualifying stay. Register Online (Registration is required) Until Nov 18, 11
Restrictions
Valid for residents of the U.S. Canada and Mexico only

WestJet and Emirates sign interline agreement

This news came out last week and brought a touch more fan fare then the El Al announcement. This time it was announced that an interline agreement has been set up between WestJet and Emirates. Passengers will now be able to travel on one itinerary when flying WestJet and connecting to/from Emirates flights in Toronto.

Source: Newswire.ca

American Express Doubles the Sign Up Bonus for Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card

 For a limited time, American Express is doubling the sign up bonus for one of the top Canadian Travel Rewards cards, the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card. Normally the sign up bonus is 10,000 Starpoints but if you apply by December 15th and spend $1,000 within the first three months of cardmembership you will receive 20,000 Starpoints. This is enough Starpoints for 5 free nights at a Category 1 Starwood property. For more details and/or to apply for the card please visit Americanexpress.ca



Other features and benefits of the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
- Earn 1 Starpoint for every $1 in purchases charged to the Card
- Enjoy a Free Weekend Night Award when you reach $40,000 in purchases each year
- Experience Starwood Gold Preferred Guest status when you reach $30,000 in purchases each year
- $120 annual fee (annual interest rate 19.99%)

Starwood Award Stays to Count Towards Elite Status

Gary Leff from the View From The Wing blog broke this story a few days as a rumour and then confirmed that effective October 1st, 2011 all Starwood Award stays and nights will count towards your elite qualification in the SPG program. The only other hotel programs to offer this benefit are Choice Privileges and Hilton HHonors.

Diners Club transition update

This post is more for those of you who are already Diners Club cardholders here in Canada as the card is not available at this time to new customers. For those of you who are and have not received the new welcome package from BMO (who took over the Diners Club brand in North America from Citibank) here are some details that I can glean from the information sent although some information is still missing.

• New cards will come in November that will include chip technology and the MasterCard PayPass feature
• Travel Insurances all look to remain the same including the primary car rental coverage
• Business Class lounge access looks to remain the same which is great as access has expanded to over 450 lounges worldwide
• Fees and Interest Rates will change. The interest rate will increase slightly to 19.5% and fees now include your standard BMO suite of charges for going over your limit, dishonoured payment etc.
• There is a new website which is already functional but I assume will contain a lot more information and booking features in the future: www.clubrewardscanada.com
• Club Rewards will apparently have improved reward redemption options, the awesome tailored travel feature remains where you book your travel yourself and then redeem points against the charge. What the information packet does not state is if the rate of return will remain at 1.7%. You will still be able to transfer Club Rewards points to select frequent flyer and guest accounts. The new feature that is being added to Club Rewards is called a "Self Serve Travel Reward" which you will book via the Club Rewards website or by phone. Seeing as the card is now owned by BMO, I am assuming that this feature will be much like the BMO Elite Reward Centre for the BMO World Elite MasterCard. Again, what we don't know is what the redemption rate will be like for booking  travel via this option. It does state a booking fee is charged for the "Self Serve Travel Option", hopefully this is only the case for phone in bookings and not online bookings (the BMO Elite used to charge a fee on both but then removed the online booking fee)
• There is no mention as to whether cardmembers will still receive an annual membership in the Priority Pass Airport Lounge program

Overall the changes don't look to be too drastic unless there is a change in the redemption rates and whether or not Priority Pass will still be included. I guess all of us Diners Club cardholders will have to wait until November to find out all the details.

United unveils 2012 Mileage Plus program changes

United has released the details of the 2012 Mileage Plus program which effectively also covers Continental's OnePass program as that is being integrated into Mileage Plus on December 31. The following updates to the program are taken straight from United's own post on Milepoint.com and can also be view on United.com

1. New vocabulary. First, here’s some new nomenclature: The term Premier will live on but in a new context. It will replace the term “Elite”. With that will come some new three-letter acronyms:
   
   
   • PQM & PQS: Premier Qualifying Mile & Segment (formerly EQM/EQS)
   • CPU: Complimentary Premier Upgrade (formerly UDU and EUA)
   • RPU: Regional Premier Upgrade (formerly CR1 and RU)
   • GPU: Global Premier Upgrade (formerly SWU)
     
2. New tiers and qualification requirements. Heard any good rumors lately? Here are our new Premier tiers – all of which will have a minimum requirement of 4 paid flights on United, Continental and/or Copa:
   
   
   • Premier Silver: 25K PQM or 30 PQS
   • Premier Gold: 50K PQM or 60 PQS
   • Premier Platinum: 75K PQM or 90 PQS
   • Premier 1K: 100K PQM or 120 PQS
   • Global Services: Invitation only
3. Bonus Award mile changes. Here are the changes we’re making to premier and fare class bonuses:
   
   Premier bonuses:
   
   • Premier Silver: 25% bonus miles (no change)
   • Premier Gold: 50% bonus miles
   • Premier Platinum: 75% bonus miles
   • Premier 1K and Global Services: 100% bonus miles (no change)
   
   Fare Class bonuses for United/Continental:
   • Full-fare Economy Class (Y/B) fares: +25% bonus miles
   • Discounted Business Class (Z/P) fares: +50% bonus miles
   • Full-fare Business Class (J/C/D) fares: +75% bonus miles
   • 2-Cabin First Class (F/A) fares: +75% bonus miles
   • 3-Cabin First Class (F/A) fares: +150% bonus miles
     
4. New CPU geography for United, Continental and Copa.Our rationale for offering CPUs will almost entirely be based on how the premium cabin of the flight is marketed. Simply put - markets where the premium product is predominantly our domestic standard will be eligible for CPUs, and all others will not. Based on our current network, this is how our CPU program shakes out geographically:
   
   • Mainland U.S. (except p.s. markets JFK-LAX/SFO), Alaska and Canada
   • Hawaii (California to/from Hawaii, plus any other market operating with a domestic premium product, such as Chicago-Honolulu)
   • Mexico/Caribbean/Central America
   • Northern South America (except New York-Lima)
   • Southern South America (Copa flights only)
   • Asia/Oceania (except transpacific, Honolulu-Guam, Tokyo-Singapore/Bangkok nonstops)
   RPUs will be eligible in these same markets plus our p.s. and all Mainland U.S.-Hawaii markets.
5. Instant upgrades for full-fare Economy Class fares. Premier members traveling on certain full-fare Economy Class fares will be eligible for an instant upgrade as early as ticketing. Specifically, all premier members will be eligible for instant upgrades from Y and B fares, and Premier 1K members will additionally enjoy instant upgrades from M class fares. Y fares will instantly upgrade using last-seat availability. B and M fares will have expanded upgrade availability, but it won’t always be down to the last seat.
6. New CPU clearance windows. CPUs will begin processing automatically starting at 120 hours for Global Services, 96 hours for Premier 1K, 72 hours for Premier Platinum, 48 hours for Premier Gold and on the day of departure for Premier Silver.
7. New CPU hierarchy. Our CPU/airport standby upgrade hierarchy will be as follows:
   
   
   • Global Services
   • Y/B/M instant upgrades that weren’t confirmed in advance (sorted by fare class then premier tier)
   • Paid upgrades (i.e. GPUs, RPUs and mileage upgrades) sorted by status, fare class, and date of waitlist
   • All remaining premier customers by status, then fare class
8. Companion CPUs for all Premiers. Premiers at all levels will be able to extend their CPUs to one travel companion in the same reservation, including in the advance clearance window and with Y/B/M instant upgrades. This will happen automatically when the Premier reservation includes a single companion. In cases where there are more than two people in the reservation, or where the companion is in a separate reservation, the companion upgrade may be designated at the airport.
9. Economy Plus access at check-in for Premier Silver, improved access for all other levels. To ensure we have better seating options for our top premier levels, advance complimentary access to Economy Plus will be limited to Premier Gold members and higher plus one companion (Premier Platinums and above may have up to 8 companions). Premier Silvers and one companion will continue to enjoy complimentary space-available access to Economy Plus starting at 24 hours before departure.
10. Baggage changes for Premier Silver. The complimentary baggage allowance for Premier Silver and Star Alliance Silver members will be reduced to 1 complimentary checked bag weighing up to 50 lbs.
11. Aligned mileage expiration policy. Miles will expire if your account is left inactive for 18 months. Our definition of activity will be very easy to meet for earning or redemption in thousands of ways. This includes something as simple as a magazine subscription redemption – which can be had for as little as 400 miles.
12. New lifetime benefits. Big changes here, and we think you’ll agree this is the most generous lifetime program in the world. The following will take effect next spring (so please hold tight until then):
    
    
    • Continental and United lifetime earnings will be combined. You all guessed that much, but the key will be how we do it. Continental’s lifetime earnings have been EQM-based, and United’s have been based on actual flight miles. Starting in 2012, the program will be based on actual flight miles, however, we will make a one-time adjustment on the United side to boost everyone’s lifetime earnings to EQMs dating back to the beginning of the program
    • Lifetime premier benefits for 1 million miles = Premier Gold, 2 million = Premier Platinum, 3 million = Premier 1K, 4 million = Global Services
    • Million milers will be able to designate a spouse or significant other to always have the same premier tier as them (this includes when the million miler member earns a higher tier). The spousal premier benefits will be identical as the member, except they will not include RPUs and GPUs. This spousal benefit will replace the one-time and annual upgrade gifts, and hopefully you’ll agree this is a better deal
    • Continental’s Infinite Elite members (the limited few of you that earned this back in the early 90’s) will be grandfathered in and given lifetime Premier 1K status, but without the GPUs. We hope you’ll agree this is a generous resolution

I'm curious to hear what all of our Mileage Plus readers think of these changes. Do you think it is fair or have they taken too much away? Overall the buzz on the net does seem to think they are fair as there has been some give and take but one key thing that was rumoured that never came true was a revenue requirement for status. However, much like the Aeroplan changes earlier this year, there is a minimum flight requirement in the elite qualification process of 4 flights on United, Continental or Copa.

Feel free to comment below with your thoughts on the 2012 Mileage Plus program

Etihad Airways: Chance to win up to 100,000 Guest Miles

Etihad Airways is running a contest where you have a chance to win up to 100,000 Guest Miles. You gain an entry every time you fly on Etihad Airways from October to December. There are three lucky winners each month and prizes are as follows:
• 50,000 bonus Guest Miles
• 75,000 bonus Guest Miles
• 100,000 bonus Guest Miles
Simply book a flight oat Etihad Airways then register online to be entered into the contest.