American Express Gold Rewards Card: TripFlex Highlight

In my third post focusing on Canada’s #1 Hybrid* credit card, we look at one of the key features that gave it top spot, TripFlex. The TripFlex feature of the American Express Gold Rewards Card gives true definition to the often-used marketing copy of “Travel anywhere at any time.” I have actually twisted that copy a bit, most cards say something to this effect: “Fly any airline at any time” but TripFlex is not limited to flight redemptions as it can be used for any eligible travel purchases. Add to this the low redemption requirements, the 12-month redemption period and the ease of use and you’ll see why this feature helped me rank this card number one in our 2011 Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards rankings.

Redemption requirements
Unlike some other hybrid and travel points cards, with TripFlex you don’t need the full amount of points to redeem; rather you can redeem as little as 1,000 points for a $10 statement credit towards any travel that has been charged to your card. This means if you find a last minute seat sale or book through a travel agent, you can pay for it on your card and call Amex to use your points for a statement credit against the charge. The beauty of not having set redemption levels with TripFlex means you only redeem the amount of points you want or need to, whether it’s the 1,000 points for $10  or 50,000 points for $500. For example, on one of my TripFlex redemptions, my flight came in at $606.93 and I was able to redeem the exact amount of points right down to the penny – and that included the taxes and fees.

Redemption Period
Unlike airline credit cards and many other travel points & hybrid cards, you don’t have to redeem your points before you book your travel with the Gold Rewards Card. In fact, you can be on vacation and put a travel-related charge such as a hotel stay on your card and then redeem your points for that charge when you get home from your trip. Technically speaking, you can redeem points before, during and/or after you travel and you have up to 12 months after the travel charge is posted to your account to redeem your points for a statement credit. Very few cards on the Canadian market offer this sort of redemption flexibility.

Ease of Redemption
Speaking from experience, the process of redeeming my Membership Reward points was extremely easy. I simply called up American Express, said I wanted to redeem my points against a travel charge on my account and after a few questions such as which charge do I want to redeem for and do I want to redeem the full amount or a partial amount of points, it was all said and done. And the statement credit was posted to my account within 3 days of calling in.

As you can see, the TripFlex feature of the Gold Rewards Card provides the utmost in flexibility for travel rewards – and when you combine this with the other features of the card including the ability to transfer points to Aeroplan, 2x points on eligible spending along with a good suite of insurance benefits you can see why I ranked this card #1 in the Hybrid category.

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.

50,000 Club Carlson Points for a single Radisson stay

Carlson Hotels sent out a press release yesterday announcing a promotion to celebrate to opening of their first luxury Radisson Blu Hotel in the United States, the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago. The promotion goes like this, the first 50,000 Club Carlson members to register for the promotion (registration starts on Nov 10), book at Radisson or Radisson Blu stay in the U.S., Canada or Caribbean after registration and complete that stay by December 30 will receive 50,000 Bonus Gold Points. If you register after the first 50,000 then you will be awarded with 15,000 Bonus Gold Points for your completed stay.

What can you get for 50,000 Club Carlson points? Five nights in a category 1 hotel or one night in a luxurious category 6 hotel and various nights inbetween for category 2-5 hotels.

Is this a good deal?
Considering you should be able to get one Radisson stay in the $100-$150 range to earn the 50K bonus, the resulting reward stays could be worth $300-$600 or even higher so this is definitely a good deal

The registration page is up although you cannot register yet at
www.radissonbignightgiveaway.com/



thanks to One Mile at a Time for the insight on this offer:

Rewards Canada November Updates

In case you missed the big banner above or the banners all over the RewardsCanada.ca website, we launched our 10th Anniversary contest on November 1st with some huge prizes supplied by American Express Canada, Aeroplan and Etihad Airways. In total there are 10 prizes ranging from Sheraton Bath Robes to 125,000 Aeroplan Miles. For all the details and to enter the contest visit rewardscanada.ca/10years.

But that was not the only news we had come out on November 1st, we actually had two more updates come out the same day. The first was a redesign of the RewardsCanada.ca website which is slowly being integrated into all the pages on the site as each is updated, roughly 50% of the site has the new look incorporated. Feel free to comment below on what you think of it!

Finally, the last update was the launch of our YouTube channel called Rewards Canada TV which will feature news, reviews, rants, raves, tips and tricks and much more on the travel rewards industry in Canada. You can visit the channel at youtube.com/rewardscanada and view my first video below:

Emirates: Earn 12,000 Bonus Skywards Miles in 1st Class between Toronto & Dubai

Each month Emirates releases bonus offers on select routes across their network called 'Miles Accelerator' bonuses and for the month of November, you can earn 12,000 bonus Skywards miles when you fly First Class between Toronto and Dubai.

About Miles Accelerator:
The Miles Accelerator feature allows you to search out routes, presumably the ones you need to fly on and see if any of them are offering more miles. Typically flights that are seeing less demand will see a bonus offer. For example, city pairs that have more then one flight a day may have different bonuses offered depending on the flight.  As you can see on the following Frankfurt - Dubai screen grab for November, the early morning flight to Dubai has no bonus for economy class presumably because the flight is showing enough demand:

Sometimes the bonuses are the same for the return flight but on many occasions they are not, as seen on the return Dubai to Frankfurt routing:

Here are some other routes that have bonuses for the month of November
Route First Class Business Class Economy Class
Abidjan - Dubai 16,000 bonus Miles 8,000 bonus Miles Not available
Amsterdam - Dubai 10,000 bonus Miles Not available 2,000 bonus Miles
Bangkok - Dubai 6,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles
Beijing - Dubai 6,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles 2,000 bonus Miles
Copenhagen - Dubai 10,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles Not available
Dar Es Salaam - Dubai 6,000 bonus Miles Not available 2,000 bonus Miles
Frankfurt - Dubai 10,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles 2,000 bonus Miles
Geneva - Dubai 6,000 bonus Miles Not available 4,000 bonus Miles
Houston - Dubai 16,000 bonus Miles 12,000 bonus Miles 8,000 bonus Miles
Johannesburg- Dubai 10,000 bonus Miles 6,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles
Kuala Lumpur - Dubai 10,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles 2,000 bonus Miles
Los Angeles - Dubai 16,000 bonus Miles 12,000 bonus Miles 6,000 bonus Miles
Manchester - Dubai 10,000 bonus Miles 6,000 bonus Miles 2,000 bonus Miles
Osaka - Dubai 16,000 bonus Miles 8,000 bonus Miles Not available
Paris - Dubai 6,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles 2,000 bonus Miles
Rome - Dubai 10,000 bonus Miles 4,000 bonus Miles Not available
San Francisco - Dubai 16,000 bonus Miles Not available Not available
Seoul - Dubai Not available Not available 6,000 bonus Miles
Toronto - Dubai 12,000 bonus Miles Not available Not available
Vienna - Dubai 10,000 bonus Miles 6,000 bonus Miles 2,000 bonus Miles

Overall the Miles Accelerator offer from Emirates is a good way to earn some extra miles on your EK flights if you do fly on one of them that is offering a bonus. The bonus miles do not cost you anything extra, all you have to do is opt-in each month into the Miles Accelerator program and see if you can take advantage of any of the routes that have bonus offers on them. It is wise to check the offers on a monthly basis or visit our Skywards page for a sampling of offers as sometimes the bonuses can get quite large as  witnessed earlier this year when you could earn 70,000 Bonus Skywards miles for flights in first class between Los Angeles and Dubai.

For more information on Miles Accelerator please visit Emirates.com

WestJet enhances their Frequent Guest Program

It was a little over 18 months ago that WestJet launched their Frequent Guest Program to so-so reviews from us and other industry analysts. Today, WestJet announced some changes to program that make the program better for its members. The biggest change comes in the removal of the $1,500 spend limit (I know I fell short in the first year by a couple hundred) which means you start earning WestJet dollars right from the onset of your first flight with WestJet. The complete changes as taken from the press release are as follows:

• Frequent Guest Program members will now start earning with their first WestJet flight flown and vacation package taken. The $1,500 annual qualifying spend requirement has been eliminated.
• There's no limit to the number of WestJet dollars members can redeem toward WestJet Vacations packages. The $500 maximum redemption amount for WestJet Vacations packages has been removed.
• All WestJet RBC MasterCard members are now automatically members of the Frequent Guest Program with the ability to double-dip by earning WestJet dollars through purchases on their card and by flying with WestJet.

 According to the press release additional enhancements to program will be announced in the coming months.

Update from a WestJet Email I received:
We've removed the $1500 annual qualifying spend requirement.
You read that right. We listened to your feedback and have eliminated the requirement to spend $1500 each qualifying year before you can begin receiving WestJet dollars. Now all members can earn right away, starting with the first flight flown or WestJet Vacations package taken.

For WestJet flights, earning starts at 1% and increases to 2.5%.
Each qualifying year, you'll begin by earning 1% back in WestJet dollars on eligible spend between $1 and $1499. Once you reach $1500 in annual qualifying spend, you'll receive a bonus of $35 – for a total of $50 WestJet dollars. Even more, your earning rate will increase to 2.5% and will continue at that rate for the remainder of your qualifying year.

For WestJet Vacations® packages, earning starts at 0.5% and increases to 1%...on the entire
package price.
Each qualifying year, you'll begin by earning 0.5% back in WestJet dollars on your WestJet Vacations packages. Once you reach $1500 in annual qualifying spend on WestJet flights, your earning rate for WestJet Vacations packages will increase to 1% and will continue at that rate for the remainder of your qualifying year. Earn WestJet dollars for flights, hotel, car rentals or activities that you purchase as part
of your package.

How does this affect my account?
If your current qualifying spend is between $1 and $1499, a credit of 1% in WestJet dollars for WestJet flights will be posted to your account. Watch for your new WestJet dollars balance on the account update issued in early December. You'll then continue to earn and receive WestJet dollars at the rates provided above.

If you are currently over $1500 in qualifying spend you will not see any immediate change. You will continue to earn at 2.5% for WestJet flights and 1% for WestJet Vacations for the rest of your current qualifying year, with WestJet dollars posted to your account within 30 days of completion of travel.

Redeem as little as $25 WestJet dollars or as many as you like.
You'll need to use a minimum of $25 WestJet dollars at one time when redeeming for WestJet flights or WestJet Vacations packages. However you can now use as many as you like towards the purchase of a WestJet Vacations package – we've removed the maximum redemption amount!

Source: WestJet

Amex sweetens the pot on the AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card

In what appears to be a game of playing catch up, American Express Canada recently made some changes to their AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card. To me the changes made are to make the card a little more enticing as for the last few years the card lost some traction against it competitors in terms of sign up bonus and earning ability.

The changes to the card as follows
1. The sign up bonus has been increased to 500 AIR MILES Reward Miles

2. The mileage earning for the card now is as follows:
- Earn 1 AIR MILES reward mile for every $10 in Card purchases at AIR MILES Sponsors
- Earn 1 reward mile for every $10 in Card purchases at other eligible gas, grocery, and drugstores
- Earn 1 reward mile for every $15 in Card purchases everywhere else
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first AIR MILES co-brand to offer accelerated earning on eligible gas, grocery and drugstore purchases, a feature we have seen on other cards like Amex's Gold Rewards Card and the CIBC Aerogold and Aventura Visas to name a few.

3. The first year's annual fee is waived, again matching many of the other credit card offers out there however the annual fee after the first year has now been increased to $65 from $50.

Other then that the card retains the same benefits and insurances as before.

For more details on this card or to apply for it please visit Amex.ca

RBC Visa Infinite Avion Review

Below you will find the complete review of the card as seen on the main Rewards Canada site.

One of the first travel rewards cards to offer any flight anytime potential, the RBC Visa Avion has been a mainstay in the travel credit card market for many years. It is definitely one of the most popular cards in Canada and as such we give it the "Rewards Canada review" treatment as we expand our review process beyond newly released cards to include existing cards on the market.

Overview
The Infinite version of the RBC Visa Avion came a few years after the release of the original Visa Platinum Avion card from RBC. Adding extra insurance coverage, slightly better earning on travel purchases and some other benefits typically associated with the Infinite brand this card is the flagship of RBC's credit card portfolio. The card falls into our "Hybrid Card" category which means it gives you the best of both worlds in the sense of travel rewards credit cards in that it offers points that can be used towards any travel or you can covert those points into a frequent flyer program.

Costs
The RBC Visa Infinite Avion comes with a $120 primary card annual fee which is the same as most cards that offer a similar level of rewards and benefits. The card offers a 15,000 welcome point bonus which is enough for a short haul flight with a maximum value of $350. Supplementary cards run $50 which is the same for almost all of the Infinite/Platinum/Gold travel credit card offerings from other banks. The interest rate on the card is 19.99% which is also inline with most of the cards at this level.

Earning
The RBC Visa Infinite Avion earns 1 point for every dollar spent on the card for all purchases except travel. On travel purchases the card earns 1.25 points per dollar spent.

Redeeming
Being a 'Hybrid Card', the RBC Visa Infinite Avion has two primary forms of redemption, the first is redeeming the RBC Rewards points via RBC for travel, merchandise and more and the second is transferring those RBC Rewards Points to one of three frequent flyer programs. While you can redeem your points for virtually any travel via RBC Rewards travel the card provides the best return when you redeem for flights via the Avion Air Travel Redemption Schedule. The schedule which is similar to a Frequent Flyer redemption chart sets point limits for flights to various regions such as Short Haul (neighbouring province/state), Long Haul, Europe, Asia etc. Unlike a frequent flyer program howvever the rewards are not tied to one airline, you can pretty much book any airline or seat in economy class via RBC Rewards Travel as long as the actual cost of the flight falls under the dollar limit for each region. For example, a short haul flight will cost 15,000 RBC Reward Points for a ticket with a maximum dollar amount of $350. If the ticket costs less then $350 you still have to redeem 15,000 points, if it goes over then you have to redeem the 15,000 points and then you can redeem 100 points per dollar for every dollar over the region dollar limit. The dollar limitation per region is based on the base ticket price and does not include taxes and fees. Those taxes and fees can either be paid for with RBC Rewards points at the 100 points per dollar rate or with your credit card. In addition to be able to take advantage of the Avion Air Travel Redemption Schedule rates you have to book your flights at 14 days in advance otherwise you have to redeem at the 100 points per dollar rate. In general if you do use the Air Travel Redemption Schedule you can get a rate of return anywhere from 2 to 2.33% if your ticket comes out at the maximum price level, anything below or above the maximum price level your rate of return diminishes. It does appear that sometime in the near future you will be able to redeem your RBC Rewards Points for any travel via Travelocity.ca. This appears to be RBC's answer to cards like the American Express Gold Rewards Card, Capital One Aspire, TD Infinite First Class and Diners Club which offer the ability to book any travel how you like,when you like and from whom you like. Without knowing more, at this time it is hard to determine whether this will be a good option or not as you will still be forced to either book via RBC Rewards Travel or Travelocity, so still not as wide ranging as the other cards plus in my personal experience I have Travelocity.ca to be more expensive on occastion for hotels and vacation package then say Expedia.ca

The other main option for redemption with the RBC Visa Infinite Avion is converting your RBC Rewards points to a frequent flyer program. To convert you have to be an Avion cardholder (non-Avion RBC cardholders cannot convert their RBC Rewards points) and a member in either the American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club (soon to be Avios) or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles program. All three programs are free to join and once you are a member you can transfer your RBC Rewards points on a 1:1 basis with a minimum of 10,000 points per transfer for BA or CX, 5,000 for AA. One of the features that has made this card stand out with frequent flyers and in our credit card rankings is the semi-annual 50% transfer bonus to British Airways. This recurring offer which has been around for many years can make really good use of your points if you are willing to abide the rules of a frequent flyer program. Why is the bonus offer so good? Take for example a redemption of 100,000 RBC Reward Points, you would recieve 150,000 Avios Points which is enough for three economy class tickets from Canada to Europe on British Airways. The same three tickers would require at least 195,000 RBC Reward points if you redeemed via RBC Rewards.

Features and Benefits
The RBC Visa Infinite Avion comes with a whole host of features and benefits, the majority of which are standard for the Infinite brand of Visa cards. It has the standard Travel Accident, Flight Delay, Lost Baggage and Car Rental insurance, however it is miissing one that a few of the card's competitors have: Trip Cancellation. While I am not a huge fan of Trip Cancellation Insurance due to the heavy restrictions that is usually carries, it can be the tipping point for some people in choosing a card. The card does include out-of-province/country medical insurance which is nice to have. A question that does come up a lot in the emails I receive is medical coverage for those over the age of 65, the Visa Infinite Avion offers 3 days coverage for those over 65. It's not the most offered in the market but it also not the least as some cards do not provide coverage over 65. One insurance benefit it does have is Hotel Burglary insurance, in fact only RBC and American Express offer this benefit on their premium cards.

What is good about this card
The Avion Air Travel Redemption Schedule is generally a good feature of this card particularily when you can book tickets at or near the maximum dollar levels in each category which can translate into a 2 to 2.33% rate of return on your spending but it does have some limitations (see below). Also see our Travel Anywhere card chart for an idea of how much you have to spend to redeem for tickets. The 1.25 points on all travel purchases is also nice bonus although not a deal breaker when compared to some other cards. By far, the best thing about this card is the semi-annual transfer bonus to British Airways, if taken advantage of properly, Visa Infinite Avion cardholders can see returns well in excess of 10% on their spending if they redeem for Business or First Class flights via British Airways.

What is not so good about this card
The limited flexibility of the Air Travel Redemption schedule is probably the biggest drawback with this card. While you can virtually book any flight, you can lose on your rate of return if the price goes over or is well under the maximum limit plus add in the fact you have to book at least 14 days out the get the good redemption rates makes the card less flexible then cards like the American Express Gold Rewards Card or TD First Class Infinite Visa. The issue of taxes and fees also comes up as you can only redeem points at a 100 to $1 ratio (a 1% return) versus 1.5% on the TD First Class, 1.7% on Diners Club or up to 2% on American Express Gold Rewards card. You are also limited in your booking options as you have to use the RBC Rewards Travel centre or soon Travelocity.ca, again when compared to the cards above it is a lot less flexible then them.

Conclusion
This mainstay in the Canadian travel rewards credit card market is a decent card and I would actually give it an above average score based primarily on the British Airways Transfer bonus. In all other regards, the card is in the middle of the pack in terms of earning and burning. There are cards that offer more flexibilty in terms of redeeming points in the 'Any Flight, Anytime" marketing category but when used properly the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card can achieve returns of 2 to 2.33% which is higher then most of the cards it competes against, but the key word is "used properly" which means redeeming for tickets at or near the maximum dollar value in each category. So if you are looking for a good hybrid card and can make the most of the Air Travel Redemption schedule, are a frequent British Airways (or oneworld alliance) flyer, or a RBC customer who wants a good card from their bank, then the RBC Visa Infinite Avion is a good choice for you.

Related Links:
RBC Visa Infinite Avion on RBCRoyalbank.com
Rewards Canada's Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison including the RBC Visa Infinite Avion

Other cards to consider if you are looking at this card:
American Express Gold Rewards Card
BMO World Elite Master Card
Capital One Aspire Travel World MasterCard
CIBC Aventura World MasterCard
CUETS Platinum Class MasterCard
Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard
TD First Class Infinite Visa

Air Canada and SriLankan Airlines to start codeshare service

At the end of this month Air Canada and SriLankan airlines will begin codesharing on services between Canada and SriLanka via Europe.With this announcement we have now launched a page on Rewards Canada covering bonus offers for the SriLankan FlySmiles frequent flyer program. You can visit that page here.

Air Canada operated by SriLankan Airlines
Colombo – Frankfurt
Colombo – London Heathrow
Colombo – Paris CDG

SriLankan Airlines operated by Air Canada
Frankfurt – Calgary
Frankfurt – Montreal
Frankfurt – Ottawa
London Heathrow – Calgary
London Heathrow – Edmonton
London Heathrow – Halifax
London Heathrow – Montreal
London Heathrow – Toronto
London Heathrow – Vancouver
Paris CDG – Montreal

Source: Airline Route Updates

British Airways adds new Elite level: Bronze

Not too long ago BA announced that it will be changing and updating their Executive Club program which also includes the integration of the U.K. Air Miles program and Spain's Iberia Plus program into one program called Avios. Some of the changes, most notably some reward ticket redemption levels have already been released that have not been well received by the frequent flyer community in North America because of the increases doled out for mileage redemption.

That being said, the latest news to be released about the program is the addition of a new elite tier from British Airways. This new tier fills a large gap between Blue (non-status) members and the old first tier level called Silver. Qualification for the new Bronze tier will require half the number of points and/or flights then is required for Silver, namely to reach Bronze you will require 300 tier points or 25 single flights.

The benefits included with the new Bronze tier are:
Business class check-in
Seat selection seven days before departure
Earning 1.25 Avios (formerly Air Miles) for every mile flown
Dedicated telephone number (UK & US)
Bronze tier luggage tags

Air Algerie to increase Montreal service for winter season

According to Airline Route Updates, Air Algerie will be adding a third weekly flight between Montreal and Algiers. The new flight will operate on Saturdays with an Airbus A330.