Sep 19 Update: Convert RBC Rewards to WestJet, Double Aeroplan Miles for Bearskin flights and more!

News, Tips & Tricks
I just learned yesterday that RBC Rewards members (including Avion Cardholders) can now convert their points to WestJet Rewards. I'm hoping this is something relatively new and that I haven't dropped the ball in passing this news on to my readers! Anyways the conversion is so-so, 100 RBC Rewards Points = 1 WestJet Dollar or basically a 1% return (not including the Infinite Avion 1.25 points for travel purchases). In many cases you may be better off redeeming those RBC Rewards points via the Avion Redemption Chart for WestJet flights as you stand to get a better return on your spending and you will actually earn WestJet Rewards dollars on the flight(s) since it is a revenue ticket! Nonetheless having the option to convert is good thing especially if you want to top off your WestJet Dollars account for a redemption. Overall the best conversion with the Avion cards is still to British Airways Executive Club, especially when the 50% transfer bonus rolls around!

In case you haven't done so yet, be sure to vote for your favourite travel rewards credit cards at Canada's Choice - Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2012

Travel Deals
Stay 4 nights for the price of 3 in the US & Canada when you stay 4 nights or more with Novotel in New York, Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa. Full Details & Online Booking Until Dec 9, 12

Bonus Offers
Accor Hotels Le Club
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Sofitel Properties in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Oct 30, 12

airBerlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles on all Europcar rentals at all airberlin airport destinations Worldwide except US and Canada. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double Top Bonus Miles for stays at all participating Steigenberger and InterCity Hotels in Europe. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double Top Bonus Miles for stays at all participating Dorint Hotels in Europe. More.... Until Dec 31, 12

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles when you fly on Bearskin Airlines between Thunder Bay and:Sudbury, Timmins or Sault Ste Marie; Ottawa and: Sudbury, Timmins, Kitchener-Waterloo, Sault Ste Marie or North Bay. More... Until Oct 19, 12
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays of 2+ nights at participating Radisson® hotels in Canada. More... Oct 1 - Dec 20, 12
- Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at any Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- 50 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you register your Costco membership number, Aeroplan Number and e-mail address on Costco.ca. More... Until Dec 31, 12

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 3,000 Avios when you stay at Radisson Blu, Radisson Blu Edwardian, Radisson and Park Plaza hotels worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
Triple Gold Points + 2,000 Bonus Gold Points for stays on the Bed & Breakfast Package for Two at participating Radisson & Radisson Blu Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12

China Eastern Eastern Miles
- Double Eastern Miles Points on all Hertz rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 30 for rentals until Dec 31, 12

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 1,000 Bonus HawaiianMiles on any vehicle rental of 3 or rmore days at a participating Hertz airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at all Best Western hotels in Italy. More... Until Oct 31, 12

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points for stays at select First Hotels in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Transaero Privilege (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Privilege Miles on all Hertz rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 30 for rentals until Dec 31, 12

75% Bonus Aeroplan Miles for Air Canada Bookings (Today only)

As part of today's Websaver that Air Canada sent out they are offering 75% bonus miles for flights booked on Aircanada.com by 23:59am EST. All fare classes (from Tango up to Executive First) are valid and the bonus applies to Air Canada and Air Canada Express flights within Canada, to the U.S., Europe, Asia,  Australia and Sun destinations completed by December 9, 2012.

The 75% bonus is applied to the actual mileage earned (ie you only earn 25% for Tango fares in Canada so you will get a 75% bonus on the 25% of the flight miles) Class of service and top tier bonuses are excluded.

I would assume you can combine this offer with the current 75% Aeroplan Miles bonus for flights within Canada however there is no official wording whether this offer is stackable within the T&Cs

Full details can be found on Aircanada.com.

Sep 18 Highlight: Canada.com Travel Site of the Week, 2x Dividend Miles on all US Airways flights and more!

News, Tips & Tricks
Next week is going to see the launch of one of the new travel reward credit cards that I previously hinted at. The launch party is on Monday the 24th and unfortunately I cannot attend but hopefully I'll have the details on the card at the same time so the Canadian's masses can find out about this card that is being highly touted as a big points earner!

I was pleasantly surprised to see Rewards Canada as Canada.com's travel website of the week last week and the author made some interesting notes in particular about my 'News' and 'Articles' section. He correctly states that most of them do end up here on the blog so you might as well just follow the blog. I'll be the first to admit that I have done a terrible job of keeping up on the 'Articles' portion of Rewards Canada. I guess time constraints with all the other features, charts, bonuses etc. on Rewards Canada has kept me from writing proper articles and focusing more on quick posts on the blog. I would like to know if you, my readers, find or could find value in an updated articles section or are you fine with the way things are run with most of the 'article' type stories being simply posted here on the blog. Let me know by commenting below!

Some American Express cardmembers including myself have been receiving targeted offers for referring friends to American Express. One of my readers, Randy received an offer of 15,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for referring friends or family to an AeroplanPlus card while I received an offer of 10,000 Bonus Membership Rewards points for a Gold Rewards Card referral. If anyone is interested in my referral you will actually get 20,000 Membership Rewards points if you spend $500 in the first three months (that sign up bonus is 5,000 more than the regular offering for the card and the highest offering yet for this card). If you are interested please send me an email at info@rewardscanada.ca. If you are looking to be referred or you received an email to refer people feel free to comment in my post on the referral bonuses

Watch for some travel rewards articles to come out soon in Metro Toronto, Halifax Soar and the Ottawa Citizen as I recently completed some interviews for them.

In case you haven't done so yet, be sure to vote for your favourite travel rewards credit cards at Canada's Choice - Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2012

Bonus Offers
El Al Matmid (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 20 Bonus Matmid Points when you rent a car outside of Israel via Ofran. More... Book by Sep 30 for rentals until Oct 31, 12

Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to Triple Skywards Miles for stays at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Mar 31, 13

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Triple Guest Miles on all Etihad flights Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 30 for travel until Oct 1, 12 Targetted Offer - May not work for everyone
- Double Guest Miles for stays of 3+ nights at any participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in Europe, North America, Asia, New Zealand, the Middle East and Africa. More... Oct 1 - Nov 30, 12

Gulf Air FalconFlyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 6,000 Bonus FalconFlyer miles when you fly twice to GCC/Middle East or once to Europe/Far East. More... Oct 1 - 31, 12
- 500 Bonus FalconFlyer miles when you update your profile online with your mobile number, mailing and email address. More... Until Nov 5, 12

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- Triple Priority Club Points on qualifying rentals of 2 days or more, at participating Avis locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the East, Beijing. or The Opposite House Beijing. More... Until Feb 28, 13

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double TrueBlue Points on qualifying rentals of 1 day or more at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to Triple TrueBlue Points on a qualifying rental at participating Budget airport locations in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 12

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles on all US Airways flights Worldwide when you use a MasterCard card for booking. More... Register and book by Oct 31 for travel until Dec 31, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Dividend Miles for stays at participating Westin Hotels in the U.S. Canada and Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Velocity Points on qualifying stays at Crown Towers, Crown Metropol Melbourne and Crown Promenade Melbourne. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Triple Velocity Points when you book and stay at selected Hilton Hotels & Resorts worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double Velocity Points when you stay at participating Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double Velocity Points on qualifying stays at Mertius properties in Singapore, Malaysia, China and Indonesia. More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Dec 31, 12
- Double Velocity Points on qualifying stays at various Sir Richard Branson resorts. More... Book by Oct 31, 12

Targeted American Express Referral Bonuses with large sign up bonuses!

Some American Express cardmembers including myself have been receiving targeted offers for referring friends to American Express. One of my readers, Randy received an offer of 15,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for referring friends or family to the AeroplanPlus Platinum card while I received an offer of 10,000 Bonus Membership Rewards points for a Gold Rewards Card referral.

If anyone is interested in my referral you will actually get 20,000 Membership Rewards points if you spend $500 in the first three months on the American Express Gold Rewards (that sign up bonus is 5,000 more than the regular offering for the card and the highest offering yet for this card). Here is the referral link.


By the way the AeroplanPlus Platinum offer is for 51,000 Aeroplan Miles (the highest ever sign up bonus in Canada to date) comprised of 25,000 upon approval and 26,000 with $1,000 in

Sep 19 Update: Check out this link for all the Amex Referral Bonuses

PS: Check out the Rewards Canada reference in the Amex graphic!

Sep 17 Update: Vote for Canada's Top Travel Credit Cards, SAS Referral Bonus; 3x AAdvantage Miles for Radisson stays

News, Tips & Tricks
Of course if you have not seen it yet the big news today is the launch of Rewards Canada's Canada's Choice portion of our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card feature. What is Canada's Choice? Its where Canadian's get to vote for their favorite travel rewards credit cards! I launched this feature last year and can't wait to see how Canada chooses cards compared to me. Last year some credit card companies and loyalty programs did a better job of reaching out to their membership bases to have people vote and I am excited to see what happens this year as more of them have told me that they will be reaching out to their cardholders to vote! If you haven't cast your vote yet be sure to do so at Canada's Choice - Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2012

In the bonus offers check out the 'free' points offer from Scandinavian Airlines for their new member get a member promotion and also check out the Triple American AAdvantage Miles for Radisson stays!

Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you stay at any participating Mandarin Oriental hotel Worldwide. More... Oct 1 - Dec 31, 12

American AAdvantage
- Triple AAdvantage Miles for stays at any one of 420 Radisson Blu and Radisson hotels and resorts worldwide. More... Until Dec 20, 12

Ethiopian Sheba Miles
- 50% Bonus Sheba Miles for flights between Addis Ababa and Pointe Noire. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you rent any car at participating Hertz locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Mexico and Puerto Rico. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Scandinavian EuroBonus
Earn up to 6,000 Bonus EuroBonus Points when you invite friends and family to join EuroBonus. More... Complete the online form by Sep 30, 12

Southwest Rapid Rewards (On FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Rapid Rewards Miles for stays at La Quinta Inns & Suites in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. More... Until Oct 14, 12

Join US Airways by today to ensure you can take advantage of the 100% Buy Miles bonus

I know I just covered this late last week but figured I should mention once again that the ever popular 100% Bonus on buying US Airways Dividend Miles has one major condition attached to it in that you have to be a Dividend Miles member for at least 12 days, So be sure to sign up for Dividend Miles by the end of today to make sure you can take advantage of the promo by the end date of September 30.

The promo allows you to buy up to 50,000 miles (so 100,000 in total with the bonus) at 3.5 cents per mile (effective rate is 1.75 cents per mile) plus taxes of $131.25 for total of $1881.25. Considering that can get you a business class ticket between North America and Europe or Asia that can cost a lot more this is a good deal!

100% Bonus US Airways Dividend Miles when you buy miles until Sep 30, 2012!

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Canada's Choice - Vote for Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards

You may recall my annual rankings of Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards, with the latest being released in June of this year. You may also recall that last year I had Canadian's vote for their favorite travel rewards credit cards as part of the 2011 rankings. This year I decided to split the two apart and make 'Canada's Choice' its own sub-feature of the annual rankings.

That being said, voting opened today in the five major travel rewards credit card categories and if the first 6 hours are any indication, many more people are voting this year (180 this morning vs 774 in the whole of June 2011) which should provide an even better picture of how Canadian's view their credit cards!

So make sure you let your voice be heard and head on over to Canada's Choice - Vote for Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2012 and place your vote(s)

Sep 14 Update: Globe & Mail wants to hear from you, 100% Bonus on buying Dividend Miles, 2x Aeroplan Miles for BW Stays

News, Tips & Tricks
I have been contacted by the Globe and Mail to reach out to some of our readers to see if they want to be interviewed for some upcoming articles. They are looking for all sorts of travellers, whether you fly once a year or sixty times a year it does not matter. If you are interested please email me your name, phone number along with email address to info@rewardscanada.ca

Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Earn up 6,000 Extra Bonus Miles for Aeroflot flights between Moscow and Miami. More... Oct 30 - Nov 30, 12

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles on every qualifying stay at participating Best Western hotels Worldwide. More... Sep 23 - Dec 31, 12 Valid for Residents of U.S., Canada, the Bahamas or the U.S. Virgin Islands only

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 250 Bonus Flying Blue Miles for stays at Best Western hotels in Switzerland. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at the JW Marriott Cannes. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at the at Regent Berlin on the Luxury Escape Summer Package. More... Until Oct 31, 12

Air India Flying Returns
- Double Flying Returns Mileage Points for stays on qualifying rates at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo and Osaka. More... Until Aug 31, 13

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Double MilleMiglia Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at NH Hotels in Italy. More... Until Oct 31, 12

China Eastern Eastern Miles
- Double Eastern Miles Points for stays at any Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Register by Dec 31 for stays until Jan 31, 13

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at all Swissôtel hotels and resorts worldwide (except for the Swissôtel Le Concorde) More... Until Dec 31, 12

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Rapid Rewards Points on all Southwest Airlines flights Systemwide. More... Until Nov 15, 12
- Double Rapid Rewards Points every time you fly into or out of Milwaukee. More... Nov 3, 12 - Jan 31, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Earn up to 25,000 Bonus Dividend Miles when you fly with US and any other Star Alliance member carrier Worlwide Travel on 3 partner carriers to get 2,500 bonus miles, 4 to get 5,000 and 5 to get 15,000. Fly on 6 or more and you’ll earn 25,000 miles. More... Until Dec 15, 12
- 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you buy or gift US Airways Dividend Miles. More... Until Sep 30, 12

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles for stays at all participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in Europe, North America, the Middle East, New Zealand and Asia. More...Until Oct 31, 12

100% Bonus is back for buying US Airways Dividend Miles

The ever popular 100% Bonus on buying US Airways Dividend Miles is back. The offer runs from until September 30th and has the same rules as last time that you have to have been a Dividend Miles member for at least 12 days, so to be safe, be sure to sign up for Dividend Miles by September 17th if you are not a member yet.

The promo allows you to buy up to 50,000 miles (so 100,000 in total with the bonus) at 3.5 cents per mile (effective rate is 1.75 cents per mile) plus taxes of $131.25 for total of $1881.25. Considering that can get you a business class ticket between North America and Europe or Asia that can cost a lot more this is a good deal! Since US Airways allows 3 day holds on award tickets you can always find the award flights you want before you buy the miles and therefore you don't have dole out a hefty chunk of change just in case you cannot find availability for your preferred award flights.

Earn 100% Bonus US Airways Dividend Miles when you buy miles by Sep 30, 2012!

Sep 13 Update: WestJet Dollars Contest & IHG Stay X Get Y Promos for Q4

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet is running a contest called The Million WestJet Dollars Giveaway to promote their WestJet Rewards frequent flyer program. The contest gives WestJet Rewards members (existing or new) a chance to win up one of 5 prizes of $5,000 WestJet dollars each day, plus one of 28 prizes of $1,000 WestJet dollars each day and between September 10 -30, WestJetters will be giving away WestJet dollars with PIN codes on them. At various airport departure gates in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, on select dates and times, WestJet guests will be invited to try their luck by pulling a voucher from a wind tunnel for a chance to win $25, $100 or $500 WestJet dollars. Find complete details on the contest here

I would love to hear about you Starwood Redemption stories for my series called "Redemption Stories: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" If you have redeemed Starpoints for hotel stays, transferred to airlines or anyone of the numerous redemption options that SPG offers whether good or bad please feel free to let me (and my readers know). Please see the post here where you can leave your story via the comments section.


Since IHG Priority Club is not running a regular Q4 bonus points promotion the next best thing is their loosely targeted Stay X Get Y Promos which were released yesterday for Oct 1 - Dec 31 stays. You can read all about it in my post on the FrequentFlyerBonuses.com blog or see the offer below.

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- 1,000 Club Premier Kilometers Per Night for stays at Lucerna Hotels in Mexicali, Tijuana, Cd Juárez, Culiacán and Hermosillo. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for all Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Until Oct 15, 12

Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 10X FlyerBonus Points for stays of 2 or more nights at the Tara Angkor Hotel. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double FlyerBonus Points for stays of 2 or more nights at Paresa Resort Phuket. More... Until Dec 23, 12

Best Western Rewards
- Earn up to Triple Rewards Points starting on every 2nd qualifying stay* at participating Best Western hotels Worldwide. More... Sep 23 - Nov 18, 12

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
- 200 Bonus Coast Rewards Points with the Back to Business special at The Roosevelt, a Coast Hotel Seattle. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 250 Bonus Coast Rewards Points when booking a Wine-tour Package or Ultimate Golf Passport Package at the Coast Wenatchee Center Hotel. More... Until Oct 10, 12

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 5,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points & 3rd Night Free for stays of 3 or more nights at the Hyatt Regency Oubaai Golf Resort & Spa. More... Until Sep 30, 12


InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- Stay X Get Y Promo: Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Priority Club Points for a certain amount of nights or completing a certain amount of stays at participating IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Oct 1 - Dec 31, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays at select Starwood Beach and Golf resorts in Spain, Portugal, France, Monaco and Scotland. More... Book by Oct 15 for stays until Nov 30, 12