THIS OFFER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Back in July, Chase Canada revamped their Marriott Visa card offering for Canadians with the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa. You can see my quick review of it here. Normally the card comes with a 30,000 point sign up bonus but we were quickly made aware of some 50,000 point targeted offers floating around back at the end of July. Turned out, those were targeted well and unless you had Elite Status with Marriott and were chosen to receive the offer, you could not get the 50K.
Fast forward to today and Rewards Canada Reader Dave has forwarded a new 50,000 point offer for the card that does not seem to be targeted as when you go to the landing page it states the 50,000 bonus points and can't find anywhere in the terms and conditions that it is a targeted offer (with the July offers it would automatically revert 30K unless you had the original email link). So I am led to believe that this offer should be available to anyone. If you do plan on using it, I would take screen shots of the offer page including terms and conditions prior to applying just in case Chase comes back and tries to push the 30K offer or only awards you 30K after your first purchase.
I have been contemplating this card as I need a cheaper replacement for my never used annual fee based Visa and the fact that this one has the annual fee waived in the first year makes it a good candidate. If I do go ahead with it, it will be soon to make sure I get in on the 50K before the offer is pulled and will report on the results. I encourage my readers who do apply for it with this link (I do not receive any compensation for this card) to let us know how it goes as well.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Options outside of Aeroplan and Air Miles. Part 3: Hotel Frequent Guest Programs
The majority of Canada's loyalty program market share is held by two
programs, Aeroplan and Air Miles. While both programs have strong roots
in travel they have grown into what the industry calls coalition loyalty
programs, which in layman's terms means many earning partners and a
varied rewards catalog. Its hard not to be a member of at least one of
these two programs since you would miss out on some potential rewards
because of their vast coverage within Canada. With that being said, I
receive numerous emails from my readers on how they are fed up with
Aeroplan or Air Miles or both and they want to know what other options
they have, particularly for travel rewards. This piece will look at the
other options Canadians have for travel reward loyalty programs and
while you can take any of these routes as your primary program I would
recommend keeping Aeroplan and/or Air Miles as a secondary program. One
thing you will notice is that to make one of these other programs your
primary one, it will require the use of a credit card to maximize your
reward potential. For travel reward programs, credit card use is the
easiest way to rack up points and miles outside of actual travel. I've
broken out the choices into four parts and will focus on the pros and
cons of making one of these choices as your primary program.
Part 1: Frequent Flyer Programs
Part 2: Credit Card Programs
Part 3: Hotel Frequent Guest Programs
Part 4: Non-Travel Reward Programs
HOTEL FREQUENT GUEST PROGRAMS
The third category we look at in our Other Options Series are hotel frequent guest programs. Here at Rewards Canada this one category I have been pushing onto Canadians as they are typically overlooked or even unknown to most of us Canucks. A 2010 survey conducted by American Express Canada and Starwood Preferred Guest showed only 13% of Canadians participated in hotel programs compared to much larger numbers for airline or credit card programs. To me, as someone who is entrenched in the loyalty industry, this number is surprisingly low but outside of the industry it does not surprise me. In Canada, I find the hotel programs don't advertise their loyalty offerings outside of their own hotels save for Best Western who run frequent commercials promoting their latest Best Western Rewards offers. I believe its because of this lack of marketing that many Canadians are missing out on frequent guest programs. They tend to have less restrictions than frequent flyer programs, they can provide a good rate of return, they offer flexibility in reward options and can be used to make vacations more luxurious.
Many Canadians who participate in travel reward programs seem to focus on getting that free flight but don’t realize that often the hotel they stay at can cost as much if not more than the flights themselves. The above survey also showed that more than a quarter of Canadians said that they would prefer not to travel at all than to stay at a budget hotel. This seems to stem from the general lack of knowledge that average Canadian’s have with regards to the hotel programs. Frequent travellers do have this knowledge and I would suspect they make up the majority of the 13% of Canadians who are members of one or more frequent guest programs.
Historically, for Canadians, the number one way to earn points in a hotel frequent guest program was by staying at hotels only but in the last 3-4 years we finally saw the emergence of credit cards tied to several hotel frequent guest programs. In fact five major hotel chain programs are now vying for market share in the already crowded credit card space in Canada. Those chains are Best Western Hotels (Rewards), Choice Hotels (Privileges), InterContinental Hotels Group (Priority Club), Marriott Hotels (Rewards) and Starwood Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest).
Related: See how all the Hotel credit cards performed in our 2012 Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings
Which card you choose will depend on which hotel brands you like and which chain has properties in locations you tend to stay at so that you can double dip on the stay and finally where you are most likely to redeem your points for.
Why would you choose to use a hotel frequent guest program? Well have you ever been on vacation and were staying in a budget or mid-scale hotel a few blocks off the beach and wished you were able to afford the 4 and 5 star hotels right on the beach? The frequent guest program can do that for you. Same goes if you are in an amazing city like Paris, you may not be able to afford the locations closest to the Eiffel Tower or Champs-Élysées but once again you have a better chance at staying at those locations by utilizing a hotel reward program. Think of it this way: when choosing between an airline and a hotel program (knowing that you cannot maximize the value both of them) would you rather fly in business class from Toronto to Paris and enjoy 8 hours of luxury or stay at a 5 star location and enjoy, say, 7 days of luxury? This stance may get me some heat from the frequent travellers and people who want to maximize the return on their spending but while some of us can maximize both frequent flyer and frequent guest programs, the average Canadian cannot. Another good example is a family of four with the Toronto-Paris example, it would take heaps of credit card spending and/or mileage earning scenarios to get 4 business class tickets on that route but the stay at the five star hotel does not change. In most cases its the same amount of points whether you have 1,2,3, or 4 people!
Another reason to join one or more frequent guest programs is loyalty to your favorite airline frequent flyer program. Hotel stays have always been a good source of earning extra miles in frequent flyer program and this option can make sense for those who do not stay in hotels too frequently or are staying in a city that does not have a property participating in the hotel program of their choice. So why do you need to join a hotel program to earn airline miles? Because you have to! Most hotel chains will only award you airline miles if you are a member of their frequent guest program and have selected ‘earning miles‘ as your reward option. Very few hotels or hotel chains will accept your frequent flyer card at check in unless you sign up for their program right there and then.
Pros of Hotel Frequent Guest Programs and Hotel Frequent Guest Credit Cards:
1. Most of the redemptions can give you a mid to high rate of return on your credit card spending. As an example some numbers I have seen show up to a 7% return for certain Starwood Hotel redemptions.
2. Cash + Points: Some chains likes Starwood and IHG offer a cash+points option that allows you to redeem partial points for a stay and pay cash for the difference. This is a good benefit if you don’t have enough points to redeem for the full stay.
3. Elite Status: When you achieve elite status in a hotel program you stand to benefit from more points, complimentary room upgrades, meals, check-in amenities and more depending on the program
4. Convert to Airline Miles: All the hotel programs allow you to convert the hotel points to various airline frequent flyer programs.
5. Many hotels give their members (Elite or not) extra perks likes free wi-fi and in the case of Kimpton InTouch, minibar credits of up to $15.
Cons of Hotel Frequent Guest Programs and Hotel Frequent Guest Credit Cards:
1. They are less flexible than Travel Points Credit Cards (ie TD Visas, Amex Gold Rewards Cards, etc) as you are limited to only one or several brands of hotels and/or frequent flyer transfer partners
2. If the brand you are being loyal to has no properties in a location you are travelling to, you will lose out on earning points or you won’t be able to redeem for that area. A good example is Banff and Canmore Alberta. Huge travel destinations in their own right but you are limited in major hotel brands that have loyalty programs, in particular some of the higher end chains like Starwood, Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton have no presence in the Canadian Rockies.
Hotel Frequent Guest Programs available to Canadians
Accor Hotels Le Club
Best Western Rewards (formerly Gold Crown Club)
Canalta Hotels Rewards
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
Choice Hotels Privileges
Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
Delta Hotels Privilege
Executive Hotels Executive Rewards
Fairmont President's Club
Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) Discovery
Golden Tulip Flavours
Hilton HHonors
Hyatt Gold Passport
InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
JAL Hotels My JALHotels
Jumeirah Sirius
Kimpton InTouch
La Quinta Returns
Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club
Loews Hotels YouFirst
Marriott Rewards
Melia International Mas Rewards
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Loyalty Club
NH Hotels & Resorts World
Preferred Hotel Group I Prefer
Red Lion Hotels R&R Club
Red Roof Inns Redicard
Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Rotana Rewards
Scandic Hotels Guest Programme
Shangri-La Golden Circle
Qube Hotels Q Club
Starwood Preferred Guest
Stash Hotel Rewards
Sutton Place Hotels Prestige Guest
Swissotel Club Swiss Gold
Taj Hotels InnerCircle
Travelodge Guest Rewards
Trident Hotels Privilege
Voila Hotel Rewards
Wyndham Rewards
Hotel Frequent Guest Program Credit Cards for Canadians
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
MBNA Best Western Platinum Plus MasterCard
MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard
Priority Club® World MasterCard® from Capital One®
Priority Club® Platinum MasterCard® from Capital One®
The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
---
Part 2: Credit Card Programs
Part 3: Hotel Frequent Guest Programs
Part 4: Non-Travel Reward Programs
HOTEL FREQUENT GUEST PROGRAMS
InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa |
Many Canadians who participate in travel reward programs seem to focus on getting that free flight but don’t realize that often the hotel they stay at can cost as much if not more than the flights themselves. The above survey also showed that more than a quarter of Canadians said that they would prefer not to travel at all than to stay at a budget hotel. This seems to stem from the general lack of knowledge that average Canadian’s have with regards to the hotel programs. Frequent travellers do have this knowledge and I would suspect they make up the majority of the 13% of Canadians who are members of one or more frequent guest programs.
Historically, for Canadians, the number one way to earn points in a hotel frequent guest program was by staying at hotels only but in the last 3-4 years we finally saw the emergence of credit cards tied to several hotel frequent guest programs. In fact five major hotel chain programs are now vying for market share in the already crowded credit card space in Canada. Those chains are Best Western Hotels (Rewards), Choice Hotels (Privileges), InterContinental Hotels Group (Priority Club), Marriott Hotels (Rewards) and Starwood Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest).
Related: See how all the Hotel credit cards performed in our 2012 Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings
Which card you choose will depend on which hotel brands you like and which chain has properties in locations you tend to stay at so that you can double dip on the stay and finally where you are most likely to redeem your points for.
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme |
Another reason to join one or more frequent guest programs is loyalty to your favorite airline frequent flyer program. Hotel stays have always been a good source of earning extra miles in frequent flyer program and this option can make sense for those who do not stay in hotels too frequently or are staying in a city that does not have a property participating in the hotel program of their choice. So why do you need to join a hotel program to earn airline miles? Because you have to! Most hotel chains will only award you airline miles if you are a member of their frequent guest program and have selected ‘earning miles‘ as your reward option. Very few hotels or hotel chains will accept your frequent flyer card at check in unless you sign up for their program right there and then.
Pros of Hotel Frequent Guest Programs and Hotel Frequent Guest Credit Cards:
1. Most of the redemptions can give you a mid to high rate of return on your credit card spending. As an example some numbers I have seen show up to a 7% return for certain Starwood Hotel redemptions.
2. Cash + Points: Some chains likes Starwood and IHG offer a cash+points option that allows you to redeem partial points for a stay and pay cash for the difference. This is a good benefit if you don’t have enough points to redeem for the full stay.
3. Elite Status: When you achieve elite status in a hotel program you stand to benefit from more points, complimentary room upgrades, meals, check-in amenities and more depending on the program
4. Convert to Airline Miles: All the hotel programs allow you to convert the hotel points to various airline frequent flyer programs.
5. Many hotels give their members (Elite or not) extra perks likes free wi-fi and in the case of Kimpton InTouch, minibar credits of up to $15.
Cons of Hotel Frequent Guest Programs and Hotel Frequent Guest Credit Cards:
1. They are less flexible than Travel Points Credit Cards (ie TD Visas, Amex Gold Rewards Cards, etc) as you are limited to only one or several brands of hotels and/or frequent flyer transfer partners
2. If the brand you are being loyal to has no properties in a location you are travelling to, you will lose out on earning points or you won’t be able to redeem for that area. A good example is Banff and Canmore Alberta. Huge travel destinations in their own right but you are limited in major hotel brands that have loyalty programs, in particular some of the higher end chains like Starwood, Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton have no presence in the Canadian Rockies.
Hotel Frequent Guest Programs available to Canadians
Accor Hotels Le Club
Best Western Rewards (formerly Gold Crown Club)
Canalta Hotels Rewards
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
Choice Hotels Privileges
Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
Delta Hotels Privilege
Executive Hotels Executive Rewards
Fairmont President's Club
Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) Discovery
Golden Tulip Flavours
Hilton HHonors
Hyatt Gold Passport
InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
JAL Hotels My JALHotels
Jumeirah Sirius
Kimpton InTouch
La Quinta Returns
Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club
Loews Hotels YouFirst
Marriott Rewards
Melia International Mas Rewards
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Loyalty Club
NH Hotels & Resorts World
Preferred Hotel Group I Prefer
Red Lion Hotels R&R Club
Red Roof Inns Redicard
Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Rotana Rewards
Scandic Hotels Guest Programme
Shangri-La Golden Circle
Qube Hotels Q Club
Starwood Preferred Guest
Stash Hotel Rewards
Sutton Place Hotels Prestige Guest
Swissotel Club Swiss Gold
Taj Hotels InnerCircle
Travelodge Guest Rewards
Trident Hotels Privilege
Voila Hotel Rewards
Wyndham Rewards
Hotel Frequent Guest Program Credit Cards for Canadians
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
MBNA Best Western Platinum Plus MasterCard
MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard
Priority Club® World MasterCard® from Capital One®
Priority Club® Platinum MasterCard® from Capital One®
The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
---
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Oct 10 Highlight: Mobile-Based Wallet To Convert Points and Miles into Cash, Priority Club Point Breaks and free Amtrak points
I want to thank everyone who has voted so far in the Canada's Choice portion
of our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings 2012 and want to welcome new
readers and subscribers who may have only joined us today as result of the social
media coverage provided by Aeroplan (Thanks AP!)
News, Tips & Tricks
PointsPay, a division of Swiss based loyalty consulting company Loylogic, is being heavily promoted as the first Mobile Payment solution for using your points and miles as cash. PointsPay launched earlier this year with the Etihad Airways Guest rewards program (if some of Rewards Canada's 10th Anniversay winners of Guest miles haven't used their miles yet, here is another option) and allows you to use your miles/points right at the point of sale. In the first few days of the program’s launch on Etihad Guest, PointsPay issued close to 1,500 PointsPay Virtual and Plastic Cards and loaded 50 million miles. For online purchases it can be done right on your phone and what is really cool is that you can order a free plastic PointsPay card that works at over 30 Million merchants Worldwide that accept Visa or MasterCard. You load the card (so like a prepaid credit card) with the currency of your choice by converting your miles and points. For Canadians, this is similar to Air Miles Cash where you can use your Air Miles Rewards Miles right at the cash register however only at several Air Miles sponsors. So this is where PointsPay is different as it treats your miles/points like true cash in that you are not limited to where you can use them. This is definitely an interesting development in the loyalty industry and I will keep a watch on it for Rewards Canada readers as right now, unless you have Etihad Guest miles, there isn't a huge market for it here. For more details you can visit PointsPay.com
Yesterday Qatar Airways announced that they are joining the oneworld alliance, which is a boost for Canadian members of American's AAdvantage program as Qatar Airways serves Canada directly with their Montreal-Doha route that has ongoing connections to many destinations in Asia, Africa and Australia. It is always good to get another option for earning and burning miles regardless of which oneworld program you may be a member of.
In the bonus offers sectoin there is an offer for free Amtrak Guest Rewards points, anyone can get them but unless you plan on earning Guest Rewards points from other methods it probably won't be worthwhile for you. Really it would only be useful to those who may use Amtrak service to the U.S. from Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver
Bonus Offers
Amtrak Guest Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 100 Guest Rewards Points when you connect your Amtrak Guest Rewards with your Facebook account. More... Until Nov 3, 12
Ethiopian Sheba Miles
- Double Sheba Miles for flights between Ouagadougou and Addis Ababa. More... Until Dec 31, 12
InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- 5,000 points per award night - Priority Club Point Breaks. Redeem only 5,000 points for stays at select hotels Worldwide. Offer and participating hotels are subject to change at any time, valid for stays thru Dec 10, 2012. More...
Miles & More
- Earn up to Quadruple Miles & More Miles on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12
Starwood Preferred Guest
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays at the Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints on every Sheraton Club stay at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel & Spa. More... Until Nov 30, 12
Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Elevate Points on qualifying flights between Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. More... Until Nov 15, 12
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 100 Bonus Flying Club Miles per transaction when you book any car rental Worldwide using your Hertz #1 Club Gold® profile. More... Ongoing
News, Tips & Tricks
PointsPay, a division of Swiss based loyalty consulting company Loylogic, is being heavily promoted as the first Mobile Payment solution for using your points and miles as cash. PointsPay launched earlier this year with the Etihad Airways Guest rewards program (if some of Rewards Canada's 10th Anniversay winners of Guest miles haven't used their miles yet, here is another option) and allows you to use your miles/points right at the point of sale. In the first few days of the program’s launch on Etihad Guest, PointsPay issued close to 1,500 PointsPay Virtual and Plastic Cards and loaded 50 million miles. For online purchases it can be done right on your phone and what is really cool is that you can order a free plastic PointsPay card that works at over 30 Million merchants Worldwide that accept Visa or MasterCard. You load the card (so like a prepaid credit card) with the currency of your choice by converting your miles and points. For Canadians, this is similar to Air Miles Cash where you can use your Air Miles Rewards Miles right at the cash register however only at several Air Miles sponsors. So this is where PointsPay is different as it treats your miles/points like true cash in that you are not limited to where you can use them. This is definitely an interesting development in the loyalty industry and I will keep a watch on it for Rewards Canada readers as right now, unless you have Etihad Guest miles, there isn't a huge market for it here. For more details you can visit PointsPay.com
Yesterday Qatar Airways announced that they are joining the oneworld alliance, which is a boost for Canadian members of American's AAdvantage program as Qatar Airways serves Canada directly with their Montreal-Doha route that has ongoing connections to many destinations in Asia, Africa and Australia. It is always good to get another option for earning and burning miles regardless of which oneworld program you may be a member of.
In the bonus offers sectoin there is an offer for free Amtrak Guest Rewards points, anyone can get them but unless you plan on earning Guest Rewards points from other methods it probably won't be worthwhile for you. Really it would only be useful to those who may use Amtrak service to the U.S. from Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver
Bonus Offers
Amtrak Guest Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 100 Guest Rewards Points when you connect your Amtrak Guest Rewards with your Facebook account. More... Until Nov 3, 12
Ethiopian Sheba Miles
- Double Sheba Miles for flights between Ouagadougou and Addis Ababa. More... Until Dec 31, 12
InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
- 5,000 points per award night - Priority Club Point Breaks. Redeem only 5,000 points for stays at select hotels Worldwide. Offer and participating hotels are subject to change at any time, valid for stays thru Dec 10, 2012. More...
Miles & More
- Earn up to Quadruple Miles & More Miles on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12
Starwood Preferred Guest
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays at the Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints on every Sheraton Club stay at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel & Spa. More... Until Nov 30, 12
Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Elevate Points on qualifying flights between Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. More... Until Nov 15, 12
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 100 Bonus Flying Club Miles per transaction when you book any car rental Worldwide using your Hertz #1 Club Gold® profile. More... Ongoing
1 week left to vote for your favourite Travel Rewards Credit Cards
Be sure to navigate to Canada's Choice - Vote for Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2012 and place your vote.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Oct 9 Update: Travel Rewards in the Media, United 100K+ Transatlantic Bonus Offer and more
I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving long weekend! I know I did,
although I will not return to one high end restaurant here in Calgary after
trying it out on Sunday, but that really has nothing to do with our subject
matter!
News, Tips & Tricks
As always the first day of the week brings little or no news. Travel Rewards are all over the media once again, Rewards Canada was featured a couple of times last week and I have completed two more interviews today, including one from the well versed Rob of Boomer & Echo fame plus I have one more scheduled for tomorrow. Keep an eye out for all the articles on how to make the most of your loyalty programs.
Bonus Offers
British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios when booking a group C car or above from Avis for 3 days or more Worldwide. More... Until Nov 11, 12
Garuda Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double GFF Miles for flights in Business Class between Jakarta and Amsterdam. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double GFF Miles for flights in Business Class between Jakarta and Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei or Tokyo; Denpasar and Osaka, Seoul or Tokyo. More...Until Dec 31, 12
- Double GFF Miles for flights in Business Class between Jakarta or Denpasar and Melbourne, Perth or Sydney. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double GFF Miles for flights to/from Denpasar, Surabaya or Ternate. More... Until Nov 30, 12
- 1,500 GFF Miles per day on every car rental of 5 or more days with Avis in Singapore & Asia, USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East & Africa. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- 1,000 GFF Miles per day on every car rental of 3 or more days with Avis in Singapore & Asia, USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East & Africa. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- 1,000 GFF Miles per day on every car rental of 4 or more days with Avis in Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Jan 31, 13
Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points for stays at select Rica Hotels in Sweden. More... Until Nov 30, 12
United Mileage Plus
- Earn up to 100,000+ Bonus Mileage Plus Miles when you fly on United nonstop round-trip flights between the U.S. and London/Heathrow. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- 50% bonus Mileage Plus miles when you fly nonstop between Chicago O’Hare, New York/Newark or San Francisco and Hong Kong. Offer is valid for all booking classes. More... Until Nov 30, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
- 50% bonus Premier qualifying miles (PQM) when you purchase a ticket and fly in United Global First, United First, United BusinessFirst, United Business or full-fare United Economy. Add that to the 50% bonus PQM you already earn from purchasing these tickets, and you will receive a 100% PQM bonus. You can also earn 50% bonus PQM when you purchase a ticket and fly in discounted United Economy. More... Until Dec 7, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
US Airways Dividend Miles
- 1,000 Bonus Dividend Miles PER NIGHT for stays at participating Conrad Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12
News, Tips & Tricks
As always the first day of the week brings little or no news. Travel Rewards are all over the media once again, Rewards Canada was featured a couple of times last week and I have completed two more interviews today, including one from the well versed Rob of Boomer & Echo fame plus I have one more scheduled for tomorrow. Keep an eye out for all the articles on how to make the most of your loyalty programs.
Bonus Offers
British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios when booking a group C car or above from Avis for 3 days or more Worldwide. More... Until Nov 11, 12
Garuda Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double GFF Miles for flights in Business Class between Jakarta and Amsterdam. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double GFF Miles for flights in Business Class between Jakarta and Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei or Tokyo; Denpasar and Osaka, Seoul or Tokyo. More...Until Dec 31, 12
- Double GFF Miles for flights in Business Class between Jakarta or Denpasar and Melbourne, Perth or Sydney. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Double GFF Miles for flights to/from Denpasar, Surabaya or Ternate. More... Until Nov 30, 12
- 1,500 GFF Miles per day on every car rental of 5 or more days with Avis in Singapore & Asia, USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East & Africa. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- 1,000 GFF Miles per day on every car rental of 3 or more days with Avis in Singapore & Asia, USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East & Africa. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- 1,000 GFF Miles per day on every car rental of 4 or more days with Avis in Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Jan 31, 13
Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points for stays at select Rica Hotels in Sweden. More... Until Nov 30, 12
United Mileage Plus
- Earn up to 100,000+ Bonus Mileage Plus Miles when you fly on United nonstop round-trip flights between the U.S. and London/Heathrow. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- 50% bonus Mileage Plus miles when you fly nonstop between Chicago O’Hare, New York/Newark or San Francisco and Hong Kong. Offer is valid for all booking classes. More... Until Nov 30, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
- 50% bonus Premier qualifying miles (PQM) when you purchase a ticket and fly in United Global First, United First, United BusinessFirst, United Business or full-fare United Economy. Add that to the 50% bonus PQM you already earn from purchasing these tickets, and you will receive a 100% PQM bonus. You can also earn 50% bonus PQM when you purchase a ticket and fly in discounted United Economy. More... Until Dec 7, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
US Airways Dividend Miles
- 1,000 Bonus Dividend Miles PER NIGHT for stays at participating Conrad Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 12
Capital One downgrades several of their free cards
Capital One adjusted the sign up bonuses for two of their no annual fee cards today:
The Capital One® Aspire Travel™ Platinum MasterCard® which ranked #2 in the Travel Points Card with no annual fee category in our 2012 rankings has had its 10,000 bonus reward miles sign up bonus reduced to 5,000 bonus reward miles with your first purchase and the Capital One® Aspire Cash™ Platinum MasterCard® has had its $50 sign bonus has been removed
The Capital One® Aspire Travel™ Platinum MasterCard® which ranked #2 in the Travel Points Card with no annual fee category in our 2012 rankings has had its 10,000 bonus reward miles sign up bonus reduced to 5,000 bonus reward miles with your first purchase and the Capital One® Aspire Cash™ Platinum MasterCard® has had its $50 sign bonus has been removed
Friday, October 5, 2012
Oct 5 Update: Hilton HHonors Q4 Promo offers 1,000 points per night
News, Tips & Tricks
Hilton HHonors officially released their fourth quarter promotion today and overall the offer is so-so for a hotel promotion. If you are loyal to Hilton, you will at least get some bonus points out of your stays at participating locations but some of the other hotel reward programs do have better Q4 promos. One saving grace is the fact that it is stackable with this Virgin Atlantic Hilton promo which can in turn make your first five Hilton stays more worthwhile in the bonus offer department.
There is another free miles promo to tell you about today: an increased sign-up bonus for Southwest's Rapid Rewards program. Normally it has been at 750 points for the past few years but that has now jumped to 1,000. Its always nice to get free points although I don't know how many Canadians will really be able to make use of them unless you do some flying with the U.S. on Southwest or set your car rental/hotel earning preferences to Southwest to earn more points. You can see the offer below in the Bonus Offers section.
Bonus Offers
Air Baltic Baltic Miles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Baltic Miles on all eligible stays at any property in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands. More... Until Dec 31, 12
ANA Mileage Club
- Earn up to 4,009 Bonus Mileage Club Miles when you fly on ANA flight NH1009 between New York and Tokyo. More... Oct 28 - Mar 31, 13
- Earn up to 4,075 Bonus Mileage Club Miles when you fly ANA between San Jose and Tokyo. More... Jan 11 - Mar 31, 13
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Mileage Club Miles for new and approved applicants of the ANA Card USA Visa for ANA flights between San Jose and Tokyo. More... Apply by Mar 31, 13 for travel Jan 11 - Apr 30, 13
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- OFFER EXTENDED Triple Mileage Bank Miles for Alamo rentals of three or more consecutive days in the USA or Canada. More.. Until Dec 31, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles for Hertz rentals of 3+ days at participating locations in the US or Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 12
Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Rapid Rewards Points when you join the Rapid Rewards program. Earn 500 for joining, 250 for signing up for your email summary and 250 for the email update. More...
Hilton HHonors officially released their fourth quarter promotion today and overall the offer is so-so for a hotel promotion. If you are loyal to Hilton, you will at least get some bonus points out of your stays at participating locations but some of the other hotel reward programs do have better Q4 promos. One saving grace is the fact that it is stackable with this Virgin Atlantic Hilton promo which can in turn make your first five Hilton stays more worthwhile in the bonus offer department.
There is another free miles promo to tell you about today: an increased sign-up bonus for Southwest's Rapid Rewards program. Normally it has been at 750 points for the past few years but that has now jumped to 1,000. Its always nice to get free points although I don't know how many Canadians will really be able to make use of them unless you do some flying with the U.S. on Southwest or set your car rental/hotel earning preferences to Southwest to earn more points. You can see the offer below in the Bonus Offers section.
Bonus Offers
Air Baltic Baltic Miles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Baltic Miles on all eligible stays at any property in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands. More... Until Dec 31, 12
ANA Mileage Club
- Earn up to 4,009 Bonus Mileage Club Miles when you fly on ANA flight NH1009 between New York and Tokyo. More... Oct 28 - Mar 31, 13
- Earn up to 4,075 Bonus Mileage Club Miles when you fly ANA between San Jose and Tokyo. More... Jan 11 - Mar 31, 13
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Mileage Club Miles for new and approved applicants of the ANA Card USA Visa for ANA flights between San Jose and Tokyo. More... Apply by Mar 31, 13 for travel Jan 11 - Apr 30, 13
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- OFFER EXTENDED Triple Mileage Bank Miles for Alamo rentals of three or more consecutive days in the USA or Canada. More.. Until Dec 31, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles for Hertz rentals of 3+ days at participating locations in the US or Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 12
Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Rapid Rewards Points when you join the Rapid Rewards program. Earn 500 for joining, 250 for signing up for your email summary and 250 for the email update. More...
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Oct 4 Update: 1,000 Free HHonors Points, 1,500 Aeroplan Miles with CIBC & Speedpass, Double Miles for Fairmont stays
News, Tips & Tricks
In case you missed it earlier today, here is another free points tip: You can earn up to 1,000 Hilton HHonors points for free for a couple of simple Facebook actions with a couple of Hilton Brands. Check out my post from earlier today to see how.
Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you enroll for an Esso Speedpass by Nov 30, link your Speedpass to your CIBC Aerogold® Visa Card or CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite Card and then use your Speedpass on any eligible purchase at participating Esso stations by December 31, 2012. More...
- Double Aeroplan Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13
American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for select AAdvantage® members who travel on flight 967 or 966 between New York (JFK) and São Paulo.More... Until Nov 15, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
- Double AAdvantage Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13
La Quinta Returns
- 1,500 Bonus Returns Points on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 12
Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at participating Taj Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 13
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay on the Best Available Rate for two consecutive nights at Raffles Hotel Singapore. More... Until Nov 30, 12
Turkish Miles&Smiles
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles for stays in a Swissôtel Living Suite at the Swissôtel Istanbul. More... Until Dec 31, 12
United Mileage Plus
- 500 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis airport locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Mexico, the Middle East and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 500 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double Mileage Plus Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13
WestJet Rewards
- $250 Bonus WestJet dollars + Annual $99 Companion Flight when you sign up for and receive the WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard. More... Residents of Canada only
In case you missed it earlier today, here is another free points tip: You can earn up to 1,000 Hilton HHonors points for free for a couple of simple Facebook actions with a couple of Hilton Brands. Check out my post from earlier today to see how.
Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you enroll for an Esso Speedpass by Nov 30, link your Speedpass to your CIBC Aerogold® Visa Card or CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite Card and then use your Speedpass on any eligible purchase at participating Esso stations by December 31, 2012. More...
- Double Aeroplan Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13
American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for select AAdvantage® members who travel on flight 967 or 966 between New York (JFK) and São Paulo.More... Until Nov 15, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
- Double AAdvantage Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13
La Quinta Returns
- 1,500 Bonus Returns Points on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 12
Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at participating Taj Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 13
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay on the Best Available Rate for two consecutive nights at Raffles Hotel Singapore. More... Until Nov 30, 12
Turkish Miles&Smiles
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles for stays in a Swissôtel Living Suite at the Swissôtel Istanbul. More... Until Dec 31, 12
United Mileage Plus
- 500 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis airport locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Mexico, the Middle East and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 500 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Double Mileage Plus Miles when you book an Everyone's an Original winter rate at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13
WestJet Rewards
- $250 Bonus WestJet dollars + Annual $99 Companion Flight when you sign up for and receive the WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard. More... Residents of Canada only
Earn up to 1,000 Free Hilton HHonors points
Although it may not be a huge amount of points, any amount helps and it is always nice to get free miles or points. If you are not a major Hilton HHonors member then these promotions are a good way to keep your account alive as you need activity in your HHonors account once every 12 months.
Earn 500 HHonors Points for linking your HHonors account number with Doubletree Hotels on Facebook. This offer is limited to the first 40,000 members who input there number so jump on this sooner than later at http://doubletree.topguest.com/
The other offer for 500 points is also on Facebook and comes to us from Hilton's Hampton brand and requires a little more work but it is well worth it, not for the points, but for the inspiring story of TJ Elevator Fan, a young boy with Cerebral Palsy who has an affinity for riding elevators. Find the complete details and video on Hampton's Facebook page. This offer runs until Oct 12, 12
Tip of the hat to Ric, the Loyalty Traveler
Earn 500 HHonors Points for linking your HHonors account number with Doubletree Hotels on Facebook. This offer is limited to the first 40,000 members who input there number so jump on this sooner than later at http://doubletree.topguest.com/
The other offer for 500 points is also on Facebook and comes to us from Hilton's Hampton brand and requires a little more work but it is well worth it, not for the points, but for the inspiring story of TJ Elevator Fan, a young boy with Cerebral Palsy who has an affinity for riding elevators. Find the complete details and video on Hampton's Facebook page. This offer runs until Oct 12, 12
Tip of the hat to Ric, the Loyalty Traveler
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Oct 3 Update: 500 Free Aeroplan Miles, 100k Avios Transatlantic offer from Iberia and more
News, Tips & Tricks
Today there is no news but the tip of the day is in the bonus offers section, you can get 500 FREE Aeroplan Miles simply by joining the Coast Hotels Coast Rewards program and linking your Aeroplan account to it. I haven't checked the terms of the program but will definitely sign up my wife and myself and if the terms allow it (ie under 18) I will sign up both my kids as well. Be sure to check out a whole bunch of other Aeroplan promos added today plus the latest version of the 100k Transatlantic flight promotion, this time its from Iberia.
Rewards Canada had a bunch of media mentions in Septemeber. check them out here:
Sep/Oct 12 Moneysense "Best cash-back cards 2012"
Sep 26, 12 Ottawa Citizen "Reaping the rewards"
Sep 26, 12 Edmonton Journal "Canadians value flexibility, range of choice in rewards programs"
Sep 25, 12 The Globe and Mail "Carrick’s reader: Homebuying - get over it"
Sep 19, 12 The Globe and Mail "Carrick’s reader: Uncle Sam’s home for retired Canadians"
Sep 14, 12 Canada.com "Travel Website of the Week: Rewards Canada"
Sep 5, 12 Sympatico.ca "How to collect more points and faster"
Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles on every eligible roundtrip flight (or 2 one-way segments) between Toronto (Pearson) or Vancouver and Sydney, Australia. More... Dec 14, 12 - Jan 31, 13
- Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at any participating Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for free when you join Coast Rewards More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with the American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum More... Until Nov 6, 12 Canadian Residents Only
- Triple Aeroplan Miles on your eligible purchases when you shop at any Esso station three or more times. More... Until Nov 4, 12
Air China Phoenix Miles
- 50% Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Air China flights between Beijing and Delhi. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 50% Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Air China flights between Tianjin and Shenzhen, Chengdu, Guangzhou, or Shanghai. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 50% Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Air China flights between: Guangzhou and Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guiyang, Tianjin, Wuhan, Hohhot or Beijing; Zhanjiang or Shantou and Beijing; Zhuhai and Beijing. More... Until Oct 17 and Nov 15 - Dec 31, 12
American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy AAdvantage miles online. More... Until Oct 31, 12
Iberia Plus
- Earn up to 100,000+ Bonus Avios when you fly round trip on British Airways, American or Iberia between the U.S. or Canada and Europe on First Class, Business Class or select Economy Class fares. More... Register by Dec 31, 12 for travel until Jan 31, 13
Olympic Air Travelair Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 3,000 Bonus Travelair Miles when you fly 3 round trip flights on Olympic Air aircraft throughout the Olympic Air network. More... Until Oct 31, 12
Today there is no news but the tip of the day is in the bonus offers section, you can get 500 FREE Aeroplan Miles simply by joining the Coast Hotels Coast Rewards program and linking your Aeroplan account to it. I haven't checked the terms of the program but will definitely sign up my wife and myself and if the terms allow it (ie under 18) I will sign up both my kids as well. Be sure to check out a whole bunch of other Aeroplan promos added today plus the latest version of the 100k Transatlantic flight promotion, this time its from Iberia.
Rewards Canada had a bunch of media mentions in Septemeber. check them out here:
Sep/Oct 12 Moneysense "Best cash-back cards 2012"
Sep 26, 12 Ottawa Citizen "Reaping the rewards"
Sep 26, 12 Edmonton Journal "Canadians value flexibility, range of choice in rewards programs"
Sep 25, 12 The Globe and Mail "Carrick’s reader: Homebuying - get over it"
Sep 19, 12 The Globe and Mail "Carrick’s reader: Uncle Sam’s home for retired Canadians"
Sep 14, 12 Canada.com "Travel Website of the Week: Rewards Canada"
Sep 5, 12 Sympatico.ca "How to collect more points and faster"
Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles on every eligible roundtrip flight (or 2 one-way segments) between Toronto (Pearson) or Vancouver and Sydney, Australia. More... Dec 14, 12 - Jan 31, 13
- Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at any participating Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for free when you join Coast Rewards More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with the American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum More... Until Nov 6, 12 Canadian Residents Only
- Triple Aeroplan Miles on your eligible purchases when you shop at any Esso station three or more times. More... Until Nov 4, 12
Air China Phoenix Miles
- 50% Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Air China flights between Beijing and Delhi. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 50% Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Air China flights between Tianjin and Shenzhen, Chengdu, Guangzhou, or Shanghai. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 50% Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Air China flights between: Guangzhou and Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guiyang, Tianjin, Wuhan, Hohhot or Beijing; Zhanjiang or Shantou and Beijing; Zhuhai and Beijing. More... Until Oct 17 and Nov 15 - Dec 31, 12
American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy AAdvantage miles online. More... Until Oct 31, 12
Iberia Plus
- Earn up to 100,000+ Bonus Avios when you fly round trip on British Airways, American or Iberia between the U.S. or Canada and Europe on First Class, Business Class or select Economy Class fares. More... Register by Dec 31, 12 for travel until Jan 31, 13
Olympic Air Travelair Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 3,000 Bonus Travelair Miles when you fly 3 round trip flights on Olympic Air aircraft throughout the Olympic Air network. More... Until Oct 31, 12