MBNA downgrades their Smart Cash MasterCard

Effective today one of the best Cash Back credit cards in Canada will get downgraded. The MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard, which offered up to 5% cash back on gas and grocery purchases for the first 6 months and up to 3% after that will has had that latter amount lowered to 2%. So new cardholders will still reap big bonuses for the first half a year but then after that the return will be 33% lower than people have enjoyed the past couple of years. That being said, the card retains a better level of return in those two spend categories than most other cash back cards with the Scotia Momentum Infinite and the ATB Platinum Cash being the only cards offering a higher percentage. To see how this card compares to other cards in Canada see our Cash Back Credit Card Comparison chart.

Visit the MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard for more details on this card or to apply for it

Oct 19 Update: A quiet day on Rewards Canada

A quiet end to the week here at Rewards Canada. A few new bonuses were added today to the site and not much else honestly. I hope that you all of have a great weekend!

Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Earn up 1,000 Extra Bonus Miles for Aeroflot flights between Moscow and Tenerife. More... Oct 30 - Nov 30, 12

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Triple Mileage Plan Miles when renting a Compact car or larger vehicle for three days or longer at participating Dollar locations worldwide. More... Until Dec 15, 12

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to 1,000 Asia Miles for stays at thet EAST, Beijing. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Hilton HHonors
- Double HHonors Points when you book the Best Available Rate plan for 3 or more nights at the DoubleTree by Hilton™ Hotel Los Angeles Downtown. More... Until Jan 6, 13
- Double HHonors Points for stays at the Hampton Inn Dayton Mall Ohio. More... Until Jan 9, 13
- W Double HHonors Points when you book the Best Available Rate plan at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton™ Hotel Salt Lake City.More... Until Dec 31, 12

Oman Air Sindbad (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 50% Sindbad Miles Discount on rewards tickets between Muscat and Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Bangalore, Beirut, Cairo, Colombo, Dammam, Dar es Salam, Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Chennai, Male, Milan, Mumbai & Zurich. More... Until Nov 15, 12
- 1,000 Sindbad Miles when you stay for 2 nights at the Shangri-La or Traders Hotel in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa in the Sultanate of Oman. More... Until Dec 31, 12v
- 1,000 Sindbad Miles for Budget rentals of 7 or more days in Oman. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Double QMiles for stays at participating Global Hotel Alliance partner hotels Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 12
- 500 Bonus QMiles for stays at participating Marriott Hotels in Egypt & Saudi Arabia. More... Until Nov 23, 12
- Double QMiles and up to 2 complimentary nights on a 3, 4 or 7 night stay at participating PARKROYAL Hotels & Resorts in the Asia Pacific region. More... Nov 1 - Jan 31, 13
- Double QMiles for stays at the Al Ghurair Rayhaan & Al Ghurair Arjaan by Rotana – Dubai or the Centro Capital Centre – Abu Dhabi. More... Until Dec 30, 12
- Double QMiles for stays at Vivanta by Taj Hotels in India and the Madives. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Starpoints for SPG award night redemptions at 21 resort locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Register by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 20, 12

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Miles when you launch a business incentive program with US Airways Business Perks. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Oct 18 Update: Wyndham offer quashed, Triple Le Club Accorhotels points Worldwide, Bonus Marriott Rewards points in Alberta

News, Tips & Tricks
The Wyndham offer I posted very early today is pretty much over. That's the beauty and the beast of the Internet, a great offer comes along that the first adopters can make use of but then that offer goes viral throughout the blogosphere, forums and social media and gets shut down (which I along with all the other bloggers and posters are guilty of but hey how else would you find out about an offer?). Kudos to everyone who did get in on it, there was nothing in the T&Cs that stated you couldn't.

Starwood is offering an amazing Starpoints redemption offer at 21 of their resort locations in the U.S. and Canada. See my post from earlier today for more details.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has teamed up with Air Miles to offer 20 free Reward Miles for subscribing to their eNewsletter. The landing page states the offer is good until Dec 31 and then I was made aware (by a not-so-happy Facebook follower of Rewards Canada) that the offer stated Oct 2 as the end date. I found out about this offer today from Air Miles themselves on Twitter. I assume the first round of the offer went great and ended on October 2nd so they decided to rerun the promotion and forgot to change the confirmation page and confirmation email end dates. I sent off a note to Air Miles for clarification but have not heard back yet. Here is my post from earlier today about the offer.

Bonus Offers
Le Club Accorhotels
Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for weekend stays at all participating Accor properties Worldwide.
 Full Details & Online Booking Book by Nov 25 for stays until Dec 30, 12

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles when you book a stay with Golden Tulip Hotels, Suites & Resorts Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 13
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at the Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront Cape Town, Park Inn by Radisson Sandton and Park Inn by Radisson Cape Town Foreshore. More... Nov 1 - Dec 31, 12
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays on a 3-night detox package at the Regent Hotel Zagreb. More... Until Dec 30, 12
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for stays at the Taj Palace Marrakech. More... Until Dec 22, 12
- 100 Bonus Flying Blue Miles for all Avis rentals that are booked online More... Ongoing
- 100 Bonus Flying Blue Miles per day for rentals of minimum 4 days at any Sixt location worldwide. More... Until Jan 13, 13

American AAdvantage
- 2,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for New Otani Club members who are also AAvantage members per stay of two consecutive nights or more at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo or Hotel New Otani Osaka. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 10,000 AAdvantage Miles for stays at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 3,000 AAdvantage Miles per stay of two consecutive nights or more Hotel New Otani Makuhari Hotel New Otani Osaka The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, Honolulu Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong, Beijing. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN PLUS Hotel de Chassieu - Chassieu, BEST WESTERN Le Benhuyc - Binic, BEST WESTERN Hotel Eurociel - Montpellier or the BEST WESTERN PLUS Palais des Congres - Evreux. More... Until Nov 30, 12

Delta SkyMiles
- 1,000 Bonus SkyMiles when you register book and fly with Delta. More... Register by Jan 1, 13 for travel Nov 1 - Feb 1, 13 Targeted offer - May Not Work for everyone
- 2,000 Bonus SkyMiles for New Otani Club members who are also SkyMiles members per stay of two consecutive nights or more at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo or Hotel New Otani Osaka. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 10,000 SkyMiles for stays at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 3,000 SkyMiles per stay of two consecutive nights or more Hotel New Otani Makuhari Hotel New Otani Osaka The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, Honolulu Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong, Beijing. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Emirates Skywards
- 1,000 Bonus Skywards Miles for stays at the Park Hyatt Hyderabad. More... Book by Jan 15 for stays until Jan 31, 13
- Double Skywards Miles when you book a minimum two-night stay at Shangri-La and Traders Hotels in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and the Shangri-La Resort in Oman. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Garuda Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double GFF Miles for weekend stays at the Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Hainan Fortune Wings
- Triple Fortune Wings Kilometers when renting for 7 days at Hertz worldwide locations. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 2,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays on any eligible rate at 7 participating Hyatt Hotels in Japan. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 13

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios for stays at participating Barceló Hotels in Spain, Guatemala and Turkey. More... Until Dec 31, 12

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per Night when you stay any Thursday-Sunday night (Friday or Saturday night stay required) at the: Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel, Courtyard Calgary Airport, Residence Inn Calgary Airport, or the Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort. More... Nov 1 - Jan 23, 13
- 2,500 Bonus Points per stay when you stay a minimum of three nights at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Pierce. More... Nov 18, 12 - Jan 26, 13
- 2,500 Bonus Points per stay when you stay a minimum of three nights at the Residence Inn Port St. Lucie. More... Nov 18, 12 - Jan 26, 13

Millennium & Copthore Hotels Loyalty Club
- Double Loyalty Points for qualified stays at the Copthorne Kings Hotel, Singapore. More... Until Nov 15, 12

Red Lion R&R Club
- 5,000 Bonus R&R Club Points and 15% off the lowest public available rate per stays at participating Red Lion Hotels in the United States and Canada. More... Until Jan 31, 13

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Earn up to Quadruple EuroBonus points on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Nov 30 for rentals until Jan 31, 13

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points and a guaranteed upgrade to a Club Premier Room for stays in Club Room at the Kerry Hotel, Beijing. More... Nov 1, 12 - Jan 31, 13
- Double GC Award Points for stays in a in a Traders Club room at Traders Fudu Hotel, Changzhou. More... Nov 1, 12 - Feb 28, 13
- Double GC Award Points for stays in a Horizon Deluxe Room at the Shangri-La Hotel, Guangzhou. More... Nov 1, 12 - Feb 28, 13
- Double GC Award Points for stays of two consecutive nights in a Traders Club rooms at Traders Hotel, Penang. More... Nov 1, 12 - Dec 31, 12

United Mileage Plus
- Earn up to 12,000 Mileage Plus Miles for stays of 3+ nights on the 'Mileage Plus Bonus Miles Package" at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo or Hotel New Otani Osaka. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 2, 000 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles for New Otani Club members who are also Mileage Plus members per stay of two consecutive nights or more at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo or Hotel New Otani Osaka. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 10,000 Mileage Plus Miles for stays at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- Earn up to 3,000 Mileage Plus Miles per stay of two consecutive nights or more Hotel New Otani Makuhari Hotel New Otani Osaka The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, Honolulu Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong, Beijing. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Plus Miles when you download and shop with the MileagePlus shopping assistant. More... Until Oct 31, 12

Wyndham Rewards
- 16,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points for each qualified stay at one of 20 new Wyndham and Hawthorn hotels in the U.S. (Bonus can be earned a maximum of 3 times). More... Until Dec 31, 12 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

20 Free Air Miles Rewards Miles for Heart & Stroke Foundation Newsletter sign up

You can earn 20 free Air Miles Rewards Miles when you subscribe to the Heart & Stroke Foundations new Heart Smart Families e-Newsletter

20% Bonus Flying Club miles on transfers for Diners Club Canada members

If you are one of the lucky Diners Club cardholders here in Canada (I am!) than there is a transfer bonus going on right now. While it may not be the best offering, the fact that it brings the conversion ratio close to 1:1 makes mentioning this offer worthwhile.

Until October 31st, members can convert their Club Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying and receive a 20% bonus. Normally it costs 1,250 CR points for 1,000 Flying Club miles which means with this promo members will receive 1,200 Flying Club miles. Ultimately this offer is good for someone who may utilize Virgin Atlantic (hint to you Vancouver readers in particular although VS' seasonal service to YVR has ended, hopefully it will return in 2013) or any of the Flying Club partner airlines.

Complete details on the offer can be found here