Apr 4 Update: EVA Air new Miles & Cash option, KLM Business Class sale for the busy summer season, Le Club accorhotels sign up bonus

Final day of updates for Rewards Canada this week as I will be away tomorrow!

News, Tips & Tricks
EVA Air has launched a new Cash+Miles option for booking flights online. The new feature allows you to pay for part of your flight with your Evergreen Club mileage through their new, 100% flexible online booking and payment function called “Miles & Cash.” It looks pretty cool in that you can set how many miles and how much cash you want to use for your booking. Find out more details here.

Travel Deals
KLM has once again put their Business Class cabins on sale for flights out of Canada to Europe and beyond. What is amazing about the offer this time is that it covers the whole busy summer travel season! From Toronto and Montreal you can get to Europe for as little as $2498 all in and $2998 all in from Calgary or Vancouver! This offer is valid for travel April 11 to Sep 1 and must be booked by Apr 14. Book online at AirFrance.ca or KLM.com

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 5X Aeroplan Miles for every $1 you spend on Air Canada luggage at Bentley. More... Until Jun 30, 13

airberlin topbonus
- 1,000 Bonus topbonus Miles when you join Le Club accorhotels and select airberlin topbonus as your prefered reward option. More... Until May 31, 13

British Airways Executive Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn 100 bonus Avios on standard airport parking bookings and 200 bonus Avios on Meet & Greet airport parking bookings when you book with Holiday Extras between 3 April 2013 and 15 May 2013. More... Until May 15, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for every eligible stay at select Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Jun 10, 13

EVA Air Evergreen Club
- Double Evergreen Miles on Hertz Rentals of 3 or more days at participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- 600 Bonus Evergreen Miles per car rental booked via Rentalcars.com. More... Until Apr 30, 13

Gulf Air Falconflyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Falconflyer Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Triple Falconflyer Miles for stays on the Best Available Rates for a minimum of 3 nights at Majestic Arjaan by Rotana – Manama. More... Until Aug 31, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points when you join the Le Club accorhotels program and complete your first stay. More... Until Apr 30, 13

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Earn up to Quadruple KrisFlyer Miles when renting a Group C or higher car with Avis for 3+ days in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until May 31, 13

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Double Victoria Miles on rentals of two or more days at participating Avis locations Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 13

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus MileagePlus Miles or up to $30 towards future flights on United on a qualifying rental of one or more consecutive days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals until Jul 31, 13
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus MileagePlus Miles or up to $30 towards future flights on United on a qualifying rental of one or more consecutive days at participating Hertz locations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia and New Zealand More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals until Jul 31, 13

Apr 3 Update: Double Aeroplan Miles @ Esso, up to 6x AAdvantage Miles for Hertz Rentals & another Voila Elite Status Offer

Another big day for new bonus offers being added to FFB and Rewards Canada. Not much on the news side other than my newest credit card review.

News, Tips & Tricks
Less then half an hour ago I posted my latest credit card review. This time its on the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Credit Card. Check it out!

Bonus Offers
Air Baltic BalticMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Baltic Miles for stays at the Žilvinas or Vyturys hotel. More... Until May 31, 13
- Earn up to 350 Bonus BalticMiles points when you sign up for a PointsHound.com account. More... Until May 31, 13

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles on Esso Regular, Extra and Supreme Grades of gasoline and other eligible Esso purchases. More... Until May 27, 13

Air China Phoenix Miles
- Earn up to Triple Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays on the Bed and Breakfast or Best Available rate at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 4x Mileage Plan Miles on all vehicles and any length rental at participating Hertz airport and off airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. More... Until Sep 30, 13

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles for nonstop flights between New York JFK and Houston IAH. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Double AAdvantage Miles for nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Raleigh/Durham. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Earn up to 6X AAdvantage Miles plus, save up to 35% on Hertz Rentals in the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- Earn up to 30% Bonus Miles when you buy AAdvantage Miles. More... Until May 17, 13

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles for stays at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide for three consecutive nights or more. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Double Asia Miles for stays at participating Regal Hotels in Hong Kong and Mainland China for two consecutive nights or more. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to 16,000 Bonus Skywards Miles with Emirates' April Miles Accelerator offer. The offer enables you to earn more Skywards Miles when you fly with Emirates, irrespective of the fare you pay or where you buy your ticket. More... Until Apr 30, 13

Etihad Guest
- Triple Guest Miles and 3 nights for the price of 2 at Al Ghurair Rayhaan & Al Ghurair Arjaan by Rotana - Dubai. More... Until Apr 30, 13

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus points when you subscribe to the Economist. More... Until Apr 20, 13
- Double EuroBonus points for each trip made with Sverigetaxi. More... Until Apr 14, 13

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- 18,000 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles when you fly Singapore Airlines' Business Class or Suites from Los Angeles to Singapore on flights SQ11/12 or SQ37/38. More... Book by Apr 30 for travel until Sep 30, 13
- 200% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles when you fly in First Class between Auckland via Singapore and London. More... Book by May 1 for travel commencing no later than Jun 30, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles for stays at participating Wyndham Rewards hotels Worldwide. More... Until May 6, 13

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Double elite-tier qualification credit when you stay 3 or more nights at any VOILÀ network hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Review

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

One of only a handful of hotel frequent guest credit cards in Canada, The Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card from Chase recently went through a major work over to make the card more attractive and competitive in the extremely saturated travel rewards credit card market. The changes to card have proved popular and as such I felt that it should be the next card to be given the thorough ‘Rewards Canada review’ treatment.

Overview
The Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card came onto the market in September 2012 replacing its predecessor the Chase Marriott Rewards Platinum Visa. Issued by Chase Bank Canada, the new version of card brought along a healthier dose of rewards and also was the first hotel credit card (and also first ‘major’ travel rewards credit card) in Canada to offer no foreign transaction fees. The card falls into our “Hotel Credit Card” Category which means it is a credit card that earns points directly into a hotel's frequent guest program.

Sign up Features
The Marriott Rewards Premier Visa comes with a 30,000 Marriott Rewards points sign up bonus that is awarded upon your first purchase with the card plus one free night at a Category 1-4 hotel upon your approval for the card. Depending on the category you redeem your points and free night at you could get as many as 5 nights for free with these sign up features. 

Costs
The Marriott Rewards Premier Visa comes with a $120 Annual which is waived in the first year. $120 is par for the course with many premium travel rewards cards although not too many waive the fee in the first year. Supplementary cards are free which is slowly becoming the norm for many cards. The interest is right in-line with the majority cards at 19.99%  

Earning
The Marriott Rewards Premier Visa earns points directly into the Marriott Rewards program as follows:?5 Points per dollar spent at over 3,600 participating Marriott locations Worldwide?2 Points per dollar spend on airline tickets (must be booked directly with the airline), car rentals and restaurants?and finally 1 point per dollar on all other eligible spending. 

Redeeming
The Marriott Rewards Premier Visa earns offers numerous redemption options via the Marriott Rewards program. Of course, being a Frequent Guest Program, the primary redemption option which most people look at is hotel reward nights. Marriott Rewards offers numerous redemption levels for stays at their hotels and those level are broken down as categories. Category 1 hotels tend to be the cheapest and least attractive hotels in terms of ‘dream’ redemptions but are not necessarily bad hotels while Category 9 are the cream of the crop hotels in the most prime locations around the world. 

Marriott Reward’s points per night category requirements are as follows:
Category 1: 7,500
Category 2: 10,000
Category 3: 15,000
Category 4: 20,000
Category 5: 25,000
Category 6: 30,000
Category 7: 35,000
Category 8: 40,000
Category 9: 45,000
Ritz Carlton Hotels run from 30,000 to 70,000 points per night  

One nice feature found in a few hotel reward programs are an additional free night if you redeem for a set consecutive amount of nights and Marriott Rewards is one of the programs that offers this. On all redemptions, Marriot or Ritz Carlton if you redeem for 4 nights you can receive a 5th night free, which essentially saves you 20% on the redemption. Another way to save Marriott Rewards points is to redeem for a PointSavers award or Seasonal Award. PointSavers and Seasonal awards are kind of like Priority Club’s Point Breaks offers I have mentioned frequently though they are not as lucrative. With PointSavers you can save up to 33% on the number of points required per night at select Marriott locations worldwide. The PointSavers list changes weekly and you access that list here. ince the list is updated so frequently it is always a good idea to check it before you book a hotel reward night as a Marriott property down the street may be cheaper than the property you were originally thinking of. Seasonal awards offer at least 25% off the nightly points requirement and are not updated as frequently as the PointSavers award. You can access the Seasonal Awards list here.

Marriott Rewards also allows you to use points to upgrade a reward night and those upgrades are 5,000 points per night and are subject to availability. Another redemption option for Marriott Rewards (and therefore your Chase Visa) is instant redemption. Marriott is the only hotel chain that allows you to use points instantly while staying at a Marriott Hotel. The points are redeemed as cash against the charges on you hotel folio. The redemption rate isn’t that great but if you are swimming in Marriott Rewards points and don’t know what to do with them then this maybe a good option for you.

Probably the second biggest redemption option that members of frequent guest programs look at after reward nights are converting their hotel points to their favorite airline frequent flyer program. The program allows you to convert points to 35 different airline programs but this is where Marriott Rewards (and essentially this card) is weaker when compared to programs like Starwood Preferred Guest. Depending on the amount of points you convert and into which program it will cost you between 2.5 and 10 Marriott Reward points for one airline mile/point. The program has an option to use your Marriott Rewards points to book a flights and car rentals via their online booking engine, the number of points redeemed depends on the cost of the ticket and/or car rental. Once again the value for this redemption is less than redeeming for Marriott reward nights.. Other options include Marriott Gift Cards and Gift Cheque, spa & dining awards and like most other hotel programs Golf and exclusive experience vouchers.

Features and Benefits
The biggest feature that the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa comes with the No-Foreign Transaction Fee feature. This is big for those who travel outside of Canada lots or make a lot of transactions (ie online shopping) in currencies other than the CAD$.

Elite Status also comes with this card, albeit only Silver Elite status courtesy the card automatically giving you a 15 night stay credit on your Marriott Rewards account. Silver Elite comes at 10 Nights so you are 5 nights closer to Gold with the card. If you don’t qualify for Gold, those 5 extra nights should rollover to your next year’s elite qualification which means when your card renews you will technically have 20 qualifying nights, 10 to get you Silver (5 from the year before and 5 new) and then 10 towards Gold. Which means those 10 can then rollover to the next year and so on and so forth.

Another nice feature of the card is an annual free night at a Category 1-5 hotel that is awarded on your card anniversary. By upping this offer to Category 5, cardholders have a broader range of hotels to redeem at as many of the nicer mid-scale Marriott properties tend to be in this Category.??In terms of benefits, the card does not offer too much. In fact the only insurance is the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver insurance. 

What is good about this card
The best thing about the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa is that it is the only credit card co-branded with a major travel industry supplier in Canada that has no foreign transaction fees. If you are abroad a lot or do a lot of online shopping, saving 2 to 2.5% on all your purchase can add up big time. I know people spending over $100K a year outside of Canada in their travels which could translate to a savings of over $2,000 per year!

The fact the card has no annual fee in the first year coupled with a decent sized sign up bonus, the silver elite status and a free night tossed in makes this card almost a no-brainer (at least for the first year). If you do plan on keeping the card after your first free year then the anniversary bonus of a Cat 1-5 free night should cover your annual fee if not more, making the card virtually free. 

What is not so good about this card
While the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card does come with Silver Elite status, the elite program of Marriott is one of the least generous of all the big hotel chain elite status programs. The only truly useful benefits of Silver are a 20% bonus on points awarded for Marriott Stays and priority late checkout. Plus to reach Gold takes another 35 nights over the 15 you get with the card (50 nights total)

The serious lack of a good insurance package is also a big drawback on this card especially if you are thinking of making this card your primary travel rewards credit card. While it awards you with extra points for airline tickets it sure won’t protect when you fly like many other Canadian cards that also cost $120 per year but come with flight delay, lost/delayed baggage and even flight cancellation or interruption insurance.

Conclusion
I’m glad that Chase and Marriott decided to revamp their offering here in Canada as it provided a stronger card after their old version fell out of the top two in our Hotel Credit Card rankings back in 2011 due to the introduction of the Priority Club® World MasterCard® from Capital One®. Now with the enhanced sign up offer, the retention of the annual silver elite status, the new annual free night and the best feature of all, the no foreign transaction fee this card will more than likely move up the ranks in the upcoming 2013 Rewards Canada Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings. If you are a major player with Marriott Rewards than this card is no brainer, it should be in your wallet. If you travel heavily outside of Canada or make a lot of purchases outside of Canada (online or corporate) then you really should consider this card simply for the no foreign transaction fee. I remember a few years back someone emailing if there were any cards that had no foreign transaction fees as she ran a store importing lots of stuff from New Zealand ($30,000 a month if I recall correctly) and would benefit immensely if she had a card like that. Now she can and I hope she is! I’m not sure if the question I posed in 2011 to all the credit card companies in Canada about Foreign Transaction fees influenced Chase or not (I’ll just dream that I did, chances are they just followed their U.S. parent company) but the news is getting out for travelers and I wouldn’t be surprised if you see more card issuers jump on the no-foreign transaction fee bandwagon like we’ve seen in the U.S.

Enough of the forex fee, if you are not huge into Marriott Rewards and spread your hotel stays around than you may get more bang for your buck with a non-hotel travel rewards credit card but if you even have only a couple stays a year then this card could make a good secondary or tertiary card. If you are looking for a card with good insurance benefits, then skip this one as well as it virtually has none.

Overall I don’t think the card has or will make huge inroads with the masses in Canada but I do believe it has and will do really well with the frequent traveler crowd because of the no-foreign transaction fee.

Care to comment? Do you agree or disagree with us? Tell us what think about the relatively new Marriott Rewards Premier Visa by commenting below!

Related Links:
The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa on Chase.ca
Rewards Canada's Canadian All Travel Rewards Credit Card Comparison including the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
Rewards Canada's Canadian Hotel Only Credit Card Comparison including the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa

Other cards to consider if you are looking at this card:
American Express Gold Rewards Card
Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard
MBNA Best Western MasterCard®
MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard
Priority Club® World MasterCard® from Capital One®
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
- Chase is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa link above. Conditions apply

Apr 2 Update: Four Seasons to launch loyalty program, Bonus Miles for Hilton Las Vegas stays, US Airways hotel partner transfer bonus

I hope that everyone had a great Easter Weekend. I'm back at it for the next four days and based on the first 36 hours of April, this month will be way busier than March!

News, Tips & Tricks
Not sure if you should be getting a credit card with an annual fee? Check out this article from the Toronto Star that I'm featured in. It gives a good overview on the fee vs. no fee debate and if a fee based card is worth it for you.

Delta Airlines is testing the market on select routes with a new option to upgrade with miles at the time of ticket purchase. Essentially it will cost you 1 SkyMiles per 1 cent of upgrade cost. While it may not be the best use of SkyMiles you can take solace in the fact that you will earn full MQMs on the upgraded flight. Check out The Points Guy who has a good detailed explanation on this new option.

While many high end luxury hotel chains do have or participate in a loyalty program one stand out chain that has not gone down the loyalty road has been Canada's own Four Seasons hotels. That is about to change as they have announced that Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts will launch their own loyalty program in Q3 of this year. With the chain expanding fairly quickly for a luxury brand and changing market conditions it made sense for the company to bring on a program.

Air Canada and Turkish Airlines will be launching codeshare services on each others flights starting on April 11. Turkish will be placing their codes on Air Canada flights out of Toronto to several Canadian and U.S. destinations while Air Canada will place their code on select Turkish flights from Istanbul to the Africa, the Middle East, India and several domestic flights within Turkey. (Source Airline Route)


Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each qualified stay at Best Western branded hotels in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands. More... Apr 1 - May 31, 13 Valid for residents of Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands only
- Triple Aeroplan Miles when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio More... Until Jun 30, 13

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Triple Mileage Plan Miles when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio More... Until Jun 30, 13

American AAdvantage
- Triple AAdvantage Miles when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio More... Until Jun 30, 13

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Double Gold Points for a minimum 2-night stay on a Gold Point eligible rate at participating Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Western Europe and Northwest Africa. More... Register and book by May 3 for stays until May 10, 13

Delta SkyMiles
- 2,013 Bonus SkyMiles when you complete a minimum two-night stay at any hotel or resort within the Hilton HHonors portfolio Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Triple SkyMiles when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio More... Until Jun 30, 13
- OFFER EXTENDED 1,000 Bonus SkyMiles for stays at participating Westin Hotels & Resorts in North America and the Caribbean. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- OFFER EXTENDED 1,000 Bonus SkyMiles on every Sheraton Club stays at participating Sheraton Hotels in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to Quadruple Skywards Miles for every eligible stay, starting with your second stay, at participating hotels and resorts in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Frontier Early Returns (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Early Returns Miles when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Germanwings Boomerang Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Boomerang Miles for Germanwings flights to/from Vienna. More... Book by Apr 30 for flights until May 31, 13

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple HawaiianMiles when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio. More... Until Jun 30, 13

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple TrueBlue Points when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Miles & More
- Quadruple Miles & More Miles when you complete an eligible weekend night stay at any participating Hilton hotel or resort within the Europe, Middle East or Africa. More... Until Jun 30, 13

United Mileage Plus
- Earn up to Double Mileage Plus Miles when you fly nonstop between Hong Kong and Guam. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- OFFER EXTENDED Elite Status Match for top-tier flyers of most other airlines a comparable status in the MileagePlus® program. More... Until Apr 30, 13
- Triple Mileage Plus Miles when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Starwood Preferred Guest
- SPG Double Take: Double Starpoints + 500 Bonus Points for stays at more than 1,000 participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Register by Jun 30,13 for stays May 1 - Jul 31, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- 250 Bonus Dividend Miles everytime you use your MasterCard® card to book a US Airways flight online at usairways.com. More... Book by Oct 31 for travel until Dec 31, 13
- 50% Bonus Dividend Miles when you convert US Airways Hotel Partner points into Dividend Miles. More... Until Apr 30, 13
- 50% Bonus Dividend Miles when you share Dividend Miles online. More... Until Apr 30, 13
- Triple Dividend Miles when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio. More... and Booking Until Jun 30, 13

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Elevate Points when you stay at select Las Vegas hotels within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our Newsletter and RSS feed

Earn 750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for Best Western Stays in Canada, U.S. & Caribbean

Aeroplan has been a mainstay in the 'bonus offer' department in regards to promotions with Best Western. You can almost guarantee that Aeroplan will have some sort of offer running with Best Western and this time around the last offer hasn't even ended (Double Miles ends Apr 15) before releasing another one. Here is the offer as it will be posted to RC's Aeroplan page later today:

750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each qualified stay at Best Western branded hotels in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands. Full details, Online Registration and Booking (Registration is required) Apr 1 - May 31, 13
Valid for residents of Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands only

Starwood: Double Starpoints for eligible stays at over 1,000 locations Worldwide + 500 Bonus Starpoints for mobile booking

Starwood Preferred Guest has released the details of their next systemwide promotion. The offer is simple Double Starpoints for stays at participating hotels Worldwide. There are locations that have opted out for this promotion and you can find that list here.  Although it is not an offer that will blow your socks off, it is still a great promotion for those of you who are Starwood regulars and/or have Starwood stays planned during the promotion period. Here is the offer as it will appear on my Starwood page later today:

SPG Double Take: Double Starpoints + 500 Bonus Points for stays at more than 1,000 participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide.
Bonuses as follows:
- Earn Double Starpoints® on every eligible stay
- Earn 500 bonus Starpoints for each eligible booking made through the spg.com mobile site, the SPG® App for iPhone® or the SPG App for Android (Valid for all Starwood hotels Worldwide)
Full Details, Online Registration and Booking (Registration is required) Register by Jun 30,13 for stays May 1 - Jul 31, 13

Mar 27 Update: City Bonus Highlight on London, Turkish Status Miles Offer & AA BusinessExtra Bonuses

This will be the last day of updates until next Tuesday and hopefully since it will be the start of a new month we'll see a lot more news and bonus offers!

News, Tips & Tricks
Planning travel to London in the next few months? Be sure to check out my City Bonus Highlight on London over on the FFB Blog.

Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- 800 Bonus Phoenix Miles Kilometers per car rental booked via Rentalcars.com. More... Until May 31, 13

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 500 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you spend €500 or more at a Chic Outlet Shopping® Village in Europe. More... Until Apr 30, 13

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to Triple Business ExtrAA Points on American Airlines marketed and operated nonstop flights between Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Dusseldorf, Germany (DUS), between New York (JFK) and Dublin, Ireland (DUB), between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Seoul, South Korea (ICN), and between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Lima, Peru (LIM). More... Apr 2 - Aug 9 ,13

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- 10,000 Bonus QMiles for a 3 day / 2 night stay for a couple in a deluxe room at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai. More... Book by Apr 30, 13

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Quadruble Rapid Rewards Points for rentals at participating Alamo locations in the U.S.. More... Until Jun 15, 13

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 50% Bonus Miles&Smiles Status Miles on all Business Class flights within Turkey. More... Until Apr 30, 13
- 25% Miles&Smiles Discount on Miles&Smiles award tickets to select Turkish Airlines destinations Worldwide. More... Apr 1 - 30, 13
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles on all Hertz rentals of 3 or more days in Turkey More... Apr 1 - 30, 13 ?


Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our Newsletter and RSS feed

Mar 26 Update: Radisson 30% Off Sale, 5,000 Miles&Smiles for Doctors

Wow a super quiet day here on the Rewards Canada side of the FFB group! No news and only a few bonus offers.

News, Tips & Tricks
Hopefully they'll be something news wise here tomorrow!

As for tips and tricks, if your are looking for ways to maximize your miles or points earning be sure to read my piece on that exact topic. I first published it WAY BACK in 2005, updated it in 2011 and probably should do so again soon but nonetheless it is an invaluable piece of information if you are just getting started out in the whole miles and points game!

Travel Deals
You can get 30% off your stay at select Radisson and Radisson Blu hotels in the Americas and Asia Pacific if you book by April 9th for stays April 19 to June 29. Full details

Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- 2,000 Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you book at the Best Available Rate for a minimum of 2 nights stay in Langham's portfolio of properties in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. More... Apr 1 - May 31 13

Delta SkyMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn 1,500 Bonus SkyMiles for nonstop Delta flights between Los Angeles and New York (JFK) or earn 1,000 bonus miles for all other Delta, Delta Connection or Alaska Airlines flight. More... Register by May 21 for travel until Jun 21, 13 Targeted offer - may not work for everyone

Garuda Frequent Flyer  (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple GFF Miles for flights in Executive Class between Jakarta and Semerang. More... Until May 31, 13
- Triple GFF Miles for flights in Executive Class between Surabaya and Semerang. More... Until May 31, 13
- 50% GFF Miles Discount for GFF Junior members on all Garuda Indonesia flight redemptions. More... Book by May 31 for travel Jun 15 - Jul 15, 13

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at select Lindner Hotels in Europe. More... Apr 1 - May 31, 13

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 5,000 Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles when you join Turkish Airlines Smiling Doctors program and complete your first Turkish Airlines flights after joining. More... Until ?

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card sign up bonus to drop to 15,000 points in April

If you are in the market for an excellent travel points credit card that comes with a strong earning potential, flexible rewards and a great suite of insurances and benefits then one of the last year's strong entries into the Canadian Travel Rewards Credit Card market then the  Scotiabank Gold American Express Card  could be the right choice for you.

However now that the card is past its introduction phase and is becoming established Scotiabank will be removing the 20,000 Scotia Rewards points bonus at the end of day on March 31 and replacing it with a 15,000 point sign up bonus. This results in a loss of $50 when you apply for the card (20,000 points = $200 travel credit so 15,000 = $150).

If this card interests you I would suggest you apply for it over the next 5 days to ensure you get the higher sign up bonus. To learn more about this card you can read my initial post on it when it was first released back in September 2012.

Mar 26 Update: Priority Club to become IHG Rewards Club, Emirates adding reward ticket fuel surcharge, 4x Flying Club Miles for Hilton UK Stays

Coming off of a quiet start to the week, the second day brings us more in both the news and bonus offer departments!

News, Tips & Tricks

InterContinental Hotels Group has announced that they are changing the name of their loyalty program from Priority Club (ironically the 30th anniversary of Priority Club is this year) to IHG Rewards Club. There aren't a lot of details yet on the new program but the announcement page has put out a couple of teasers of what you can expect from the new IHG Rewards Club program:
1. Free Internet worldwide for all members in 2014 but starts early for Gold and Platinum elite members in July 2013. A nice new benefit especially when 2014 hits for the non-elites. While most of IHG's lower end brands (HI, HI Express) offer free Internet, its the higher end brands like InterContinental where you can really get dinged. So it makes sense to join the program even just for the free Internet if you will have IHG stays in 2014

2. Fast Track to elite status when you stay in two or more IHG brands. No details on this yet. In the past it used to be quite easy to earn status with Priority Club as all points earned counted towards status but that changed earlier this year and this is probably why this new feature will come into play.

3. Like SPG and Hilton , IHG Rewards Nights will now count towards Elite Membership status

4. Like Marriott, nights earned beyond your highest elite level will count towards Platinum Elite status in the following year.

The new program will become live in July and once more details are released I will pass these along to you. I know many Rewards Canada readers are big time Priority Club players so I'd love hear your initial thoughts on the change!



Emirates will begin adding a fuel surcharge to Skywards rewards tickets as of March 31. They will give the option to their members to pay for the fuel surcharges with cash or miles. Emirates claims that due the volatility of fuel price they can no longer absorb this cost on reward tickets.


Travel Deals
Have an upcoming trip to Scandinavia? Scandic Hotels is offering their Scandic Frequent Guest members a 25% discount on weekend stays at over 150 Scandic hotels in Scandinavia and Europe. The offer is valid Fridays - Sundays until 30 April 2013. Book by 7 April. Full details

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- OFFER EXTENDED 2,000 Business ExtrAA Points when you enroll your business in BusinessExtrAA and reach $3,000 in eligible spend by June 30, 2013 plus earn 5,000 AAdvantage bonus miles by flying on American Airlines. More... Until Jun 30, 13

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 Jun 30, 13. More...

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 5,000 Bonus Starpoints + $50 Daily Credit + Breakfast for stays of 14 or more nights at the Sheraton Maldives. Full Moon Resort & Spa More... Until Dec 23, 13

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays in a King Guest Room at the SeaCrest OceanFront Hotel Pismo Beach. More... Until Apr 30, 13
- Double Stash Rewards Points for Sunday-Thursday stays at the Portland Regency Hotel & Spa. More... Until Apr 30, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Commons Hotel Minneapolis. More... Until Apr 30, 13
- 1,000 Bonus Stash Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at The Benjamin New York. More... Until May 31, 13
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays of 2+ nights at the Williamsburg Hospitality House. More... Until Apr 30, 13

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Double Victoria Miles on rentals of 3 or more days at participating Hertz locations Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 13

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 1,500 Bonus Flying Club Miles when you join Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club and fly on any of Virgin Atlantic Little Red flights between London Heathrow and Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Manchester. More... Mar 31 - Jun 30, 13
- Quadruple Flying Club Miles for every stay in a participating hotel from the Hilton HHonors portfolio in London and throughout Scotland. More... Mar 31 - Jun 30, 13