May 2 Update: Frontier to charge for carry-on bags, a few Aeroplan promos (and my thoughts on one of them!)

Another quiet day here at RC (well at least on what I can present to you!) Big things happening here behind the scenes. If everything goes as planned you'll see the results tomorrow!

News, Tips & Tricks

Following in the footsteps of Spirit Airlines and Ryanair, Frontier Airlines has announced they will start charging for carry on bags (only to those people who don't buy tickets via Frontiers website) and will charge a $1.99 for coffee, tea, soda, and juice for those who buy tickets in the two lowest economy fare classes. Now its been a few years since Frontier pulled out of Vancouver and Calgary but thought this was still worth mentioning for those of you who may fly F9 on US domestic routes. (HT One Mile at a Time)

Following last weeks announcement from Air France KLM Flying Bue about changes to their InterContinental award tickets comes the news that they will be opening up First Class award seat space on Air France to non-elite Flying Blue members. (HT The Points Guy)

In the bonus offers section you'll notice the Air Canada bonus for the new Istanbul route that I mentioned yesterday. The more I think about it I think it is a really weak route launch bonus! AC feels it is enough to offer a small bonus and I guess it is better than nothing as AC usually doesn't have route launch bonuses like we see from American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and so on but come on 1,500 bonus miles for Economy Class? On an Intercontinental route? Not worth it if others airlines are pricing cheaper (consider Turkish Airlines, a Star Alliance partner no less). You have to ask the question: What is the point of a route launch bonus? There are a few reasons airlines have route launch bonuses some of which are as follows (but not limited to) ...

1. Drive awareness of the new route


2. Fill the plane. New routes tend not to be full so a route bonus is put in place to move traffic from another airline (an enticement for switching) or encourage changes to travel plans (ie in this case connect to other flights via Istanbul instead of Frankfurt, London, etc.

Well this promotion will drive awareness of the route as Aeroplan members will see the promotion  on the website and in their emails but will it fill the plane with such a small bonus? I'm not that sure. When American Airlines launches a new Intercontinental route they either offer Double Miles or a tiered bonus depending on the fare class which usually range from 5,000 miles in economy to 50,000 in Business or First depending on the promotion or route. Those are the numbers that will drive point #2 to success. Granted, perhaps Air Canada has already sold a decent amount of seats but those bookings have tapered off now and they want to fill a few more with this small enticement.  The people who will make the most of this promo are the elites who will choose flying AC for the benefits instead of another airline regardless of price. Ultimately without seeing actual numbers its a guessing game on my part but when you see the bonuses most airlines place on new routes, Air Canada's is just piddly.

Bonus Offers

Air Canada Aeroplan

• Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each round trip (or 2 one way segments) you fly on Air Canada between Toronto and Istanbul. More... Book by May 31 for travel Jun 4 - Sep 2, 13


• 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you book an all-inclusive package to Cuba with Air Canada Vacations and travel between August 1 and September 30. More... Book by May 31, 13


• 150 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on every bouquet purchased from Teleflora. More... Until Jun 30, 13


• Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles. when parking at Vancouver International Airport. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Delta SkyMiles

• Earn up to 500 SkyMiles when you pay your rent online with Williampaid. More... Ongoing

Jumeirah Sirius

• Triple Sirius Points for stays of 3+ nights at the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers Abu Dhabi. More... Jun 1 - Sep 30, 13


• Double Sirius Points for stays at the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray Dubai. More... Jun 1 - Sep 30, 13 

TAP Portugal Victoria

• Double Victoria Miles for stays at Altis Hotels in Portugal. More... Until Jun 30, 13


• Double Victoria Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at the Solares de Portugal. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Air Canada: Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles between Toronto and Istanbul

As you may or may not know Air Canada will be launching a new year round service between Toronto and Istanbul and to celebrate they are actually having a rare route launch bonus! (Air Canada seems to be one of the few airlines that doesn't have bonuses for every new route they launch like many other airlines do) The offer will appear on my Aeroplan page by tomorrow but here it is for the Rewards Canada blog readers first!

Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each round trip (or 2 one way segments) you fly on Air Canada between Toronto and Istanbul. Flights in Economy Class will earn 1,500 bonus miles per round trip (or 2 one way segments) while Executive First Class will earn 3,000 bonus miles per round trip (or 2 one way segments). Register online (registration is required). Flights must be booked by May 31 for travel Jun 4 - Sep 2, 2013.

May 1 Update: American & Delta up domestic ticket change fees, Etihad partners with Accor & 2x Skyward Miles for Emirates flights to Japan

What does Wednesday bring us? Quite a bit of news and a small amount of bonus offers!

News, Tips & Tricks

On the earning side the two biggest new pieces had their own posts today on RC. The increased sign up bonus for the American Express Choice Plus Credit Card and the US Airways Buy Dividend Miles bonus.

Etihad Airways Guest has become the latest airline program partner of Le Club accorhotels. Le Club points transfer at a rate of 2:1 into the Guest program. (HT LoyaltyLobby)

Both American Airlines and Delta Airlines have jumped on the "Let's increase our ticketing change fees" bandwagon as they follow in the footsteps of United and US Airways.  Delta has chosen to raise their domestic change fees (US and Canada) to $200 and American did exactly the same, raising their domestic ticket change fees to $200 as well.

Bonus Offers

airBaltic BalticMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)

• Double BalticMiles Points on all Avis rentals in the Baltics. More... Book by May 31 for rentals between Jun 1 - 30, 13

American AAdvantage

• Double AAdvantage Miles for nonstop flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Hermosillo or Zacatecas. More... Jun 12 - Sep 15, 13

Emirates Skywards

• Double Skywards Miles when you travel in any class to Japan, via Dubai, from any Emirates destination. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Etihad Guest

• Earn up to 350 Bonus Guest Miles when you join and book a hotel via PointsHound.com. Earn 100 miles simply for signing up with PointsHound and an additional 250 miles when you complete your first booking. More... Until May 31, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank

• Double Mileage Bank Miles for Japan Airlines flights between Tokyo and Helsinki. More...  Jul 1 - Aug 31, 13


• Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Langham Place, Fifth Avenue New York. More... May 7 - Sep 2, 13


• Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Maritim Hotel Berlin or the Maritim proArte Hotel Berlin. More... Jun 1 - Aug 31, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles

• Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you purchase Dividend Miles online. More... Until May 31, 13

American Express Choice Plus Credit Card sign up bonus increased to 12,000 points

As I mentioned in my daily update post yesterday there is another card featuring an increased sign up bonus and that card is the American Express Choice Plus Credit Card. The card normally features a 7,500 point sign up bonus but that has been upped to 12,000 which is enough for a $100 Gift Card or a $120 credit for TripFlex redemptions. You can learn more about the card in my review posted last fall or apply for it online.

• Earn a Welcome Bonus of 12,000 Membership Rewards® points the first time you use the approved Card. That’s enough for a $100 Gift Card for dining, entertainment, or home improvement!


• Earn 2 Points for every $1 in eligible Card purchases at your 5 places chosen from a list of select American Express merchants. That’s double the points compared to your Card purchases everywhere else.


• Earn 1 Point for every $1 in Card purchases everywhere else.


• Choose your 5 places from a list of select American Express merchants, including stores, restaurants, hotels and more.


• Enjoy an introductory 2.99% interest rate on purchases for the first 12 months of Cardmembership, 19.99% thereafter, 21.99% on funds advances, provided you make your minimum monthly payments on time.


• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the apply now link.

Conditions apply.

US Airways: Buy/Gift Dividend Miles and earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles

As I mentioned last week the 100% Bonus on buying US Airways Dividend Miles is back. The offer runs from until May 31st. This time the bonus is for both buying and/or gifting Dividend Miles but has varying bonus levels. Of course buying at the highest level provides you with the biggest bonus.

• Buy/gift 5,000 – 9,999 miles, get a 25% bonus
• Buy/gift 10,000 – 19,999 miles, get a 50% bonus
• Buy/gift 20,000 – 29,999 miles, get a 75% bonus
• Buy/gift 30,000 – 50,000 miles, get a 100% bonus

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

Earn 100% Bonus US Airways Dividend Miles when you buy miles by May 31, 2013!

Apr 30 Update: Marriott Rewards 'Unexpected Bonus', Starwood Asia Pacific sale and Increased Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses

Its the end of month which means... not too much to pass on to my readers! I promise things will pick up here as most programs like to release news and bonuses at the start of the month and on my end the 'big' projects I have been working on behind the scenes should be coming to fruition soon.

News, Tips & Tricks

Best news out today is the return of the tripling of the sign up bonus for the MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard. See my post from earlier today for the deets.

Another Canadian credit card with a travel portion will have an increased sign up bonus as of tomorrow. Watch for a post in the morning on that one.

Travel Deals

Starwood is running a new sale called "Your Stay Your Way" for stays in the Asia Pacific region. You can choose from enjoying special rates when you book early or breakfast for 2 and a late checkout. This offer is for stays until May 12. Full details.

Bonus Offers

airberlin topbonus

• 1,000 topbonus Miles on all Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Book by May 12 for rentals until Sep 30, 13

Best Western Rewards

• 500 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays on the Best Western Rewards® Premium Rate at all Best Western hotels in Italy. More...

Choice Privileges

• 24,000 Bonus Points + Elite Gold Status when you apply for and receive the MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard. More... Until Jul 31, 13 

Marriott Rewards

• Marriott Unexpected Bonus: Earn Free Nights or Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Register by Jul 31 for stays between May 15 and Sep 2, 2013

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)

• Earn up to 200 Bonus Elevate Points when you join and book a hotel via PointsHound.com. Earn 50 points simply for signing up with PointsHound and an additional 150 points when you complete your first booking. More... Until May 31, 13

MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard sign up bonus tripled to 24,000 points

THIS CARD IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE


For a limited time (until Jul 31, 13) MBNA is tripling the sign up bonus for the MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard to 24,000 Privileges points. The bonus is enough points for 3 free nights at over 1,500 Choice Hotels locations in North America. For a list of Canadian properties that have reward nights at the 8,000 points or less level please see here. Considering there is no annual fee and if you don't mind an inquiry on your credit rating once again this isn't a bad offer to go for just to get the 3 free nights!

• Until July 31, 2013 only, earn up to 24,000 points - enough for 3 FREE Nights¹ at over 1,500 Choice Privileges locations across North America! 


• Using the no annual fee Choice Privileges® MasterCard® is an easy way to earn free hotel nights as you'll earn points every time you use it. Plus, you'll get automatically upgraded to Elite Gold status earning you more points for every eligible stay. 


• Up to 15 points for every $1 in net retail purchases at over 5,000 Choice Privileges locations in Canada, the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and Australasia² 


• 2 points for every $1 qualifying net retail spent on everyday purchases‡ 


• Plus you get automatically upgraded to Elite Gold status – earning you more points for every eligible stay 


• 2,000 Bonus Points every year on your account anniversary‡


• Up to an additional 4,500 Bonus Points when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year


• No annual fee


• Enhanced security and protection with Chip & PIN technology and PayPass

For more details or to apply for the card please visit MBNA Canada.

April 29 Update: Air China Bonus for YVR-PEK flights and up to a $100 Gift Card for Holiday Inn Resort stays

Not too much to bring you today outside of the posts already posted today ...

News, Tips & Tricks

Air China is bonusing up many of their long haul and some of their regional routes. This promotion can be of interest to Canadian Phoenix Miles members as it includes flights between Vancouver and Beijing. What's even bigger news is the potential for super cheap award tickets on the same route! See my post from earlier today for more details!

IHG has extended their current Stay More Earn More bonuses to May 31st. These are the loosely targeted offers also known as the Stay X Get Y bonus. I'm guessing they are being extended as the IHG Rewards Club team (nee Priority Club) are busy preparing for the change over to the new name and program. See the link below for details on the offers.

Bonus Offers

Air China Phoenix Miles

• 30% Bonus Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you fly in Q Class or higher between Beijing and Dusseldorf, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Singapore, Hong Kong or Seoul. More... May 1 - Jun 30, 13


• 85% Phoenix Miles Kilometers Discount for award travel in Economy Class, Business Class and First Class on Air China from Beijing to Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Singapore. More... May 1 - Jun 30, 13


• Earn up to Triple Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays at Hilton Hotels Worldwide. Stays in China, Hong Kong, Macao or Huanying hotels will earn triple Phoenix Miles while stays in the rest of the world will earn you double miles. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 13


• 800 Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you join the Phoenix Miles program. More... Ongoing
  

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer

• 2,000 Bonus Dynasty Flyer Miles for every CNY 2,000 of eligible hotel booking via Ctrip. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 13

IHG Rewards

• Earn up to a $100 Airline, Car Rental or Rail Gift Card for stays of two or more consecutive nights at participating Holiday Inn Resorts in North America. More... Until Jun 30, 13


• OFFER EXTENDED Earn up to 20,000+ Bonus Priority Club Points for a certain amount of nights or completing a certain amount of stays at participating InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo™, Holiday Inn®, Express by Holiday Inn™ and Holiday Inn Express® hotels worldwide. More... Until May 31, 13


• 1,500 Bonus Priority Club Points for your next stay at any IHG hotel Worldwide. Stay must be made within 90 days of registering. More... Until ?

MEA Middle East Airlines Cedar Miles

• Double Cedar Miles for stays at the Centro Barsha by Rotana. More... Until Jun 30, 13

Club Carlson: 2013 Category Changes for Reward Nights

Sometime on Friday, Club Carlson, the FGP for Carlson Rezidor Hotels announced their 2013 Hotel Reward Night Category changes. They follow a long line of hotel programs who have announced changes already (Hilton, Marriott, Starwood etc.) this year. The difference here is that Club Carlson's changes are not that drastic. In Canada alone only 5 hotels are changing (3 are moving up 1 category, 2 are moving down a category, see graphic below for locations) and overall 97 hotels are going up globally while 151 are moving down. There are a couple of hotels moving up 2 categories which are big increases but overall the changes are minor.

The number of points required for a category redemption have not changed. For a complete list of the changes please see here. (thank you Club Carlson for posting this)

Air China: Only 15,000 Phoenix Miles for Business Class Award Ticket from Vancouver to Beijing?

UPDATE: This does turn out to be a translation error as I guessed below, the discount is only 15% (which is nothing to laugh at it!). Thanks to Jeff K and his mom who gave me the correct translation

I found this offer over the weekend as part of Air China's new bonus for flying on many of their long haul routes and several regional ones too. It only takes up the last half of the promotional paragraph but if this is true, this is a huge redemption discount for flights! According to the wording on the page, Phoenix Miles members can enjoy an 85% discount on award tickets between Beijing and Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Singapore until June 30, 13! You do have to register for the offer to partake in it.

That means for flights between Vancouver and Beijing you only have to redeem 21,750 Phoenix Miles Kilometers for First Class, 15,000 Phoenix Miles Kilometers for Business Class or 9,000 Kilometers for Economy Class! This seems too good to be true, perhaps their translation of the Chinese page for the offer meant you can get the ticket for 85% of the original cost or in other words a 15% discount. I am going to do some more digging on this one but it may be worth taking a look at! If this does turn out to be the amazing deal it sounds like then the best bet to get Phoenix Miles Kilometers is to transfer Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints at a 1:1 ratio (and of course 5,000 bonus Kilometers for every block of 20,000 converted).

Full details on the promotions can be found here

I'll try to keep you updated on this offer and/or if you can find out more details please post them below in the comments..