Rewards Canada's 5th Annual Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings

Today on RewardsCanada.ca we posted our fifth annual picks for Canada's top travel rewards credit cards. We have combed over 75 different credit cards offering travel rewards for Canadians and of those there are a few that really stand out. While it is practically impossible to give this question a perfect one card answer, we can breakdown the market of Canadian Travel Rewards credit cards into five major categories that these cards fall into.

Visit rewardscanada.ca/topcc2013 for the complete list of winners!

For the complete article, details on each card plus runners up in each category please visit the full Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Card for 2013 page on the Rewards Canada website

Care to comment on our choices? Want to voice your opinion on the good and the bad of all the Travel Rewards Credit Cards in Canada. Share you views and experiences by leaving a comment below.

Amazing 60,000 Point Sign Up Bonus for the MBNA Best Western Rewards MasterCard

Even bigger than last year's 50,000 point sign up offer comes this 60,000 point bonus for the MBNA Best Western Rewards MasterCard.  Thanks to Rewards Canada reader Jean-Pierre H. for forwarding the email to me about this latest promotion.

What can those 60,000 points get you?

• Three free nights at Best Western or
• $225 in Gift Cards or
• 12,000 Aeroplan (or other airline) miles

Those are just three examples for you. Getting this card is almost a no brainer as is it has no annual fee so just by funneling some of your credit card spend (only $2,000) to this card you can take advantage of this relatively large windfall for a no fee card!


Here are the details for the card and this promotion:

Limited-Time Offer: Earn up to Best Western Rewards^® points!
60,000 Best Western Rewards Points is enough for three free nights or $225 in gift cards^♦♦
Offer expires on August 31, 2013

• No Annual Fee
• Receive 20,000 bonus BWR Points after your first eligible purchase^††
• Spend $1,000 before July 31, 2013 on your new card and receive additional 30,000 bonus points^†††.
• Receive another 10,000 bonus points^†††† when you spend an additional $1,000 before August 31, 2013
• Earn even more Best Western Rewards points by making everyday purchases

For more details or to apply for the card please see here. 

June 10 Update: Aeroplan bonus for Delta Hotel stays, Starwood $25 Prepaid MasterCard offer

Welcome to another week of loyalty program news, information and bonus offers! Here is what Monday had in store on Rewards Canada:

News, Tips & Tricks
There is new offer for The Costco TrueEarnings Card from American Express.  This offer has now expired.


Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles per stay on Delta’s Web Saver Plus at Delta hotels in Canada. More... Until Sep 3, 13

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN Alize Paris Montmartre, BEST WESTERN Les Terrasses de Montargis - Pannes, BEST WESTERN Diva Opera - Paris or the BEST WESTERN Allegro Nation - Paris More... Until Jul 31, 13

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you stay two nights or more at any participating Ascott serviced residence. More... Until Aug 31, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles when you travel in any class to or from Stockholm, via Dubai, to/from any Emirates destination. More... Register & book by Jun 30 for travel Sep 4 - 30, 13
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at the Shangri-La Villingili, Maldives. More... Book by Jul 31 for stays Jun 30 - Dec 20, 13

Iberia Plus
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Avios for Iberia Plus partner transactions. Plus earn 15 Avios per day for inviting your friends on Facebook. More... Until Jul 31, 13

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 30,000 Bonus QMiles for stays of 3 or more consecutive nights at the Burj Al Arab Dubai. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- 1,500 Bonus QMiles for stays of 3 or more consecutive nights at participating Jumeirah Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- 1,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at the Salalah Marriott Resort. More... Until Jul 20, 13

Scandic Hotels Frequent Guest
- Double Points for stays at the Scandic Hamburg Emporio. More... Jul 1 - Aug, 13

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Receive $25 prepaid MasterCard and a complimentary Coca-Cola gift package for every Thursday-Saturday check in at participating Starwood Hotels in the U.S., Canada and Bahamas. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays in a suite at anyone of four Starwood Hotels in Egypt. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Triple Starpoints for stays in a tower room at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers Bangkok. More..Until Jul 31, 13

Jun 7 Update: Hyatt teams up with MGM Resorts, Starwood Resorts sale & two more Hilton Fast Track to Gold offers

A relatively quiet end to the week here at Rewards Canada:

News, Tips & Tricks
Hyatt Gold Passport and MGM Resorts M life are partnering to offer recpirocal benefits for stays at each respective brands hotels. The partnership launches on June 20th and will offer the following in each of the programs:

Hyatt Gold Passport Benefits

-- Hyatt Gold Passport members will receive Hyatt Gold Passport points on every eligible dollar spent at the 12 participating MGM Resorts destinations in Las Vegas. Members will also have the opportunity to earn M life Tier Credits simultaneously at these locations on eligible spend.

-- All eligible stays at any of the participating MGM Resorts destinations in Las Vegas will count toward Hyatt Gold Passport tier status.

-- Hyatt Gold Passport members will be able to redeem their Hyatt Gold Passport points for award nights at participating MGM Resorts destinations in Las Vegas.

-- Coming in August, Hyatt Gold Passport members will be eligible to opt-in to a reciprocal tier status in MGM Resorts' M life, providing benefits at participating MGM Resorts destinations. Depending on the matched Tier Level, members may receive special room offers and upgrades, pre-sale access to premier concert, show and fight tickets, invitations to members-only events, access to M life Moments - exclusive experiences, and much more.

M life Benefits

-- M life members will receive M life Tier Credits for eligible spend when traveling beyond MGM Resorts destinations, in Las Vegas, Detroit and Mississippi, when they stay at Hyatt hotels and resorts worldwide.

-- M life members will have the opportunity to experience destinations and cultures across the globe with the authentic hospitality that Hyatt offers while earning M life Tier Credits.

-- Coming in August, M life members will be eligible to opt-in to a reciprocal tier status in Hyatt Gold Passport, providing benefits at Hyatt hotels and resorts worldwide. Depending on the matched Tier Level, members may receive complimentary in-room Internet access, guaranteed room availability, late check-out and more during their Hyatt stay.

Aeroplan is supporting World Ocean Day! (My family loves whales, whale watching and more. My daughter said that she wanted to be a Marine Biologist when she was 5 and now at 8 that hasn't changed she still wants to be one!) Now which whale picture do I upload of the hundreds I have saved on my laptop?

To celebrate World Oceans Day and support Oceans Initiative, one of Aeroplan's Charitable Pooling Accounts, Aeroplan will donate 1,000* Aeroplan Miles to Oceans Initiative for each photo or drawing submission we receive of a whale between June 7 - 10th.

To show your support, please submit your drawing or photo to the photo submission form found on the Aeroplan Blog http://blog.aeroplan.com/milesplay/beyond-miles-world-oceans-day/ or on Aeroplan's Facebook page: http://facebook.com/aeroplan, via the World Oceans Day Tab.

For more information, please visit: http://blog.aeroplan.com/?p=3339.

*Up to 1 million Miles

Travel Deals
Starwood is running what they call their biggest resort sale ever resorts with savings up to 25% in North America, Latin America or the Caribbean. Book by June 16, 2013 for travel now - September 30, 2013.  Full details and online booking



Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles on every purchase when you shop duty free. There are two ways to buy your favorite duty-free items: Pre-order online or purchase onboard any international Air Canada flight. More... Until Jul 31, 13

Garuda Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double GFF Miles for Garuda flights between Denpasar and Bandung; Jakarta or Medan and Palembang; Jakarta and Perth. More... Various dates until Jul 28, 13

Hilton HHonors
- Fast Track to Gold Status complete four qualifying stays at Hilton Hotels Worldwide within 90-days of enrolling in this offer. More... Unitl Dec 31, 2015 Targeted for American Express Travel Customers in Germany but could work for anyone
- Fast Track to Gold Status complete four qualifying stays at Hilton Hotels Worldwide within 90-days of enrolling in this offer. More... Until ? Targeted for: Member must be affiliated with sports group or event / MVP Valued Partner in Sports but could work for anyone

Le Club accorhotels
- 2,000 Le Club Accorhotels Points and up to 40% off for stays at Mercure Hotels Worldwide. More... Jul 12 - Sep 8, 13
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points and up to 20% off with complimentary breakfast for stays at Accor Hotels in India. More... Jun 6 - Sep 10, 13

Miles & More
- Triple Miles & More for stays at any participating IHG hotels in Germany. More... Book by Sep 15 for stays until Dec 31, 13
- Double Miles & More Miles on all Budget rentals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa or the USA/Canada. More... Until Jun 30, 13
- Double Miles & More Miles on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. Plus get 2 free days if your rental is for 7 or more days. More... Book by Jun 30 for rentals until Sep 30, 13

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles and enjoy 25% off room rates when you stay at any participating Accor hotels in Hong Kong and China. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights at a participating Anantara property More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Double KrisFlyer Miles for every night’s stay at a participating Ascott serviced residence in China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia or United Kingdom. More...Until Jul 31, 13
- 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 Zealan More... Until Jul 31, 13

Global TV Calgary: What to do with your Miles & Points when you pass on

I'm not sure why this has become a popular topic this year but it has! This was my second interview this year on the topic. First it was the Financial Post in March and now this week it was Global Calgary. The Global piece was spurred by a press release from Loyalty One last week on the subject (they are also featured in the interview) which provides a good summary of what I and others have said you should do. Also earlier this year Delta SkyMiles changed their rules that SkyMiles cannot be bequeathed and are lost upon death. So as you can see, it has become popular! The topic however should not be ignored,  you really should treat all your miles and points as you would your financial matters, investments and other important issues when it comes time to pass on.

As I mentioned in the Financial Post article and the Global Calgary piece, the very first thing you should do, no matter what age you are, is provide your loved ones with your account numbers and login credentials so that they can access your accounts should you come by an untimely death. They can then decide whether it is pertinent to transfer those miles/points to their accounts (some programs charge a fee for this), let the miles/points expire (only if there is no use for them, ie you only 100 miles in an account) or use them up via your login credentials (this would be the case for programs like Delta SkyMiles).

What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you have a plan in place to make sure there is someone who can use your miles and points? I would love to hear from you!

Jun 6 Update: Aeroplan partner airline mileage accumulation changes, IHG Canada next stay bonus, Marriot stay bonus for MileagePlus members

Here is the roundup of news and bonuses for June 6th:

News, Tips & Tricks
Aeroplan has announced mileage accumulation changes for flights on partner airlines Adria, LOT and Scandinavian:

As you can see the changes are positive for Scandinavian (more miles for full economy fares) but lower end economy fares on LOT don't fare so well while Adria airways is a mixed bag with some classes now earning miles while others get reduced or eliminated.

In the bonus offer section see the next IHG 1,000 point bonus for your next stay in Canada. This offer may not work for you if you took advantage of it under the promo code #7620 but if you didn't sign up for that one then there is a good chance it will work.


Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you stay at participating Accor hotels and resorts in Mainland China and Hong Kong for two consecutive nights or more. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- Quadruple Asia Miles for stays at participating Jumeirah Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Aug 15 for stays Sep 1 - Nov 30, 13
- Double Asia Miles when you stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights on a Summer to Remember package at participating Regent Hotels & Resorts properties worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- Earn up to Triple Asia Miles at the Best Available Rate at any Shangri-La hotel, resort, Traders hotel or Kerry hotel Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 13

China Eastern Eastern Miles
- 2,000 Eastern Miles Points when staying in a Club Room or higher room category at Langham properties worldwide. More...Until Aug 31, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to 16,000 Bonus Skywards Miles on select Emirates flights Worldwide with Miles Accelerator which 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 Jun 30, 13

EVA Air Evergreen Club
- Double Evergreen Miles on each qualifying stay at Club Room or higher room category at participating Langham’s portfolio of hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- Earn up to Quaduple Evergreen Miles on Avis Rentals of 3 or more days at participating locations in the US (Excluding Alaska), Canada, Europe, Middle East, Asia (Singapore, Malaysia ,Guam & Taiwan).More... Until Jul 31, 13
- Earn up to Triple Evergreen Miles on Avis Rentals of 4 or more days at participating locations in Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Jul 31, 13
- Earn up to Quadruple Evergreen Miles on Hertz Rentals of 3 or more days at participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Aug 31, 13
- 800 Bonus Evergreen Miles on car rentals booked via rentalcars.com.More... Until Jun 30, 13

IHG Rewards Club
- 1,000 Bonus Priority Club Points for your next stay at an IHG hotel in Canada. More... Until ?

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only) - 25% Rapid Rewards Points when you purchase Rapid Rewards points online. More... Until Jul 16, 13
- Double Rapid Rewards Points for qualifying stay at Bellagio®, ARIA™, Vdara™, MGM Grand®, The Signature at MGM Grand®, Mandalay Bay®, THEhotel atMandalay Bay®, The Mirage®, Monte Carlo™, New York – New York®, Luxor®, and Excalibur®. More... Book by Jun 30 for stays unril April 30, 14

United MileagePlus
- 1,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles at select JW Marriott,®  Autograph Collection® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels & Resorts®, or Gaylord Hotels. More... g Book by Jul 15 for stays until Aug 30, 13
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles on rentals at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Jul 15, 13

Jun 5 Update: Delta decimates Elite Status earning on certain partner flights, Virgin Atlantic reward sale out of YVR, new Ritz-Carlton offer

I can't believe it is already the middle of the week! This week is flying by even with nothing terribly exciting going on in the loyalty world! Actually let me retract that, the news from Delta Airlines I guess could be called exciting but for all the wrong reasons (see below)

News, Tips & Tricks
Delta Airlines and their SkyMiles program have been going through lots of changes over the past year or so, most of them have not been good and that has earned them the nickname "SkyPesos". Devaluations, poor availability and the move to revenue based elite earning structure have put the program into many frequent flyers bad books. Then yesterday even more bad news came out of the SkyMiles head office, the reduction or elimination of MQM (Medallion Qualifying Miles) on SkyTeam partner airline flights. All the details can be found on Delta's site here but here are some of the quick details of the changes coming on September 1st:

• You will still earn full MQM's on Aeromexico, Air France, Alaska, Alitalia, GOL, KLM and Virgin Australia
• There will be reduced MQM's on Aeroflot, Air Europa, Czech, Kenya Airways, Middle East Airlines, Saudia, Tarom, Aerolineas Argentinas, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern,Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Airlines
• There will be no MQM's awarded on Hawaiian, Korean, Malaysia or Olympic

The Korean Air one is quite a surprise as Korean is a major player in SkyTeam like AF KLM, AZ and Delta! These changes in fact hurt those of us in Canada and the rest of the world even more than SkyMiles members in the U.S.. The reason why is that as of Jan 2014, US based SkyMiles members will have the revenue based portion of Medallion Qualifying take effect where not only will you need Medallion Qualifying Miles or Segments but you will also require Medallion Qualifying Dollars. Of course those MQD's can only be earn by flying on a flight marketed by Delta (ie ticketed by Delta). So what this means is that U.S. members will be funnelling their spend through Delta to ensure the can qualify for elite status whereas those of us in Canada don't have to buy Delta tickets but as long as eligble flights are credited to SkyMiles we would earn MQMs & MQSs and ultimately elite status. But now with this change it will be harder for Canadian's to qualify as we can only rely on MQMs or MQSs. This is especially bad news for those who were utilizing airlines like Korean, China Airlines etc. and crediting those flights to SkyMiles for elite status recognition.

Virgin Atlantic is running a Flying Club Reward Ticket sale and their Vancouver - London route is included. The discounted rate is only 35,000 Miles (+$450 in fees) for an economy class ticket. Normally the redemption rate is 47,500 miles (+$660 in fees). Tickets must be booked by June 17. Full details can be found here



Travel Deals
Both Air Canada and WestJet are running seat sales for flights within Canada.  Flights need to be booked by June 6 at aircanada.ca or westjet.com


Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 30% Bonus Miles when you share/transfer AAdvantage Miles to your friends and family.More... Until Jul 1, 13

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 30,000 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 Jul 31, 13

Ritz-Carlton Rewards
- Earn one certificate for a complimentary night at a Tier 1-3 hotel after the completion of two paid stays at participating Ritz-Carlton hotels.  Maximum of two complimentary night certificates awarded per member. More... Register by Sep 30 for stays between Jul 1 and Oct 31, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- 1,000 Bonus Dividend Miles and a $10 Food & Beverage credit at 150+ participating Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft and Element Hotels & Resorts in North America. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 25% Flying Club Miles Discount with the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Reward Seat Sale.More... Book by Jun 17, 13
- 15% Bonus Flying Club Miles when you purchase Flying Club miles online. More... Book by Jun 30, 13

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 25% VHR Points Discount on award nights for stays at any VOILÀ network hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 13
- 1,000 Bonus VHR Points Discount when you refer people to the VHR program. Points are awarded after you referral's first stay. More... Until ?

CIBC waiving the first year annual fee on their premium travel credit cards

Much like last year, CIBC is once again running a promotion waiving the first year's annual fee on their suite of premium travel credit cards. To qualify for the 'rebate' on your annual fee all you have to do is spend $500 on the card with the first three months of having it. The offer is good on the CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite, CIBC Aerogold Visa, CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite and CIBC Aventura World Elite MasterCard. This offer runs until June 28, 2013.

Each card's sign up links can be found here:
Aerogold Visa Infinite
Aerogold Visa
Aventura Visa Infinite
Aventura World Elite MasterCard

Apparently you can get the same offer with no spend threshold, ie 100% rebate of the annual fee without spending a dime by either calling in your application and asking for the first year fee waived or walking into a CIBC branch and doing the same.

This is a nice offering to get 15,000 Aeroplan miles for nothing as you can always cancel your card before the first year is up.  If you want even more Aeroplan miles you can even add another 20,000 Aeroplan Miles by signing up for the American Express Gold Rewards Card which is also fee-free in the first year and awards 20,000 Membership Rewards points via this link. And for even more free miles read my post titled  Travel Hacking 101 - Earn 50,000+ Aeroplan Miles or British Airways Avios for free*which covers the Amex card mentioned above and some others. Technically speaking you could potentially earn 65,000 Aeroplan miles for free with these methods.

IHG's Latest Stay X Get Y Bonuses are out, earn up to 30,000 Bonus Priority Club Points

The latest set of IHG's Stay X Get Y targeted bonus offers are now out. If you are veteran points earner these need no explanation however if you are new to these bonuses here is a quick summary of what they are. They are a 'targeted' bonus that IHG has been releasing for many years now, typically for each quarter and rewards the member with bonus points for completing a certain amount of stays or nights. These offers can be stacked with other IHG bonus like the current systemwide promotion of Double Points. Now I put targeted into quotes as these offers are emailed out to select members and only they are supposed to be able to use them however as has been long known with IHG this is not the case. In fact most people find that they are able to sign up for many of these 'targeted' offers with no issue and receive the bonus points. The Stay X Get Y offers are a little different however as you may be rejected on one of the codes but not another. The best bet with these ones is to find the offer that most closely matches your stay pattern for the promotional period and try to sign up for that one first. If it doesn't work go on to the next one and so on and so forth. Here is the offer as it will appear on RC's Priority Club page later today

Earn up to 30,000 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. Nights do not have to be consecutive. Do not sign up until the previous quarter is over. Use the following codes to register online (use the smallest amount first and then go on to the next if you do not qualify, however once you do qualify for one you cannot sign up for any others):
Stay 3 Nights, Get 2,500 - Code 4993
Stay 3 Nights, Get 2,500 - Code 6832
Stay 3 Nights, Get 2,500 - Code 6834
Stay 5 Nights, Get 5,000 - Code 4001
Stay 7 Nights, Get 10,000 - Code 2511
Stay 7 Nights, Get 10,000 - Code 2971
Stay 10 Nights, Get 15,000 - Code 4003
Stay 18 Nights, Get 20,000 - Code 6002
Stay 25 Nights, Get 30,000 - Code 7031
Register online with one of the codes from above.

TODAY ONLY: Double Miles on all Rocketmiles Bookings

Back in April I highlighted the new hotel booking site RocketMiles that offers thousands of airlines miles on hotel bookings in select cities around the world. The site is now two months old and to celebrate they are offering double miles on all bookings made today.  To qualify all you have to do is make a booking by 11:59PM CST on June 5, 2013.

If you haven't signed up for RocketMiles you can earn 1,000 miles on your first RocketMiles booking if you use my referral link (I will also get 1,000 miles). Feel free to post your referral link below to start a referral conga.