Earn 5x Aeroplan Miles on all IHG stays this fall

If you are an Aeroplan mile collector you would have known that Summer 2013 presented tons of opportunities for earn bonus miles for hotel stays and it looks like that trend continues for the fall. Earlier today we had a separate post on the Aeroplan Starwood offer (which is the best of the bunch), the Aeroplan Best Western offer got mentioned in our daily update and now here is an IHG offer for the fall.  Here is the offer as it will appear on RC's Aeroplan page tomorrow:

Earn 5x Aeroplan Miles (2,500 miles per stays) on every qualifying stay at InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Alliance Resorts,  Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Holiday Inn Resort®, Holiday Inn Club Vacations® hotels, Staybridge Suites® or Candlewood Suites® hotels Worldwide.  Full details, online registration and booking Sep 1 - Nov 30, 13 

Sep 3 Update: Lots of card changes from Amex and BMO, Icelandair announces Edmonton & Vancouver service, Aeroplan Best Western Fall offer

Lots happening today (and over the weekend) in the world of travel rewards and more in Canada!

News, Tips & Tricks
As we mentioned a few times in August, expect lots of changes to travel rewards credit cards in Canada this September and they are appearing very quickly! If you missed it earlier today, we already covered the positive change to the American Express Gold Rewards Card and the BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard. But those are not the only two cards changing, here is a list of other new offers or changes:

American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Platinum Card / American Express® AeroplanPlus®*Gold Card is no longer available as of August 26th, 2020. For more information, please visithttps://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/credit-cards/aeroplan-cards/

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The American Express Platinum Air Miles has a limited time sign up bonus of 1,200 Air Miles reward miles when you charge a total of $500 in purchases to your Card within your first three months of Cardmemberhsip. Offer is valid until November 30, 2013.

The BMO Air Miles World MasterCard also has a new limited time sign up bonus of 2,000 Air Miles Reward Miles. Earn 1,000 Bonus AIR MILES reward miles after your first card purchase and earn 250 Bonus reward miles each month you spend $1,000 for the first four months.

I'm sure there are even more offers that we have not found or not been made award of yet but as usual stay tuned right here on Rewards Canada for the all latest news .

In non-credit card news, Icelandair has announced new service between Edmonton and Reykjavik for Summer 2014. The flights will operate four times weekly from March 26 and continue until January 2015. They also announced Vancouver-Reykjavik service that will operate twice weekly from May 13 and continue until October 12. Always great to have more flights options to use points. You can always book their reasonably priced flights on a travel points credit card that you can redeem points for the charge or you can go the Icelandair Saga Club route. Outside of flying on Icelandair your best sources for Icelandair Saga Club points in Canada are via Hilton HHonors or the Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard. (Route news Source: Icelandair)

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each qualified stay in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands that is booked on bestwestern.com. More... Until Nov 30, 13
- Earn up to 9,000 Bonus Aeroplan for stays at any Starwood Hotel & Resort Worldwide. More... Sep 1 - Dec 15, 13

airberlin topbonus
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus topbonus award miles and status miles when you fly on any airberlin group flight (AB, HG or 4T flight number). More... Register by Sep 29 for flights between Sep 12 - Dec 31, 13
- Earn Double topbonus miles on all routes in Germany and Europe. More... Register by Sep 29 for flights between Sep 12 - Dec 31, 13
- Triple topbonus Miles for every stay at participating Choice Hotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 13

British Airways Executive Club
- 25% Bonus Avios when you convert your hotel loyalty points into Avios. Participating hotel partners are Carlson Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Marriott, Shangri-La, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Oct 15, 13

Choice Hotels Privileges
- Earn up to 8,000 Privileges Points when you complete 2 qualifying stays at Choice Hotels Worldwide.  More... Sep 5 - Nov 13, 13: Valid for Residents of the U.S. and Canada only

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles on Emirates flights to and from Stockholm. More... Book and register by Oct 15 for flights Sep 4 - Dec 31, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays on the Short and Suite package at participating Raffles Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 30, 13




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Aeroplan & Starwood Promo: Earn up to 9,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles (stackable with SPG's Take Two)

Very to similar to last Fall's Aeroplan Starwood promo (see here and here) comes another promotion to earn extra Aeroplan miles on your Fall 2013 Starwood stays. The beauty of this promotion is that you do not have to set Aeroplan as your earning preference with Starwood Preferred Guest which means you can earn your regular Starpoints for your stays and any possible bonuses from promotions such as the current SPG Take Two promotion.  If you have multiple nights/stays planned with Starwood this fall this promotion is a no brainer as it simply gives you an extra bonus for those stays. Here is the promo as it will appear on RC's Aeroplan page later today:

Earn up to 9,000 Bonus Aeroplan for stays at any Starwood Hotel & Resort Worldwide. Earn 5,000 Bonus Miles after you complete 5 nights, 2,000 more miles after you complete 7 nights and 2,000 miles when you complete 9 nights for a total of 9,000 Bonus Aeroplan miles. Full Details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Sep 1 - Dec 15, 13

BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard sign up bonus increased to 30,000 points ($300 value)

As we correctly guessed in August, to account for the change in the redemption ratio on the BMO World Elite MasterCard, the sign up bonus has been increased to 30,000 points (or a $300 travel credit value). 

To remind you of the changes on the card the card now offers 2 points per dollar spent and a new redemption ratio of 100 points = $1 in travel credit. Which means this card has moved from 1.9% return to a 2% return. I hope that many of you waited to apply for this card since we posted the info in August as your sign up bonus will only be worth $150 (or $200 if you used the special golf link offering 20,000 points). For more details on the card please visit here.

American Express Gold Rewards Card - Sign up bonus increased to 25,000 Points!

Canada's Top Hybrid Travel Rewards Card according to our rankings for three years in a row and honestly one of the best cards overall in Canada now comes with a larger sign up bonus. There were numerous times I bugged American Express to increase the bonus on the American Express Gold Rewards card and they didn't budge on the original 15,000 Welcome Point bonus until recently when they introduced the 20,000 Point bonus when a 'friend' referred you to the card. Well as of today, the new sign up bonus trumps both those offers and is now 25,000 Welcome Points. What does that equate to? Well a $250 credit towards any travel via the Membership Rewards TripFlex feature or an Aeroplan Classic Flight award in North America or two round trips between Toronto and New York if you convert those points to British Airways Avios (well you really only need 18,000 points for that).  For more details on this offer or to apply for the card please visit amex.ca

Here are more details on the card:







• Earn a Welcome Bonus of  25,000 Membership Rewards® points - our HIGHEST Gold Rewards Card offer - just by making $500 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership.
• No Annual Fee for the first year; $150 Annual Fee thereafter*
• That's enough for a round trip flight to almost anywhere in North America
• Transfer your points to frequent flyer programs, or 1:1 to Aeroplan®* and Avios
• Earn double points on eligible travel and everyday purchases
• Charge any travel to your Card then pay for it with points
• 1 Free Supplementary Gold Rewards Card (a $50 value*) to help you earn points faster
• 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.
• *As a Charge Card, the balance must always be paid in full each month. 30% annual interest rate applies to balances not paid in full.

Conditions apply

Aug 29 Update: AAdvantage MileSAAver award sale to Hawaii, Etihad Labour Day sale from Toronto, Voila Status Match

This is the last day of updates until Sep 3 as we are taking an extending Labour Day long weekend.

News, Tips & Tricks
American Airlines has launched an award sale on their flights to Hawaii and this includes departures from their Canadian gateways. While not a huge discount, the 5,000 miles in savings is better than nothing. Unless you are a big time AA or oneworld flyer credting AAdvantage,hHere in Canada the best way to take advantage of this offer is via one of the numerous credit cards that can transfer points into AAdvantage such as the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express, RBC Visa Infnite or Platinum Avion card, Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard, Marriott Rewards Premier Visa or any number of the other hotel cards available:

Save 5,000 AAdvantage Miles when you book a reduced MileSAAver Off-peak Economy Class award for only 15,000 miles each way when flying between the contiguous U.S. or Canada and Hawaii on American Airlines. These awards normally run 17,500 miles each way. Full details. Book by Sep 13 for travel Sep 11 - Dec 17, 13

Voila Hotel Rewards is offering an elite status match to other hotel programs (you may have seen the post go up 20 minutes before this one, if not click here) If you don't have status in any hotel program just wait for one of the many Le Club accorhotels Platinum status sign up offers to come around and then you can parlay that into Centaurus Status. (that's got to be the coolest elite status name)

Travel Deals
Etihad Airways has launched a Labour Day Sale for their flights out of Toronto. Book by September 2 for flights Oct-Dec 2013 and Jan-May 2014. Book online at Etihad

Destination	Coral Economy Class*
AHMEDABAD	CAD 1,265
CHENNAI	CAD 1,108
COLOMBO	CAD 1,318
DHAKA	CAD 1,393
DELHI	CAD 1,156
KARACHI	CAD 1,376
LAHORE	CAD 1,460
MUMBAI	CAD 1,098

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Save 5,000 AAdvantage Miles when you book a reduced MileSAAver Off-peak Economy Class award for only 15,000 miles each way when flying between the contiguous U.S. or Canada and Hawaii on American Airlines. More... Book by Sep 13 for travel Sep 11 - Dec 17, 13

Avianca LifeMiles
- Double LifeMiles on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Receive a 30% GFF Miles Discount on First Class award ticket redemptions for select Garuda Indonesia routes. More... Book by Oct 20 for travel Sep 1 - Jan 15, 14

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- 20% JetPrivilege Miles Discount when you redeem JPMiles online at jetairways.com for Jet Airways and JetKonnect flights. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- 25% JetPrivilege Miles Discount when you redeem JPMiles online at jetairways.com for an Award ticket in Economy on select Gulf and ASEAN sectors. More... Until Mar 31, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double TrueBlue Points on qualifying rentals of 1 day or more at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Triple TrueBlue Points on qualifying rentals at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Saudia Alfursan
- Triple Alfursan Miles on Avis rentals of 5 days or more in Saudia Arabia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Austria, UK & United States More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Double Alfursan Miles on Budget car rentals in the KSA, Egypt or Kuwait. More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Quadruple Alfursan Miles when you rent a Hertz Prestige Collection car in Europe and North America for 5 days or longer. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Elite Status Match - Send VHR proof of the elite status earned in a competitor’s reward program (either a screenshot, or a scan, of your current card) to support@vhr.com and they’ll reward you with corresponding status in VOILA. More... Until Dec 31, 14






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Voila Hotel Rewards now matching status of other hotel reward programs

Voila Hotel Rewards is the latest hotel reward program to offer a status match to elite members of other hotel programs. It seems to be much like Best Western's Status Match No Catch offer where all you have to do is send them proof of the elite status earned in a competitor’s reward program (either a screenshot, or a scan, of your current card) to support@vhr.com and they’ll reward you with corresponding status in VOILA. For complete details see here.

Here is the list of programs they status match to and the corresponding status in VHR

Aug 28 Update: Aeroplan to giveaway tickets in Toronto, 500 Bonus SkyMiles on Hertz Rentals, 5,000 Bonus Points for Hotel Indigo stays

This is the last update for this week as we are off tomorrow. Regular updates will return on Monday!

News, Tips & Tricks
Aeroplan will be giving away 1 ticket every 5 minutes in Toronto on September 4th to celebrate the launch of Distinction. So Rewards Canada readers in the TO area, try to make it down! We'd love to hear if you are planning on going down and if you do let is know if you are one of the winners! Feel free to do so by commenting below or even better tweeting us @RewardsCanada on Twitter!

WHAT: Aeroplan is giving away a trip to some of the most exciting destinations worldwide, plus see your photo larger than life on one of the Dundas Square digital billboards.

WHEN: Registration begins at 11:00 am on September 4, 2013. Trips (13 in total) will be given away every five minutes between 12:00 – 1:00 pm. Contest is open to Canadian residents over the age of majority. Each trip consists of roundtrip economy airfare to a selected destination + $1,000 spending money (approximate value $6,000/prize).

WHERE: Dundas Square, 1 Dundas St. E, Toronto, Ontario.

Bonus Offers
Delta SkyMiles
- 500 Bonus SkyMiles on your next Hertz Rental Worldwide. More... Register and book Sep 30 for rentals until Dec 31,13

Icelandair Saga Club
- 20% Bonus Saga Club Award Points when you buy or gift Saga Club points. More... Until Sep 30, 13

IHG Rewards Club
- 5,000 Bonus Priority Club Points plus complimentary breakfast at Hotel Indigo locations Worldwide. More... Until ?

Le Club accorhotels
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 2 or more nights at Novotel Hotels in France, Germany, the UK or Sweden. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Olympic Air Travelair Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com)
- Double Travelair Miles for Olympic Air flights between Santorini and Mykonos or Heraklion. More... Until Sep 15, 13
- Double Travelair Miles on Hermes Yacht rentals. More... Book by Sep 30, 13

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Earn up to Quadruple Royal Orchid Miles on Avis rentals in Asia, US, Canada, Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Transaero Privilege (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com)
- 5x Privilege Points for stays at the Rixos Premium Belek, Rixos Sungate or Rixos Premium Bodrum. More... Until Oct 1, 13





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Is Air Canada Altitude descending?

First time Rewards Canada contributor Sol Zia gives us his perspective on the recent Air Canada Altitude changes that we mentioned back on August 21 (click the link for complete details on the changes if you are not aware of them yet)

Recently, and rather unceremoniously, Air Canada (AC) announced a number or changes to miles accumulation and upgrade benefits at various tier levels in their fledgling Altitude program. Those changes were summarized in an email dated August 19th and more details could be found on the Air Canada Altitude website. Reading the email sounded like a doctor telling you a good news, bad news prognosis and starting with the good news without even asking.

The good news, and it's been a long time coming, is the ability to earn status miles (Altitude Qualifying Miles if you will) for Tango fares that previously did not qualify for status miles. And now for the bad news, and there's lot of bad news, starting next year, upgrading will be a costly affair and upgrading companions will be more challenging (not that it started out easy). Unless you are Super Elite (Super Elite 100K to be precise) you will be required to pay an add-on, on top of surrendering those hard earned e-upgrade credits on AC long haul. Further bad news came in the body of reduced ability to upgrade those traveling with elite tier travelers. This will be most felt by Super Elite 100Ks with family who were looking to upgrade their loved ones on  paid or award tickets to that far off vacation destination. It has only been a year that Super Elites have had the feature of upgrading on award tickets and next year it will be gone.

"What's the big deal?" you say, "Many US carriers are already doing this!" True, but Air Canada has started out with add-on price points between $500 and $750 CAD well above where US competitors started. AC has chosen to price the add-ons competitively to the marketplace versus a more gradual approach or more discreet add-on levels by distance traveled. By taking such a sweeping approach to 25, 35, 50 and 75K level members one might predict that further changes to each sub-Super Elite level are coming. The trend for US carriers has been to widen the gulf between tiers so with so many tiers AC may rapidly follow suit and eliminate benefits for the "lower" tiers. With so much profit concentrated with 50, 75 and 100K members AC could, arguably, reduce benefits at the 25 and 35K level without much economic impact. At the 25 and 35K level members are clearly doing fewer long hauls so the knee-jerk compulsion to switch to United or other Star Alliance members makes only emotional sense as United would offer no greater benefit to a 25 or 35K member.

At the 50, 75 and 100K level things are a bit more interesting as switching earning designation could yield improved benefits on, for example, United while retaining Star Alliance Gold status giving you access to elite check-in counters, no fee and prioritized baggage, domestic lounges and advance boarding. It will be interesting to see if defection becomes measurable and AC has to examine some of its recent changes to Altitude.

At the end of the day these changes make a great deal of economic sense to Air Canada and devaluing 25 and 35K members may prove a winning bet. Let's see if the bet pays off for the 50, 75 and 100K members.

Sol Zia, a loyalty consultant, has been an Air Canada Super Elite (100K) member since he first fast-tracked out of Elite in 2003.

Aug 27 Update: Air France KLM Fall/Winter Seat Sale, Best Western Bonus for South America stays, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Bonus

Quiet day today!

News, Tips & Tricks
No news to bring you today but our tip of the day is if you are planning to rent a car in the near future always make sure you visit our Car Rentals Bonus Offer page first to see if you can earn more miles or points on that rental!

Travel Deals
Both Air France and KLM have launched great seat sales for to Europe and beyond from all their gateways in Canada. Tickets need to be booked by Sep 17 for travel between Oct 16 and Dec 10, 2013 or Dec 25 and May 6, 14. Fares start as low as $849 all in. Book online at at airfrance.ca or KLM.com 

Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points when you complete 3 separate qualified stays at any Best Western hotel in South America. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Buy 2 nights get 1 free for 3-night stays when you check-in on a Thursday and check-out on a Sunday at any participating Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts, Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts and Park Inn by Radisson Hotels in Europe, the Middle-East and Africa. More... Until Oct 27, 13

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
- Double Dynasty Flyer Miles when you rent for 3 days or longer in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain Mainland, UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. More... Book between Aug 31 and Sep 30 for rentals until Mar 31, 14

Emirates Skywards
- Quadruple Skywards Miles and a complimentary room upgrade when you stay at any Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts property in Europe. More... Sep 1 - Nov 30 , 13

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
- Triple Gold Plus Rewards Points at participating Hertz locations in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, U.S.V.I., United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand only. More... Sep 1 - 30, 13 Valid for residents of the U.S. and Canada only

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia between Madrid and Accra, Malabo, Nouakchott, Paris, Zurich, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, San Jose de Costa Rica, Sao Paulo or Lagos. More... Register Sep 1 - 15 for travel Sep 1 - Oct 31, 13

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double TrueBlue Points when you fly a nonstop roundtrip Emirates flight from New York (JFK) to Milan. More... Book by Sep 10 for travel Oct 1, 13 - Mar 31, 14