Mar 6 Update: Delta to cap SkyMiles earned on flights , Alitalia buy MilleMiglia miles bonus, 29 bonuses added in total

Thursday was pretty much about bonuses but we learn Delta will cap the SkyMiles earned on flights and U.S. Daily Getaways return

News, Tips & Tricks
The United States Travel Association and American Express in the U.S. are once again going to be running there very successful Daily Getaway promotion. The details will be revealed on May 12 and the actual sales take place from May 19 to June 20. Some of the offers are OK while others tend to be quite worthwhile and consist of travel discounts or the ability to buy points/miles are a great discount. Amex cardholders receive an additional 10% off pricing. Now the caveat for us Canucks is that these offers are meant for U.S. Residents only and some Canadian credit cards will not work however most Canadian American Express cards should work. Each offer is limited and are only available on a first come first serve basis. We'll keep you abreast of the offers as the get released. For more details see here

Gary Leff at View from the Wing points out that Delta is going to impose a cap on the number of SkyMiles that can be earned on flight in their new 2015 revenue based earning scheme. That cap is 75,000 miles per ticket. Gary points out that a Diamond Medallion member will not earn any miles after a ticket cost of $6818.18. With some of these flyers spending more than that the revenue based system will essentially be taking away miles from these members.

Bonus Offers
Alitalia MilleMiglia
- 250 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles when you book a stay in an Italian Best Western Hotel and choose a Kids, Woman or Business Room. More... Until May 31, 14
- Double MilleMiglia Miles for weekend stays (Fri-Sun) at participating NH Hotels in Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands or Spain. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Earn up to 50% Bonus MilleMiglia Miles when you buy or gift miles. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Delta SkyMiles
- 2,000 Bonus SkyMiles for all Delta members on your first Gilt purchase of $50 or more. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you fly on the following Iberia routes: From/To Madrid to Bilbao, La Coruña and Oviedo. From/To Madrid to Münich, Vienna or Zürich. From/To Madrid to Algiers (Algeria) or Lagos. From/To Madrid to Bogota, Buenos Aires and Mexico. More... Register by Mar 16 for travel until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios when you fly on the following Iberia Express routes: To / From Madrid to Alicante, Malaga, Jerez*, Santiago de Compostela, Seville or Vigo. More... Register by Mar 16 for travel until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios when you fly on the following Iberia Regional Air Nostrum routes: - To / From Madrid to Almeria, Granada, Jerez*, La Coruña, La Rioja, Murcia, Pamplona, San Sebastián, Santander, Valencia or Vigo**. - To/ From Barcelona to Burgos, Leon, Salamanca or Valladolid. - To/ From Bilbao to Alicante, Jerez, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia or Vigo. - To/From Valencia to Malaga or Sevilla. - To/From Oviedo to Sevilla or Valencia. - To/From Madrid to Bolonia or Turin. More... Register by Mar 16 for travel until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios on Derby Hotel stays in Barcelona or Madrid. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios for stays of 3 or more nights at select Hace Hotels. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- 800 Bonus Avios for every two night stays at all AC Hotels by Marriott in Spain, Italy and Portugal. And also get 200 Avios for registering for Marriott Rewards® when you complete your first stay (must register in person at the AC hotel). More... Until May 4, 14
- Triple Avios for stays at Melia airport hotels in Madrid. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios for stays at Melia hotels in Madrid, London, Rome, and Vienna. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios for stays at all NH Hotels Worldwide. More... Apr 1 - 30, 14
- Double Avios for stays at select NH Hotels in Spain. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Double Avios for stays at Paradore Hotels in Spain. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios on Rusticae stays when you Rusticae & Friends Club. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios on all online prepaid Atesa rentals in Spain Mainland and Balearics. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios when you rent a commercial van from Atesa in Spain Mainland and Balearics. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Triple Avios on rentals of a Group C car or higher at Avis locations in Spain. More... Until Mar 30, 14
- Triple Avios on all Europcar rentals Worldwide.More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Triple Avios on all Hertz rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Triple Avios on all Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Until Apr 13, 14

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles when you stay at selected Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait, Shanghai, Frankfurt, London, Rome and Baku. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Double JetPrivilege Miles when you fly on Jet Airways between Mumbai and Paris. More... May 13 - Jul 14, 14
- Double JetPrivilege Miles when you fly on Jet Airways between Bengaluru or Hyderabad and Abu Dhabi. More... Until Apr 30, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- Earn up to 1,200 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at all participating Accor hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. More... Book by Mar 18 for stays until Jun 30, 14

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating The Red Carnation Hotel Collection properties. More...   Until Dec 31, 14
- Double Flying Cliub Miles when you stay a minimum of two nights at participating Preferred Hotels Worldwide. More...   Until Dec 31, 14
- Earn up to Triple Flying Club Miles on Avis rental of 3 or more days in the U.S. or Canada. More...   Book by Mar 31 for rentals until Apr 15, 14
- Double Flying Cliub Miles with a minimum spend of 500 euros or pounds at any of the 9 Chic Outlet Shopping Villages in Europe. More...   Until Apr 30, 14

Mar 5 Update: Popular Travel Hacking method shut down, Icelandair check in bonus, great LifeMiles transfer bonus

Death of a travel hacking method, great new bonuses and more are on tap today!

News, Tips & Tricks

Yesterday we lost a dear friend in the travel hacking world. The American Express Business Gold Rewards Card was 'refreshed' but in other terms went through a sort of devaluation for those who work the system, albeit without breaking any rules. This card used to offer 25,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points as a sign up bonus when you spend $3,000 in the first three months but what made it a travel hacking favourite was the first year free option, which meant that other than regular card spend you would get those 25,000 Membership Rewards Points for free (translates to $250 travel credit, 25,000 Aeroplan Miles or 25,000 Avios). Well the first year free is gone which and the actual annual has been increased to $250 essentially wiping out the value of the sign up bonus which remains at 25,000 but which now requires $5,000 in spend in three months. The only added bonus in the card refresh is the ability to earn 1 bonus point (double points) for spending at select American Express merchants. There is a small list of participating merchants of which the cardholder chooses 3 to earn the double points at. Looks like they are taking a page out of the now defucnt conusmer Choice and ChoicePlus cards where you got to select 5 merchants for double points. This bonus on the Business Gold is capped at $250,000 in spend with those select merchants.

To see how this card compares with other business cards in Canada see our updated Business Card comparison chart. We have also updated our Travel Hacking 101 post to mark the loss of this card and bring the total amount of miles you can earn for free down to 65,000+ from 90,000+.

As we see too often with these travel hacks, they almost always come to an end and such is the case here as Amex has closed the door on this one. 

The 100% bonus on transferring LifeMiles is back. It is kind of like buying miles except you have to have the miles to start with and be able to transfer them to someone else. This works really well for family members who would redeem miles on behalf of their family anyways or if a friend is willing to have you transfer miles to their account and then back to you so you can ultimately buy miles twice. With the offer you are essentially buying the miles 1.5 cents per mile as the cost to transfer is US$15 per 1,000 miles. If you don't have LifeMiles you'll just have to wait for the next buy miles bonus that offers the miles at the same price. See the bonus offer section below for more details

Garuda Indonesia joins the Skyteam Alliance today. The national airline of Indonesia becomes the 20th member of the alliance.

Icelandair has launched a check in bonus of 500 Saga Club points for mobile, web or kiosk check ins. This is perfect timing for those flying on Icelandair's new route out of Edmonton (inaugural flight is today!)  See the bonus offer section below for more details

WestJet is expanding their code share services with Delta as part of their change of airports in New York for their flights out of Calgary. As of April 12th WestJet' Calgary to Big Apple service moves to JFK from Newark and they will code share with Delta on the following routes out of JFK:
New York JFK – Atlanta
New York JFK – Baltimore
New York JFK – Boston
New York JFK – Buffalo
New York JFK – Charlotte
New York JFK – Cincinnati
New York JFK – Cleveland
New York JFK – Indianapolis
New York JFK – Orlando
New York JFK – Philadelphia
New York JFK – Pittsburgh
New York JFK – San Juan
New York JFK – Washington Dulles
New York JFK – Washington Reagan
Westjet will also codeshare on Delta's upcoming Vancouver-Seattle route while Delta will add their code to on the following WestJet routes:
Calgary – New York JFK
Calgary – Prince George
Vancouver – Edmonton
Vancouver – Whitehorse
(Source Airlineroute.net)



Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 150 Bonus Aeroplan Miles every time you spend a minimum of $50 at The UPS Store. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Earn 3,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you join the Flying Blue program and complete your first Air France, KLM or any SkyTeam partner flight by June 15, 2014. More... Join by March  31, 14 Residents of Canada only

American AAdvantage
- Up to a 30% discount when you transfer AAdvantage Miles to another AAdvantage member. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Avianca LifeMiles
- Double LifeMiles when you transfer your LifeMiles to another members account. More... Until Mar 17, 14

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the Best Western Hotel Gap. More... Until May 31, 14

Icelandair Saga Club
- 500 Bonus Saga Club Award Points every time you check in for your Icelandiar flight using mobile, web or kiosk services. More... Until Jun 1, 14

Taj Hotels InnerCircle
- Earn up to 2,200 Bonus InnerCircle points when you subscribe to The Economist. More... Until ?

Wyndham Rewards
- Earn up to 20% Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points when you buy or gift Wyndham Rewards points. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Air France KLM 3,000 Flying Blue miles sign up bonus for Canadians returns!

Today sees the return again of the Canadian Air France KLM first flight bonus when you join their Flying Blue program. The last offer just ended on January 31st so it hasn't been too long since we last saw it! This is a duplicate of that promotion and the past summer offer and as such is unlike most other AF KLM sign up bonuses as this one is not limited to AF KLM flights but is open to any SkyTeam flight! So you can fly Delta, Korean, Czech Airlines, or any other SkyTeam airline to earn this bonus. 

Here is the offer as it will be posted on the Rewards Canada's Flying Blue Bonus Miles page later today:

Earn 3,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you join the Flying Blue program and complete your first Air France, KLM or any SkyTeam partner flight by June 15, 2014. Use promo code SP14 when you join the Flying Blue program online at KLM.com (CA). Join by March  31, 14
Restrictions:
Residents of Canada only

Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our Flying Blue Bonus Miles page for other flight,  hotel, car rental and other mileage bonuses!

American Express® Gold Credit Card with Cash Back Re-launched!

Some of you have been lucky enough to still hold this card since it was cut from the public portfolio back in 2008 and we are pleased to pass along the news that the American Express® Gold Credit Card with Cash Back has returned for public applications! The card is a good option for those people who don't want a travel rewards card or need to supplement their credit card portfolio with a cash back card.

For those of you who do have the card you'll recall the card was revamped in 2011 with the addition of $99 annual fee and a $100,000 cap on the 2% earn rate both of which still remain on the card.The complete earn rate on spending is tiered as follows:

0.5% on annual spend up to $2,500
1.0% on annual spend between $2,501 and $5,000
2.0% on annual spend between $5,001 and $100,000
1.0% on annual spend above $100,000
No cap on cashback that can be earned



Based on these tiers once you get to about $33,000 in spend this card jumps ahead of the pack in the cash back category in terms of cash return (albeit for some cards like the Scotia Momentum it will depend on your category bonus spending)

The cash back is awarded annually as a statement credit on your account.

The card also offers $100,000 in Travel Accident Insurance, Buyer’s Assurance Protection Plan and Purchase Protection Plan and of course the famous Front of the Line benefit.

Is this a card you might consider if you are not interested in travel rewards or are looking to supplement your primary travel rewards card with a cash back one? Let us know what think! We'd also love to hear from those of you who do have the card and how it has been for you.

You can learn more or apply for the card here.

We will also be adding this card to our Cash Back Credit Card comparison chart over the next few days so you can see how it compares to others in this category

Mar 4 Update: Amex Gift Cards for YVR stays, week long Airmilesshops bonus, Hilton airline bonus for Latin America stays,

New routes, free miles and Amex Gift Cards for YVR stays round out today's update:

News, Tips & Tricks
Canadian North will be launching summer seasonal service between Iqaluit and St. Johns/Halifax. The flights will run from Jun 20th to Sep 5. Canadian North is an Aeroplan partner so you can earn or redeem miles for these flights. (Source: Airlineroute.net)
Schedule:
5T401 YFB1715 – 2130YHZ2215 – 0025+1YYT 733 5
5T400 YYT1200 – 1315YHZ1400 – 1615YFB 733 5

There is a free miles offer from South African Airways, caveat is that you are supposed to be 8 years old to get it! See our bonus offer section below for details

Airmilesshops.ca is running a short term bonus of 5x Air Miles Rewards miles on qualifying purchases of $20 or more before taxes made via the online shopping portal. The offer runs until March 11. More...

Travel Deals
Not too long ago we let you know about an American Express Gift Card offer for staying at select hotels in Vancouver. We are happy to let you know that they have a new offer now running that once again awards American Express Gift Cards for stays in YVR. This time the value of the gift card is based on the class of hotel you stay at. You must book by March 14 for stays until April 30. Click here for full details and online booking. Be aware however that the rates are pre-paid and non-cancellable. Gift cards are awarded as follows.

• Bookings at 2 through 3.5 Star Hotels: Guests will receive a $75 AMEX Prepaid Gift Card
• Bookings at 4 Star Hotels: Guests will receive a $100 AMEX Prepaid Gift Card
• Bookings at 4.5 and 5 Star Hotels: Guests will receive a $125 AMEX Prepaid Gift Card

Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Triple topbonus Miles for stays at participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until May 31, 14

Delta SkyMiles
- 25,000 Bonus SkyMiles after 5 paid stays at any of 3,700+ participating Marriott hotels worldwide. More... Until May 31, 14

Hilton HHonors
- Double Airline Miles for stays at participating hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio in Latin America and the Caribbean. More... Until Apr 30, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn 5,000 TrueBlue Bonus Points when you register for TrueBlue, then book and fly a JetBlue flight (one-way or roundtrip) More...   Until Apr 30, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 14,000 Bonus QMiles for Qatar Airways flights between Doha and Edinburgh. More...   May 28 - Aug 31, 14
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus QMiles for Qatar Airways flights between Doha and Sabiha. More...    May 22 - Aug 15, 14
- Double QMiles and 15% off the best available rate when you book and stay at selected Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Maldives, Shanghai, Istanbul, London, Frankfurt, Mallorca and Baku. More...   Until Aug 31, 14
- 1,500 QMiles for stays at selected Langham properties worldwide. More...   Until May 31, 14
- 1,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at participating Courtyard by Marriott® hotels in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Kuwait. More...   Until May 3, 14
- Double QMiles for stays at the Salalah Rotana Resort. More...   Until Dec 31, 14
- Double QMiles and save up to 35% on Budget rentals in Australia, Canada, Turkey, Qatar, United States, Bahrain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. More...   Until Aug 31, 14

South African Airways Voyager
- Double Voyager Miles when you fly on SAA Airlink between Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Gaboronee. More...   Until May 31, 14
- 8,000 Voyager Miles to all 8 year old kids that join the Voyager programme during the month of March 2014 in celebration of SAA’s 80th Birthday. More...   Until Mar 31, 14

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Earn up to 50% Bonus VHR Points when you stay two or more times at any VOILÀ network hotel Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 14

Mar 3 Update: China Eastern to serve Toronto, Bonus Aeroplan miles for eye exams and eye wear, AAdvantage bonus for YEG-DFW flights

The first update for March has some new route news and lots of new bonuses

News, Tips & Tricks
China Eastern looks to start service to its second Canadian city. The airline is planning to offer 3x weekly service between Shanghai and Toronto starting on June 25th. With this service SkyTeam continues to grow the cities they serve in Canada while keeping their status as the second largest alliance in Canada after the Star Alliance.  (Source Airlineroute.net) At this time no route launch bonus has been announced for Eastern Miles members but we may see one as the launch date approaches. You can keep track of Eastern Miles offers on our Eastern Miles Bonus Points page

You may be out of luck if you were hoping to fly on Air Canada's new 787 service between Toronto and London as it appears to have been pushed back to May 1st from April 1st.   (Source Airlineroute.net)

Travel Deals
Rent a Midsize SUV $33.99/day at participating Thrifty locations through March 15, 2014. Some exclusions apply.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Triple Aeroplan Miles on a completed eye exam and any eye wear purchases such as frames, lenses, contact lenses, coatings and sunglasses. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for new patients who complete an eye exam. More... Until Apr 30, 14

American AAdvantage
- Earn Double AAdvantage Miles when you fly non-stop between Los Angeles and West Palm Beach on American Airlines. More... Until May 31, 14
- Earn Double AAdvantage Miles when you fly non-stop between Edmonton and Dallas on American Airlines.More... Apr 1 - Jun 30, 14

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when fly round-trip in First or Business Class on Cathay Pacific from Vancouver or Toronto to Hong Kong. More... Until May 31, 14 Valid for residents of Canada only
- Double Asia Miles when you stay at any participating Ascott, Citadines or Somerset serviced residence for two consecutive nights or more. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Asia Miles when you stay at participating Harbour Plaza properties for two consecutive nights or more in selected room types at eligible rates. More... Until May 31, 14

China Southern SkyPearl Club
- Double SkyPearl Kilometers on China Southern Airlines flights in eligible fare classes between Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai Pudong, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Xi’an, Wulumuqi or Wuhan and Kunming; Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Dalian, Hangzhou, Harbin, Wulumuqi or Wuhan and Chendu; -Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai Pudong, Shenzhen, Changsha, Hangzhou, Nanning, or Wulumuqi and Chongqing. More... Until Mar 31, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 50% Bonus True Blue Points when you buy or gift TrueBlue points. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Miles & More
- 1,000 Miles & More Miles when you register and supply your email address to Sixt rent a car. More... Until ?

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles (Mystery Bonus) when you buy Dividend Miles. More... Until Mar 26, 14

Cathay Pacific: Double Asia Miles for flights in First/Business Class between Toronto or Vancouver and Hong Kong

Wow today is a day for new flight bonuses out of Canada. First it was the American AAdvantage offer for their new YEG-DFW flight and now it is the return of the often seen double Asia Miles on Cathay Pacific flights in premium class out Toronto and Vancouver.

Here is the bonus as it will appear on RC's Asia Miles Bonus Miles page today:

Double Asia Miles when fly round-trip in First or Business Class on Cathay Pacific from Vancouver or Toronto to Hong Kong. Register Online (Registration is required)  Until May 31, 14
Valid for residents of Canada only 

Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our Asia Miles Bonus Miles page for dozens of other flight, hotel, car rental and other bonuses!

US Airways: Up to a 100% Bonus when buying Dividend Miles (Mystery Bonus)

US Airways has launched another monthly buy miles promotion. This time it is called 'the Mystery Bonus' as you won't know what bonus is being offered to you until you log in to your account. If you are one of the lucky ones to get the 100% bonus then the offer is, as always, a very good deal to take advantage of if you will be using the miles within a few months (it is not a good idea to buy to only hold onto them for a long time period as the value can be quickly eroded by a program devaluation)

Here is the offer as it appears on our Dividend Miles Bonus Miles page:

Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles (Mystery Bonus) when you buy Dividend Miles. Every Dividend Miles member will be the lucky recipient of 25%, 50%, 75%, or a full 100% bonus miles when they buy or gift miles - up to 50,000 miles. Full Details Until Mar 26, 14

If you are one of the lucky ones, 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.

This also a good way to get American AAdvantage Miles as Dividend Miles will  be integrated into the AAdvantage program once the AA/US merger is complete.

American Airlines: Double AAdvantage Miles on AA flights between Edmonton and Dallas

We passed along the news sometime ago that AA was launching new service between Edmonton and Dallas and as is typical with AA we now see an AAdvantage bonus to celebrate the launch of the new route. If you have booked this route to fly it in  its first three months of operation or are planning to be sure to register for it right away so you don't forget down the road. Even if your travels take you elsewhere on AA out of Edmonton that require a connection in DFW then you should also register as you'll earn the bonus miles on the YEG-DFW legs of your travel.

Here is the bonus as it will appear on RC's AAdvantage Bonus Miles page today:

Earn Double AAdvantage Miles when you fly non-stop between Edmonton and Dallas on American Airlines.  Register Online (Registration is required)  Apr 1 - Jun 30, 14

Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our AAdvantage Bonus Miles page for dozens of other flight, hotel, car rental and other bonuses!