Mar 18 Update: Aeroplan bonuses for Best Western bookings and joining Club Sobeys, big bonuses for Radisson Blu stays in Europe

All bonuses. All day today.

News, Tips & Tricks
The loyalty industry in Canada is staying relatively quiet right now with very little news! Luckily we'll change that next week so stay tuned!

Lots of good bonuses posted today however, be sure to check out a couple of new Aeroplan promos including a Club Sobeys sign up and shop bonus if you haven't joined that program yet. Also worth a mention is the Aeroplan Best Western bonus for BW stays booked via Aircanada.com. It is a pretty decent booking bonus and even better if it can be combined with the current 8x Aeroplan Miles bonus for BW stays (we are checking on that one but if anyone knows in the meantime if BW stays booked via aircanada.com count as point/mileage earning stays please let us know!)

There is also a really good bonus from Carlson Rezidor Hotels Club Carlson for stays at their Radisson Blu brand in 10 European countries

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you book a stay at a Best Western hotel through aircanada.com. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you join Club Sobeys and provide your Aeroplan Number between February 3 and March 31, 2014. Then shop from February 3, 2014, to April 30, 2014, and earn 200 bonus miles on each of your next five grocery shops of $20 or more. More... Join by Mar 31, 14

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Triple Mileage Plan Miles when you rent any size car at participating National locations in the United States or Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 14

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios for stays at participating Small Luxury Hotels of the World Worldwide. More... Book by Apr 13 for stays until Dec 31, 14

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Earn up to 25,000 bonus Gold Points on eligible stays at more than 45 participating Radisson Blu hotels in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. More... Register by Apr 30 for stays until May 31, 14

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles on Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and Phuket. More... Oct 26 - Nov 26, 14
- 3,000 Bonus Guest Miles on your very first Rocketmiles booking. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Dec 31, 14
- 5,000 Bonus Guest Milesfor Etihad Guest Gold or Gold Elite Members on your very first Rocketmiles booking. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Dec 31, 14
- Triple Guest Miles when you use your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards membership on your next Hertz rental of 3+ days in the UAE, North America, Australia and participating European counties. More... Until May 31, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- Double Gold Passport Points for stays at select Hyatt Hotels in the U.S. on the Double Point package rate. More... Until May 31, 14

Jumeirah Sirius
- Earn up to Triple Sirius Points for stays at the Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa, Mallorca. More... Apr 1 - Jun 30, 14
- Double Sirius Points for stays on the Business First Package at participating hotels in the UAE. More... Until Dec 31, 14 Offer valid for Silver and Gold Sirius members only
- Double Sirius Points for stays at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, Dubai. More... Until Apr 30, 14

Virgin Australia Velocity (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 100% Bonus Velocity Points when you fly on eligible  Singapore Air or SilkAir Worldwide. More... Register by Apr 7 for travel Apr 10 - Jun 15, 14

Mar 17 Update: Book an Air Canada flight to share in 7,000,000 Aeroplan Miles, Virgin Atlantic Hilton stay bonus, MeliaRewards partners with Wyndham Rewards

Happy St. Patrick's day everyone! We've got a couple promos to pass along that require booking today to celebrate this day of the Irish!

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Canada has a promo celebrating St. Patrick's day where they are giving away 7,000,000 Aeroplan Miles for flights booked online by the end of today for travel until June 1st. The amount of miles you get will be dependent on the number of bookings made for travel on Air Canada, Air Canada Express or Air Canada rouge™ for travel within Canada, between Canada and the U.S., and between Canada and Europe. You must use the promo code POTOFGOLD2014 when you book. Full details

Rocketmiles is also running a St. Patrick's Day promo for stays in Boston, Philadelphia or Chicago, Rocketmiles will award you Double Miles/Points in the Rocketmiles partner program  booked via the special promotion page at www.rocketmiles.com/irish-2x/. You must book today to take advantage of this offer.

Melia Rewards members now have access to thousands of more hotels to use their points at as the program has entered into a partnership with Wyndham Rewards. Melia Hotels is a small sized chain with most of their locations in Spain and the Caribbean so the places where you could redeem your Melia Rewards points were limited. Now you can transfer your MeliáRewards points to Wyndham Rewards to use them for stays at over 7,000 Wyndham Hotel Group Destinations worldwide which vastly improves your redemption options. The transfer rate is 2 MeliaRewards points for every 1 Wyndham Reward point. That transfer rate isn't great considering both programs essentially award you 10 points/$ spent not including any elite bonuses. I would only transfer the points if you definitely can redeem for a Melia stay when the redemption rates are between 11,000 points and 42,000 versus Wyndham Rewards 5,500 to 50,000. Find more details here

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Triple Aeroplan Miles for every qualifying stay at any Choice Hotels International location included in the Choice Privileges program to be eligible for the promotion. More... Mar 15 - May 31, 14

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios for stays at participating Le Club Accorhotels Worldwide that are booked 30 days in advance. More... Book between Apr 1 and Jun 30 for stays Apr 30 - Dec 31, 14

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Receive up to a 30% GC Award Points Discount for award night stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Haikou. Golden Circle members can redeem a free night in a Standard Room at 20% off and in a Club Room at 30% off. More... Mar 25 - Apr 30, 14
- Triple GC Award Points when staying in an Executive Suite or a Traders Club Room at Traders Hotel, Manila.More... Apr 1 - Jun 30, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Triple Starpoints for stays of two or more nights at Luxury Collection hotels & resorts in Bangkok, Phuket and Koh Samui. More... Until Oct 31, 14

US Airways Dividend Miles
- 5,000 Preferred-qualifying miles when you buy or renew an annual US Airways Club membership. More...Until May 31, 14

Vietnam Airlines Golden Lotus Plus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Golden Lotus Plus Miles for stays at participating JAL Hotels and Hotel Nikko Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 14

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles when you register and complete a qualifying stay at any hotel or resort from the Hilton HHonors portfolio of brands Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 14

Mar 13 Update: Triple AAdvantage or Dividend Miles for Choice Hotel stays, Lufthansa Seat Sale, Maximize your Miles & Points

Wow what a quiet week this has been!

News, Tips & Tricks
Today we pass along a tip! As I completed another media interview this morning it reminded me of an article I wrote almost 10 years ago which was updated back in 2011 and essentially still valid today. The topic? How to maximize your mile and points earning! It is a great piece for someone new just starting out in this addicting hobby but is also a good refresher for those of use who have been at it for so many years. Check it out here.


Travel Deals
Lufthansa has launched an early bird sale for flights between Canada and Europe. Fares start at $919 all in and need to be purchased by March 14 for travel until May 5th. For more details visit lufthansa.com

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Triple AAdvantage Miles for every qualifying stay at any participating Choice Hotel Worldwide. More... Mar 15 - Jun 15, 14

Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Double Guest Rewards Points on all Amtrak travel. Limit of two qualifying one-way trips per day. More... Mar 17 - May 17, 14

China Southern Sky Pearl Club
- Earn up to Triple Sky Pearl Kilometers when you stay at properties within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio Worldwide. What’s more, each stay gets you a chance to enter a sweepstake to win a bonus of 100,000 HHonors points. More... Mar 15 - Jun 15, 14

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple HawaiianMiles on rentals of a compact car or larger for two days or longer at any Dollar location Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at any participating Pullman Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- 300 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Novotel and Suite Novotel Hotels in France that are booked at least 3 weeks in advance. More... Book by Apr 21 for stays until May 11, 14
- 150 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for B&B stays at participating Mercure & MGallery Hotels in France. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 2 or more nights at any Mercure hotel in Poland. More... Booking Apr 1 - May 31, 14

Rocketmiles
- 1,000 Bonus Miles/Points in the Rocketmiles partner program of your choice for stays in Washington D.C. More... Book by Mar 20 for stays Mar 20 - Apr 13, 14

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- 25% GC Award Points Discount on Standard Room award nights at the Traders Hotel, Brisbane. More... Mar 25 - Apr 30, 14

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Victoria Miles for Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals until Jun 30, 14

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Triple Dividend Miles for every qualifying stay at any participating Choice Hotel Worldwide. More... Mar 15 - Jun 15, 14

Air Canada Aeroplan: Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at Choice Hotels Worldwide

You'll notice a few of these triple miles offers out now! This one of course is of most interest to us Canucks but there are also offers for American AAdvantage and US Airways Dividend Miles.

Here is the offer as it will be posted on Rewards Canada's Aeroplan Bonus Miles page next Monday:

Triple Aeroplan Miles for every qualifying stay at any Choice Hotels International location included in the Choice Privileges* program to be eligible for the promotion. Full Details and online Booking Mar 15 - May 31, 14

*Points cannot be earned in Brazil, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway or Sweden.
 Points can be earned in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

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

Mar 12 Update: New Montreal-Tunis direct flights, Miles & More to be spun off from Lufthansa, up to 4x Flying Blue Miles for Hilton stays

New Montreal-Tunis service, several good bonuses, and Miles & More following in Aeroplan's footsteps?

News, Tips & Tricks
Syphax Airlines, which is based in Tunisia has announced a once weekly service between Montreal and Tunis starting on April 25. This will be the airline's first long haul route and it will be operated by an A330 aircraft. (Source: Airlineroute.net). Syphax does have their own frequent flyer program called Fidelty, which more than likely very few Canadians are members of. In terms of being able to redeem points for Syphax flights any credit card that offers any airline redemptions (ie your own bookings then redeem points against it or via a card's reward travel agency)

Looks likes Lufthansa is going to spin off its Miles & More loyalty program into a separate entity, similar to how Aeroplan is a separate entity from Air Canada. Miles & More may be looking at becoming more of coalition program in the German market to take on Payback (think Air Miles vs. Aeroplan here in Canada) (Source LufthansaFlyer)

Travel Deals
Hotels.com Canada: Save 11% on all US Destinations when you spend C$350 or more with code BETTERFX. Book by 3/16/14, Travel by 4/20/14.


Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles when for your parking at Vancouver International Airport. More... Until May 31, 14

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Earn up to Quadruple Flying Blue Miles for stays at over 300 Hilton hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More... Until May 31, 14

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- 50% Bonus MilleMiglia Miles discount on standard economy class award tickets on select Alitalia routes between Italy and Europe, Africa, Middle East or South America. More... Book by Mar 31 for flights until Apr 15, 14

Frontier Early Returns (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Cleveland and Atlanta. More... Jun 13 - Jul 13, 14
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Cleveland and Ft. Lauderdale. More... Jun 14 - Jul 14, 14
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Cleveland and Ft. Myers. More... Jun 13 - Jul 13, 14
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Cleveland and Phoenix. More... ) Jun 13 - Jul 13, 14
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Cleveland and Raleigh/Durham. More... Jun 15 - Jul 15, 14
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Cleveland and Tampa. More... Jun 15 - Jul 15, 14

Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 25% GFF Miles Discount for awards tickets on Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Amsterdam or Guangzhou. More... Book by Apr 30 for travel until May 31, 14
- Triple GFF Miles when you fly Garuda Indonesia between Surabaya and Singapore or Bandung and Denpasar. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Mercure Hotels in the UK. More... Book by May 2 for stays Mar 16 - May 6, 14
- 16% Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the advance saver rate at the Novotel London Wembley. More... Apr 7 - Sep 9, 14
- 12% Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays that are booked 30 days in advance at participating hotels in the UK. More... Book by Mar 17 for stays until Dec 31, 14

Mar 11 Update: Double iPrefer Points on PHG bookings made today & March 22, Amex U.S. to limit sign up bonuses?

Another slow day in the world that revolves around Rewards Canada

News, Tips & Tricks
According to this post on FlyerTalk, certain Emirates Saver Economy Class tickets will no longer be eligible for an upgrade using Skywards Miles.

There is word floating around that American Express in the United States will only award a card sign up bonus once per lifetime for each particular card rather than being able to receive them numerous times (ie churning!). No word yet whether Amex Canada will follow suit but we will definitely be keeping our eye out on this development south of the border and keep you advised on what Amex Canada is planning.


Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- 2,000 AAdvantage Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Fiesta American Hotels in Mexico. More... Until Dec 31, 14

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S. More... Until Apr 10, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating ibis hotels in Italy. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points at participating Mercure Hotels in the French Alps. More... Book by Apr 12 for stays until Apr 26, 14
- 200 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points and 15% off for stays at ibis Styles Hotels in France that are booked 15 days in advance. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until May 15, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points and 20% off for stays at ibis Hotels in Thailand that are booked 15 days in advance. More... Book by May 15 for stays until May 31, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the Keukenhof Package at participating Accor Hotels in the Netherlands. More... Mar 20 - May 18, 14

Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
- Earn Double iPrefer Points when you book any hotel or resort on iPrefer.com on double digit days – March 11 or March 22. More... Book on Mar 11 or 22 for stays until ?

Vietnam Airlines Golden Lotus Plus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up 1,000 Bonus Elite Qualifying Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Japan. More... May 9 - Jun 30, 14
- Earn up 1,000 Bonus Elite Qualifying Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Korea. More... Apr 16 - Jun 24, 14
- Earn up 2,500 Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Australia. More... May 9 - Jun 26, 14 Oct 21 - Nov 17, 14
- Earn up 2,500 Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and France, Germany or the U.K..More... May 15 - Jun 20, 14 Sep 15 - Oct 20, 14
- Earn up 2,500 Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Russia. More... May 15 - Jun 12, 14 Sep 15 - Oct 20, 14
- Earn up 1,500 Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Japan. More... Oct 1 - 24, 14
- Earn up 1,500 Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Korea. More... Sep 20 - Oct 31, 14
- Earn up 1,000 Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Taiwan. More... Apr 6 - Jun 17, 14
- Earn up 1,000 Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and China. More... Mar 13 - Apr 24, 14 May 15 - Jun 19, 14 Oct 20 - Nov 10, 14
- 100% Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Bangkok.More... May 5 - 29, 14 Sep 9 - Oct 30, 14
- 100% Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Cambodia or Laos. More... Jun 1 - Aug 1, 14 Sep 1 - Nov 1, 14
- 100% Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Singapore. More... Until Apr 3, 14 May 10 - 29, 14
- 100% Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Malaysia or Myanmar. More... Mar 1 - Apr 10, 14 Sep 10 - Oct 30, 14
- 100% Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Vietnam and Hong Kong. More... May 22 - Jun 19, 14
- 100% Bonus Golden Lotus Plus Miles for Vietnam Airlines flights between Ho Chi Minh and Jakarta. More... Until Apr 15, 14 May 10 - Jun 30, 14 Oct 21 - Nov 30, 14

Mar 10 Update: Buy Icelandair Saga Club Miles and get up to a 50% bonus, 1,000 bonus Starpoints for Sheraton Club stays with an Amex

Monday was slow here on Rewards Canada, very few bonuses and no loyalty program news!

News, Tips & Tricks
We would like to pass along our thoughts and prayers to all on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and to their families.

Bonus Offers
Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to 175% Bonus Skywards Points when you take a round trip on Virgin America to 22 destinations across the US and Mexico. More... Until May 31, 14

Iberia Plus
- 25% Avios Discount on select Iberia Award tickets to/from Madrid. More... Until Apr 30, 14

Icelandair Saga Club
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Saga Club Award Points when you buy or gift points online. More... Until Apr 4, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- IHG Rewards Club Gold Status after you complete 1 stay at any IHG Hotels Worldwide. This offer is intended for HP employees but seems available to most. More... Until ?

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points at any participating Accor hotel in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Sanya or Hong Kong. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 2 or more nights on the "Namaste India" offer at participating Accor hotels in India. More... Until Jun 5, 14
- Earn up to 300 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in Italy. More... Mar 15 - Apr 30, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints on every Sheraton Club stay at participating Sheraton Hotels Worldwide. Offer available when you pay with any American Express Card. More...Until May 31, 14

Mar 7 Update: WestJet to offer Toronto-Phoenix flights, mbna Choice Privileges MasterCard increased bonus & 18 new bonuses

Here is the Friday round up: WestJet launches YYZ-PHX and mbna Choice Privileges sign up bonus increase are the two big headlines.

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet announced new daily, non-stop service between Toronto and Phoenix that starts October 26, 2014. (Source: WestJet.com)
Schedule is as follows:

Flight	Departing	Arriving	Effective
1170	Toronto at 9:45 a.m.	Phoenix at 11:35 a.m.	October 26, 2014
1171	Phoenix at 12:20 p.m.	Toronto at 7:27 p.m.	October 26, 2014

Sri Lankan Airlines will officially join the oneworld alliance on May 1st of this year.

With the return of the 24,000 point sign up bonus for the Choice Privileges MasterCard we have updated our Travel Hacking 101 post to reflect this.

Gone is the up to 75,000 Aeroplan Mile offer for buying a Volvo however that has been replaced with a new 40,000 mile offer. See the bonus offer section for details.


Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 40,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you purchase a 2014 Volvo S60, XC60 or XC90 R-Design model More... Until Apr 30, 14

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for round-trip travel on American between New York (JFK) and San Francisco. More... Until May 31, 14

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios for stays at the InterContinental Davos. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- Double Avios for stays at any Langham Hotel in North America or the United Kingdom. More... Until May 31, 14
- Double Avios for stays of 2 or more nights at any participating Preferred Hotel Group Hotel Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14

Ethiopian Airlines Sheba Miles
- Double Sheba Miles on Ethiopian flights between Addis Ababa and Vienna. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Double Sheba Miles on Ethiopian flights between Addis Ababa and Shanghai. More... Until May 27, 14

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles on all stays at Best Western hotels in Germany and Luxembourg which are booked at the special Partner Rate. More... Until Dec 31, 14

Oman Air Sindbad (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Sindbad Miles on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals until Apr 30, 14
- Triple Sindbad Miles for every rental of 3 and more days at more than 4000 Sixt car rental locations worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- 25% bonus Sinbad miles at Joyalukkas outlets in Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and United Kingdom More... Until Mar 31, 14

S7 Airlines Priority (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn 1,500 Bonus Priority Miles on S7 Airlines flights between Novosibirsk and Moscow. More... Until Apr 15, 14
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Priority Miles on S7 Airlines flights between Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow. More... Until Apr 15, 14
- Double Priority Miles on S7 Airlines flights between Novosibirsk and Irkutsk. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Stash Hotel Rewards
- 500 Bonus Stash Rewards Points when you book "A Night in The Burg" package at the Craddock Terry Hotel Lynchburg. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Triple Miles&Smiles Miles for stays at all participating Kempinski Hotels Worldwide. More...   Apr 1 - May 31, 14

United MileagePlus
- Double MileagePlus miles on all qualifying roundtrips on United. More... Until May 31, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard sign up bonus tripled to 24,000 points - No annual fee

THIS CARD IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

For a limited time (until Jun 9, 14) 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! Or you can convert them to Aeroplan at a rate of 5,000 Points to 1,000 Aeroplan Miles (so with this offer your are looking at 4,000 free Aeroplan Miles or other airline miles unless you can get to 25,000 points on your account to make it 5,000)

MBNA Choice Privileges MasterCard provides
• Up to 24,000 points - 8,000 points, enough for 1 free night upon your first purchase and an additional 16,000 points, enough for two more FREE nights upon making an eligible purchase by July 31, 2014.
• Up to 15 points for every $1 in eligible purchases at over 5,500 Choice Privileges locations in Canada, the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and Australasia2
• 2 points for every $1 spent on everyday eligible purchases‡
• No annual fee

Plus, get automatically upgraded to Elite Gold status, which gives you:

• The ability to book free nights 50 days in advance instead of 30 days
• A 10% point bonus on every eligible stay


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

Delta SkyMiles New Flight Award Chart for 2015 revealed

It appears that execs at Delta may have come to their senses after the firestorm they received from the announcement of the 2015 SkyMiles program which moves to a revenue based model. At the time of the release of the news they didn't reveal any details on the new award chart other than it was moving from a 3 tier structure to a 5 tier structure. As many have eluded to when you announce changes to a program but only reveal one side of it (in this case the earning side) but not the other (redemption side) how can a customer, an analyst or anyone else truly see the effect and value of the program. This boils down to our mantra we have preached for quite some time that it is all about the EARN and the BURN and you cannot look at just one side of a program (see our post: Remember people it's all about the EARN and the BURN)

Now Delta did give out some of the redemption details in the first announcement that they will offer one way awards at half the number of miles (same thing Aeroplan instituted earlier this year) and a cash+miles redemption option. But the big question that was lingering on everyone's minds was what is the primary 5 tier award chart going to look like. As we said in the intro, looks like the Delta execs came to their senses and have the released the chart early. You can find the complete PDF here but I have also included some screen shots. The good news is that its not as bad as many people thought it would be. In most cases there is no real increase in the number of miles required but in reality that's because most people won't be earning as many miles as they used to so it will take them longer to get the various redemption levels.

Screen shot of the Economy Class Award Chart

Screen shot of the Premium Class Award Chart

Other than the award amounts now being published we still don't know what availability will be like for the most coveted Level 1 (formerly Saver) levels. Delta claims there will be more seats available but only time will tell when these changes take effect on January 1st, 2015.

On the PDF Delta uses some creative wording to put a positive marketing spin on the chart:
Highlights include no price increases to our lowest Award redemption levels. Of the 44 Award level pricing changes, more than 95% are decreases.

What they don't say is that yes the lowest redemption amounts haven't changed and most Standard Awards have gone down in price but the question we need to raise is what will the availability of the Level 3 (nee Standard) award be? Will they lower that availability and force more people to redeem at the new level 4? Same goes for Level 1 (nee Saver) and Level 2. If so then no wonder they lowered many of the Standard amounts as it looks better to the naked eye. Only time will tell if this will be the case. We surely hope not as Delta really needs to have something good to happen here with consistent devaluations they have placed on the program over the past couple of years.