May 8 Update: Air Canada to fly to Rio, Viva Wyndham All Inclusive offer, up to 10x Air Miles at Shell

Here is your daily update for this the 8th day of May!

News, Tips & Tricks
Yesterday we posted our commentary on No Foreign Transaction Fees on Credit Cards in Canada and why we haven't seen that benefit take off. Read it all here.

Air Canada announced yesterday a new non-stop flight between Toronto and Rio De Janeiro. The flights will operate three times weekly starting in December 2014. Source: Newswire

Travel Deals
Exclusive offer for Wyndham Rewards members: Save 35% when booking 3 nights or more at any Viva Wyndham All-Inclusive Resort when you book by May 31 and travel through December 15, 2014. PLUS kids under 12 years old are free for stays from June 1 to August 31, 2014. Full details

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for stays at participating Accor hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Jun 27 for stays until Jun 29, 14

Air Miles (Canada)
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus Air Miles Rewards Miles with the BMO AIR MILES World MasterCard. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Earn up to 10X Bonus Air Miles on your gasoline purchases at Shell stations across Canada. More... Until May 25, 14

American AAdvantage
- 3,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles + Instant Club Carlson Gold Elite Status when you complete a 2+ night stay at participating Carlson Hotels worldwide. More... Until Jul 15, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 50% FlyerBonus Points Discount on award tickets to any destination in the Bangkok Airways network. More... Book between May 15 and Jul 15 for travel May 20 - Jul 20, 14

Cyprus Airways Sunmiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Sunmiles points on all Sixt rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 5,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays of 2 or more nights at the Park Hyatt Vienna. More... Jun 2 - Aug 31, 14

Iberia Plus
- Earn up to 9,000 Bonus Avios on all Iberia flights Worldwide. More... Register by May 22 for travel until Jun 22, 14
- Double Avios on Iberia flights between Madrid and Los Angeles or Boston.  More... Register by May 31 for travel until Jun 30, 14
- Earn up to Triple Avios on select Iberia Regional Air Nostrum flights. More... Register by May 31 for travel until Jun 30, 14
- 25% Avios Discount for award tickets on select Iberia routes Worldwide.More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Double Avios on all eligible SriLankan Airlines flights Worldwide. More... (No Registration is required) May 15 - Jun 30, 14
- Double Avios on all eligible TAM Airlines flights Worldwide. More... . (No Registration is required) May 1 - 31, 14
- Double Avios on all eligible US Airways flights Worldwide.  More... (Registration is required) Until Jun 30, 14
- Double Avios on Derby Hotel stays in Barcelona, Paris or Madrid. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Double Avios for stays of 3 or more nights at select Hace Hotels in Spain. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Double Avios on all online prepaid rentals in Spain Mainland and Balearics. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Avios on weekend rentals at Avis locations in Spain. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Triple Avios on all Europcar rentals Worldwide.More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Triple Avios on all Hertz rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide that are booked online. More... Until Jun 30, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club points for stays at participating hotels across China. More... Until Jul 31, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in the Middle East. More... Book by Aug 19 for stays until Sep 15, 14
- Earn up Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in China. More... Book by Jun 22 for stays until Jun 30, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore. More... Book by Jul 14 for stays until Sep 30, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at ibis, ibis Styles, Mercure and Novotel hotels in Swedenl in Sweden. More... Book by May 30 for stays until Jul 31, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points and free breakfast for stays at participating Accor hotels in Bangkok.More... Book by May 24 for stays until Jul 31, 14

Marriott Rewards
- Marriott Getaway Bonus: Earn up to 45,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Register by Jul 31  for stays between Jun 1 and Aug 31, 2014

BMO AIR MILES World MasterCard sign up bonus increased to 2,000 Reward Miles

I think we've seen this offer before and we aren't sure if it is a response to Amex upping the bonus their Platinum Air Miles card but now you can earn up to 2,000 Bonus Air Miles Reward Miles with the BMO AIR MILES World MasterCard if you apply for the card by August 31st.  The bonus is tiered with 1,000 miles being awarded on your first purchase and the second 1,000 coming after you spend $1,000 in the first three months of having the card. That bonus it pretty decent as it translate to 2 short haul tickets or a nice balance boost to another redemption. Remember too that this card offers 25% off all Air Miles flight redemptions which no other card provides.  (Thanks to Randy M. for heads up!)

Find out more or apply for the card here.

Marriott Getaway Bonus: Up to 45,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at Marriott Hotels Worldwide

Marriott's latest systemwide promotion launched yesterday, called the Getaway Bonus, it is very similar to their often seen MegaBonus promotions except that there are not free night certificate options this with this one only bonus points. We received the double points after the second stay. What offer did you receive?

Here is the offer as it will appear on RCs Marriott page later today with the variety of bonuses that we are aware of (Thanks to Flyertalk once again!)

Marriott Getaway Bonus: Earn up to 45,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. Full Details, Online Registration and Booking Register by Jul 31  for stays between Jun 1 and Aug 31, 2014
Some of the Offer Variations:
- Earn double points after your second paid stay, up to 25,000
- 20,000 points when you stay 12 nights, + 10,000 more points after 18 nights, up to 30,000
- 25,000 points when you stay 15 nights, + 10,000 more points 20 nights, up to 35,000
- 35,000 points when you stay 20 nights, + 10,000 more points 25 nights, up to 45,000

Why 'no foreign transaction fees' hasn't proliferated in the Canadian credit card market

A few years ago you may recall that we asked all the major credit and charge card issuers in Canada whether they would follow the trend seen in the United States with cards offering no foreign currency transaction fees. At the time none of the major issuers said they would but since then we have seen one small player come into the market with no forex fees, Chase. Recently there has been a lot of chatter from people asking why it hasn't proliferated in Canada. I've had some of our readers email me, seen some bloggers and forum participants ask why we aren't seeing more issuers offer no forex fee.

I often asked that question myself and received the answer from a loyalty colleague of mine from Aimia when I spoke about the cobrand market in Canada at an industry conference last November. He had the same question as well and was able to get the information out of one of the major issuers as to why it isn't being considered and with the recent spate of emails and talk on the web asking the same question I thought I would share that information with you. Interesting to note when I brought this up at a recent meeting I had with a major issuer they simple nodded their heads in agreement with the following:

It has to do with revenue!
The primary reason we haven't seen the major card issuers in Canada go down the no forex fee road is simple, it comes down to revenue. The foreign exchange fee generates a lot of revenue for Canadian card issuers and when compared to the market in the U.S. it makes up a much larger piece of the pie. How can that be you may ask as we only have a tenth of the population of the U.S.? To start, per capita Canadians on a whole travel internationally more often than Americans do (this include our millions of trips to the U.S). While Americans tend to do more domestic travel than Canadians. That doesn't mean we don't, but in terms of percentage of credit card holders when comparing the U.S. to Canada, more Canadians travel abroad. Secondly and this is also a major reason, it’s shopping. Canadians make millions of cross border shopping trips into the U.S.,  and you don't hear of many Americans coming into Canada to shop. Then there's online shopping, the majority of online retailers are in the U.S. or sell their items in USD. Of course for Americans that makes it easy but for us it means a foreign transaction on our credit card. The amount of revenue that Canadian credit card issuers would have to forego is huge!

How does Chase do it then?

If Chase can offer no foreign transaction fees then how come other issuers can’t? The reason is that Chase is relatively new to the Canadian market and have a very small portfolio of card holders when compared to all other Canadian issuers. They needed a marketing tactic that would help grow that portfolio and Chase chose the no foreign transaction fee route. Ever wonder why Chase cards don’t have a very strong insurance and benefits package? That was the trade off, Chase had to decide what to offer and rather than follow suit with most other card issuers who offer big benefits they went the no foreign transaction route. It is a highly touted benefit of Chase’s Marriott Premier Rewards Visa, Amazon Rewards Visa and Sears Voyage MasterCard. You’ll see it in most if not all of their marketing materials for those cards. If and when Chase becomes a major player in the Canadian market don’t be surprised if they impose a foreign transaction fee on the card(s) with the largest amount of cardholders.

Current Chase cards that offer no foreign transaction fee:

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card
Sears Financial MasterCard
Sears Financial Voyager MasterCard

Screen shot from the Chase Marriott application page

Will other issuers ever offer No Foreign Exchange?

Above we state if Chase can offer no foreign transaction fees then how come other issuers can’t? It’s not that they can’t, they would if the could. Believe me when I tell you that the product managers for many cards in Canada have tossed around and pushed the idea internally only to be shut down by the financial controllers as that forex fee makes them a lot of money and that is what this business is about, making money.

In general the Canadian credit card market is one of the most sophisticated and ahead of the times, our cards have pretty much maxed out on the rewards and benefits they offer. That’s why the trend in the last couple of years has been first year free, enhanced travel benefits (think The Platinum Card from Amex, the Amex Air Miles Reserve, TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege) as the adders or differentiators for new or revamped cards. Now that those are being maxed out what’s left? No Foreign Transaction fees is one for that matter and as we stated a few years ago the first major card issuer to go this route stands to take a big chunk of the Canadian market. Will they lose revenue? Possibly as we don't know the actual numbers card issuers make off the fee but possibly not, there could be an equal trade off, the loss of revenue from foreign transaction fees could be made up by volume as the more cardholders you have the more transactions there are and of course the banks make money off each of those transactions.

I’m not holding my breath however. I don’t think we’ll see any of the major issuers go this route soon. I hope I’m wrong but they need to make money and with some card offers being very rich in terms of rewards and benefits (which annual fees can’t even cover) the only way they can make that money is on their merchant and foreign transaction fees.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic! Feel free to comment below!

May 7 Update: WestJet releases iPhone app, Miles & More buy miles bonus, World Hotels Peakpoints sign up bonus

It's app-bout time as WestJet states it and US Airways award tickets on BA without surcharges is dying quickly!

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet finally released an app for the iPhone yesterday! Here is an excerpt from WestJet's press release

Now guests can book new flights, add existing reservations, check in for upcoming flights and get flight status information while also enjoying extras like seamless Passbook integration, exclusively available for iPhone users. Subscribers can also keep a list of all the great places they've visited under past trips and view a real-time countdown for the next getaway. The WestJet app for iPhone is designed to provide guests with a personalized travel experience in an easy-to-navigate format.

I downloaded the app at the time of writing this and in its current version it seems pretty decent for having it for electronic boarding passes, keeping track of trip information and even booking flights. The one thing missing however is access to your WestJet Rewards account which I'm sure many of our readers would like! Hopefully one of our readers who works at WestJet can comment as to whether this be a future integration into the app.

Last week news spread like wild fire that you could use US Airways Dividend Miles to book tickets on British Airways without fuel surcharges but it looks like that will change very soon as US Airways has sent a memo to their agents about the charges. So if yo book an award ticket online you might avoid charges but if you call in chances are you'll have to pay them. The online booking engine will likely do so soon however. (Source One Mile at a time)


Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards points for stays at the BEST WESTERN Premier Kasteel De Vanenburg. More... Until Aug 31, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club points for stays at participating hotels across Europe. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at one of four participating Gaylord Hotels in the U.S. More... Jun 1 - Aug 24, 14
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel. More... Until Jun 8, 14

Miles & More
- 20% Bonus Miles & More Miles when you purchase 20,000 Miles & More miles that are used immediately for an award ticket. More... Until Jun 30, 14

SAS EuroBonus
- Earn up to 8,000 EuroBonus points when you join the EuroBonus program. More... Until ?

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer miles when you rent serviced offices in more than 100 countries around the world, plus receive a complimentary Businessworld Preferred Card for 15 visits to any Regus business lounges globally. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Earn up to Triple Royal Orchid Plus Miles when you stay at properties within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio Worldwide. Earn triple miles in Asia Pacific, and double miles anywhere else worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 14

World Hotels Peakpoints
- 300 Bonus Peakpoints when you join World Hotels' Peakpoints program. More... Until May 24, 14

May 6 Update: Porter adds 1st checked bag fees, Aegean bonus for flying on Air Canada, Rocketmiles bonus for Mexico stays

Porter to charge for 1st checked bag, four decent Aeroplan promos, and an Aegean bonus for flying on Air Canada

News, Tips & Tricks
Porter Airlines has updated their checked baggage policy as they will now charge for each piece of luggage that is checked in including their flights within Canada. The changes take affect on May 14th. For an airline that diiferentiates itself based on service and has a hard enough time competing against Air Canada and WestJet this is a poor move in our opinion as their competitiors still don't charge for the 1st checked bag within Canada and WestJet doesn't for the first bag on flights to the U.S.. Mind you I would wager a guess that a good proportion of Porter's customers don't actually check baggage and strictly do carry on.

In the bonus offer section you'll a bonus from Greece's Aegean Airlines for flying on select Air Canada Transatlantic flights. This should be of particular interest to those people going for the 'easier Star Alliance Gold Status' trick by crediting flights to Aegean's Miles&Bonus program. While the bonus doesn't count to the elite qualifying you might was well earn those extra miles in the Miles&Bonus program, it just may put you at a level where you can actually redeem your Miles&Bonus miles rather than keeping them stranded solely for the Star Alliance Gold status.

Travel Deals
WestJet has launched a seat sale called "Throw Momma from the plane" for flights across their entire network. Book by May 8th for travel May 21 - July 23. Full details

Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- Earn up to 5,000 Miles&Bonus Award miles on select Air Canada flights between Canada and Europe or the U.K. More... Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Triple Aeroplan Miles when you stay at a participating Novotel or Sofitel hotel in the US or Canada. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you rent with Avis for 5 days or more in Canada or the U.S.. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Earn up to 1,000 bonus miles, when you join Club Sobeys, provide your Aeroplan Number and shop at Sobeys. More... Join by Jun 30 for shopping until Jul 31, 14
- 250 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your next transaction as a Get More member at The UPS Store. More... Until May 31, 14

American AAdvantage
- Up to 18,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy AAdvantage Miles. More... Until Jun 13, 14

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN PREMIER Hotel Princesse Flore - Royat More... Until May 31, 14
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN Hotel U Ricordu - Macinaggio More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN PLUS Hotel Liberte - Oran More... Until Jun 30, 14

China Southern Sky Pearl
- Earn up to 40,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly between Guangzhou and New York. More... Aug 6 - Dec 31, 14
- Earn up to 40,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly between Guangzhou/Changsha and Frankfurt. More... Jun 23 - Dec 31, 14
- Double Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly between Nanjing and Guangzhou, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Dalian or Harbin, in F/A/P/J/C class. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- 50% Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly between Nanjing and Shenzhen, Dalian or Harbin, can earn additional 50% mileages in W/Y/B/M/H class. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Earn up to Triple Sky Pearl Kilometers for stays on the “Bed and Breakfast” Package rate or “Best Available Rate” at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- Earn up to 20% Bonus Gold Passport points when you purchase Gold Passport points. More... Until Jun 1, 2014

Rocketmiles
- 5,000 Bonus Miles/Points in the Rocketmiles partner program of your choice for stays of 3+ nights in Mexico. More... Book by May 12 for stays until Aug 31, 14

SAS EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus points for all stays at the Sheraton Stockholm Hotel. More... Jul 1 - Aug 17, 14
- Double EuroBonus points when you dine at Heaven23, Incontro, West Coast or Upper House at Gothia Towers. More... Until Jun 31, 14

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Harbin. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 500 Bonus Elevate Points when you rent a car from Silvercar. More... Until Jun 30, 14

751 Aeroplan Miles for $1+tax with the latest UPS Store Get More promotion

You've seen us cover various The UPS Store Aeroplan promotions since the became an Aeroplan partner in 2013 and once again a new promo popped up yesterday for new or existing Get More members. Get More is the The UPS Store's program that anyone can join for free and if you haven't joined then you are one of the lucky ones who can get the 750 miles for as little as $1+tax. New Get More members earn 500 Aeroplan on their first purchase at The UPS Store and there is not minimum spend other than having to meet the $1 spend requirement to actually earn miles, which is 1.5 Aeroplan Miles per dollar.  The promo that was released yesterday is for 250 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your next transaction at the UPS Store with no requirement like the $50 we saw in March. So there you have it, join The UPS Store Get More Program and spend at least $1 at the UPS Store (an envelope or two should do it) to get yourself the 751.5 Aeroplan miles. Of course if you are already a Get More member you can get the 250 Miles for that $1 spend.  The offer is good until May 31, 14

Complete details on the offer can be found here

Miles & More up to 50% off Award Ticket Sale: Montreal/Toronto - Europe for only 30,000 Miles in Economy

Lufthansa Miles & More released their latest set of discounted mileage awards "Meilenschnaeppchen" back in April and they include flights out of Montreal on Lufthansa and Toronto on Austrian.

You can redeem Miles & More miles for economy class tickets between Montreal and 50+ cities in Europe for only 30,000 miles round trip as well as Toronto - Austria for the same amount! That's half off the normal price. There are also business class offers for Toronto-Austria on Austrian for only 55,000 miles instead of the regular 105,000 miles.  Granted all these tickets will also have fuel surcharges but this is still a pretty good deal when you look at it as a whole in terms of miles+cash outlay.

Simply book your tickets by May 15 for travel until June 15th.  Full details can be found here

If you don't have enough miles you can convert points from the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express (C$1 = 1 Miles & More Mile) however with only 10 days left to book the points may not transfer time. If you do try, remember your best bet is to transfer in 20,000 Starpoints increments as you'll get a 5,000 mile bonus meaning you'll get 25,000 Miles & More miles.

May 5 Update: Buy Miles bonuses from US Airways, Avianca, Alaska Airlines & Air France KLM plus many more other bonuses!

May is the month for buy miles bonuses!

News, Tips & Tricks
Czech Airlines OK Plus has eased up on their mileage expiry rules. The recent rules put in place about 2 or so years ago are being relaxed from 24 months to 36 months or none if you hold elite status or a credit card with the program.

Just minutes before this post we posted the newest buy miles offers from Avianca and US Airways, which are by far the two best offers out there but those aren't the only offers out there. We also added new buy miles bonuses from Air France KLM Flying Blue and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan to the bonus offers section. While it si not advisable to go out and buy a whole bunch of miles with these last two offers if you are only a few thousand miles short of an award in either program then it can be advantageous to take advantage of buying miles at this time to get the bonus. See the bonus offers section below for more details


Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy Flying Blue miles online. More... Until May 23, 14
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at any participating Anantara Hotels in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for stays at Best Western hotels in France. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at any Tulip Inn, Golden Tulip and Royal Tulip property worldwide. More... Jul 1 - Aug 31, 14
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at any participating Pan Pacific or PARKROYAL worldwide. More... Book by Jun 28 for stays until Jun 30, 14
- Double Flying Blue Miles on Avis rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide that are booked online. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- 100 Bonus Flying Blue Miles per day on Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Jun 27 for rentals until Sep 5, 14

airBaltic PINS (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 300 Bonus PINS on airBaltic round trip flights to Riga. More... Book by May 9 for travel May 30 - Jun 8, 14

airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles on all SriLankan flights Worldwide when flown in an eligible booking class. More... Register by May 31 for travel May 15 - Jul 1, 14
- Triple topbonus Miles for every qualifying stay at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 14

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Save 5,000 Mileage Plan Miles when redeeming for a round trip Mileage Plan Award ticket between select cities in California and Mexico. More... Book by May 25 for travel Sep 1 - Nov 18, 14
- Earn up to 35% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when buy or gift miles online. More... Until May 25, 14

Avianca LifeMiles
- 100% Bonus LifeMiles when you buy LifeMiles. More... Until May 30, 14

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you fly round-trip between Chicago, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, San Francisco or Vancouver and Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific’s First or Business Classs. More... Jun 1 - Aug 31, 14 Valid for residents of the U.S. only
- Double Asia Miles when you fly Cathay Pacific’s Economy Class between Colombo and Bangkok or Singapore, or onwards to Hong Kong. More... May 15 - Jun 30, 14 Valid for residents of Sri Lanka or the Maldvies only
- Double Asia Miles on all SriLankan flights Worldwide when flown in an eligible booking class. More... May 15 - Jun 30, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 30,000 Bonus QMiles for Qatar Airways flights between Doha and Dallas. More... Jul 1 - Sep 30, 14
- Earn up to 14,000 Bonus QMiles for Qatar Airways flights between Doha and Tokyo Haneda. More... Jun 18 - Aug 31, 14
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus QMiles for Qatar Airways flights between Doha and Hofuf. More... May 15 - Aug 31, 14
- Double QMiles on all SriLankan flights Worldwide when flown in an eligible booking class. More... May 15 - Jun 30, 14
- Double QMiles on Rocketmiles hotel bookings and stays in Miami. More... Book by Sep 15  for stays between Jun 10 - Sep 15, 14
- Triple QMiles and save 10% off Budget rentals of 4 or more days in Miami. More... Jun 10 - Sep 15, 14
- Quadruple QMiles for Sixt rentals in Miami that are booked online. More... Jul 10 - Sep 15, 14

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Earn up to Triple Victoria Miles + Silver Elite Status on TAP Portugal's new flights to Asturias, Belem, Belgrade, Bogota, Gothenburg, Hannover, Manaus, Nantes, Panama, St. Petersburg and Tallinn. In the case of travelling from Bogota or Panama if you fly in Executive you'll also receive Victoria Silver Elite status. More... Jul 1 - Sep 30, 14
- Double Victoria Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at the Tropical Manaus Ecoresort. More... Jul 1 - Sep 30, 14
- 100 Bonus Victoria Miles on all Avis rentals under 15 days Worldwide. More... Book by May 31 for rentals until Sep 30, 14

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Earn up to 100% Bonus Dividend Miles when you buy or gift Dividend Miles. More... Until May 25, 14

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 20% VHR Points Discount for award night stays at any participating Voila Hotel Rewards location Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 14

Avianca LifeMiles: 100% Bonus on Buying Miles is back for May

Hot on the heels of the announcement of the US Airways Buy Dividend Miles promotion, Avianca LifeMiles has also brought back their 100% bonus on buying miles promotion. The offer runs until May 30 and basically doubles any amount you buy up to 75,000 miles for a total of 150,000 miles (or 1.5 cents per mile). Remember you are only allowed to buy up to 150,000 miles in a calendar year including any bonuses. Also you have to have been an Avianca LifeMiles member as of May 5 to take part. (HT: One Mile at a Time)

Avianca is now a member of the Star Alliance. So while before I used to tout this offer as a way to get Lufthansa business class from North America to Europe for $1800, you can now use the miles on any Star Alliance airline. The program also offers one way rewards at exactly half the round trip cost and does not charge fuel surcharges on award tickets.

With business class tickets to Europe going for 105,000 miles and Asia for 125 - 130,000 miles you can travel 'luxuriously' for a lot less with this deal. What used to be a decent feature of LifeMiles is their Cash + Part Points option but that was devalued nearly a year ago. This option only requires that you have 40% of the points for a reward (so buy 40% during this 100% bonus period) and then you can buy the rest of the miles (the other 60%) at about 1.56 cents per mile (used to be 1.25 cents!).

Some things to consider with the buy miles option before you pull the trigger is that their call center tends to be on the less helpful side so you are better off booking award tickets online which also means you are limited to the powers of that source, mixed class awards are not allowed unless you book each award ticket as separate one way flights and they have devalued the program without notice in the past so only buy these miles if you think you will use them in the next short while

For complete details on the Avianca TACA LifeMiles 100% Bonus or to buy the miles please see here