United MileagePlus becomes the next major program to move to a revenue based model in 2015

About 3.5 months ago Delta came out with the 2015 SkyMiles program that had one major, mostly negative change that the program was moving to a revenue based model in 2015. What this meant was that you will no longer earn SkyMiles based on the actual flight distance but on how much you spend on the ticket. It seems United liked this idea so much that it has copied Delta SkyMiles as they move the MileagePlus program to a revenue based model in 2015.  We highlighted "copied" as they literally have copied the earn rates of the new SkyMiles program and even the maximum amount of miles you can earn on one flight. Now you will have United, Delta, WestJet Rewards, Virgin America Elevate, Southwest Rapid Rewards, JetBlue TrueBlue and a handful of smaller European and Asian programs all operating on a revenue based model.

Revenue Based Mileage Earning
In a nutshell if you don't feel like reading this entire post, the changes starting on March 1st, 2015 will provide a handsome reward to those who spend a lot on their airline tickets with United while seriously devaluing the program for those who don't and tend to buy less expensive tickets. Overall from what I have read on other blogs and news sites the changes in a whole are not good for most MileagePlus members as it appears they will earn less miles with their travels and when you consider the award chart devaluations that the MileagePlus program announced late last year (see: Huge devaluation of the United MileagePlus program - what does it mean for Canadian MileagePlus members?)

United MileagePlus members will earn the following as of March 1st (miles are per US$ spent on the actual fare and any carrier surcharges. Taxes do not count towards mileage earning)

• General Non-Elite members will earn 5 MileagePlus Miles per dollar
• Premier Silver members will earn 7 MileagePlus Miles per dollar
• Premier  Gold  members will earn 8 MileagePlus Miles per dollar
• Premier Platinum members will earn 9 MileagePlus Miles per dollar
• Premier 1K members will earn 11 MileagePlus Miles per dollar
• Plus U.S. and select international United MileagePlus Credit Card Members will continue to earn up to an additional 2 miles per dollar (or corresponding earning rate) on purchases with the cards.  This doesn't affect us here in Canada as there are no current MileagePlus credit cards for Canadians.

What does this mean for the actual miles earned compared to the current MileagePlus Miles earning structure? Depending on the route and the fare you may be better off the new system (ie shorter routes) while other who buy lower end longer haul routes may come up short with the new system. Here is an example using United's calculator showing the miles earned on United between Toronto and Newark with the new earn rate earning 1,250 miles versus the current earn rate of 1,000 miles. Then Toronto and Paris which would only earn 5,000 miles at a $1,000 ticket price versus just under 8,000 with the current system. As you can see the new rates are good for the JFK flights while the Paris flight takes a significant hit

But to put it in perspective, if you are a last minute buyer of tickets, say in business class and hold status with United a then you stand to reap some huge mileage earning rewards:

As you can see a Premier Gold  member flying on a $5,000 Business Class fare Toronto to Paris will earn 40,000 miles which is more than double the miles they currently do.

What about mileage earning on United's partner airlines?
This is the good news for us Canadians, as long as those flights are not a United ticket (016) you will earn miles based on the actual flight mileage. In fact if you were to buy an Air Canada ticket that includes a leg on United but has Air Canada's 014 ticket code you will earn the actual flight mileage in your MileagePlus account. On the other hand if you buy a United ticket that includes a leg on Air Canada or other Star Alliance airlines (hence have a ticket starting with 016) you will be subject to the new earning rules.

Does this affect how Canadian's earn MileagePlus status?
No, unlike the changes for U.S. based members where they need PQMs (Premier Qualifying Miles) and PQDs (Premier Qualifying Dollards) Canadians only require the PQM portion of elite status qualifying. PQM's will still be awarded on a 1:1 basis on your actual flight mileage.

What other changes are happening?
United has also announced some other changes on the redemption side of things although all details are still not out yet:

Want more details on the new MileagePlus program?  Click here to visit United's page for the 2015 MileagePlus program


My thoughts:
This doesn't affect me much as I don't use MileagePlus anymore and I am happy that I made Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan as my primary U.S. carrier program after Aeroplan a little over a year ago. That was not because of this or the past changes to MileagePlus but rather the great one way awards and coverage that Alaska provides out of YYC with their own fights and flights on KLM.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Aeroplan does not move this direction albeit at 5 miles per dollar Aeroplan members flying on Tango fares may actually earn more miles than they do currently.

What are your thoughts on the changes? Will they be a devaluation for you or will they be a boon? Are you going to stick with MileagePlus or move to another program? I know a lot of you frequent travellers moved to United MileagePlus after the last few years of devaluations to Aeroplan. Will this make you reconsider that move? Who do think will follow suit and be the next to introduce a revenue based program? Let us know by commenting below!

(and to those of who click the link to  the post about Delta's changes will note the extreme similarities between that post and this one, well United made it easy by essentially copying Delta so I copied my old post and updated as required!)

Miles & More: 50% off Award Ticket Sale: Montreal to Europe for only 30,000 Miles in Economy Class in October

Miles & More has once again updated their discounted mileage awards "Meilenschnaeppchen" The last set had flights until the end of June (and are still available, see here) while this latest update adds flights to many destinations in Europe from Montreal for travel this October!

You can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip tickets between Montreal and Europe for only 30,000 miles in Economy Class  That's half off the normal price for Economy.  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 Jun 30 for travel October 1-31.  Full details can be found here

As always with this post:
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) 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.

June 9 Update: Reciprocal Upgrades announced for American & US Airways, Asia Miles Multiple Partner bonus, Air Canada drops YUL-DEN

A busy Monday here on RC with a nice mix of news and bonuses!

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Canada is cancelling their direct non-stop service between Montreal and Denver as of July 1st. If you have revenue or Aeroplan award tickets on this route after this date you can expect to receive a call or email notifying you of this change and chances are you will be routed via Toronto. (Source Airlineroute.net)

If you missed the post earlier, today is the last day to jump on the 24,000 bonus points sign up offer for the mbna Choice Privileges MasterCard. With no-fee it is a pretty easy way to get a few free hotel nights or a small amount of miles to pad your Aeroplan or other Frequent Flyer accounts. See the post here.

American Airlines and US Airways completed a few more steps to the integration of the airlines and their respective Frequent Flyer Programs (FFPs). As of this Wednesday the airlines will offer reciprocal upgrades to members of each others FFPs . For complete details on how the upgrade process will work see this post on View From the Wing. The other change is not so good but at least there is advance notice this time. The change that is happening is the matching of the US Airways Dividend Miles award chart to the recently change American AAdvantage chart. Here are the changes as taken from US Airways (Those of you in Vancouver should take note about the oneworld change as it will now cost you more to fly Cathay Pacific's First Class between Vancouver and New York City):

For travel booked on/after August 1, we're raising redemption levels for roundtrip travel on medium and high awards between the continental U.S. and Canada and for First Class awards on three-class service within and between the continental U.S. and Canada on oneworld® and partner flights. All award bookings through July 31 will continue to be honored.

• On US Airways flights, roundtrip award travel in the Main Cabin between the continental U.S. and Canada will require 50,000 miles for medium and 80,000 miles for high-level 1. Roundtrip award travel in First/Business Class between the continental U.S. and Canada will require 100,000 miles for medium and 130,000 miles for high-level 1.
• On oneworld and partner flights, roundtrip award travel in First Class on a three cabin aircraft within and between the continental U.S. and Canada will require 65,000 miles.

In the bonus offers section there is new promotion from Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles for a small bonus when you complete earning transactions from two separate categories out of Airline, Hotel, Car and Travel/leisure. Seeing that Cathay's own flights are included is should be pretty easy for most of you Asia Miles members who have travel planned this summer to earn the 1,000 miles.

Last week we brought you the new Icelandair in-flight safety video and now here is TAP Portugal's!:


Travel Deals
Hotels.com Canada: Canada Day Sale. Save up to 30%. Book by 7/1/14, Travel between 6/26/14 - 7/7/14.



Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Earn up to 40% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy Flying Blue Miles. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Air India Flying Returns
- OFFER EXTENDED 25% Flying Returns Miles Discount on all Flying Returns Award tickets for travel on Air India. More... Until Jun 30, 14

American AAdvantage
- Up to 35% Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you share AAdvantage Miles. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 1,000 Bonus Asia Miles when you complete eligible mileage earning transactions with any of Asia Miles participating partners in two or more categories. The categories are Airline Partners, Hotels, Cars & Transport, Travel & Leisure. More... Until Aug 15, 14

Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to Quadruple SkyMiles for stays at any Shangri-La hotels, Kerry hotels or Traders hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn up to Quadruple JetPrivilege Miles for stays at any Shangri-La hotels, Kerry hotels or Traders hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Triple GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London. More... Jun 15 - Sep 30, 14

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 30% Bonus Elevate Points when you buy Elevate points. More... Until Jul 1, 14




Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by American Express Travel Insurance

LAST DAY: mbna Choice Privileges MasterCard sign up bonus tripled to 24,000 points - No annual fee

THIS CARD IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO APPLY FOR THIS OFFER THAT WE POSTED BACK ON MARCH 7th

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.

Current Bonus Miles Offers for flying within or from Canada to the rest of the World

There is one page on the main Rewards Canada site that sees a good amount of traffic but we believe it gets overlooked a good majority of our readers who aren't aware of it or forgot about it! That page is our Route Bonus Listing. This page lists all the current bonuses that Canadians can earn on flights around the globe. The list presents all the actual Canadian options first such as flights within Canada or flights originating in Canada to anywhere in the World. The remainder of the listing shows systemwide bonuses next (these are offers for all flights on an airline and may include those leaving Canada) followed by the remainder of flights bonuses from around the world that Canadian's can take advantage of. The big difference between the RC version of this listing and the listing on our Global site FrequentFlyerBonuses.com is that the RC version does not list bonuses that us Canucks cannot use which are primarily offers that are only for residents of certain countries other than Canada.

Now that you have learned about the route bonus listing or have been reminded about it we thought it would be wise to post the Canadian flight portion of the list in a post on a regular basis here on the Rewards Canada blog to remind you of the bonuses that you may be able to earn on your flights! We encourage to consult this list before you book a flight anywhere in the world or even board a flight as some offers may come up after you have already booked but you can still be eligible for. If you don't check the list there is a good chance you may miss on some extra miles to be added to your account!

Current bonuses for flying within or from Canada!

From/To (or Vice Versa)		Bonus Offer	Airline Program	Validity	Details
Canada	Europe	up to 25,000 Bonus Miles	American AAdvantage	Until Aug 31, 14	View
Canada	Europe	up to 25,000 Bonus Avios	British Airways Executive Club	Until Aug 31, 14	View
Edmonton	Dallas	Double Miles	American AAdvantage	Apr 1 - Jun 30, 14	View
Edmonton	London	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Halifax	Iqaluit	250 Bonus Points	Canadian North Aurora Rewards	Jun 20 - Sep 5, 14	View
Halifax	London	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Iqaluit	Halifax	250 Bonus Points	Canadian North Aurora Rewards	Jun 20 - Sep 5, 14	View
Iqaluit	Ottawa	50% Bonus Points	Canadian North Aurora Rewards	Until Jul 20, 14	View
Iqaluit	St. John's	250 Bonus Points	Canadian North Aurora Rewards	Jun 20 - Sep 5, 14	View
Montreal	Athens	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Montreal	London	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Montreal	Paris	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Montreal	Toronto	3x Dollars	WestJet Rewards	Ongoing	View
Ottawa	Iqaluit	50% Bonus Points	Canadian North Aurora Rewards	Until Jul 20, 14	View
Ottawa	London	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Ottawa	Toronto	3x Dollars	WestJet Rewards	Ongoing	View
St. John's	Iqaluit	250 Bonus Points	Canadian North Aurora Rewards	Jun 20 - Sep 5, 14	View
St. John's	London	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Toronto	Athens	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Toronto	London	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Toronto	Milan	Up to 5,000 Bonus Miles	Aegean Miles&Bonus	Jun 15 - Sep 15, 14	View
Toronto	Montreal	3x Dollars	WestJet Rewards	Ongoing	View
Toronto	New York	3x Dollars	WestJet Rewards	Ongoing	View
Toronto	Ottawa	3x Dollars	WestJet Rewards	Ongoing	View
Vancouver	Seattle	Double Miles	Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan	Jun 1 - Dec 31, 14	View
Vancouver	London	50% Bonus Miles + 2 Tier Points	Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	Register by Jun 10 for travel until Jul 10, 2014	View
Vancouver	Seattle	Double Miles	Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan	Jun 1 - Dec 31, 14	View
Vancouver	Seattle	Double Avios	British Airways Executive Club	Until Jun 24, 14	View
US Airways flights from Canada		Double Avios	British Airways Executive Club	Until Jun 30, 14	View
US Airways flights from Canada		Double Miles	Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	Until Jun 30, 14	View
Systemwide (Various Routes)		up to 16,000 Miles	Emirates Skywards	Ongoing	View
US Airways flights from Canada		Double Avios	Iberia Plus	Until Jun 30, 14	View
US Airways flights from Canada		Double Miles	Japan Airlines Mileage Bank	Until Jun 30, 14	View
US Airways flights from Canada		Double Points	Qantas Frequent Flyer	Until Jun 30, 14	View
US Airways flights from Canada		Double Miles	Qatar Airways Privilege Club	Until Jun 30, 14	View
oneworld Alliance flights from Canada		Double Miles	SriLankan FlySmiles	May 15 - Jun 30, 14	View
US Airways flights from Canada		Up to 25,000 Bonus Miles	US Airways Dividend Miles	Until Jun 30, 14	View

Jun 5 Update: New Icelandair In-Flight Safety Video, Great Alitalia bonus for Accor stays, Free La Quinta Returns Points

Today was a little bit quieter on the travel rewards news and bonus offer front!

News, Tips & Tricks
Yesterday Icelandair released their new inflight safety video on Youtube. It is already starting to get some attention on social media and rightfully so. Following in the footsteps of airline like Air New Zealand, who are vey famous for their various unconvential safety videos, Icelandair has produced their own non-convential video. Unlike Air New Zealand who go for more of a comedic approach, Icelandair has instead gone for a tourism approach by integrating highlights of Iceland in the video. Here it is for your enjoyment, I hope you like it as much as I did. Now the question is when will Air Canada do something like this with their inflight videos?

A heads up for anyone who may have booked a revenue or Aeroplan award ticket on Air Canada's flights between Toronto and St. Martin for travel late in 2014 or early 2015 as that route will be taken over by Air Canada Rouge. (Source: airlineroute.net)

Travel Deals
Hotels.com Canada: Canada Day Sale. Save up to 30%. Book by 7/1/14, Travel between 6/26/14 - 7/7/14.

Bonus Offers
Alitalia MilleMiglia
- 1,000 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles for stays at participating Accor hotels in Italy, Spain, UK, Germany and France More... Book by Jul 4 for stays until Sep 12, 14

Germanwings Boomerang Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Boomerang Miles on all Sixt car rentals in Spain. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at participating Peninsula Hotels Worldwide. More... Jul 1 - Sep 30, 14

La Quinta Returns
- 300 FREE Returns Points when you watch a La Quinta Returns Travel Advisor video More... Until Jun 30, 14

Oman Air Sindbad (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Sindbad Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until ?
- Earn up to Quadruple Sindbad Miles for stays at any Shangri-La hotels, Kerry hotels or Traders hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double Sindbad Miles on entals of 7 or more days at participating Hertz locations Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double Sindbad Miles on all eligible Sixt car rental locations worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 14

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Earn up to Quadruple Mabuhay Miles for stays at any Shangri-La hotels, Kerry hotels or Traders hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Jun 4 Update: Winner of our 5,000 Aeroplan Mile contest, Hotels.com Canada Day Sale, Cathay Pacific partners with Caesars Hotels

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles partners with Caesars Hotels and celebrates with a bonus (see below!)

News, Tips & Tricks
Congrats to Jerry who was picked as the winner of our 5,000 Aeroplan Miles contest tied into the launch of dExclusives. While the contest is over you can still learn more about this new Aeroplan Distinction reward option here.

If you own or are planning to buy a Volvo you can earn even more Aeroplan miles by selecting various accessories for your Volvo. See the bonus offers section below for details.

Aeroplan also has an announcement on their site that was not unexpected, TAM will no longer be a partner of Aeroplan's as of July 2nd. TAM recently moved to the oneworld Alliance away from Air Canada's Star Alliance. Source: Aeroplan

Travel Deals
Hotels.com Canada: Canada Day Sale. Save up to 30%. Book by 7/1/14, Travel between 6/26/14 - 7/7/14.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to 7,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you purchase select accessories for your Volvo. More... Until Jul 31, 14

airBaltic PINS (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 400 Bonus PINS when you book a round trip flight on airBaltic to Aberdeen. Be sure to use promo code ABZPINS when booking your flight. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 500 Bonus Mileage Plan miles on Avis rentals of 2 or more consecutive days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. More... Until Aug 30, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles on qualifying rentals of 4 days or more at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. More... Until Aug 30, 14

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to Quadruple AAdvantage Miles for stays at any Shangri-La hotels, Kerry hotels or Traders hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles on every eligible stay of 2 or more nights at participating Caesars hotels in the U.S. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Oct 31, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 1,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points and third night free for stays at the at Hyatt hotels in South Korea. More... Book by Jun 30 for stays until Aug 31, 14

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay two nights Thursday-Sunday at over 40 locations throughout the UK. More... Until Jul 25, 14
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays of 2 or more nights at Boscolo Hotels in the Czech Republic, Hungary or Italy. More... Until Jul 24, 14

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Triple Flying Cliub Miles when you stay a minimum of two nights at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 1,000 Velocity Points for stays on the Best Available Rate at either the Crown Promenade Perth or Crown Metropol Perth. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double Velocity Points when you stay at any participating IHG hotel in Australasia, Southeast & Southwest Asia, Japan & Korea, and the Middle East & Africa. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Double Velocity Points for stays of 2 or more nights on the “Club and Suite Retreat” offer at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide More... Book by Sep 15 for stays until Sep 21, 14
- 1,000 Velocity Points for stays on the celebratory Opening Offer at the One&Only Hayman Island. More... Book by Jul 31 for stays Jul 1 - Sep 30, 14



Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by American Express Travel Insurance

Hotel Review: Hotel Le Germain Toronto

Not too long ago a client of mine put me up at the Hotel Le Germain in Toronto. There isn't too much to review as my arrival into YYZ was around 11:20pm and I arrived at the boutique hotel at Midnight with me checking out by 8am! At check in there was a short wait as only one agent was working up front but another employee did offer me a free water bottle while I waited.

In a nutshell I was impressed with the room I received. It was a decent size, had a huge bathroom and was very clean and comfortable! I must add that the duvet on the bed was amazing.

The continental breakfast had a decent spread, nothing too fancy but quite a few choices which is always nice as many don't have a very big selection by comparison.

What can I say after such a short stay! I can't say too much but in the short period of time that I was at the hotel I was impressed and would definitely return for another stay. Have you ever stayed at the Hotel Le Germain in Toronto? I'd love to hear your comments to see if your stay(s) echo my experience or if my eight hour visit didn't give me the true gist of this hotel!

Here are some pictures of the room:

Hotel Details:
Hotel Le Germain Toronto

This hotel does not participate in any loyalty programs

Jun 3 Update: Scene Visa bonus doubled, Air Canada & WestJet update PED policies, up to 4x Aeroplan Miles for Shangri-La stays

Another full day here at Rewards Canada with Credit Card and Airline news plus lots of new bonus offers!

News, Tips & Tricks
In the world of non travel rewards, The SCENE® VISA card from Scotiabank has had its sign up bonus doubled to 4,000 points (4 free movies) for all accounts opened by October 31, 2014. Find out more here.

Much like the pages we have for some other brands of credit cards we have now made a dedicated page to sign up bonuses for mbna credit cards. You can view it here

In the department of odd redemption options comes this offer from JAL Mileage Bank. It is not for Canadian JAL MB members but it really intrigued me as I haven't seen a redemption like this before so I thought I would pass it along! Feel free to comment with other odd or weird redemption options you've seen before!

WestJet announced yesterday that all Personal Electronic Devices (PED) can be used during all phases of flights including taxi, take off and landing as long as they are in a non-transmitting or flight mode. (Source WestJet). Air Canada instituted the same policy last week on May 28th. This is perfect timing for both airlines as they are both in the process of or will shortly be introducing inflight Wi-fi.

Travel Deals
WestJet has launched a new Summer Seat sale with savings on fares for their flights in Canada and the U.S. You must book by June 4th for travel June 9-25 and July 6-23. Find out more here.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to Quadruple Aeroplan Miles for stays at any Shangri-La hotels, Kerry hotels or Traders hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- 800 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your first purchase of $99 or more with Shop.ca. More... Ongoing
- 30% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you exchange points via Points.com from your other loyalty programs into Aeroplan Miles. More... Until Jun 30, 14

airberlin topbonus
- Triple topbonus Miles for stays at the ME Mallorca, ME Ibiza, ME London or ME Madrid. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Sep 15, 14

Avianca LifeMiles
- Triple LifeMiles on all Sixt rentalsof 5 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Earn up to 25% Bonus LifeMiles for each mile or point you transfer to LifeMiles, from any LifeMiles partner. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at select Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel hotels in the Middle East, South Africa and India. More... Until Sep 15, 14
- Earn up to Quadruple Skywards Miles on all Hertz rentals of four or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Aug 31 for rentals until Oct 31, 14

South African Airways Voyager
- Double Voyager Miles for stays at any participating Anantara Hotels Worldwide. More...   Until Aug 31, 14
- 5,000 Bonus Voyager Miles when you book a cruise with Cruises International. More...  Until Jun 30, 14

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Earn up to Triple RoyalRoyal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating Okura, Nikko and JAL City Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles on all Wyndham Rewards Hotels stays Worldwide starting with your 2nd stay. More... Until Sep 5, 14

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Double Elite Status credit when you spend 3 or more nights at any participating VOILÀ hotel worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 14


Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by American Express Travel Insurance

IHG Rewards Club Reel Summer Promotion now live

Back on May 23rd, IHG Rewards Club gave us a brief summary of their upcoming summer promotion called "Reel Summer" which is a co-promotion with Coca-Cola. We proud to let you know that the Reel Summer promo is now open for registration. Be aware that there are no bonus points associated with the promotion at all! The current option for bonuses for your summer IHG stays are the associated Reel Summer Stay X Get Y promos that are technically targeted offers but no matter what you should be able to register for at least one of them.

Back to Reel Summer: The movie-themed promotion invites members of IHG® Rewards Club to enter daily for a chance to win one of five Hollywood experiences valued at approximately $10,000 each, as well as thousands of movie-themed instant prizes daily, such as free movie theater tickets. The promotion is open to IHG® Rewards Club members who are residents of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Colombia and Chile.

For more details, to register and to enter the promotion visit here!

Here's my dashboard after today, I've got a whopping 4 entries into the contest!