The latest set of Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Awards are out and it is nice to see Canada back on the list even though it is only for one of our cities served by Air France KLM.
The latest set of offers will be bookable as of July 1st and are
good for award travel over late summer/early fall in September and October! The offers
this time is for 50% off Business Class between Montreal and
Europe on KLM. This is a great deal considering this is for
award travel during end of peak and shoulder season when other airlines will be typically
charging higher amounts of miles if they have the availability. Don't
have the miles? You could always consider
transferring Starpoints earned via the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to Flying Blue.
What are the promo awards? The promo awards are a discount of 25-50%
off the regular Flying Blue mileage requirement for select AF KLM
flights in select cabins. Due to increases in the regular award
mileage requirements last year the promo awards not as grand
as they used to be but overall are they are still considered a great
deal when compared to the regular mileage requirements. With the 50%
this time the rates are slower than Aeroplan's 90,000 miles
for a ClassicFlight Business Class ticket to Europe and pretty much any other airline's TransAtlantic biz class redemptions. To take
advantage of this deal you must book your promo award ticket
between July 1 and 31 for travel between September 1 and October 31.
More details can be
found here.
Friday proves to bring us a bit more news and your usual slate of new bonus offers! News, Tips & Tricks
According to this post on FlyerTalk,
Air Canada is now allowing free early standby for flights on the
Western Triangle Calgary-Edmonton-Vancouver much like they do on the
Eastern Triangle.
Accor Hotels has made a positive change to their program that will
start on July 1st. That change is increased points earning on all
eligible Accor stays for Le Club accorhotels base members and Platinum
members. Base members will now earn 5% back in points versus the
previous 4% while Platinum members will move up to 8.5% from 8%. Learn
more about Le Club accorhotels points earning here. (HT Loyalty Lobby)
Some bonus offers of note below, Coast Hotels has opened a new hotel
in Canmore and is offering double points in July to celebrate, there is
the huge Budget car rental bonus for Club Carlson members and also check
out the Gold Passport offer for Hyatt stays in Hawaii!
Travel Deals Summer can be a very expensive time to fly to London but there
are always the 'charter airline' options and some of the best pricing
for those flights are available via Canadian Affair. Right now they have
flights in July and August for as low as $879 including all taxes and
fees. Find out more here
Bonus Offers Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Double MilleMiglia Miles when you book a stay in one of the Italian Best Western Kids Hotels. More... Until Sep 15, 14
-
Double MilleMiglia Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at
participating NH Hotels in Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands,
Portugal, Spain or the United Kingdom. More... Jul 1 - Aug 31, 14
-
Quadruple MilleMiglia Miles for stays at Star Hotels in Italy. More... Jul 1 - Aug 31, 14
-
Double MilleMiglia Miles for stays at any UNA Hotel in Italy that is booked online. More... Until Jun 30, 14
American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles on all Wyndham Rewards Hotels stays
Worldwide starting with your 2nd stay. Bonus also awarded on 3rd and 4th
stays. More... Until Sep 5, 14
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 8,250 Bonus Gold Points and save up to 20% when you rent a Budget
vehicle for 3 or more consecutive days at participating locations in the
U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, the
Caribbean, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 14
Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
- Double Coast Rewards Points for stays at the Coast Canmore Hotel & Conference Centre. More... Jul 1 - 31, 14
Hyatt Gold Passport
- 25,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays of five or more consecutive nights at the Hyatt Regency Aruba More... Until Dec 19, 14
- 10,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points and a Free Night for stays at the
at Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa,
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa and Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach
Resort & Spa. More... Until Mar 31, 15
-
5,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays at the Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach More... Aug 1 - Oct 31, 14
JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 3,000 Bonus TrueBlue Points on your very first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Jul 20 for stays until Dec 31, 14
- Earn up to 5x TrueBlue Points on Hertz rentals at participating
locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 14
S7 Airlines Priority (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Priority Miles for stays at the Radisson Blu Resort &
Congress Centre Sochi, Radisson Blu Paradise Resort & Spa Sochi, or
the Radisson Hotel, Rosa Khutor. More... Jul 1 - Aug 31, 14
-
1,500 Priority Miles for stays at the Radisson Resort, Zavidovo. More... Jul 1 - Aug 31, 14
Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by American Express Travel Insurance
Club Carlson's Third flash sale for buying Club Carlson points
that offers a 75% bonus is now live. It is good until 5:29pm EST on June
27th. The
offer allows you to buy points at 0.4 cents per points before taxes and
fees. This is a great deal on these points especially if you can use the
points at more expensive Club Carlson properties in Europe (or Radisson
Blu Aqua Chicago) An example is the Radisson Blu Champs Elysees in
Paris, you can get a night there in October for 70,000 points (the max
points you can buy with this offer) at the US$240 versus the best
available non-cancellable rate of EUR470!
One of the best car rental bonus point offers over the past few years
that comes out once or twice per year (including right now) has been
Club Carlson's offer of 8,250
Bonus Points (9,000 total points) for Avis rentals of 3+ days. That
9,000 points can easily be used for a free Club Carlson Award night and
now the good news is that Club Carlson and Budget have released the same
offer for Budget rentals. Previously the Budget offer wasn't as rich at
6,750 bonus points so the additional 1,500 points is a nice bonus on
top of that bonus for the remainder of 2014. At this time there is no
word if the same offer for Avis rentals will be extended beyond June
30th.
Offer Details
8,250
Bonus Gold Points and save up to 20% when
you rent a Budget vehicle for 3 or more consecutive days
at participating locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle
East, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Australia and New
Zealand. Simply use BCD #U106509 along with your Club
Carlson member number to receive your discount and points
when making your advance reservation online at Budget.com
Can't make use of this offer? Be sure to visit our Club Carlson Bonus Points page for many more offers
Not sure if its because school is ending and summer vacation is coming about but this week has been really quiet for travel rewards outside of bonus offers of course! News, Tips & Tricks
Today we posted another article in our series of features in helping
Canadian's pick the right rewards credit card. This article covers the
very first steps in picking a card and somewhat holds true for loyalty
programs in general. Read more here.
Travel Deals Hyatt Summer Sale - Save between 20 and 30% on multiple night
stays in the Americas depending on the location. The offer is good for
stays until September 4th, 2014 and as usual with sales like these are
fully prepaid and non-refundable so only book if you know you can make
your stay! Full details and online booking can be found here
Bonus Offers Aeroflot Bonus
- Double Bonus Miles for stays at participating Rixos hotels on the Aegean coast. More... Until Sep 30, 14
Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards points for stays on the "Seurat op de Veluwe" package at the BEST WESTERN Hotel Gieling. More... Until ?
Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- 500 Bonus JetPrivilege Miles per stay at more than 20 participating Marriott hotels across India. More... Until Jul 31, 14
Le Club accorhotels
- 400 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Pullman hotels in Paris and Versailles. More... Book by Aug 16 for stays until Aug 31, 14
Marriott Rewards
- 500 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at the Fairfield Inn St. Petersburg Clearwater. More... Until Aug 1, 14
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night at the SpringHill Suites Columbus. More... Until Aug 1, 14
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay Friday-Sunday nights at the the Amsterdam Marriott Hotel and Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel. More... Until Aug 1, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay including a Friday or Saturday night at the Courtyard Parsippany. More... Until Aug 1, 14
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night at the Renaissance Zurich Tower Hotel. More... Until Aug 2, 14
US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles and Save up to 15% on qualifying Affordable Rate
rentals of one or more days at participating Hertz locations in Africa,
Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and
St. Thomas. More... Until Sep 30, 14
-
Double Dividend Miles on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or rentals
of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport Hertz
location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Jul 31, 14
Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by American Express Travel Insurance
Whether you’re new to the whole travel rewards or loyalty program world or have been playing the points-chasing game for years, when it comes to getting a card that has a loyalty program attached to it, there are some fundamental steps you should follow. After reading through these four steps, be sure to consult our “Guide to choosing a travel rewards credit card” for tables and tools to further help the selection process.
What are your spending habits?
Do you currently or do you plan to spend very little on cards or do you put every possible purchase on your card? Do you run a business and put tens of thousands of dollars on your card each month? Do you eat out a lot? Do you have high grocery, drug store and gasoline purchases? These and other questions will help determine which card to choose. A low spender will want to look at a card typically with a lower or no annual fee, while mid to high level spenders will want to look at a card with an annual fee as they could earn many more points than what the annual fee costs (not including the benefits that come with those higher end cards) A low spender may go for an annual fee card but one where you don’t need a lot of points to start redeeming, some programs like American Express’ TripFlex rewards feature of the Membership Rewards program only requires 1,000 points or as little as $500 in spending* to be able to redeem. Also look at category bonuses that come with cards. A select few of them include 1.5 or 2x the points when shopping for groceries, at drug stores or putting gas in your car. I personally put all my gas, grocery & drug store purchases on my American Express Gold Rewards Card since it offers 2 points per $1 on eligible purchases at these locations...not to mention on Travel too!
* - based on 2 points per $1 category spending
How do you want to be rewarded?
Knowing how you want to be rewarded can make or break a program for you. Are you looking for that dream trip by flying in First Class to Asia or are you looking for economy class tickets for a family of five to Disney World in Orlando? Do you want to be able to use your points as you wish towards any travel at anytime? Do you want a card that can tie into another loyalty program you participate in? Do you want merchandise or cash back rewards? These are questions you should ask yourself and answer before you choose a rewards card program.
At a minimum you have to look at these first two steps together. Not all programs are created equally. You need to look at how many points or miles you can earn with your spend combined with how many points or miles it will take to redeem for rewards. With card spending it is quite easy to figure out your rate of return. In terms of travel in economy class, you should be able to get a 1 to 2.5% return on your spending. While business class you could see returns in the 4 to 10% range (but this also requires a lot of spending on your card(s))
Are you looking for additional benefits?
Do you rent cars when you travel? Do you need out of province medical insurance? Trip cancellation on your mind? Again, just some of the questions you need to ask yourself when picking a card. Most rewards cards that have an annual fee offer decent benefits like Car Rental CDW Insurance, and Purchase Protection & Extended Warranty while remaining benefits like Travel Medical Insurance, Trip Interruption, Flight and Baggage Delay Insurance (and numerous others) are offered on a handful of cards. To see all of the current travel rewards cards in Canada and the benefits they provide see our Credit Comparison Chart.
Do you want the option of being able to convert points?
When you play the loyalty game, the trend nowadays is not to put all your eggs in one basket but participate in several programs. Why would you do this? The old school thinking, which in some ways still counts today, is to focus on one primary program because if you spread yourself too thin amongst many programs you will earn points here and some miles there, but not enough of either to redeem. That’s where cards with their own proprietary programs shine. You can put all your spend on the one card to rack up tons of points or miles then decide whether it’s best to redeem them via the card’s reward program or convert them to an airline or hotel loyalty program. This is one of the key features I love about my American Express Gold Rewards Card; I can, have and will convert those Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan and to British Airways Executive Club.
You can read more about the American Express Gold Rewards Card here.
I will always keep some of my points in Membership Rewards for the TripFlex rewards feature, which can be used to redeem for the charges that come along with the Aeroplan or Executive Club award tickets!
When you combine these steps along with many of the features on the Rewards Canada site, you should be able to make the right travel rewards card decision for you. If you still need help, have more questions or can’t make that final decision don’t hesitate to ask us! You can do so with a comment below or via our contact form if you don’t want it in the public domain.
Disclosure:This post was sponsored by Amex Bank of Canada. The views and opinions expressed in this blog, however, are purely my own.
Yet another quiet day here on RC with only bonus offers to pass along! Bonus Offers American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 25,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles every time you fly round-trip
between Dallas/Fort Worth and Hong Kong; Chicago and Shanghai;
Dallas/Fort Worth and Shanghai. More... Until Dec 6, 14
Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Double Guest Rewards Points on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or
rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport
Hertz location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico.More... Until Jul 31, 14
Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards when you book ANY qualified rate on bestwestern.com for stays at Best Western Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 1, 14
- Double Rewards Points for stays at the Best Western Plus Hotel Beaulac, Neuenburg. More... Jul 1 - A\ug 31, 14
Ethiopian Sheba Miles
- Double Sheba Miles on Ethiopian flights between Addis Ababa and Abuja. More... Jul 1 - Sep 30, 14
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Triple Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Palace Hotel Tokyo. More... Aug 1 - Sep 15, 14
-
Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Palace Hotel Tokyo. More... Until Jul 31, 14
Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Double Mabuhay Miles on Avis rentals of a Group C car or higher for 3
or more days in Asia, US, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa or for 4
or more days in Australia. More... Jul 1 - Sep 30, 14
United Mileage Plus
- Double MileagePlus Miles and Save up to 15% on qualifying Affordable
Rate rentals of one or more days at participating Hertz locations in
Africa, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New
Zealand and St. Thomas More... Until Sep 30, 14
-
Double MileagePlus Miles on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or
rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport
Hertz location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Jul 31, 14
Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by American Express Travel Insurance
Best Western has brought back their online booking bonus that we saw
late last year and early this year. The bonus typically ranges from
1,000 to 1,500 bonus points with it being the lesser of the two for this
version of the promotion. The one thing we are not entirely sure about
is whether these stays will also qualify for the current Stay 3 get a
free night voucher promotion as the T&Cs for the 1,000 point state
it cannot be combined with certain offers.
Offer details
1,000 Bonus Rewards when you book ANY qualified rate on bestwestern.com for stays at Best Western Hotels Worldwide. Full details, Online Registration and Booking (Registration is required) Until Sep 1, 14
Can't make use of this offer? Be sure to visit our BW Rewards Bonus Points page for many more bonus offers!
An quiet day in the world of loyalty today! News, Tips & Tricks
No news to pass along today, but our tip of the day goes back to an
older post of ours that points out which Credit Card reward programs can
be used to pay for the taxes and fees on Aeroplan and other frequent
flyer program award tickets.
In the bonus offers section check out the Ritz-Carlton double elite
qualifying offer for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards program. Super easy to
take advantage of since there is no registration required but you do
have to ensure you credit your stays to Ritz-Carlton Rewards not
Marriott Rewards.
airberlin topbonus
- Triple topbonus Miles when you fly on airberlin or NIKI between Stuttgart or Vienna and Abu Dhabi. More... Register by Aug 31 for travel Nov 24 - Feb 18, 15
- Triple topbonus Miles when you fly on connecting Etihad flights out of Abu Dhabi. More... Register by Aug 31 for travel Nov 24 - Feb 18, 15
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Double Mileage Plan Miles on all Wyndham Rewards Hotels stays
Worldwide starting with your 2nd stay. Bonus also awarded on 3rd and 4th
stays. More... Until Sep 5, 14
- Double Mileage Plan Miles on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or
rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport
location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Jul 31, 14
American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles and Save up to 15% on qualifying Affordable
Rate rentals of one or more days at participating locations in Africa,
Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and
St. Thomas More... Until Sep 30, 14
-
Double AAdvantage Miles on weekend rentals of 2 or more
days, or rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off
airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Jul 31, 14
Ethiopian Sheba Miles
- Double Sheba Miles on Ethiopian flights between Addis Ababa and Shanghai. More... Jun 25 - Jul 25, 14
-
Double Sheba Miles on Ethiopian flights between Addis Ababa and Kano. More... Until Jul 23, 14
Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double GarudaMiles when flying Business or Economy Class between Jakarta or Surabaya and Singapore. More... Until Jul 31, 14
Ritz-Carlton Rewards
- Double Elite Stay Credit for each night stay at participating Ritz-Carlton hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14
-
50,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay five nights between July 1 and
October 31, 2014 at participating Ritz-Carlton properties Worldwide.
Bonus can be earned a maximum of two times. More... Register by Sep 30 for stays until Oct 31, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone
Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by American Express Travel Insurance
Club Carlson second flash sales for buying Club Carlson points
that offers a 75% bonus is now live. nd is good until 8:59am EST on June
24th. The
offer allows you to buy points at 0.4 cents per points before taxes and
fees. This is a great deal on these points especially if you can use the
points at more expensive Club Carlson properties in Europe (or Radisson
Blu Aqua Chicago) An example is the Radisson Blu Champs Elysees in
Paris, you can get a night there in October for 70,000 points (the max
points you can buy with this offer) at the US$240 versus the best
available non-cancellable rate of EUR470!
