Dec 19 Update: American AAdvantage Premium Class bonuses for 2015, Delta Medallions get Hertz Elite Status, Up to 2,000 Bonus Starpoints at Le Meridien

Elite Status reigns supreme in the news with new benefits from American and Delta

News, Tips & Tricks
American AAdvantage has set out a year long premium class flight bonus for 2015. Depending on your AAdvantage/Dividend Miles status and/or the premium fare class you book you can earn anywhere from to 250 to 12,000 bonus AAdvantage miles on each and every flight you take in 2015. Find out more here.

Delta SkyMiles Medallion members will now get elite status with Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. Find out more here.

Hilton HHonors will be rolling out Lifetime Diamond status in 2015. No real details are out yet however. (Source LoyaltyLobby)

In the bonus offers section their is a new bonus point offer from Starwood Preferred Guest for stays at Le Meridien hotels and the Le Meridien Versailles Montreal is included. Good news is that the T&Cs don't state anything about earning other bonuses as well so you could easily tie in the current SPG App booking bonus or other bonuses on top of this one.




Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points and 25% off for stays of 2 nights at Best Western Hotels in France when you book online. More... Book by Feb 1 for stays until Mar 1, 15

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you fly round-trip in Economy Class from Vancouver or Toronto to Hong Kong. More... Valid for residents of Canada only Jan 11 - Feb 19 & Mar 2 - 31, 15

China Southern SkyPearl
- Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly on China Southern between Guangzhou and Sydney. More... Until Mar 1, 15

Icelandair Saga Club
- 3,000 Bonus Saga Club Points on your first Rocketmiles booking. More... Book by Jun 30 for stays until Dec 31, 15

Malaysia Airlines Enrich (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Triple Enrich Miles for stays at participating Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 15

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus QMiles for Qatar Airways flights between Doha and Asmara. More... Until Feb 28, 15
- Up to 50% QMiles Discount on Qatar Airways Privilege Club Award ticket redemptions for various routes via their "Easy Deals" offer. More... Ongoing
- Double QMiles for stays on the Winter Breaks rate at participating Kempinksi Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 15, 15
- Double QMiles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide on the Linger Longer package rate. More... Until Feb 28, 15
- Triple QMiles for stays at the Rose Rayhaan by Rotana. More... Until Mar 10, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple QMiles for stays at Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 15

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus Starpoints for stasy at Le Méridien hotels and resorts in North America, Latin America and French Polynesia. More... Jan 25 - Mar 1, 15

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Cathay Pacific: Double Asia Miles when you fly in Economy Class between Canada and Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles last bonus offer for their flights out of Canada just ended on November 30th but that offer was for premium class travel. Now they are bonusing flights in Economy Class out of Toronto and Vancouver. As always it is great to take advantage of these types of bonuses even if at this time you don't think or know if you'll fly CX in Economy Class. No matter what, register for it and do it right now because I can guarantee you won't remember in a month and then when your employer plops you on one of these routes in Economy Class you'll miss out on those miles (sorry for rehashing the same wording from the last CX post!)

Offer Details:
Double Asia Miles when you fly round-trip in Economy Class from Vancouver or Toronto to Hong Kong. Register Online (Registration is required)  Jan 11 - Feb 19 & Mar 2 - 31, 15

Can't make use of this offer? Be sure to visit our Asia Miles Bonus Miles page for many other options!

Guest Commentary on Air Canada's new boarding by zone process

A quick guest commentary about Air Canada implementing Zone boarding.
By Sol Zia - SE100K Million Miler and occasional contributor to Rewards Canada

And so it continues…

Those of you who have flown on AC this week, or saw the post on Air Canada, AC is implementing Zone seating like WestJet, United and many other carriers already do. I’ve been lamenting on Rewards Canada about how the new Altitude program is a very convenient way to erode the value proposition to what used to be AC Elite (35K to  99.9K on AC/Star Alliance). The Zones push the separation further. It used be all Biz Class, Elite (35, 50 and 75) and SE100K could board at the same time. With the new Zones Biz Class and SE100k board first (Zone 1) followed by Elites (no mention of Prestige 25K), Star Alliance Gold, Premium Economy, Latitude, TD and CIBC Aeroplan card holders (Zone 2). Zones 3, 4, 5 board next. Why 3, 4 and 5? I predict it won’t be long before lower distance Elites are moved to Zone 3 or worse. “Want Zone 2? Well you better put fly another 15K on AC if you want that…”

Screen shots from AirCanada.com about the new boarding process:

Have you flown Air Canada this week and experienced the new boarding by zone process? What are you thoughts about it? Let our readers and us know by commenting below!

Dec 18 Update: IHG Rewards Club targeted buy points bonus, Hyatt's next promo launching Jan 15, Aeroplan Shangri-La bonus

A nice mix of news and bonuses for you today!

News, Tips & Tricks
IHG Rewards Club is running a bonus for buying points online, the bonus varies but can be as high as 100%. This is a targeted offer so if you didn't get the email you can see if your eligible by logging in via this link.  (Thanks to Rewards Canada reader Fred for letting us know about this offer)

If you look closely at the latest email from Hyatt Gold Passport you'll see that they are teasing members with their next systemwide promotion. Stay More Play More will launch on January 15 and we are guessing it will be similar to Endless Possibilities which ran last winter. Stayed tuned right here on Rewards Canada in January as we bring you the details of this new promotion!

Yesterday we let you know that Starwood Hotels will begin offering free high speed Internet access for stays that are booked via their booking channels. To celebrate the launch of this, the Canadian division of Starwood will have Breakfast Television Toronto broadcasting live from the Sheraton Centre Toronto lobby tomorrow (December 19)

And more as posted to the blog earlier:

• Double Golden Circle Points, 3rd Night Free and a Free Upgrade for stays at Shangri-La Hotels in Toronto or Vancouver
  Today we added three new offers to our Shangri-La Golden Circle Bonus Points page and two of those are actually…
• Marriott Rewards MegaBonus - Earn up to 55,000 Bonus Points for stays Feb 1 - Apr 30, 15
  Marriott is giving ample notice for the latest MegaBonus promotion. You have well over a month to plan out…

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to Quadruple Aeroplan Miles for stays at Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 15

IHG Rewards Club
- Triple IHG Rewards Club Points on qualifying rentals of 2 days or more, at participating Avis locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand. More... Until Jun 30, 15

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 5x TrueBlue Points on a rentals of 3 days or more at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More... Until Feb 28, 15

Marriott Rewards
- Marriott MegaBonus: Earn up to 55,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Register by Mar 31 for stays Feb 1 - Apr 30, 15

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays in a Horizon Club Room at the Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney. More... Until Mar 15, 15
- Double GC Award Points, third night free and an upgrade to the next room category for stays of 3 or more nights at the Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver. More... Dec 22 - Feb 28, 15
- Double GC Award Points, third night free and an upgrade to the next room category for stays of 3 or more nights at the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto. More... Dec 22 - Feb 28, 15

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Triple Dividend Miles on a rentals of 3 days or more at participating Budget airport locations in the in the U.S. and Canada (excluding Alaska). More... Until Jun 30, 15

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Elevate Pointsfor stays at the Virgin Hotel Chicago. More... Jan 15 - Mar 31, 15
- Earn up to 3,500 Bonus Elevate Points on Silvercar rentals. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Virgin Australia Velocity (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Quadruple Velocity Points for stays at Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 15

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Double Golden Circle Points, 3rd Night Free and a Free Upgrade for stays at Shangri-La Hotels in Toronto or Vancouver

Today we added three new offers to our Shangri-La Golden Circle Bonus Points page and two of those are actually for the two Shangri-La locations in Canada. If you are planning a short trip to Toronto or Vancouver over the next 2 or so months where you can stay for three nights then this is an offer you should check out. You'll get Double GC Award Points, your 3rd Night free and a free upgrade (subject to availability of course). The complimentary upgrade is to the next room category and is applicable up to a One Bedroom Deluxe Suite!

Offer details
Double GC Award Points, third night free and an upgrade to the next room category for stays of 3 or more nights at the Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver. Full Details Dec 22 - Feb 28, 15

Double GC Award Points, third night free and an upgrade to the next room category for stays of 3 or more nights at the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto. Full Details Dec 22 - Feb 28, 15

Of course if you are staying at one of these two hotels and can't make it for three nights or are but don't want this offer you can always jump on one of the airline offers of up to Quadruple Miles including Aeroplan. You can find all those airline offers here.

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus - Earn up to 55,000 Bonus Points for stays Feb 1 - Apr 30, 15

Marriott is giving ample notice for the latest MegaBonus promotion. You have well over a month to plan out your Marriott stays to get the bonuses that are assigned to you. Just like all other incarnations of this offer each Marriott Rewards member may get a different offer and for some it is well worth it to go after the bonus while for others it may not be. This MegaBonus appears to be essentially the same as this past Fall's version which is in fact running until Jan 15, 15.  I personally received the 2,500 bonus points starting with your second stay up to 25,000 bonus points.

Offer Details
Marriott MegaBonus: Earn up to 55,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. Full Details, Online Registration and Booking ( Registration is required) Register by Mar 31 for stays Feb 1 - Apr 30, 15

Some of the Offer Variations (Source: FlyerTalk):

• Earn 3,000 points on every paid stay that includes a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday — up to 24,000 bonus points (maxes out after 9 stays over weekend day)
• Earn 3,000 points on every paid stay, starting with your second stay, up to 24,000 bonus points (maxes out after 9 stays)
• Earn 2,500 points on every paid stay, starting with your second stay, up to 25,000 bonus points (maxes out after 11 stays)
• Earn 2,000 points on every paid stay, starting with your second stay, up to 24,000 bonus points (maxes out after 13 stays)
• Earn 10,000 points after 10 paid nights plus 2,000 points with every additional night, up to 24,000 bonus points (maxes out after 17 nights)
• Earn 25,000 points after 20 paid nights plus 2,000 points after every additional night, up to 35,000 bonus points (maxes out after 25 nights)
• Earn 15,000 points after 15 paid nights plus 2,000 points with every additional night, up to 35,000 bonus points (maxes out after 25 nights)
• Earn 25,000 points after 15 paid nights plus 2,000 points after every additional night, up to 45,000 bonus points (maxes out after 25 nights)
• Earn 35,000 points after 20 paid nights plus 2,000 points after every additional night, up to 55,000 bonus points (maxes out after 30 nights)

Dec 17 Update: Starwood to offer free Internet when booking online and Aerogal becomes Aeroplan's latest airline partner

Middle of the week loyalty round up for you!

News, Tips & Tricks
Starwood Preferred Guest is following in Marriott Rewards footsteps and will begin to offer free Internet to all guests who are SPG members and book via spg.com, the SPG app or any of the nine Starwood Hotel brand websites. This new benefit will start on February 2, 2015. Find out more here.

Aeroplan announced today that you can now donate miles on someone's behalf via their Beyond Miles charity options. Here is a quick snippet from their press release:

Just in time for the holiday season, Aeroplan announced a new initiative to the Beyond Miles donation program. Aeroplan Members can now donate Aeroplan Miles on behalf of a friend or loved one and that special someone will get an e-card in return.

Aerogal, which is part of South America's Avianca has joined the Star Alliance which means the airline is now an Aeroplan partner which means you can now earn and burn Aeroplan miles for Aerogal flight. (Source Aeroplan)


Travel Deals
Air Canada offering 20% off when you book tango fares for flights within Canada, to select U.S., select sun destinations and to select international destinations. Book with the promotion code 2015SAVINGS by December 30, 2014 for travel January 7 to June 15 (with some black out dates inbetween). Find out more here.

Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Double Bonus Miles for stays at all Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts worldwide. More... Jan 1 - 31, 15

Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple FlyerBonus Points when you fly with Bangkok Airways on your birthday or 5 bonus points if you fly with Bangkok Airways during the month of your birthday. More... Jan 1 - Dec 31, 15
- Double FlyerBonus Points when you book the juicy credits package at dusitD2 Phuket Resort. More... Until Feb 28, 15

Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double GarudaMiles on flights between Jakarta and Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Osaka or Seoul. More... Jan 6 - Apr 30, 15
- Double GarudaMiles on flights between Batam and Bandung or Surabaya More... Until Jan 31, 15

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S. More... Until Jan 8, 15

Orbitz Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Orbucks when you book any Qatar Airways flight via Orbitz.More... Book by Jan 15, 15

United MileagePlus
- Double MileagePlus Miles when you book the Linger Longer rate at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple MileagePlus Miles for stays at Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 15

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Limited Time: Earn 1,000 Bonus Points or Miles on your first PointsHound booking (Book by Dec 31)

Here is a nice Christmas present from the crew at PointsHound! They are offering 1,000 bonus points or miles on your first booking made by December 31st, 2014 for stays right through to the end of 2015.  This offer is for anyone who hasn't signed up with PointsHound yet and is a 'referral bonus' which means you'll get 1,000 bonus miles/points in the PointsHound program of your choice and we'll also receive 1,000 miles/points.

If you haven't joined PointsHound yet you can do so via our referral link to get this bonus on your first booking

* - The normal bonus is 250 miles for referrals via most referrers save for a few other bloggers who have also been extended this increased referral bonus offer from PointsHound.  To get the 1,000 Bonus Miles/Points simply make your first booking before the end of the year after you signed up via our referral link.

You can earn miles and points in the following programs:

Top 5 tips for maximizing miles on your holiday shopping

(This feature is a duplicate from the main the Rewards Canada site)

With only a week left to the big day for gift giving the push is on to finish your Christmas shopping for friends, family and maybe even yourself! Whether it is shopping for gifts or for food and drink to entertain there are many ways to maximize the miles and points you earn holiday shopping. Ultimately you can make those reward dreams come closer by following one or more of our tips.

1. Use your mileage/point earning credit card & your loyalty cards to Double or Triple Dip

Double dipping is the term coined for earning miles twice in one purchase or transaction. This basically involves your mileage earning credit card being used for a purchase where you also earn miles in the same program as the credit card. Buying luggage as a gift at Bentley? Using your TD Aeroplan Visa or American Express and then swiping your Aeroplan card ensures you are double dipping.

Triple dipping involves the above but then adding in any bonuses available. Look for email, coupons or other promotions offering even more miles. With the above example, Aeroplan members can earn triple miles on all Bentley purchases of $75 or more until December 24th. So the first dip is the base miles earned on the purchase, the second is the miles earned on your credit card and the third is the bonus miles from the promotion.

Double and Triple dipping does not have to involve the same program. You can always use a credit card that earns in one program while collecting the actual miles from another program for your flights, hotels, shopping or anything else you can earn miles on.

2. Giving gift cards? Buy gift cards at credit card multiplier locations

Are you a gift card giver at Christmas or you don’t know what presents to give this year so you’ve settled on a gift card? If you can, and it depends on the retailer, don’t buy the gift card straight from them as on most credit cards you will only earn your base miles or points. Buy them at a place where you can take advantage of your category multiplier bonus. For example if I wanted to give my dad a Future Shop gift card I would only earn 1 Membership Rewards points on my American Express Gold Rewards Card if I bought the card at Future Shop but if I bought it at a Drug Store or Grocery I would earn 2 Membership Rewards points.


Here are examples some the credit cards and their category bonuses that you could use this for this tip (per dollar spent):
American Express Gold Rewards Card: 2x Points at Grocery and Drug Stores, also at Gas Stations
American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card: 1 Mile/$10 at eligible gas, grocery and drugstores
CIBC Aerogold Visas: 1.5 Miles at grocery stores, gas stations or drug stores
CIBC Aventura Visas: 1.5 Points/$ at grocery stores, gas stations or drug store
Scotiabank American Express Platinum/Gold: 4 Points on gas stations and grocery stores
Scotiabank American Express: 2 Points/$ on gas stations and grocery stores
Sears Voyage MasterCard: 1.5 Sears Club Points on gas, groceries
TD Aeroplan Visas: 1.5 Miles at grocery stores, gas stations or drug stores
To learn more about these cards visit our Travel Rewards Credit Card Comparison page

3. Buying gifts at retailers without credit card multipliers? Use the gift card trick to earn more miles!

This one is similar to above but involves a little more time and effort. This tip is for those of you who know what gifts you are buying for your kids, family, relatives and friends. The reason why it will take more time is that it requires multiple stops and purchases but if you have the time and want the extra miles then go for it! A good example of this is that you know that your child wants a new Playstation 4 for Christmas. You could go buy it directly from Future Shop and earn your base miles on your credit card but by going to a grocery store, drug store or even a gas station that sells gift cards you go buy yourself the Future Shop gift cards, earn the 1.5 or 2x or more miles/points on the purchase and then use the gift cards when you get to Future Shop. There is only one downside to this method other than the extra time required and that is you will not be able to take advantage of the purchase protection, price protection or extended warranty offered by many of the reward credit cards. (Maybe it would be better if I used Old Navy as an example instead of Future Shop since you don’t really require any of those benefits on Old Navy purchases?)

4. Use bonus offers to your advantage when buying groceries for the holiday season

This one ties into the Double or Triple Dip outlined in the first tip. Always check your emails for bonus coupons or offers or even when you first enter a store. Doing your grocery shopping and expecting to buy lots of food since your hosting Christmas and have a dozen people coming over? Always look at the flyer stand when you first enter Safeway, Sobeys or whatever grocery store as long as they are part of a loyalty program. We have found that Sobeys tends to be hit and miss at letting people know about bonus Air Miles offers via email so I always check the flyer stand to see if there is a bonus coupon and more times then not there is. Safeway is better at letting people know by email and sometimes it is only via email that the best offers come. For example, the 2013 Christmas season had the biggest bonus we had ever seen for shopping at Safeway, 500 Bonus Air Miles for a $200 spend. Here's crossing our fingers that offer returns this year!

5. Always remember to swipe your Loyalty Card and/or use your miles/points earning credit card

Remember to always collect your points and miles when you shop. Did you know you can earn Cineplex SCENE points at Sport Chek? Air Miles at Michaels? Always think ahead and bring your loyalty card to swipe/scan when you shop. Don't want to carry around that much plastic? Most programs now have smart phone apps that also double as your loyalty card. This is a good way to always have your card on hand, especially for forgetful people.

Whenever you can, use your miles/points earning credit card to pay for your purchases. As long as you are financially responsible there is no reason you should be using cash or debit for your purchases. It should always be on a rewards credit card so that you earn your coveted miles and points. It's doesn't matter if it is $1.00 or $1,000, put it on your credit card. Not financially responsible? As in you only pay the minimum required amount each month on your card, then don't use your card. The interest you pay is not worth the extra miles or points.

By following some or all of these steps you will be making sure that you are maximizing the miles and points you earn this holiday shopping season! The mileage or point balances in your accounts will escalate and then those reward flights, nights or merchandise will come to you sooner!

Care to comment on the Top 5 tips for maximizing miles for holiday shopping? Want to voice your opinion on the Top 5 tips for maximizing miles for holiday shopping? Share you views and experiences by commenting below or on Facebook and Twitter!

Dec 16 Update: IHG Hotels acquires Kimpton Hotels, Use Air Miles Cash at The Gap, 7 new bonuses

Tuesday brings us the following news and bonuses:

News, Tips & Tricks
InterContinental Hotels Group has agreed to acquire the Kimpton Hotels brand of boutique hotels. There are few details yet outside of the actual acquisition but one could assume that the Kimpton brand will become an IHG Rewards Club earn and burn option (well hopefully) but there may also be fears that the uniqueness of Kimpton and the services it provides may be diluted. Only time will tell. Find out more about the acquisition here. (Source: TravelBloggerBuzz)

You can now use Air Miles Cash at The Gap. The new addition to the Air Miles Cash portfolio see the same exchange rate of 95 Air Miles for $10 and can be used in store or online as you exchange those Air Miles Cash miles for a eGiftCard. Find out more here.

Bonus Offers
British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios for stays at participating Langham Hotels in China. More... Until Feb 23, 15

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to Triple Asia Miles Miles when you stay at any participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 15
- Triple Asia Miles Miles when you stay at any participating Worldhotels property for two nights or more on the “Asia Miles Exclusive Rate.” More... Until Mar 31, 15

Gol Smiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Smiles Miles for stays at participating Golden Tulip Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 15

Jumeirah Sirius
- Double Sirius Points for stays at the Jumeirah Frankfurt. More... Until Jan 11, 15

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for stays at the Sheraton Needham Hotel, the Westin Boston Hotel or the W Boston. More... Dec 19 - Jan 4, 15

The Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club
- Double Stay Credit when you join Leaders Club and make a new booking of at least four nights at The Leading Hotels of the World locations Worldwide More... Book by Dec 31 for stays until Jan 31, 15

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