Jan 5 Update: TAM Airlines new YYZ-JFK flight an Avios gem, Aeroplan accumulation change for EVA Air, lots of new bonuses for 2015

We're back with our daily updates of news, bonus offers and more! We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year break. 2015 is shaping up to be an very exciting year but to find out why you'll just have to stay tuned for the news as it gets released on our blog, website, newsletter and social media feeds.

News, Tips & Tricks
ANA All Nippon is moving in the other direction than most airlines. As of January 8th they will be allowing two free checked bags for International flights in Economy Class which of course includes their Vancouver flights! (Source ANA)

Sometime ago we let you know that TAM Airlines will be launching service to Toronto from Sao Paulo via New York. What we didn't know at the time is that TAM will have 5th freedom rights on the route which means you can fly with them between Toronto and New York with no need to go all the way to Brazil and as Gary from the View from the Wing points out, TAM is part of oneworld which means you can redeem British Airways Avios for this route at only 4,500 Avios one way in Economy or 9,000 Avios in Business class! This flight will launch on March 28 and operate 5x weekly. You can find the schedule below from Airlineroute.net. To find out more about these type of Avios redemptions visit our post on How to get select Canada to U.S. award flights faster by utilizing British Airways' Executive Club
Flight schedule:
JJ8102 GRU2140 – 0700+1JFK1115+1 – 1300+1YYZ 763 x13
JJ8103 YYZ1635 – 1830JFK2150 – 0910+1GRU 763 x24

Aeroplan is changing the mileage accumulation rates for flights on EVA Air as of Apr 1, 2015. If your ticket books into discount Economy class 'S' you will only earn 50% of the mileage which is down from the current 80%. Source Aeroplan.

And finally a list of posts since our last daily update:

• Club Carlson: Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Gold Points on multiple night stays Worldwide
  Carlson Rezidor Hotels Club Carlson is next in line with releasing their first systemwide promotion of 2015. Similar to…
• SPG Double Play - Earn Double Starpoints + up to 5,000 Bonus Starpoints on eligible stays Worldwide
  Starwood Preferred Guest next major promotion SPG Double Play is now out and available for registration. It isn't a…
• 3,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your 1st Rocketmiles booking extended to June 30, 15
  This offer which we brought you way back in September has been extended! Of course, due diligence is required…
• Air France KLM Flying Blue - Save 50% on Business Class award tickets between Montreal/Toronto & Europe for Mar/Apr Travel
  For the third month in a row we are lucky to see Canada included in Air France KLM's Promo Awards…
• Earn 8x Aeroplan Miles for Best Western stays in Canada, the U.S. and Caribbean
  We see the return of the 8x Aeroplan Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels in the New Year. …
• OFFER EXPIRED Huge Air Miles Bonuses for Gift Card Purchases at Safeway - 1.4 Reward Miles per $1 spent (until Jan 1, 15)
  Safeway has come out with new Air Miles bonuses on buying gift cards just like the offer back in…
• Choice Hotels: Earn Triple Privilege Points on mid-week stays Worldwide
  Choice Hotels has released the details of their Winter promotion which launches today. The offer is for Triple Points…

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 8x Aeroplan Miles for each qualified stay at any Best Western® branded hotel in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands. More... Jan 1 - Apr 30, 15
- OFFER EXTENDED 3,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Jun 30, 15

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Save up to 50% with Promo Awards Save 25% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. More... Book by Jan 31 for travel between Mar 1 - Apr 30, 15

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles when you book hotel stays via Agoda. More... Book by Feb 13 for stays until Jun 30, 15
- Triple Asia Miles when you stay at Home Hotel in Taipei. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Earn up to Triple Asia Miles on Hertz car rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 30 for rentals until Mar 31, 15

Choice Hotels Privileges
- Earn Triple Privileges Points for every qualifying stay that includes a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. More... For residents of the U.S. and Canada only Until Feb 18, 15
- 500 Bonus Privileges Points on qualifying rentals of 2 days or more. at participating locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- 750 Bonus Privileges Points on rentals of 2 or more consecutive days at participating locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. t. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Triple Asia Miles when you Purchase TWD1,000 or more of regular-priced items at any Jiu Zhen Nan outlet or online. More... Until Feb 28, 15

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Triple Guest Miles when you fly Etihad Worldwide. Earn triple Etihad Guest Miles in First Class or double Etihad Guest Miles in Business Class. More... Restrictions: Travel to Australia from Germany, UK, France, Italy and Ireland are not included in the promotion. Register and book by Jan 31 for travel until Mar 31, 15

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple TrueBlue Points on all JetBlue flights systemwide when you rent with Avis or Budget. More... Book by Jan 30 for travel until Feb 28, 15

Marriott Rewards
- Marriott MegaMiles: Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Airline Miles for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Register by Mar 31 for stays Feb 1 - Apr 30, 15

Miles & More
- Earn up to Quadruple Miles & More Miles on all stays at participating Hilton Hotels Worlwide. Earn double miles for your second stay, triple miles with your third stay and quadruple miles with the 4th stay and every stay after that within the offer period. More... Jan 1 - Mar 31, 15

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn 100% bonus Qmiles in Premium Class and 50% bonus Qmiles if you travel in Economy Class when you book and travel on Qatar Airways A380 service between Doha and Bangkok, London or Paris. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Triple QMiles on Hertz car rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Mar 31, 15
- Triple QMiles on Sixt car rentals of 5 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 15

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- OFFER EXTENDED Triple Flying Club Miles when you stay at any Radisson Edwardian Hotel in the U.K. More... Until Feb 28, 15


Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Club Carlson: Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Gold Points on multiple night stays Worldwide

Carlson Rezidor Hotels Club Carlson is next in line with releasing their first systemwide promotion of 2015. Similar to SPG's offer that was just released, this offer requires multiple night stays to earn the bonus but there is no limit to the number of bonus points you can earn!

Offer details:
Earn up to 30,000 bonus Gold Points when you complete  an eligible Stay at participating Quorvus CollectionSM, Radisson Blu®, Radisson®, Park Plaza®, Park Inn® by Radisson and Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM hotels worldwide. Earn 30,000 bonus Gold Points for each stay of three or more nights, or 15,000 bonus Gold Points for each two-night stay. Register Online (Registration is required) then book online at Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inns & Suites, Radisson Blu or Park Inn. Jan 12 - Mar 29, 15

SPG Double Play - Earn Double Starpoints + up to 5,000 Bonus Starpoints on eligible stays Worldwide

Starwood Preferred Guest next major promotion SPG Double Play is now out and available for registration. It isn't a truly systemwide promotion as we see from other chains as there are hotels that are not participating including 5 in Canada (see that list here) but overall there are over 1,000 Starwood locations Worldwide so it is pretty darn close. The offer also isn't as lucrative as some of the other chains as it requires multiple nights to earn any bonuses but with that said if you are loyal to Starwood and/or know that you will have at least stays of 2 or more nights during the promotional period you should definitely register for this offer.

Offer Details
Earn Double Starpoints + up to 5,000 Bonus Starpoints on eligible stays  at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. Receive Double Starpoints for stays of two or more consecutive nights. Receive a 1,000-Starpoints bonus for every eligible five nights between January 5, 2015, and April 15, 2015. The five nights do not need to be consecutive. The bonus may be earned up to four times. Stays of any length may count toward the five nights required to earn the bonus. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Register by Mar 31 for stays until Apr 15, 15

Here are the 5 Canadian properties that are NOT participating

• Four Points by Sheraton Québec Resort
• Sheraton on the Falls Hotel
• The Westin Edmonton
• The Westin Prince, Toronto
• W Montréal

3,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your 1st Rocketmiles booking extended to June 30, 15

This offer which we brought you way back in September has been extended! Of course, due diligence is required to compare rates via other booking sites versus Rocketmiles and also you need to take into consideration that most rates booked via Rocketmiles will not earn hotel loyalty program points or qualify to elite status requirements for those hotel programs. However for those stays that you need to make at hotels that are either not part of your primary frequent guest program or at ones that do not have a loyalty program, booking via Rocketmiles.com can make great sense.

Offer Details
3,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking booked via the special promotion page at www.rocketmiles.com/aeroplan-3k-bonus. The bonus can only be earned once per member.  Book by Jun 30, 15

As we mentioned back in April, Rocketmiles stays do count towards Distinction status!

Terms & Conditions
Qualifying Activity: To be eligible, the hotel reservation MUST BE BOOKED USING THIS PROMOTIONAL LINK (www.rocketmiles.com/aeroplan-3k-bonus) by 11:59PM CT on 30 June 2015 (a yellow banner at the top of the search results page will clearly show if search criteria qualify for the bonus). Limited to first time customers and subject to investigation post-purchase. Limit one per customer. Limit one per stay. Promotional offer can not be applied to existing bookings or retroactively applied to bookings not made using the link above. Promotional offer can not be combined with any other bonuses or offers. Rocketmiles reserves the right to retract a bonus at any time if it detects fraud, stacking of bonuses, technical errors, cancel/rebooking activity (defined by identical search criteria), or any deceptive behavior attempted to circumvent the limits expressed above, including multiple accounts. Rocketmiles reserves the right to change the terms of a promotion, or end a promotion, at any time. Rewards that can not be posted due to incorrect or incomplete information may become ineligible after 12 months of attempts with no customer response. See www.rocketmiles.com/terms for full terms, or call our friendly concierges at 1-855-355-7625 (U.S.) / +1-773-257-7680 (International) with questions of eligibility or for any other assistance. Please allow 2 weeks from checkout for miles to post. ®Aeroplan is a registered trademark of Aimia Canada Inc.

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

Air France KLM Flying Blue - Save 50% on Business Class award tickets between Montreal/Toronto & Europe for Mar/Apr Travel

For the third month in a row we are lucky to see Canada included in Air France KLM's Promo Awards and this time we have two cities included! These award ticket deals are bookable as we speak and are good for award travel for March and April of 2015.  The offer this time is for 50% off Business Class between  Montreal or Toronto and Europe on Air France or KLM. This is the type of offer everyone waits for. You can't complain by flying to Europe in style for only 62,500 miles round trip! 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 Air France, KLM, Air Europa and Kenya Airways award tickets in select cabins.  To take advantage of this deal you must book your promo award ticket by January 31st for travel between March 1st and April 30th, 2015. More details can be found here.

Earn 8x Aeroplan Miles for Best Western stays in Canada, the U.S. and Caribbean

We see the return of the 8x Aeroplan Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels in the New Year.  Last seen in the summer of 2014 this offer is one of the best airline mileage earning offers for BW stays.  Offers like these are always useful if Best Western is not you main choice for hotels and hence don't have a use in collecting Best Western Rewards points!

Offer Details:
8x Aeroplan Miles for each qualified stay at any Best Western® branded hotel in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands. Full details, Online Registration and Booking (Registration is required) Jan 1 - Apr 30, 15

Can't make use of this offer? Be sure to visit our Aeroplan Bonus Miles page for many more offers!

Huge Air Miles Bonuses for Gift Card Purchases at Safeway - 1.4 Reward Miles per $1 spent (until Jan 1, 15)

Safeway has come out with new Air Miles bonuses on buying gift cards just like the offer back in November but even better! That previous offer awarded 1.1 Air Miles per dollar spent on gift cards (55 Air Miles for each $50 card purchased) while this offer bumps that up to 1.4 Air Miles per dollar spent since you'll get 70 Air Miles for each $50 card purchased by January 1st. You have to print out the coupons and you can find them here.

The merchant gift cards included are Spafinder, Bass Pro Shops, Roots, the Keg, La Vie En Rose, La Senza, Sport Chek, Garage, Cactus Club Cafe, Marks and Canadian Tire.

I bought 6 cards during the last go round for 330 bonus Air Miles plus 600 Membership Rewards points which equates to 600 Aeroplan Miles or British Airways Avios as I purchased them on my American Express Gold Rewards card which awards 2 points per dollar spent at grocery stores. Other credit cards you can look at using to really bump your miles/points earning on these types of purchases include (earning is per dollar spent):
American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card: 1 Mile/$10
CIBC Aerogold Visas: 1.5 Miles
CIBC Aventura Visas: 1.5 Points
Scotiabank American Express Platinum/Gold: 4 Points
Scotiabank American Express: 2 Points
Sears Voyage MasterCard:1.5 Sears Club Points
TD Aeroplan Visas: 1.5 Miles
To learn more about these cards visit our Travel Rewards Credit Card Comparison page

This time I will be more than likely grabbing another 6 or so which should mean another 420 Air Miles and 600 more Membership Rewards points!

Choice Hotels: Earn Triple Privilege Points on mid-week stays Worldwide

Choice Hotels has released the details of their Winter promotion which launches today. The offer is for Triple Points on Mid Week stays which means your stay has to include a Sunday to Thursday night to earn the bonus points. This does not fully exclude Friday or Saturday as if you are completing a multiple night stay that is Thursday and Friday or Saturday and Sunday you'll get the bonus points. Like many of Choice Hotels promotions this one is limited to members residing in the U.S. and Canada only.

Offer Details
Earn Triple Privileges Points for every qualifying stay that includes a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. Stay must be booked via ChoiceHotels.com, the Choice Hotels mobile app, or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates. Maximum of 30,000 bonus points awarded. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)
Dec 29 - Feb 18, 15

Dec 24 Update: Montreal - Vienna for $696 all in on KLM, 1,000 Bonus Points at Courtyard Ottawa Downtown & Merry Christmas!

This will be our last Daily Update for 2014 as we take some time off until the New Year.  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays and more!  As always any breaking news or amazing bonuses will be posted right here on the RC blog, Facebook and Twitter during this period.

News, Tips & Tricks
No news!


Travel Deals
KLM's Wild on Wednesday offers great fares on the ocassional Wednesday (last one was a few weeks ago from Calgary) and this week it is great fares to Vienna from Montreal. You can fly to this beautiful Austrian city for only $696 all in!! Book by December 25th. Travel before May 6th, 2015. Find out more here.

Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- Earn up to Triple Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays at participating Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City Worldwide.More...  Until Feb 28, 15
- Earn up to Triple Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you stay on the Best Available or Bed&Breakfast rate at any participating Mandarin Oriental hotel Worldwide. More...  Jan 1 - Mar 31, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays at Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More...  Until Feb 28, 15

airBaltic PINS (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double PINS for stays of 2 or more nights at paticipating World Hotels locations Worldwide that are booked at least 20 days in advance. More...  Until Feb 28, 15

airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus miles for stays at select Intercity Hotels in Germany and Austria. More...  Until Feb 28, 15

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards points for stays at the BEST WESTERN Zaan Inn. More...  Jan 1 - Mar 31, 15

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay when staying Sunday - Thursday nights at the Residence Inn Chicago Wilmette. More...  Jan 1 - Mar 13, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay including any night Thursday - Sunday at the Courtyard Ottawa Downtown. More...  Until Mar 8, 15
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at the Hamburg Marriott Hotel or Renaissance Hamburg Hotel. More...  Until Mar 8, 15
- 3,500 Bonus Rewards Points per stay including any night Friday-Sunday at the Berlin Marriott Hotel or the Courtyard by Marriott Berlin City Center. More...  Until Mar 8, 15
- 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at the JW Marriott Chicago and Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile. More...  Until Mar 6, 15

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Double Elite Qualifying Nights, Gold Status or up to 7,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays at Starwood Hotels Worldwide with the SPG Member Select Exclusive offers.  More...  Targeted offer - May not work for everyone Until Mar 1, 15

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Elevate Points between New York and Ft. Lauderdale, Boston and Las Vegas or New York and Palm Springs. More... Until Feb 28, 15

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Emirates special sale fares from Western Canada - Fly to Asia via Seattle for as little as $1101

Emirates has launched a seat sale for travel out of Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver utilizing their partnership with Alaska Airlines. You can fly on Alaska Airlines to Seattle out of these three Western cities to connect to Emirates' Seattle to Dubai flight and connect beyond Dubai to many of their destinations. The offer is available for booking until January 16, 2015 for travel between January 1 and November 30, 2015. You can find out more and/or book this offer here.