Mar 3 Update: Double Flying Blue Miles on KLM's new Edmonton-Amsterdam route and Hilton to offer free Wi-Fi to all HHonors members

Here is our first update for March!

News, Tips & Tricks
Air France and KLM are sure pushing their Western Canadian flights! First they offered up Double Flying Blue Miles on Air France's new YVR-CDG flight and now you can earn Double Flying Blue Miles on KLM's new Edmonton-Amsterdam flight! This is a great bonus to take advantage of in the first month of operation if you can't make use of their current Promo Awards offering 50% off Award Ticktes in Business Class. Find out more about the YEG-AMS double miles offer here.

Hilton Hotels are following in the footsteps of other hotel chains by offering free Wi-Fi to all guests who are HHonors members. Similar to the other chains new free Wi-Fi policy, you have to book via Hilton (online, by phone, or their corporate travel partners) to avail of the free internet service. This new feature will start sometime in August of this year according to Hilton's post on FlyerTalk:

• Our most loyal guests, Diamond members, will receive complimentary premium Wi-Fi beginning in the second quarter this year at all of our properties when they book directly through a proprietary Hilton channel or via one of our corporate travel partners.
• Starting in August, we will extend complimentary standard Wi-Fi access to Blue and Silver members when they book their stays directly through a proprietary Hilton channel or one of our corporate travel partners.
• Complimentary standard Wi-Fi will continue to be a benefit for HHonors Gold members who also book directly through our proprietary Hilton channels or one of our corporate travel partners.
• Booking directly through a proprietary Hilton channel one of our corporate travel partners:
  • The Hilton HHonors mobile app
  • Online from hilton.com, HHonors.com, or any of our brand/hotel websites
  • Calling Hilton Reservations Customer Care: 1-800-HHonors or your local Hilton reservations office
  • Calling an individual hotel (plus walk-ins and physical on-property too)
  • Via corporate travel agencies and travel professionals that book via a Hilton proprietary channel
• This update doesn’t apply to hotels where there is a resort charge.

Here are our blog posts since the last update just in case you missed them:

• Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for March
  Here are the Rewards Canada's  Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of March!

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles when KLM between Edmonton and Amsterdam. More... May 15 - Jun 18, 15

American AAdvantage
- Quadruple AAdvantage Miles on rentals of 1 or more consecutive days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. More... Until Apr 30, 15
- Triple AAdvantage Miles on rentals at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. More... Until Apr 30, 15
- 1,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you rent any car from National for 2 or more days in the U.S. or Canada. More... Until Jun 30, 15

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 50% Bonus Asia Miles when you fly round-trip on Cathay Pacific between Doha and Hong Kong. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Triple Asia Miles when you fly round-trip on Cathay Pacific and Dragonair in select Economy classes from China to Southeast Asia. More... Valid for residents of Mainland China only Until Apr 30, 15
- Double Asia Miles when you fly round-trip on Cathay Pacific in Business or Premium Economy Class from Colombo to Hong Kong. More... Valid for residents of Sri Lanka only Until Mar 31, 15
- Double Miles when you shop at Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages in Europe and China. More... Until Apr 7, 15

China Southern Sky Pearl
- Earn up to Triple Sky Pearl Kilometers for stays at participating Hilton hotels Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 15

Hilton HHonors
- Double HHonors Points or Double Airline MIles for eligible stays at participating Hilton Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Mar 1 - May 31, 15

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Velocity Points on all Virgin Australia flights Worldwide. More... Register and book by Mar 9 for travel Apr 1 - Sep 30, 15



Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for March

Here are the Rewards Canada's  Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of March! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards that have very good acquisition offers. As always when choosing a card you should always take other factors into account other than the sign up bonus, but when most of these cards are first year free, they can and do pay off even when not taking into account insurance packages and other non-reward benefits. In fact 4 of 5 cards on this list for March are first year free so you can try them out at no cost and decide later on if the card is right for you. All the while earning the sign up bonus which can be used to subsidize your travels! The only card that isn't first year free is the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. It has an annual of $120 but the new sign up bonus of 20,000 Starpoints is worth no less than $400 depending on what you value Starpoints at.  This will be your last month to get the SPG card with the 20,000 point offer after which it will drop to 10,000 as of April 1. Apparently SPG and Amex have changed their mind about this!


The only change in this list from February was the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa being added after the first year free and 20,000 point offer for the Scotiabank Gold American Express was changed.

So here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for March (in alphabetical order)

American Express Gold Rewards Card - 25,000 Points (Apply here)
A mainstay offer here on Rewards Canada, the American Express Gold Rewards card has its first year fee of $150 waived and will award you 25,000 Membership Rewards points when you complete $500 in spending in the first three months. That 25,000 points is worth a $250 travel credit via Amex's TripFlex feature or can be converted to 25,000 Aeroplan Miles (1 Round trip Economy Award ticket within North America) or 25,000 British Airways Executive Club Avios (as much a 5 one way Economy Award tickets in North America, see this post for details.)

BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard - 30,000 Points (Apply here)
Quite possibly the best Travel Points card now available in the market, the BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard also has a $150 annual fee but that is waived in the first year too! The sign up bonus is 30,000 BMO Rewards Points which is worth $300 toward travel booked via BMO Rewards.  There is no minimum spend so as soon as you are approved you should have access to that travel credit!

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa - 30,000 Points  (Apply here)
The best no foreign transaction fee card in Canada makes it to this list due to a very strong acquisition offer. I mean who can complain with 30,000 points awarded on approval and a certificate for a free night stay at a Category 1-4 hotel for a potential of 5 free nights, all at no cost as the card has the annual fee waived in the first year! They also give you  a 15 night credit into the mix which automatically provides you with Marriott Rewards Silver Elite status.

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express - 20,000 Starpoints (Apply here)
Recently the sign up bonus for this card was increased from 10,000 Starpoints to 20,000 Starpoints and this is the only card in this list that doesn't have the first year fee waived. That doesn't matter. This is by far the best hotel points card in Canada and Starpoints have huge value. The 20,000 Starpoint bonus when you spend $500 on the card is worth at least $400 when redeeming them for Starwood Hotel stays or you can convert them to airline miles in over 30+ programs and Starwood will kick in an additional 5,000 miles when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints at a time.

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - 25,000 Miles (Apply here)
Also seeing an increased sign up bonus and the first year fee waived, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card had a tough start trying to break into a market saturated with so many cards and competing against its CIBC equivalent. The card now seems to be gaining some traction and with offers like the current 25,000 Aeroplan Miles sign up bonus (15,000 upon approval, 10,000 when you spend $1,000) and the first years $120  fee waived, I'm sure you can see you why.

Other than the Starwood card, you ultimately could end up with at least $1,000 in travel credits and hotel free nights with these cards but even if you only take on one or two you are helping your travel budget significantly at no cost other than regular credit card spend.

Feb 26 Update: New Marriott Rewards points expiration policy, KLM extends Business Class sale, 15 bonuses left in our exclusive promo on FFB!

Here is our final update of the week and for February!

News, Tips & Tricks
More bad news from Marriott Rewards. They have now announced that they will enforce their point expiry policy. All points will now be forfitted if you don't have at least qualifying activity action within a 24 month period. What qualifies? Paid stays, Award stays, Marriott Credit Card purchases, earning with program parnters, purchasing points or holding a meeting or event that qualifies. What doesn't qualify are gifting or transferring points, receiving points as a gift or transfer, earning points through social media actions. This change kicks in on February 1st, 2016 so you have nearly a year to save your points if you haven't had a qualifying action since January 31, 2014. Is this huge? Not really, most hotel programs do have some sort of account inactivity period as do most airlines but still for those of you who don't use Marriott Rewards very often your points may disappear if you don't do anything about it. You can find all the details here.


Don't forget about our Exclusive Offer with Kaligo offer: 2,000 Bonus AAdvantage/MileagePlus Miles or 3,000 Bonus Avios! Only 15 bonuses were left as of last evening!

Here are our blog posts since the last update just in case you missed them. Of course the 50% off biz class between Edmonton and Europe is amazing!

• Air France KLM Flying Blue - Save up to 50% on Business Class award tickets between Edmonton/Montreal/Toronto & Europe for May/Jun Travel
  Another good month awaits us in March with Air France KLM's Promo Awards!  These award ticket deals are bookable as…
• American Express AeroplanPlus Reserve Card Review
  (This post is a duplicate of the one found on our main Rewards Canada site) For well over a year…

Travel Deals
KLM has extended their great World Businesss Class sale to March 2nd! You can fly to Europe and beyond from only $2899 all in from the East or $3299 from the West! Find all the details here. 

Bonus Offers
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 Mar 1 - 31 for travel between Mar 1 - Jun 30, 15

American AAdvantage
- Minimum 5,000 AAdvantage Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Apr 15, 15

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles for stays at the Art Rotana – Amwaj Islands in Bahrain. More... Until Jul 10, 15

Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 50% Bonus GarudaMiles on flights between Kupang and Denpasar, Jakarata or Surabaya. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Double GarudaMiles on flights in Business Class between Semarang and Denpasar, Jakarata or Surabaya. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Double GarudaMiles on flights between Medan and Meulaboh, Lhoksemauwe or Sabang. More... Until Mar 31, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at anyone of 6 participating Accor hotels in Hong Kong. More... Mar 1 - 31, 15

Petro-Points
- 3x Petro Points on all rentals with Discount Car and Truck Rental. More... Mar 10 - May 11, 15

Sears Club
- Earn up to 3x Bonus Sears Club Points when you book a Walt Disney World Hotel or Vacation package. More... Book by Mar 15 for travel Mar 29 - Jun 15, 15

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Minimum 5,000 Dividend Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Apr 15, 15
- Save up to 30% when you share Dividend miles online. More... Until Mar 25, 15

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles for stays of two or more nights at Preferred Hotel Group Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15




Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Air France KLM Flying Blue - Save up to 50% on Business Class award tickets between Edmonton/Montreal/Toronto & Europe for May/Jun Travel

Another good month awaits us in March with Air France KLM's Promo Awards!  These award ticket deals are bookable as of Sunday and are good for award travel for May and June of 2015 (Edmonton flight doesn't start until May 8th).  The offer once again has 50% off Business Class on KLM's new route out of Edmonton to anywhere in Europe! This is a great deal for those in Alberta and you can't complain by flying to Europe in style for only 62,500 miles round trip! The other offer is 25% off World Business Class for KLM between Toronto or Vancouver and Europe. While not great, taking 25% off if you are a Flying Blue member it is a good deal if you were planning on redeeming at full price! Don't have the miles? We have two options for you to get more miles. You could always consider transferring Starpoints earned via the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to Flying Blue. The card has a 20,000 Starpoint bonus right now which translates to 25,000 Flying Blue miles, which gets you close to at least one way in biz class between Edmonton and Europe!

You can also top off your account by buying Flying Blue miles with their current up to 50% miles bonus: Earn up to 50% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy Flying Blue miles online. Full details Until Mar 15, 15

• 2,000 to 8,000 Award Miles – 20% Bonus
• 10,000 to 30,000 Award Miles – 30% Bonus
• 32,000 to 38,000 Award Miles – 40% Bonus
• 40,000+ Award Miles – 50% Bonus*

Promotion Conditions

• Ivory members can buy up to 75,000 Award Miles each year.
• Elite members can buy unlimited Award Miles.
• Award Miles are sold in units of 2,000 Miles.
• Promotion valid until 15 March 2015.

* For the promotional period, Elite members can receive a maximum bonus of 50,000 Award Miles on purchases of up to 100,000 Award Miles.
 
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 between Mar  1 and  31  for travel between May 1st and June 30 2015. More details can be found here.

Feb 26 Update: TD Aeroplan $100 credit back to being targeted, Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Changes, Answers to reader questions!

Lots of items to pass along to you today!

News, Tips & Tricks
More confusion the whole the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite $100 credit for Air Canada purchases. First it wasn't targeted, then it was, then it wasn't and now it is again. The latest has an update that it is once again for select customers only. They do now say to call to see if you are applicable to earn the bonus. We didn't want to get your hopes up too much after yesterday's latest update. Loyalty programs, credit cards companies etc. really need to get a promotional expert consulting to them before doing such promotions, hey wait a minute, that's what we do (The FFB Group) on the B2B side of our business ! Just a hint to all of the loyalty companies and credit card issuers reading this right now. Think about what paying us for a couple of hours will save you in customer service headaches and nightmares!! :-)

Marriott Rewards has announced their hotel category changes for 2015. The list of changes is huge, apparently over 25% of their hotels are moving up a category, that's a huge change. The PDF list of hotel changes is painful to read but from first glance it appears that 9 hotels in Canada are moving down a category while 10 are moving up. You can read the PDF list of changes here.

Reader question on a topic we have covered many times before!
What my wife and I are looking for is avoiding the 2.5% surcharge made on top of the exchange rate for transactions made in a foreign currency. Do you know of a card that will waive this fee?
"There are only a few cards that don't have the 2.5% fee charged and all are from Chase. Our favourite is the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa (https://www.marriottpremier.ca/?JOBNUM=VMR1207095) as it has very strong rewards and the lack of the foreign transaction fee! The other Chase options that don't have the fee are the Sears Voyage MasterCard (https://www.chase.com/online/canada/voyage-en.htm) or the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa (https://www.chase.com/online/canada/amazon-ca-home.htm)"

Another reader question:
Do you have a comparable subscription newsletter for the USA?  
"We sure do, our global website FrequentFlyerBonuses.com has a weekly newsletter which you can subscribe to at http://frequentflyerbonuses.com/mailinglist/?p=subscribe"

If you haven't joined Etihad Guest yet you can get 1,000 miles for doing so when you complete a mileage earning action before March 31st. One of those actions could simply be transferring American Express Membership Rewards Points to Etihad Guest (and they have 25% bonus on those transfers!) See details on the transfer bonus here and for the joining bonus see the link below in the bonus offers section.

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 1,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles for stays at participating Thalassa Hotels in France, Italy, Morocco and Bahrain. FMore... Book by Apr 6 for stays Mar 1 - Jul 10, 15
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for stays at the new Meliá Paris La Défense. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Jun 30, 15
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Mar 1 - May 31, 15
- 4,000 Flying Blue Miles on Avis rentals of 4 our more days in the US, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals Mar 15 - Sep 30, 15
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for Sixt Car Rentals in the U.S. More... Until Apr 30, 15
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy Flying Blue miles online. More... Until Mar 15, 15
- Double Flying Blue Miles when you shop at any of the nine Chic Outlet Shopping villages in Europe. More... Mar 9 - Apr 30, 15
- Double Flying Blue Miles when you book private ground transportation in any country where Driving Blue operates. More... Until May 10, 15

Etihad Airways Guest
- Double Guest Miles when you Economy Class or Business Class to any destination on the Etihad network. More... Register and book by Mar 3 for travel Mar 3 - Dec 12, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Guest Miles for joining the Etihad Guest program and completing your first mileage earning action. More... Until Mar 31, 15

IHG Rewards Club
-5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays on the “Canton Fair All-in-1” package for two consecutive nights or more at any participating IHG hotels in Guangzhou or Foshan More... Apr 14 - May 5, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points when you book the Time for Business rate at participating Pullman Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15


Sri Lankan FlySmiles
- Triple FlySmiles Miles on weekend stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts in South East Asia and India. More... Until Apr 30, 15

United MileagePlus
- Up to 10,000 Bonus MileagePlus miles when you book a United Vacations package to Hawaii. More... Book by Mar 5 for travel until Oct 31, 15

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 1,000 Bonus Elevate Points for 3+ night HOTEL STAYS in spring break destinations booked via PointsHound. More... Until Mar 31, 15






Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Feb 25 Update: $100 Statement Credit for TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Update, SPG and Uber partner up, IHG PointBreaks now live

News, Tips & Tricks 

You may recall that back in January we detailed a $100 statement credit on the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card that at first looked open to everyone but then were told it was targeted. Well now it appears that it is open to everyone! Be sure to read my post on this offer and that if you don't have the TD Aeroplan Infinite Card on how you can get it first year free with 25,000 Aeroplan Miles bonus and then get this $100 credit to boot! Thanks to Paul M for sending this us:

I contacted TD regarding the $100 statement credit offer if you spend 100 on an Air Canada flight.  They seem to indicate that it is not a targeted offer and is available to all primary card holders. See below.  The question and response is copied from the td aeroplan community website

 Question: I found this promotion on a search but it is unclear whether it is available to all TD Aeroplan Visa infinite Card holders or alternately that it is a targeted promotion to some cardholders only. Can you let me know whether all card holders are eligible for this benefit? Receive a $100 statement credit: From January 8, 2015, to April 30, 2015 Receive a $100 credit on your credit card statement when you use your TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card to make a minimum $100 Air Canada purchase.

SabrinaTD Moderator:  Great question, paulme. It might seem too good to be true, but it's true! When you make an Air Canada purchase of at least $100 on a single transaction with your TD Aeroplan Credit Card between January 8 and April 30, 2015, you'll be eligible to receive a $100 statement credit. You must be the primary cardholder on the account to be eligible for this offer. The credit will appear on your account statement within ten weeks after your purchase.

IHG PointBreaks are now live! There are only 2 hotels in Canada participating this time but there are about 150 other hotels Worldwide also included in this still amazing and best hotel award night redemption option. Read our post from yesterday for details.

Starwood Preferred Guest and Uber have teamed up. Simply link your accounts at spg.com/uber and when you complete at least one SPG qualifying Starwood stay you'll earn Starpoints for using Uber.

Here is our list of posts since the last update:

• Hilton HHonors: Double Points or Miles for stays at participating hotels Worldwide between March 1 - May 31
  We mentioned not too long ago that Hilton was changing their promotion strategy this year from 4 global systemwide…
• Air Miles accumulation changes at Shell for gas purchases and tips on how to get around the downgrade!
  Today we welcome Rewards Canada's newest contributor, Bill W! Bill is a true road warrior, his work has him driving…
• Scotiabank Gold American Express Card 20,000 Points + First Year Free to end on Feb 28th
  We just learned that a card featured in our top 5 sign up bonuses for February will be ending in…

Bonus Offers
airBaltic PINS (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 7,000 Bonus PINS when you subscribe to The Economist. More... Until Mar 31, 15

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points for stays at the Best Western Antea Hotel & Spa. More... Mar 1 - 31, 15

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles when you stay at the Burj Al Arab. More... Until May 31, 15

Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple GarudaMiles on weekend stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts in South East Asia and India. More... Until Apr 30, 15

IHG Rewards Club
- IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks - Redeem only 5,000 points for stays at select hotels Worldwide. Offer and participating hotels are subject to change at any time. More... Until May 31, 15
- 10,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays of 2 or more nights at participating hotels in New York City More... Until Apr 4, 15
- 1,500 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points on your next stay at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Stay must be made within 90 days of registering. More... Until ? Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for weekend stays at participating Accor Hotels in Italy. More... Book by Mar 8 for stays until May 3, 15
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 2 or more nights at any Mercure Hotels in in Poland.More... Apr 1 - May 31, 15
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Ibis hotels in Kaliningrad, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Samara and Yaroslav. More... Mar 15 - Apr 30, 15

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points on Sunday-Thursday nights when you stayt at any one of the four Gaylord Hotels in the U.S. More... Until Mar 31, 15

Orbitz Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Orbucks when you book a select standalone flight with Alitalia. More... Book by Mar 19, 15
- Quadruple Orbucks when you book a select standalone flight with South African Airways. More... Book by Mar 22, 15
- $50 Bonus Orbucks when you book an eligible vacation package of a 5 night stay or longer with an Iberostar accommodation as your hotel. More... Book by Mar 8, 15
- $75 Bonus Orbucks when you book a Disney hotel or resort as part of your flight/hotel or flight/car/hotel package. More... Book by Mar 2, 15

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays at any Stash Hotel Rewards Hotel after you complete a stay at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange New Jersey. More... Stay at Wilshire between Mar 1 and Apr 30, complete stay at any other Stash Hotel by Jun 1, 15

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 1,000 Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles for stays at the Elite World Business, Elite World Istanbul and Elite World Prestige, 500 Bonus Miles for their stays at Elite World Van Hotel. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Triple Miles&Smiles Miles for stays at the Rixos Krasnaya Polyana Sochi. More... Until ?






Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Hilton HHonors: Double Points or Miles for stays at participating hotels Worldwide between March 1 - May 31

We mentioned not too long ago that Hilton was changing their promotion strategy this year from 4 global systemwide bonuses to only 2 and then targeted offers for members. We are happy to announce that the first of those 2 global systemwide bonuses is now open for registration for stays starting on March 1st. The offer is simple, Double Points or Double Miles, your choice but once you make that choice during registration you can't switch during the promotional period. The list of hotels that have chosen not to participating is once again very U.S. heavy while outside of the U.S. there are only a few hotels that are not. 

In Canada these are the hotels that have chosen not to participate:
Hampton Inn & Suites Calgary Airport
Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Airport
Hampton Inn By Hilton Chilliwack

Hampton Inn & Suites Montreal / Dorval
Hilton Niagara Falls / Fallsview

Hilton Garden Inn Toronto / Oakville


Offer Details
Double HHonors Points or Double Airline MIles for eligible stays at participating Hilton Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Full Details, Online Registration and Booking  (Registration is required)  Mar 1 - May 31, 15
For a list of hotels that are not participating please click here.

Air Miles accumulation changes at Shell for gas purchases and tips on how to get around the downgrade!

Today we welcome Rewards Canada's newest contributor, Bill W! Bill is a true road warrior, his work has him driving and flying across Western and Central Canada every week while staying in a variety hotels from a variety of chains.  Bill has been reading, following and even giving Rewards Canada tips and updates for a very long time so it is only natural to have him come on board and have him share his insights into the world of Travel Rewards!

Today Bill shares with us the details of the recent change in Air Miles Reward Miles accumulation at Shell stations in Canada and tips on how to combat this change to earn more miles on your gas purchases.

Shell recently and quietly changed the Air Miles collection guidelines when filling up with gas.  The old earn rate was 1 Air Miles Reward Mile for the first $20.00, then 1 mile for each $30.00 thereafter in the same transaction. As a result, a fill-up of $80.00 would result in an award of 3 Air Miles.  That has now changed.  The new parameters are with a minimum 15 litre fill, you will receive 1 Air Mile.  That's it. 1 Air Mile.  It does not matter how much more you spend or how many liters of gas you purchase in the same transaction, you will only get 1 Air Mile. The only way to get more Air Miles is to do multiple transactions (put in 15 litres, stop, complete the transaction, and then put in another 15 litres, stop and complete the transaction. Continue to so this until your tank is full.

I drive a vehicle with a 118 litre tank, so this would mean approximately 7 transactions for 7 Air Miles. However, Shell is currently running a promotion (Offer valid from January 5 - March 1, 2015) where you can obtain 4X your base Air Miles if you purchase Bronze, Silver or Diesel grade fuel and 20X if you purchase Shell V-Power Premium fuel. This promotion, however, requires you to purchase a minimum of 25 litres of gas. 

This is where the multiple transactions would be beneficial. Using my vehicle with a 118 litre tank as an example, I would be able to complete 4 transactions of 25 liters. At 4X the base, I would get 20 points. If I were to purchase Premium grade gasoline, at 20X I would get 80 Air Miles. You will have to decide if it is worth it for you to do this to maximize your miles accumulation.  The choice is yours, but I would take advantage of this offer while it lasts.

Screenshot of Bill's accumulation at Shell utilizing his multiple transaction tip!

Editor's note:
This reminds us of the first Air Canada / Aeroplan Star Challenge where tons of people would fill up at Esso with multiple $3 transactions to reach the various bonus tiers!

---

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card 20,000 Points + First Year Free to end on Feb 28th

We just learned that a card featured in our top 5 sign up bonuses for February will be ending in four days! The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card will be reverting back to its standard 15,000 Point bonus with an annual feee as of March 1st.

 If you have not jumped on this card yet now is the time to do so as you'll get 20,000 points when you reach $1,000 in spending in the first three months. That 20,000 points is equal to a $200 travel credit and since this card is a book anywhere card you can book the travel how you want when you want and when the charge shows up on your account you can redeem the points against the charge. The card normally has a $99 annual fee but of course that is waived in the first year as long as you apply by February 28th. You can apply for the card here or read our review of the card first to see if it is right for you!

Feb 24 Update: SPG's Annual Category Update - Good news here in Canada, Air France YVR-CDG from $899 + 2x Miles

SPG's 2015 annual hotel category changes is the big news today!

News, Tips & Tricks
Starwood Preferred Guest has released their annual hotel award night category changes. Per the SPG representative on FlyerTalk:

"Just over 22% of hotels are changing category; of these, 10.49% are moving up and 11.78% are moving down including some favorites such as The St. Regis Rome, The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, Maui, W Paris – Opera, and others."

These changes take effect on March 10th so we reiterate the old addage that you should try to book award nights (if you have planned any) for hotels going up before the 10th while those that are going down you should wait if possible to book after that date. I am very happy to see one of my favourites, the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas go down! Closer to home, 2 Canadian properties are moving up Four Points by Sheraton Prince George (Cat 3 to 4) and the Four Points by Sheraton Waterloo - Kitchener Hotel & Suites (Cat 2 to 3) while 15 (that's right 15!!!) hotels in our beautiful country move down a category. Some highlights of those 15 are The Westin Ottawa, Le Meridien Versailles, and the Le Westin Resort & Spa, Tremblant. You can view the entire list of hotel changes here.


Travel Deals
Last week we brought you the details of the double Flying Blue miles offer for flying on Air France's new Vancouver to Paris and now AF themselves are promoting it heavily along with a great economy class sale on the route starting at $899 all in! Simply book online at www.airfrance.ca and be sure to include your Flying Blue number on the reservation to earn the Double Miles (Mar 29 - Jun 18). While your in Paris why not stay in a Hilton to take advantage of the bonus listed below!

Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles when you shop online at costco.ca More... Until Mar 29, 15

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you register and complete a qualifying stay at participating Hilton Portfolio hotels and resorts within Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More... Until Apr 30, 15

Alaska Airlines MileagePlan
- Triple Mileage Plan Miles on all rentals of three days or longer at any Thrifty location Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 15

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles when you stay for three nights and more at any Millennium & Copthorne Hotels worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Earn a Minimum 5,000 Guest Miles on your first Rocketmiles Booking More... Book by May 31, 15
- Triple Guest Miles on all rentals with Avis in Europe, Middle East and Africa. More... Until May 31, 15

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S. More... Until Mar 5, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at the ibis Moscow Paveletskaya or the ibis Moscow Centre Bakhrushina. More... Mar 12 - Apr 30, 15

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Table Mountain Inn Golden. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays of 3 or more nights at The Olde Mill Inn Basking Ridge.More... Until Apr 30, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Strand Hotel New York.More... Book by Mar 6 for stays Apr 1 - 30, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Viana Hotel & Spa Westbury. More...Until Mar 31, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays of 2 or more nights at the The Lodge at Woodloch Hawley. More... Until Mar 31, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Hotel Andra Seattle. More... Book by Apr 3 for stays Apr 1 - May 31, 15

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to Triple MileagePlus Miles when you book online and stay at participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 15




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