May 19 Update: Credit Card Comparison Chart updates, Delta switches YHZ-NYC service to JFK, 3x Miles for Fairmont stays

Welcome back to another week of updates! We hope you all had a great Victoria Day long weekend.

News, Tips & Tricks
Some of Rewards Canada's credit card comparison charts received updates today. Firstly the Cash Back chart sees the addition of the BMO CashBack World Elite and World MasterCards while the Business chart see the addition of the TD Aeroplan Visa Business Card and an updated offer from the CIBC Aerogold for Business Visa that is now first year free for a limited time. You can view these charts at:
Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Cashback Credit Cards
Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Business / Corporate Credit Cards 

Delta Airlines will be switching their Halifax-New York City service from La Guardia to JFK as of September 1st. (Source Halifax Airport / Airlineoute.net)

Posts since our last update:

• Introducing the BMO CashBack World Elite MasterCard and BMO CashBack World MasterCard
  Last week we let you know about the new BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard that was officially released yesterday…

Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles for stays at Best Western hotels in Germany and Luxembourg. More... Until Aug 31, 15
- Triple topbonus Miles when you shop at Chic Outlet Shopping Villages in Europe. More... Until Jun 15, 15

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn up to Triple Mileage Plan Miles plus up to 25% off or a free night for stays at participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- 250 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles for stays at any participating atahotel in Milan. More... Until Oct 31, 15

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to Triple AAdvantage Miles plus up to 25% off or a free night for stays at participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Marco Polo Hotels Worldwide. More... Jun 1 - Jul 31, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Asia Miles for and 3+ nights stay booked via PointsHound. More... Book by Jul 31 for stays until Dec 31, 15
- Earn up to Triple Asia Miles for stays ts at participating Regal or iClub Hotels in China. More... Until Jul 12, 15
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Asia Miles when you shop online via the Asia Miles iShop. More... Until Jun 10, 15

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Quadruple Guest Miles on all Etihad flights Worldwide. More... For Etihad BusinessConnect members only Until Jun 30, 15

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S.. More... Until Jun 4, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Ibis hotels in the Middle-East. More... Until Sep 30, 15
- Earn up to 900 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the Park, Sleep and Fly offer at participating Accor Hotels in the U.K. More... Book by Jul 31 for stays Jun 1 - Aug 31, 15
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays participating Accor Hotels in France. More... Until Jun 21, 15

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Lodge on the Desert Tucson. More... Jun 1 - Jul 31, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Gateway Canyons Resort. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Edgewater South Beach Miami Beach. More... Book by Jul 31 for stays until Nov 30, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Stonehurst Place Atlanta. More... Book by Jun 15 for stays until Jun 30, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Commons Hotel Minneapolis. More... Book by Jun 30 for stays until Dec 31, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Hotel Skyler Syracuse. More... Jun 1 - 30, 15

Virgin Australia Velocity (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Velocity Points when you fly Virgin Australia between Sydney and Tamworth. More... May 25 - Jul 31, 15

Introducing the BMO CashBack World Elite MasterCard and BMO CashBack World MasterCard

Last week we let you know about the new BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard that was officially released yesterday but that's not the only card BMO just announced. They are also introducing a  new Cash Back card,  the BMO CashBack World Elite MasterCard.

Here are the basics of this new entrant to the Cash back credit card space:
- 1.75% Cash back on all purchases
- 8 day travel and medical protection*
- Roadside Assistance*
- Purchase Protection Plus and Extended Warranty Plus*
- $120 annual fee however the first year is free if you apply by August 31

A quick look at this card puts it at the higher end of the cash back spectrum and the earning is simple, no tier bonuses etc. A straight 1.75% back on all purchases. This puts the card at .25% disadvantage when compared to its BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard companion but that card's 2% back is strictly limited to travel redemptions where with this card you have that cash back to spend on anything. And like most Cash Back cards the benefits are limited although it is nice to see the 8 day emergency medical insurance included.

You can find all the details on this new card here.

Also released today was a World Version of the card that has a lower annual fee and a lower earn rate of 1.25%.

May 12 Update: Big Bonuses for Finnair's Toronto-Helsinki flight, KLM WOW $799 to Krakow and more!

Pretty much just bonuses for you today (and a flight deal from KLM)

News, Tips & Tricks
Home Hardware is offering 3x Aeroplan Miles on all purchases made at Home stores or online until May 16. (and of course they still have their 100 Free Aeroplan Miles for email subscriptions going on) Find out mre here

In the bonus offers section there is another big Transatlantic bonus just like those we brought to you last week from American Airlines and British Airways. This one is identical as it is from their partner Finnair. This may be of use to some of you as Finnair does fly between Toronto and Helsinki during the summer season. For details see the bonus offers section below.

Posts since our last update:

• Philippine Airlines: Double Mabuhay Miles between Vancouver and New York
  Recently Philippine Airlines started flying a new 5th freedom rights route between Vancouver and New York. Just like their Asian…

Travel Deals
KLM's Wild on Wednesday offer is Krakow this week! Fares are only $799 all in from the East and $949 from the West. Book by 11:59PM EST on May 14 for travel until Jun 18 or between Sep 11 and Dec 10. Fare is valid for weekday travel only from Sunday to Thursday (on transatlantic flights). Find out more and book this deal here.

Bonus Offers
British Airways Executive Club
- Triple Avios when you fly on Flybe in or out of London City Airport. More... Until May 31, 15

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Quadruple Guest Miles on all Etihad flights Worldwide.  More... Register and book by Jun 4 for travel until Feb 29, 16

Finnair Plus
- Earn up to 115,000 Bonus Plus Points when you  fly round-trip between Europe and the United States, Canada or Mexico on First Class, Business Class or select full-fare Economy Class fares with Finnair, American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, OpenSkies or US Airways. More... Until Aug 7, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- 1,000 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the Picnic in the Park offer atthe Sofitel London St James. More... Until Aug 31, 15

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Double Mabuhay Miles when you fly Philippine Airlines or PAL Express on select routes Worldwide. More... Until Jul 15, 15
- Triple Mabuhay Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 15

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for stays at the Sheraton JFK Airport Hotel More... Until Jun 30, 15

United MileagePlus
- 2,000 Bonus MileagePlus miles for Premier members who join MileagePlus Dining. More... Until Jul 1, 15

Philippine Airlines: Double Mabuhay Miles between Vancouver and New York

Recently Philippine Airlines started flying a new 5th freedom rights route between Vancouver and New York. Just like their Asian brethren, Cathay Pacific, PAL has rights to sell tickets for flying on only the Vancouver-New York portion of their flight that originates in Manila and to celebrate the launch of this route they are offering Double Mabuhay Miles until the middle of July. That's not the only route however that has route launch bonuses, the entire list is below and also includes their new New  York-Manila route.

Offer Details:
Double Mabuhay Miles when you fly Philippine Airlines or PAL Express on select new routes Worldwide. Full details Until Jul 15, 15

Route	Travel Period
Manila-New York or vv.	15 April - 15 July 2015
Vancouver- New York or vv.	15 April - 15 July 2015
Manila-Tablas or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015
Cebu- Cagayan de Oro or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015
Cebu- Tacloban or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015
Cebu- Butuan or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015
Cebu- Davao or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015
Cebu- Iloilo or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015
Cebu- Bacolod or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015
Iloilo- Gen. Santos or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015
Zamboanga - Davao or vv.	15 April - 30 June 2015

May 12 Update: Preview of next SPG promo, Qatar Airways 2 for 1 Business Class offer out of Montreal

Here is your round up of news, bonuses and more for Tuesday May 12th!

News, Tips & Tricks
Starwood provided a teaser for their next promotion on several frequent flyer forums:

SPG is making weekends even sweeter. Starting in June, SPG members can register to earn 1,000 bonus Starpoints on stays of two or more nights that include a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night. This offer will be valid at SPG’s collection of more than 1,200 hotels and resorts around the world through August 31st. Source Milepoint

SCENE members can earn 1,000 bonus points for purchases of $100 or more at Sport Chek until May 31, 15

Starwood Hotels announced 2 new Canadian locations yesterday. Both are Westins and both will be in Alberta. It is great to see Starwood further expanding in Canada as they really need more locations for all of us Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card holders! Now if they could just re-enter the Banff/Canmore market! (Source Marketwatch)

Posts since our last update:

• Wyndham Rewards - 3,000 Bonus Points on your next stay Worldwide
  Yesterday marked the launch of another summer systemwide promotion, this time from Wyndham Rewards. The promotion coincided with the…

Travel Deals
Qatar Airways is once again offering 2 for 1 business class tickets on their flights out of Montreal. Book by May 17 for travel between May 15 and Dec 10. Find out more and book this deal here.

Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- Triple Rewards Points for stays at the BEST WESTERN Geelong Motor Inn and Serviced Apartments. More... Until ?

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at select Jumeirah Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 15

Finnair Plus
- Double Plus Points when you fly Finnair between Helsinki and Chongqing. More... Until Jun 30, 15

Hilton HHonors
- 1,000 Bonus HHonors Points for eligible stays on Accenture Corporate rates at participating Hilton HotelsWorldwide. More... For Accenture Employees only Until Jul 31, 15

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn up to Triple JetPrivilege Miles on Jet Airways flights between Delhi or Mumbai and Bengaluru or between Delhi and Lucknow. More... Book by Jun 30 or travel until Jul 15, 15

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 1,000 Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at The Green Park Hotel Ankara. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Quadruple Miles&Smiles Miles on Avis Rentals of 3 or more days in Turkey, Europe, USA and Canada.More... Until Jun 30, 15

Wyndham Rewards
- 3,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points on your next eligible stay at participating locations Worldwide. More... Until Sep 7, 15

Wyndham Rewards - 3,000 Bonus Points on your next stay Worldwide

Yesterday marked the launch of another summer systemwide promotion, this time from Wyndham Rewards. The promotion coincided with the launch of the new Wyndham Rewards program yesterday where all award stays will only cost 15,000 points plus a new cash+points option (Go Fast) whereby members can redeem 3,000 points + a cash outlay. This promotion ties in with the Go Fast portion as the bonus will net you enough points to give the option out if you so like.

Offer Details
3,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points on your next eligible stay at participating locations Worldwide. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Until Sep 7, 15

May 11 Update: Wyndham Rewards 15,000 point redemptions start today, 500 Free iPrefer points, BMO Air Miles MasterCard review

Welcome to a new week here on Rewards Canada! This will be a four day only update week as we will be off for Friday for the Victoria Day long weekend.

News, Tips & Tricks
Just an update to our post last week about the BMO Air Miles World Elite card. We noted about current World Cardholders being upgraded to the World Elite and that is not the case. They will have the option to upgrade to the new card as BMO is not getting rid of the World Version but will in fact offer both the World and World Elite.

Today marks the first day of the newly revamped Wyndham Rewards. Back at the start of April they announced changes that we applauded them for as they have made the program exceptionally simple. 15,000 Points for an award night at any of their hotels. This is from bargain basement to high end locations. So in some ways its not a great change as Super 8's become expensive to redeem at but I have a feeling not many people redeem for Super 8's while their all inclusive Caribbean resorts run the same price! You can read our post from April 1st for all the details.

For nearly 14 years I have always said that you should read emails from reward programs from top to bottom when you get them but we know many people don't have the time or just delete them without even opening them up. That is one reason Rewards Canada exists today is that we compile all those offers for you if you are an email deleter and miss opportunities like this one. This offer was at the very bottom of the latest Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer email and could even be easily missed by those who scan their emails quickly. Its a simple survey that when completed will award you 500 points! Complete the survey here.

Posts since our last update:

• BMO AIR MILES MasterCard Review
  (This post is a duplicate of the one found on our main Rewards Canada site) Touted as BMO's most popular…

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays at Las Brisas Hotels in Veracruz. More... Until Jul 15, 15
- Triple Club Premier Kilometers on weekend stays at participating NH Hotels. More... Until Jun 30, 15
- 2,000 Bonus Club Premier Kilometers when you make your first booking on PointsHound. More... Book by May 31, 15
- 5,000 Bonus Club Premier Kilometers on your first Rocketmiles booking of 3 or more nights More... Book by May 31, 15

Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Earn up to 5x Aeroplan Miles when you shop at Bentley. More... Until Jun 30, 15

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 2,000 Bonus Gold Points for stays at the Radisson Edmonton Hotel South. More... Until ?

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Asia Miles when you book at hotels via Kaligo.com. More... Book by Jun 30, 15 for stays until Jun 30, 16

Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
- 500 FREE iPrefer Points when you complete an online survey. More... Until ?

Ritz-Carlton Rewards
- 20,000 Bonus Rewards Points after the completion of two paid stays at participating Ritz-Carlton hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Register by Aug 31, for stays Jun 1 - Sep 30, 15

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Shangri-La Save up to 50% GC Award Points for Weekend Room Award redemption stays at participating Shangri-La hotel, Kerry hotel, Traders hotel and Hotel Jen hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 25, 15
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Qinhuangdao. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- 30% GC Award Points Discount for Sun-Thu Award Night stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Qinhuangdao.  More... Until Dec 31, 15

BMO AIR MILES MasterCard Review

(This post is a duplicate of the one found on our main Rewards Canada site)


Touted as BMO's most popular credit card, the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard becomes the first AIR MILES co-brand card that receives the Rewards Canada review treatment! A constant top 5 finisher in our annual Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings for Travel Points Cards with no annual fee, this card has been a mainstay for the AIR MILES programs for many years.


Overview
The BMO AIR MILES MasterCard is one of two credit cards for the AIR MILES collectors that comes with no annual fee. Perfect for those just starting out with the program or with credit cards in general or for those looking for an additional card for the credit card portfolio that carries no annual fee (ie carry the American Express AIR MILES Platinum and this card) The card makes it easy to earn AIR MILES at an average rate and comes with a decent sign up bonus.


Sign up Features
The BMO AIR MILES MasterCard currently offers a 500 AIR MILES Reward Miles bonus when you are approved for the card. We value a AIR MILES Reward Mile in the $0.11 to $0.15 range when redeeming for travel which means the sign up bonus translates to rougly a $55 to $75 value.


Costs
The BMO AIR MILES MasterCard has no annual fee for the primary or secondary cards. The interest rate on the card is19.9% which is in line with most of the cards at this level.


Earning
The BMO AIR MILES MasterCard earns 1 AIR MIlES Reward Mile for every eligible $20 spent on the card. The card offers a couple of Reward Mile accelerators as well, you'll earn 1.25 times the miles on purchases at Shell and 1.5 times the miles Alamo and National Car Rentals.

Redeeming
Being a co-brand card, redemption is actually done via AIR MILES not via BMO. This is where the relative strength of the AIR MILES program comes through to make the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard worthwhile for some people as they can earn even more AIR MILES on top of credit card spend via the vast amount of shopping partners that the program has. AIR MILES offers numerous redemption options but of course based on the name, the primary redemption option which most people dream about are flights. Reality is however that roughly only 10% of redemptions in the program are for actual flights. The remainder are for other travel related redemptions (hotels, car rentals, attraction tickets), merchandise or AIR MILES Cash. The majority of AIR MILES Flight redemptions are on Air Canada or WestJet however they also offer flights on American Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Calm Air, Canada North and Central Mountain Air at their lowest redemption levels. Other airlines are available but cost more AIR MILES than what is published on the AIR MILES website. Redeeming AIR MILES Reward Miles for flights nets an average return of 11 to 15 cents per AIR MILE Reward Mile. If you look at what this card's base earn rate of 1 Reward Mile for every $20 means you'll achieve a rate of return of 0.55% to 0.75%.

AIR MILES also lets you redeem for lots of other travel options like hotels, car rentals, cruises and more where you pay with miles and then cash for taxes/fees. Hotels seem like a so-so deal but we have found some really good deals for car rentals. You can also redeem for gift certificates for travel providers like Greyhound, Marlin Travel and several others. Then you have non-travel redemptions and this is what AIR MILES seems to have become more famous for as of late. From merchandise to tickets for attractions there isn't much that you can't redeem for!

Finally you have the AIR MILES Cash option. This is different from the redemptions above which are called AIR MILES Dream Rewards. When you log into your AIR MILES account you can set a percentage of all the reward miles you earn to go into your Dream Balance and your Cash balance. AIR MILES Cash works just like cash at participating AIR MILES sponsors like Sobeys, Rexall, Safeway, Rona, Shell and more. The Cash option has a set redemption value of $10 for 95 AIR MILES Reward Miles. As you can see the Cash Option has a lower rate of return based on our numbers as those same 95 miles would get you on average $12.35 towards a flight.




Features and Benefits
The BMO AIR MILES MasterCard offers only two insurance benefits. Extended warranty protection and purchase protection. These two benefits are standard on most cards whether or not they have an annual fee. Extended warranty extends the manufacturers warranty for items bought with the card while purchase protection reimburses you for items you purchase on the card that may become damaged, lost or stolen within 90 days of purchase.


What is good about this card
The best thing about the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard is the current sign up bonus of 500 AIR MILES Reward Miles. Since the card has no fee you are essentially getting those miles for free.

The miles accelerators for Shell, National and Alamo are also a nice feature of the card.
 

What is not so good about this card
The regular earn rate of only 1 AIR MILES Reward Miles for every $20 is on the low for a no fee card. Ranging between 0.55% and 0.75% per dollar spent means you could be losing out as other no fee travel cards like the American Express Blue Sky Credit Card or Capital One® Aspire Travel™ Platinum MasterCard® earn up to 1.25% while others earn a flat 1%. Granted, BMO is taking into account that you will be double dipping and earning AIR MILES Reward Miles at AIR MILES sponsors by swiping your loyalty card but nothing stops you from doing that with any of the other credit cards as well.

The features and benefits of this card are somewhat weak as well as more and more no-fee cards have been adding things like CDW Car Rental Insurance, Travel Accident Insurance and more.

Conclusion
For newcomers to the miles and points game, students, first time credit seekers or those looking for a no-fee AIR MILES card to add to their credit card portfolio the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard can be the right choice. The nice sign up bonus that comes at no charge to you is the best part of this card. If you are neck deep in the AIR MILES program but have an American Express AIR MILES card as your primary card than this card can make a good back for those merchants that don't accept Amex like Costco. However if you have well established credit, travel at least once a year, or are looking to rake in rewards as fast as you can there are other options that are better for you. Whether it is an AIR MILES card like the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard, the American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card or roughly 50 other credit cards from other travel reward programs out of the 80 plus in our market.


Care to comment? Do you agree or disagree with us? Tell us what think about the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard by commenting below!

Related Links:
BMO AIR MILES MasterCard on bmo.com
Rewards Canada's All Travel Rewards Credit Card Comparison including the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard
Rewards Canada's Travel Points Only Credit Card Comparison including the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard

Other cards to consider if you are looking at this card:
Alterna mbna Rewards MasterCard
American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card
BMO Air Miles World MasterCard
BMO SPC AIR MILES MasterCard
Capital One® Aspire Travel™ Platinum MasterCard®
CAA Rewards MasterCard
Citizens Bank Visas
CUETS No Fee Choice Rewards MasterCard
HSBC Advance MasterCard
HSBC Premier MasterCard
mbna Rewards MasterCard
RBC Rewards Visa Gold
Scotiabank Rewards Visa
Vancity enviro Classic Visa