August 10 Update: Cineplex SCENE changes, free miles from Philippine Airlines, Top 5 Credit Card sign up offers

Happy Monday everyone!

News, Tips & Tricks
Last week we were interviewed by CBC about the upcoming changes to Cineplex's SCENE program. The major change is an increased points requirement when redeeming for a 'premium' movie ticket like 3D, UltraAVX, IMAX or D-Box. As of November 4th those type of movie redemptions will cost 1,500 Points instead of the current 1,000 points. Meanwhile general movie redemptions will remain at 1,000 points. Also announced in the upcoming changes are increased points earning when you buy those premium movies and chose to earn points. Everything else with the program will remain the same. While somewhat unfortunate in terms of redeeming for the premium tickets this wasn't an unexpected move by SCENE as they surveyed their members earlier this year about these new requirements. Also with the SCENE program trying to grow into a coalition type program like Aeroplan and AIR MILES they are proactively getting their redemption catalog ready for the increased points earning from adding new partners to the program (ie Sport Chek and Milestones). Find out more about these changes here. Here is a look the new points earning and redemption options for movies:

In the bonus offers section be sure to check out the free miles offer from Philippine Airlines.

Posts since our last update:

• Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for August
  Here are the Rewards Canada's Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of August! This is not…
  
  

Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- Double Miles&Bonus Miles for stays at the Corfu Chandris Hotel & Villas and Dassia Chandris Hotel & Spa. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Emirates Skywards
- Quadruple Skywards Miles for stays at the Address Hotels & Resorts in Dubai. More... Book by Sep 30 for stays until Nov 30, 15

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Guest Miles when you book hotels via Kaligo. More... Book by Sep 30, 15
- 50 Bonus Guest Miles for each successful hotel review made on Holdiay Check. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Germanwings Boomerang Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Boomerang Miles when you fly between Köln-Bonn, Stuttgart, Hannover, or Düsseldorf and London Stansted. More... Book by Aug 31 for travel until Sep 30, 15

Hilton HHonors
- 50,000 Bonus HHonors Points when you stay four nights or more in 90 days at participating Hilton Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Jan 7, 16

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at over 2,800 Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Sep 30, 15
- 500 Miles & More Miles per night for stays at Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences in Austria, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. More... Until Aug 31, 15
- Double Miles & More Miles on all Wyndham Rewards Hotels stays Worldwide starting with your 2nd stay. More... Until Oct 9, 15

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- 250 FREE Mabuhay Miles when you update your profile online. More... Until Aug 15, 15

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 50% Bonus VHR Points for each stay at participating Voila Hotel Rewards hotels Worldwide that is booked online via Voila. More...Until Oct 31, 15
- 3,000 Bonus VHR Points for each stay at participating Voila Hotel Rewards hotels Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 15

Today's Bonus Offer Highlight is brought to you by:

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for August

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

The only change this month from July is the removal of the TD First Class Visa Infinite Card. That card sees the value of its points being devalued as of August 16th hence its removal. That being said, for some of you the sign up offer of 40,000 points with the first year free can still make sense as it retains value for redeeming via Expedia. Read more about these changes here. Taking its place is the American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card with its 2,000 Mile sign up bonus and first year free offer.

So here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for August (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.)


American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card - 2,000 Reward Miles (Apply here)
A newcomer to our monthly Top 5 sign up offers, the American Express Air Miles Platinum card comes first year free and comes with a 2,000 Reward Miles sign up bonus when you complete $500 in spending in the first three months. That 2,000 Miles is worth anywhere from $220 to $300 in flight value when you get around to redeeming them.

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. There is also a 50,000 Point offer meant only for Marriott Elite members which many non-elites have had success with when they apply for it. (You may or may not get the full 50k and if they find out you are not Elite you may only receive the 30k)


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)
According to TD, this is the last month this card will come with the increased sign up bonus and first year free. The current 25,000 Aeroplan Miles sign up bonus (15,000 upon approval, 10,000 when you spend $1,000) and the first year's $120  fee waived, makes this a very strong card to get seeing that the 25,000 Aeroplan Miles is worth up to $500 in travel.



If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with over  $1000 in travel credits and hotel free nights 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.

August 4 Update: We're back, WestJet Connect officially launched, 30% Bonus on buying Hyatt Gold Passport Points

Not too much to bring you after the long weekend as we spent most of our time working on getting our sites back up after our our UK site was compromised. Good news is Rewards Canada is up and so is FrequentFlyerBonuses.com but our UK site will be down for sometime still.

News, Tips & Tricks
Late last week WestJet announced that their inflight Wi-fi and connectivity system officially launched. (Source WestJet)

"it has begun rolling out its new inflight entertainment system featuring wireless Internet connectivity and more than 450 movies and television programs. Called WestJet Connect, the system will be activated on all of WestJet's Boeing 767ER aircraft and more than 30 per cent of WestJet's Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft by end of 2015, with installations on the majority of the 737 fleet expected to be completed in 2016. "

I actually flew on one of these planes about a week and a half ago although the system wasn't turned on yet. It had no TV screens but every seat had the 110V/USB plugs along with the seatback card explaining the WestJet Connect system.

WestJet Encore is expanding service out of Edmonton with a new daily route to Nanaimo and increased frequency to four other cities in Western Canada. (Source Airlineroute.net)



Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- August Promo Awards - Save 25% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. More... Book between Aug 1 - 31 for travel between Oct 1 - Nov, 15

Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus SkyMiles when you shop via the SkyMiles Shopping portal. More... Until Aug 16, 15

Ethiopian Sheba Miles
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Sheba Miles when you book hotels via Kaligo. More... Book by Sep 30, 15

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 500 Bonus Gold Passport Points for all eligible Hyatt stays that are booked via the Hyatt App or Hyatt Mobile Site. More... Until Sep 30, 15
- 30% Bonus Gold Passport Points when you buy 5,000 or more points online. More... Until Aug 31, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- 4X Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at new Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Sep 30, 15

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Bonus Starpoints, Free Nights or Elite Status when you complete stays at Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Register by Sep 30 for stays until Oct 31, 15

United MileagePlus
- 25% Bonus MileagePlus Miles on all conversions of 5,000 miles or more from participating hotel loyalty programs. More... Until Aug 31, 15

Today's Bonus Offer Highlight is brought to you by:

Main Rewards Canada Site Down Temporarily

If you have tried visiting our main Rewards Canada site (www.rewardscanada.ca) you'll have noticed it has been down since early yesterday evening. The reason for this is that our UK site (frequentflyerbonuses.co.uk) was compromised by hackers and as a security precaution our hosting company locked the websites. We are working diligently with them to get everything back up and running which should hopefully be later today. Please stay tuned and know that we haven't gone away!

July 30 Update: Last Minute Travel Tips using Points & Miles, Aeroplan Transfer Bonus, AAdvantage Buy Miles Bonus

A little less loyalty program action today!

News, Tips & Tricks
With the long weekend only two days away we released a new guide today, Rewards Canada's Last Minute Travel Tips using Points & Miles. Give it a read to see how you can use loyalty programs to your advantage for travel that isn't planned months ahead!

And of course the other big news today is the new Aeroplan partner transfer bonus that sees the return of the 150,000 level bonus of 40,000 miles!. See the links below for details.

Posts since our last update:

• Transfer points to Aeroplan to earn up to 40,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles
  Aeroplan has once again brought back their partner transfer bonus that we saw in March 2015, November 2014, April…
  
  

Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Earn up to 40,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert points from a wide selection of Aeroplan partner loyalty programs (hotel, car rental, and points.com). More... Until Aug 24, 15

Air China Phoenix Miles
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays on the Linger Longer for Less package at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 15

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 27,500 Bonus AAdvantage miles when you buy or gift miles online. More... Until Aug 5, 15

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
- Earn up to Triple Dynasty Flyer Miles for stays at participating Okura Hotels & Resorts, Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating Anantara, Per Aquum, and Avani Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 15




Follow Rewards Canada on:

Transfer points to Aeroplan to earn up to 40,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles

Aeroplan has once again brought back their partner transfer bonus that we saw in March 2015, November 2014, April 2014,  November 2013, April 2013,  November 2012 and so on. Basically what it entails is transferring points out of other select loyalty programs into your Aeroplan account. This time they have finally brought back the 40,000 bonus miles version that we haven't seen since April of 2013 and there are no financial partners involved again, for Canadians that is, Americans get Diners Club Club Rewards in that category. Basically you can transfer from partners like Starwood, Hertz and more (see the last graphic) and as long as the total Aeroplan miles deposited from all of them reaches one of the bonus target levels you will be awarded the respective bonus miles.

And just like the last four versions of this offer, American Express Membership Rewards is unfortunately not included. so chances are I will not use the promo this time (again).

If you are a Starwood Preferred Guest collector you can really up the bonus by taking advantage of their 5,000 Mile bonus offer when you convert 20,000 Starpoints into Aeroplan. Which means in this promotion you can get 29,000 Aeroplan Miles for 20,000 Starpoints or if you transfer 20k four times, you'll get 125,000 Aeroplan Miles for 80,000 Starpoints. Of course I like to keep Starpoints for award nights or cash+points stays within the Starwood family but some of you may like this transfer option. You can get 20,000 Starpoints simply by getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express


Offer Details:
Earn up to 40,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert points from a wide selection of Aeroplan partner loyalty programs (hotel, car rental, and points.com). Bonuses are as follows and are awarded on a cumulative basis. Convert Points to
5,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 1,000 Mile bonus
10,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 2,000 Mile bonus
20,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn 4,000 Mile bonus
50,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 10,000 Mile bonus
100,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 25,000 Mile bonus
150,000 Aeroplan Miles to earn a 40,000 Mile bonus  
Full details Valid until Aug 24, 15

July 29 Update: British Airways to put A380 on YVR-LHR route, Hilton HHonors Gold Fast Track offer, IHG Buy Points Bonus

This is going to be a week to catch up here on Rewards Canada as we were off all last week!

News, Tips & Tricks
British Airways will be launching Airbus A380 service between Vancouver and London in May 2016  for the summer season (Source Airlineroute.net) The boost in seats means there is quite a bit of award availability right now for that route in Economy, Business and First Class! For example here is a screen shot of the availability May 5 - 13

Now as we always warn, redemptions via BA Executive Club for travel on BA will incur high carrier surcharges but those can pale in comparison to the actual cost Business and First Class tickets. Some savings can be brought about by utilizing the current American Express 25% bonus on converting Membership Rewards points transfers to British Airways! Well it doesn't really save you money on the surcharges but technically lowers the amount of credit card spend required to get the award flight mileage.  Find out more about that bonus here.

Air Transat has added a bunch of new sun destination scheduled routes out of Canada for the upcoming winter. Some of these routes were only part of packages before but now you should be able to buy the flight only on any of these routes. Sure Air Transat doesn't have a frequent flyer program but there is no stopping you from using proprietary credit card points to redeem for these flights like BMO Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, TD Rewards etc. Find the full list of routes here.

We see many fast track to Gold Status offers from Hilton (find them here) but most are loosely targeted to members from select companies. Now there is an offer that anyone can take advantage of and it is even better than those targeted offers as you get status after only 3 stays instead of 4 or 6! The offer is for members of airberlin's topbonus program which is free to join. Find out more in the bonus offer section below!


Posts since our last update:

• Earn 50% Bonus Caribbean Miles when you fly between Toronto and Kingston, Jamaica
  Caribbean Miles (also 7th Heaven Rewards) members can earn 50% more miles when they fly between Toronto and Kingston…
• IHG Rewards Club Buy Points Mystery Bonus - 50% to 100% Bonus Points
  IHG has launched a new bonus offer on buying their points online. Depending on how you are targeted, you…
  
  

Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Fast Track to Gold Status and up to Quadruple topbonus Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels worldwide. More... Register by Dec 31, 15
- 3,000 Bonus topbonus miles on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Dec 31, 15

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles for weekend stays at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts in North and Latin America. More... Until Jan 31, 16

IHG Rewards Club
- 5,000 points per award night - 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, valid for stays until Oct 31, 15. More...
- 50% to 100% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy points online. More... Until Aug 31, 15

Saudia Alfursan
- Double Alfursan Miles for stays at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in the Middle East. More... Until Sep 15, 15

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa. More... Until Sep 30, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Riviera Palm Springs. More... Book by Sep 9 for stays until Sep 30, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points & Third night free for stays at the POSH Palm Springs Inn. More... Book by Sep 15 for stays until Sep 30, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Kenilworth. More... Book by Oct 15 for stays until Dec 31, 15
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Magnolia Hotel Dallas - Park Cities. More... Until Dec 30, 15

Today's Bonus Offer Highlight is brought to you by:

Earn 50% Bonus Caribbean Miles when you fly between Toronto and Kingston, Jamaica

Caribbean Miles (also 7th Heaven Rewards) members can earn 50% more miles when they fly between Toronto and Kingston on Air Jamaica/Caribbean Airlines. This offer is good until September 15th.  Full details can be found here.

Also available is a 25% discount on the number of miles required to redeem for award flights between the two cities! Full details can be found here.

IHG Rewards Club Buy Points Mystery Bonus - 50% to 100% Bonus Points

IHG has launched a new bonus offer on buying their points online. Depending on how you are targeted, you can get anywhere from 50 to 100% bonus points when you buy points. You find out the bonus you get after inputting your account details via the link below. If you get 100%, that's great as it brings the price of a point down to 0.575 of a cent if you buy 26,000 or more points. This per point price is less than the Points+Cash trick of buying points for 0.7 cents. If you choose to buy the maximum number of points, 60,000, it will cost you US$690 but of course you'll end up getting 120,000 points. That's 24 nights at IHG hotels if redeeming via the PointBreaks option which works out to only $28.75 per night!

If you get below a 70% bonus then you are better off not taking advantage of this offer. As you can see by the screen shot above, I was only offered 50% so this time it is a no go for me.

Offer Details
100% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy points online. Full details. Until Aug 31, 15