October 16 Update: Vote for your favourite Travel Rewards Credit Card, Amex Travel Hotel Sale, 2x Sears Club Points on travel purchases

Final update of the week!

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet and Disney will be launching a new initiative this weekend. Don't have any details yet but it is an 'Announcement by WestJet, WestJet Vacations and The Walt Disney Company (Canada) Ltd. Parks & Resorts. '. I'm guessing more of a flight+hotel+ticket package initiative seeing that WestJet Vacations is included. (Source WestJet)

There are only two weeks left to vote for your favourite travel rewards credit card! We are closing in on 5,000 votes already and would love to hear from you if you haven't voted yet. Vote here!

We added a new loyalty program to Rewards Canada today. Federal Hotels International Gracious Rewards. This small hotel chain from Asia is offering Triple Points for all stays at their Kuala Lumpur and Sydney hotels. Check them out if your travels take you to that part of the world over the next few months. See our Gracious Rewards bonus points page here.

Over on our global site we detailed how you can an elite status match with Sonesta Hotels Travel Plus program.

Posts since our last update:

• AIR MILES and Uber team up - Earn AIR MILES Reward Miles on Uber rides + first ride bonus + earn Mystery Miles today + win miles
  Just as we posted our daily update which featured the Uber Calgary launch and linking your Uber account to…
  
  

Travel Deals
American Express Travel is once again offering their up to 40% off hotels sale. Book by Oct 31 and remember you earn 1 additional Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on all bookings. Find out more here.

Etihad Airways has their business class on sale out of Toronto. Book by Oct 31 for travel until Jan 6, 16. Find out more here! 

 



Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays at the Las Brisas Galería Plaza Veracruz. More... Until Dec 20, 15
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays of 2 or more nights at participating NH Hotels in Mexico and Europe. More... Until Nov 30, 15
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays at participating Starwood Hotels in Latin America and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Earn up to 3,600 Club Premier Kilometers on Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Triple Guest Miles on all Etihad flights Worldwide. More...  Register and book by Oct 22 for travel Oct 15 - Mar 31, 16
- Double Guest Miles when you fly with Air Seychelles in Business Class. More...  Book by Oct 31, 15

Federal Hotels International Gracious Rewards
- Triple Gracious Rewards Points for stays at all Federal Hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Sydney. More... Until Dec 28, 15

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles when you fly JAL between Tokyo (Haneda) and Guangzhou More... Oct 25 - Jan 31, 16
- Up to a 10,000 Mileage Bank Miles Discount when you redeem for an award ticket on Finnair. More... Nov 16 - Feb 29, 16
- Receive a 2,000 Mileage Bank Miles Discount on all JAL Mileage Bank Domestic Award Ticket redemptions. More... Dec 1 - Feb 29, 16
- Earn up to Triple Mileage Bank Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More...  Until Jan 31, 16

Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
- Double iPrefer Points on all stays Worldwide More... Book by Oct 22, 15

Sears Club
- Earn up to $200 BONUS Sears Club Points & Earn 2X Sears Club Points. More... Book by Nov 24 for travel Nov 1 - Oct 31,16

Wyndham Rewards
- 750 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis locations worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15

AIR MILES and Uber team up - Earn AIR MILES Reward Miles on Uber rides + first ride bonus + earn Mystery Miles today + win miles

Just as we posted our daily update which featured the Uber Calgary launch and linking your Uber account to SPG we got the following in our email!

Uber rolls out Mystery Miles Giveaway for One Day Only
Uber to Begin Offering AIR MILES Reward Miles to New Riders

TORONTO, October 15, 2015 – Mobile app-based transportation company, Uber, today announced a national partnership where new Uber riders will receive AIR MILES Reward Miles.

Alright! So now you have two options for points/miles earning with Uber. Either SPG or AIR MILES. I prefer the first as my family are big time SPG users but we know there are whole bunch of Canadian's who don't use SPG (or are even know of SPG) who do know AIR MILES and collect AIR MILES (remember our Travel Hacking AIR MILES post from yesterday?)

To celebrate they are not only offering 100 Bonus AIR MILES when you take your first ride with Uber but today only you'll get Mystery Miles on the ride and there are also chances to win 15,000 AIR MILES when you ride with Uber in Canada (not Calgary and other smaller centres though!)

We’re excited to announce a new partnership with AIR MILES in Canada, where Uber users will get 100 Miles* after taking their first ride.
Today only, to celebrate, we’re placing special AIR MILES cards in cars in Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Montreal, and Quebec City. Request your Uber, and you’ll be gifted a special mystery amount of Miles from your driver!

To enter the 'Mystery Miles' contest for a chance to win today here is what you need to do:

• Open your Uber app and punch in the promo code AIRMILES under the promotions tab (top left) to unlock the ‘AIR MILES’ option.
• Starting at 5:00pm select the ‘AIR MILES’ option in your app and request a ride.
• If you connect with a driver, you’ll get mystery Miles during your ride, and you might just win enough Miles for a round-trip flight for two!
• Demand for ‘AIR MILES’ will be extremely high and not all requests will be fulfilled. Available while supplies last.

 Learn more about the new AIR MILES and Uber partnership here.

October 15 Update: Uber launches in Calgary, more NBC World Elite MC insurance quirks, 2,000 bonus points at Courtyard YWG

Another day filled with a decent amount of news and bonuses!

News, Tips & Tricks
Uber officially launches in Calgary today despite bylaws that are still in place that should have prevented them from doing so. Calgary's Mayor put out a statement with the following included:

"I strongly suggest that you don’t drive for Uber and that you don’t use Uber until the insurance and regulatory issues are sorted out. If you drive for Uber, you should be aware that you are breaking the law."

One of Calgary's most famous entrepreneurs' W Brett Wilson of Dragon's Den fame was the first official Uber Calgary rider. Apparently there are already 500 drivers signed up in YYC and anyone can officially use Uber as of 2pm Calgary time today.

If you haven't signed up for Uber yet you can use our referral link which gets you $20 off your first ride (and $20 to us when you complete that ride, we thank you in advance for anyone who takes up the referral offer!)

Once you've joined you must then connect your Uber account with your Starwood Preferred Guest account! Why? So that you can earn Starpoints on all your Uber rides! You can link your accounts at spgpromos.com/uber

Yesterday we told you about the National Bank of Canada World Elite MasterCard's odd insurance rule for lost/delayed baggage. Well it seems that not the only insurance quirk they have, our reader Stephen H lets us know the following applies to the purchase protection insurance.

"In addition to the baggage insurance warning you blogged about for the NBC World Elite MasterCard, their 180 days purchase insurance does not cover "tablets (such as iPad), cell phones, portable computers (laptops)" as stated in their policy." 

So while it is nice to see that their purchase protection is double what most other cards offer it doesn't cover some items that have a very good likelihood of being damaged in the first six months!


Have you voted yet for your favourite travel rewards credit card? Vote here!



Posts since our last update:

• Earn 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles + a $50 SHOP.CA voucher for Marriott stays in Canada
  We tend to see an Aeroplan Marriott offer for stays in Canada several times per year and in most…
  
  

Travel Deals
Air Canada is offering 25% off Flex and Latititude fares within Canada. Must book by Oct 16 for travel until Feb 10, 16. Find out more here.


Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at participating Best Western Hotels in Australia. More... Until ?

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
- 2,000 Bonus Dynasty Flyer Miles when you fly from Los Angeles to Taipei. More... Until Nov 30, 15

Czech Airlines OK Plus
- Double OK Plus Miles when you fly Czech Airlines between Prague and Yerevan More... Dec 13 - Jan 20, 16

Hilton HHonors
- 1,000 Bonus HHonors Points per night at Siemens participating hotels within the Hilton Portfolio. More... For employees of Siemens only Until Dec 31, 15

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 12,500 Bonus IHG Rewards Club points on every qualifying 2 night minimum stay at The Venetian® and The Palazzo®, an InterContinental® Alliance Resort. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the Courtyard Winnipeg Airport. More... Until Nov 27, 16
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the the Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino. More... Nov 20 - Jan 20, 16
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay on Friday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday required) at anyone of 13 Marriott Hotels in Paris. More... Book by Dec 31 for stays Oct 16 - Jan 7, 16
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Marriott Hotel.. More... Until Nov 28, 15
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay on Thursday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday required) at the at the Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel. More... Dec 11 - Jan 11, 16
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the Renaissance Lucknow Hotel. More... Until Nov 28, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night when you stay Sunday - Thursday at the SpringHill Suites Tuscaloosa. More... Until Nov 29, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at 11 participating Residence Inn, TownPlace Suites and SpringHill Suites hotels in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura County. More... Until Jan 1, 16
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points per stay including any night Thursday - Sunday at the Renaissance Chicago North Shore Hotel. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at any one of 5 participating Marriott Hotels in Boston. More... Until Nov 30, 15
- 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night when you stay Sunday - Thursday at the SpringHill Suites San Antonio Medical Center/Northwest. More... Until Nov 28, 15
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per weekend stay that includes a Friday or Saturday night at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Double Mabuhay Miles for stays at any participating Shangri-La Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 15
- Double Mabuhay Miles for rentals of 5 or more days with Hertz in the U.S. More... Until Dec 14, 15

Earn 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles + a $50 SHOP.CA voucher for Marriott stays in Canada

We tend to see an Aeroplan Marriott offer for stays in Canada several times per year and in most cases it is just for bonus miles. This time it is slightly different as they are sweetening the pot with a $50 SHOP.CA voucher with those stays!

Offer Details
1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles and a $50 SHOP.CA voucher for Thursday - Sunday night stays at 70 participating hotels across Canada. Full details and online booking Until Jan 31, 16
Package details:
- Accommodation in deluxe guest room or suite
- 1000 bonus Aeroplan Miles per stay
- $50 voucher to SHOP.CA (valid for first purchase of $125 or more)

If this offer doesn't suit your needs be sure to visit Rewards Canada's Aeroplan Bonus Miles page for many more opportunities!

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Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card
30,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you apply for and receive the Premier card. Points are awarded after your first purchase.
Annual Fee: $120 (waived in the first year)
Supplementary cards: free
30,000 Marriott Rewards Points sign up bonus after your first purchase
1 Free Night at a Category 1 - 4 location upon card approval
5 Marriott Rewards points per $ spent at Marriott locations
2 Marriott Rewards points per $ spent on Airline Tickets, Car Rental agencies and restaurants
1 Marriott Rewards point on all other spending
15 Night credit towards elite status, which translates to automatic Silver status
Anniversary bonus of 1 free night at a Category 1 - 4 location
Apply online.
Canadian Residents Only

October 14 Update: Last day to enter to win a $100 Gas Card, 150 FREE Starpoints, a warning about the National Bank of Canada WE MasterCard

Lots going on this Wednesday!

News, Tips & Tricks
Today is the last day to Enter to win a $100 Gas Card! Simply talk to us about the new Scotia GM cards for a chance to win! Find out  more here

Earn some free Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints! We all love free points and miles, especially if it means you can save points in an account you don't use too often from expiring. Now I would think most of our readers have activity in their SPG accounts quite frequently but their may be some of you who just haven't had an SPG stay or points activity in the past 11 months or so who need to keep their account active. That's where a nice little offer like these 150 Free Starpoints come in handy!

Last week we let you know about the transfer bonus from RBC Rewards to WestJet Rewards. We were incorrect in stating it was for Avion cardholders only, in fact it is open to all RBC Rewards members.

We featured NBC's World Elite MasterCard in our Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for October but wanted to heed a warning about one of their insurance coverages as brought to our attnetion by Rewards Canada reader Richard R.. This is what Richard wrote to us:

"Just an FYI to those of you purchasing airfare and expecting to be covered by the lost/delayed baggage coverage. NBC's World Elite MasterCard is unique in that it requires the entire cost of both airfare AND accommodations for the entire duration of the trip to be paid with the card. If you are redeeming a hotel award, staying with relatives or following a travel itinerary that includes overnight stays not paid with the card, your claim will be denied. This happened to me when I redeemed hotel points for one night of my stay and used the NBC World Elite MasterCard to pay for the remaining 7 nights as well as the entire airfare. It is a very disingenuous way of touting a benefit without actually having to provide it as it will not really benefit many travelers. All other credit cards offering lost/delayed baggage coverage require payment using their respective card for the airfare only."

We reached out to National Bank of Canada and they have confirmed this is the case with the baggage coverage. Ouch!!! If this is a coverage you use or expect to use (and we recommend you do as does provide exceptional value especially on the delay side) you may want to reconsider this card.

Have you voted yet for your favourite travel rewards credit card? Vote here!



Posts since our last update:

• Travel Hacking 102 - Earn up to 3,300 AIR MILES Rewards Miles for FREE with a potential value of over $1,000 in travel
  This is the second 'Travel Hacking' specific post here on Rewards Canada, the first Travel Hacking 101 looks at how…
  
  

Bonus Offers
Emirates Skywards
- 50% Skywards Miles Discount on select Skywards award flights Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 19 for travel Nov 1 -30, 15
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. More...   Book by Dec 31 for stays until Sep 30, 16

Malaysia Airlines Enrich (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Enrich Miles for stays at any Federal International Hotel. More... Until Dec 28, 15
- Double Enrich Miles for stays at any participating Shangri-La Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 15
- 10% Bonus Enrich Miles when you convert your credit card points to Enrich Miles. More... Until Nov 13, 15

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Earn up to Quadruple Frequent Flyer Points on all stays at participating Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Spirit Airlines Free Spirit (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Free Spirit points & save up to $20 or $5 per day on Hertz Prestige and Adrenaline Car Collections in the U.S.. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Double Free Spirit points on qualifying Hertz weekend and weekly rentals in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 150 FREE Starpoints for members who complete the 4 new security questions before October 31st. More... Until Oct 31, 15
- 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 Nov 30 for stays until Dec 31, 15

Sun Country UFly (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double UFly points & save up to $20 or $5 per day on Hertz Prestige and Adrenaline Car Collections in the U.S.. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Double UFly points and a Free Upgrade on qualifying Hertz weekend and weekly rentals in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. More... Until Dec 31, 15

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 80% Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you buy miles online. More... Until Oct 23, 15

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Elevate Points & save up to $20 or $5 per day on Hertz Prestige and Adrenaline Car Collections in the U.S.. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Double Elevate Points on qualifying Hertz weekend and weekly rentals in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Travel Hacking 102 - Earn up to 2,800 or more AIR MILES Rewards Miles for FREE with a potential value of over $600 in travel (Updated June 17, 20)

Updated on June 16, 2020 - Minor housekeeping to the current card offers
Updated on July 8, 2019 - Minor housekeeping to the current card offers
Updated on November 21 2018 -A bunch of new card offers have been added!
Updated on September 19, 2016 - The BMO no fee AIR MILES 800 mile sign up offer is back!
Updated on May 2, 2016 - The BMO no fee AIR MILES 800 mile sign up offer has been removed.

This is the second 'Travel Hacking' specific post here on Rewards Canada, the first Travel Hacking 101 looks at how you can earn tens of thousands of Aeroplan Miles or Avios for free. While much of what we do helps you with your loyalty programs on a daily basis and could be considered travel hacking in many ways, these Travel Hacking posts really delve into the topic.

Many people seem to shove AIR MILES aside and don't bother with the program, especially frequent travellers, however we wanted to show you that even this program can be 'hacked' to save you several hundred dollars if not even up to a thousand dollars on travel. True it isn't the potential thousands of dollars with hacking Aeroplan or Avios but still this one more method for Canadians to save money on their travels.

* I state free in the title as I assume you would be spending this money anyways on these credit cards so you might as well be rewarded for it with free AIR MILES!

BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard
With a welcome offer of up to 2,000 AIR MILES Bonus Miles and an annual fee waiver this is the AIR MILES card to get right now and then you can think about adding others into the mix! This card also provides a 15% discount on AIR MILES flight rewards within North America. You can apply for the card here.

BMO AIR MILES Mastercard
Also a card which carries no annual fees the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard is currently offering an up to 800 AIR MILES Rewards Miles welcome bonus.  You can apply for the card here.





Over time you can also add in 3 more cards to add to your list for an extra 2,400 Free Air Miles:
- BMO Shell Air Miles Mastercard; Up to 800 AM, no annual fee. Apply for the card here.
- BMO Sobeys Air Miles Mastercard; Up to 800 AM, no annual fee. Apply for the card here. 
- BMO IGA Air Miles Mastercard; Up to 800 AM, no annual fee. Apply for the card here.


With the two main cards above you will have earned 2,800 AIR MILES Reward Miles for virtually nothing. You just have move some of your regular spending to cover the spending required to get the bonuses. We typically value AIR MILES Reward Miles between 11 and 15 cents a piece which means those 3,800 AIR MILES are worth anywhere from $308 to $420 depending on your redemption. But if you continue on reading you can see that can be pushed even higher! If you add in all the other cards you are looking at over 5,000 AIR MILES however BMO may have issues with you grabbing 5 of their AIR MILES cards at once! However the option exists to get the two main cards with 2,800 AIR MILES.

What can those 2,800 AIR MILES get you? Here are just some flight examples we found searching where you might need to earn a few more miles but are easily achievable:

Toronto - Vancouver for 3,600 Miles but at the time of searching there was a Gold member discount of 15% that brought it down to 3,060 miles +  $134.28 in taxes and fees. This is the same 15% discount you would get with the BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard.

 and the same flights on Air Canada:

With this example the 3,060 AIR MILES Reward Miles are worth $487.03  providing a $0.159 value per mile.

Here is shorter flight example, Calgary to Yellowknife with a 15% Gold Member discount:

and the same flights on Air Canada:

With this example the 1120 AIR MILES Reward Miles are worth $215.25 providing a $0.234 value per mile! If you redeemed all your miles at this level from the 2,800 you received from just two credit cards you are looking at $655.20 in value.

If you look at the AIR MILES flights options, all of Eastern Canada and the Eastern U.S. including Florida are available for 3,000 miles or less in the low season from Ontario. Out west it is Western and central U.S.. See the following as examples:

Other good travel redemption options via AIR MILES can also provide good value. We've seen car rentals offer over 30 cents per mile but on average you are in the high teens:

Here 900 AIR MILES Rewards Miles covers $162.88 of the car rental for a value of 18 cents per mile! 

As with most frequent flyer programs, AIR MILES has taxes and fees that you have to pay when you redeem for a flight. The great news is that you can use a card that allows you redeem points against travel charges to cover those fees. So with those examples above you could easily cover the taxes and fees with a card like the American Express Gold Rewards Card and hence you have truly hacked your travel as it is 100% free.

Here are some FREE AIR MILES offers that can also boost your balance:

• 25 Free AIR MILES Reward Miles for subscribing to emails from Sobeys. Full details.

Have you 'hacked' the AIR MILES program? Or now will you take a closer look at doing so seeing that you can actually pull out some value from the program? We'd love to hear your stories of successfully using AIR MILES fee free cards for your travel rewards!

October 13 Update: WestJet joins TSA Precheck, save 20% on MileagePlus Canada-Hawaii award tickets and more!

Welcome to another week here on Rewards Canada. We all hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving long weekend!


News, Tips & Tricks
Like their main competitor here in Canada, WestJet can now boast that they are part of the U.S. TSA Precheck program. This now means that Known Travellers (ie NEXUS, SENTRI etc.)( who are flying on WestJet can use the TSA Precheck lanes at airports in the U.S. (Source WestJet)

In the bonus offers section there is a link to another United MileagePlus award ticket sale. You can save 20% on economy saver awards between Canada and Hawaii.

More Air Canada 787-9 news. Toronto-Tel Aviv will see this new aircraft as of June 2016 (Airlineroute.net)

Just like last week you can get 80 Bonus AIR MILES when you spend $50 or more at Rexall until October 15. And just like last week you have to present a coupon. Get that coupon here.

Have you voted yet for your favourite travel rewards credit card? Vote here!

Enter to win a $100 Gas Card! Did you see our post for your chance to win a $100 Gas Card? Simply talk to us about the new Scotia GM cards for a chance to win! Find out more here.
 
Posts since our last update:

• Marriott Rewards is enhanced with four new features - and they're all good!
  What seems to be a very rare occurrence these days, is news of a program making 'enhancements' to a…
• Jet Airways JetPrivilege: Earn up to Triple JPMiles between Toronto and Delhi
  Looks like Jet Airways is tackling the direct competition from Air Canada by offering up to Triple Jet Privilege…
  
  

Travel Deals
SWISS Airlines has a great sale for flights between Montreal and Zurich. Fares are as low as $798 all in if booked by Oct 27 for travel Oct 16 - Dec 10. Find out more here!


Bonus Offers
Air New Zealand Airpoints
- Triple Airpoints for stays at the Executive Rooms and Suites at Sudima. More... Until Mar 31, 16

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 35,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles + save 10% when you buy or gift miles. More... Until Nov 13, 15

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 30% Bonus Avios when you buy or gift Avios. More... Until Oct 28, 15

IHG Rewards Club
- Double IHG Rewards Club Points & save up to $20 or $5 per day on Hertz Prestige and Adrenaline Car Collections in the U.S.. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- Double IHG Rewards Club Points and a Free Upgrade on qualifying weekend and weekly rentals in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn up to Triple JetPrivilege Miles when you fly Jet Airways between Toronto and Delhi. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Double JetPrivilege Miles for stays at any participating Shangri-La Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 15

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

United MileagePlus
- Save 20% on a United Economy roundtrip Saver Award between the U.S. or Canada and Hawaii. More... Book by Nov 5 for travel Oct 19 - Mar 3, 16

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Elevate Points & Double Status Credits on Virgin America flights. More... Until Nov 19, 15

Marriott Rewards is enhanced with four new features - and they're all good!

What seems to be a very rare occurrence these days, is news of a program making 'enhancements' to a program that really are in fact enhancements! A little over a week ago news starting breaking about some changes to Marriott Rewards and they all looked to be good. Now that some of those changes are live and/or have been posted to the Marriott Rewards site we thought it would be time to let you know about them!

These are the four enhancements:

Points Advance
Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members are able to book redemption stays before having sufficient points to cover the cost of that stay. (This change is live!)

Points Sharing
Beginning Oct. 12, 2015 Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members will have the ability to share points with friends and family. Members can transfer up to 50,000 points from their account each year! (This change is now live)

Redemption Stay Credit
Starting Nov. 1, 2015 Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members will earn  Elite night credit on redemption nights paid for with points.

NEW Cash + Points
Coming in early 2016, the NEW Cash + Points will give Rewards members the flexibility to use a mix of cash and points to cover single or multi-night redemption stays. (While not live, the cash+points amounts are now known)


Not one of these changes is bad! The Points Advance is cool as not many programs let you do this, we could on the fingers on one hand as to those who do. Points Sharing? Again a nice new benefit for family households where there are accounts that don't earn too many points and may be subject to expiration. Pool them all to one account for the best possible rewards! Redemption stay credit? About time! Many of Marriott's competitors already offer this so MR is playing catch up. Same goes for Cash+Points, many competitors have this and as you can see below the numbers are actually very decent!

The best way to look the the Cash + Points redemptions is what the cash equivalent of the full amount of points required is. For example, for a Category 7 redemption you are essentially paying $90 for the 14,000 point difference. This means you are paying 0.6 cents (US) per point. Considering it costs US$12.50 to buy 1,000 points directly from Marriott (1.25 cents per point) you can see that the Cash + Points option is good deal! Of course be sure to look at going rates for paying full cash for a room before doing a Cash + Points redemption as some hotels may be selling off rooms for cheap and your redemption value won't be very good.

Learn more about all the Marriott Rewards changes here!

Jet Airways JetPrivilege: Earn up to Triple JPMiles between Toronto and Delhi

Looks like Jet Airways is tackling the direct competition from Air Canada by offering up to Triple Jet Privilege Miles between Toronto and Delhi. This is an expected reaction since Air Canada is offering up to 10,000 bonus Aeroplan miles on the same route that they are launching on November 1st.  Whichever airline you choose, this is a case where the consumer wins out from the competition as you can boost you Aeroplan or JetPrivilege balances if your flying this route! The Jet Airways offer is less restrictive and also runs longer so if you have multiple flights planned between YYZ and DEL you may want to investigate further to see which offer makes more sense for you.

Offer Details
Earn up to Triple JetPrivilege Miles when you fly Jet Airways between Toronto and Delhi. Get Triple Base JPMiles in Première and Double Base JPMiles in Economy. Full details Until Mar 31, 16
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