January 12 Update: Travel Hacking 101 updated, American Express revises referral program, great Club Carlson bonuses

Not great news for those of you refer friends to Amex cards so you can get the bonuses!

News, Tips & Tricks
We updated our Travel Hacking 101 post. With current offers you can earn 115,000+ Aeroplan Miles or 75,000 British Airways Avios for free. Read the update here.

If you are an American Express Gold Rewards card holder  you can no longer refer people to the card and get a bonus for it. Only The Platinum Card from American Express (and other we believe other Platinum Cards like AeroplanPlus) and the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express carry the referral offers still.

Posts since our last update:

• Miles & More Award Ticket Sale - Save 50% on Economy Class award tickets to Europe from Montreal and Toronto
  As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This…
• Trio of Club Carlson Bonuses offering up to 20,000 Bonus Gold Points & Silver Elite Status
  Yesterday Club Carlson sent out emails to many of their members with some targeted stay offers depending on whether you…

Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles on Sixt Car Rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 16

Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Triple Guest Rewards Points for stays at La Quinta Inns and Suites in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- 3,000 Bonus Guest Rewards Points on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Double Guest Rewards points on qualifying rentals of 3 or more days at participating Budget locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Apr 30, 16
- 6x Guest Rewards points when you rent with Enterprise at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- 6x Guest Rewards points on all Hertz rentals at a participating airport and off airport locations in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. More... Until Feb 29, 16

Avianca LifeMiles
- Double LifeMiles when renting with Avis for 3 days or more in the USA and Latin America. More... Until Jan 31, 16
- Double LifeMiles when renting with Budget for 4 days or more in the USA and Latin America. More... Until Jan 31, 16
- Earn up to 6x LifeMiles when you rent with Hertz in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. More... Until Mar 31, 16

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 20,000 Bonus Gold Points when you complete 7 nights at Carlson Rezidor hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Mar 31, 16
- Earn up 20,000 Bonus Gold Points when you stay at Carlson Rezidor hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Mar 31, 16
- Earn up 20,000 Bonus Gold Points and Silver Elite Status when you stay at Carlson Rezidor hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Mar 31, 16

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you shop at any Chic Outlet Shopping Villages in Europe or China. More... Until Feb 29, 16

China Eastern Eastern Miles
- Double Eastern Miles Points when you shop at any Chic Outlet Shopping Villages in Europe or China. More... Until Feb 29, 16

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus Guest Miles when you book hotels via Kaligo. More... Book by Mar 31 for stays until Dec 31, 16

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S.. More... Until Feb 4, 16

Le Club accorhotels
- 750 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 2 or more nights at Accor Hotels in Australia, Brazil, Thailand, Fiji, French Polynesia or New Zealand. More... For Platinum Members only Book by Jan 31 for stays until Feb 29, 16
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 2 or more nights at Accor Hotels in Australia, Brazil, Thailand, Fiji, French Polynesia or New Zealand. More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until Feb 29, 16
- 150 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the B&B package at participating Mercure, Novotel, Suite Novotel hotels in France. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points when you stay at two separate Accor hotels in Spain and Portugal. More... Book by Mar 11 for stays until Mar 17, 16
- Earn up to 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Accor Hotels in Switzerland. More... Book by Feb 29 for stays until Apr 11, 16



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

Miles & More Award Ticket Sale - Save 50% on Economy Class award tickets to Europe from Montreal and Toronto

As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This month we see only Economy Class options for flying out of Montreal from Lufthansa and a 50% discount on economy class travel on Austrian Airlines between Toronto and Austria. The Lufthansa offers are for travel between May 1 and Jun 15, 16 (must be booked by Jan 31) while the Austrian offers are good for booking and travel until Mar 31, 16

You can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip tickets on Lufthansa from Montreal to Europe for only 30,000 miles. This is a 50% discount off the normal Economy Class award ticket price of 60,000 miles. The Austrian Airlines option out of Toronto is also a full 50% discount on economy class. Granted all these tickets will also have fuel surcharges but this is still a pretty good deal when you look at it as a whole in terms of miles+cash outlay.

The crazy thing is that you can actually get the round trip economy class tickets for only $5,000 in credit card spend (and a $120 annual fee). How so? As we usually mention in this post you can boost your Miles & More account with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. Currently the card comes with a 20,000 Starpoint sign up bonus. When you convert those 20,000 Starpoints to Miles & More SPG will award you an additional 5,000 miles. Which gives you 25,000 miles but if you spend $5,000 on the card you'll have 25,000 Starpoints and the 5,000 Miles bonus giving you the 30,000 miles required for this flight. Of course fuel surcharges and taxes are extra.

Simply book the offers seen here by January 31st (Lufthansa) or March 31st (Austrian).  
Full details on this offer can be found here

Trio of Club Carlson Bonuses offering up to 20,000 Bonus Gold Points & Silver Elite Status

Yesterday Club Carlson sent out emails to many of their members with some targeted stay offers depending on whether you are an elite member or a standard red member. Based on the number of offers you really should be able to register for at least one of these offers!

20,000 Bonus Gold Points when you complete 7 nights at Carlson Rezidor hotels Worldwide. Register Online (Registration is required) then book online at at Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inns & Suites, Radisson Blu or Park Inn
Until Mar 31, 16
You must be a Club Carlson Silver, Gold or Concierge Elite member to participate
Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Earn up 20,000 Bonus Gold Points when you stay at Carlson Rezidor hotels Worldwide. Stay two times, earn 10,000 bonus points Stay three times, earn 20,000 bonus points. Register Online (Registration is required) then book online at at Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inns & Suites, Radisson Blu or Park Inn
Until Mar 31, 16
You must be a Club Carlson Red member to participate
Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Earn up 20,000 Bonus Gold Points and Silver Elite Status when you stay at Carlson Rezidor hotels Worldwide. Stay three times, earn 10,000 bonus points and Silver Elite status Stay four times, earn 20,000 bonus points and Silver Elite status. Register Online (Registration is required) then book online at at Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inns & Suites, Radisson Blu or Park Inn
Until Mar 31, 16
You must be a Club Carlson Red member to participate
Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

January 11 Update: American Express AeroplanPlus Card Updates, Double KMs on AeroMexico's Toronto-Mexico City route and more!

Welcome to another week here on Rewards Canada!

News, Tips & Tricks

American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Platinum Card / American Express® AeroplanPlus®*Gold Card is no longer available as of August 26th, 2020. For more information, please visithttps://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/credit-cards/aeroplan-cards/

WestJet is finally flying their 767's between Canada and Hawaii! The airline received ETOPS certification at the end of 2015 which meant they had to lease an Omni Air 767 for about a month for the routes. This exciting news for those WestJetter's flying to Hawaii now! The first flight was from Edmonton to Maui on this past Sunday. (Source WestJet)

In the bonus offers section check out the new AeroMexico flight bonus offer that sees them offering Double Club Premier Kilometers on their Toronto-Mexico City route!

Posts since our last update:

• Qatar Airways Travel Festival - Triple QMiles b/w Montreal & Doha, up to 50% and a chance to win 100K QMiles on all flights Worldwide booked by January 17
  Qatar Airways has launched a week long promotion called the Qatar Airways Travel Festival. This promotion has three parts…
• Hurry up and grab the American Express AeroplanPlus Gold Card by January 10th for 25,000 Aeroplan Miles
  Although this card has been somewhat off of people's radars for about a year as the first year free…
• American AAdvantage offering Executive Platinum status for those who have United Premier 1K status - no challenge required - meant for Brazil but others are getting it!
  I originally posted this on the Frequent Flyer Bonuses blog but think it is newsworthy enough for us here in…

Travel Deals
To celebrate their new route between Toronto and Amsterdam, Jet Airways is offering a great introductory rate of $788 all in. Simply book by Jan 15 for travel after Mar 27. Find out more here.

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers when you fly AeroMexico between Mexico City and Leon, Bajio, Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Tapachula, Panama or Toronto. More... Until ?

Air Canada / Aeroplan
- New American Express AeroplanPlus Reserve Cardmembers earn 60,000 Welcome Bonus Aeroplan®* Miles after you spend $3,000 in your first three months of Card membership. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- New American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum Cardmembers earn 50,000 Bonus Aeroplan®* Miles after you spend $1,000 in your first three months of Card membership. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- New American Express  AeroplanPlus Gold Cardmembers, earn 15,000 bonus Aeroplan Miles after you spend $500 in your first three months of Cardmembership. More... Ongoing

American AAdvantage
- Quadruple AAdvantage Miles plus, save up to 35% on Hertz rentals of 1 or more days in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Quadruple AAdvantage Miles on rentals of a compact car or larger vehicle for three days or longer at all worldwide Thrifty Car Rental locations. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Marriott Rewards
- 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay 3 nights or more at the SpringHill Suites Old Montreal. More... Feb 15 - Apr 30, 16

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays in a Horizon Club Room at the Shangri-La, Shenzhen. More... Jan 15 - Feb 29, 16

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Cliff House at Pikes Peak Manitou Springs. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Lord Jeffery Inn Amherst. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Kenilworth. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Park South Hotel New York, More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Menger Hotel San Antonio. More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until May 31, 16

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Double Victora Miles and enjoy up to 25% off on car rentals of 3 or more days at participating HERTZ locations worldwide. More... Book by Jan 30 for rentals until Mar 31, 16

United MileagePlus
- 3,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Mar 31, 16

Qatar Airways Travel Festival - Triple QMiles b/w Montreal & Doha, up to 50% and a chance to win 100K QMiles on all flights Worldwide booked by January 17

Qatar Airways has launched a week long promotion called the Qatar Airways Travel Festival. This promotion has three parts to it. Bonus Miles (3x miles between Montreal & Doha and all other flights), discounted flights and a chance to win miles! All of the offerings require you to book by January 17th for travel January 19th - December 15th, 2016.

The seat sale portion offers up to 50%* off selected destinations and Companion offers available on Business Class bookings.

For complete details and to take advantage of this offer see here.

Hurry up and grab the American Express AeroplanPlus Gold Card by January 10th for 25,000 Aeroplan Miles

American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Platinum Card / American Express® AeroplanPlus®*Gold Card is no longer available as of August 26th, 2020. For more information, please visithttps://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/credit-cards/aeroplan-cards/

American AAdvantage offering Executive Platinum status for those who have United Premier 1K status - no challenge required - meant for Brazil but others are getting it!

I originally posted this on the Frequent Flyer Bonuses blog but think it is newsworthy enough for us here in Canada as I know there a few of you here in the Great White North who are United Premier 1Ks! Try out the Skype call to AA Brazil to see if you can get your UA 1K matched to AA EXP!

Thanks to long time FFB supporter Eloy who runs the Brazilian miles blog Mestre Das Milhas who let us know about this status match! Most of you know about American AAdvantage Status challenges that carry a fee of $120 for Gold or $200 for Platinum and require earning a set amount of EQMs within 3 months (See this FlyerTalk thread for complete details) but if you hold United Premier 1K status and live in Brazil you can get matched right up to EXP.

Eloy reached out to AAdvantage and they have confirmed that they are matching United Premier 1K Status to their own Executive Platinum! We're not sure how long this offer will last so you better do it now and not wait as it could be pulled at any time. You can read Eloy's post about this offer here (use Google Translate if you don't read Portuguese). There doesn't appear to be a web page for this offer rather you have to call in to AAdvantage Brazil to request the match and if the agent doesn't know about it, hang up and call back and hope you get another agent!

UPDATE!!! According to Eloy you may not have to be from Brazil to get the status match! You just have to contact AA in Brazil!!

@Real_Eloy message to me on Twitter

January 8 Update: Use your Mileage Plan miles on Fiji Airways between SFO & NAN, Bonus points at Residence Inn Montreal Airport and more!

Final update to the first full week of 2016!

News, Tips & Tricks
Good news for those of you who hold the mbna Alaska Airlines MasterCard and/or are members of the Mileage Plan program. Their partner Fiji Airways added new flights between San Francisco and Nadi between June and August. Award tickets between Canada and Fiji run 40,000 miles one way in Economy or 55,000 in Business. Great to have this option for using your Mileage Plan miles! (Source Airlineroute.net)

In the bonus offers section check out the new weekend stay bonus at the Residence Inn Montreal Airport

 


Posts since our last update:

• Qatar Airways Privilege Club: 50% Bonus QMiles on flights between Montreal and Doha (and beyond)
  This is a loosely targeted systemwide flight bonus offer for travel on Qatar Airways. We say loosely as all…
• New TD First Class Visa Infinite offer: 40,000 Bonus Points and 50% off first year annual fee
  The TD First Class Visa Infinite has a new sign up offer as of this month. Back is the…

Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Quadruple Mileage Plan Miles & Save Up to 35% on all vehicles and any length rental at participating Hertz airport and off airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Triple Mileage Plan Miles when you rent any size car at participating National locations in the United States or Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 16

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 12,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you purchase and fly on a First or Business Class ticket on American Airlines or eligible partner flights marketed by American. More...Until Jun 30, 16
- 3,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Mar 31, 16
- Quadruple AAdvantage Miles on rentals of a compact car or larger vehicle for three days or longer at all worldwide Dollar locations. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Earn up to 50% Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy or gift miles. More... Until Jan 29, 16

China Southern SkyPearl
- Earn up to 4x SkyPearl Club Kilometers for stays at participating Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 16

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple HawaiinMiles on rentals of a compact car or larger vehicle for two days or longer at all worldwide Dollar locations. More... Until Dec 31, 16

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double TrueBlue Base Points on all JetBlue flights systemwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for travel until Feb 29, 16

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night on Thursday - Sunday nights at more than 40 in California, Colorado, Oregon or Washington More... Until Mar 25, 16
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay two nights Thursday-Sunday at the Residence Inn Montreal Airport. More... Mar 3 - May 15, 16
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night at the London Marriott Hotel Park Lane. More... Until Mar 19, 16
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the AC Hotel Boston North. More... Mar 1 - May 24, 16
- 6,000 Bonus Rewards Points per NIGHT at the new JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America. More... Until Mar 31, 16

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- 50% Bonus QMiles on all Qatar Airways flight Worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 16

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Rapid Rewards Points on all mid-size, full-size, and SUV car rentals with Dollar Rent A Car at any participating Dollar airport location. More... Until Apr 30, 16

Qatar Airways Privilege Club: 50% Bonus QMiles on flights between Montreal and Doha (and beyond)

This is a loosely targeted systemwide flight bonus offer for travel on Qatar Airways. We say loosely as all you need to do is join the Qatar Airways FC Barcelona Fan Club (free to join) and then you'll be able to earn 50% bonus QMiles on all Qatar Airways flights between Montreal and Doha (and all other Qatar Airways flights) until the end of February!!

Offer details:
50% Bonus QMiles on all Qatar Airways flights Worldwide. You simply need to join the Qatar Airways FC Barcelona Fan Club. You can join here or as an existing member, log into your membership account. Upon login, simply click the “Subscribe now” button from the “QATAR AIRWAYS FCB FAN CLUB” pop-up or from the FCB widget on your dashboard and that’s it! Full Details and online booking Until Feb 29, 16

New TD First Class Visa Infinite offer: 40,000 Bonus Points and 50% off first year annual fee

The TD First Class Visa Infinite has a new sign up offer as of this month. Back is the great 40,000 point bonus however it only comes with a 50% rebate on your first year annual fee. As you may or may not be aware this card was devalued on the redemption side when it was announced that travel bookings made outside of Expedia for TD would cost more points as of August 16th however that was further extended to November 15th. The 40,000 bonus points are worth $200 in travel. With a 50% rebate you have to pay $60 in the first year meaning your total sign bonus value is brought down to $140. This pales in comparison to last two offers on the card that had values around $190 and $200.

TD First Class Visa Infinite Card
• Receive a Welcome Bonus of 20,000 TD Points1 following your first Purchase with the Card
• In addition, you could receive another 20,000 TD Points if you keep your Account open, active and in good standing within the first 90 days
• 50% 1st Year Annual Fee Rebate (Primary Cardholder only) for the first year – that’s $60 in savings
• Offer Valid until Feb 29, 2016
Apply online for the  TD First Class Visa Infinite Card