January 15 Update: Alitalia status match extended, SPG Platinum Benefits choices, KLM Dream Deals seat sale

Final update of the week!

News, Tips & Tricks
Alitalia MilleMiglia has extended their great status match offer to January 31st. However status is only granted to March 31, 2016 so you won't have it for too long but perhaps long enough where you can get another airline to match that status!! Find out more here.

Another AIR MILES bonus for shopping at Rexall this weekend. This is one of the biggest bonuses we've seen. 110 Reward Miles if you spend $50 or more. No coupon is required.

View from the Wing outlines the return of Marriott Rewards' offer to use points to buy back/retain your status.

View from the Wing also brings us details of new Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum benefit choices. The new options are:

• Free rental up to 5 days with Silvercar
  
• Free Night Award at a property up to category 5
  
• 5 Elite Qualifying Nights
  
• 40% off your favorite hotel bed (including Westin Heavenly Bed)

In case you missed the Hilton HHonors status match offer that ended earlier this week, here is a way you can speed your way to getting Gold. Hilton and South African Airways have teamed up to offer SAA Voyager members a fast track to gold status whereby you'll get the elite status level after only three stays. Find out more here.



Posts since our last update:

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Travel Deals
KLM have launched a great seat sale for their flights out of Canada just like their partner Air France! Simply book by Feb 4 for travel throughout most of this year! There are great deals in both economy and business class. Find out more here!

Bonus Offers

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Earn up to 4x Flying Blue Miles for stays at participating Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- Triple Flying Blue miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 24 for stays until Feb 14, 16
- Double Flying Blue Miles and enjoy up to 25% off on car rentals of 3 or more days at participating HERTZ locations worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Mar 31, 16

airberlin topbonus
- 2016 Bonus topbonus miles when you rent with Europcar Worldwide except in the USA and Canada. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Dec 31, 16

American AAdvantage
- 500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for rentals at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Caribbean. More... Until Mar 31, 16

IHG Rewards Club
- Triple IHG Rewards Club points on rentals of 1 or more days at participating Avis locations globally. More... Until Mar 31, 16

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 3,000 Bonus TrueBlue Points on your first Rocketmiles booking. More... Book by Mar 31, 16

Marriott Rewards
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay including any night Thursday - Sunday at the Courtyard New York Manhattan/Times Square West. More... Feb 25 - May 5, 16
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay 2 nights at the MOXY Milan Malpensa Airport More... Feb 1 - Apr 16, 16
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the Hamburg Marriott Hotel or Renaissance Hamburg Hotel. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays on Thursday - Sunday nights at four Gaylord Hotels across the U.S. More... Until Mar 27, 16

South African Airways Voyager
- Fast Track to HHonors Gold Status when you complete 3 stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More...   Until Feb 29, 16

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles when you rent with Europcar Worldwide except for the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Feb 29, 16

Wyndham Rewards
- Double Wyndham Rewards Points on qualifying rentals at participating Avis locations worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 16

January 14 Update: Amex transfer bonus to BA returns, Choice Privileges changes point expiry rule, Air Canada North America bonus

Lots to bring you today!

News, Tips & Tricks
The big news today is of course the return of the American Express Membership Rewards transfer bonus to British Airways Executive Club. Read all about it here!

Air Canada has launched a new bonus for flying within North America! Find out more here.

Just like other pages on Rewards Canada where we list credit card offers by issuer, we are proud to announce that we have launched a page for Scotia cards. You can find details on many of their cards (and more to come) at www.rewardscanada.ca/scotia.html

Loyalty Traveler outlines changes to Choice Privileges expiry rules. You now have to activity in your account once every 18 months to ensure you keep your points. This policy takes affect on February 1st. Currently the rule is 24 months of no activity sees you losing your points. So as along as you complete a stay, partner point earning action (ie Car Rental), refer a friend or redeem points for something once every 18 months you won't lose any of your points.

Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings has extended their international flight bonuses from last year right through to the end of this year. That means you can earn bonus Fortune Wings Miles on their flights out of Toronto! See the bonus offer section for more details.

Although we cannot speak this weekend at the CPU in Vancouver you can still buy tickets and save $30 with our promo code REWARD30 at pointsu.ca


Posts since our last update:

• Air Canada: Earn up to 25,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for flights within North America
  Air Canada wants you to fly in Flex fares or higher and to do so they are offering this bonus…
• Amex Membership Rewards 25% Bonus when transferring to British Airways Executive Club is back!
  Amidst all the hubbub the last couple of days in regards to the American Express referral program getting devalued…
• Carrying a balance? The American Express AIR MILES cards are offering 0% balance transfer for 6 months for new customers
  A huge no-no for those of you holding travel rewards credit cards is to be carrying a balance for longer…

Travel Deals
Air France have launched a great seat sale for their flights out of Canada! Simply book by Feb 4 for travel throughout most of this year! There are great deals in both economy and business class. Find out more here!

• MALAGA from $ 625

• ZAGREB from $ 730

• PARIS from $ 749

• SOFIA from $ 779

• LISBON from $ 859

• ATHENS from $ 865

• NICE from $ 875

• VENICE from $ 899

Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Earn up to 25,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you fly Air Canada, Air Canada Express or Air Canada Rouge on a Flex Fare or higher within Canada, between Canada and the U.S., Mexico or Caribbean. More... Register and book by Mar 15 for travel until Apr 30, 16

British Airways Executive Club
- 25% Bonus Avios when you convert American Express Membership Rewards (Canada) points to British Airways Executive Club. More... Until Mar 28, 16

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 1,500 Gold Points PER DAY and save up to 25% on participating Alamo car rentals in the US and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- 1,500 Gold Points PER DAY and save up to 25% on participating National car rentals in the US and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at The Address Hotels + Resorts in Dubai. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Sep 30, 16
- Double Skywards Miles for stays at participating Anantara Hotels in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand, UAE, or Vietnam. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Double Skywards Miles for stays at participating Avani Hotels in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Seychelles or Vietnam More... Until Dec 31, 16
- 1,000 Bonus Skywards Miles PER NIGHT for stays at the JW Marriott® Venice Resort & Spa. More... Mar 20 - Apr 30, 16
- Double Skywards Miles for stays at participating Per Aquum Hotels in Maldives or UAE. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Double Skywards Miles and 25% off the Best Available Rate at more than 90 properties across the Shangri-La, Kerry, Hotel Jen and Traders brands Worldwide. More... Book by Mar 31 for stays until Dec 31, 16

Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus Fortune Wings Miles when you fly on Hainan Airlines international flights. More... Until Dec 31, 16

SAS EuroBonus
- 600 Bonus EuroBonus points per night for stays at Elite Hotels. More... Until Jan 31, 16
- Double EuroBonus points for weekend stays (Fri-Sun) at all First Hotels in Scandinavia. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- Double EuroBonus points for stays at the Grand Hotel Stockholm. More... Until Feb 29, 16
- Double EuroBonus points for stays at the Sheraton Stockholm Hotel. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- 2,500 Bonus EuroBonus points for Avis rentals of 2 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Feb 29, 16 for rentals Mar 1 - Dec 31, 16
- 1,500 Bonus EuroBonus points for all Hertz rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 16

SATA Imagine
- 200 Bonus Imagine Miles when you join the Imagine program. More... Ongoing

Air Canada: Earn up to 25,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for flights within North America

Air Canada wants you to fly in Flex fares or higher and to do so they are offering this bonus for flying within North America on such fares. You have to complete at least three segments to get a bonus of 1,500 miles and complete a whopping 21 segments the get the full bonus. That's a lot of flights to get the bonus that is equivalent to a Aeroplan award ticket within North America. The offer is also only valid on new bookings made from today (Jan 14) so if you already have some North American travel booked those flights will not count towards the bonus.

Offer Details
Earn up to 25,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you fly Air Canada, Air Canada Express or Air Canada Rouge on a Flex Fare or higher within Canada, between Canada and the U.S., Mexico or Caribbean. Register Online (Registration is required) Register and book by Mar 15 for travel until Apr 30, 16

Amex Membership Rewards 25% Bonus when transferring to British Airways Executive Club is back!

Amidst all the hubbub the last couple of days in regards to the American Express referral program getting devalued and the AeroplanPlus Gold card bonus being lowered there is good news! Thanks to our reader Ben S. for alerting us about the return of the 25% bonus when you transfer Membership Rewards points to British Airways Avios! The bonus which had disappeared for several years marked its first return last summer in June and ran through to the end of September. Now we see it again already! This is great news, albeit not as great as many years ago when the bonus was 50% but still good nonetheless.

This is one of the offers I look forward to especially since the base transfer rate to British Airways is 1:1. What does this mean? Well you can redeem for my too often mentioned YYZ-NYC roundtrip flight for only 7,200 Membership Rewards points as that flight can be had for 9,000 Avios* (or as little as $3,600 in spending on the Amex Gold Rewards Card), there no other card can match that little of spending for that flight! See other short haul options in our post "How to get select Canada to U.S. award flights faster by utilizing British Airways' Executive Club" 

 

 

This holds true as long as you transfer right away and redeem those Avios before February 2nd at which point these North America awards jump to 7,500 Avios one way or 15,000 Avios round trip. That means you need to redeem 12,000 Membership Rewards points to get one of these trips as the 25% bonus will boost that to 15,000 Avios.  

See this post: British Airways does away with the 4,500 Avios Short Haul Award in North America

 

So for as little as $6,000 in spending you can get this short haul trip, the next closest program is Aeroplan's short haul at 15,000 miles or $7,500 in spending on the Gold Rewards Card. 

 

The good news is that if you travelling abroad British Airways still has the 4,500 Avios Short Haul option in Europe and Asia so you can utilize this redemption for those short hops overseas!

Find out more about the American Express 25% transfer bonus which runs until March 28 here.

Personally I will be transferring some points over but need to work on numbers and planned travel over the next few months before I figure out how much I'm going to transfer!

Here are the best two cards for earning Membership Rewards Points:
American Express Gold Rewards Card
• Earn a Welcome Bonus of  25,000 Membership Rewards® points - our HIGHEST Gold Rewards Card offer - just by making $500 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership.
• No Annual Fee for the first year; $150 Annual Fee thereafter*
• That's enough for a round trip flight to almost anywhere in North America
• Transfer your points to frequent flyer programs, or 1:1 to Aeroplan®* and Avios
• Earn double points on eligible travel and everyday purchases
• Charge any travel to your Card theøaern pay for it with points
• 1 Free Supplementary Gold Rewards Card (a $50 value*) to help you earn points faster
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now  link.
• *As a Charge Card, the balance must always be paid in full each month. 30% annual interest rate applies to balances not paid in full.
Conditions apply
Apply Now

The Platinum Card from American Express
Earn 50,000 Bonus Membership Rewards® points by spending $1,000 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership
• Platinum members are automatically enrolled in the Membership Rewards First™ Tier and earn 1.25 points for every dollar in purchases charged to the Card
• The Platinum Card gives you access to exceptional lounge benefits such as the Canadian Platinum Lounge Benefit, Airport Club Program and access to the Cathay Pacific Business Class lounges and oneworld® alliance airlines Business Class lounges.
• You will also have access to elevated status with many Hotel & Car Rental loyalty programs, $200 Annual Travel Credit for Travel Bookings through Platinum Card Travel Service, lodging benefits at a collection of over 700 Fine Hotels & Resorts around the world, access to special events and unique opportunities and a dedicated concierge team
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link.
• *As a Charge Card, the balance must always be paid in full each month. 30% annual interest rate applies to balances not paid in full. Conditions apply

Apply Now

Carrying a balance? The American Express AIR MILES cards are offering 0% balance transfer for 6 months for new customers

A huge no-no for those of you holding travel rewards credit cards is to be carrying a balance for longer than a few months. The interest will kill you and any rewards you can get from these cards. As we mentioned in our post The upcoming year in travel rewards for Canadians: current state and predictions for 2016! the market in Canada has seen balances held on credit cards grow by roughly half a billion dollars in the last year or so!!! That's good for the credit card companies but bad for the consumer. A sign of the times I guess, people trying to make ends meet in this downtrodden economy filled with layoffs, wage cuts and more.

So what can you do? You can get a consolidation loan, you can get credit cards with lower interest rates or take advantage of balance  transfer offers like those just released by American Express on their AIR MILES cards. Now, you only get 0% for the first 6 months so this can save you some money on any balances you're carrying. Well only for half a year and then your paying it again. But hopefully 6 months is all you would need to pay off those balances! The great thing about both of the Amex cards offering this transfer balance of 0% is that they are both free, well the basic card is always free while the Platinum Card is free in the first year. This offer is only for brand new Amex cardholders, ie you cannot have any other cards in your name with Amex to get this offer.

Both cards have the following balance transfer offer:

Optional Balance Transfer Offer for new Cardmembers - Enjoy a 0% interest in first 6 months** if you choose to transfer your other credit card balances to this American Express card at time of online application.

** Offer only available to new Cardmembers. Cardmembers who currently hold a card by Amex Bank of Canada are ineligible for this offer. Offer is subject to approval up to an amount of $7,500 or 50% of your assigned credit limit, whichever is less. A balance transfer made at the time of application is eligible for a special interest rate of 0% for the first 6 billing periods, provided you meet the eligibility criteria specified in the offer terms and conditions and provided further that we always receive your minimum monthly payments by the date of the next billing statement. If either: (i) you still have an amount owing from your balance transfer when the special interest rate expires; or (ii) you do not make your minimum monthly payments by the date of the next billing statement (a "Missed Payment"), any remaining balance owing in relation to the balance transfer will be subject to interest at the rate then in effect for Funds Advances. The Preferred Rate for Funds Advances is currently 21.99% and will increase if you have additional missed payments. A 1% balance transfer fee will be charged on the transaction amount and interest is payable on the amount of this fee at the applicable interest rate for purchases. Please see the Product Information box on your online application for complete details on fees and interest rates. 

January 13 Update: Canadian Points U update, Flexibility feature update, up to 1,000 bonus miles for Marriott stays in Europe

Here is your mid week update!

News, Tips & Tricks
Due to a last minute scheduling conflict, I will no longer be speaking at the first Canadian Points University this Saturday in Vancouver. Don't worry thought you'll be in good hands with the other speakers and be able to learn tons about the world of points and miles for Canadians. If you haven't bought a ticket yet you can still use our promo code of REWARD20 to save $30 on your ticket at pointsu.ca

We updated our feature on Travel Points Card Flexibility! Be sure to check out how Not all Travel Points and Hybrid Credit Cards are created equal!



Posts since our last update:

• Redemption Stories: Etihad Guest miles were going to expire, so I redeemed them for merchandise!
  Shot of my Powerocks charger on RewardsCanada's Instagram! What do you do when you have some miles in an account…
• BMO CashBack World Elite MasterCard - Up to a $150 CashBack Bonus
  Sign up bonuses are few and far between for Cash Back credit cards in Canada. More often there are…

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Triple Flying Blue miles for stays at over 2,800 Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 24 for stays until Feb 14, 16

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Triple MilleMiglia Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at NH Hotels in Italy. More... Until Mar 31, 16

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles when you book hotels via Hotels.com. More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until Mar 31, 16
- Double Asia Miles and enjoy up to 25% off on car rentals of 3 or more days at participating HERTZ locations worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Mar 31, 16

JAL Mileage Bank
- Double JMB Fly On Points when you fly JAL Business Class between Nagoya (Chubu) and Bangkok. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- 500 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles when you redeem and fly JMB award tickets on Fuji Dream Airways. More... Until Mar 31, 16

Le Club accorhotels
- 100 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the Extra Saver Package at over 300 Accor hotels in 28 countries. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in Czech Republic, Slovakia or Poland More... Book by Feb 29 for stays until Mar 31, 16

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Airline Miles for stays at Marriott Hotels in Europe. More... Feb 1 - Apr 25, 16

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays in a suite at the W Bangkok. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Triple VHR Points & Double Elite Tier Status Points when you stay at any participating Voila Hotel Rewards hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- Double Elite Tier Credit for stays of 3 or more nights at any participating VOILÀ hotel worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 16
- 250 Bonus VHR Points for each person you refer to the VHR program. More... Until May 31, 16

Redemption Stories: Etihad Guest miles were going to expire, so I redeemed them for merchandise!

Shot of my Powerocks charger on RewardsCanada's Instagram!

What do you do when you have some miles in an account you don't use very often and those miles are about to expire? You redeem them that's what! Such was the case with my Etihad Guest account. I had earned a bunch of miles in the account for free when they were running an offer for free miles for connecting your personal account to a business EtihadConnect account. Seeing that I wasn't earning Guest miles anywhere else and the best viable flight option was a short haul in the Middle East that wasn't happening anytime soon I wanted to find a redemption I could actually use. The logical redemption was for some merchandise. Yes I know, that goes against what we discuss right here on Rewards Canada in that merchandise rewards are some of the worst value redemptions you can take advantage of. But is that really so? NO! True, if you have an account where you gain lots of miles or points in like Aeroplan or AIR MILES for so many Canadians then yes, merchandise rewards tend to be a bad value. But if you have miles and points in an account you don't use very often and know you won't get to a travel award then merchandise rewards are totally worth it.

I knew I was never going to use those Etihad miles for a flight so rather than let them expire I redeemed them for merchandise via the Etihad Guest Reward Shop (quite an amazing reward store I must admit!). Was it a good value. Heck ya! Rather then getting nothing and the miles turning into dust with a value of $0 I redeemed them for a Powerocks Super Stone3 Dual USB portable charger. It was something we needed in our family to provide a power source for when are away from the house, hotel or car. It cost me 13,096 Etihad Guest miles which included express shipping from the UAE. Best I can tell this unit sells for around US$109 (~C$140) plus shipping and handling from several locations overseas.

My estimate is that if I was to buy this unit from one of those places I would be looking at about C$170 total. This means I received a value of roughly 1.3 cents per mile redeemed. This is actually a good rate for merchandise seeing that most programs have values of below 1 cent per mile but the fact I got all my Etihad Guest miles at no cost the redemption was worth more than that!!

Bottom line is that if you have miles or points expiring in an account where you can't use them for travel reward or convert them to another program then redemptions like these make sense. It also shows that you should sign up for all those 'free miles/points' offers out there as you never know when you may just build up some of those oddball reward program accounts to a high enough balance to at least redeem for something!!

BMO CashBack World Elite MasterCard - Up to a $150 CashBack Bonus

Sign up bonuses are few and far between for Cash Back credit cards in Canada. More often there are fee waivers or increased category bonuses for a select amount of time when you first get a card. So when an actual sign up bonus arises it is newsworthy!

In this case it is for the BMO CashBack World Elite MasterCard and the offer sees new cardholders receive up to $150 in cash back. The $150 cash back bonus is broken down as follows:

Receive $50 in CashBack rewards after your first purchase, plus an additional $100 when you spend $3,000 in the first three month.

So you have to spend at least $1,000 a month on the card and seeing that it is a World Elite card that shouldn't be hard for the applicants who go for the card as they need to have $70,000 individual income or $120,000 combined household income.

In reality, you get $30 in the end as the card does have an annual fee of $120, so you could think of this as a first year free + $30 bonus cashback. The card does have a full suite of insurance benefits included which are great for travelling and the 1.75% back is a decent straight return for a cash back card. 

Card Details
· Get up to $150 CashBack BONUS*
· Earn 1.75% CashBack on ALL card purchases* without restrictions*!
· Complimentary Roadside Assistance Program*
· BMO CashBack World Elite Travel and Medical Protection*
· Extended Warranty Plus*
· Purchase Protection Plus*
· FREE additional cards BMO Concierge Service*
· 19.9% interest rate
· $120 annual fee
Apply online

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