April 14 Update: Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card is out and been added to our comparison chart, SPG Triple Up Promotion details

News, Tips & Tricks
Sometime ago we mentioned details about a new cash back credit card that was going to be released from Tangerine. Well it was released about two weeks ago which means the new Tangerine Money-Back credit card has been added to our Cash Back comparison chart. The card provides up to a 4% return for the first three months then a 1 to 2% return after. See how this card compares to other cash back cards here.

Starwood Preferred Gust has released the details of their next major stay offer. Registration isn't open yet but the offer once again requires stays of 2+ nights to achieve a bonus. Those bonuses are triple Starpoints at Sheraton hotels, double everywhere else. There will be an extra 1,000 points thrown in for stays that have weekend night included. This time not all locations are participating however those that are not are few and far between.  Find out more here

Posts since our last update:

• Join Marriott Rewards and earn up to 35,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for your Marriott stays
  Similar to offers we saw in 2015, Marriott has come out with a new acquisition campaign that awards bonus…

Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- Double Miles&Bonus Miles for worldwide hotel stays booked via booking.com. More... Until May 8, 16

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 115,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy miles online. More... Until Apr 28, 16

British Airways Executive Club
- 1,000 Bonus Avios when you stay 2 or more nights at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to Quadruple Asia Miles when you rent a car at participating Avis locations in Asia Europe, Middle East, Africa & North America and Pacific. More... Until Jun 30, 16
- 1,000 Bonus Asia Miles for the online purchase of a Family Package or Group Package or 200 bonus miles for a single one-day ticket to Thailand’s Cartoon Network Amazone Waterpark. More... Until Jun 30, 16
- Earn up to Quadruple Asia Miles for stays at participating Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by May 31 for stays Jun 1 - Aug 31, 16
- Earn up to Triple Asia Miles for stays at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 2, 16

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Express & Iberia Regional on select routes within Europe. More... Register by Apr 20 for travel until Sep 30, 16
- Double Avios when you fly Cathay Pacific between Madrid and Hong Kong. More... Register by Jun 30 for travel Jun 2 - Jul 31, 16
- 1,000 Bonus Avios when you stay 2 or more nights at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Icelandair Saga Club
- 5,000 Saga Club Points when you take advantage of the Icelandair stopover program on an Icelandair flight. More... Until ?
- 35% Bonus Saga Club Points when you buy or gift points online. More... Until Apr 30, 16

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 35,000 Bonus Miles when you join Marriott Rewards and complete stays at Marriott Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn up to Triple Starpoints for stays of 2 or more nights at all Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Register May 3 - Jul 17 for stays May 9 - Jul 31, 16


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Join Marriott Rewards and earn up to 35,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for your Marriott stays

Similar to offers we saw in 2015, Marriott has come out with a new acquisition campaign that awards bonus miles for customers who join Marriott Rewards. The nice thing is that this year's offer includes Aeroplan! As long as you joined after April 8th or are not a member yet and join now you can be eligible to earn the bonus miles on your stays. You only get 90 days to max out the promotion so plan it out carefully to maximize the number of stays to achieve the most bonus miles you can. Which means, don't register until a day or two before your first stay! If Aeroplan is not your cup of tea there are 9 other airline programs to choose from!

Offer details
Earn up to 35,000 Bonus Miles when you join Marriott Rewards and complete stays at Marriott Hotels Worldwide.
Earn 1,500 bonus Miles for your first stay, 1,500 bonus Miles for your second stay, and 2,000 bonus Miles for your third stay onwards, up to a total of 35,000 bonus Miles in addition to base Miles, during the promotion earning period. You must complete your stays within 90 days of enrolment.
Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)
Participating Airlines:
Air Canada / Aeroplan
British Airways Executive Club
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Copa Airlines ConnectMiles
Emirates Skywards
Iberia Plus
Jet Airways JetPrivilege
TAM Multiplus
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
South African Airways Voyager

April 13 Update: AIR MILES DETOUR to bring a concert to small town Canada, WestJet Fanwagon and lots of new bonuses

News, Tips & Tricks
AIR MILES has introduced a pretty cool program that reminds me of Kraft's Hockeyville promotion. One small Canadian town will get a big name concert in the first edition of AIR MILES DETOUR:

The AIR MILES Reward Program kicked off AIR MILES DETOUR, a new music program that will reward one lucky Canadian community with an incredible once-in-a-lifetime live music performance, featuring Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Meghan Trainor.

Five small Canadian communities including Nelson, BC., Mulmur, ON., Port Hawkesbury, NS., Morin Heights, QC and Moose Jaw, SK., will be competing to host Meghan Trainor for an unforgettable concert this summer!

The winning community will be selected by AIR MILES Collectors across the country. Starting today, Collectors can go online to register for their preferred community. Beginning May 1, every AIR MILES Reward Mile collected at participating Partners will count as one vote towards their chosen community.

You can register for the program here and help the community of your choice win this concert!

On another fun program note, WestJet launched the WestJet Fanwagon today! The WestJet Fanwagon is based in Toronto and on night when the Blue Jays are at home playing will travel to different locations in TO and will host up to 10 lucky Blue Jays fans. From there they may be lucky enough to be invited to WestJet's Flight Deck at the Rogers Centre to enjoy the game. Find out more here!

Posts since our last update:

• Hotel Review: Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon
  Continuing the reviews from our latest family trip in Saskatchewan where we had a stay at the Canalta Hotel Melfort...
• Miles & More Award Ticket Sale - Save 50% on Economy Class award tickets between Toronto and Austria
  As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This…
• WestJet Rewards: Earn up to 80 bonus WestJet Dollars between Toronto or Halifax and Boston
  WestJet is celebrating their new flights to Boston with this very attractive route launch bonus. The more you fly to…

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- 5,000 Bonus Club Premier Points on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Jun 30 for stays until Dec 31, 16
- 25% Bonus Club Premier Points when you convert Starpoints into Club Premier Points. More... Until Apr 30, 16
- Earn up to 6x Club Premier Kilometers for Hertz rentals in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. More... Until Jun 30, 16

British Airways Executive Club
- 3,000 Bonus Avios on your first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Jun 30, 16

Delta SkyMiles
- 2 SkyMiles for every dollar spent on stays across the United States and Canada at any Starwood hotel or resort, such as W®, Westin®, Sheraton® and Aloft®. More... Register by Jun 24 for stays until Jun 30, 16

Etihad Guest
- 3,000 Bonus Guest Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking. More... Book by May 31, 16

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn at least 65,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points and Free Nights to share when you stay at IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Valid for residents of North and South America only May 1 - Sep 5, 16

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double TrueBlue Points on all one-way or roundtrip Boston Mint flights for the month of AprilMore... Until Apr 30, 16

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- 3,000 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking. More... Book by May 31, 16
- Double KrisFlyer Miles for stays at any Novotel Hotel Worldwide. More... Book by May 31 for stays until Jun 30, 16
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay for at least two consecutive nights in the Premier Club or Premium Suite at Concorde Hotel Singapore. More... Until May 31, 16
- 1,000 KrisFlyer Miles when you stay for at least two consecutive nights on a qualifying rate at Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya. More... Until May 31, 16
- Double KrisFlyer Miles and enjoy a complimentary upgrade to the next room category (subject to availability on check-in) and complimentary breakfast when you stay at Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Maldives for a minimum of two nights. More... Until Aug 31, 16
- Double KrisFlyer Miles and enjoy a complimentary upgrade to the next room category (subject to availability) when you stay at Kempinski Hotels Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 16
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay at any participating Mandarin Oriental hotel Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 16
- Earn up to 35,000 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles when you join Marriott Rewards and complete stays at Marriott Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus KrisFlyer miles when you book a car at participating HERTZ locations for 3 or more days in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. More... Until Jul 31, 16

WestJet Rewards
- Earn up to 80 Bonus WestJet dollars when you fly on WestJet between Toronto or Halifax and Boston. More... Register and book by May 31 for travel until Jun 28, 16


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Hotel Review: Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon

Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon
SPG Category: 4

Points required for a free night 10,000 Starpoints

Cash+Points Requirement: 5,000 Starpoints + US$75 per night for standard rooms

Photo credit: Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon

Continuing the reviews from our latest family trip in Saskatchewan where we had a stay at the Canalta Hotel Melfort (see the review here) that was then followed up by a stay at the Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon Hotel for a couple of nights.

It seems like the Rewards Canada family is always staying at Westin or Four Points hotels and can't recall the last time we actually stayed at SPG's Sheraton brand so we were excited to try the brand again.

We arrived at the hotel around 1pm and our room was ready for early check in. Being an SPG Gold Elite member we were offered a suite for our stay but as is usually painful for families, suites in many hotels like this one only have one bed and a pullout. Fine for families with little kids but my kids are getting older and growing like weeds so a double pullout couch just doesn't cut it. Instead we stayed with our originally booked two queens room but were provided the room on the 8th floor which is the club lounge floor that came with access to the Club Lounge.

Here are pics of the room we got on the 8th floor:

Rewards Canada's youngest photo bombing the bathroom pic!

The room was decent sized for our family with more room than what we had at the Canalta earlier in the week. It was clean and well appointed with the beds being super comfortable, we all got great sleeps on the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper beds! Bathroom was nice however guessing that we were on the 8th floor in this relatively old building the water pressure was only so-so. The only other issue is that for part of the first day the heat didn't work in the room. While it wasn't exactly freezing outside, it still is Sasktachewan in March so the room was cold. The room had the motion sensor thermostat meaning the heat only operated when someone was in the room but even with us in the room the heat didn't turn on. A quick call to the front desk had maintenance up in a few minutes with a small heater for us but after he reset the system somewhere outside our room the heat started up again and we had not issues for the rest of the trip. It was nice touch for them to bring up the portable heater though! Overall the service in this hotel was great from everyone from the front desk, to maintenance, to housekeeping and the lounge staff.

Despite the room and service being great overall the highlights of the stay were the Club Lounge and the of course the water park! The food in the lounge was very good overall with decent hors d'oeuvres and offered great hot foods for breakfast as well. Its nice having access to the lounge, especially for breakfast. The service from the lounge attendants was great and the overall atmosphere of the lounge was amazing. Here are some pics from of the lounge and some of the food offerings:

And then there is the water park. River Country Waterpark as it is called offers two pools, two hot tubs and a large water slide. It was a hit for the kids as they spent tons of time on the slides and in the pools while Mom and Dad relaxed in the hot tub and even the pool as it is heated to a nice temperature. We didn't get any photos of the Waterpark but here is one from the Sheraton Cavalier website:

If your travels take you to Saskatoon this is definitely one of the places that should be on your list to stay at. I know the hotel books up quite often especially on Friday and Saturday (my wife wanted to stay here last year but it was full so she stayed next door at the Delta Bessborough) so be sure to book early if you know you are off to Saskatoon. And the pricing isn't that bad during slower periods, we stayed on a Sunday/Monday and the hotel was under $150 per night.

Have you stayed at the Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon? What are your thoughts of the hotel?

 

Miles & More Award Ticket Sale - Save 50% on Economy Class award tickets between Toronto and Austria

As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This month we see only a 50% discount on economy class travel on Austrian Airlines between Toronto and Austria. These Austrian offers are good for booking and travel until June 30th

You can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip tickets on Austria from Toronto to Austria for only 30,000 miles. This is a 50% discount off the normal Economy Class award ticket price of 60,000 miles. 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. 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 June 30th.  
Full details on this offer can be found here

WestJet Rewards: Earn up to 80 bonus WestJet Dollars between Toronto or Halifax and Boston

WestJet is celebrating their new flights to Boston with this very attractive route launch bonus. The more you fly to BOS the more WestJet dollars you'll get. They are definitely going after the business traveller with this promo but don't let that stop you even if you only have one flight planned to Boston during the promotional period as no matter what the bonus is you should always take advantage of it to boost your balance.

Offer details:
Earn up to 80 Bonus WestJet dollars when you fly on WestJet between Toronto or Halifax and Boston. Earn 25 bonus dollars per one way flight. Register Online (Registration is required) Register and book by May 31 for travel until Jun 28, 16

Number of one-way flights	Bonus WestJet dollars earned
1	10 WestJet dollars
2	10 WestJet dollars
3	10 WestJet dollars
4	10 WestJet dollars + additional bonus of 40 WestJet dollars
Bonus after 4 one-way (or 2 round-trip) flights	80 WestJet dollars

April 12 Update: Starbucks Rewards Gold Status with 1 purchase, RBC Rewards up to 50% off award sale, Ultimate WestJet Rewards Credit Card portfolio

News, Tips & Tricks
As we mentioned yesterday The new Starbucks Rewards program went live today. The new version isn't good for those who spend less than ~$5 per transaction but better for those who eclipse that. You now earn 2 Stars per dollar spent with a free drink coming it at 125 Stars. Gold Status now takes 300 stars but the good news is that with the launch of the new program as long as buy one drink or food item by May 2nd you'll be granted Gold Status! Find out more at Starbucks.ca

RBC Rewards members can save up to  half the points required when redeeming for hotels and vacation packages today and tomorrow during their 48 hour reward sale. Find out more here.

We released our third Ultimate Credit Card portfolio today, WestJet Rewards. Find out which MasterCard, Visa and Amex you should be carrying to maximize your travel on WestJet. Other porfolios to date include Aeroplan and Cashback.

Posts since our last update:

• The Ultimate WestJet Rewards Credit Card Portfolio
  In this feature of Rewards Canada' Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios we look at the ultimate wallet for earning and redeeming…
• IHG Rewards Club's Share Forever now open for registration - Earn 65,000 or more bonus points & free nights to share
  IHG's Share Forever Promotion has returned for this summer and now it is open for registration. Offers will vary…
• Rocketmiles: 3,000 Bonus Miles/Points in the program of your choice for your first booking including Aeroplan
  If you have signed up with Rocketmiles but haven't booked with them yet you would have received this email!…

Travel Deals
Air France has launched a new Worldwide seat sale for their flights out of Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver). You can fly to Europe and beyond for as little as $695 all in! Book by Apr 20 for travel until May 31. Find out more at Airfrance.ca

 

Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
- Double topbnus miles on all inner-Asian routes and selected intercontinental flights of Hainan Airlines and Grand China Air. More... Register and book by Jun 30 for flights until Jul 31, 16
- Double topbnus miles when you collect miles from 24 hotel, car rental and other non-airline topbonus partners. More... Until May 15, 16
- Double topbnus miles on all Enterprise rentals in North America and Europe. More... Until May 15, 16
- 250 topbnus miles on your first ride with myDriver. More... Ongoing

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Earn up to Triple MilleMiglia Miles for select round trip international flights on Alitalia. More... Valid for residents of Argentina, USA, Korea, Japan, Brazil and Canada only Book by May 31 for travel until Jul 31, 16

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at Anantara, AVANI and PER AQUUM hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 16

Korean Air SKYPASS
- Triple SKYPASS MIles for stays on the Best Available Rate at any participating Accorhotels worldwide. More... Book by May 13 for stays until Jun 26, 16

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S.. More... Until May 5, 16

Miles & More
- 1,500 Bonus Miles & More MIles for every qualifying stay at Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Novotel Suites and Mercure hotels. More... Until May 31, 16
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Miles & More Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels in Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia. More... Until Jun 30, 16
- Triple Miles & More Miles for stays at Jumeirah Hotels in Dubai and the Maldives. More... Jun 1 - Aug 31, 16
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at all participating Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts in Europe. More... Until Jun 15, 16
- Triple Miles & More Miles for Europcar r entals worldwide, except in the USA and Canada. More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals until May 31, 16
- Double Miles & More Miles on Hertz rentals of 1 or more days at participating HERTZ locations worldwide. More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals until Jun 30, 16

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays at Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Latin America and Caribbean. More... Until Jun 30, 16

United MileagePlus
- Up to 50% Bonus MileagePlus miles when you buy or gift miles online. More... Until Apr 25, 16

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The Ultimate WestJet Rewards Credit Card Portfolio

In this feature of Rewards Canada' Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios we look at the ultimate wallet for earning and redeeming WestJet Rewards. We have always recommended that you should carry a Visa, a MasterCard and an American Express card in your wallet. The reason why is that there are benefits, promotions and earning potential unique to each brand of credit card. We won't go into detail here as you can read all about it in our feature on how to Maximize your Miles and Points but here we outline one card from each brand that will help you build up those WestJet dollars faster than ever and/or save on your WestJet flights. Ultimately there are various options that could be utilized for a WestJet portfolio but we look at one card from each issuing family that won't totally break the bank on annual fees but will provide strong WestJet dollars earning along with very strong insurance and travel benefits.

Continue reading this article on the main Rewards Canada website

IHG Rewards Club's Share Forever now open for registration - Earn 65,000 or more bonus points & free nights to share

IHG's Share Forever Promotion has returned for this summer and now it is open for registration. Offers will vary by member and we encourage you to post what you receive below in the comments section. We received the 65,000 Bonus Points offer along with 1,000 points + 1 Free Night to share. I need to complete 34 nights to achieve the full bonus points. Not happening on my end. Probably get to 5,200 or 8,000 as I'll have lots of stays at non IHG Hotels

Offer details
Earn at least 65,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points and Free Nights to share when you stay at IHG Hotels Worldwide.  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) May 1 - Sep 5, 16 Valid for residents of North and South America only

It's funny as my first reward level doesn't match what they have in the terms and conditions which state the first level should be:

Rocketmiles: 3,000 Bonus Miles/Points in the program of your choice for your first booking including Aeroplan

If you have signed up with Rocketmiles but haven't booked with them yet you would have received this email! Even if you didn't or haven't signed up with them you can take advantage of this offer. Remember bookings credited to Aeroplan count towards your Aeroplan Elite Status

Offer details:
3,000 Miles/Points in the Rocketmiles partner program of your choice for your first stay booked via Rocketmiles. Stay must be booked via the special promotion page at www.rocketmiles.com/jazz-3k. The bonus can only be earned once per member. Book by Apr 15, 16