May 4 Update: New mbna Rewards MasterCard, donate Aeroplan Miles for Ft. McMurray, Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers

News, Tips & Tricks
Recently mbna released a new mbna Rewards MasterCard. Think of it as the entry level version of their popular mbna Rewards World Elite MasterCard. This new card carries no annual fee and comes with a 5,000 point sign up bonus worth $50 towards any travel or cash back. The card earns 1 mbna Rewards point per dollar which equates to a 1% return. Pretty standard for a no fee card! You can find our more about the card here and also check it out on the following Rewards Canada comparison pages: Travel Points & All Travel Credit Cards

You can donate Aeroplan Miles to help with the Ft. McMurray wildfire. Aeroplan themselves started it off with a donation of 1 million miles. Find out more here.

Over on FFB we cover American AAdvantage's 35th Anniversary promotion. Canadians can't enter the contest portion but we should have no problem getting the 350 or 700 FREE AAdvantage miles! Find out more here.


Posts since our last update:

• Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for May
  Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of May! This is not…
• Registration now open for SPG's Triple Up - Earn up to Triple Starpoints on your Starwood stays Worldwide
  Registration is now open for Starwood Preferred Guest's next global promotion called Triple Up. Eligible stays starting on May…
• Hertz Gold Plus Rewards: Earn up to Triple Points on your Hertz Rentals + 25 Free Points for registering
  Offer Details: Earn up to Triple Gold Plus Rewards Points + 25 Free Points on rentals at participating Hertz…

Travel Deals
Carlson Hotels is offering 25% off the Guest Room Retail Rate when you stay from Thursday to Sunday at participating Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu®, Radisson RED, Park Inn® by Radisson and Park Plaza® hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Simply book by June 9 for stays until September 30th. Find out more here

 

Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- Earn up to Triple Airline Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 16

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to Triple Airline Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 16

EVA Air Infiniity MileageLands
- Earn up to Triple Airline Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 16

Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings
- Earn up to Triple Airline Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 16

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia on select routes Worldwide. More... Register by May 12 for travel until Jun 30, 16
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Express on select flights in Europe. More... Register by May 12 for travel until Jun 30, 16
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Regional Air Nostrum on select flights in Europe. More... Register by May 12 for travel until Jun 30, 16
- Triple Avios for stays at Ibis and Ibis Styles hotels around Spain and Portugal. More... Book by Jul 2 for stays until Sep 5, 16
- Triple Avios for stays at the Hotel Banke Paris. More... Until Jun 30, 16
- Double Avios for stays at the Hotel Caesar London. More... Until Jun 30, 16
- Triple Avios for stays of 3 or more nights at the Hotel Playa de La luz. More... Until Jun 30, 16
- Double Avios for stays of 3 or more nights at the Hotel Jerez & Spa, Villa Jerez or the Duque de Nájera. More... Until Jun 30, 16
- Double Avios on stays of 5 or more nights at Meliá and Sol brand Hotels in Spain. More... Book by Jun 30 for stays Jun 15 - Sep 15, 16
- Triple Avios on weekend stays of 2 or more nights at NH Hotels in Spain. More... Until Jun 30, 16
- Triple Avios on stays of 2 or more nights at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 17
- 750 Bonus Avios on Avis car rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Jun 30 for rentals until Jul 15, 16
- 3,000 Avios on Avis car rentals of 3 or more days including a Saturday night in Spain. More... Book by Jun 30 for rentals until Jul 15, 16
- Earn up to 8,800 Bonus Avios when you subscribe to the Economist. More... Until Jun 30, 16

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Save up to 40% when you redeem Golden Circle Points for room awards and upgrades. More... Until Jun 30, 16


Follow Rewards Canada:

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for May

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of May! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards that have very good acquisition offers. As always when choosing a card you should always take other factors into account other than the sign up bonus, but when most or all of these cards are first year free, they can and do pay off even when not taking into account insurance packages and other non-reward benefits. In fact 4 out of 5 cards on this list for May are first year free so you can try many of them out at no cost, get over $1,000 in rewards and decide later on if the card is right for you. All the while earning the sign up bonus which can be used to subsidize your travels!  Just ensure you drop any cards you don't like before your 1st year anniversary.
   
We've brought the Starwood card back in even though it has an annual fee. It is still one of the best cards out there with the sign up bonus being worth well over $400 alone meaning after the annual fee you'll net at least $280 in value if not more meaning it provides more value than the TD First Class Visa Infinite card which we featured last month.

So here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for May (in alphabetical order)

American Express Gold Rewards Card - 25,000 Points (Apply here)
A mainstay offer here on Rewards Canada, the American Express Gold Rewards card has its first year fee of $150 waived and will award you 25,000 Membership Rewards points when you complete $500 in spending in the first three months. That 25,000 points is worth a $250 travel credit via Amex's TripFlex feature or can be converted to 25,000 Aeroplan Miles (1 Round trip Economy Award ticket within North America) or 25,000 British Airways Executive Club Avios (as much a 3 one way Economy Award tickets in North America, see this post for details.)


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

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa - 30,000 Points  (Apply here)
The best no foreign transaction fee card in Canada makes it to this list due to a very strong acquisition offer. I mean who can complain with 30,000 points awarded on approval and a certificate for a free night stay at a Category 1-4 hotel for a potential of 5 free nights, all at no cost as the card has the annual fee waived in the first year! They also give you a 15 night credit into the mix which automatically provides you with Marriott Rewards Silver Elite status.


Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express - 20,000 Starpoints (Apply here)
With the sign up bonus remaining at 20,000 Starpoints this is the only card in this list that doesn't have the first year fee waived. That doesn't matter. This is by far the best hotel points card in Canada and Starpoints have huge value. The 20,000 Starpoint bonus when you spend $500 on the card is worth at least $400 when redeeming them for Starwood Hotel stays or you can convert them to airline miles in over 30+ programs and Starwood will kick in an additional 5,000 miles when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints at a time.

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - 25,000 Miles (Apply here)
Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles and a 100% rebate off your first year annual fee when you apply for and receive the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card.  15,000 Bonus miles awarded on first purchase, 10,000 after 90 days and 5,000 for adding an authorized user. That means those 25,000 are free and worth well over $400 and you'll save the $120 fee in the first year. The 5,000 additional miles for the authorized user come with a $50 cost for that additional card.


If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with over  $1000 in travel credits and hotel free nights but even if you only take on one or two you are helping your travel budget significantly at no cost other than regular credit card spend

Registration now open for SPG's Triple Up - Earn up to Triple Starpoints on your Starwood stays Worldwide

Registration is now open for Starwood Preferred Guest's next global promotion called Triple Up. Eligible stays starting on May 9th will count towards your bonuses. There are some hotels not participating but that list is quite small compared to past promotions that had hotel opt outs.

Offer details:
Earn up to Triple Starpoints for stays of 2 or more nights at all Starwood Hotels Worldwide.
Earn Triple Starpoints at Sheraton® hotels and resorts
Earn Double Starpoints at all other brands
Earn an extra 1,000 Starpoints for stays that include a Friday or Saturday night (Thursday or Friday night in the Middle East)
Full Details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Register May 3 - Jul 17 for stays May 9 - Jul 31, 16