WestJet Simplicity - Fast Track to Elite Status, On-time guarantees and more for flying the Eastern Triangle and to New York LGA

On May 6th WestJet launched WestJet Simplicity, a new initiative for their flights on the Eastern Triangle and to New York La Guardia from Toronto.

This is of course a competitive market with Air Canada and Porter competing on the Eastern Triangle not to mention that on New York flights all three compete with the U.S. carriers and even Brazil's TAM. So as an airline you need to try to differentiate yourself to attract and maintain those business travellers flying on those routes. WestJet previously provided some benefits for flying on the Eastern Triangle like triple WestJet Dollars etc. which ended last year. Now they have regrouped their offering and named it Simplicity. Some of the Simplicity features were around before like the complimentary alcoholic drink but now more has been added including a limited time Fast Track to Elite status offer. The 30 minute on-time service promise is a nice benefit that can reward your handsomely if your flight is late. Now is the time to look at flightstats.com and book those flights that tend to have a higher rate of delay!

Here are all the details of Simplicity:

Getting on an earlier flight just got easier.

And later flights too. We know your plans can change quickly when travelling on business, and when they do, our flexible Simplicity service will keep you on your way. Missed your flight? Finish a meeting early? Just arrive at the airport and we'll get you on another at no extra charge.²

Our 30-minute on-time service promise proves your time really is money.

If your flight on a Simplicity route is more than 30 minutes late, we'll credit your WestJet Rewards account with 25 WestJet dollars.³

• Receiving WestJet dollars
  Receive your WestJet dollars automatically within 30 days if you were a WestJet Rewards member at the time of travel and your WestJet Rewards ID was on the booking. If it has been more than 30 days, or your WestJet Rewards ID was not on the booking, please complete this form to request your 25 WestJet dollars.
• What if the flight is cancelled?
  If your flight on a Simplicity route is cancelled and you cannot travel on your re-accommodated flight, in addition to the 25 WestJet dollars, we promise to place the value of your original ticket in a future travel credit for you with no penalty. Simply notify WestJet or your travel agent that you wish to cancel the reservation and we'll do the rest.³

Be sure to join WestJet Rewards and include your WestJet Rewards ID on your future bookings to ensure any WestJet dollars compensation is automatically credited to your account.

We're ready when you are.

Our convenient schedule on Simplicity routes means we have a schedule that fits your schedule.

• 22 flights each weekday between Toronto and Ottawa
• 24 flights each weekday between Toronto and Montreal
• 16 flights each weekday between Toronto and New York LaGuardia

Unwind onboard.

Special on-board service including complimentary beer or wine and a light snack.⁴

Exclusive valet offer in Toronto.

Pull up to the curb and hand off your keys with our promotional valet offer in Toronto. Until June 30, 2016 enjoy a 20% discount off regular rates with Valet Care.⁵

Fast Track your way to Silver or Gold flight benefits.

To celebrate the launch of Simplicity, we’re making it simple for WestJet Rewards members to Fast Track their way to Silver or Gold flight benefits. Register and fly Simplicity routes between May 6 and July 15, 2016 and enjoy Silver or Gold flight benefits until June 30, 2017.⁶

• Get Silver flight benefits with a minimum of 6 eligible flights flown on Simplicity routes
• Get Gold flight benefits with a minimum of 10 eligible fights flown on Simplicity routes
• Existing Silver members, fly 4 eligible flights on Simplicity routes and get Gold flight benefits

Register now

What are your thoughts of Simplicity? Is it enough to have you move from Air Canada or Porter or an American carrier on YYZ-NYC? Let us know!

Choice Hotels Summer Promo: 8,000 Privileges Points after two separate stays

Choice Hotels Privileges is the next major hotel chain to release their summer systemwide promo and guess what? It's the same promo they run pretty much all the time!! They word the promotions differently in terms of get a free night, get a $50 gift card etc. however the gist of the promos are the same, they will award you enough bonus points after you complete 2 separate stays to have 8,000 points after those stays. In this case it is the $50 Gift Card offer in that you can use those 8,000 points to redeem for one of them at the 8,000 point level instead of 16,000 points if you redeem by September 30th (that is one month shorter than last year). Your better option is to use those points towards a future award night or even conversion to an airline program to top off an account for an award ticket.

Offer Details:
Earn up to 8,000 Bonus Privileges Points when you complete 2 separate stays at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. Stay must be booked via ChoiceHotels.com, the Choice Hotels mobile app, or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates. Members will be awarded a maximum of 8,000 bonus points, depending on the number of base points earned from the two (2) separate qualifying trips. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Until Aug 18, 16
Restrictions
For residents of the U.S. and Canada only

Two weeks left to grab the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card with up to 30,000 bonus miles & first year free

You have two weeks left to grab this card with its current higher sign up bonus of 25,000 miles (15,000 + 10,000) plus the first year free!! That's means you can get the 25,000 miles at no cost at all to you other than making your first purchase and holding on to the card for three months. You can earn an additional 5,000 miles when you add in a supplementary card to the account but that card will cost you $50 in annual fees as it isn't part of the first year free offering.

Offer Details
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. Full details Apply by May 27, 16

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
• Receive a Welcome Bonus of 15,000 Aeroplan Miles with  your first Purchase
• You could receive another 10,000 Aeroplan Miles when you keep your Account open and active for 90 days after Account approval                                           
• In addition, you could receive 5,000 Aeroplan Miles when you add an Authorized User to your Account by May 27 (Authorized User must call and activate their Card by July 15, 2016)                                                       
• Annual Fee Rebate for the first year(Primary Cardholder only) – that’s $120 in savings!
• Offer Valid until May 27, 2016
• Earn 1.5 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, grocery, drugstore and aircanada.com Purchases made with your Card.
• Earn 1 mile for every $1 you spend on all other Purchases on your Card.
• Earn miles twice when you pay with your TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card and present your Aeroplan Membership Card at over 150 Aeroplan partner brands and with 100 online retailers
• Your Aeroplan miles will not expire as long as you are a TD Aeroplan Credit Cardholder                                                                                                
• Enjoy an extensive suite of travel insurances8 for peace of mind on your next getaway.

Air Canada Benefits:
• Your 1st checked bag is complimentary when travelling on an Aeroplan flight reward operated by Air Canada (for Primary Cardholder)
• You get Priority Check-in when travelling on an Aeroplan flight reward operated by Air Canada (for Primary Cardholder)
•  You’ll enjoy Priority Boarding when travelling on an Aeroplan flight reward operated by Air Canada (for Primary Cardholder)

Earn Double Aeroplan Miles on Avianca Brazil flights

Air Canada is celebrating their codeshare partnership with Avianca Brazil by offering members double miles for flying on Avianca Brazil from May 15 to July 31st.

Offer details
Earn Double Aeroplan miles on all eligible routes and booking classes for every one-way segment flown with Avianca Brazil. Full details. May 15 - Jul 31, 16

Find many more Aeroplan bonus miles offers here!

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TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
• Receive a Welcome Bonus of 15,000 Aeroplan Miles with  your first Purchase
• You could receive another 10,000 Aeroplan Miles when you keep your Account open and active for 90 days after Account approval                                          
• In addition, you could receive 5,000 Aeroplan Miles when you add an Authorized User to your Account by May 27 (Authorized User must call and activate their Card by July 15, 2016)                                                       
• Annual Fee Rebate for the first year(Primary Cardholder only) – that’s $120 in savings!
• Offer Valid until May 27, 2016
• Earn 1.5 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, grocery, drugstore and aircanada.com Purchases made with your Card.
• Earn 1 mile for every $1 you spend on all other Purchases on your Card.
• Earn miles twice when you pay with your TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card and present your Aeroplan Membership Card at over 150 Aeroplan partner brands and with 100 online retailers
• Your Aeroplan miles will not expire as long as you are a TD Aeroplan Credit Cardholder                                                                                                
• Enjoy an extensive suite of travel insurances8 for peace of mind on your next getaway.

Hotel Review: Canalta Hotel Tisdale (Guest Post)

We welcome a hotel review guest post today from Bill W.! Bill has contributed to Rewards Canada previously with some AIR MILES topics. He is a true road warrior staying dozens of nights on the road throughout Western Canada. He saw my post on the Canalta Melfort and was kind enough to provide details on his stay at the sister hotel only 20 minutes away in Tisdale, Saskatchewan.

Here are some of my thoughts….

Very nice and clean hotel, certainly a point that the Canalta chain takes seriously.  Curb appeal is very strong. Even though it is the end of the winter season, the outside of the hotel is still kept very presentable and appealing, the first impression is very good.  The room I had was a 2-Queen room, but with just myself, it was certainly roomy enough. I always find it nice that they have the microwave, fridge and coffee maker as standard items in every room. I find the fridge to be the most useful amenity as keeping drinks cold and a place to store fruits or snacks is important to me.

No issues at all with the room, everything was in its place and very clean.  It’s nice to go to a hotel and actually get glasses made of glass instead of the plastic disposable cups that are more prevalent these days. The bathroom was very clean and the usual amenities were supplied (soap, make-up remover, shower cap and body lotion).  The shower has one of those multipurpose dispensers in it, with shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. I personally prefer an actual bar of soap over shower gel, so it was nice to see that you had an option. The only thing that I found to be lacking was the water pressure. Granted, being on the top (4th) floor and trying to use the shower at 7:00 am (high usage time), I would expect it to perhaps be a bit slow. However, even at 10:00 pm, the volume of water was still low.  No problem if you are taking a shower, but it could take a while to fill the tub for a bath.

Everything in the room was in good working order. They also have wired Internet access in addition to the wireless option. This is nice as we all know that the wireless speed can be “less than ideal” between 7:00 pm – midnight as this is usually a high demand period. As I am sometimes working on systems remotely, the wired option allows for a much stronger and speedier connection. This is one thing that I find to be very important when choosing a hotel.

This location has complimentary magazines and movies in the lobby area that you can take to your room. They do not provide a DVD player, but as virtually everyone travels with a computer, playback would not be an issue. (Tip: Always carry an HDMI cable with you. Even if you aren’t watching a DVD on your computer, you can always connect any electronic device with an HDMI output to the TV and watch things on the “big screen”).

The complimentary breakfast is adequate. There is ample supply of breads, bagels, and fruit.  The hot items were hash browns and sausage patties, but I didn’t see any eggs of any sort. There is  also the waffle station with mixed fruit and whipped cream offered along with the usual syrup.

I find the Canalta chain to be very consistent in the upkeep and operations of their locations.  I have stayed at Canalta hotels in Assiniboia, Drumheller, Humboldt, Oyen, Provost and Tisdale and always find the experience to be very positive. I can honestly say that I have never had a bad experience at any of the Canalta Hotels.

The Canalta Hotel Tisdale

Points required for a free night : 25,000 Canalta Rewards Points for standard room 

Want to be featured on Rewards Canada as a guest contributor? Contact us at info@rewardscanada.ca

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American Express Gold Rewards Card

New American Express® Gold Rewards* Cardmembers can 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 2 points for every $1 on eligible travel and everyday purchases
• Charge any travel to your Card then pay for it with points
• 1 Free Supplementary Gold Rewards Card (a $50 value*) to help you earn points faster
• You can use Apple Pay on your eligible device to pay for goods and services at participating American Express contactless merchants
• 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
* Canadian Residents Only

May 12 Update: 10 Free AIR MILES, Wyndham Rewards reveals elite status tiers & benefits, Fairmont resident rate deals in Alberta mountains

News, Tips & Tricks
Get 10 free AIR MILES for subscribing to Rexall emails. Simply sign up by May 31st. Find out more here.

Wyndham Rewards has now revealed the details of their new Elite Status program that will launch on May 18th. The new tiers and benefits are as follows:

As you can see all elite members get quite a few perks. Gold will get room upgrades and late check out while Platinum also gets early check in and Diamond gets all that including Suite upgrades, a welcome amenity and giving Gold status to another member! They are also providing benefits on award nights as follows:

Find out more about the new Wyndham Rewards Elite tiers here!

Posts since our last update:

• Hello! 60,000 point sign up bonus for the no fee Best Western Rewards MasterCard
  We've seen 40,000 and 50,000 point sign up bonuses for this card in the past while the standard sign up…
• Hotel Review: Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
  The end of April had me in Toronto again for a quick overnight trip as I was speaking at Scotiabank's…

Travel Deals
Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan residents can get some great rates (up to 30% off) for stays in Alberta's national parks at Fairmont Hotels. Alberta residents can enjoy all three Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper while Sask. residents get the discount at Lake Louise and Jasper and B.C. residents get the discount in Jasper. To find out more about these discounts visit the special offer page for the Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise or the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. 

Bonus Offers
Avianca LifeMiles
- Triple LifeMiles on Sixt rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 16

China Eastern Eastern Miles
- Double Eastern Miles Points and 4th night free for stays at participating Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 16

Etihad Guest
- Triple Guest Miles for stays at the Capital Centre Arjaan by Rotana. More... Until Nov 30, 16
- Earn up to 2,600 Bonus Guest Miles when you join Heathrow Rewards and complete some shopping. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Iberia Plus
- Earn up to Quadruple Avios on all stays at participating Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 16

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 9,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the Residence Inn Mt. Laurel at Bishop's Gate. More... Until Jul 11, 16

South African Airways Voyager
- Double Voyager Miles or each qualified stay at any Best Western property worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 16

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Up to 50% Bonus Status Miles&Smiles Miles when you fly Turkish Airlines between France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, or Malta and Istanbul. More... May 12 - Jun 30, 16
- Receive a 25% Miles&Smiles discount when you redeem miles to fly Turkish Airlinesbetween France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, or Malta and Istanbul. More... May 12 - Jun 30, 16


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[OFFER EXPIRED] Hello! 60,000 point sign up bonus for the no fee Best Western Rewards MasterCard

THIS OFFER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

We've seen 40,000 and 50,000 point sign up bonuses for this card in the past while the standard sign up bonus is 20,000 points. Well now we have a 60,000 point bonus for the mbna Best Western Rewards MasterCard. This card has no annual fee but you will need to hit some spending targets to get the 60,000 points.

You'll get the standard 20,000 points upon your first purchase with the card. Then an additional 20,000 points will be awarded with $1,000 in spend in the first 90 days of having the card and another 20,000 points if you hit $2,000 in spend in those first 90 days.

The rest of the card details are as such:
• Earn 1 Best Western Rewards® point for every $1 in eligible purchases‡
• Earn 5 Best Western Rewards® points for every $1 in eligible purchases at Best Western properties‡
• You will be awarded "Gold Status" upon first use of your credit card and "Diamond Status" when you spend $10,000 in eligible purchases within one year◊◊
• No limit to the Best Western Rewards® points that can be earned using the credit card in a year
• Use your Best Western Rewards® points in many ways – hotel stays, elite status upgrades◊◊, dining, airfare, gift cards and more.
• 1.99% promotional annual interest rate† (AIR) on balance transfers✪ for the first 10 full months
Apply now for the Best Western MasterCard® Credit Card 

With the points from this card you have various redemption options with the top two being free nights at Best Western hotels or converting the points to airline miles including Aeroplan. In fact for the latter we list this card as one of three you should get for the Ultimate Aeroplan Credit Card portfolio. The sign up bonus on this card is worth 12,000 Aeroplan Miles, so not a bad deal seeing there are essentially free outside of your spend. You can pull out better value however by using the points for actual award nights at Best Western Hotels (such is the case with almost any hotel program).

Free nights at Best Western run anywhere from 8,000 points to 24,000 points per night which means the sign up bonus could get you anywhere from 2 to 7 free nights.

For example you could do three nights at the Best Western Premier Bangtao Beach Resort and Spa and have points to spare:

 

The hotel itself doesn't seem too shabby for a BW! 

And there are many more options around the globe that you can choose from seeing that Best Western has over 4,100 hotels in over 100 countries.

Hotel Review: Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel

The end of April had me in Toronto again for a quick overnight trip as I was speaking at Scotiabank's Rewards Roundtable. If possible I try to funnel my stays to Starwood and the Sheraton Centre Toronto was one of the closer Starwood Hotel's to Scotiabank's head office so I decided to book it and try it out as I had never stayed at this location before.

The hotel itself just completed a major $120 million dollar renovation so I was really curious to see how it was!

Check in was pretty quick through the SPG Elite line with the agent letting me know I had been upgraded to a Junior Suite with Club access. The suite was on the 24th floor which meant I had to use a different set of elevators than those needed to access the Club Floor. Not a huge deal for me having to go down then back up to get to lounge.

The junior suite was very spacious and had a great view of Toronto's City Hall. In fact it had more room than I needed for my 16 hour or so hour stay at the hotel! The suite had a nicely appointed bedroom with a King Sweet Sleeper bed along while the living room had a pull out sofa, bar area, business desk and both rooms had huge TV's. What surprised me about the suite was the small bathroom that was, well, quite basic! But seeing as there was only one of me it was fine.  Overall it was clean, the amenities in the room were great. I can't compare it to what it was like before the reno but I definitely liked what they had done to room that I stayed in.

The Club Lounge is quite large especially when you compare it to the last lounge I visited at the Sheraton is Saskatoon. While large with what appears to be a wide spread of food, it actually did not provide a huge selection.  When I went for the evening hors d'oeuvres they were pretty much all colourless foods outside of the fruit and veggies, not that colour means much but look at my plate ;-) Overall it wasn't too bad in the lounge but I would have to say I prefer the smaller ambience of Saskatoon's lounge and would say S'toon's food was better.

 
Would I stay at this hotel again? I would say yes as it is located in a good spot, the renovated rooms are very nice but if I was travelling with the family I don't know if I would take the junior suite as you all know with my post from last week "Any other family travellers frustrated with hotel suites?" that we aren't liking the whole one bed + pull out situation found in many of them.

How about you? Have you stayed at the Sheraton Centre Toronto? What are your thoughts of the hotel?

Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
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

May 11 Update: Air Canada Earn Your Wings returns on Monday, fly to Florence for C$699 with KLM, up to 25,000 AAdvantage miles on Transatlantic flights

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Canada's Earn Your Wings promotion returns this Monday! All we have to go on is the info from AC Earn Your Wings twitter account but if the past few years are any indication it will only be available to AC Altitude members.

Posts since our last update:

• American AAdvantage: Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Miles for flights between Canada and the U.K. or Europe
  American AAdvantage is once again offering a really sweet bonus for flying across the pond to Europe or the…

Travel Deals
Wednesday means KLM's Wild on Wednesday offer! This week its Florence Italy for $699 all from the east or $999 from the west (that's a huge jump for us out west as usually it is only a $150 premium!) Find out more here

Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Quadruple Bonus Miles for Avis rentals of 2 or more days in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, North America, Mexico and Dominican Republic. More... Book by Jun 4 for rentals until Jun 30, 16

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 25,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you fly American, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia or OpenSkies between the U.S., Canada, Mexico and U.K. or Europe. More... Until Jul 31, 16

Caribbean Airlines Caribbean Miles
- Earn up to 6x Caribbean Miles when you rent with Hertz Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 16

Etihad Guest
- 1,000 Bonus Guest Miles for stays at Marriott Hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. More... Until Jun 30, 16

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S.. More... Until Jun 2, 16

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for Sunday night stays at participating Accor hotels in Italy More... Book by Jun 10 for stays until Jul 3, 16

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Shenzhen. More... Until May 31, 16

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays of 3+ nights at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel New Orleans. More... Until Sep 23, 16


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