Wednesday, October 5, 2016

This is the fall to earn tons of Aeroplan Miles for your hotel stays!


When you don't stay at or aren't loyal to one hotel brand your best bet for earning miles or points is not with a hotel loyalty program but rather with an airline partner. For most of us Canadians that
means Aeroplan. They have a large portfolio of hotel partners and right now you can earn bonus Aeroplan miles with a whole bunch of them! So if you have one stay at a Novotel in Toronto and then a stay with Best Western in Edmonton this fall you can earn thousands of extra miles with Aeroplan. There are several that require registration before you stay so we recommend registering for them right now so you don't forget and miss out on those miles!

Here is the current list of hotel bonuses that Aeroplan members can take advantage of:

Accor Earn up to Quadruple Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Accor hotels Worldwide. Earn 3x miles until Dec 15 and 4x Miles from Dec 16 to Jan 5. Full Details, registration and Online Booking (Registration is required)
Select automatic conversion to convert your Le Club AccorHotels points into Aeroplan in your Le Club AccorHotels account preferences
Book by Dec 31 for stays until Jan 5, 17
Best Western 2,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at any Best Western in the United States (including its territories), Canada, the Bahamas, or Haiti that is booked via the Air Canada website. Full details Until Nov 30, 16
Best Western 1,750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles (8x) for each qualified stay at any Best Western® branded hotel in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands. Full details, Online Registration and Booking (Registration is required) Until Nov 30, 16
Coast Hotels Earm up to Quadruple Aeroplan Miles when you convert Coast Rewards Points to Aeroplan Miles. Full details. Until Oct 14, 16
Coast Hotels Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S. Full details. Until Nov 30, 16
Choice hotels Double Aeroplan Miles for stays at over 5,500 Choice Hotels Worldwide. Full details and online booking. Until Nov 30, 16
Fairmont Hotels 1,000 FREE Aeroplan Miles when you join Fairmont Hotels President's Club. Enroll here (enrollment code is embedded). Until Nov 15, 16
Double Aeroplan Miles for stays at select Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in Canada, US, Bermuda, Barbados and Mexico. Register online (Registration is required) Until Dec 31, 16
Double Aeroplan Miles when you book the Choose Your Moment with Visa offer at participating Fairmont Americas properties and pay with your Visa card. When you spend a minimum of $850, you’ll receive a $150 credit at check-out. Full details and online booking. Until ?
Double Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts worldwide when booking select Fairmont Experiences. Full details and online booking.
Ongoing
Hilton Hotels Triple Aeroplan Miles when you stay at at participating Hilton hotels in Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Jul 18 - Nov 18, 16
IHG Triple Aeroplan Miles when you stay at IHG Hotels Worldwide. (InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental® Alliance Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN® Hotels, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Holiday Inn Resort®, Holiday Inn Club Vacations® hotels, Staybridge Suites® or Candlewood Suites® hotels)  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Until Dec 15, 16
Marriott Earn up to 2,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays at anyone of 100+ Marriott Hotel locations in Canada. Full details and online booking
  • - 1 night = 750 Bonus Miles
  • - 2 nights = 1,500 Bonus Miles
  • - 3 nights = 2,000 Bonus Miles
  • - 4 nights = 2,500 Bonus Miles
Until Jan 31, 17
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) Until Dec 31, 16
Rocketmiles Earn 2,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking booked via the special promotion page at www.rocketmiles.com/aeroplan2k. The first time booking bonus can only be earned once per member. Book by Dec 31, 16
Starwood 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Full details and online booking. Until

Hertz Autumn Sale: Up to 25% Off and Bonus Miles/Points with a variety of airlines for rentals in 100+ countries (Book by Oct 10)

The semi-annual Hertz Global sale is back and as we see with the sale there are bonus mile offers for select airline partners to go along with the sale.The sale offers up to 25% off Hertz rentals of 2 or more days in any one of over 100 countries including Canada when you book by Oct 10 for rentals until Dec 15, 16. To see what the discount is by country you can check out the list here.
Example of the discounts available


The bonus miles offers we know of so far are as follows with the Cathay Pacific and SAS EuroBonus being your best bets:

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Triple Miles
Book here

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer - Double Miles
Book here

Jet Airways Jet Privilege - Double Miles
Book here

Miles & More - Double Miles
Book here

Qatar Airways Privilege Club - Double Miles
Book here

SAS EuroBonus - 1,500 Bonus Points
Book here

Saudi Alfursan - Double Miles
Book here

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - Up to Triple Miles
Book here

SriLankan FlySmiles - Double Miles
Book here

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus - Double Miles
Book here

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Receive 15% Bonus dollars when you convert RBC Rewards Points to WestJet Rewards

Yesterday saw the return of the RBC Rewards transfer to WestJet Rewards. Those RBC Rewards points collectors who hold a RBC credit card can transfer their points to WestJet Rewards and receive a 15% bonus on the total dollars deposited. This means for every 100 RBC Rewards Points transferred you'll receive $1.15 WestJet dollars. This is the same bonus seen this past May/June and runs until Nov 14, 16

Offer Details
15% Bonus WestJet Dollars when you convert RBC Rewards Points  to WestJet Rewards. Full details Until Nov 14, 16

Great Transfer bonus from Coast Rewards to Aeroplan! Earn up to 300,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles

We last saw an amazing transfer bonus from Coast Rewards to Aeroplan way back in March of 2015 (read here) where you could transfer 12,500 points from Coast Rewards to get 50,000 Aeroplan Miles. The new offer works a little differently but if you have hoarded your Coast Rewards points then you are in for a win-fall when converting to Aeroplan. You can get anywhere from 2,000 to 300,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert points. That's right, 300,000 freaking Aeroplan miles.

These are transfer levels and the miles you'll get:
1,000 Coast Rewards Points = 3,000 Aeroplan Miles (1,000 base + 2,000 bonus)
5,000 Coast Rewards Points = 15,000 Aeroplan Miles (5,000 base + 10,000 bonus)
10,000 Coast Rewards Points = 30,000 Aeroplan Miles (10,000 base + 20,000 bonus)
and they run as triple miles until the top level where Coast Rewards will quadruple the amount
100,000 Coast Rewards Points = 400,000 Aeroplan Miles (100,000 base + 300,000 bonus)


I don't know how many of you out there would have 100,000 Coast Rewards Points as there are only 35 hotels to earn points at with a 1 point to 1.5 point / dollar earn rate but since it is an option I suspect there may be one or two of you and for you to get 400,000 Aeroplan Miles is pretty sweet. The website doesn't state an end date for the promotion so we called Coast Rewards to see when it ends and you have until October 14th to take part in it. You can find out all about this promotion here.

October 4 Update: Episode 3 of the Podcast available, SPG transfers to Marriott do not extend expiry and lots of bonuses!

News, Tips & Tricks
Episode 3 of the Rewards Canada Podcast is now out! Download it via our Podcast page or check for it on iTunes.

Speaking of the Podcast, you can now access the it from any page on the main Rewards Canada website as it has been added to main nav bar!


Hilton HHonors has released their latest Standard Room Rewards update. This is where Hilton notifies us of what hotels may be moving up or down in reward categories. Hilton moved to this dynamic method quite some time ago instead of releasing annual changes like most other hotel chains. This lates release does not see any locations moving up or down but does provide the category details of the newly opened Home2 Suites by Hilton Fort St. John. It enters the market as a Category 4 hotel. Find all the hotels that are changing outside of Canada here.



Rewards Canada reader IceHelgi asked us the following question:  
"Any idea if transfer between accounts counts as transaction to keep Marriott points from expiry?"

We reached out to Marriott and the answer is no, these transfers do not keep Marriott Points from expiring. So even if you transfer 10,000 Starpoints to Marriott to get 30,000 Rewards Points, if your account was set to expire in 3 months it still will unless you have an eligible earning or redemption action. I'm guessing most of you would only transfer to Marriott for an immediate or near immediate redemption so it shouldn't affect you but it is still good to know that transfers do not count as qualifying activity.

Posts since our last update:


Bonus Offers

AeroMexico Club Premier
- 5,000 Bonus Club Premier Points for stays at Best Western Hotels in Mexico. More... Until Nov 30, 16
- Earn up to Triple Club Premier Points for Sixt car rentals Worldwide. More... Until Dec 17, 16

Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Earn up to Quadruple Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Accor hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Dec 31 for stays until Jan 5, 17
- Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S. More... Until Nov 30, 16

Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- October Promo Awards - Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. More... Book by Oct 31 for travel between Nov 1 - Jan 31, 17

British Airways Executive Club
- Triple Avios for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Oct 1 - Dec 31, 16

Delta SkyMiles
- 250 Medallion Qualification Miles and Double Miles when you complete a qualifying stay of two nights or more at any Hilton Hotel Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles for stays of two nights or more at one of eight Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in Europe. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- 777 Skywards Miles and get up to 15% off Hertz rentals of 5 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Nov 30 for rentals until Dec 15, 16

Le Club accorhotels
- 4X Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at new Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Nov 30, 16

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Double FlySmiles Miles and get up to 25% off Hertz rentals of 2 or more days in any one of over 100 countries. More... Book by Oct 10 for rentals until Dec 15, 16

WestJet Rewards
- Fast Track to Elite Status - Get Silver or Gold Status with lowered spend requirements. More... Until Dec 18, 16


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Hilton HHonors - Triple Points on all stays if you book via the HHonors App


As you may already know the current Hilton HHonors systemwide promotion is for double points on all eligible stays. Well that bonus just got better with the announcement that you'll earn TRIPLE POINTS if you book your stays via the HHonors app. If you have already registered for the promotion you don't have to do anything but book through the app (get the app here) if not then simply follow the registration link below to register for the offer and then book through the app.

Offer details
Earn up to Triple HHonors Points for all eligible stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide. Earn Triple points if the stay is booked via the HHonors app or Double Points for all other eligible booking methods.  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Until Dec 31, 16

Find many more HHonors bonuses here!

You can earn even more HHonors points if you pay for the stay with the American Express Gold Rewards Card as it will net you 2 Membership Rewards Points per dollar which translates to 2 HHonors Points per dollar. This means that you could earn at least 37 points per dollar spent on your Hilton stay (10 base + 5 bonus if your earning style is Points+Points +20 bonus points with the promotion booked via the app + 2 points with the Amex Card) This does not take into account any Elite Bonuses you may earn nor more points on the Amex if your Hilton stay is another currency and converts higher to C$.

Earn Triple Aeroplan Miles for Coast Hotels stays in Canada and the U.S.

The Aeroplan hotel stay bonuses just keep rolling out! Here is one for those travelling out west who may want to stay at Coast Hotels.

Offer details:
Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S. Full details. Until Nov 30, 16

Find many more Aeroplan bonuses here!

And remember if you use a card like the American Express Gold Rewards Card to pay for your hotel stay you'll earn 2 Membership Rewards Points per dollar which translates to an additional 2 Aeroplan Miles per dollar. A great way to keep boosting your Aeroplan balance!

Monday, October 3, 2016

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for October

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of October! 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 all of the cards on this list for October are first year free so you can try them all at no cost, get over $800 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.
   
This month we once again go with an all no fee in the first year or ever selection of cards. The only change is the drop of the BMO AIR MILES MasterCard (still 800 miles and free so it is a good offer) for the MBNA Best Western Rewards MasterCard new 40,000 point offer. 

So here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for October (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 $1,500 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 article for details.)


American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card - 2,000 Reward Miles (Apply here)
Despite all the rough press surrounding AIR MILES and their expiry rules the program can still have its advantages especially with free miles. 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 to 50,000 points awarded on approval 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. Please note there is a 50,000 point offer floating around that is specific for Marriott Elite members and some people are reporting that they getting the points while some others are not. YMMV but no matter what you should get at least 30K.



mbna Best Western Rewards MasterCard (Apply here)
Right now there is an offer for 40,000 Bonus Western Rewards points with this card! With no annual fee to boot! We detail the offer in this post that shows just how much value you can pull out of the card with this 40K bonus!



mbna Rewards World Elite MasterCard (Apply here)
Also a newcomer to our Top 5 sign up offers, the mbna Rewards World Elite MasterCard doesn't have a terribly high sign up bonus, only 10,000 points worth $100 but it is first year free ($89 after that) so you are getting those $100 for free. It is also a straight 2% back card for travel OR cashback. Definitely a card for those really just wanting to earn a lot of points.


If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with over $800 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

Earn up to 4x Aeroplan Miles for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide


We have a new Aeroplan bonus for Accor Hotel stays to let you know about! This time you can earn triple Aeroplan miles on all Accor stays Worldwide (over 3,000 hotels, 8 in Canada excluding Fairmont) until December 15th. After that date until January 5th the bonus is boosted to four times the miles.

Offer details
Earn up to Quadruple Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Accor hotels Worldwide. Earn 3x miles until Dec 15 and 4x Miles from Dec 16 to Jan 5. Full Details, registration and Online Booking (Registration is required) Book by Dec 31 for stays until Jan 5, 17
Select automatic conversion to convert your Le Club AccorHotels points into Aeroplan in your Le Club AccorHotels account preferences

New WestJet Fast Track offer to Silver and Gold Elite Status


If you weren't able to get in on the last Fast Track offer from WestJet Rewards because you didn't hold elite status in any travel rewards program don't worry as they have launched a new challenge for you!

This is an offer we've seen before from WestJet and is open to any WestJet Rewards member. This fast track offer requires you to hit lowered spend levels with them to be fast tracked to either Silver or Gold Elite status. The thresholds are lowered even further if you have a WestJet RBC MasterCard


Enjoy Silver or Gold flight benefits through December 2017 when you register for this promotion and achieve one of the following:
  • Get Silver flight benefits with minimum $1,000 qualifying flight spend on flights flown between October 3 and December 18, 2016,*
or
  • Get Gold flight benefits with minimum $1,500 qualifying flight spend on flights flown between October 3 and December 18, 2016.*
Normally the requirement is $4,000 in spending to earn Silver status and $6,000 in spend to earn Gold. This is significant reduction in the requirement but you do only have a about 2.5 months to hit those spend levels.

They have added a WestJet RBC MasterCard component as well that lowers those requirements by $500. So if you have the card or apply for it and get it during the promotional period you only have to have $500 in spending for Silver or $1,000 for Gold.

Register Online (Registration is required)
Here are some of the benefits you receive with Silver or Gold Status: