Tuesday, October 18, 2016

October 18 Update: Podcast Episode 4 is now out, Aeroplan change fees increase & updates to our Travel Medical Insurance coverage

News, Tips & Tricks
The latest Rewards Canada Podcast came out yesterday. You can listen to it via our Podcast page or via iTunes. Google Play is in the works!


We've added a 'Travel Hacking' table of contents to the Rewards Canada website so that you can easily access any Travel Hacking articles we post. Find that table of contents here.

A late congratulations to Shaun D. who won the 2 Tickets to the Aeroplan Exclusives Private Event "An Unforgettable Evening with Bon Jovi" in Toronto - Courtesy of Aeroplan & Rewards Canada which was held last night!

We reported sometime ago that American Airlines is cancelling their Halifax-Philadelphia service this coming January well it looks like Delta has seen this as an opportunity to bring back their New York JFK-Halifax route that ended on October 1st. The route will relaunch on January 9th. (Source Routesonline)



Posts since our last update:

Bonus Offers

American AAdvantage
- 20% Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you convert Marriott Rewards points to AAdvantage miles. More... Until Nov 14, 16

Amtrak Guest Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Guest Rewards Points for weekend stays at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts in North and Latin America and French Polynesia. More... Until Jan 31, 17

Avianca LifeMiles
- 25% Bonus LifeMiles on all hotel stays booked via Rocketmiles. More... Book by Nov 30, 16

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points for stays at the Regent Contades, BW Premier Collection - Strasbourg More... Until Jan18, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating ibis and ibis styles hotels in Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Slovkaia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating hotels in Warsaw. More... Until Nov 27, 16
- Earn up to 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating hotels in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 1,000 Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles when you make a qualifying 2 night stay at one of the participating Marriott properties in Turkey. More... Until Dec 31, 16

United MileagePlus
- 1,500 Bonus MileagePlus Miles for every night you stay at one of more than 50 participating Waldorf Astoria and Conrad Hotels & Resorts locations Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Earn up to 75% Bonus MileagePlus miles when you buy miles online. More... Until Oct 31, 16



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Get elite status with eight hotel reward programs, one airline and one cruise program with The Platinum Card from American Express


Here is one of those non-point or miles hacks to consider if you travel at least a few times per year. If you travel lots chances are you hold elite status with at least one or a couple of hotel chain frequent guest programs so this may not apply to you. But what if you only travel semi-frequently and can't hit those 25, 50 or more nights required from various programs. Or maybe you just got hired on with a company and will travel lots in 2017 but won't get hotel status until later in the year or in 2018? Or maybe your company books the lowest rates for each of your trips and has you with a different brand every time so that you can't hit those stay or point level requirements in each program for status? Then what do you do? You get yourself The Platinum Card from American Express.

The card has some of the most exceptional benefits of any card in Canada but also comes with a somewhat hefty annual fee of $699. That being said you can easily make use of the $699 with the annual $200 travel credit (use it for one of those hotel stays or for flights etc.), the airport lounge access (see our Guide to Business Class lounge access here) and tying in with this post, it gives you elite status with three hotel frequent guest programs that can then be extended to other programs that match status. In the end you should hold some sort of elite level status with a minimum of six hotel chains covering over 15,000 hotels worldwide.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with the following Elite Status benefits:


Here are just some of the benefits you get with each of the above programs:
Starwood Preferred Guest (Marriott Rewards) Gold Status


Hilton HHonors Gold Status

Radisson Rewards Gold Status



Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle Jade membership

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Elite Silver Status
Of note, Shangri-La has a partnership with Singapore Airlines in the likes of Marriott's with United and how SPG had with Delta, Emirates etc. The partnership is called Infinite Journeys and provides Shangri-La Jade members with automatic Silver status in Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer program and a fast track offer to Gold Status (only 3 Singapore or Silk Air flights required). There are some other benefits included in this partnership. Find out more about Infinite Journeys here



When you get the card, register for all the above elite hotel offers. Once you have confirmed you have elite status then you're set to extend those statuses to other programs that guarantee status matches:

1. Best Western Rewards Status Match
Best Western has had one of the longer running status match offers and it is very easy to get.  Simply put the Elite Level Status Match Best Western Rewards will match your other Hotel Reward program status with no catch. The level you get depends on what Best Western thinks the equivalent level is in their program. My Hyatt Platinum status gave me Best Western Diamond status. I would use the Marriott Gold as the program to match since that one technically needs 50 nights to achieve versus SPG's 25 nights so Best Western may see you as more frequent guest deserving a higher status. Full details
Some benefits of the three levels you would be matched to:

2 Choice Hotels Privileges Status Match
An offer that has been around for a couple years but was only opened up to Canadian residents in 2018 is the Choice Hotels Privileges Status Match. After you submit your details including proof of your other status you'll receive an answer in 7-9 days as to what level they will match you to. Full details
 Some of the benefits of the Choice Hotels elite levels:



3. Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass Status Match
This small chain with hotels in the U.S., South America, Caribbean and Egypt will Elite Status Match to preferred and elite status levels in other hotel programs. Full details

 Some Sonesta Travel Pass benefits:


4. Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
Not well publicized, the Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer program also offers status matches - they only state this in their FAQ. Seeing they only have two levels, you should be matched to Elite status as you see below. Full details


5. MSC Cruises Voyager Club
Per the comment from Andrew P. below MSC Cruise will status match in their Voyager Club to hotel programs as long as you register 14 days prior to your cruise date.  Full details


You can then also try other hotel programs like Voila Hotel Rewards or the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels My Millennium program who seem to be good at matching programs (sourced from Statusmatcher.com)

Its not only you who can get status!
Now what makes the card even better, is that if you add an additional Platinum Card ($175) that additional card holder is offered all the same benefits. So your spouse or significant other or even maybe your adult children who still live at home can all get the same elite status offers that are listed above! We've done this in the Rewards Canada household and it makes for great travel for your loved ones when they don't travel with you as they don't have to rely on you for those special status benefits! And for only $175 its a great deal! Not to mention the additional cardholder also gets the lounge access and other associated benefits with the card.

Here are the details of the card:

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Plus Your Points returns - Up to 200 Free Points, Double Points on rentals and more!


Enterprise has launched their annual Plus Your Points promotion a few weeks earlier than in past years! Here are the details of the return of Enterprise Rent-A-Car's Plus Your Points promotion. This year they have focused a lot on the rentals as you can now earn the double points on rentals for a longer period of time and we also see the free points offers jump from up to 70 to up to 200 if you tweet about the promo, log in on the app, opt into email communications and go paperfree

Offer Details
Double Plus Points,  up to 200 Free Points + many more points for collecting badges on qualifying rentals at participating locations. Register Online (Registration is required) then book online at Enterprise.com Until Jan 20, 17

THE FOLLOWING BADGE OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE TO ALL REGISTRANTS:
Registration badge:  20 bonus points when you register for the Promotion.
Double Points badgeDouble point bonus if they pick up and return any qualifying rental. Double points will be calculated by doubling the number of base points earned for a qualifying rental. The qualifying rental can be no longer than 28 days.
Airport Weekend badge:  75 bonus points for a rental at qualifying airports in the U.S., Canada that are less than five days in length, include pick-up on Thursday, Friday or Saturday and include Saturday overnight.
Neighborhood Weekend badge: 75 bonus points for a rental at any non-airport location in the U.S., Canada that are less than five days in length, include pick-up on Thursday, Friday or Saturday and include Saturday overnight.  
Survey badge:  75 bonus points when you complete a brief survey.
  THE FOLLOWING BADGE OPPORTUNITIES ARE SUBJECT TO ELIGIBILITY:
App Download badge:  One-time bonus of 50 points if you download and sign into the Enterprise Rent-A-Car® App.
Email Opt-in badge:  One-time bonus of 50 points when you opt in to receive emails from Enterprise.
Go Paperless badge: One-time bonus of 50 points  if you are an Enterprise Plus member residing in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and opt in to receive you Enterprise Plus membership materials electronically.  
Keep Driving badge:  One-time bonus of 150 points if you complete three (3) qualifying rentals at participating Enterprise Rent-A-Car.  The qualifying rentals can be no longer than 28 days.
Rental via Mobile App badge:  50 bonus points when you reserve using the Enterprise Rent-A-Car® App and complete the rental.  The qualifying rental can be no longer than 28 days.
Rent in Europe badge: One-time bonus of 75 points if you rent at a participating Enterprise Rent-A-Car location in Europe. The qualifying rental can be no longer than 28 days.
Rent Online Badge: 50 bonus points when you reserve a rental on enterprise.com. The qualifying rental can be no longer than 28 days.

Second Rental badge:  150 bonus points on your second qualifying rental at participating airport and neighborhood locations worldwide.  
SiriusXM® Satellite Radio badge: One-time bonus of 250 points if you add SiriusXM to a qualifying rental at participating locations in the continental U.S. (additional fees may apply).  
Surprise badge:  One-time bonus of 100 points when you click on the Surprise badge within a randomly assigned one week (seven (7) day) window in which the Surprise badge will appear in your dashboard. 
Weekly Rental badge:  One-time bonus of 75 points for a qualifying Weekly Rental must be between five and fourteen days in length. 
Twitter badge:  50 bonus points when you share the qualifying Plus Your Points message, which includes the #plusyourpoints hash tag, on your Twitter account.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Travel Reward Credit Card Medical Insurance Coverage - Updated and refreshed!

Our original post on this topic from 2013 has now been updated, refreshed and placed on the main Rewards Canada site

With the emergence of Credit Card Emergency Travel Medical Insurance coverage over the past 7-8 years, we have been receiving more and more requests from some of Rewards Canada 'seasoned' readers about coverage once they hit 65 years old. I did look into this a few years back and just personally responded via email to those who asked. But somehow when 2013 hit, I have already received numerous emails asking about which credit cards provide Emergency Travel Medical Insurance coverage for people over the age of 65. So we figured it was best to summarize all the information into one post.

Read the full article here!

Ouch! Aeroplan increases fees to change or cancel award tickets

Not the news we like to start off with on a Monday but several of our readers alerted us to this latest change from Aeroplan over the weekend. In some ways it isn't surprising to see this. We can almost come to expect annual changes or devaluations to programs, we see it with airlines and hotels alike. Aeroplan likes to make their changes in fall and since last fall saw changes in mileage requirements for many premium class tickets it would have been detrimental for Aeroplan to adjust their charts again only one year later. So what is the next best thing to help the bottom line? Why not change the change fees associated with Aeroplan award tickets. And change them they did. It doesn't look good and for some they may now just let Aeroplan tickets lapse instead of changing or cancelling them. If you book a short haul round trip flight for 15,000 miles and want to change the dates of both flights it will cost you $200+taxes. Want to cancel the flight and get a refund, it will cost you $150. These are pretty high fees for a ticket that may only be worth $150-$200 before taxes and fees. So the increase in fees works two fold, it increases revenues on those tickets that are changed or cancelled and it also 'breaks' some miles for those who won't pay the fees and allow the ticket to go unused.

These are the new fees that take effect on December 6th:

What was the old fee? A flat $90+ taxes which means refunds up to 22 days prior have gone up by $60 and changes on a round trip ticket have gone up by $110. That's huge! The only little shimmer of light in these changes are for Aeroplan Diamond status members when they cancel flights and get a refund as it will only cost $30+taxes if done online. They also save $15 if only changing one direction of an Aeroplan award ticket. Change both directions and that Diamond member is paying $60 more than is currently charged.

Tickets booked prior to December 6th will still follow the old fee rules so you may want to try and get your Aeroplan bookings in place before them if you are someone who changes them up after booking.

What does this mean for members with flight rewards booked prior to December 6, 2016?

For any flight reward bookings made prior to December 6, 2016, the previous non-refundable fee of C$90 plus taxes applies. For members with Aeroplan diamond status, in the event that the new fee structure is more favourable, the lowest fee will be applied if the change or refund is made after December 6, 2016.


Thoughts everyone? (I know they won't be favourable :-) ) 

Friday, October 14, 2016

October 14 Update: Air Canada opens new Maple Leaf lounge in Newark, 2,000 Twitter followers and more!

News, Tips & Tricks

Air Canada has opened a new Maple Leaf lounge in Newark! This is third Maple Leaf lounge in the U.S. (Source Air Canada) If you don't have elite status or aren't flying business class you can always buy a Maple Leaf lounge membership to access the loung (see more in our Guide to Business Class lounge access)
Air Canada is pleased to provide eligible Air Canada and Star Alliance customers a new Maple Leaf Lounge at Newark Liberty airport. We recognize that business and premium customers have additional requirements, including the need for a quiet place to work while travelling, and our new Maple Leaf Lounge is designed with this in mind. The new lounge also compliments our Boeing 787 Newark-Vancouver service featuring our Business Class – Transcontinental product, with lie flat suites in Business Class," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada.
The new Newark Liberty International Airport lounge is the third U.S. Maple Leaf Lounge – Air Canada also operates lounges in New York City at LaGuardia Airport and at Los Angeles International Airport. The Newark lounge offers customers refreshments, complimentary Wifi, and work facilities that include complimentary printing capabilities, all in a relaxed and quiet club-like atmosphere. It is also conveniently located past security close to Air Canada gates, so customers can easily board their flights directly after leaving the lounge. The new lounge further strengthens Air Canada's position as the leading carrier operating between Canada and the New York City region.

In case you wondering where the latest Rewards Canada weekly podcast is, it will be out next week! We took this week off from recording for the Thanksgiving holiday. Watch for it to come out early next week.

We reached 2,000 followers on Twitter today. I know, not a huge amount but still a milestone! I would like to thank everyone who follows us on Twitter! If you don't yet you can do so here.

You still have some time to enter our two contests! The Aeroplan one ends at 2pm EST and the Club1Hotels ends at 4pm EST!
- Win 2 Tickets to the Aeroplan Exclusives Private Event "An Unforgettable Evening with Bon Jovi" in Toronto - Courtesy of Aeroplan & Rewards Canada
- Free Club1Hotels Luxury Hotel Booking Membership worth $675 + a chance to win $250 towards a booking!


Posts since our last update:
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Travel Deals
Fairmont Hotels
is offering 30% off rates and free buffet breakfast for 2 for stays at select locations in Canada and the U.S. Book by October 21, 2016 for stays between December 16, 2016 and March 5, 2017.Find out more here.



Bonus Offers

Avianca LifeMiles
- Double LifeMiles when you stay two or more nights at participating Starwood hotels and resorts in Latin America or the Caribbean More... Until Dec 15, 16

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to 2,500 Bonus Guest Miles when you rent with Avis in Europe Middle East and Africa. More... Until Dec 31, 16


Hyatt Gold Passport
- 20% Bonus Gold Passport Points on eligible spend when you stay at any participating Las Vegas Hyatt and MGM properties. More... Oct 19 - Dec 29, 16

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Earn up to Triple Mileage Bank Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for Silver, Gold and Platinum members who complete stays at Novotel and Mercure hotels in Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Lithuania. More... Until Dec 13, 16

MEA Cedar Miles
- 50% Cedar Miles Discount on all MEA round-trip Cedar Miles reward tickets. More... Nov 4 - Dec 7, 16


Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun. More... Until Apr 30, 17

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Double FlySmiles Miles when you fly SriLankan between Colombo and Seychelles. More... Book by Oct 31 for travel Oct 31 - Dec 31 16



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Thursday, October 13, 2016

October 13 Update: You have one day left to enter our 2 contests, another United MileagePlus devaluation and some good bonuses too!

News, Tips & Tricks
We've got two contests currently running on Rewards Canada that both end tomorrow so be sure to enter them if you haven't yet!

- Win 2 Tickets to the Aeroplan Exclusives Private Event "An Unforgettable Evening with Bon Jovi" in Toronto - Courtesy of Aeroplan & Rewards Canada 


- Free Club1Hotels Luxury Hotel Booking Membership worth $675 + a chance to win $250 towards a booking! 

United MileagePlus has essentially built in another devaluation to their program. What was initially thought to be a glitch is in fact reality. Now when you build your own multi-city intinerary on United.com instead of just taking what United computers presents you will be charged the full mileage for each leg - whether the booking is online or via an agent does not matter. Read more at View from the Wing

Posts since our last update:


Bonus Offers
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Earn Triple Gold Points for stays at any one of the three Radisson RED hotels in Brussels, Campinas or Minneapolis. More...Register & book by Nov 30 for stays Nov 1 - Feb 28, 17 



Emirates Skywards
- Quadruple Skywards Miles for stays at one of 80 Hyatt hotels across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 3,000 bonus QMiles for hotels booked via Agoda PointsMAX. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 31, 16
- Double QMiles for stays at the Kigali Marriott Hotel. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Double QMiles for stays at Wyndham Rewards Hotels Worldwide starting with your second stay. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 7, 16

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

- Earn up to Triple KrisFlyer Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 17

Win 2 Tickets to the Aeroplan Exclusives Private Event "An Unforgettable Evening with Bon Jovi" in Toronto - Courtesy of Aeroplan & Rewards Canada


We're proud to team up once again with Aeroplan to offer our readers another contest! Aeroplan wants to give one lucky Rewards Canada reader two tickets to their private event "An Unforgettable Evening with Bon Jovi"" in Toronto on October 17th. This event is limited to only 1,250 people!
You will be among the first to hear their new songs, in a concert brought to you in partnership with Universal Music and Shed Creative Agency. This will be the Grammy-winning band's only performance in Canada to celebrate the launch of their new album This House is Not For Sale!
See this Aeroplan Exclusives page for complete details!

More Details:
Date: Monday, October 17th
Time: Doors open at 6 pm.  Auditorium doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm.
Location: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 190 Princes’ Boulevard, Exhibition Place, Toronto
Both attendees will need to print, complete and sign a Media release form (Rewards Canada will send these once the winner is confirmed) and bring it with them for tickets pickup. The tickets will be held at the table under their name and picture ID is required to pick up the tickets.

Now on to the fun part! The contest portion! To enter the contest for a chance to win 2 tickets to  Aeroplan Exclusives "An Unforgettable Evening with Bon Jovi" in Toronto you must do the following:

Comment below on what your ultimate bucket list Aeroplan redemption would be or has been? It could something as simple as a gift you want to grab for your child this Christmas or business class flights to Asia or one of the one-of-a-kind Exclusives rewards!

Please note Flights and/or hotel are NOT included - only the two tickets to the actual event on October 17, 2016. Please only enter if you know you have the ability to attend this event!

The contest closes on Friday October 14th, 2016 at 12:00pm MST! Limit 1 entry per person. Winner will be determined by random draw from all eligible entries received. Void where prohibited.  No purchase necessary. 

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

October 12 Update: Marriott Contest 3 Winners, Emirates expands WestJet code share, Fairmont Super Sale

News, Tips & Tricks
At the end of September we ran our third Marriott Contest of the year and the lucky winners were dominated by B.C.. The 30,000 points went to Joe B. of Duncan, B.C. and the 15,000 points went to Bob G. of Kimberley B.C.. Congrats to the two of you! We have more coming from Marriott and Rewards Canada in the coming weeks so stay tuned!

Emirates is expanding their code sharing with WestJet with the addition of their flight numbers on four of WestJet's flights between Calgary and four of Emirates' gateway cities in the U.S. (Source Routesonline)
Emirates operated by WestJet
Calgary – Chicago O’Hare
Calgary – Los Angeles
Calgary – New York JFK
Calgary – San Francisco

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals 



Fairmont Hotels is offering 30% off rates and free buffet breakfast for 2 for stays at select locations in Canada and the U.S. Book by October 21, 2016 for stays between December 16, 2016 and March 5, 2017.Find out more here.


 
Participating Destinations:

Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park
Claremont Club & Spa, A Fairmont Hotel, California
Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston
Fairmont Dallas
Fairmont Grand Del Mar, San Diego
Fairmont Newport Beach
Fairmont San Jose
Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa
Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Quebec
Fairmont Le Château Montebello
Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, Charlevoix
Fairmont Tremblant, Mont Tremblant
Fairmont Palliser, Calgary


Bonus Offers
Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Triple MilleMiglia Miles for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays Oct 15 - Dec 30, 16

British Airways Executive Club
- Triple Avios on all eligible stays at Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 16
- Earn up to Quadruple Avios for stays of 2 or more nights at Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 17

Hilton HHonors
- 50,000 Bonus HHonors Points when you complete 4 stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide within 90 days of registering. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Jan 12, 17
- 25,000 Bonus HHonors Points when you complete 4 stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide within 90 days of registering. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Jan 12, 17
- 15,000 Bonus HHonors Points when you complete 2 stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide within 90 days of registering. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Jan 12, 17

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S. More... Until Nov 3, 16

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at one of 6 hotels in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Samara or St. Petersburg. More... Booking Oct 26 - Jan 16, 17

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More miles for stays at selected Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in Europe. More... Until Dec 29, 16
- Double Miles & More miles for stays at one of 25 Meliá Hotels in Germany. More... Book by Oct 30 for stays until Dec 31, 16
- Double Miles & More miles for stays at all Mövenpick hotels and resorts in Africa. More... Until Nov 30, 16
- 1,000 Bonus Miles & More miles on Avis rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for rentals until Dec 16, 16
- 1,000 Bonus Miles & More miles on Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for rentals until Dec 15, 16


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