Friday, December 9, 2016

December 9 Update: AeroMexico to YYC, now book JAL flights with Mileage Plan miles, dine & earn SCENE bonus points

News, Tips & Tricks
AeroMexico is further expanding their presence in Canada. The SkyTeam Alliance airline is adding daily Calgary to Mexico City flights starting on June 1, 2017. This marks the airline's fourth city in Canada after Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. You can check out bonuses for AeroMexico's frequent flyer program Club Premier on our main site but of course you can earn and burn any SkyTeam alliance miles for these flights as well. The most popular in Canada being Delta SkyMiles and Air France KLM's Flying Blue. (Source Routesonline)

You can now book Japan Airlines (JAL) flights with your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles! The partnership that was announced earlier this year that launched with earn only benefits now sees the launch of redemption options! The awards price similar to Alaska Airlines' other partners on flights from Canada. Flights to Asia start as low as 35,000 miles one-way on Japan Airlines (Cathay prices slightly better at 30,000) but this still provides a good option seeing that you can earn 25,000 Miles on your first purchase with the mbna Alaska Airlines MasterCard and then spend $10,000 to earn that other 10,000 miles for the base level award ticket. Business and First Class flights price out quite nice as well. Here is just sampling of the Mileage Plan awards to Asia on JAL:

Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Platinum Preferred Members enrolled in the Crossover Rewards  program traveling on Delta flights will clear for Complimentary Upgrades to both First Class and Delta Comfort+ based on their SPG tier level on paid tickets. This means that Marriott Platinum's also qualify since they get instant SPG Platinum status. (Source One Mile at a Time)


Posts since our last update:
Travel Deals
Executive Hotels is offering up to 20% off holiday stays at their locations in Canada and the U.S.  Full details and online booking
Avianca has Ecuador on sale from Toronto. Fares start at $649 all in. Book by Dec 31. Full details and online booking


Canadian Bonus Offers

SCENE
- Earn up to 30x Bonus SCENE Points when you dine at Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, Montana’s, Milestones, Bier Markt, East Side Mario’s, Kelseys, Fionn MacCool’s, D’Arcy McGee’s, Paddy Flaherty's, and Tir nan Òg. More... Until Jan 8, 17 



Other Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 30% Bonus Asia Miles when you convert points from any of 15 participating hotel loyalty programs to Asia Miles. More... Until Dec 31, 16

Choice Hotels Privileges
- Double Privileges Points for all stays you complete at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. More... For residents of the U.S. and Canada only Dec 15 - Feb 9, 17

Finnair Plus
- Earn up to 7,000 Bonus Points on all Finnair flights Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 9, 17 for travel Dec 15, 16 - Jul 31, 17

Miles & More
- 1,000 Bonus Miles & More miles on Avis rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Dec 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 17

Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass
- Double Travel Pass Points for stays at the Sonesta ES Suites Columbia. More... Until Mar 31, 17
- Double Travel Pass Points for stays at the Sonesta ES Suites Houston. More... Until Mar 31, 17



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IHG Rewards Club Accelerate returns for Q1 2017 - Earn 30,000 or more bonus points for your IHG stays!


IHG is enjoying their Accelerate promotion so much that it is once again their systemwide offer for the first quarter of 2017. As we have seen each quarter or so they come out with new personalized offers for each member. The total bonus available per member ranges from a minimum of 30,000 points to well past 100,000.

Here is the offer I received:
This is the baseline offer that any IHG Rewards Club member should receive however many of you will receive more rewarding offers. We actually had no IHG stays in 2016 and it appears the more active you have been in the program the better the offer you'll receive. Let us know in the comments section what offer you received.

If you receive the above offer you'll need to complete three stays with four nights to get the bonus and you'll want to have them all at Holiday Inn Hotels.  These are the stays in no particular order:

  • Stay 1: Holiday Inn for a Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday nights on a member exclusive discount rate. This will complete the 'A Bonus Weekend Stay' and earn you 2,000 bonus points. It will also cover off 1 of 3 hotel requirements for 'Comfort Seeker', 1 of 2 requirements for 'Your Rate' and 2 of 3 nights for 'Stay More, Earn More'  
  • Stay 2: Holiday Inn for one night on a member exclusive discount rate. This will complete the 2nd requirement of 'Your Rate' and earn you 2,000 bonus points. It will also cover off the third night of 'Stay More, Earn More' so you'll earn 2,000 more points. It will also cover off the 2nd of 3 hotel requirements for 'Comfort Seeker'  
  • Stay 3: Holiday Inn for one night on a member exclusive discount rate. This will complete the 3rd of 3 hotel requirements for 'Comfort Seeker'  and get you the 2,000 bonus points. You have now hit all your achievements and you will get 21,500 bonus points.
If you could keep your costs to $100 per night you are looking at $400 in stays to earn the 30,000 bonus points. Not great but not bad at all, you are actually looking at about a $150 return with those 30,000 points.  Of course if you have a different offer you may get even better value out of the promotion!

Let us know what offer you get in the comments below!

Offer details
Earn at least 30,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you stay at IHG Hotels Worldwide.  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Jan 1 - Apr 15, 17

Choice Hotels Privileges: Double Points for Worldwide stays from December 15 to February 9


Finally! We see a different systemwide bonus offer from Choice Privileges! Choice Privileges is the program for hotels like Comfort Inns, Comfort Suites, Quality Inns, Econolodge and more. For some time now we have seen their typical Stay Twice get 8,000 points offer but now Choice has decided to change it up with a simple Double Points offer. This is great for those who may only complete 1 stay at a Choice Hotels brand in the promotional period as you'll actually get a bonus on that stay but may not be as good as the 8,000 point offer for those who do complete 2 stays. The reason why is that if you stay on relatively low rate stays the points doubling may not get you to that 8,000 point level. Still no matter what it is good to get this bonus on all your stays! You can register now for the offer which will start bonusing your stays as of December 15th right through to February 9th!

Offer details:
Double Privileges Points for all stays you complete at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. Members must book trips via ChoiceHotels.com, the Choice Hotels mobile app, or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates. Corporate travelers may book through a travel agent or corporate online booking system. Maximum of 30,000 points awarded. Full details, online registration and booking  Dec 15 - Feb 9, 17(Registration is required)
Restrictions
For residents of the U.S. and Canada only

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Done with AIR MILES? Here are your other options - Part 3 Cash Back Reward Programs

As many of you know the AIR MILES Expiring Miles fiasco came to somewhat of a close late last week when they finally dropped their expiry rule after threat of legislation, a damning MarketPlace report and of course 9 months of really bad press. If you watched the MarketPlace piece you'll have seen members cutting up their AIR MILES collector cards and I've heard many more stories of people letting go of the program. So what are some of your other options? In this three part series we'll look at three types of reward programs that make the most sense for Canadian but please be aware there even more options beyond these three (ie Frequent Flyer programs, Frequent Guest programs, proprietary retail programs etc.)

Be sure to read Part 1: Coalition Reward Programs
Be sure to read Part 2: Proprietary Credit Card Reward Programs

In part three we look at cash back reward programs. These are primarily credit card based, and why wouldn't they be, credit cards are the number one source of earning any sort of loyalty points and should be part of everyone's loyalty program portfolio. Cash back is great for those who don't want or need travel rewards and want the option to be able to use their rewards on anything they want whether it is merchandise, travel or even just helping shrink that credit card balance.

Credit Cards
Outside of airline co-brand credit cards some of the earliest reward credit cards in Canada were cash back cards although they weren't all that popular. Recently we have seen an explosion of cash back card options for the Canadian market and many of them have become very rewarding, although most still provide slightly less value then some travel cards. However that is the trade off, you get a little less value but get cash that you can use on anything or slightly more value that has to be used for travel. Most cash back cards will reward you with up to 2% cash back although several have category and/or time limited bonuses where you can get up to 4% or 5% back.

Pros of Cash Back Credit Cards
With cash back credit cards you are still getting rewarded on all your purchases just like you would with any travel rewards credit cards! Every purchase counts towards that cash back you get with the card. You don't have to worry about point fluctuations, not having enough points for a reward or any of those cons associated with a traditional reward program. You can still double dip! As mentioned in Part 2 on Proprietary Credit Card Reward programs, you don't need to ditch your traditional reward programs. In fact we encourage you to collect them hand in hand with your credit card reward program as you can still swipe your Aeroplan, AIR MILES, SCENE or other loyalty cards at their respective merchants!
 
Cons of Cash Back Credit Cards
Unlike the Proprietary Credit Card Travel Reward programs we mention in part 2 where you can have access to your points at almost any time, the majority of cash back credit cards will only give you your cash back at the end of the year in the form of a statement credit. There are a few exceptions like the mbna Rewards MasterCard and mbna SmartCash MasterCard where you can choose to have a cheque/direct deposit sent to you on a monthly basis so you do have access to that cash much quicker! The Tangerine MasterCard is another that pays you on a monthly basis.

If Cash Back cards are what appeal to you now that you are dropping AIR MILES be sure to check out our Cash Back Credit Card comparison chart to find the right card for you.

If you bank with BMO and have had a BMO AIR MILES MasterCard and are giving up on the program but don't want to move your credit card(s) from BMO take a look at the BMO CashBack World Elite MasterCard or their BMO CashBack MasterCard as you cash back options. 

Online Shopping

 Are you someone who did all you online shopping via airmilesshops.ca so that you can earn reward miles on every purchase? Now your worried that you don't want to earn AIR MILES any more but would like to still be rewarded? No worries you have two major online shopping portals that will reward you with cash back on those purchases just like the way you earned miles in the past. Those two portals are GreatCanadianRebates.ca and eBates.ca. Choose either one or both, and funnel your online shopping through them to ensure you are earning cash back for all those purchases. And of course use your cash back earning credit card for each purchase as well!

As we all know cash is king and if the whole AIR MILES fiasco has turned you off of loyalty programs, than you should at a minimum go the cash back route. We always say that if you are making purchases you should be rewarded for them no matter what and cash back is a good way to be rewarded.

This concludes our three part series on your other options if you are done with AIR MILES.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Hurry! 18,000 Bonus Avios for a 3 day Avis Car Rental in Europe. Must book and pick up by Dec 10!


So not sure if any of you may be able to take advantage of this unless of course you are reading this from Europe or the UK or are flying there in the next day or two.....

Here is a huge car rental offer that I wish we came across earlier! If you can manage to book by the 10th and pick up the car by the 10th you can get 18,700 Avios! (18,000 bonus + 700 base) Might be worth it to book in your hometown and use the rental car for commuting! Let us know below in the comments for cheap offers you find for Group C cars that perhaps others can take advantage of as well!

Offer details
18.000 Bonus Avios on Avis rentals of 3 days or more on a minimum group C vehicle in Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland. Full details can be found here


  • Qualifying rentals must be booked between 21st November and 10th December 2016, to be picked up between 8th and 10th December 2016, and returned on or after 11th December 2016.
  • To qualify, rental length must be minimum 3 days and include overnight Saturday 10th December, and minimum car group C.
  • Rentals must be booked on iberia.com, avisiberia.es or avis.es
  • Rentals must include the Iberia Plus membership number of the first named driver (the “renter”). This Iberia Plus membership number must be given at time of reservation and the card shown at time of rental.
  • Valid for all participating rental locations in Spain mainland, Balearics and Canaries, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland Offer subject to vehicle availability.
  • Qualifying rentals will receive 18,000 bonus Avios, in addition to the 3 Avios per €1 spent; minimum award 18,700 Avios (including minimum 700 Avios for 3+ day rental). .
  • This Avios bonus is not valid on Prestige rentals, Chauffeur Drive or Van rentals worldwide..
  • Offer may not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or frequent flyer points offer. Avis reserves the right to withdraw the offer at any time.
  • The awarding of Avios may take up to 8 weeks from date of rental.
  • This promotion is subject to all General Avis Terms and Conditions and to all Avis & Iberia Plus partnership Terms and Conditions, available at avisiberia.es..
  • This promotion and all Avios issued are subject to Iberia Plus terms and conditions, available at iberia.com/es/iberiaplus/conditions.
  • Renter must meet standard Avis age, driver and credit requirements.

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


As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This month it is the exact same offer as in November with the economy class offers on LOT to Poland. That being said it is a great offer and we even show you how to get these for free outside of the award ticket taxes/fees/

These offers are good for travel until Dec 31, 16

You can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip tickets on LOT from Toronto to Poland for only 30,000 miles. This is a 50% discount off the normal Economy Class award ticket price of 60,000 miles. As to LOT, it is well known they have low taxes and fees so this makes it a great deal!!

Here are the offers:

The crazy thing is that you could in theory get the round trip economy class tickets when you grab a couple of credit cards and a $120 annual fee! - there aren't many cards that will get you a round trip flight to Europe for that amount of spend! 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. Currently the card comes with a 20,000 Starpoints 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. Yes but I need 30,000 points for the ticket right? Right then you get yourself the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card with the 30,000 or 50,000 point sign up bonus. You can then convert those to SPG at a rate of 3:1 so you have now added 10,000 to 16,000+ more Starpoints to you account. So now you would convert 25,000 Starpoints to Miles & More as they'll give the 5,000 extra for that 30,000 miles and still have 5,000 to 11,000 Starpoints left over. Now less than a month  to book these offers you won't get all the points from these credit cards in time but you can grab them now to see what offers will come out next month or beyond

Simply book the offers seen here by December 31st
Full details on this offer can be found here

December 7 Update: Done with AIR MILES Part 2, Fairmont Hotels daily credit offer and 6 new Air Canada routes

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Canada
is launching 6 new routes between Canada and the U.S. for 2017. These will all be operated by Air Canada Express. (Source Air Canada)

beVancouver is once again offering up American Express Gift Cards for booking your Vancouver hotels via their site! Valid for stays until Feb 28, 17! Find out more here.


Posts since our last update:
Travel Deals
Fairmont Hotels is offering a $50 to $75 daily credit for stays at their hotel Worldwide if you book by Jan 16 for stays until Apr 30. Full details and online booking




Canadian Bonus Offers

Air Canada / Aeroplan
- 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you service your Toyota or Scion at a Canadian Toyota dealership service. More... Until Feb 28, 17
- 150 Free Aeroplan Miles for setting your Aeroplan Travel Goal. More... Until Dec 16, 16


Other Bonus Offers
Avianca LifeMiles
- Earn up 125% Bonus LifeMiles when you buy LifeMiles online. Minimum purchase of 2,000 miles. More... Until Dec 20, 16

Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to 6,000 bonus SkyMiles on China Eastern Airlines (MU) flights between Shanghai and Amsterdam, Prague or Madrid. More... Until Feb 28, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays of 3 or more nights at the Courtyard Wall at Monmouth Shores Corporate Park More... Until Jan 9, 17
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Memphis Germantown More... Dec 11 - Jan 10, 17
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the Residence Inn Memphis Germantown. More... Dec 11 - Jan 10, 17
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the SpringHill Suites Nashville MetroCenter. More... Dec 15 - Jan 14, 17

Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- 30% Safar Flyer Miles Discount on all Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer award tickets. More... Book by Dec 31 for travel Jan 1 - Mar 31, 17

Scandic Hotels Friends
- 2,000 Bonus Scandic Friends Points for stays at the Scandic Berlin Potsdamer Platz. More... Jan 1 - 15, 17


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Hilton HHonors: Up to Triple Points for Hilton stays Worldwide extended to January 31

Rather than coming up with a new offer for the New Year Hilton has decided to extend their Double Up/Triple Up campaign to the end of January 2017. Not knocking them for doing so as it is a decent bonus that easy to understand. Double Points on all stays booked online, phone, travel agent etc. or Triple Points if you book via the Hilton HHonors app! The offer needs registration so if you have not registered do so via the link below and then book via the app! Remember this promo can be combined with promos like the 5,000 points for an app booking paid for with a Visa card (register for that offer here) or numerous other promotions which can be found on our Hilton HHonors page.
 
Offer details:
OFFER EXTENDED Earn up to Triple HHonors Points for all eligible stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Until Jan 31, 17

Done with AIR MILES? Here are your other options - Part 2 Proprietary Credit Card Reward Programs

As many of you know the AIR MILES Expiring Miles fiasco came to somewhat of a close late last week when they finally dropped their expiry rule after threat of legislation, a damning MarketPlace report and of course 9 months of really bad press. If you watched the MarketPlace piece you'll have seen members cutting up their AIR MILES collector cards and I've heard many more stories of people letting go of the program. So what are some of your other options? In this three part series we'll look at three types of reward programs that make the most sense for Canadian but please be aware there even more options beyond these three (ie Frequent Flyer programs, Frequent Guest programs, proprietary retail programs etc.)

Be sure to read Part 1: Coalition Reward Programs
Be sure to read Part 3: Cash Back Reward Programs

In part two we look at Proprietary Credit Card Reward Programs. These are in our opinion the best option for most Canadians! Just check out our feature from this time last year entitled Why proprietary credit card reward programs are the best option for most Canadians. We won't rehash the whole feature in this post but will give you the highlights as to why we think they are the best option and why they make for a great option outside of AIR MILES and even other traditional loyalty programs. Add to that the beauty of these proprietary credit card reward programs is that you can still swipe you other loyalty cards at retailers to earn miles or points in those programs!

 Continue reading the article on the main Rewards Canada website

Due to the popularity of this topic we decided to make it a full fledged content page on the Rewards Canada site rather than just a blog post

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

December 6 Update: Promo code for up to 25% off WestJet flights, Podcast Episode10 & new AC Maple Leaf Lounge in YUL

News, Tips & Tricks

Episode 10 of the Rewards Canada podcast is out now! We talk Air Miles, 5 great Marrriott hotels and more! Download the episode here.



There is a day sale from WestJet for their Rewards members! You can save up to 25% on flights if you book today. Save 15% on Econo Fares or 25% on Plus fares. Use Coupon code (Web coupon no.) VMGEPQU Promo code REW17.

Book by: December 6, 2016 (9:59 p.m. MT)
Destinations: Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and select U.S. destinations
Travel from: January 9 -  May 31, 2017
(Blackout dates apply)



 Last Thursday saw the reopening of Air Canada's international Maple Leaf Lounge at Montreal-Trudeau airport following a year-long complete makeover.
"We are thrilled to welcome eligible Air Canada and Star Alliance customers to our completely redesigned international Maple Leaf Lounge at Montreal-Trudeau airport. Our newest international lounge incorporates many elements sought after by today's business and premium travelers including a quiet, stress-free place to work or relax while travelling, and our new lounge is designed with this in mind," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada. "Surrounded by Canadian and Quebec design artistry and craftsmanship, as well as elements highlighting the majestic natural beauty of Canada, customers will enjoy an inspiring environment before their Air Canada flight." 
(Source Air Canada)

If you are not done with AIR MILES, you can earn 60 Bonus Reward Miles for spending $40 or more at Rexall until December 8. Get the coupon here

You can now book Air France's new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service between Montreal and Paris (Source Routesonline)

Posts since our last update:
Travel Deals
Executive Hotels is offering up to 20% off holiday stays at their locations in Canada and the U.S.  Full details and online booking
Avianca has Ecuador on sale from Toronto. Fares start at $649 all in. Book by Dec 31. Full details and online booking


Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Earn up to 20,000 Aeroplan Miles and first year free with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card. Residents of Canada only More... Until Mar 5, 17
- Earn up to 40,000 Aeroplan Miles with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card. Residents of Canada only More... Until Mar 5, 17

National Emerald Club
- OFFER EXTENDED Earn a Free Rental day when you earn 600 points or complete two qualifying rentals in Canada and the 50 United States, including the District of Columbia, for a period of two or more consecutive days during the promotion. Valid for residents of Canada only More... Until Feb 28 17

 
Other Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 10,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles on your first hotel booking of 2 or more nights made via PointsHound. More... Book by Dec 31, 16
- Up to 50% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy miles online. More... Until Dec 31, 16

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios when you book and stay on the Linger Longer offer at Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 17
- Double Avios when you shop via Gate 365. More... Until Dec 18, 16

Miles & More
- Triple Miles&More Miles for stays of at least two nights at Mercure, Novotel, Novotel Suites hotels and/or at least one night at Sofitel, Pullman and MGallery hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 17

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Up to Triple FlySmiles when you rent a car at participating Hertz locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand or Asia. More... Until Feb 28, 17

United MileagePlus
- Triple MileagePlus Miles when you stay at participating Hilton hotels in Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America. More... Until Mar 31, 17
- Up to 100% Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you buy miles online. Bonus varies by member. More... Until Dec 19, 16


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