Monday, March 6, 2017

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for March

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of March! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards that have very good acquisition offers. As always when choosing a card you should always take other factors into account other than the sign up bonus, but when most or all of these cards are first year free, they can and do pay off even when not taking into account insurance packages and other non-reward benefits. In fact 4 of 5 cards on this list for March are first year free so you can try them out at no cost 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! The only card that isn't first year free is the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. It has an annual fee of $120 but the sign up bonus of 20,000 Starpoints is worth no less than $400 depending on what you value Starpoints at.
   
Two changes this month, first off the Scotiabank Gold American Express gets even better with a 25,000 point sign up bonus with no first year fee adding $50 to your travel pot and now that the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite is no longer first year free we bring back the SPG Amex as that bonus is more versatile than the TD Aeroplan offer (you can transfer the SPG bonus to Aeroplan for 25,000 miles if you like!)

So here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for March (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.) Also see our new post on how this sign up bonus can get you a free flight between Toronto and Dublin!!


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!


Scotiabank Gold American Express Card - 25,000 Points  (Apply here)
A very strong card in the earn category for Gas, Grocery and Dining/Entertainment purchases, the current sign up bonus for the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is 25,000 points when you reach $750 in spending in the first three months. That 25,000 points is equal to a $250 travel credit and since this card is a book anywhere card you can book the travel how you want when you want and when the charge shows up on your account you can redeem the points against the charge. The card normally has a $99 annual fee but of course that is waived in the first year if you apply by July 31, 2017!


Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express - 20,000 Starpoints (Apply here)
The sign up bonus for this card has now been 20,000 Starpoints for some time and this is the only card in this list that doesn't have the first year fee waived. That doesn't matter. This is by far the best hotel points card in Canada and Starpoints have huge value. The 20,000 Starpoint bonus is received when you spend $1,500 on the card and is worth at least $400 when redeeming them for Starwood Hotel stays or you can convert them to airline miles in over 30+ programs and Starwood will kick in an additional 5,000 miles when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints at a time.


If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with over $1,000 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

Friday, March 3, 2017

March 3 Update: Fly KLM from Edmonton to Paris for under $850, grab the TD Aeroplan card now, VHR 2x Elite Credits

News, Tips & Tricks
Today is a no news is good news day!

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals
KLM has some great fares between Ednomton and Paris the next few months! Fly roundtrip for undet $850pp! Find out more here.



Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S. More... Until Apr 30, 17

Other Bonus Offers
Etihad Guest
- 50% Bonus Guest Miles on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo plus earn 1,000 bonus miles on your first booking.  More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Dec 31, 17

Saudia Alfursan
- Earn up to Quadruple Alfursan Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels in Europe, the Middle East & Africa. More... Until Jun 30, 17

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Save up to 30% when you buy or gift 5,000 or more Starpoints online. More... Until Apr 30, 17
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for stays at The Westin Los Cabos Resort Villas & Spa. More... Until ?

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Double Elite Tier Credit when you stay two or more nights at a participating VOILĂ€ network hotel Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 17

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Grab the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card before Monday

UPDATE: We have been made aware that the sign bonus may actually be 25,000 Miles as of Monday with an annual fee.

If you have been hemming and hawing about grabbing the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card because the sign up bonus is only 15,000 miles with first year free then this should make up your mind. The new offer that will release on Monday will have the same bonus of 15,000 miles on 1st purchase but will not be first year free anymore! Get it now to get those 15,000 miles for no cost!

Here is the current offer that ends at the end of day on Sunday:

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
• Receive a Welcome Bonus of 15,000 Aeroplan Miles with your first Purchase 
• Receive another 5,000 bonus Aeroplan Miles if you keep your Account open, active and in good standing for one year after your Account is opened
• 100% Annual Fee Rebate for the first year (Primary Cardholder only) – that’s $120 in savings!
• 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 insurances for peace of mind on your next getaway.
Apply online

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Starwood: Save up to 30% when you buy or gift Starpoints (until Apr 30, 17)


A decent offer for up to 30% off when buying Starpoints has been launched though it is not as good as the up to 50% we saw before Christmas. This brings the price down to US 2.45 cents each or under 2 cents per airline mile if you take advantage of SPG's 5,000 mile bonus when converting 20,000 Starpoints at a time. A pretty good price seeing that you can get higher value out of the points if you redeem strategically!

Offer details
Save up to 30% when you buy or gift 5,000 or more Starpoints online. Full details. Until Apr 30, 17
  • Buy 5,000 – 9,500 Starpoints and save 10%
  • Buy 10,000 – 14,500 Starpoints and save 15%
  • Buy 15,000 – 19,500 Starpoints and save 20%
  • Buy 20,000 – 30,000 Starpoints and save 30%
Find many more SPG Bonus offers here!

March 2 Update: WestJet Flight Promo update, Aeroplan adds Budget as new partner, new Shoppers Optimum bonus

News, Tips & Tricks
A quick update to the WestJet Rewards promotion we brought to you earlier this week. We posed the question to WestJet to see what happens if you mix and match fare classes on the promotion.
Our question:
"If you book one econo fare, then a plus fare, then a econo fare etc. how will the bonus be awarded? ....  Say you fly your first 2 flights in Plus you’ll get 20wsd per flight, but your third flight is Econo, do you get 10wsd since its your first econo fare or do you get 20wsd since its your third flight? Then if you go back to Plus for the 4th flight will it be 40wsd or 50wsd?"

And WestJet's response:
"You can mix and match the fare class and it will still count as an eligible flight for the flight count each time. So per your example. If they fly first 2 flights in Plus, they will receive 20 WSD for each one, third flight as Econo will earn 20 WSD, 4th flight as Plus will earn 50 WSD. J It’s a win, win, win!"
This is great news to know that you don't 'drop' down to a lower bonus when you book into a new fare class!

Shoppers Drug Mart is once again sending out big bonuses for shopping tomorrow. We got an 18,500 bonus point offer for spending $75 or more, it may be different for you. You can print out the coupon we got here.


Enterprise Rent-A-Car has expanded its Enterprise Plus loyalty program. Members can now earn rewards and free rental days at locations in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Tortola, Trinidad & Tobago and Uruguay. (Source Enterprise)

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Aeroplan was adjusting its car rental partners. As of today Budget returns as partner of Aeroplan but we also lose Hertz. Here are the details of the Budget partnership:
  • Earn – Starting today, members can earn 250 Aeroplan Miles for each eligible rental with Budget at participating locations on- and off-airport in Canada, the United States and abroad.
  • Redeem – Members can now use their miles to get Budget rental certificates worth $50 or $100 on aeroplan.com. Soon, members will also be able to redeem Aeroplan Miles for Budget car rentals for their choice of date and destination and will be able to earn 100 miles every time they do so.
We will also see Payless Car Rental join Aeroplan soon. (Source Aeroplan)

Aeroplan is sending out emails to select members offering bonus miles for purchases at ESSO. We received it and you should check your inbox as well to see if you were targeted!


More Rewards has lost Canadian Direct Insurance as a partner. Too bad as this program needs all the partners it can get to become the coalition program they want to be!

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals
Starwood Sunsational savings offers a free night, up to a $200 resort credit and a room upgrade for stays at Starwood Resorts in the Americas! Find out more here.


Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 2,000 Bonus Gold Points and a minimum $25 gift card when you book the Shopping Package at participating Country Inns & Suites By Carlson hotels in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia between Johannesburg and Madrid. More... For residents of South Africa only Register & book by Mar 31 for travel until May 31, 17
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Express between Madrid and Cardiff, Sardinia or Heraklion. More... Register & book by Apr 30 for travel Apr 6 - Sep 30, 17
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Regional Air Nostrum between Valencia and Barcelona More... Register & book by Apr 2 for travel Mar 26 - Aug 31, 17
- Double Avios when you fly Iberia Regional Air Nostrum on select flights in Europe More... Until Apr 30, 17

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to 500 Free La Quinta Returns Points when you connect with La Quinta on several social media channels. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- Earn up to 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating AccorHotels in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. More... Book by Apr 24 for stays until May 5,17

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 14,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Dublin and Doha. More... Jun 12 - Sep 15, 17
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Auckland and Doha. More... Until May 5, 17
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Yanbu and Doha. More... May 9 - Jul 31, 17
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly between Tabuk and Doha. More... Jun 19 - Sep 30, 17
- 2,000 Bonus QMiles when you complete your first hotel stay booked via Rocketmiles. More... Book by Mar 31, 17
- Earn up to 3,500 Bonus QMiles on all Avis rentals of 3 or more days in Europe, Middle East and Africa. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals Apr 1 - Jun 30, 17

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


We see the return of bonus Aeroplan miles for stays at Coast Hotels. Double Miles is always a nice bonus if you choose their hotels out West or in the U.S..

Offer details:
Double Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S. Full details. Until Apr 30, 17

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!

Earn up to 500 FREE La Quinta Returns Points for connecting to LQ Social Media


La Quinta Returns has brought back their offer of earning up to 500 points for free by connecting to their social media accounts. If you did not take advantage of the same offer from last fall now is your chance to score those free points! If you add up the totals it actually appears you can 550 points as they'll give you 50 points for Tweeting or Instagramming with their hashtag.

Offer details:
Earn up to 500 Free La Quinta Returns Points when you connect with La Quinta on several social media channels. Full details Until Dec 31, 17

  • Register and Receive 100 points
  • Link Your Social Handles to La Quinta and get 100 points per channel
  • During Registration, Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to receive 100 additional points for each follow
  • Tweet or Instagram with #LQReturns and get 50 points.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

The Ultimate Credit Card Portfolio for Family Travel

In this feature of Rewards Canada's Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios we look at the ultimate wallet for families who like to travel. We have always recommended that you should carry a Visa, a MasterCard and an American Express card in your wallet. The reason why is that there are benefits, promotions and earning potential unique to each brand of credit card. We won't go into detail here on those offers as you can read all about it in our feature on how to Maximize your Miles and Points but here we outline one card from each brand that will help you and your family save money on travel, have fun free nights and more. Ultimately there are various options that could be utilized for a family travel portfolio depending on your travel and spending habits but we look at one card from each issuing brand that won't totally break the bank on annual fees and provide lots of rewards, benefits beyond rewards along with some great insurance coverage.

What is Rewards Canada's Ultimate Family Travel Credit Card Wallet? It is the following three cards:

Continue reading this article on the main Rewards Canada website to find out!

March 1 Update: Podcast Episode 17, 20% off merchandise at AIR MILES, Ultimate Family Travel Credit Card portfolio

News, Tips & Tricks
Today we released our latest Ultimate Credit Card Portfolio. This one focuses on family travel and more so on how select credit cards can save you a good chunk of cash on your travels. Continue on to read Ultimate Credit Card Portfolio for Family Travel 


Episode 17 of the Rewards Canada Weekly Roundup podcast is here! We talk the BA hotel transfer bonus, Hilton Honors changes, answer a More Rewards question and much more. Find out more here.


Lots of Scotia credit card updates today! The best one is the increased sign up bonus for the Scotia Gold American Express Card from 20,000 points to 25,000 and still with first year free! Other updates include
  • Scotiabank® GM®* VISA* Infinite Card no annual fee in the first year (Save $79) if you apply by Oct 31
  • Scotia Momentum® VISA* card also sees its $39 annual fee waived for the first year plus an introductory 3.99% on Balance transfers for the first six months
  • The base level Scotiabank®* American Express® Card also has its $39 annual fee waived in the first year
You can find all these updates and more details on each card on our Scotia page

AIR MILES is running a flash sale on redeeming for merchandise. All products in the merchandise catalog will cost 20% less if you redeem by March 5th. Find out more here.


Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals
Avianca has a great two day sale on flights to Guatemala City from Toronto. Book by March 2nd to lock in fares as low as $399 in economy or $829 in business. Find out more here.



Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles, $150 hotel credit & 15% off for stays of 3 or more consecutive nights at Fairmont Hotels in Canada.  More... Book by May 31 for stays until Dec 31, 17

Scotia
- 25,000 Scotia Rewards Bonus points and First Year Annual Fee waived with $750 in net purchases in first three months on the Scotiabank®* Gold American Express® Card. More... Until Jul 31, 17

Other Bonus Offers
Avianca LifeMiles
- Earn up to 6x LifeMiles when you rent with Hertz Worldwide. Earn 4x miles for 1-4 day rentals, 6x miles for 5+ days. More... Until Mar 31, 17

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Earn 7,000 Bonus Gold Points and save 15% on stays of two or more consecutive nights at participating Country Inns & Suites By Carlson hotels worldwide. More... Until May 31, 17

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- Triple Miles&Smiles Miles for all stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Apr 15 for stays until Apr 30, 17

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 80% Bonus MIleagePlus Miles when you buy miles online. Bonus varies by member, seems to range from 50% to 80% when buying at the highest tier of miles. More... Until Apr 20, 17

Wyndham Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points for stays at the Silverado Resort & Spa Napa. More... Until Jun 15,17

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Scotiabank Gold American Express Card - First Year Free with a 25,000 points sign up bonus!




I didn't think we'd see a stronger offer for this card as 20,000 points with 1st year free has been the go to for this card but low and behold Scotia surprises us with an even better offer! The card with some very strong category earning (Gas, Grocery, Dining & Entertainment) has had the 20,000 point sign up bonus with no annual fee in the first year since the start of November. However now we see the card keep FYF but have the sign up bonus jump to 25,000 points if you spend $750 in the first three months! The offer of 25,000 points is worth $250 in travel and since it is first year free you essentially get that $250 for free!  This offer is valid until July 31, 2017!

This card ranked second in the Travel Points Card with annual fee category and fifth overall in our 2017 Top Travel Rewards Credit card rankings and you'll definitely see it in our Top 5 Sign Up offers for March.

Here are some details on the card:

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card

25,000 Scotia Rewards bonus points,with $750 in net purchases in first three months - worth $250 in travel. Apply Online
Earn 4x Scotia Rewards points for every $1 you spend at gas stations, grocery stores, on dining and entertainment Earn one point on all other eligible purchases
Extraordinary travel benefits
Flexible Point Redemption
Comprehensive travel insurance
  • Use your points to purchase travel online or over the phone through our full-service travel agency. Or book your own travel using your card and go online to redeem points for the purchase.
  • Receive discounts and other special offers on hotels, airfare, car rentals, cruises and vacation packages.
  • Complimentary Concierge Services
  • Low price airfare alerts
  • Receive up to 25% off qualifying car rentals
  • Travel emergency medical coverage is automatically provided for eligible persons for up to 25 consecutive days
  • Redeem points for merchandise and other rewards
For more details or to apply for the card please see here.

You can also read our in depth review of the card here