25,000 Bonus iPrefer points when you book via the new iPrefer app (equivalent to a US$50 reward)

Preferred Hotel Group has launched a new mobile app for their iPrefer frequent guest program and to celebrate they have this awesome new bonus! Simply make one booking via the app after downloading it and you'll be awarded with 25,000 iPrefer bonus points. In the iPrefer program that 25,000 points is the equivalent of a US$50 certificate that can be used towards a stay at any of their participating hotels. This is a pretty good deal seeing that many Preferred Hotels are available for under $100 per night, in fact some like these two in India are in the $50 range! Getting $50 back on a $53 stay is an amazing return!

or if you really like, you can make more than you spend:

Offer details
25,000 Bonus iPrefer points when you download the iPrefer mobile app and make one booking via the app by April 21. Full details. Book by Apr 21, 17

Here are all the hotels they have in Canada that are iPrefer participating. As you can see rates tend to be quite high compared to India at least but to get a $50 return on these isn't too shabby!

Flight Review: Air Canada AC901 Calgary - Kahului, Maui (YYC-OGG)

We like to enjoy our time with family when travelling so I only review our odd hotel stay or even less frequently review a flight. One such flight where I did take just a couple of pics and felt was worth reviewing was from our Family Day vacation trip to Maui. I think a review is worthy since it is the only flight between Canada and Hawaii that has a true international business class. Air Canada's other flights from Vancouver and Toronto are on Rouge aircraft and WestJet's are 737's out of Vancouver with their regular Plus seats while some of their Alberta-Hawaii flights are 767's which have the larger Plus seats but aren't considered a true business class. The reason why Air Canada's Maui flights are utilizing an internationally configured Air Canada 767 is that it is the same plane being used for the Calgary-Tokyo flights, which of course would not be utilizing a Rouge aircraft. So as we mentioned in our podcast a few weeks ago, if you are flying to Maui and want to travel in style without connecting via the U.S. you'll want to connect via Calgary.

The flight was schedule to depart at 5:30pm but ended up being delayed by a mechanical issue. Just as most people had boarded the plane the power went out from the APU. Within a minute or so power came back on but of course they wanted and needed to check it out.  You don't want to be stuck in Kahului with a malfunctioning APU but rather make sure whatever the issue was that it was corrected in Calgary. The resulting delay was about an hour as we waited for AC maintenance to diagnose and fix the issue. The flight ended up departing around 6:40pm and thanks to a bit of shorter flight time then scheduled we arrived about 45 minutes late into OGG.

We did a one way Aeroplan mile redemption for our entire family for the business class flights to Maui. On the way back availability was scarce for the number of seats we needed as it was during the Alberta Family Day break so the return flight was in Economy. Still I'll take Air Canada International Economy over Rouge. Not to mention the flight back is overnight and typically under six hours so you don't get to enjoy the business class as much except (and this is a big exception) the lie flat seat for sleeping.  

For the flight to Kahului I had seat 6F which is in the middle on the right hand side of the aircraft:

The menu for this flight:

I went for the BBQ Chicken with Grits and it was pretty good.... good enough that I also got it on my LAX-YYC flight a week ago!

and finally Rewards Canada being featured in the American Express ad on Air Canada's in flight entertainment

That's it in a nutshell! We can rarely say there is an advantage of flying out of Calgary but this is definitely one of them!

Give A Mile - Crowdfunding miles to help families fly to see loved ones who are critically or terminally ill

This is one of those posts that we love to write and it really puts meaning behind all the miles and points we collect. We are excited to share with you details of a loyalty rewards charity that is also based in our home town of Calgary. We're sure some of you have heard of them but for those of you who have not we'd like to introduce you to Give A Mile.

Established in Calgary, Canada in February 2013, Give A Mile is dedicated to bringing together the terminally ill, or critically sick, with family members or close friends by crowdfunding airline flights through micro-donations of travel loyalty points. We work across Canada. We are 100% donation model so all miles donated go to flights.  We are 100% volunteer team with a Big Hairy Audacious Goal of giving 1 billion miles to families that need these flights.  A federally registered not-for-profit agency in Canada, Give A Mile is recognized as a charity by Aeroplan’s Beyond Miles program, and offers tax receipts for money donations to donors through an agreement with the Place2Give Foundation.

Our website is www.giveamile.org

Check this out, in the four years that Give A Mile has been in operation they have now provided 330 flights courtesy of over 11 million miles that have been donated by people like you!

The stats are simply amazing and summed up beautifully in this infographic:

Give A Mile primarily works with Aeroplan but also has partnerships with American Express, Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. That looks familiar! All amazing programs that come highly recommended right here on Rewards Canada. You can also choose to donate cash which helps cover taxes and fees on the award tickets provided to those in need.

You can find out what miles programs are accepted and how to donate at the following link:
http://giveamile.org/donate/

An example of a current flight being worked on:

Husband To Fly To Canada To See Dying Wife – 100,000 miles
My name is Edith and I am a palliative home care client. I was diagnosed with advanced Stage 4 Pancreatic and Breast Cancer. I have “very little time left.” I am a mother of 7 children (ages 14-24) and I have been in Canada for many years. My children and I are Canadian citizens but my husband lives in Nigeria. My husband would love to come to Canada right now but due to finances we are unable to have him come. There is so much we need to take care of as a couple before my time is up. I really want to see us altogether to be able to say the things I need to. Please consider my application for my husband, he already has his travel visa and can come anytime.

Pedro’s flight story

Deborah's Flight Story

The Story behind Give A Mile

Whether you already knew about Give A Mile or you didn't before this post, we thank you for reading all about them and encourage you to check out their site to see everything they do. We also encourage you to think about donating as the minimum donation is only 1,000 miles. For a lot of us in the points and miles world that isn't much, in fact there are times you can earn that amount by taking advantage of free miles and points offers.  For example you can get 750 Aeroplan miles just by test driving Toyota vehicles (250 per test drive with a limit of 1 per month, up to 3 times in a year) and then 100 Aeroplan miles for signing up for Home Hardware emails. You would just have to earn 150 more miles to be able to make a donation (one grocery shopping trip put on an Aeroplan credit card would do!)

Be sure to check out giveamile.org today.

April 6 Update: Scotia Amex Platinum Tip as well as 20% off Hilton stays for Easter & Memorial day

News, Tips & Tricks  
Here is a tip for you! Now that the Amazon Visa is no longer available there aren't many ways to get ahead of a foreign transaction fee (other than the Chase Marriott Rewards visa) but reader Brian K. pointed out the following:

...as a Scotia Platinum AMEX holder, I have noticed that I still get 4% return in category spending when traveling in the US. In light of the Amazon Visa news, this is actually comparable to the Rogers MasterCard. The only difference I see is that with Rogers, the return is on all foreign spending, not just certain categories. Just thought I'd mention it.

Good to know! Thanks Brian! So essentially for Gas, Grocery and Dining Entertainment spend on the Scotia Platinum Amex (and assuming the Scotia Gold Amex) you'll get the 4% back meaning you come out 1.5% ahead on those foreign currency purchases. We find this significant as there are cards out there like the American Express Gold Rewards card whose category bonuses (save for travel) only count for purchases in Canada.

Posts since our last update:

• Miles & More Award Ticket Sale - Save 50% on Economy Class award tickets between Toronto & Austria!
  As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This…
• IHG Rewards Club Spring Bonus Offer - From 3,000 to 30,000 bonus points for stays Worldwide
  If you are an IHG Rewards Club member and do frequent the chain's various hotel brands you'll be happy…
• Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for April
  Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of April! This is not…

Travel Deals
Save big on Easter and Memorial weekends at Hilton Hotels in the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada. Book by April 7 for stays April 10, 2017 to April 17, 2017 and May 25, 2017 to May 30, 2017. Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- April 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 Apr 30 for travel Jun 1 - Ju1 31, 17

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios, 15% off the rate of the day and $25 hotel credit per stay for stays at participating Fairmont Hotels Worldwide. More... May 1 - Aug 27, 17
- 1,000 Bonus Avios + 20% off for Friday-Sunday nights stays at any participating Protea Hotel by Marriott, African Pride or the Cape Town Marriott Hotel Crystal Tower. More... May 1 - Aug 27, 17
- Double Avios for stays of 2+ nights at over 150 participating Preferred Hotel Group Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 17

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Earn up to Triple Infinity MileageLands Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels in Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 17

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- 50% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo. More... Until May 31, 17
- Double KrisFlyer Miles on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo. For PPS Club members only. More... Until May 31, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

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

As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This month the 50% off economy class tickets between Toronto and Austria on Austrian Airlines returns! This is a great offer and below we'll even show you how to get these for just an annual credit card fee (outside of the award ticket taxes/fees)

These offers are good for travel until May 31, 17

You can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip tickets on Austrian from Toronto to Austria for only 30,000 miles. This is a 50% discount off the normal Economy Class award ticket price of 60,000 miles.

Here are the offers:

 

As we mention every time they have the 50% off economy offer is that you could in theory get the  tickets with grabbing 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 and no annual fee in the first year. 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.  Then you would convert 25,000 Starpoints to Miles & More as SPG will give you 5,000 extra miles for converting 20,000+  points. That gives you the 30,000 miles and you'll still have 5,000 to 11,000 Starpoints left over. Now you have about a month and 3/4 to book these offers so if you don't have these cards get them right now so you could potentially travel in May but chances are you won't get all the points from these credit cards in time. You can still grab them now to see what offers will come out next month or beyond

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

IHG Rewards Club Spring Bonus Offer - From 3,000 to 30,000 bonus points for stays Worldwide

If you are an IHG Rewards Club member and do frequent the chain's various hotel brands you'll be happy to know that once the current Accelerate offer ends on April 15th you can jump right onto their Spring bonus offer. This one however is not a lucrative as Accelerate and is only available to residents of the Americas (waiting to see if Europe/Asia/Africa/Australia New Zealand get anything) The bonus varies just like it does with accelerate although you have to pick just one and then register instead of registering and finding out what your bonus is.  It almost seems like this is a stop-gap bonus measure to fill the needs of having a bonus points promotion before their next 'big' offer comes out. Personally I registered for the easiest one of 2 nights for 3K points as I will only have one three night IHG stay during the time period.

Offer details:
Earn up to 30,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. You should be targeted for one of the offers below and you can only register for one. Be sure to check your travels and try to register for the one that works best for you. If that doesn't work pick the next best one! (Registration is required via the links below) Apr 16 - May 15, 17
Valid for residents in North, South and Central America
Stay 2 nights & earn 3,000 Bonus points
Stay 4 nights & earn 6,000 bonus points
Stay 7 nights & earn 12,000 bonus points
Stay 10 nights & earn 18,000 bonus points
Stay 15 nights & earn 30,000 bonus points

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for April

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of April! 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.
   
No changes this month from last!

So here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for April (in alphabetical order)

American Express Gold Rewards Card - 25,000 Points (Apply here)
A mainstay offer here on Rewards Canada and a card that really should be in everyone's wallets. 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 Use Points for Purchases 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 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. Also see our post here about Why you should still consider getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

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

April 5 Update: Save 20% on stays at the Le Westin Montreal, 20% Bonus Etihad Guest Miles for hotel transfers and more

News, Tips & Tricks
No news for you today other than what we have already covered on the blog, see the links below!

Posts since our last update:

• You can now redeem Delta SkyMiles for WestJet flights
  For the longest time redeeming miles for flights within Canada has been the domain of the Star Alliance since Air…
• IHG Rewards Club Hidden Gems Contest - Celebrate Canada's 150th birthday for a chance to win 1 Million points!
  We have mentioned Canada's 150th Birthday quite a few times on Rewards Canada as we encourage Canadians and international…
• Applications no longer being accepted for the Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa
  Chase Canada's credit card portfolio is sure shrinking fast. Sure the card hasn't been discontinued but as of April 3rd…

Travel Deals
The latest SPG Hot Escapes offers for discounted last minute stays around the World includes the Le Westin Montreal. You can save 20%if you book right away for stays over the next few weeks! Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Etihad Guest
- 20% Bonus Guest Miles when you convert hotel loyalty program points to the Etihad Guest program. More... Until Apr 30, 17

Iberia Plus
- 25% Bonus Avios on all Iberia, Iberia Express and Iberia Regional Air Nostrum flights worldwide! More... Register & book by Apr 11 for travel until Jun 15 and Oct 1 - Dec 15, 17
- 25% Avios Discount when you redeem for award tickets on all Iberia, Iberia Express and Iberia Regional Air Nostrum flights worldwide! More... Register & book by Apr 11 for travel until Jun 15 and Oct 1 - Dec 15, 17

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 30,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Valid for residents in North, South and Central America, Apr 16 - May 15, 17

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Double FlySmiles Miles when you fly in Business Class from Madurai to Colombo. More... Book by Apr 22 for flights until May 31, 17

Wyndham Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points and save $5 off the Best Available Rate per night when you book a stay at particpating Days Inn locations in the U.S. More... Until May 24, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

You can now redeem Delta SkyMiles for WestJet flights

For the longest time redeeming miles for flights within Canada has been the domain of the Star Alliance since Air Canada was a founding member but if you were a member of other airlines other than WestJet Rewards there were no options for you to redeem for flights within our borders. Now that has changed, granted it is only one airline, but still it is better than none and that airline program is Delta SkyMiles and members of the program have a great redemption option for domestic flights within Canada on WestJet.

Perhaps you are a frequent Delta flyer and/or you still have lots of SkyMiles left from the days of the Canadian Delta SkyMiles MasterCard. Either way you can now use your miles to go visit Grandma in Manitoba, fly your kid to University in Vancouver, take that Hawaiian vacation or whatever.

You are not limited to WestJet flights in Canada however, you can also redeem for WestJet flights to the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean and Europe. 

The redemption rates are as follows (one way amounts)
Within Canada: 12,500 SkyMiles
Canada to the U.S.: 12,500 SkyMiles
Canada to Mexico: 17,500 SkyMiles
Canada to the Caribbean: 17,500 SkyMiles
Canada to Hawaii: 22,500 SkyMiles
Canada to Europe: 30,000 SkyMiles
These are all for economy class, there is no option to book WestJet Plus with SkyMiles yet.
Taking a close look at these numbers you can see they pretty much match Aeroplan's Fixed Flight awards for these routes except for Mexico/Caribbean where the Delta option comes in 2,500 miles less each way.

Here is an example of a SkyMiles booking for Calgary to London Gatwick (the taxes/fees are nice and low!)

Although SkyMiles does not have a co-brand credit card in Canada anymore there are other cards that allow you to convert points to Delta:
American Express Gold Rewards Card (C$1 = .75 - 1.5 SkyMiles)
The Platinum Card from American Express (C$1 = .93 SkyMiles)
Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard (C$1 = 0.80 SkyMiles)
MBNA Best Western Rewards MasterCard (C$1= 0.30 SkyMiles)
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express  (C$1 = 1 SkyMile)
You can of course also earn more SkyMiles for hotel stays, car rentals etc. just like you can with most frequent flyer programs. Find all SkyMiles partners here.

Overall this is great news for us Canadians as it provides more options for domestic flight redemptions! As you know earlier in the week we mentioned that you can now use WestJet Rewards dollars on Delta but only on select flights. It would be nice to see that expanded to all Delta flights so that WestJet Rewards members could access more of the U.S., South America and even Africa.

IHG Rewards Club Hidden Gems Contest - Celebrate Canada's 150th birthday for a chance to win 1 Million points!

We have mentioned Canada's 150th Birthday quite a few times on Rewards Canada as we encourage Canadians and international travellers to visit all of our hidden gems across the country. It's these hidden gems that IHG Rewards Club wants you to share with the masses in their Hidden Gems promotion. To the best of our knowledge this is the first big hotel promotion around Canada's 150th and the prizes are nothing to balk at!

IHG Rewards Club wants you to share your favourite spots across our great nation and in doing so you'll be entered to win 1 Million IHG Rewards Club points or even 50,000 as the runner up.

What can 1 Million IHG Rewards Club points get you? 200 nights at their Pointbreaks hotels is a possibility or 16 or more  nights at their highest end hotels like those they have in Tahiti:

A week in Tahiti will only cost you 280,000 points - what will do with the other 720,000?

Here are some gems that have been shared already:

The contest is open to all Canadians (including Quebec) and is pretty simple to enter.  At a minimum you just have to provide your name, email and your hidden gem. You have the option to add a photo and a description of your hidden gem as well. On April 30th the runner up prize will be drawn but you will have until May 31st to enter when afterwards they will pick the winner of the 1,000,000 points!

Click here for complete details and to enter the contest!

Remember that you can book your IHG stays via our own dedicated page on IHG and support Rewards Canada for doing so!