New Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and Groupon partnership! 500 miles for new customer purchases and 4 miles per dollar for existing customers

You now have one more shopping avenue for earning Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles and its a pretty big one: Groupon. When Groupon approached us last fall via email and then at a conference to discuss the topic of issuing miles for purchases we of course told them yes, yes you should! We discussed more than this of course but for our readers you really just care about being able to earn the miles. Now about 7 months later they have their first partner and it is one we all love, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan! I know you'll say I've already been earning Mileage Plan miles with Groupon via Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan shopping (their online shopping portal) but now you can earn more with this direct partnership.

The earn rates are great with the direct partnership. New Groupon customers will receive 500 miles on their first eligible purchase of over $30 while existing customers will earn 4 miles/dollar on eligible Groupon purchases. That's right 4 miles per dollar! That is a really good earn rate, especially if buying a large ticket getaway! Compare this to 3 miles per dollar via the Mileage Plan online shopping mall and you can see why you want to go direct.

After signing into Groupon via the special Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan link you'll have to input your Mileage Plan number and once you have you'll be presented with the following:

I tested the promo code out on a local purchase, the promo code was applied properly and it even provided a discount (the discount is for a limited time only):

Overall this is great news as there are lots of you who use Groupon to save some money on local deals and even travel purchases and now you can earn more miles for doing so! Will you start earning Mileage Plan miles on your Groupon purchases?

Click here to learn more about this partnership and to start earning miles on Groupon purchases

May 17 Update: Latest TD Aeroplan offers, earn SkyMiles for Lyft Rides, AIR MILES bonus for online shopping

News, Tips & Tricks
TD Bank has released their latest offers for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card and TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privlege Card. The only change from the offers that ended yesterday on the Visa Infinite as the 50% off the first year annual fee is gone. The sign up offers remain at up to 30,000 miles for the Infinite and up to 55,000 miles for the Infinite Privilege. You can find more details on our TD credit card page.

Delta SkyMiles members can now earn SkyMiles when taking rides with Lyft! Similar to partnerships we have seen for Uber (IHG, SPG etc.), Lyft has now gotten into the loyatly game. The only difference with this new partnership is that is listed as exclusive so we will most likely not see other programs team up with Lyft, or at least airlines that is.

How It Works

It’s as simple as linking SkyMiles and Lyft accounts, and requesting a ride. All SkyMiles members are eligible. Customers who are not already enrolled in the SkyMiles program can sign up for free through the partner page or delta.com/enroll to become eligible. To download the Lyft app, visit lyft.com/app-sms.

SkyMiles member Lyft benefits offered exclusively at delta.com/lyft include:

• One mile per dollar* spent on all rides, with unlimited mileage earning
• Limited time launch bonus of two bonus miles for a total of three miles per $1* spent on Lyft ride(s) to or from any airport location
• New rider $20 credit broken down into two $10 Lyft ride credits
• All Lyft rides are all eligible to earn miles including Lyft Line, Classic, Plus and Premier

If you are planning any online shopping you may want to funnel it through Airmilesshops.ca. Right now you can earn 50 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you spend a total of $150 or more across one or more retailers. Simply make your purchases by May 31. Find out more here.

Mexican carrier InterJet is expanding beyond their flights in Mexico and the U.S. to add flights to Canada! The airline plans to launch 3x weekly service between Montreal and Cancun and Montreal and Mexico City this July. The airline does have their own frequent flyer program called Club InterJet that works like a cash back rewards program (think WestJet Rewards) Of course you can join Club InterJet while still utilizing proprietary card programs to earn points on InterJet purchases as well as redeeming points against those purchases. (Source: RoutesOnline)

Posts since our last update:

• Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions - earn lots of points while you sleep!
  One of the easiest ways to rack up lots of hotel points is to take advantage of the systemwide…

Travel Deals
Save some cash for your Marriott stays in Canada by taking advantage of member exclusive weekend rates! Book and stay by June 30 Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- CAA Members Receive a $20 Best Western Gift Card PER NIGHT & 10% off for every stay at Best Western Hotels Worldwide More... May 22 - Sep 4, 17

Other Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- Receive a $10 Best Western Gift Card PER NIGHT & 10% off for every stay at Best Western Hotels Worldwide More... North America residents can complete stays Worldwide. All other members must complete the stays in North America to receive the gift cards May 22 - Sep 4, 17
- AAA/CAA Members Receive a $20 Best Western Gift Card PER NIGHT & 10% off for every stay at Best Western Hotels Worldwide More... North America residents can complete stays Worldwide. All other members must complete the stays in North America to receive the gift cards May 22 - Sep 4, 17

Hainan Fortune Wings Club
- Double Fortune Wings Points when you fly on eligible Alaska Airlines flights network wide. More... Until Sep 30, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in Uruguay. More... Book by Jun 5 for stays until Jul 5, 17

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 25% VHR Bonus Points for stays at participating VOILÀ network hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions - earn lots of points while you sleep!

One of the easiest ways to rack up lots of hotel points is to take advantage of the systemwide bonuses that come from many of the big chain programs and also from the lesser known programs. In fact, right now it should be rare for you NOT to earn a bonus. Unless you are staying at a boutique hotel or perhaps an Accor or Fairmont Hotel most other hotels out there have a bonus. So take advantage of it! These systemwide bonuses simply require you to register beforehand and they do not affect hotel pricing as long as you book a point eligible rate which are most rates out there. Of course booking through a third party site like Expedia or Rocketmiles does not count as most chains only award points on bookings that are made directly with them.  Without further ado here are all the current promotions that are available to everyone: 

Provider	Offer	Validity Date
Best Western Rewards	Receive a $10 Best Western Gift Card PER NIGHT & 10% off for every stay at Best Western Hotels Worldwide.  Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required)	May 22 - Sep 4, 17
	AAA/CAA Members Receive a $20 Best Western Gift Card PER NIGHT & 10% off for every stay at Best Western Hotels Worldwide. AAA: Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) CAA: Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required)	May 22 - Sep 4, 17
	For a complete listing of all Best Western Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Best Western page
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson	Earn Triple Gold Points for stays at any participating Carlson hotels worldwide.  Plus, you can earn an additional 5,000 bonus points Gold Points for each Sunday and Monday night* during an Eligible Stay during the Promotional Period for up to 10,000 additional bonus Gold Points. Register Online(Registration is required) then book online at at Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inns & Suites, Radisson Blu, Radisson Red or Park Inn  *Eligible Stays completed at hotels in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates will earn the 5,000 bonus points for stays on Saturday and Sunday nights.	Until Jun 30, 17
	3,000 Bonus Gold Points when you complete a stay booked via the Club Carlson mobile app. Full details	Until Dec 31, 17
	For a complete listing of all Carlson Hotels Club Carlson bonus point offers please visit RC's Carlson page
Choice Hotels Privileges	Earn up to 8,000 Bonus Privileges Points (enough for a $50 Gift Card) for 2 separate stays you complete at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. Stay must be booked via ChoiceHotels.com, the Choice Hotels mobile app, or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates. Members will be awarded a maximum of 8,000 bonus points, depending on the number of base points earned for every (2) separate qualifying trips. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Restrictions For residents of the U.S. and Canada only	May 11 - Jul 31, 17
	For a complete listing of all Choice Privileges bonus point offers please visit RC's Choice page
Fairmont Presidents Club	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Fairmont bonus offers please visit RC's Fairmont page
Hilton	Double Honors Points on all eligible stays at any Hilton Hotels Worldwide. Diamond members will earn Triple Points. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)	May 1 - Aug 31, 17
	For a complete listing of all Hilton HHonors bonus point offers please visit RC's Hilton page
Hyatt World of Hyatt	Earn Double World of Hyatt Points on all Hyatt stays Worldwide and participating M life Rewards destinations starting with your second stay. Register Online (Registration is required)	Until Jun 30, 17
	For a complete listing of all Hyatt Gold Passport bonus point offers please visit RC's Hyatt page
InterContinental Hotels Group	IHG Rewards Club Accelerate: Earn 500 to 30,000 or more Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Bonus varies by member  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)	May 15 - Aug 31, 17
	For a complete listing of all IHG Priority Club bonus point offers please visit RC's IHG page
Le Club accorhotels	Earn up to 6,000 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at all participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. Earn 500 Rewards points following the first stay, 2,500 Rewards points following the second stay, and 3,000 Rewards points following the third stay. Full Details, registration and online booking (Registration is required)	Book by May 23 for stays May 9 - Sep 3, 17
	For a complete listing of all Best Western Rewards bonus point offers please visit RC's Accor page
Marriott	Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at participating Marriott Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Earn 2,000 bonus points on each stay starting with your 2nd stay and earn 2,000 bonus points for each brand of Marriott hotel you stay at starting with your 2nd brand. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)	Register & book by Aug 30 for stays May 27 - Sep 4, 2017
	For a complete listing of all Marriott Rewards bonus point offers please visit RC's Marriott page
Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Marriott Rewards bonus point offers please visit RC's iPrefer page
Ritz-Carlton Rewards	Double Ritz-Carlton Rewards  points for every stay of two nights or longer at The Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)	Register by Aug 30 for stays May 27 - Sep 4, 2017
	For a complete listing of all Shangria-La bonus point offers please visit RC's Ritz-Carlton Rewards page
Shangri-La Golden Circle	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Shangria-La bonus point offers please visit RC's Golden Circle page
Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass	Double Travel Pass Points for stays at all participating Sonesta Hotels Worldwide. Full details	Book by May 22 for stays until Jun 30, 17
	For a complete listing of all Sonesta Hotels bonus point offers please visit RC's Travel Pass page
Starwood Preferred Guest	Earn up to Triple Starpoints for stays of 2 or more consecutive nights at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. Weekday stays (Mon-Thu) earn double Starpoints while Weekend stays earn Triple Starpoints. Full details, online registration & booking (Register Online)	Register by Aug 30 for stays May 27 - Sep 4, 17
	For a complete listing of all Starwood Preferred Guest bonus point offers please visit RC's SPG page
Voila Hotel Rewards	25% VHR Bonus Points for stays at participating VOILÀ network hotels Worldwide. Register Online (Registration is required)	Until Aug 31, 17
	For a complete listing of all Voila Hotel Rewards bonus point offers please visit RC's VHR page
World Hotels Peakpoints	Triple Peakpoints or Triple Airline Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating World Hotels locations Worldwide. Full details	Until Mar 31, 18
	Double Peakpoints or Double Airline Miles for stays at participating World Hotels locations Worldwide that are booked at least 20 days in advance. Full details	Until Mar 31, 18
	For a complete listing of all Starwood Preferred Guest bonus point offers please visit RC's Peakpoints page
Wyndham Rewards	1,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points + up to 20% off the Best Available rate when you book the Stay 2 & Save Rate offer at participating Wyndham Hotel locations Worldwide. Full details and online booking	Book by Sep 4 for stays until Sep 10, 17
	For a complete listing of all Wyndham Rewards bonus point offers please visit RC's Wyndham page

May 16 Update: Listen to Podcast Episode 27, Air Canada Business Class Seat Sale, 150 Bonus AIR MILES for hotel bookings

News, Tips & Tricks
Podcast Episode 27 is here! We interview Tony Chapman and get this well known speaker's thought on the Air Canada / Aeroplan split. Something tells me this is only the first of many podcasts where we'll covering this news! Download/subscribe to the podcast here!

Icelandair has announced they will make their Vancouver service year round. Great news for those of you using this to fly to Iceland or Europe because of their lower fares and free stopovers! The flight will also be increased to 3 flights per week from 2 in 2018. Source Icelandair

WestJet is offering more convenience to its members that check-in online. On May 1, WestJet Rewards members could draw the following right from their Rewards profile to expedite upgrade payment, TSA-pre or international flight passport pre-population. When checking-in, members will be asked to sign-in if they choose to automatically add Passport, Known traveler number (NEXUS), Email address and Credit card information to their check-in details. When a member uses online check-in and is signed into their profile, self-serve check-in will pre-populate relevant information for the check-in, making finding bookings, adding travel documents (when required) and payments (Plus seats, bags, etc.) much faster.

Just what everyone loves to hear, the head of AIR MILES made over $3 million last year. Granted he covers more than just AIR MILES but many collectors aren't happy about it regardless after what happened in 2016. (Source CBC)

Posts since our last update:

• Best Western Rewards Summer Promotion: Receive a $10 or $20 Gift Card PER NIGHT for all stays Worldwide
  We have highlights of Best Western's summer promotion that will launch next Monday. The new offer at first looks…
• IHG Rewards Club Buy Points Flash Sale - 100% Bonus until May 19, use it to save on your IHG stays!
  IHG Rewards Club is once again offering their great 100% bonus on buying their points. You only have until…
• The Ultimate High End Traveller Credit Card portfolio
  In this feature of Rewards Canada's Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios we look at the ultimate one for those who want…
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Buy Miles Bonus of up to 50% - use it to fly on many world class airlines
  Alaska Airlines has launched yet another buy miles bonus and it is their best one ever - that is if…
• Ritz-Carlton Rewards - Double Points on all stays of 2+ nights at Ritz-Carlton Hotels Worldwide
  The final summer offer of Marriott's three loyalty programs is for those of you who are members of the…
• Starwood Preferred Guest SPG Take Three - Up to 3x Starpoints for your multiple night Starwood stays this summer
  Hot on the heels of the Marriott MegaBonus launch for Summer is the Starwood Preferred Guest summer promotion. Called…
• Marriott Rewards Summer MegaBonus - 2,000 bonus points per stay starting with 2nd stay + 2,000 more for multiple brand stays
  Marriott officially released their Summer MegaBonus promotion today along with SPG and Ritz-Carlton which they own and we'll detail…
• Air Canada to launch own loyalty program in 2020! Aeroplan should continue to be a partner
   There were hints of this somewhere a few months ago that negotiations were happening and they didn't seem to be…
• Earn Triple Aeroplan Miles for Accor Hotel stays Worldwide
  Aeroplan has joined AccorHotels Sweet Pillows World Tour promotion! We've posted lots of these offers to our bonus pages…

Travel Deals
Air Canada has a launched a huge business class sale for most destinations that they serve with planes featuring a business class cabin! Book by June 5 for travel over most of the summer! Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers
AIR MILES (Canada)
- 150 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you spend $100 or more on your hotel stay booked via the AIR MILES Travel Hub. More... Book by May 31, 17 

Other Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Up to 50% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you buy miles online. More... The bonus offer varies per member. Until Jul 1, 17

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Avios on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo.  More... Book by Jul 11 for stays until Dec 31, 17

Iberia Plus
- 25% Avios Discount when you redeem for award tickets on select Iberia Express flights. More... Book by May 31 for travel until Jun 30, 17
- 50% Avios Discount when you redeem for award tickets on select Iberia Regional Air Nostrum flights. More... Until Jun 30, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in Australia. More... Book by May 31 for stays until Jun 30, 17

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at participating Marriott Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Register & book by Aug 30 for stays May 27 - Sep 4, 17

Ritz-Carlton Rewards
- Double Ritz-Carlton Rewards  points for every stay of two nights or longer at The Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More... Register by Aug 30 for stays May 27 - Sep 4, 17

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn up to Triple Starpoints for stays of 2 or more consecutive nights at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. More... Register by Aug 30 for stays May 27 - Sep 4, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

Best Western Rewards Summer Promotion: Receive a $10 or $20 Gift Card PER NIGHT for all stays Worldwide

We have highlights of Best Western's summer promotion that will launch next Monday. The new offer at first looks like their last promotion but their is one big difference. The $10 gift card that is awarded will not be per stay but rather per night! Plus it will include the typical 10% off for Best Western Rewards members. Seeing that you can get a lot of BW hotels for under $100 this can be quite a lucrative promotion! It gets even better for CAA members, that gift card is doubled to $20 per night!

Offer details
Receive a $10 Best Western Gift Card PER NIGHT & 10% off for every stay at Best Western Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) May 22 - Sep 4, 17

CAA Members Receive a $20 Best Western Gift Card PER NIGHT & 10% off for every stay at Best Western Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required)
May 22 - Sep 4, 17

IHG Rewards Club Buy Points Flash Sale - 100% Bonus until May 19, use it to save on your IHG stays!

IHG Rewards Club is once again offering their great 100% bonus on buying their points. You only have until May 19th to buy them and if you purchase 5,000 or more points you'll get the number of points you buy doubled. As is always the case when buying at the 100% level, each point will only cost you 0.575 cents. If you choose to buy the maximum number of points, 60,000, it will cost you US$690 but of course you'll end up getting 120,000 points. That's 24 nights at IHG hotels if redeeming via the PointBreaks option which works out to only US$28.75 per night!

Offer Details
100% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy points online.  Minimum purchase of 5,000 points. Full details. Until May 19, 17

Find many more IHG Rewards Club bonus point offers here

Here is an example of how this can be utilized:

Holiday Inn Express Regina with the PointBreaks option:
You only need 5,000 points per night and you can buy 5,000 points to get 10,000 total with this bonus. The cost is US$67.50+GST or about $97 Canadian all in. We checked the middle of June and the 5,000 points was available while the best available (non-refundable rate) was $126 pre taxes. Right away you are saving nearly $80 as one night with the points purchase is only ~$48.00! That's a huge discount!

The Ultimate High End Traveller Credit Card portfolio

In this feature of Rewards Canada's Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios we look at the ultimate one for those who want to travel in style, experience luxury and get great benefits from their credit cards. It is well known from multiple surveys that those who are well off or at least those who can afford higher end credit cards are less interested in the points and miles earned on their cards but rather they are interested in the exemplary benefits that can make their travel around the globe unique and more luxurious. Both American Express and Visa have higher end cards that fit this bill while MasterCard has lagged behind somewhat but as we have always recommended you should carry a Visa, a MasterCard and an American Express card in your wallet so there is a MasterCard included in this portfolio. 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 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 high end travellers get those perks, benefits and one of a kind experiences. Ultimately there are various options that could be utilized for such a portfolio but we look at one card from each issuing family that we feel are the best fit for a high end traveller.

What is Rewards Canada's Ultimate High End Traveller Credit Card portfolio?
Continue reading this article on the main Rewards Canada website to find out!

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Buy Miles Bonus of up to 50% - use it to fly on many world class airlines

Alaska Airlines has launched yet another buy miles bonus and it is their best one ever - that is if you are targeted for it. We were, got the email this morning and after reading some other sites it seems many are targeted for the up to 50% bonus but there are some who are not and are getting lower options. If you get the 50% you definitely want to jump on this offer! With the 50% offer you are buying Mileage Plan Miles under US 2 cents a piece:

Seeing that you can redeem miles for premium class flights on British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Hainan, Korean Air and more, there are lots of options for you to use these miles. Remember it only takes 70,000 Mileage Plan miles to fly Cathay Pacific First Class from Canada to Asia one way! 70,000 miles using the bonus costs around C$1,900 Canadian:

For most of the year Cathay Pacific is charging just shy of $10,000 for the one way flight in first class:

So if you can find a first class redemption on Cathay via Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and the availability works for you, what you would rather pay? Just under $2,000 or just under $10,000? I know which I'd pick!

Offer details
Up to 50% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you buy miles online. Full details. Until Jul 1, 17
The bonus offer varies per member.

Find many more Mileage Plan offers here.

Ritz-Carlton Rewards - Double Points on all stays of 2+ nights at Ritz-Carlton Hotels Worldwide

The final summer offer of Marriott's three loyalty programs is for those of you who are members of the Ritz-Carlton Rewards programs. This is the simplest offer of the three and awards double points for every stay of 2+ nights. Easy peasy.

Offer details:
Double Ritz-Carlton Rewards  points for every stay of two nights or longer at The Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required) Register by Aug 30 for stays May 27 - Sep 4, 2017

Starwood Preferred Guest SPG Take Three - Up to 3x Starpoints for your multiple night Starwood stays this summer

Hot on the heels of the Marriott MegaBonus launch for Summer is the Starwood Preferred Guest summer promotion. Called Take Three, SPG will award up to triple Starpoints for each stay of 2 or more nights at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. Weekday stays (Mon-Thu) earn double Starpoints while Weekend stays earn Triple Starpoints.

Offer details
Earn up to Triple Starpoints for stays of 2 or more consecutive nights at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. Weekday stays (Mon-Thu) earn double Starpoints while Weekend stays earn Triple Starpoints. Full details, online registration & booking (Register Online) Register by Aug 30 for stays May 27 - Sep 4, 17

Find many more Starpoints bonus offers here!