June 20 Update: New Holiday Inn opens in Montreal, 400 Free Best Buy Rewards Zone points, $20 off Avianca flights

News, Tips & Tricks

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) opened their newest hotel in Canada last week. The Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites® Montreal Centre-ville West located in downtown Montreal is their 16th location in Quebec.

This urban hotel is located steps away from the Bell Center, Place du Canada and Old Montreal, making it the perfect destination for business travelers, families and vacationers. The hotel encompasses 15 floors of a high-rise multi-use building that also includes apartments. The Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Montreal Centre-ville West features an Indoor salted swimming pool with steam bath and whirlpool, Fully-equipped fitness center and Guests can enjoy delicious Southern Italian and American cuisine at Le Restaurant Crossbar

Best Buy is offering 400 Best Buy Rewards Zone points for continuing to subscribe to their emails. Not sure if everyone is getting this or only select members. Be sure to check your email for it.

We've updated the latest offers for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite and Infinite Privilege cards across our site. Right now the cards are at their absolute base offers with no additional incentives. Unless you really need the cards we would hold off on getting one until higher sign bonuses and/or first year free return on the cards!

Posts since our last update:

• Up to 500 Bonus AIR MILES when you book a hotel stay via the AIR MILES Travel Hub
  Another bonus for booking hotels via the AIR MILES Travel Hub! The AIR MILES Travel Hub, a is a…

Travel Deals
 
Avianca has a promo code so that you can save $20 on their flights out of Toronto. Simply use MILES during the check out process to save US$20. You have to be an Avianca LifeMiles member which is free to join. Must be used by June 25th for booking made via avianca.com.

Canadian Bonus Offers

AIR MILES (Canada)
- Earn up to 500 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles on your next hotel stay booked via the AIR MILES Travel Hub. More...Book by Jul 7 for stays until Sep 30, 17

Other Bonus Offers

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo. More... Book by May 15 for stays until Nov 30, 17

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 10% Bonus Asia Miles when you book tickets or travel packages through the Cathay Pacific website or Cathay Pacific app for flights marketed and operated by Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon, originating in Australia/Hong Kong/the United States and travelling to all destinations within Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon network. More... Book by Aug 31, 17
- Quadruple Asia Miles for stays on the Éclat Suite Package at the Hotel Éclat Taipei. More... Until Sep 30, 17

Hainan Fortune Wings
- Triple Fortune Wings Points when you stay for 2+ nights at Regal or iClub hotels in Hong Kong, Shanghai or Foshan. More... Until Aug 31, 17

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer miles and other exclusive benefits, when you stay on a qualifying rate at participating Mandarin Oriental hotels in Macau, Miami, Milan, Paris and Sanya. More... Until Jul 31, 17
- Double KrisFlyer miles for stays at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore, Marina Mandarin Singapore or the Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort & Spa, Langkawi. More... Until Jul 31, 17
- 1,000 bonus KrisFlyer miles when you stay for a minimum of two nights at participating Millennium Hotels and Resorts properties in Asia. More... Until Jul 31, 17
- Double KrisFlyer miles when you stay for a minimum of two nights at participating Preferred Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 18
- Double KrisFlyer miles on hotel stays booked via Rocketmiles. More... Until Jul 31, 17
- Earn up to Quadruple KrisFlyer Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at Shangri-La hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

Up to 500 Bonus AIR MILES when you book a hotel stay via the AIR MILES Travel Hub

Another bonus for booking hotels via the AIR MILES Travel Hub! The AIR MILES Travel Hub, a is a hotel booking engine powered by PointsHound.com and allows AIR MILES Collectors to book stays at more than 150,000 hotels and all-inclusive resorts around the world and earn additional AIR MILES Reward Miles for those stays. As always with third party booking options there are pros and cons to booking with them. The pros are that you can earn miles at hotels that you may not normally earn any miles or points at (ie independent boutique hotels) and you can earn miles at hotels that are not normally associated with that loyalty program (ie a chain that does not partner with AIR MILES). The cons are that you may not be getting the best price (always compare with sites like Trivago, Expedia etc.), you may not earn hotel points or elite qualification (many hotel programs do not award points for booking via OTA's and third party sites) and you may not receive hotel elite status perks like late check out, upgrades etc.

Now, if you book a stay via the AIR MILES Travel Hub you'll receive up to an additional 500 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles if you make your booking by July 7th for stays until We value AIR MILES as roughly 11 to 15 cents each so you could get a return as high as $75 if you spend more than $300 on your hotel stay.

Offer details
Earn up to 500 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles on your next hotel stay booked via the AIR MILES Travel Hub. Get 250 Bonus Miles when you spend $100-$299 or 500 Bonus Miles when you spend $300 or more on your hotel stay. Full details and online booking Book by Jul 7 for stays until Sep 30, 17

Find more AIR MILE bonus offers here!

June 19 Update: Fly Canadian North to Northern Festivals & earn double points, up to 100 bonus AIR MILES at Rexall this weekend

News, Tips & Tricks
Earn up to 100 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you shop at Rexall this weekend. The more you spend the bigger the bonus.

Posts since our last update:

• Save up to 15% on Starwood stays in Canada with their Celebrate Canada 150 SPG offer
  We're only a few weeks away from our 150th Birthday and the offers to celebrate keep coming! Now Starwood…

Canadian Bonus Offers
Canadian North Aurora Rewards
- Double Aurora Rewards Points when you book Canadian North flights to the Alianait Arts Festival, Folk on the Rocks or the Great Northern Arts Festival.  Remember you also earn Aeroplan miles on Canadian North flights along with the Aurora Rewards poitns. More... Book by June 19!

Other Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Double Bonus Miles for stays at the Barvikha Hotel & Spa. More... Until Jul 31, 17
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Miles for stays at Marriott Hotels in Europe. More... Until Sep 6, 17
- Double Bonus Miles for stays at the Garden Ring Hotel Moscow. More... Until Sep 10, 17

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to Quadruple Avios when you stay 2 or more nights at any participating Shangri-La hotel, resort Kerry hotel, Hotel Jen and Traders hotel. More... Until Aug 31, 17
- Earn up to 8,800 Bonus Avios when you subscribe to The Economist. More... Until Jul 31, 17

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Asia Miles when you fly with Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon between Korea and Hong Kong. More... For residents of South Korea only Until Jul 31, 17
- Double Asia Miles for stays at any one of 26 participating Hyatt Hotels and Resorts in Asia Pacific. More... Book by Sep 30 for stays Jul 1 - Oct 31, 17

Hyatt World of Hyatt
- Fast Track to World of Hyatt Elite Status - Members and Discoverists can enjoy many of the benefits of Explorist status immediately for 90 days with our Elite Tier offer. Your trial membership offers access to rewards like 20% Bonus Points, upgraded rooms, complimentary premium Internet and more. More... Register by Sep 30, 17

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- 3,000 JPMiles on Avis rentals of 2 days or more in Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Asia (excluding India), USA and Canada. More... Book by Jul 31 for rentals until Dec 31, 17

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at at Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Maldives. More... Until Aug 31, 17
- Europcar Status Match - Receive status in the Europcar Privilege Programme that is equal to your status in the Miles & More program. More... Until ?

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer miles when you stay on a qualifying rate for a minimum of two nights in participating Harbour Plaza hotels. More... Until Jul 31, 17
- Earn 3X KrisFlyer miles when you stay for at least two consecutive nights on a qualifying rate at Hard Rock Hotel Bali. More... Until Jul 31, 17
- Double KrisFlyer miles when you stay on the “Linger Longer” offer at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

Save up to 15% on Starwood stays in Canada with their Celebrate Canada 150 SPG offer

We're only a few weeks away from our 150th Birthday and the offers to celebrate keep coming! Now Starwood has come into the mix with their special promotion for stays across our great nation. It doesn't involve any bonus points although you can register for several offers via our SPG Bonus Points page and then come back here to take advantage of this offer. The offer provides up to 15% off Starwood Hotel stays (Sheraton, Westin, Four Points, Aloft, Element etc.) across Canada until the end of the year! You can find out more about this sale and book it right here!

---

June 15 Update: SkyTeam to open business class lounge in Vancouver, free Porter VIPorter points for email confirmation + 8 new bonuses

News, Tips & Tricks

The SkyTeam alliance has announced they will be opening their own lounge in Vancouver! This will be the alliance's first lounge in North America that is branded specifically for SkyTeam. This will be the 7th SkyTeam globally and should get lots of use seeing that 9 of the 20 member airlines serve Vancouver! All the more reason for WestJet to join SkyTeam! (Source SkyTeam) Excerpt from the press release:

CANCUN, June 12, 2017 - SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, is taking its customers’ airport experience to new heights by opening a new lounge at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) later this year. The alliance’s first branded facility in North America, it will offer a luxurious environment for First, Business and Elite Plus customers flying on any of the alliance’s nine member airlines currently serving the airport.

SkyTeam currently offers six branded lounges around the world in Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London Heathrow and Sydney, serving hundreds of thousands high-value customers each year.

Speaking at the 73rd annual IATA AGM held in Cancun, Mexico, SkyTeam CEO and Managing Director, Perry Cantarutti, also outlined some of the focus areas that the alliance was working on to improve customer travel experiences while gaining its members value from the synergies.

 “With the opening of Vancouver later this year, SkyTeam will offer more branded airport lounges around the world than any other airline alliance. Increasing the number of shared facilities worldwide realizes significant synergies for our airlines while offering a greatly enhanced airport experience for our top customers,” said Perry Cantarutti, SkyTeam’s CEO and Managing Director. “Meanwhile, we continue to invest in technology so that we can capitalize on emerging customer trends, drive greater efficiencies and continue to deliver value for our airlines and their passengers.”

Recommended reading: Rewards Canada's Guide to Business Class Lounge access

Porter Airlines is wanting their members to confirm their email membership and offering 1,500 VIPorter points for doing so! Be sure you don't delete any emails from Porter so that you can take advantage of this offer! You can also get an additional 1,500 points if you take flight for the next half a year!

Posts since our last update:

• Hilton Summer Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the U.K. and Europe (for Hilton Honors members only)
  Hilton's annual summer sale for stays in Europe, Middle East and Africa will launch for everyone next week however…
• Why I like the new Starbucks Rewards program
  It has been nearly a year and half since Starbucks revamped their loyalty program. It went from My Starbucks…

Travel Deals
Marriott: Save up to 30% off rooms, restaurants and lounges across the Middle East & Africa. Full details & online booking Until Sep 9, 17

Starwood: Save up to 30% off rooms, restaurants and lounges across the Middle East & Africa. Full details & online booking Until Sep 9, 17

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
airberlin topbonus
-1,000 topbonus Miles when you join Le Club AccorHotels and complete your first stay at any Accor Hotel. More... Until Aug 31, 17

Best Western Rewards
- Earn Triple Rewards Points for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Best Western Hotels in Australia. More... Until ?
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at participating Best Western Hotels in Australia. More... Until ?
- Double Rewards Points for stays at participating Best Western Hotels in Australia. More... Until ?

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 2,500 Bonus Gold Points and 30% off for stays at participating Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Park Inn by Radisson and Park Plaza hotels in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Americas. More... Book by Jun 25 for stays Jun 19 - Sep 3, 17

Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings
- Earn up to 500 bonus Fortune Wings Points when you join the program and complete your first flight with Hainan Airlines or Grand China Air. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Double Frequent Flyer Points for stays at the Toowoomba Best Western Plus Ambassador on Ruthven Motor Inn or Bendigo Best Western Crystal Inn. More... Until ?

SAS EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points for stays at participating Radisson Blu, Quorvus and Radisson RED hotels in Europe, the Middle East, Africa. More... Jun 15 - Aug 14, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

Hilton Summer Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the U.K. and Europe (for Hilton Honors members only)

Hilton's annual summer sale for stays in Europe, Middle East and Africa will launch for everyone next week however if you are a Hilton Honors member, you get early access to book stays in the U.K. and Europe as the sale launched today for members of the program! If you are not a member you can join here for free.  Stays must be booked between June 13, 2017 and June 19, 2017 and completed on weekends between June 16, 2017 and October 8, 2017. Remember that you should also be earning up to Triple Points on these stays with the current summer Hilton Honors promotion. Find that and all other Honors bonuses here.

Click here to take advantage of the Hilton Honors preview sale for stays in the UK and Europe! 

 

Why I like the new Starbucks Rewards program

It has been nearly a year and half since Starbucks revamped their loyalty program. It went from My Starbucks Rewards to just Starbucks Rewards but that was the minor change. The major change was the move to being revenue based rather than visit based. Many Starbucks fans were unhappy and those were primarily the single item per visit purchasers. But for those of us who were visiting Starbucks and buying multiple items for multiple people, the new program showed promise.

Now that we are nearly 18 months into the program I must say I really like it. The reason why is that I am one of those multiple item for multiple people purchasers and it has been way more rewarding. We worked it out that break even on the new program was making each purchase just over five dollars. Well I rarely have ever had a Starbucks purchase below that amount and that is still the case today. With the new program I am racking Starbucks Stars a lot quicker and am enjoying a free item at least once per month if not more. With the old program I think I got a free item every 3-4 months. Not only is it due to earning more Stars on my base spend rather than the Star per transaction but Starbucks has been offering so many bonus Star offers with the new program like Double Stars days, Dash Challenges and more.

How about you? Do you miss the old version of the program because you didn't spend much or you were one who split your transactions to earn multiple stars on one visit? Or are you like me and are finding the new program way more rewarding?

You can learn more about the Starbucks Rewards program here.

June 13 Update: Fixed Return Travel Card versus a Reward Chart Travel Card, Marriott & Starwood won't merge until late 2018 & more!

News, Tips & Tricks
We released our first 'case study' that looks at the value you get from a Fixed Return Travel Card versus a Reward Chart Travel Card. Most proprietary credit card programs are the former save for several like Avion and Aventura which are the latter as well as your traditional programs like Aeroplan, AIR MILES and others using reward charts. In this feature we focus on two of Canada's most popular and best cards with each one representing one of the categories. You can read the case study here.

You may have even more time then we expected with Starwood Preferred Guest and of course the extremely strong Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express (Why you should still consider getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express) as Marriott gave some more details on the merger of the two programs during a lodging conference and it looks like it won't happen until the end of 2018 and that even isn't being promised. So yes now more than ever you should be taking advantage of the very strong Starwood Preferred Guest program as you have at least 1.5 years to utilize it and of course worst case scenario all the points you accumulate move to the new program. It was also mentioned that competitive bidding for the new Marriott program credit card should provide potentially better offers on their credit cards at least in the U.S. and hopefully here in Canada. It's the same thing we'll see getting closer to 2020 when Air Canada and Aeroplan (and all other Canadian programs) fight it out for credit card customer. (Source View from the Wing)

Posts since our last update:

• 5,000 Bonus Marriott Rewards Points for stays at the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel
  Here is one of those bonus points offers that I probably only take advantage of if your employer or client…
• Case Study: Fixed Return Travel Card versus a Reward Chart Travel Card
  In this feature we look at two very popular Canadian credit cards and the return you get from them…
• Earning Stories: WestJet Rewards - 55 WestJet dollars earned on one flight with the More Canada More Rewards offer
  As you are likely aware, back at the start of May WestJet released a promotion for the remainder of…

Canadian Bonus Offers
Marriott Rewards
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel. More... Until Aug 18, 17

Other Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- 30% Miles&Bonus Discount on select award tickets within Greece and between Greece and Europe, the Middle East or Africa. More... Until Aug 31, 17

La Quinta Returns
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S.. More... Until Jul 6, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay on Thursday-Sunday nights at over 50 Marriott hotels in the UK. More... Until Aug 15, 17
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT on Sunday - Thursday nights at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Palm Desert. More... Until Aug 10, 17
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per weekend stay that includes a Friday or Saturday night at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. More... Until Aug 14, 17

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the The Domain Hotel Sunnyvale. More... Until Jul 11, 17

Follow Rewards Canada: