July 20 Update: Frontier to return to Calgary, new enhanced screening measures on flights to the U.S., great VHR bonus!

News, Tips & Tricks
Frontier Airlines announced their plan to return to Calgary after about a decade after leaving the city. Flights should commence in Spring of 2018 between Calgary and Denver with connections to many cities across the U.S. and to Mexico. Frontier does have their own frequent flyer program called Early Returns and their return to Calgary will see us resurrect the Early Returns bonus offer page on our site. Right now we do cover the program however only on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com. (Source Frontier Airlines)

Similar to what Air Canada is offering, Cathay Pacific has announced the ability to bid for upgrades on select flights. Here is an excerpt from the email I received today:

Customers who have purchased Premium Economy or Economy Class tickets1 on selected routes2 have the opportunity to upgrade to the next cabin class via Upgrade Bid.

How it works
If your flight and fare class are eligible to make an Upgrade Bid, and you have opted in to receive offers from Cathay Pacific, you will receive an email invitation seven days before the first sector of your booking. You can also check your flight’s eligibility by entering your booking reference number and family name on the Upgrade Bid welcome page.

To enter the auction, simply visit our Upgrade Bid page to place your starting bid. If your offer is accepted as the winning bid, you’ll receive an email notification confirming your upgrade 48 hours before the departure.

Unfortunately Toronto and Vancouver are not on the initial list of cities where this is being offered however they may come at a future date.

Just as Canada is about to allow merchants to charge an extra fee for credit card transactions, the U.K. has gone in the other direction by banning the extra fees as of January 2018. I have yet to encounter a merchant that charges an extra fee when you use a credit card. (Source Head for Points) Here is what the Government of Canada says:

According to Visa, MasterCard and American Express merchant rules, merchants generally cannot charge you a service fee when consumers use their credit card. However, Visa, MasterCard and American Express permit eligible merchants to charge a service fee (also known as a convenience fee) for certain types of transactions.

Visa, MasterCard and American Express all require that the fee be clearly disclosed to cardholders before the transaction is completed and that cardholders are able to cancel the transaction without penalty.

Note that under the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada, merchants may choose to offer discounts for different payment methods, but they are not required to do so.

Apparently its only certain types of transactions which we believe are premium card transactions. I have a feeling merchants who choose to do this (it's still over a year away) will lose business to those merchants who choose not to add any surcharges.

Finally a reminder to everyone travelling to the U.S., new enhanced security measures have been enacted. It is suggested that you arrive at least 2 hours before your transborder flight if not sooner as security lines are expected to be longer due to the extra measures (Source CATSA)

Posts since our last update:

• TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Card - 6% Cash Back on select categories for the first 3 months + first year free
   In the middle of June TD Canada Trust released a new set of cash back credit cards to our market.…

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at all Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 17

La Quinta Returns
- Up to a 25% Discount when you buy La Quinta Returns points. More... Until Aug 18, 17

Le Club AccorHotels
- 4X Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at new Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 3 for stays until Sep 30, 17

SAS EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points for stays at all First Hotels in Sweden, Norway, Denmark or Spain. More... Until Aug 20, 17

Voila Hotel Rewards
- Triple VHR Bonus Points and Double Elite Status Credit for stays at participating VOILÀ network hotels Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 17

Follow Rewards Canada:

[OFFER EXPIRED] TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Card - 6% Cash Back on select categories for the first 3 months + first year free

 THIS OFFER HAS EXPIRED

In the middle of June TD Canada Trust released a new set of cash back credit cards to our market. The high end version, TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Card is what we look at in this post.

TD came out strong with their new high end offering for the Cash Back market with a never seen before return of 6%, albeit it is a time limited sign up bonus. Once you eat up the 6% the card isn't even a contender. Right now when you apply for and receive the card you'll earn 6% cash back in the first free months on gas, grocery and recurring bill payments. The 6% maxes out after $3,500 in spending in those categories for a maximum return of $210. Also as part of the introductory sign up offer the card is being offered with an annual fee waiver for the first year so the card does not cost you anything for the first 12 months.

Once the first three months are complete the earn rate on gas, grocery and recurring bill payments drops to 3% up to annual caps of $15,000 on gas and grocery and another $15,000 on bill payments. Any other purchases on the card sees only a 1% cash back rate. The category bonus earn rate of 3% is decent however 1% back on the rest is pretty weak compared to its competitors like the SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express or the mbna Rewards World Elite Mastercard which both offer a straight 2% on all purchases.

TD is also following the trend of the mbna card and several other cash back cards in allowing cardholders to redeem their cash back at anytime rather than once a year like the majority of cards in the cash back category so this is a bonus.

On the benefits side, the card has one of the weaker packages out there for an Infinite Card with only Travel Medical Insurance (up to 10 days up to 64 years old, 4 days if older) and Delayed/Lost Baggage. No flight delay, no common carrier insurance, no trip interruption.

All of this with an annual fee of $120 for the primary card (of course its waived right now) and $50 for supplementary cards

My final thoughts on this card is that it was developed to target the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card yet the latter card ends up being stronger, at least on the first $25,000 of spending and it also has a better insurance package attached to it and lower annual fees on primary and secondary cards. I really don't think TD did their homework on this one. Outside of the 6% initial bonus for the first three months there is nothing that stands out about this card.  The 2% on all purchases from other cards, the higher returns from the Scotia Momentum and so forth in the cash back category are all better than this new offering. We would recommend checking out our Top Cashback Credit Card rankings and would pick any of those cards over and above this new TD card.

Click here to learn more about the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Card

July 18 Update: Higher sign up bonus for the SPG Amex, Aeroplan Hotel Transfer Bonus & buy WestJet Dollars bonus

News, Tips & Tricks
All of the news up to today has been covered in our other blog posts. Check them out in the next section!


Posts since our last update:

• Limited Time Offer: 25,000 Starpoints with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
  Earlier this year we wrote a post on Why you should still consider getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit…
• 35% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert hotel loyalty program points to Aeroplan until August 21
  We see the return of another Aeroplan conversion bonus! Last seen this past Spring, the hotel only transfer bonus is…
• Receive a 15% bonus when you buy 1000 or more WestJet dollars and use it to save on Member Exclusive awards
  We haven't really covered the purchase of WestJet dollars on Rewards Canada yet, we've been meaning to but many…

Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- 35% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert Hotel loyalty programs points to Aeroplan Miles. More... Until Aug 21, 17

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 25,000 bonus Starpoints after you charge $1,500 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. Residents of Canada only. More... Until Oct 18, 17

Other Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles for stays on the “Rise & Shine” bed & breakfast package at participating Raffles Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 15 for stays until Sep 30, 17
- Double Asia Miles when you book and stay on the Double Bonus Package at IHG Hotels in Greater China. More... Until Sep 30, 17

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to Triple IHG Rewards Club Points for stays of 3+ nights at Holiday Inn Express Hotels in the Americas. More... Aug 1 - Sep 30, 17

Le Club AccorHotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in Zurich and Lausanne. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Sep 30, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at Gaylord Hotels in the U.S.. More... For Marriott Elite members only. Until Sep 23, 17

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 35% Discount when you redeem Starpoints for stays at any one of 11 Starwood Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Mar 5, 18


Follow Rewards Canada:

Limited Time Offer: 25,000 Starpoints with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

Earlier this year we wrote a post on Why you should still consider getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. In that post we showed how you can get huge returns of 8 to 16% on your card and how to utilize the 20,000 Starpoints sign up bonus.

An example of an 8%+ return for your points 

Well the card just got even better for a limited time as the sign up bonus moves to 25,000 Starpoints as of today! I don't think there is a need to rewrite the whole 'Why you should' post, rather please click the link above for more details on why this card is so awesome and then take advantage of this increased sign up bonus. Even if you don't use the Starpoints for hotel stays but rather convert to one of SPG's 30+ airline partners will this sign up bonus be more lucrative. You are now looking at 30,000 miles in most of SPG's airline partners like Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines and more. (25,000 SPG points converts to 30,000 miles thanks to the 5,000 extra miles they kick in when you convert 20,000 points at a time).

Great news is that yesterday Aeroplan launched their latest hotel conversion bonus offer. Right now you can get 35% bonus Aeroplan miles when you convert hotel points into Aeroplan. So if you take the 25,000 Starpoints you get with the sign up, throw in the 5,000 SPG gives you for converting and Aeroplan's 35% bonus you actually end up with 40,500 Aeroplan Miles! Now time is limited and if you wait to apply there is a good chance the sign up bonus points on the SPG Amex won't post in time for this Aeroplan bonus. Ideally you'll want to apply today and make sure you reach that $1,500 in spending in the first cycle of having the card. Still no guarantees that you'll make it in time though but you can give it a try and at the very least you still have the 25,000 Starpoints.

This offer runs from July 18 to October 18 so take advantage of it now before you forget and give yourself more time to enjoy those points! Also I don't agree with many who think this card is ending in November. What is ending in November is simply the bonus Starpoints for stays at Starwood and Marriott Hotels. The card itself will continue well into 2018 as the latest news on the new program from Marriott won't see it released until late 2018 or even 2019 now.

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

• New Starwood Preferred Guest®* Credit Card from American Express Cardmembers, earn 25,000 bonus Starpoints®* after you charge $1,500 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership. Offer ends on October 18th, 2017.
• Annual Fee: $120 Annual Fee (Supplementary Cards: $50 annual fee, waived for the first year)
• Earn 1 Starpoint for every $1 in purchases charged to the Card
• Enjoy a Free Weekend Night Award when you reach $40,000 in purchases each year
• Experience Starwood Gold Preferred Guest status when you reach $30,000 in purchases each year
• Redeem Starpoints for Free Nights with no blackout dates at over 1,200 of the world's most desired hotels in nearly 100 countries
• Use Starpoints for flights on over 150 airlines with no blackout dates with SPG Flights
• Experience once-in-a-lifetime events with SPG Moments
• American Express Invites™ opens the door to great music, theatre, dining, film, fashion and shopping experiences. Be among the first to know, and among the first to go!
• Add a Supplementary Card and the first year’s annual fee is on us. That’s a value of $50.
· You can use Apple Pay on your eligible device to pay for goods and services at participating American Express contactless merchants
• Annual interest rate 19.99% on purchases and 21.99% on funds advances
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link.
• Conditions apply

35% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert hotel loyalty program points to Aeroplan until August 21

We see the return of another Aeroplan conversion bonus! Last seen this past Spring, the hotel only transfer bonus is back but this time it's a flat 35% bonus miles instead of a tiered bonus structure of up to 30%. This makes this bonus one of the better ones yet. You don't have to transfer a lot of points to get the maximum bonus and the bonus is higher than we've seen in the past.

Most of Aeroplan's hotel partners are participating in the promotion so you can convert from any of the following to add to your final tally:

Your best bet for transfers is Starwood Preferred Guest of course since they transfer 1 to 1 to Aeroplan and if you transfer 20,000 Starpoints at one time SPG will throw in an additional 5,000 miles for 25,000 Aeroplan miles. With the conversion bonus you are actually looking at getting 33,750Aeroplan Miles for the 20,000 Starpoints. Those miles can get you two short haul tickets so you can see the potential value in transferring Starpoints to Aeroplan. BUT WAIT! You'll want to wait to get the SPG card until tomorrow as its going to get better. So be patient and wait about 16 or so hours from the time we post this if you are planning to apply for the card.

Another route to look at is Marriott Rewards Hotel+Air package options. These are the packages where you can redeem Marriott Rewards points for free nights at their hotels plus a certain amount of airline miles.  For Aeroplan the Hotel+Air package looks like this:

If you are sitting on 270,000 or more Marriott Rewards points you can end up with 7 nights at a Category 1-5 hotel plus 162,000 Aeroplan Miles (120,000 + 35% bonus)

Of course if you have points sitting in other hotel programs that you may never use or are about to expire you should look at transferring them to Aeroplan so that you actually get some value out of them!

Offer details:
35% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert Hotel loyalty programs points to Aeroplan Miles.  Full details Until Aug 21, 17

----

You can always look at grabbing hotel credit cards just for conversion bonuses like this but you'll want to do it soon since time is limited and the bonuses you get from these cards may not post in time for this conversion period. Just wait until tomorrow for the SPG card.

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa - 50,000 Points  (Apply here)



mbna Best Western Rewards MasterCard - 60,000 points (Apply here)



Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express - 20,000 Starpoints (Apply here)

OFFER PULLED - Receive a 15% bonus when you buy 1000 or more WestJet dollars and use it to save on Member Exclusive awards

THIS OFFER HAS BEEN CANCELLED BY WESTJET

We haven't really covered the purchase of WestJet dollars on Rewards Canada yet, we've been meaning to but many other posts have been or are on our list of things to write about ahead of  the ability to purchase WestJet dollars to top off your account. The ability to purchase WestJet dollars came out a few months ago but wasn't really advertised by WestJet as it was released the same time as when the expanded relationship with Delta happened.

Well we can't really get around not writing about purchasing WestJet dollars as they now have a bonus for buying them. When you purchase anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 WestJet dollars you'll get an additional 15% during this promotion. The maximum you are allowed to buy per calendar year per member is 3,000 excluding the bonus.

So is it worth to buy WestJet dollars with this bonus?

It potentially can be when you are redeeming for the WestJet Rewards Member Exclusive flight options. These are the fixed price awards for redeeming on WestJet and Delta Airlines.

If you buy 1,400 WestJet dollars, you'll get 1,610 in total with the bonus for $1,475 plus tax.

Those 1,610 dollars are enough for a round trip ticket in economy on Delta Airlines between Canada and Australia. If we look at Vancouver to Sydney at the end of this August, you'll see you can get there for 750 WestJet dollars plus $111.51 in taxes.

For this trip those 750 dollars actually cost you around $720 (the 1,400 level with bonus equates to a purchase price around ~96 cents each including taxes). How much does the same flight cost on Delta?

It costs C$1,151.41. With the WestJet dollars purchase option you are spending $720 + 111.51 in flight taxes and fees for a total of $831.51. So you are actually saving $320!

There you have your answer. In some cases it can make sense to purchase WestJet dollars with this bonus as it can end up helping you save money on flights that are booked under the Member Exclusive Option. In any case you can even bring the price down further if you buy the maximum amount of 3,000 WestJet dollars. At that level you are paying roughly 94 cents per dollar including taxes.

Click here for complete details on this offer and/or to buy WestJet dollars. This offer runs until August 20th.

July 14 Update: BMO CashBack World Elite earn rate dropping to 1.5%, wait to apply for the SPG Amex & more!

News, Tips & Tricks
Via Rob Carrick, the BMO CashBack World Elite MasterCard will be dropping its everyday earn rate of 1.75% to 1.5% on October 3rd. The card that ranked 4th overall in our 2017 Top Cash Back Credit Card rankings is likely going to lose that spot in our next rankings as TD has come out with new Cash Back cards (to be covered here on Rewards Canada shortly) and existing cards that offer a similar return to the BMO card's new earn rate. Despite a couple great new sign up offers on some of their other cards BMO really seems to be losing ground in the rewards card market compared to other issuers and with changes likes this they aren't doing anything to gain any ground back.

If your were thinking of applying for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express this weekend, wait. Wait until the 18th, you won't be disappointed.


Posts since our last update:

• Banff Mt. Norquay Sightseeing Chairlift - A lesser known gem in the Canadian Rockies with spectacular views
   Living just a short 60 minutes away from Banff has afforded the Rewards Canada family lots of time in our…

Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on Avis rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 4 for rentals Sep 5 - Dec 20, 17

WestJet Rewards
- $100 Bonus WestJet dollars when you book an eligible WestJet Vacations package to anywhere in Mexico, the Caribbean or Hawaii. More... Register & book by Aug 31 for travel Nov 1, 17- Apr 30, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles for stays on the "Double Joy" offer at participating Radisson Blu®, Radisson®, and Park Plaza® hotels in Asia Pacific. More... Book by Sep 30 for stays until Oct 22, 17

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles when you fly JAL between Tokyo Haneda and London. More... Oct 29 - Jan 31, 18

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn up to Triple JPMiles when you fly on Jet Airways within India. More... Book by Aug 31 for travel until Sep 30, 17


Follow Rewards Canada: