Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for August

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of August! 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 (sign up) 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 you grab them strictly for sign up rewards. In fact all of the cards on this list for June 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!
   
There are no changes in this list from July! Just remember this is the last month for the 60,000 point offer for the mbna Best Western Mastercard!

Here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for August (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!!


BMO BMO Rewards World Elite Mastercard- 20,000 Points  (Apply here)
It's been awhile since this card has graced the top 5 credit card sign up offers! 20,000 points is your sign up bonus that is worth $200 in travel and since the card is first year free right now (they bill you $150 and then rebate after several months) that means your $200 in travel is free and yes you even get the Priority Pass access and 4 lounge passes included in that first year free.


Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa - 50,000 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 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.

mbna Best Western Rewards Mastercard - 60,000 Points  (Apply here)
Just like last summer, we this card have its sign up bonus boosted! For many months now it has been 40,000 points but until August 31 it is now 60,000 points.  With no annual fee to boot! You do have to meet the minimum spend of $2,000 in 90 days to get the bonus but that's doable. 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 - 30,000 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 30,000 points when you reach $750 in spending in the first three months. That 30,000 points is equal to a $300 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 October 31, 2017!


If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with over $1,250 in travel credits and hotel free nights but even if you only take on one or two you are helping your travel budget significantly at no cost other than regular credit card spend

Friday, August 4, 2017

August 4 Update: WestJet improves Flex Fares for flights in Canada, Air New Zealand increases YVR flights, earn up to 5,000 MileagePlus miles for Hilton stays

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet today announced changes to its Flex fare, eliminating domestic change and cancel fees for any travel booked in this fare bundle. This change is effective immediately. (Source WestJet)

Air New Zealand must be doing well with their Vancouver flights. They have announced flight increases between Vancouver and Auckland. Depending on the time of the year the airline will now offer anywhere from 4 flights per week all the way up to 8 flights per week. This is great news for frequent Star Alliance travellers and even less frequent deal seekers as Air New Zealand often has some great seat sale prices to fly to New Zealand and Australia. (Source Routesonline)


Posts since our last update:


Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A


Other Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 85,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy or gift miles. More... Until Aug 31, 17

Hilton Honors
- 5,000 Bonus Honors Points +15% offer when you complete a 2+ night stay at participating properties in the Hilton Portfolio in North and South America, including the Caribbean. More... For U.S. residents only who hold an American Express card Until Sep 15, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- 1,500 Bous Le Club Accorhotels Points for your next stay at any Accor Hotel. More... (Registration is required) Until Sep 30, 17

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 1,000 FREE Rewards Points when connect your social profiles to your Marriott Rewards® account. More... Ongoing

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn 500,000 Bonus QMiles when you fly on every single first flight out of Doha to any new destinations that Qatar Airways launches until the end of March 2018. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Saudia Alfursan
- Double Alfursan Miles for stays at nearly 8,000 participating Wyndham Rewards hotels globally. More... Until Oct 13, 17



United MileagePlus
- 1,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles each night you stay at participating hotels and resorts within the Hilton Portfolio. More... Until Oct 31, 17
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you shop online via the MileagePlus Shopping portal. More... Until Aug 18, 17

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Thursday, August 3, 2017

Earn up to 45,000 Free Marriott Rewards Points per year for connecting via Social Media


For several years now Marriott Rewards has rewarded its members for connecting and being active on social with the program by using the hashtag #MRPoints. The offers have varied as to how many points you get for registering and connecting your accounts and then being active with the hashtag. Now they are switching it up from #MRPoints to #RewardsPoints and based upon the latest update from Marriott they state you will be able to earn up to 45,000 free Marriott Rewards points every year when you participate in this fashion with the new hashtag. Right now the offers for connecting your accounts are 250 points per account (Facebook, Instagram & Twitter) for a total of 750 points. Followed by 125 points each for following Marriott Rewards on Twitter and Instagram. Then throughout the year there will be other offers to earn even more points.


Offer details
Earn up to 1,000 FREE Rewards Points when connect your social profiles to your Marriott Rewards® account. Full details
 
Find many more Marriott Rewards bonus points offers here.

Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Awards - Save 25% on Business Class award tickets between Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver & Europe

A couple of days ago we said there were no promo awards available from Canada this month. That was based on what Flying Blue published on their main Promo Award page. However there is another page on Air France's site and that pages shows otherwise. In fact it show that the newest set of Air France KLM's Promo Awards have three cities for travel out of Canada! With promo awards the discount ranges from 25 to 50% off the regular amount of miles required to redeem for these flights. As you can see just by the discount this can be a very good offer if you get 50% off for Business Class! However we don't get any 50% offers once again but we do get 25% off which can definitely be utilized by some! While 25% isn't as good as 50% of course, it still is something to look at if you were planning travel in the first two months of the year.

Offer Details:
August Promo Awards - Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. Full Details Book by Aug 31 for travel Oct 1 - Nov 30, 17

Here are the Canadian offers available for booking this month for travel in October and November

Don't have all the miles? You could always consider transferring Starpoints earned via the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to Flying Blue. The card has a 25,000 Starpoint bonus right now which translates to 30,000 Flying Blue miles! You can add in even more miles with the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card, its 30,000 point sign up bonus translates to 10,000 Starpoints which means another 10,000 Flying Blue miles. That's almost enough miles to cover one way in Business Class.  

(HT One Mile at a Time)

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

August 2 Update: Scotiabank American Express Card changes, there are Flying Blue Promo Awards from Canada + more!

News, Tips & Tricks
The entry level Scotiabank American Express Card went through some changes yesterday. The card now has a sign up bonus of 5,000 Scotia Rewards bonus points with your first $500 in everyday purchases in the first three months but is losing the 2x bonus on Gas, Grocery and dining/entertainment spending. If those categories don't mean much to you then the sign up bonus makes this card better for you however if you spend lots in those categories you will end up earning less with this card. In reality you really should try going for the Scotia Gold American Express card first if you can as it has a much larger sign up bonus and quadruple points for those same category purchases. But the other good news on the card? The annual fee is gone as well as this card moves into the no annual fee travel points credit card category!

At the start of each month we usually tell you about Air France KLM's Flying Blue promo awards and as we mentioned in yesterday's update there were no offers this month from Canada. When we do update the promo awards there are two pages we always check. One, the main Promo Awards page that tends to be the most accurate one was updated and the second page we check wasn't updated at the time of posting. Well the page that tends to be more accurate doesn't seem to be this time as our other source for promo award is showing 3 Canadian cities available at 25% off in business class! If you go through the steps to book this you'll see that these are really available this month and not a mistake by not deleting last month's offers of that page. You can find the details here and we'll most likely have a separate post detailing the offer in the next few days!


Posts since our last update:
Travel Deals
Save at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean until Sep 30. Find out more here!

Canadian Bonus Offers
Scotia Rewards
Earn 5,000 Scotia Rewards bonus points with your first $500 in everyday purchases in the first three months with Scotiabank American Express Card. More...

Other Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Triple Flying Blue Miles for each stay at participating Hilton hotels or resorts across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More... Until Sep 30, 17

American AAdvantage
- 750 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you stay at any La Quinta Inns & Suites in the U.S. and Canada, LQ Hotel by La Quinta in Mexico and Colombia or LQ Hotel in Honduras. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- 1,500 Le Club Accorhotels Points for your next stay at any Accor Hotel. . More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Sep 30, 17

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- 1,000 Bonus JPMiles when you complete your first hotel stay booked via Rocketmiles. More... Book by Dec 31, 17

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles for stays on the Linger Longer offer at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 17
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles for stays at Marriott Hotels in Europe. More... Until Sep 6, 17
- Double Flying Club Miles when you stay for a minimum of two nights at participating Preferred Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 18
- 3,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles when you complete your first hotel stay booked via Rocketmiles. More... Book by Sep 30, 17

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WestJet Rewards More Canada More Rewards Progress Check - How many provinces have you flown to?



We're almost at the half way point for the WestJet Rewards More Canada. More Rewards. promotion and we'd love to hear how you are doing with the promotion!

This is the offer that we developed the concept for and awards up to 1,000 bonus WestJet dollars for traveling across Canada. The more provinces and territories you fly to the more you earn.  This bonus runs until the end of the year so you still have lots of time to take advantage of it and earn those extra dollars.
For me I have achieved 3 of the bonuses so far. Flying to 2 provinces outside my home province and of course the one time bonus for flying back to my home province.


This means I have received 40 bonus WestJet dollars so far. I don't think I'll get much more. There will be chance of Saskatchewan trip which would add another 20 Dollars but all my other WestJet travel will most likely be to provinces I have already flown to or as my next WestJet flight happens to be, to the U.S.

If you haven't registered for this promotion yet you can do so here and you have until the end of the year to collect your bonus dollars!

How about you? How is your quest to flying to as many provinces across going? Anyone think or know they'll hit the 1,000 dollars bonus? How close will you get? Let our readers and us know in the comments below!




WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard
$250 WestJet dollars Bonus + Annual $99/$299/$399 Companion Flight when you sign up for and receive the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard.
- Earn 1.5% back in WestJet dollars on every purchase you make with your card
- Earn 2% back in WestJet dollars when you purchase WestJet flights or WestJet Vacations packages with your card
- Companion flight vouchers are an annual benefit.
- First bag free for the primary cardholder up to 8 people traveling on the same reservation to anywhere WestJet flies!

Apply Now

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

August 1 Update: American AAdvantage Back to School shopping bonus, airberlin launching Toronto-Dusseldorf flights (great news for oneworld members) and more!

News, Tips & Tricks
The start of a new month means the start or rather restart of lots of promotions. One that we always cover is Air France KLM's Flying Blue Promo Awards. This month you won't find more coverage other than our listing of it on the Flying Blue bonus miles page as there are no Canadian cities included. In fact in all of North America there is only one offer, New York to Paris Orly for 25% off in Economy. There are some decent offers from Europe to Africa and Asia if your travel plans take you that way so you may want to look at those, otherwise wait until next month!

And now that it is August 1st we will also see the launch of lots of Back to School shopping and student offers. One such offer we covered today is the latest bonus for shopping online via American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping portal. You can earn up to 2,000 bonus miles for all your online shopping until August 18th. Check it out here.


airberlin will be launching flights between Toronto and their Dusseldorf hub in May of 2018. The airline is part of the oneworld alliance which means not only can you use the airline's only program topbonus to earn and burn you can also use British Airways Executive Club, American AAdvantage, and many other programs for this route. The flights will operate 4x per week starting on May 1. (Source Routesonline)


Posts since our last update:


Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- August 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 Aug 31 for travel Oct 1 - Nov 30, 177

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- OFFER INCREASED 1,000 Mileage Plan Miles when you make your first purchase via Groupon as a new customer. Existing customers will earn 4 miles per dollar spent. More... Ongoing

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you shop online via the AAdvantage eShopping portal. More... Until Aug 18, 17

IHG Rewards Club
- 5,000 points per award night - IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks Redeem only 5,000 points for stays at select hotels Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 17
- 10,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points(For Ambassador members only) for Club InterContinental stays at participating InterContinental Hotels Worldwide More... Until Dec 31, 17

Le Club accorhotels
- Earn up to Quadruple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Novotel and ibis Hotels in Austria. More... Book by Sep 3 for stays until Sep 30, 17

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