October 13 Update: CIBC Aventura point deals for Porter flights, Starwood Stay 3 Pay 2 Nights offer, 250 bonus SCENE Points with Swiss Chalet

CIBC Aventura Rewards has released another great award ticket sale. You can now redeem as little as 8,000 Aventura Points to fly on Porter Airlines. Book by Oct 31 for travel until Apr 15, 18. Full details.

Posts since our last update:

• Earn 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at Marriott's two new Vancouver hotels
  Marriott is opening up two new luxury hotels in Vancouver this fall, The JW Marriott Parq Vancouver and the…
• Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles on select Air Canada flights around the globe!
  It has been awhile since we've seen a wide ranging bonus offer for flying on Air Canada so this…

Travel Deals
You know how we tell all of you to carry a Visa, a Mastercard and an American Express card for the brand specific promotions? Well here is one of them. Book 2 nights at Starwood Hotels and pay for it with a Mastercard and you'll get the 3rd night free! Stays must be booked by Oct 31. Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles when you fly on select Air Canada routes Worldwide. More... Register and book by Nov 11 for travel until Apr 30, 18

Cineplex SCENE
- 250 Bonus SCENE Points when you place a takeout or delivery order through the Swiss Chalet app. More... Until Oct 31, 17

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 20% Bonus Flying Club Miles when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to Flying Club Miles. More... For residents of the U.S. and Canada only Until Oct 31, 17

Other Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 5,000 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles + MVP Status for University of Washington students who join Alaska's Mileage Plan program or registering for this promotion if already a member. More... Until Oct 31, 17

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you make a hotel booking on PointsHound. More... Book by Oct 31, 17

Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Double Guest Rewards Points on all Amtrak travel. More... Until Nov 18, 17
- 1,000 Bonus Guest Rewards Points for weekend stays at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts in North and Latin America and French Polynesia. More... Until Dec 31, 17
- Double Guest Rewards Points + a free day on Hertz rentals of 6 or more days at participating locations in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Avis Preferred
- Receive a Free Day Rental Award when you rent twice with Avis for two or more days in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S.V.I. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Until Feb 28, 18

British Airways Executive Club
- 1,000 Bonus Avios on your next Rocketmiles hotel stay More... Until Dec 31, 17

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Save up to 40% GC Award Points when you redeem for free room nights at Shangri-La hotel, resort, Traders or Kerry hotels. More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Nov 30, 17
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel Colombo. More... Nov 17 - Jan 31, 18




Follow Rewards Canada:

Earn 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at Marriott's two new Vancouver hotels

Marriott is opening up two new luxury hotels in Vancouver this fall, The JW Marriott Parq Vancouver and the Douglas, an Autograph Collection hotel. To celebrate the openings Marriott Rewards members who stay 2+ nights at either hotel can earn 5,000 bonus Rewards points on those stays between November 1 and January 17, 18. A quick check of rates shows the 5,000 bonus Rewards points rate is the same as the best flexible rate.

Offer details
5,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay 2 or more nights at the JW Marriott Parq or the Douglas, an Autograph Collection hotel in Vancouver. Full details & online booking. Nov 1 - Jan 17, 18

Planning a stay at any of these two new hotels? We'd love to hear from you on what you think about them!

Find many more Marriott Rewards bonus offers here.

Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles on select Air Canada flights around the globe!

It has been awhile since we've seen a wide ranging bonus offer for flying on Air Canada so this comes as a nice surprise! As long as you register and book your flights by November 11th you can earn bonus miles on many Air Canada flights, not all of course, the most popular Canadian, U.S. and sun destination routes are absent but there are lots of great International destinations included. The bonuses earned are as follows:

Like most bonuses on Air Canada now tickets booked before today do not count for the bonus.

Offer details
Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles when you fly on select Air Canada routes Worldwide. Full details & online registration. Register and book by Nov 11 for travel until Apr 30, 18

 

October 12 Update: Canadian Points University to be held Nov 3/4 in YYC, WestJet partners with Chopped Leaf, 15% off Hertz rentals

The next Canadian Points University is just around the corner and it's in Rewards Canada's home town! The PointsU will be held on November 3 and 4th at the new Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel (read our review of the hotel here) If you have not bought tickets yet you can do so at PointsU.ca and use our code 'RewardsCanada' to save yourself $20 on the full ticket price. With it less than a month away we want to get the details out to you now but will follow up with another post next week with more details!

WestJet announced today that they have partnered with Chopped Leaf to provide the restaurant's whole-food offerings on board WestJet aircraft. The new food service will begin on November 15th. (Source WestJet)

Ethiopian Airlines is growing their Toronto to Addis Ababa service from 3 flights per week to 5 flights per week starting Dec 3. Ethiopian is an Aeroplan partner and is always a decent award flight option for flights to Africa, the Middle East and more. (Source Routesonline)



Posts since our last update:

• The unveiling of WestJet's 737 Max 8 with photos and flight video
  Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the unveiling of WestJet's newest aircraft, the Boeing 737 Max 8. Over the…
• One week left to grab the higher sign up bonus on the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
  Wow three months sure do fly by! It feels just like yesterday when the increased sign up offer on…
• Redemption Stories: 72,000 Reward Point stay at a New York City Best Western Hotel for only 30,000 Points!
   Going back a couple of weeks ago we brought you the details of Best Western's Fall promotion and it wasn't…

Travel Deals
Hertz is offering 15% off weekly and weekend rentals in Canada and the U.S. if you book by October 31 for rentals until Jan 31, 18 Find out more here

 

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles on rentals of 2 or more days with Avis in Asia, USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands. More... Book by Nov 30 for rentals until Dec 14, 17

Etihad Guest
- 20% Bonus Guest Miles when you covert points from select hotel and financial partners to Etihad Guest. More... Until Oct 31, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night for stays on Thursday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday required) at 8 Courtyard, Residence Inn & SpringHill Suites hotels in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. More... Until Dec 4, 17
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay of 2+ nights at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. More... Until Dec 4, 17

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- 500 Bonus Frequent Flyer Points for your first Airbnb booking. More... Ongoing

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Double QMiles for each qualified stay at any Millennium and Copthorne participating hotels in Middle East and Africa. More... Until Dec 31, 17
SAS EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points when you book the SAS Dreams Hong Kong Sweet & Sour tour. More... Book by Nov 1, 17

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles for stays of at least two consecutive nights at Casa del Rio Melaka. More... Until Nov 30, 17
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles for stays at Anantara Hotels in Asia and Africa. More... Until Dec 31, 17
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles for stays at Avani Hotels in Asia and Africa. More... Until Dec 31, 17
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles for stays at TivoliHotels in Portugal, Brazil and Qatar. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus ROP Miles when you fly on Thai Airways between Bangkok and Vienna. More... Nov 16 - Feb 28, 18

United MileagePlus
- Double MileagePlus Miles for stays on the Family Moments package at the Fairmont Dallas. More... Until Dec 1, 17



Follow Rewards Canada:

The unveiling of WestJet's 737 Max 8 with photos and flight video

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the unveiling of WestJet's newest aircraft, the Boeing 737 Max 8. Over the past few weeks the Calgary based airline has taken delivery of two of the 50 aircraft they have on order. Fin 302 was on display in one of their hanger bays in Calgary for the media and WestJet employees to walk through and of course be able to take pictures and videos of it as well. Fin 301, was in the next bay over getting ready for the 1st Canadian flight of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft, that is a flight wholly within Canada with passengers on it. The event was mainly attended by employees but also the Calgary media, some of Calgary's best known plane spotters and Rewards Canada!

The new plane ushers in the latest technology and services for WestJet and the airline is really excited to be adding the planes into their fleet. While many features that the plane provides are huge for WestJet the recurring theme was the 14% increase in efficiency the plane will provide over the existing next generation fleet. Hopefully the decrease in costs for fuel are passed along in the fares..... ;-). Outside of it being way more efficient, the plane is much quieter! I sat in row 23 behind the engines and can attest to it being significantly quieter than the current 737NG fleet. This will be much appreciated by not only those on board the plane but even those on the ground who aren't fond of planes flying overhead.

Some other notable changes are the Boeing Sky Interior which boasts LED mood lighting with four different settings (Sunset, sunrise, WestJet Blue & anight time ambient service) and of course the larger overhead bins that on average will allow for 60 more carry on bags to be stored on the aircraft.

Overhead bin

Mood lighting in the ceiling

These will also be the first narrow body aircraft in WestJet's fleet to have ovens in the galleys which means hot meal service will be available!

Ovens!

 For seating WestJet is moving to hybrid three cabin style. You still only have two main cabins, Plus and Economy but there is also now an Extra Leg Room section at the front of the economy cabin right after plus. You'll know you are in these seats as they have the white headrests but not with 'Plus' embroidered on them. Seat pitch on these MAX aircraft are 34" for Plus and Extra Legroom sections while the rest of Economy will range from 30" to 31". While in the air we were told that Plus will actually be increased to 36" pitch sometime here in the near future to match the rest of the 737 fleet. The new seats in Plus and Extra Legroom sections feature a quilted back to further distinguish them from economy.

Plus Seating

Extra Legroom Seating

Regular Economy Seating

I had tons of room in the regular economy seat but then again I'm only 5'-9" (or 5'-8" as my kids claim)

View across row 23 in the economy section

Once through the plane on the media side we boarded fin 301 for the sightseeing flight that took us over the Rockies, unfortunately it was mostly cloudy over most of Southern Alberta and B.C. however the mountains did peak through on occasion.

Actual sightseeing flight path in green

During the flight there were speeches from Gregg Saretsky (WestJet's President & CEO), Boeing's Jeff Edwards and others.  There was lots of praise for the aircraft, the WestJet employees and more. Some more details will also revealed on more changes coming to Plus service. Primarily WestJet is working to add a cabin divider between Plus and Economy and they have set up a partnership with Giusti Wines of Calgary to serve Prosecco out of big bottles to all passengers seated in Plus.

Prosecco being served on the flight!

 It really seems WestJet is ramping up it's higher end service and they need to since they will be offering a full business class on their 787 planes. The better the two integrate the better and smoother it is for the customer. Overall the flight was an awesome experience to have and we have to pass along a big thank you to the WestJet and WestJet Rewards team for allowing me to join them on this special occasion. What follows is a Youtube video compiling some of the photos and videos taken during the event.

Finally today saw the first commercial flights of the plane (Flights 662 and 667) between Calgary and Toronto. Let us know if you were lucky enough to get on one of those flights and share your thoughts below! If not, feel free to comment anytime in the future when you do get onto one of the new Max aircraft once they start flying full time on November 9th!

Please note that some of the statements we pass along here from WestJet are subject to change!

One week left to grab the higher sign up bonus on the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

Wow three months sure do fly by! It feels just like yesterday when the increased sign up offer on the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit from American Express launched but alas it was not. In fact it has almost been three months and the offer will wrap up next week on October 18th. If you don't have the card yet this may be the time to get it. Sure you may be thinking that SPG won't be around much longer and will be merged in some fashion with Marriott Rewards. That won't happen however until late 2018 or even sometime into 2019. Add into to picture that the Chase Marriott Premier Visa card is no longer available you only have this card as option to earn Starpoints or Marriott Rewards points since you can convert at a 1:3 ratio respectively. This gives you at least a year to use the card to earn either SPG or Marriott Rewards points not to mention the ability to score 25,000 Starpoints with the current increased sign up bonus, which by all accounts should drop to 20,000 on October 19th (or potentially lower since the card has had lower sign up offers before, we just don't know yet) Those 25,000 Starpoints are very worthwhile to redeem for Starwood stays (free nights start as low as 3,000 points or you can convert them to programs like Aeroplan or British Airways and get 30,000 miles/Avios for the 25K or convert to Marriott to get 75,000 Marriott Rewards points. The options abound with this card!

 We've written extensively on why this card is so good and would recommend reading some of our other posts on the card as to why it provides what we would consider the highest return of all credit cards in Canada:

• Why you should still consider getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express 

• Limited Time Offer: 25,000 Starpoints with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
   
  Now what are you waiting for? It's time to get this card if you don't have it already!

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