October 26 Update: Qantas Frequent Flyer enhancements, 3,000 easy Club Carlson points & British Airways closing Toronto lounge

If you are lucky enough to be a frequent traveller to Australia, not only are we jealous of you but now you can earn more points if you are making those flights on Qantas! Australian Business Traveller reports that Qantas Frequent Flyer has increased the points and status credits earned on Premium Economy and Business Class tickets from Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco to Australia. Meanwhile they have also lowered some of the points requirements for upgrades out of Los Angeles.

Photo Credit: Australian Business Traveller

Over on our global site, FrequentFlyerBonuses.com we highlighted a very easy way to earn some bonus Club Carlson Gold Points. Via thier app, Club Carlson has added an Extra Partners section where you can shop and earn Club Carlson points for doing so. They are promoting the section by awarding 3,000 Gold Points on your first eligible purchase (many of which only require US$1) and iTunes music purchases seems to be the way to go. The only thing we are unsure of is whether Canadian accounts will work. If you give it a shot let us know how it goes just make sure you are spending enough in C$ to be over US$1 (so I would go with C$1.35 at a minimum). eBay and Groupon also look like easy options for us Canadians. Find out more here.

Per this FlyerTalk thread British Airways will be closing their lounge at Toronto's Pearson airport on October 31 and will begin to use one of the Plaza Premium lounges for their elite members and people fliyng in a premium class. Not good news at all as this lounge was one of their better offerings in North America according to many flyers.

Posts since our last update:

• Groupon expands mileage/point earning to six more airline & hotel programs
  Back in May we detailed Groupon's first foray into the world of miles and points with their partnership with…
• Hilton Honors Weekenders offer - Save on Saturday and Sunday night stays
  The best way to prepare for Monday? Make the most of Saturday and Sunday. Join the weekenders at Hilton.…
• 100% Bonus when you buy IHG Rewards Club Points - timed to coincide with the new PointBreaks
  Later today we should be getting a preview of 5-10 hotels that will be on IHG Rewards Club's newest…

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 3,000 Bonus Gold Points for completing your first transaction with any of Club Carlson's Extras Partners, including iTunes, eBay, Groupon and more via the Carlson App. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Choice Privileges
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Privileges Points when you buy 5,000 or more points online. More... Until Nov 14 ,17

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles for stays at Oberoi Hotels & Resorts worldwide and Trident Hotels across India. More... Until Mar 31, 18
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays of 2+ night at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh or Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, Siem Reap. Exclusive offer for EK388 passengers. More... Book by Dec 15 for stays until Dec 20, 17

IHG Rewards Club
- 100% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy points online.  More... Until Nov 3, 17

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus QMiles when you earn miles from 2 or more Privilege Club travel (non airline), service or financial partners. More... Nov 1 - 30, 17

Follow Rewards Canada:

Groupon expands mileage/point earning to six more airline & hotel programs

Back in May we detailed Groupon's first foray into the world of miles and points with their partnership with fellow Seattle based company Alaska Airlines. Now exactly a year after we met with Groupon to discuss details of them offering points and miles for purchases they have expanded their offerings with six more programs now available. In addition to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan you can now earn points and miles on Groupon purchases with American AAdvantage, Choice Privileges, IHG Rewards Club, JetBlue TrueBlue, La Quinta Returns and United MileagePlus.

Here are all the earning details:

For American Airlines AAdvantage^® program, Alaska Mileage Plan^™, JetBlue TrueBlue^®, United MileagePlus^®:

1. Earn 5 miles or points per $1 spent on Groupon Local
2. Earn 4 miles or points per $1 spent on Groupon Getaways
3. Earn 3 miles or points per $1 spent on Groupon Goods
4. New Groupon customers whose first purchase on Groupon is a Local offer that is $30.00 or greater before taxes will receive an additional 1,000 miles or points in addition to the 5 miles or points indicated above.

For Choice Privileges^®, IHG^® Rewards Club, La Quinta Returns^™:

1. Earn 10 points per $1 spent on Groupon Local
2. Earn 8 points per $1 spent on Groupon Getaways
3. Earn 6 points per $1 spent on Groupon Goods
4. New Groupon customers whose first purchase on Groupon is a Local offer that is $30.00 or greater before taxes will receive an additional 2,000 points in addition to the 10 points indicated above.

After signing into Groupon via the special Loyalty page you'll click on the program of your choice, input your reward program number and once you have you'll be presented with the following (will vary by program):

Make sure you input the promo code at check out, which you can confirm is applied when it states Miles post within 14 days:

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 miles and  on your Groupon purchases? Now the question has come up about using an online shopping mall for Groupon purchases since you'll earn miles and be able to use discount codes. The mileage earned through online malls does vary (for example Alaska is 3 miles, so less than the 4 or 5 here potentially) but you can then add in coupon codes to save on the purchases. So the choice is yours but if you have never shopped via Groupon before make your first purchase directly via the Groupon loyalty page to take advantage of the first purchase bonus and then decide on future purchases what the better route is.

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

Hilton Honors Weekenders offer - Save on Saturday and Sunday night stays

The best way to prepare for Monday? Make the most of Saturday and Sunday. Join the weekenders at Hilton. Take advantage of weekend sale rates for stays at select Hilton Hotels around the globe.

Book online here!

Book by November 6, 2017.

Sample rates:

100% Bonus when you buy IHG Rewards Club Points - timed to coincide with the new PointBreaks

Later today we should be getting a preview of 5-10 hotels that will be on IHG Rewards Club's newest PointBreaks list that should be bookable on Monday. Tomorrow we should have the full list. So it doesn't seem like coincidence that IHG has just released another 100% bonus on buying their points until November 3rd. Once you see the previews today or tomorrow you can decide if buying points is right for you and use them on Monday to get in on those amazing 5,000 points per night offers!

Not only have they timed this to be right when PoinBreaks are coming out but they have lower the price of their points! Last month buying 60,000 points (120,000 total with bonus) cost US$690 now the price is US$600! This means each point will only cost you 0.5 cents. That's 24 nights at IHG hotels if redeeming via the PointBreaks option which works out to only about C$32.00 per night! Since the bonus starts right at 5,000 points you could choose to buy only 10,000 points if you only 1 or 2 PointBreak nights or go for more!

 

Offer Details
100% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy points online.  Minimum purchase of 5,000 points. Buy Points Here. Until Nov 3, 17

Find many more IHG Rewards Club bonus point offers here

October 24 Update: Book an Air Canada flight with Masterpass & get a $60 eGift card, 5x Plum Points on books and $50 off Hainan flights

If you are Canadian, use Twitter and follow a lot of travel based people/companies on Twitter you have then most likely seen this offer. Simply use Masterpass to pay for an Air Canada flight and are one of the first 12,500 people to do so or book by Nov 19, whichever comes first, you'll receive a $60 Air Canada eGift card! Looking at the T&C's there does not appear to be a minimum flight price so you could buy a pretty cheap one way flight to get in on the offer! The amazing thing with Masterpass is that you can actually connect a Mastercard, American Express or Visa card to it so you are not limited to Mastercard. Find out more here

5X Plum Points on Online Book purchases at Indigo (Oct 24 - 26)

Posts since our last update:

• Kaligo: 30% Bonus Miles/Points on all hotel stays booked by October 31!
  A great way to boost your balances for stays at non-chain hotels or even at chains that aren't your…
• One week left for the Scotia Gold American Express with 30,000 points and first year free
  This is the final week to grab the Scotia Bank Gold American Express Card with the 30,000 point sign up…

Travel Deals
Hainan Airlines is offering a $50 Coupon code for their flights to China out of Calgary and Toronto. Simply book by Dec 31. Find out more here!

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- 300 bonus Aeroplan Miles when you service your Toyota at a Canadian Toyota Dealership or purchase a set of four (4) qualifying winter tires. More... Until Nov 30, 17

Other Bonus Offers
British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to Quadruple Avios and save up to 25% for stays at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. More... Book by Jan 18 for stays until Jul 27, 18

Le Club AccorHotels
- Triple Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at over 250 participating Accor hotels in South America. More... Until Nov 30, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for Thursday-Sunday nights stays (Friday or Saturday required) at Marriott Hotels in South Africa. More... Nov 15 - Jan 23, 18

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when stay at least two consecutive nights in a Deluxe Plus room at the Concorde Hotel Singapore. More... Until Nov 30, 17
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you book a stay through Constance Hotels & Resorts website. More... Until Nov 30, 17
- 1,000 KrisFlyer miles for stays of at least 2 consecutive nights at the Best Available Rate or selected special room packages at any of the 8 Fullerton & Sino Hotels in Singapore or Hong Kong. More... Until Jan 14, 18
- 1,000 KrisFlyer miles, 35% off your stay, and other privileges when you spend a minimum of three nights at Gili Lankanfushi Maldives. More... Until Nov 30, 17

Follow Rewards Canada:

Kaligo: 30% Bonus Miles/Points on all hotel stays booked by October 31!

A great way to boost your balances for stays at non-chain hotels or even at chains that aren't your regular cup of tea is booking via third party hotel sites like Kaligo. Right now you can get even more miles or points for Kaligo bookings with their Flash Sale that offers a 30% bonus! For most of our readers we figure Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan or British Airways Executive Club would be the best choice for this offer but there are lots of other options like MileagePlus, LifeMiles and Asia Miles which we know a lot of our readers participate in.

Offer details
30% Bonus Miles or points in the program of your choice on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo.  Full details and online booking Book by Oct 31 for stays until Dec 31, 18

Here are all of Kaligo's partners:

One week left for the Scotia Gold American Express with 30,000 points and first year free

This is the final week to grab the Scotia Bank Gold American Express Card with the 30,000 point sign up bonus worth $300 in travel and having the first year annual fee waived. Starting on November 1st, the bonus points will be lower but the good news is that it will still have the annual fee waived.

The card has some very strong category earning (4x points on Gas, Grocery, Dining & Entertainment) and since it is first year free you essentially get that $300 for free (the 30,000 point sign up bonus) as long as you apply by October 31.
 
This card ranked second in the Travel Points Card with annual fee category and fifth overall in our 2017 Top Travel Rewards Credit card rankings and will most likely continue to be on our monthly top 5 credit card sign up offers.

Here are some details on the card:

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
30,000 Scotia Rewards bonus points,with $750 in net purchases in first three months - worth $300 in travel. Apply Online
• Earn 4x Scotia Rewards points for every $1 you spend at gas stations, grocery stores, on dining and entertainment • Earn one point on all other eligible purchases
• Extraordinary travel benefits
• Flexible Point Redemption
• Comprehensive travel insurance

• Use your points to purchase travel online or over the phone through our full-service travel agency. Or book your own travel using your card and go online to redeem points for the purchase.
• Receive discounts and other special offers on hotels, airfare, car rentals, cruises and vacation packages.
• Complimentary Concierge Services
• Low price airfare alerts
• Receive up to 25% off qualifying car rentals
• Travel emergency medical coverage is automatically provided for eligible persons for up to 25 consecutive days
• Redeem points for merchandise and other rewards

For more details or to apply for the card please see here.

You can also read our in depth review of the card here

October 23 Update: Earn 40 Bonus AIR MILES for Best Western stays, Save 30% at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and more

A quiet start to the week with only bonus offers and travel deals to pass along!

Best Western and AIR MILES have resurrected their summer offer of 40 bonus AIR MILES for stays at Best Western Hotels in the Canada, the U.S. or Caribbean.  The offer runs until the end of the year. Find out more here.

Posts since our last update:

• 500 FREE Aegean Miles+Bonus Miles for logging in via the mobile app
  Lufthansa's Miles & More is offering 500 free miles for downloading and logging into to their app so Aegean Airlines…
• Canadian Points University Calgary - Come learn the ins and outs of travel reward programs on Nov 3/4
   The third installment of the Canadian Points University is just around the corner! This edition will be held in Calgary…

Travel Deals
You can save 30% off the Best Available Rate at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver if you book by October 31. Stays can be booked as far out as April 30, 2018. Find out more here

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers
AIR MIlES (Canada)
- 40 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles for each stay you complete at Best Western Hotels in Canada, the U.S. or Caribbean.  More... Until Dec 31, 17

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Avios when you apply for and receive the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card. More... For residents of Canada only. Until ?

Fairmont President's Club
- 500 Bonus Airline Miles (including Aeroplan), up to 25% off, free cocktail & breakfast + $25 hotel credit for stays on the Suite Moments package at the Fairmont Hotels in the Americas and Europe. More... Book by Dec 31 for stays until Mar 31, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 500 Free Miles+Bonus Miles for logging into your Miles+Bonus account on the Aegean app. More... Until Nov 16, 17

Iberia Plus
- Earn Triple Avios on all Hilton Hotel stays Worldwide. More... Until Jan 30, 18
- 500 FREE Avios when you join IHG Rewards Club and a fast track to Gold Elite status when you stay only 3 nights at any of 5,000+ IHG properties worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 17

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to a  $100 Mastercard Reward Card and 4,000 bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete 2 stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide and pay for them with a Mastercard card. More... Valid for residents of the U.S. Nov 1 - Feb 1, 18

South African Airways Voyager
- Double Voyager Miles for stays at the Radisson Red V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 15, 17

Follow Rewards Canada:

500 FREE Aegean Miles+Bonus Miles for logging in via the mobile app

Lufthansa's Miles & More is offering 500 free miles for downloading and logging into to their app so Aegean Airlines must have felt like they should do the same. Right now when you log into your Miles+Bonus account on the Aegean app they will give you 500 free Miles+Bonus miles. You may be asking why post this to Rewards Canada but I know there are some of you who are crediting your Air Canada and other Star Alliance flights to Aegean Miles+Bonus since they have one of the easiest Star Alliance Gold qualification requirements and here are 500 more miles for you thought they are not elite qualifying. Also it can be away to extend miles in your Miles+Bonus account if you haven't used it for awhile like us who did pre-2015 when Aegean had super-easy Star Alliance elite qualifying.

Offer details
500 Free Miles+Bonus Miles for logging into your Miles+Bonus account on the Aegean app. Full details Until Nov 16, 17

The Miles do post immediately:

Canadian Points University Calgary - Come learn the ins and outs of travel reward programs on Nov 3/4

 

The third installment of the Canadian Points University is just around the corner! This edition will be held in Calgary 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.

Whether you are a newcomer to the world of miles and points or a seasoned expert conferences like this are always a great place to learn more about making the most of your loyalty programs. There are always new tips and tricks being revealed and with over a dozen speakers and guests you can be sure that you'll come away knowing more about rewards than you did coming in. Check out the PointsU.ca website for complete details including the agenda for the main day on November 4th, discounted rates for stays at the Marriott and of course ticket purchasing.

This third edition moves away from the traditional conference format and moves to a more interactive 'around the table' format:

Some of the topics that will be interactively discussed are Where to Start, Maximizing Aeroplan, Awards Search Hands on and much more. All in all it should be a great day of learning and sharing ideas to make the most of your loyalty programs!