Tuesday, November 28, 2017

November 28 Update: Marriott teams up with Maple Leaf sports, AC Altitude members to have Gogo WiFi option, AIR MILES ups Cash Redemption cap for the holidays

14 years ago today we sent out our 32nd issue of the Rewards Canada News newsletter. The big highlights in that newsletter were the Canadian specific offer of 3,000 miles for joining Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and the buy SkyMiles bonus for Canadians only when redeeming for an award! This week we will be sending out our 600th issue! If you don't subscribe to the newsletter yet you can do so here
 
Rewards Canada reader Ryan has confirmed that the American Express Cobalt's multipliers do work in the U.S.. He was confirming our post "Are the American Express Cobalt Card category multipliers available globally?" as many had questioned if the category bonuses were just for Canada or available globally.




Last week Marriott announced a Canadian specific partnership that will resonate well with Marriott Rewards and SPG members in our great country! The partnership is with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and it will see members in both program being able to bid on hockey experiences with their points via Marriott Rewards Moments and SPG Moments:
Marriott International, the country’s leading lodging company, is proud to announce a multi-year partnership with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), making Marriott International the preferred hotel company for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 100 million+ global members of Marriott’s three loyalty programs - Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guests (SPG), including the more than 3.7 million members in Canada, will be big winners with the partnership. Members will be able to redeem points on Marriott Rewards Moments and SPG Moments for once-in-a-lifetime hockey themed experiences with players and legends of the game. 
At the time of publishing this no Moments packages were available yet but they should be soon.


Air Canada Altitude members will be able to choose complimentary Gogo WIFI as one of their Select Privileges in 2018. (Source Air Canada)
Beginning later this year, the airline will offer Altitude Elite 75K and Super Elite 100K members the opportunity to select complimentary 6- and 12-month unlimited use passes, respectively, for inflight connectivity on board Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge operated flights

AIR MILES has adjusted their daily cap for in-store Cash Miles redemption to $750 from $100 for the holiday season. This sees the program gain confidence in their fraud detecting abilities as it was the cash miles option that was affected by fraud that saw in-store redemption halted temporarily and then reinstated with the $100 cap. Good news for collectors who are planning on utilizing a lot of cash miles for their holiday shopping! This increase will be in place from December 1 to January 7.

We're going to keep this reminder going in each update until Christmas:
Check out the Give A Mile Flight Hero campaign! The charity can really use donations of miles to help provide flights to those who otherwise would be unable to travel to visit terminally ill or critically sick family and friends. Rewards Canada has pledged to raise 100,000 miles and we are half way there! We are putting the call out to all of our fans, readers and even new visitors, if you can give please do so. It can be as little as 1,000 miles! You can find out more and donate here.



Posts since our last update:
Travel Deals
Today is the last day to book KLM's Black Friday sale! There are some great offers to be had including Edmonton to London for as little as $725! 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
N/A


Other Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus Club Premier Points for stays at Marriott Hotels & Resorts in the Caribbean and Latin America. More... Until Jan 15, 18

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Triple MilleMiglia Miles for stays at any participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Dec 31 for stays until Jan 7, 18

American AAdvantage
- 500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles, 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
- 6x AAdvantage Miles for rentals at participating National locations in the US and Canada. More... Until Feb 28, 18

ANA Mileage Club
- Earn Double or 2,000 Bonus Mileage Club Miles when you fly on ANA or Vietnam Airlines between Japan and Vietnam or for flights within Vietnam. More...  Until Dec 31, 17
- Triple Mileage Club Miles for stays at participating Raffles Hotels in Asia and the Middle East. More...   Book by Dec 31 for stays until Feb 28, 18

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles + 300 Bonus Asia Miles for stays at an AccorHotels MyResorts hotesl in Asia Pacific More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until Feb 28, 18

Copa Airlines ConnectMiles
- 30% Bonus ConnectMiles when you buy or gift miles. More... Until Dec 22, 17

Marriott Rewards
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at participating hotels in Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky, Ohio or Texas. More... Until Jan 23, 18

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you book hotels via PointsHound. More... Book by Dec 3 for stays until Mar 31, 18


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Starwood and Marriott announce some changes for 2018 including no integration... yet


As we said in September "The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express isn't going away - at least for the time being" as people were speculating on its demise due to the upcoming integration of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. Based on news from Marriott we knew this wouldn't happen until late 2018 or some time in 2019. Well we now have confirmation from the programs that it will not happen in 2018. We also have some details on some changes coming to the programs:

This is from Marriott's email

The first is new benefits with Hertz for both Marriott Rewards members and Starwood Preferred Guest members. Prior to this Starwood has not had a relationship with Hertz so we can sort of see this an a step towards integration by equaling out the partnerships that both programs have. You'll be able to earn Starpoints for Hertz rentals and Elite members from both programs will receive elevated status in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program.

The second change is the end of the rollover nights and status buy back offers from Marriott. Rollover nights allowed members to have their earned from one year that were over and above reaching an elite level rolled over to the next year to make qualification easier. We now know that nights from 2017 will be the last as those will count towards 2018 status but nothing beyond that. Also the status buy back that allowed Marriott Rewards members to use points to buy back status if they didn't meet the requirements to re-qualify. 

Finally another change not listed in the screen shot from Marriott's email is that lifetime elite members in Starwood Preferred Guest will no longer be subject to the inactivity rule that would expire their points.

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

What do you think about the changes announced today from Marriott and Starwood? 

You can learn more about how the Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs work together and how you can link them here.


Meet the Collectors: Airport planner utilizes a divide and conquer strategy with loyalty programs

 Today we bring you our latest Meet the Collectors feature. These are interviews with our readers, who are everyday Canadians like you, on what they are doing with their loyalty programs.

What happens when you work for a company that designs airports? Well you travel a lot naturally! Meet Martin Leprohon who is an airport planner and engineer. He gets his fair share of travel time but not to the point of that he calls himself a road warrior. Seeing the programs he uses and the amount of miles he collects we beg to differ. No matter what, when things ramp up, he likes to know about his options and making his travel as comfortable and enjoyable as possible by making the most of a wide range of loyalty programs.

Continue reading the interview here! 

If you would like to be considered for our Meet the Collectors series please contact us at info@rewardscanada.ca

Monday, November 27, 2017

2 Days left to book the IHG Rewards Club Your World Sale - Save 15-30% off destinations across the globe for a limited time



You only have a little over 2 days left to book IHG Rewards Club's Your World Sale! It provides up to 30% off stays around the globe for IHG Rewards Club members, discounted Points+Cash offers and more. If you are not a member yet it's free to join.





The World. Now on Sale. Shop Your World Sale from IHG® Rewards Club to save 15-30% off destinations across the globe for a limited time. Book by November 29 for stays until March 31, 2018

Book the IHG Rewards Club Your World Sale here!

Not only is the Your World Sale offering discounted rates around the globe there are also IHG Rewards Club Bonus Points opportunities available as well (can be found in the link above)


Terms & Conditions

Booking in the US, Canada and Latin America
The “Your World Sale” promotional rate is valid only for bookings made from November 11 2017 through November 29 2017 and consumed through March 31 2018 at participating IHG hotels in the United States, Canada, Caribbean, Central America and South America. You must be a member of IHG Rewards Club to qualify for the discount, which ranges from 15%-30% off the Best Flexible Rate. This is a qualifying rate and the discount varies by hotel, blackout dates apply, rooms subject to availability.  This rate is fully pre-paid and non-refundable. Hotel policy varies in regards to the number of guests allowed per room. Not applicable with other discounted rate promotions. Not applicable to group bookings. Hotel-specific early departure fee applies.

Booking into Europe
The “Your World Sale” promotional rate is valid only for bookings made from November 11 2017 through November 29 2017 and consumed through March 31 2018 at participating IHG hotels in Europe. You must be a member of IHG Rewards Club to qualify for the discount, which ranges from 15%-30% off the Best Flexible Rate. This is a qualifying rate and discount varies by hotel, blackout dates apply, rooms subject to availability. This rate is fully pre-paid and non-refundable. Hotel policy varies in regards to the number of guests allowed per room. Not applicable with other discounted rate promotions. Not applicable to group bookings. Hotel-specific early departure fee applies.

Booking into Greater China
The “Your World Sale” promotional rate is valid only for bookings made from 11 November 2017 through 29 November 2017 and consumed through 31 March 2018 at participating IHG hotels in Greater China. You must be a member of IHG Rewards Club to qualify for the discount, which ranges from 15%-20% off the Best Flexible Rate between November 11 2017 and November 17 2017. A discount of up to 14.5% will apply November 17 2017 through November 29 2017 based on normal Your Rate APR. This is a qualifying rate and discount varies by hotel, blackout dates apply, rooms subject to availability. This rate is fully pre-paid and non-refundable. Hotel policy varies in regards to the number of guests allowed per room. Not applicable with other discounted rate promotions. Not applicable to group bookings. Hotel-specific early departure fee applies.

Booking into Asia Pacific the Middle East and Africa
The “Your World Sale” promotional rate is valid only for bookings made from November 11 2017 through November 29 2017 and consumed November 18 2017 through April 15 2018 at participating IHG hotels and resorts in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. You must be a member of IHG Rewards Club to qualify for the discount, which ranges from 11%-30% off the Best Flexible Rate. This is a qualifying rate and discount varies by hotel, blackout dates apply, rooms subject to availability. This rate is fully pre-paid and non-refundable. Hotel policy varies in regards to the number of guests allowed per room. Not applicable with other discounted rate promotions. Not applicable to group bookings. Hotel-specific early departure fee applies.

Join InterContinental Ambassador
A one-time bonus of 10,000 Bonus Points will be awarded to you approximately 6-8 weeks after you successfully join the InterContinental Ambassador program. Offer is valid from November 11 through November 29.

November 27 Update: 50% Bonus converting hotel points to Asia Miles, awesome Air New Zealand Cyber Monday sale + more!

Airlines offering bonuses for transferring points from hotel programs seem to be all the rage right now and today we have another one of those offers. This one sees a 50% bonus for Cathay Pacific Asia Miles members who convert points from any of 13 hotel programs into their Asia Miles accounts. Of course the most popular program to convert from, SPG, is not included but this bonus could be a good way for you to get rid of some straggling hotel points that you may otherwise never use. Find out more here


We're going to keep this reminder going in each update until Christmas:
Check out the Give A Mile Flight Hero campaign! The charity can really use donations of miles to help provide flights to those who otherwise would be unable to travel to visit terminally ill or critically sick family and friends. Rewards Canada has pledged to raise 100,000 miles and we are half way there! We are putting the call out to all of our fans, readers and even new visitors, if you can give please do so. It can be as little as 1,000 miles! You can find out more and donate here.



Posts since our last update:
Travel Deals
Air New Zealand has some amazing Cyber Monday fares available for flights out of Canada! They do offer all in pricing from major Canadian cities that will have you fly on Air Canada or WestJet to their gateway cities of Vancouver or Los Angeles. Some of the fares are pretty crazy including the Cook Islands for under $800 in Economy! Find out more here.

 
Check out our separate post that rounds up all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals!
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
- 6x Aeroplan Miles for stays at Fairmont Hotels in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean and Bermuda. More... Book by Dec 18 for stays until Mar 31, 18


Other Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus MileagePlan Miles for stays of 2+ nights at Marriott Hotels & Resorts in the Caribbean and Latin America. More... Until Jan 15, 18

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 50% Bonus Asia Miles when you convert points from any of 13 hotel programs to Asia Miles. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles on Sixt rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide that are booked online. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios for stays at Iberostar Hotels in the Canary Islands. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Le Club AccorHotels
- Earn up to 3x Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... . Book by Dec 10 for stays until Jan 31, 18
- Earn up to 3X Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in Africa and the Indian Ocean. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Miles & More
- Triple Miles & More Miles for stays at Taj Hotels & Resorts. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Wyndham Rewards
- Double Wyndham Rewards Points on qualifying rentals of 1 or more days at participating Avis locations worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 18
- Double Wyndham Rewards Points on qualifying rentals of 1 or more days at participating Budget locations worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 18

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Carlson Hotels Club Carlson: 100% Bonus for buying points until November 28


A very short term buy points bonus from Club Carlson is a good one! For today and tomorrow you'll receive a 100% bonus on any Club Carlson Gold Points you buy. Normally you pay US$7 for 1,000 points and now you'll get 2,000 points for that same amount. You can buy up to 40,000 points per year so if you have not purchased any Club Carlson points yet this year you can come out with 80,000 points with this promotion for only US$280.00 or only .35 cents per point. With free nights starting as low as 9,000 points you could be paying as little as US$31.50 for a hotel stay.




A quick check of a random Category 3 hotel shows the potential savings here:

This Radisson Blu in Warsaw is 28,000 points, which with the buy points promotion would cost you US$98 or about C$130 where the best members rate that can be cancelled is C$184. That's close to a 30% savings if you bought points and used them for the stay rather than booking the room directly.

Offer details
100% Bonus Gold Points when you buy Gold Points online. Buy Points Here. Until Nov 28, 17

Find many more Club Carlson bonuses here

Friday, November 24, 2017

November 24 Update: Call in to book WestJet flights with Flying Blue Miles, recognition from Canalta Hotels & Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals

Here is a further update to the WestJet and Air France KLM partnership. We have been wanting to write a post about using Flying Blue miles for WestJet flights however their online booking engine is not grabbing WestJet flights yet. They have updated their partner page for WestJet stating that you have to Call in to book Flying Blue Awards for travel on WestJet. So they are bookable but not online nor do they list what the redemption amounts are yet although we assume that it will be 12,500 miles one way for flights within North America as that is what Flying Blue charges for flights on other North American airlines. Hawaii may be 15,000 (that's what it is to redeem on Delta via Flying Blue) and so on.


When you travel enough and stay in a lot of hotels you get recognized - and it doesn't matter the size of the company or their loyalty program. Rewards Canada contributor Bill W. (see our Collector Series story on Bill) received this nice invite from the Canalta Hotel in Esterhazy Sasktachewan to attend their Christmas party!


We're going to keep this reminder going in each update until Christmas:
Check out the Give A Mile Flight Hero campaign! The charity can really use donations of miles to help provide flights to those who otherwise would be unable to travel to visit terminally ill or critically sick family and friends. Rewards Canada has pledged to raise 100,000 miles and we are half way there! We are putting the call out to all of our fans, readers and even new visitors, if you can give please do so. It can be as little as 1,000 miles! You can find out more and donate here.



Posts since our last update:
Travel Deals
Check out our separate post that rounds up all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals!

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
- Double Aeroplan Miles on all GOL flights systemwide. More... Register by Jan 16 for travel Dec 16 - Mar 31, 18


Other Bonus Offers
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 2,500 Bonus Gold Points and up to 30% off stays at Carlson Hotels Worldwide with the Dream Deals offer. More... Book by Dec 3 for stays until Feb 28, 18

Etihad Guest
- 20% Bonus Miles when you buy Guest Miles online. More... Until Dec 6, 17

Le Club AccorHotels
- 1,000 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Accor Hotels in Italy. More... Book by Jan 25 for stays until Jan 28, 18

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights at participating Marriott Hotels in London. More... Until Feb 28, 18

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Rewards Canada's Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deal Round up! Save on flights, hotels, car rentals, earn more miles and more!

Here is a nice simple round up of a lot of the offers we have been made aware of for the 2017 Black Friday / Cyber Monday season:


Air Canada Black Friday Sale - Book by Nov 26

Alaska Airlines Black Friday Cyber Monday deals! Flights from $44.


Emirates Black Friday Sale - fares to Europe from $399, Dubai from $649, Asia from $759


KLM Black Friday Sale - fly from Canada to Europe, Asia, Africa from as little as $725

Priority Pass Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off annual memberships

Singapore Airlines Black Friday Sale - fly from the U.S. to Asia from as a little as $449

Swiss International: Use code SWISSBLACKFRIDAYEU17 to save 30 EUR for your next flight within Europe.

WestJet Black Friday Sale - Book by Nov 24


Aeroplan & Fairmont Hotels Black Friday Offer: 6x Aeroplan Miles for stays in the Americas

Aeroplan: 4,000 Bonus Miles on your first Rocketmiles booking. Must book by Nov 27.

Choice Hotels: Book early this Black Friday and save 20%!

Choice Hotels Book Early & Save 20% This Cyber Monday!

Club Carlson: 2,500 Bonus Points for stays at participating hotels Worldwide. Book by Dec 3. 


Coast Hotels: Save up to 40% off with their Pink Friday offers

Hotels.com Save up to 60% + get up to 99% off with our Cyber Week Mystery Coupon! (11/24 - 11/27)


Hotels.com Save $40 CAD when you spend $300 or more with code TAKE40NOV17. Book by 11/26, Travel by 12/31.

Kaligo Black Friday Bonus: 50% Bonus Miles/Points on all hotel stays booked by November 27!

IHG Rewards Club Your World Sale - Save 15-30% off destinations across the globe for a limited time

Loews Hotels 3 days only, enjoy 20% off bookings! 

Marriott Cyber Sale - Rates from $89 in the Americas

Melia Hotels Black Week Up to 50% Off and 5,000 bonus points!

Millennium Hotels Unlock Unbeatable Black Friday Offers with 25% off the flexible rate, Worldwide

Rocketmiles Black Friday Offer: 50% Bonus Miles/Points on all bookings made November 24 only!

Starwood Hotels Cyber Sale - Rates from $89 in the Americas


Avis & Aeroplan Reserve your vehicle on November 24 - November 27th, 2017, for a minimum 3 consecutive day rental, and earn 1,000 bonus Aeroplan Miles.


Amtrak Track Friday Sale - Up to 30% off on most Amtrak Routes

Via Rail has all of Canada on sale with their Black Friday sale. Fares from $28


Aeroplan eStore Black Friday Offers - Up to 10x Miles for online shopping

Aeroplan & Costco - 4x Aeroplan Miles on Costco.ca from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27, 2017

15x AIR MILES Reward Miles on all airmilesshops.ca purchases until November 29

Ebates.ca 2x Cash Back for Black Friday!

WestJet introduces WestJet Link with service to/from Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, Cranbrook and Prince George


WestJet has gone beyond their model of only flying their own planes (WestJet, WestJet Encore) to be able to fly to smaller cities in Western Canada with today's announcement.
CALGARY, Nov. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - WestJet today introduced WestJet Link, a new regional air service operating under a capacity purchase agreement (CPA) with Pacific Coastal Airlines.

Using Pacific Coastal Airlines' aircraft painted in WestJet colours, WestJet Link will connect the communities of Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, Cranbrook and Prince George to WestJet's rapidly expanding network hub at the YYC Calgary International Airport. These new routes will add to WestJet's existing leadership position in Calgary, offering more flights and seats to more destinations than any other airline.

All WestJet Link flights will be operated by Pacific Coastal using its fleet of 34-seat Saab 340B aircraft. Each aircraft will include six seats available in WestJet Plus, offering guests advanced boarding, no-charge for two checked bags and seating at the front of the aircraft.

Details of WestJet's new year-round nonstop service:



This is similar to Air Canada using airlines like Air Georgian to fly small planes like Beechcraft 1900's for their small markets.

Overall more great news for WestJet and WestJetters that you will now be able to connect to and from those smaller centres that have been craving WestJet service




Aeroplan & Fairmont Hotels Black Friday Offer: 6x Aeroplan Miles for stays in the Americas


The Black Friday/Cyber Monday offers just keep coming in - here is one that should interest a lot of you since most times you can only double or at most quadruple your miles for Fairmont stays! You must be a Fairmont President's Club member to earn miles (free to join). And remember that today only from 2pm EST to 5pm EST (Nov 24) you can get a 15% bonus when you buy Fairmont Gift Cards

Offer details
6x Aeroplan Miles for stays at Fairmont Hotels in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean and Bermuda. Full details & online booking. Book by Dec 18 for stays until Mar 31, 18

Find many more Aeroplan offers here