IHG Rewards Club Accelerate returns for Winter 2018 - Earn lots of bonus points for your IHG stays!

The Fall Accelerate bonus isn't over yet as it goes until the end of December but if you don't have any IHG stays planned until the New Year don't fret as the latest Accelerate offer for the start of 2018 has been released! As we have seen each Accelerate promotion they come out with new personalized offers for each member. The total bonus available per member ranges from a minimum of 30,000 points to well past 100,000. You can register for Accelerate here.

My offer dropped from the 45,000 possible points this fall to 41,000 points for the Winter:

Once again based on what I believe our travels will be during the promotional period I am not going to go out of my way to achieve the whole amount. Even staying 5 nights in total for 5,000 points would be tough. In all likelihood I'll maybe the achieve the stay once bonus of 1,000 points and maybe the weekend bonus.

Let us know what offer you get in the comments below!

Offer details
IHG Rewards Club Accelerate: Earn 500 to 30,000 or more Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Bonus varies by member  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Jan 1 - Apr 30, 18

Find many more IHG Rewards Club offers here!

Visa Infinite Privilege cards to lose Fairmont President's Club Elevated Status benefit

Rewards Canada reader and Meet the Collector Charles T. forwarded to us a letter from TD letting him know that the Fairmont President's Club Elevated Status benefit that comes with his TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege card will be discontinued.

 
We decided to check the Visa Infinite Privilege website to see if this is the case for all Infinite Privilege cards and we found out that yes it is:

This means cards issued by TD, CIBC and RBC are all affected by this change.

Unfortunate to see another benefit being taken away from what are the highest end Visa cards in the Canadian market but there may other factors in play here. As you may or may not be aware of, Fairmont Hotels was bought out by French based Accor Hotels. Accor has their own loyalty program called Le Club AccorHotels and recently the moves on their part seem to be indicating the near end of Fairmont's President's Club program. If this is really the case it could explain why this benefit is being removed from the Visa Infinite Privilege program. A further confirmation of this would be if the benefit is pulled from The Platinum Card from American Express - which it hasn't been, yet.

Earn 5x Aeroplan Miles for Radisson and Country Inn & Suites stays in Canada and the U.S.

A nice holiday bonus if your travels are taking you to a Radisson or Country Inns & Suites location this month. You can earn 5x Aeroplan miles for stays at either brand in Canada or the U.S.

Offer details
5x Aeroplan Miles for stays at Radisson hotels and Country Inns & Suites By Carlson in the U.S. and Canada. Simply present your Aeroplan card at check in. Full details and online booking or book direct at Radisson or Country Inns & Suites  Until Dec 31, 17

Find many more Aeroplan bonus offers here

Miles & More Award Ticket Sale - Economy class & Business Class award tickets on sale from Toronto & Vancouver

As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This month we see the return of the business class options in addition to some economy class deals! The offers are for Austrian Airlines' Economy Class out of Toronto or Lufthansa's Business Class from Vancouver.

These are good for travel on Austrian until Jan 31 while Lufthansa is between Apr 1 and May 15 and must be booked by Jan 1.

You can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip economy class tickets on Austrian from  Toronto to Austria for only 30,000 miles. This is a 50% discount off the normal Economy Class award ticket price of 60,000 miles.  

All of the economy class offers:

For business class between Vancouver and Europe, the discount is a bit below 50% as you need to redeem 55,000 miles for round trip flights that normally cost 105,000 miles.

Some of the business class options:

As we mention every time they have the 50% off economy offer is that you could in theory get close to amount required to redeem for the  tickets with grabbing a single credit card that has a $120 annual fee! How so? As we usually mention in this post you can boost your Miles & More account with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. Currently the card comes with a 20,000 Starpoints sign up bonus and when you convert those 20,000 Starpoints to Miles & More SPG will award you an additional 5,000 miles. Which gives you 25,000 miles. Of course if you spend $5,000 on the card that will boost you to the 30,000 miles required. That's enough miles to redeem for one of the economy class tickets in this offer. Of course timing of getting the card now, spending and getting the points will likely not happen for this month but the 50% off economy class tickets at 30,000 miles is offered frequently throughout the year so you can grab the card now and use the points for the next time the offer comes up. Need to grab two tickets? You could choose to get one SPG card for yourself and you for your partner or spouse. If that's not your situation and want two tickets for yourself you could also grab The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express as it also has 20,000 point sign up bonus and then you would ultimately be able to have 50,000 Miles & More miles not including spending.

Simply book the offers seen here by January 1, 2018

Full details on this offer can be found here

December 6 Update: Best Western promo update, 50% off British Airways award tickets out of Canada, double Club Premier points between Calgary & Mexico City

As a follow up to our post on Best Western's new systemwide promotion that provides a $10 Gift Card for each stay where we mentioned that we were unsure of the value of the card for currencies outside of the U.S.. We reached out to BW and they told us it would be the equivalent of US$10, so for Canadian BW Rewards members you will get a gift card of roughly C$13 for each stay.

British Airways launched a 50% discount offer for redeeming for select award flights to/from London Heathrow or Gatwick and their Canadian destinations are included. The 50% even works on their off-peak award rates that are see cities like Toronto and Montreal which are normally 26,000 Avios off-peak drop to 13,000 Avios round trip.

 While it may seem like a steal in most cases it isn't. We looked at some options and while it is only 13,000 Avios Round Trip between YYZ and LHR you also have to pay just over $600 in taxes and fees. To buy the same tickets out right ranged from $680 to $780 so the points are only saving you ~$50 to $150. Not a great value. Where it might come handy however is for one way flights - these are notoriously more expensive to buy with just cash and utilizing Avios plus some cash for taxes and fees can save you some money. Of course we just had the 25% transfer bonus from Amex to BA earlier this fall and right now you can transfer RBC Rewards Points to BA with a 30% bonus so these can definitely help bring out more value during this 50% off sale.

Here are the one way amounts for off-peak flights out of Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver

Toronto-London

Calgary-London

Montreal-London

Vancouver-London

Look at this way, a one-way flight in Economy from Toronto to London is only 6,500 Avios. That equates to as little as $2,600 ($3,250 without the transfer bonus) in spending on a card like the American Express Gold Rewards card or $5,000 ($6,500 without the transfer bonus) on the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card. It is almost unheard of to get a one way flight to the U.K. for that little amount of spending or points!


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:

• Delta and WestJet agree to form joint venture - to include reciprocal elite member benefits!
  WestJet and Delta have announced a plan to further enhance their partnership by forming a joint venture for trans-border…
• Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for December
  Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of December! This is not…

Travel 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
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Points when you fly between Mexico City and Calgary More... Until Jan 31, 18

American AAdvantage
- 20% Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards points to American AAdvantage More... Canadian Residents only Until Dec 31, 17

British Airways Executive Club
- 50% Avios Discount when you redeem for select award flights from Canada to London Heathrow or London Gatwick. More... Book by Dec 17 for travel Jan 4 - Jun 30, 18


Other Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- 30% Miles&Bonus Discount on select award tickets within Greece and between Greece and Europe, the Middle East or Africa. More... Until Feb 28, 18

AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Points when you fly between Mexico City and Nuevo Laredo, San Luis Potosi, Reynosa, Calgary, Portland, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai or Tokyo; Monterrey and Chihuahua, Puebla, Queretaro or San Luis Potosi; Atlanta and Queretaro, Guadalajara, Merida or Monterrey More... Until Jan 31, 18
- Double Club Premier Points for stays at Best Western hotels in Mexico. More... Until Dec 31, 17
- Triple Club Premier Points for stays at participating NH hotels in Mexico. More... Until Dec 31, 17

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 120,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy or gift 10,000 or more miles. More... Until Jan 4, 17

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until Feb 15, 18

Follow Rewards Canada:

Delta and WestJet agree to form joint venture - to include reciprocal elite member benefits!

WestJet and Delta have announced a plan to further enhance their partnership by forming a joint venture for trans-border flights. This is similar to what Air Canada has had in place with United for many years. The key aspects of the joint venture (subject to approval) will be as follows:

• Coordinated flight schedules for new nonstop flights to new destinations, expanded codesharing and seamless and convenient connections on the airlines' extensive networks in the U.S. and Canada.
• Enhanced frequent flyer benefits including reciprocal benefits for top tier members of both airlines.

The latter one is awesome news! This is yet another step in the growth of WestJet Rewards and its evolution into a full fledged frequent flyer program. Right now WestJet Elite members have no benefits outside of WestJet but it appears that Gold (and perhaps Silver) members will soon get some benefits when flying on Delta! Seeing that reciprocal benefits for elite members is not subject to government approval we should see this happen regardless of whether the joint venture is approved or not.

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Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for December

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of December! 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 September 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!

Same list of cards we saw in October and November. You may ask with the upcoming devaluation of the two BMO cards why are they still on the list? For the BMO Rewards World Elite, you're getting $200 in travel and the Priority Pass benefits for no cost, when January 15th rolls around that 20,000 points should be boosted to 28,000 in your account as BMO says your points will retain their value so no matter you get the $200 value. After you use it up and use up your Priority Pass then you can reconsider keeping the card. Same with the AIR MILES card - the devaluation is the 25% discount for flights in North America dropping to 15% as of January 15th but no matter what 3,000 miles for $0 is an awesome deal.

 

Here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for November (in alphabetical order)

BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard - 3,000 Miles  (Apply here)
The best ever sign up bonus for an AIR MILES co-branded card makes it into our Top 5 sign up list thanks to its 3,000 miles sign up bonus (worth ~$300 or more) and no annual fee in the first year! Even if you aren't a fan of AIR MILES the fact you can get 3,000 miles and them use them as cash rewards for no cost to you should be enough to go out and get this card.

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. 

CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite (Apply Here)
Back into the list the CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card offers a 15,000 Aventura Points sign up bonus worth anywhere from $150 to $300 depending on what type of flight you redeem for and since the annual fee of $120 (and supplementary cards are waived as well) those 15,000 points come at no cost to you.

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card - 25,000 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 25,000 points when you reach $1,000 in spending in the first three months. That 25,000 points is equal to a $250 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 during this promotion.

TD First Class Visa Infinite Card - 50,000 Points (Apply here)
Its been awhile since this card has had a good sign up offer and now it has what we can recall as one of its highest bonuses of 50,000 points but that's not all it also has the first year fee waived! You get the standard sign up bonus of 20,000 upon approval and another 30,000 when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days of having the card. Those 50,000 points translate to $200 worth of travel credits for any travel booking or $250 worth of travel for bookings made via Expedia For TD

If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with $1,300 or so in travel credits 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

December 4 Update: New Air Canada domestic routes, American Airlines brings back YYC/YVR-ORD & Cobalt Multipliers working in Europe!

Air Canada announced some more new routes for next Summer - these ones are domesitc routes that will see more flights between B.C. and Eastern Canada. The Non-stop Air Canada Rouge seasonal services start in June and will fly between Montreal-Victoria, Toronto-Nanaimo and Toronto-Kamloops. (Source Air Canada)

American Airlines is also expanding service to Canada with the return of routes between Calgary and Vancouver and Chicago. The YYC service will be 6x weekly for the summer season while YVR will be daily year round service (Source Routes Online) Both these routes will fall into British Airways Executive Club's 20,000 Avios round trip (10,000 Avios one way) award value Find out more about that here.

The 15,000 point sign up bonus for the Scotiabank More Rewards Visa card has been extended to April 30, 2018. This is the card that ranks first in our Travel Points Credit Card with no annual fee category. Find out more here.

Further confirmation from our readers that the American Exress Cobalt multipliers are global, Ciana let us know the multiplier worked in Rome!

And speaking of the American Express Cobalt card, the 10x Points have started to post:

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:

• Air Canada Altitude eUpgrade process made much more difficult?
  Commentary today from Rewards Canada contributor Bill Wheatley regarding the Air Canada Altitude eUpgrade process: With Air Canada’s recent switch…
• Two months in and the American Express Cobalt is living up to its name
  It’s been a little over 2 months since the launch of the game-changing American Express Cobalt Card and personally we've…
• Amazing new American Express Cobalt Card offer - 10 points for every $1 in the first $2,000 spent in eligible eats, drinks, and grocery purchases
  Just in time for the holidays American Express has released this amazing offer for those who have or get the…

Travel Deals
SPG Sunsational Savings Explore some of the world’s most iconic resorts in Aspen, Scottsdale, South Beach, Hawaii and beyond. Enjoy a free night, up to a $200 resort credit and a room upgrade. Full details

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
Air New Zealand Airpoints
- Double Airpoints Dollars for stays of 2+ nights at Oaks Hotels in Australia. More... Book by Dec 31 for stays until Mar 30, 18
- Double Airpoints Dollars for stays at the Pacific Resort Rarotonga. More... Book by Dec 31 for stays until May 31, 18
- Double Airpoints Dollars for weekend stays at Sudima Auckland Airport Hotel, Christchurch Airport Hotel, Hamilton and Lake Rotorua. More... Until Jan 31, 18

Avianca LifeMiles
- Up to 125% Bonus LifeMiles when you buy miles. More... Until Dec 20, 17

Le Club AccorHotels
- 150 Bonus Le Club AccorHotels points and 3 nights for the price of 2 for stays at Accor Hotels in Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia. More... Book by Feb 23 for stays Dec 15 to Feb 28, 18

TAP Portugal Victoria
- Double Victoria Miles for Avis rentals of 2 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- Triple Miles&Smiles Miles for each stay at participating Hilton hotels in Turkey More... Until Jan 15, 18

Follow Rewards Canada:

Air Canada Altitude eUpgrade process made much more difficult?

Commentary today from Rewards Canada contributor Bill Wheatley regarding the Air Canada Altitude eUpgrade process:

With Air Canada’s recent switch to offering “More Economy Flex Fare Options”, it has become much less clear whether your booked flight qualifies for an upgrade. The older method was pretty simple: If you booked Flex, you were eligible for an upgrade, if you booked Tango, you were not. (Though they have recently allowed certain Tango fares to be upgraded with an additional fee).  Now it is virtually impossible to see if your fare is eligible for upgrade without an additional fee as they have incorporated the Tango fare class (S,T,L,A,K) into the Flex category.

In fact, according to the chart below, all of the Fare classes are now shown in both Flex and Tango. How is it that certain Tango fares have less of an add-on fee than a Flex fare? And why should a Flex fare have an add-on fee at all? Air Canada has stated that there are now “New lower Economy Flex fares” available for booking.  But the add-on fee for that is $100.00.  The majority of the flying public do not have any status and will pay the price that is listed. Are we to believe that Air Canada lowered the cost of a Flex flight by $100.00, the price that 95% of passengers booking will pay, in order to put an add-on to persons attempting to upgrade? I think not.

When booking online, you are clearly shown the fare type, but not the fare class.

So you really don’t know if you will be requested to pay an additional fee for upgrading until you actually try to upgrade after you have made your purchase.

I am travelling to Whitehorse (YXY) on Wednesday and booked through the company travel agent. I specifically requested Flex fare and asked them to clarify the fare class for me. I was told that my bookings were in the “W” and “G” class. Both of those fare classes allow for eUpgrade without additional charge. That seems to correspond to the first letter of the “Fare Basis” below.

However, when I access my eUpgrade account, it shows me that “The purchased fare class for this flight does not allow for upgrades”. This flight is less than 48 hours away, so I am well within my booking window of 10 days for Elite50. I also don’t see how my itinerary is “Not eligible for upgrade” when each and every Fare class on the chart above says you can upgrade (unless they have fare classes that are not listed, which I highly doubt).

Air Canada has made a simple and easy to understand process into a convoluted and difficult booking procedure. It is probably a safe bet that a lot of people who purchased a Flex fare thought they would be able to utilize their eUpgrade to Business Class as usual, only to find out they now had to pay an additional fee. And how many of those people paid that fee, which has resulted in additional income for Air Canada.

In addition, I will now have to call Air Canada to try and get the answer as to why my fare is not eligible for upgrade. I anticipate that I will be on hold for an extended period of time and would not be surprised to find out that I will have to pay a fee to have this clarified. (Speculation on my part, but…..)