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Monday, January 29, 2018

NOW LIVE: IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks - 203 Hotels (8 in Canada) for only 5,000 to 15,000 points per night

We gave you the preview last week and are happy to tell you that the latest IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks hotel are now available for booking! This set has 203 hotels that can now be booked for 5,000 points to 15,000 points per award night for stays until April 30, 2018. Remember the PointBreaks rules are that a member can only book up to 2 reward reservations per hotel participating in the individual offer (ie 2 at PointBreaks hotels and 2 at Last Minute Reward Night hotels). My tip to get around this would be to book 2 reservations with one IHG Rewards Club account and then have your spouse book 2 more etc. Of course this is dependent on both accounts having enough points to redeem for these awards. Also be sure to book these ASAP as soon as the list comes out as once the allotted nights are booked at certain locations those hotels will fall off the list.

Why are IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks such a great deal? Because they offer reward nights at participating IHG hotels Worldwide for as little as 5,000 Rewards Club points. For those of you not to familiar with IHG Rewards Club , normal redemption rates for Rewards Club reward nights run from as low as 10,000 points for some Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express locations to 70,000 points for ultra-luxurious InterContinental locations and even these locations can participate in Pointbreaks.

Of course this is the newest iteration of the PointBreaks and no longer will all hotels be 5,000 points, some will still be at that level but there will now be hotels at 10,000 and 15,000 points. IHG states they are making the changes so they can add more hotels to the list and include more higher end hotels. If the sneak a peek was any indication then this is true. The next set of hotels comprises of over 200 hotels and includes at least three InterContinental properties which is a lot more than most of the past PointBreaks lists.

So as you can see you can receive a discount of 50 to 88% off the regular redemption rates and it appears that most in this list are at the 50% level. Please note that like most loyalty promotions these offers are capacity controlled so I advise to book sooner than later to ensure you get the PointBreaks rate. These offers are bookable via the primary PointsBreaks page from January 29 to April 30, 2018

For those travelling in Canada we see the list increased slightly from the typical 5-6 hotels to an *amazing* eight hotels. Seven are in Alberta and one is in Saskatchewan.

If you don't have enough points, even 0, you can buy points right now with a 75% bonus if you buy 15,000 or more points which works out to 0.66 cents per points. That means you can get each of the PointBreaks hotels for as little as US$33 per night if you buy 60,000 points. You can buy points with the bonus here until Feb 28, 18.

Here is the full list of hotels that are available:

Canada hotels:

5,000 points

ALBERTA, CANADA
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fort Saskatchewan
Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Edmonton Arpt - Conference Ctr

10,000 points

ALBERTA, CANADA
Candlewood Suites Calgary Airport North
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Edmonton-International Airport

15,000 points

ALBERTA, CANADA
Holiday Inn Calgary-Macleod Trail South
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary South-Macleod Trail S

SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA
Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Regina

Worldwide hotels:

5,000 points

ILLINOIS
Holiday Inn Chicago Matteson Conf Ctr
Holiday Inn Express Rolling Mdws-Schaumburg Area
Candlewood Suites Springfield

MISSISSIPPI
Candlewood Suites Tupelo North

MONTANA
Candlewood Suites Sidney

NEW YORK
Holiday Inn Rochester NY - Downtown
Candlewood Suites Vestal - Binghamton

NORTH CAROLINA
Candlewood Suites Wilson

PENNSYLVANIA
Candlewood Suites Williamsport

TEXAS
Candlewood Suites Kenedy
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Raymondville

BRAZIL
Holiday Inn Belo Horizonte Savassi
Holiday Inn Porto Alegre

PANAMA
Holiday Inn Panama Canal

GUANAJUATO, MEXICO
Candlewood Suites Celaya

QUERETARO, MEXICO
Candlewood Suites Queretaro Juriquilla

SINALOA, MEXICO
Holiday Inn Express Culiacan

VERACRUZ, MEXICO
Hotel Indigo Veracruz Boca Del Rio

ITALY
Holiday Inn Nola - Naples Vulcano Buono

TURKEY
Crowne Plaza Antalya
Holiday Inn Express Istanbul Airport
Holiday Inn Kayseri - Duvenonu
INDIA
Holiday Inn Express Chennai Mahindra World City

JAPAN
ANA Crowne Plaza Wakkanai

MALAYSIA
Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur Glenmarie

ANHUI, CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC)
Crowne Plaza Wuhu

HEBEI, CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC)
Holiday Inn Shijiazhuang Central

INNER MONGOLIA, CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC)
Crowne Plaza Ordos

JIANGSU, CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC)
Holiday Inn Express Nantong Downtown

SHANDONG, CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC)
Crowne Plaza Yantai Sea View

TIANJIN, CHINA (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC)
Crowne Plaza Tianjin Jinnan

10,000 points

15,000 points

WestJet's going to Paris - new service from Halifax starts this summer

A pretty big announcement today from WestJet as they revealed their first service to continental Europe. Paris is the next city in the airline's global expansion with flights from Halifax launching on May 31st. The new daily route will be flown with a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and introductory fares start at $199 each way. Flights depart Halifax at 10:55pm and arrive at CDG the next day at 10am. Return flights leave Paris at 11:20am and arrive into Halifax at 1:35pm

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

The new route makes a lot of sense in the terms of WestJet's partnership with Air France KLM. Between the three airlines, they now serve most major Canadian cities from coast to coast with flights to the European airlines' SkyTeam hubs of Amsterdam and Paris. One would also think that this will pave the way for future flights to the City of Lights from other Canadian cities once the Boeing 787's they have ordered start flying sometime next year. WestJet has even mentioned Paris as one of the cities on their radar for the new long haul wide body aircraft. By having an established outstation there and experience from the new Halifax flight it's almost inevitable we'll see one or more other flights to Paris in the near future.

Along with the news of the new Paris service from Halifax, WestJet is also moving their St. John's service to London over to Halifax making YHZ their quasi east coast gateway to Europe. The flight to London will operate daily starting on April 29.

Friday, January 26, 2018

Preview of 30 upcoming IHG Rewards Club Pointbreaks hotels and a remodeling of the promotion (now 3 levels of redemption)

The current set of IHG Pointbreaks hotels or what’s left of the list come to a close in a few days and as is customary, IHG is providing a preview of the next set of hotels. What came as a surprise with the sneak a peek release yesterday are changes to the Pointsbreak system. Up until now Pointsbreaks hotels have always been 5,000 points per night regardless of the hotel and typically had between 100 and 150 hotels but over the years the better high end hotels like InterContinental hotels became rare on the list as 5,000 was a steal to stay at them. Hence the reasoning that Pointbreaks was the best hotel redemption offer in the market.

That all changes with the new list that will go live on Monday. No longer will all hotels be 5,000 points, some will still be at that level but there will now be hotels at 10,000 and 15,000 points. IHG states they are making the changes so they can add more hotels to the list and include more higher end hotels. If the sneak a peek was any indication then this is true. The next set of hotels comprises of over 200 hotels and includes at least three InterContinental properties which is a lot more than most of the past Pointbreaks lists. Only one hotel in Canada in the preview - typically we've seen 5 to 6 hotels on the list in our home country so hopefully the larger list means more locations close to home. The one in the preview is the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary at the 15,000 point level - this seems steep to me but that's 50% off the regular requirement of 30,000 points at this location. I don't believe this particular location has been on the list before so there is definitely some give and pull here.

We've read a lot of back and forth on whether the amounts ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 points is a good thing or a bad thing. Of course the good is that there are more hotels on the list and hopefully more higher end hotels but the bad is they are not all 5,000 points. Here’s the thing though, more hotel options at the higher end at 15,000 points still works out to under $100 per night if and when you can buy IHG Rewards Club points with a 100% bonus although right now the bonus is 75%. Those high end hotels will range from $200 to $500+ per night which means you are still getting a great deal just not as great as before.

The new Pointbreaks system will also allow members to use Points+Cash for the reduced stays. Not sure if the pricing will be like a regular night redemption but it should be close to something like redeem 5,000 points + $80 or 10,000 points + $50 for a hotel that costs 15,000 points.

Here is a peek at 30 of the 200+ hotels that will be available for booking on Monday around 12pm ET. (Source IHG Blog). Be sure to check out this page for the full list come that time!

A sampling of IHG hotels for 5,000 points

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Crowne Plaza Tianjin Jinnan
INDIA: Holiday Inn Express Chennai Mahindra World City
BRAZIL: Holiday Inn Belo Horizonte Savassi
MEXICO: Hotel Indigo Veracruz Boca Del Rio
PANAMA: Holiday Inn Panama Canal
UNITED STATES: (Illinois): Holiday Inn Express Rolling Mdws-Schaumburg Area
UNITED STATES: (Illinois): Holiday Inn Express Rolling Mdws-Schaumburg Area
UNITED STATES (New York): Holiday Inn Rochester NY – Downtown
UNITED STATES (Texas): Candlewood Suites Kenedy
ITALY: Holiday Inn Nola – Naples Vulcano Buono
TURKEY: Crowne Plaza Antalya

A sampling of IHG hotels for 10,000 points

INDONESIA: Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali
LAOS: Crowne Plaza Vientiane
COLOMBIA: InterContinental Cali
MEXICO: Staybridge Suites Silao
UNITED STATES (Oklahoma): Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Oklahoma City North
UNITED STATES (Utah): Holiday Inn Express & Suites Vernal – Dinosaurland
UNITED STATES: (Virginia): Staybridge Suites Chantilly Dulles Airport
UNITED STATES (Washington): Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Bellingham
ITALY: Holiday Inn Rome – Aurelia
SERBIA: Crowne Plaza Belgrade

A sampling of IHG hotels for 15,000 points

JAPAN: ANA Crowne Plaza Hiroshima
TAIWAN: Hotel Indigo Kaohsiung Central Park
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi
BRAZIL: InterContinental Sao Paulo
CANADA (Calgary): Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary
UNITED STATES (New Jersey): Hotel Indigo Newark Downtown
UNITED STATES: (North Dakota): Staybridge Suites Fargo
UNITED STATES: (Texas): Crowne Plaza Suites Arlington – Ballpark – Stadium
FINLAND: Holiday Inn Helsinki City Centre
UKRAINE: InterContinental Kiev

Thursday, January 25, 2018

January 25 Update: SPG offer for Marriott Visa cardholders now live, WestJet moves Whitehorse service to YYC and get your Brazil Visa online

As we mentioned this past Saturday, a new offer was coming for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express that is exclusive to those who have the Chase Marriott Premier Visa card. That offer is live now and offers a 25,000 Starpoints bonus and a lower interest rate balance transfer offer. If you currently have the SPG card or have had it in the past you will not be eligible for the sign up bonus. Read more about this offer here.
THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED

WestJet will be moving their summer seasonal Whitehorse service to Calgary from Vancouver for the upcoming summer. The four times weekly service will launch on June 29. (Source WestJet)

"WestJet has been serving Whitehorse with seasonal summer service to Vancouver since 2012," said Brian Znotins, WestJet Vice-President, Network Planning, Alliances and Corporate Development. "As we continue to expand our Calgary hub, it makes sense to move the service from Vancouver to Calgary to offer residents of Whitehorse more destinations via YYC Calgary International Airport. This is also an opportunity for residents to fly non-stop to Calgary, and this summer will also see an increase to our seasonal service from three times weekly to four times weekly."

As of today Canadians travelling to Brazil will be able to apply for their Brazillian Visitor Visa online. The cost US$44.24 per Visa and is a big step over the old process where you had to mail all documents in to receive your Visa. Find out more and apply for your Visa here (Source The Points Guy)

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Travel Deals
Millennium Hotels - Celebrate this Chinese New Year with Millennium Hotels and enjoy up to 30% off including free buffet breakfast. Book by Jan 28. Find out more here.

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

Canadian Bonus Offers
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
Hilton Honors
- 10,000 Bonus Honor Points for your next stay of 2+ nights at Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Until Jul 16, 18

Le Club AccorHotels
- 4X Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at new Accor Hotels Worldwide More... Book by Mar 4 for stays until Apr 22, 18

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night for stays at select Courtyard hotels in New York City, Philadelphia, Dallas and Fort Worth. More... Until Mar 31, 18
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays on Thursday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday required) at the Pier One Sydney Harbour, Autograph Collection. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Saudia Alfursan
- Triple Alfursan Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at selecd Raffles, Fairmont and Swissotel hotels and resorts in the Middle East & Africa. More... Until Feb 27, 18

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Monday, January 29, 2018

NOW LIVE: IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks - 203 Hotels (8 in Canada) for only 5,000 to 15,000 points per night

Canada hotels:

5,000 points

10,000 points

15,000 points

Worldwide hotels:

5,000 points

10,000 points

15,000 points

WestJet's going to Paris - new service from Halifax starts this summer

Friday, January 26, 2018

Preview of 30 upcoming IHG Rewards Club Pointbreaks hotels and a remodeling of the promotion (now 3 levels of redemption)

A sampling of IHG hotels for 5,000 points

A sampling of IHG hotels for 10,000 points

A sampling of IHG hotels for 15,000 points

Thursday, January 25, 2018

January 25 Update: SPG offer for Marriott Visa cardholders now live, WestJet moves Whitehorse service to YYC and get your Brazil Visa online

Top 5 Travel Cards in Canada

TRENDINGScene+ is not just for movies anymore - it's become a versatile powerhouse for all types of rewards

Monday, January 29, 2018

NOW LIVE: IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks - 203 Hotels (8 in Canada) for only 5,000 to 15,000 points per night

Canada hotels:

5,000 points

10,000 points

15,000 points

Worldwide hotels:

5,000 points

10,000 points

15,000 points

WestJet's going to Paris - new service from Halifax starts this summer

Friday, January 26, 2018

Preview of 30 upcoming IHG Rewards Club Pointbreaks hotels and a remodeling of the promotion (now 3 levels of redemption)

A sampling of IHG hotels for 5,000 points

A sampling of IHG hotels for 10,000 points

A sampling of IHG hotels for 15,000 points

Thursday, January 25, 2018

January 25 Update: SPG offer for Marriott Visa cardholders now live, WestJet moves Whitehorse service to YYC and get your Brazil Visa online

TRENDING
Scene+ is not just for movies anymore - it's become a versatile powerhouse for all types of rewards