February 23 Update: Europcar is a new Rewards Canada booking partner plus save up to 60% off GHA Hotels

Nice and short update to end off the week here on Rewards Canada:

We have a new partner here at Rewards Canada! Europcar is European based car rental company with locations around the globe. They partner with many airlines and hotel chains so you can earn points and miles on their rentals. Right now they don't have many bonus offers but you can still book Europcar through us here and we have added them to our Travel Booking site.  These bookings help support Rewards Canada. You can also find all Europcar bonus offers on our Car Rental Bonus Offer page

Posts since our last update:

• British Airways Executive Club: Earn Double Avios for your online shopping this weekend
  This weekend only you can earn Double Avios for all of your online purchases made via the British Airways…
• Earn triple Aeroplan miles for every dollar spent on Costco.ca until March 25
  Another decent bonus to let you know about if you are planning any online shopping with Costco! Right now…

Travel Deals
Global Hotel Alliance is offering up to 60% off stays at their hotels Worldwide for their Discovery members (Free to join) 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
- 3 Aeroplan Miles for every $1 spent at Costco.ca. More... Until Mar 25, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Hilton Honors
- 5,000 Bonus Honors Points for stays of 3+ nights at the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Marriott Rewards
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach. More... Until Mar 31, 18
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. More... Until Mar 31, 18



Follow Rewards Canada:

British Airways Executive Club: Earn Double Avios for your online shopping this weekend

This weekend only you can earn Double Avios for all of your online purchases made via the British Airways Online shopping portal. The bonus works for the both the UK and US versions of the portal. Since we are in Canada it is best to choose the U.S. site and you should still be able to earn the Avios as long as those retailers ship north of the border.

Here is just a small selection of the retailers offered via the U.S. site:

Offer details
Earn Double Avios  for all of your online purchases made via the British Airways Online shopping portal Full details. Until Feb 25, 18


Find many more Executive Club Bonus Avios offers here

Earn triple Aeroplan miles for every dollar spent on Costco.ca until March 25

Another decent bonus to let you know about if you are planning any online shopping with Costco! Right now until March 25th, Aeroplan Members can earn 3 Aeroplan Miles for every $1 spent when they enter promo Code: AERO3 at checkout at Costco.ca. Complete details and registering to earn miles (if you haven't done so already) can be done at:  https://www.costco.ca/aeroplan.html

You can find many more Aeroplan bonus offers here. 

February 22 Update: Canadian No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Card Feature, 15% Bonus WestJet dollars when converting RBC Rewards & a note from Amex

Ever since Chase announced they were exiting the Canadian market and shutting down their Marriott and Amazon cards earlier this year we have been inundated with questions on which cards in Canada still offer no foreign transaction fees. We have been answering individual emails and replying to comments on the site daily with the response and will continue to do so however we have also made a new feature on the main Rewards Canada site that covers this exact topic! You can now always check back to see the list of cards that either offer no foreign transaction fees or reward you with a return higher than that of the FX fee. Be sure to check out and bookmark the feature today!

• No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians
  

We came across this next offer somewhat late due to our vacation but for anyone who is interested, you still have a week or so to take advantage of it. That offer is the latest transfer bonus from RBC Rewards to WestJet Rewards. Like most of the recent offers for this conversion, it is once again a 15% bonus. With this offer you will get 1.15 WestJet dollars for every 100 RBC Rewards points converted (minimum of 1,000 points required to be converted) Of course the newest sign up offer for the RBC Visa Infinite Avion won't work for the promotion this time however you could grab the card and then wait for the next time it is offered which would give you $287 WestJet dollars at no cost! Find out more about the RBC to WestJet transfer bonus here.

And finally a big thank you to everyone who has been contributing to our American Express Cobalt confirmed multipliers page! Keep the contributions coming, even those where you think you should be getting the multipliers but aren't but in addition to letting us know, Amex has asked us to pass along the following:

It’s best for the Cardmember to call customer service for bonusing related issues. We need the Cardmembers data to be able to source the transaction in the back end to determine if the multiplier worked.... without Cardmember data, it’s hard to determine what would have happened.

This way American Express can make sure everything is working properly and if not they can get it fixed!

Posts since our last update:

• IHG 2018 New Hotel Openings in Canada - 12 hotels in the works including Canada's first Kimpton Hotel
  IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) is a large worldwide hotel chain best known for their Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn…

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
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles when you purchase duty free items on board Air Canada flights. More... Until Mar 30, 18

WestJet Rewards
- 15% Bonus WestJet dollars when you convert RBC Rewards points to WestJet Dollars. More... Until Feb 28, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you spend a minimum of $30 at a participating restaurant in the first 30 days with the Sign Up and Dine Bonus from Mileage Plan dining. More... Until May 31, 18

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles for all stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Feb 28 for stays until Mar 30, 18

Hilton Honors
- 5,000 Bonus Honors Points for your next stay of 2+ nights at Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Until Mar 26, 18

Marriott Rewards
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays of 3+ nights at any participating hotel in Egypt. More... Feb 28 - May 23, 18

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles for stays at Alila Hotels. Simply enter the promotional code PROKF when you make your booking. More... Until Mar 31, 18
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay for at least two consecutive nights in a Deluxe Plus room in Concorde Hotel Singapore More... Until Mar 31, 18
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you book Dusit’s Bed & Breakfast Package for a minimum of two nights, at participating Dusit properties worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 18
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles when you stay for a minimum of two consecutive nights at participating Millennium Hotels and Resorts properties in the United States, Europe, New Zealand, Asia and Middle East. More... Until Mar 31, 18
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you stay at participating Anantara, AVANI and Tivoli properties.More... Until Dec 31, 18
- Earn up to 4x KrisFlyer Miles when you rent with Hertz Worldwide for two or more days. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals until Apr 30, 18

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- 2,500 Bonus ROP Miles when you join Royal Orchid Plus and complete your first Thai Airways flight. More... Ongoing




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IHG 2018 New Hotel Openings in Canada - 12 hotels in the works including Canada's first Kimpton Hotel

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) is a large worldwide hotel chain best known for their Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands. IHG however comprises of 13 brands in total with well over 5,000 hotels Worldwide and have a significant presence here in Canada with over 175 hotels from coast to coast.

They are planning to grow their presence by opening another dozen hotels across our nation in 2018. These are the hotels and their anticipated opening dates (of course these are subject to change):

• Holiday Inn Express Kelowna East BC
  
  • Slated opening date: June 15
• Holiday Inn Express Moncton NB
  
  • Slated opening date: July 25
• Holiday Inn Express Niagara-On-The-Lake ON
  
  • Slated opening date: May 10
• Holiday Inn Express Trois Rivieres Ouest QC
  
  • Slated opening date: May 6
• Holiday Inn Express Saskatoon East - University SK
  • Slated opening date: April 8
• Holiday Inn Express Ottawa Downtown ON (no hotel link yet)
  
  • Slated opening date: November 1
• Holiday Inn Calgary Airport North AB
  
  • Slated opening date: May 3
• Holiday Inn Calgary South - Conference Center AB
  
  • Slated opening date: June 8
• Staybridge Suites Niagara-On-The-Lake ON
  
  • Slated opening date: May 10
• Staybridge Suites Saskatoon - University SK
  
  • Slated opening date: April 8
• Staybridge Suites Vaughan ON
  
  • Slated opening date: August 23
• Kimpton Toronto Downtown (Yorkville) ON
  
  • Slated opening date: Mid 2018

The majority of the hotels are bigger city locations and I would say the most anticipated hotels of the bunch would be the Holiday Inn Calgary Airport and by far the biggest opening of them all will be the Kimpton Toronto Downtown. This will be the first Kimpton hotel in Canada. The Kimpton brand was acquired a few years ago by IHG and the Kimpton Karma rewards program was just integrated into IHG Rewards this year. Kimpton, regarded as the first boutique hotel brand, opened their first hotel 30+ years ago and were famous for lots of little touches at great hotels. The Toronto hotel with 189 rooms will be located in the Bloor-Yorkville area (280 Bloor Street West) across from the Bata Shoe Museum and is close to the Royal Ontario Museum and other great Toronto attractions.

After this year there are at least another 31 IHG Hotels in the works for Canada.

Remember to take advantage of all the possible IHG Rewards Club bonus points offers that are on offer if you plan on staying at any of these new IHG hotels or any other IHG hotels for that matter! You can find all the promotions listed on our IHG Rewards Club Bonus Points page. At the very least the offer that should be on everyone's radar is their Accelerate offer, although this iteration ends prior to most of these hotels opening but there will most likely be a new one out for the remainder of spring and summer!

Are you excited about any of the new IHG hotels opening up this year? Are there any locations or brands you'd like to see in your neck of the woods? Let us know in the comments below.

February 21 Update: Air Canada introducing Economy Basic fares, Cobalt multipliers updated and a new look for WestJet coming next week?

Air Canada is introducing Economy Basic fares for their flights within Canada. We've seen this trend in the U.S. with major U.S. airlines starting basic economy fares to compete with Ultra Low Cost Carriers and this is pretty much evident here with this latest move from AC. These are bare bones fares where you have to pay more fees for extras, get absolutely no refunds, don't earn Aeroplan miles etc. This can be seen as a preemptive move against airlines like Flair Airlines, WestJet's Swoop and the upcoming Canada Jetlines. Find out more about Economy Basic fares here.

A week from today there is going to be an announcement from WestJet. All signs are pointing towards a livery update and possibly even more of a refresh. When we flew WestJet earlier in the week there were no menus in the seat pockets and the flight attendant mentioned they were going through a revamp - even though they just did a few months ago when they switched to offering Chopped Leaf items. Based on various forums and posts, the guess is that the new livery will be introduced on the Boeing 787 aircraft. You can see it, sort of, in the blurred image below that is making its rounds on the Internet right now:

The American Express Cobalt confirmed multipliers page has once again been updated with even more Canadian and U.S. locations! You can access the feature here. Feel free to provide comments on that page to help build the list of Canadian and global locations that you have used the card at and received 5x, 2x or 1x points. Many of the U.S. updates came from our recent trip and am loving how quickly the points are racking up on the food purchases! Of note is that Uber Eats in Canada appears to award 5x points while Uber Eats in the states only award 2x points.

Posts since our last update:

• Last week to book Preferred Hotel Group's 50,000 bonus iPrefer points offer (worth $100)
  There is one week left to book Preferred Hotel Group's 50 year celebration that offers 50,000 bonus iPrefer points…
• World of Hyatt: Up to 1,000 Bonus Points per night for Hyatt stays Worldwide (Max. 25,000 points)
  Hyatt launched their first systemwide bonus of 2018 last week on the 15th. The promotion is a simple one…
• Great new RBC Visa Infinite Avion sign up offer! 25,000 bonus points and first year free!
  The RBC Visa Infinite Avion card - long ranked as a really good card here on Rewards Canada but…

Travel Deals
Air Canada has put their South America flights on sale! Fares start at $550 all in. Book by March 6. 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
RBC Rewards
25,000 RBC Rewards Points upon approval with the RBC Visa Infinite Avion +  1st year annual fee waived. More...


Other Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Bonus Miles when you rent with Avis for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals until Dec 31, 18

American AAdvantage
- Quadruple AAdvantage Miles on all stays at over 6,500 Choice Hotels worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Amtrak Guest Rewards
- 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, 18
- 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 Jul 31, 18

ANA Mileage Club
- Double Mileage Club Miles for stays at participating SPG properties in Japan, Korea, Guam and Hawaii. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Hyatt World of Hyatt
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus World of Hyatt Points per night for stays at Hyatt hotels Worldwide.  More... Until May 15, 18
- 1,250 Bonus World of Hyatt Points on rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Mar 31, 18


Follow Rewards Canada:

Last week to book Preferred Hotel Group's 50,000 bonus iPrefer points offer (worth $100)

There is one week left to book Preferred Hotel Group's 50 year celebration that offers 50,000 bonus iPrefer points for stays of 2+ nights. Those 50,000 points are worth US$100 towards a future stay. Preferred Hotel Group has over 650 hotels Worldwide, 8 of which are in Canada. Many outside of Canada  have rates below US$100 a night which means these points can be a pretty big rebate! Here in Canada the best rates appear to be at the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria:

Offer details
Earn 50,000 Bonus iPrefer Points for eligible stays of 2 or more nights at participating Preferred Hotel Group hotels Worldwide.  Full details & online booking Book by Feb 28, 18

Terms & Conditions
Must book stay between January 29, 2018, at 12:01 AM PST through February 28, 2018 at 11:59 PM PST. Booking must include active I Prefer^SM Member Number and be made through PreferredHotels.com, IPrefer.com, the I Prefer App, or Preferred Hotels & Resorts Global Reservations. Minimum 2-night stay required. Limited to points-eligible stays. No promotion code required and may be combined with other offers, except I Prefer Exclusive and Last Minute Escapes. 50,000 bonus points will be awarded to eligible member accounts in April 2018, but may be deducted if the qualifying stay is not completed. Each stay and each member account will be limited to a maximum of 50,000 bonus points under this promotion.

World of Hyatt: Up to 1,000 Bonus Points per night for Hyatt stays Worldwide (Max. 25,000 points)

Hyatt launched their first systemwide bonus of 2018 last week on the 15th. The promotion is a simple one that award bonus points for every night you stay.  The bonus ranges from 500 to 1,000 points per night depending on the brand you stay at and has a cap of 25,000 bonus points for the promotion. With only 9 locations in Canada (it was 4 only a few years ago!) it is a little harder to earn the points locally but if your travels are taking you to major cities around the world this may be a promotion to look at.

These are the bonuses per brand:

Funny thing is when this promotion was launched we were actually staying at a Park Hyatt. We checked in on February 14th and the promotion came out on the 15th. I checked the terms and conditions of the offer and it stated that as long as the check out date falls into the promotional period the bonus points will be awarded. I registered right away and then we checked out on the 19th. On the 20th the stay posted to my account, including the bonus points:

Offer details
Earn up to 1,000 Bonus World of Hyatt Points per night for stays at Hyatt hotels Worldwide.  Maximum of 25,000 bonus points awarded. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) Until May 15, 18
- 500 bonus points per night for stays at Hyatt House or Hyatt Place
- 1,000 bonus points per night at all other Hyatt brands.

Find more World of Hyatt bonus points offers here

Great new RBC Visa Infinite Avion sign up offer! 25,000 bonus points and first year free!

The RBC Visa Infinite Avion card - long ranked as a really good card here on Rewards Canada but never at the top must be feeling the heat from the ever increasing competition as they have come out with this new offer! This is one of the best offers for this card in a while! Even though the previous offer was 30,000 points there was no first year free and the bonus was split between year 1 and year 2. This offer is 25,000 points on approval (awarded on the first statement) and first year free which we feel is a much better!  Those 25,000 points equate to 25,000 British Airways Avios at no cost! Or 250 WestJet dollars at no cost and that doesn't even take into account the transfer bonuses they run occasionally throughout the year. And remember BA has household accounts so you and your spouse could each get the card then convert to BA and combine the Avios into one account for 50,000 or more Avios. There are just so many options here....

If you have been tossing around the idea of getting this card and haven't really been sure now is the time as it will cost you nothing and score you some decent rewards!



RBC Visa Infinite Avion

•  Start Avioning Today! Get 25,000 Welcome Points upon approval† +  1st year annual fee waived† - savings of $120.
• Earn 25% more RBC Rewards points on travel related purchases1 
• Book flights, hotel stays, cruises, vacation packages, car rentals with RBC Rewards site, powered by Orbitz
• Transfer your RBC Rewards points towards other eligible loyalty programs (WestJet Rewards, British Airways Executive Club, American AAdvantage, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. Look for the transfer bonuses to the airlines several times per year!)
• Premium suite of insurances including trip cancellation3, trip interruption3, travel medical4, car rental insurance5
• Redeem your points toward your credit card balance using Payback with Points2
• Instantly save 3₵ per litre on fuel▲ & earn 20% more Petro-Points§ and RBC Rewards points** when you link your Petro-Points card to any RBC Card online.
• Up to a 2.3% return on your spending depending on which reward ticket you book
• Unwritten ability to redeem for Business Class tickets although at a lower rate of return when compared to the Avion Reward chart