Radisson Rewards: Earn up to 120,000 Bonus Gold Points for stays at Radisson Hotel Group Hotels

Earlier this month Carlson Rezidor Hotels and Club Carlson re-branded to a more recognizable name as Radisson Hotel Group and Radisson Rewards. Not too long after this re-branding we see the new Radisson Rewards first systemwide global promotion being launched! This offer sees members earning up to 120,000 bonus points for stays at Radisson Hotel Group hotels worldwide. The main thing to note with this promotion is that bonuses kick in after your second night stay (the nights do not have to be consecutive or at the same hotel) and unlike previous Club Carlson promotions this new promotion is starting to follow in the footsteps of programs like Aeroplan where bookings made before the promotion start date are not eligible and also their is shorter registration and booking window than the actual promotion run time. On top of the stay bonuses you can also earn an extra 500 bonus points for each booking made via their app.

Offer details:
Earn up 120,000 Bonus Gold Points at participating Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu®, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn® by Radisson, and Country Inn & Suites® by Radisson hotels worldwide. Register Online (Registration is required) / then book online at Radisson, Country Inns & Suites, Park Plaza, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED or Park Inn

• Book & stay 2 nights: Earn 5,000 bonus points
• Book & stay 5 nights: Earn 15,000 bonus points
• Book & stay 10 nights: Earn 50,000 bonus points
• Book & stay 20+ nights: Earn 120,000 bonus points

Plus, earn an additional 500 bonus points for every booking you make using our Radisson Rewards mobile app.

Find many more Radisson Rewards offers here. 

Aeroplan and Esso to split as the latter joins forces with PC Optimum

Late on Monday night news came out that the relationship between Esso and Aeroplan was coming to end on May 31 (Thanks to Anshul at PointsMilesandBling for the heads up) Following that, yesterday morning further news came out that Esso was partnering with Loblaw's PC Optimum program. Of course for Aeroplan members this isn't good news while it is, of course, for PC Optimum points collectors. This change couldn't come at a worse time for Aeroplan - they have lost many big merchant partners over the years from Sobeys to Rexall to Uniprix to Hertz (although the last one was due to an exclusive offer with Avis Budget) and while the mileage earning at Esso wasn't extravagant, nor was the partnership a financial boon for Aeroplan, it was part of the bigger picture of a coalition program in that you earn a little here, a little there and it all adds up in the end thanks to having so many partners. Now add into the mix the break up from Air Canada and Star Alliance in a little over 2 years and what do you have left? Not much. So we here at Rewards Canada really hope Aeroplan has something up their sleeve that they haven't revealed yet. We have always stated that they have had great relationships with airlines like United, Lufthansa and other Star Alliance carriers so that there could be a likelihood some of them will become partners with Aeroplan post July-2020 but if you don't have many places to earn miles what does the program become? Well, effectively, it becomes a credit card reward program and if that's the case Aeroplan will really need to up their game to compete better with all the other proprietary credit card programs. Granted, this is two years down the road and pure speculation on our part but as we stand today, without any good news from Aeroplan, that's the way the program is heading and the space they are in just got more competitive.

How so you may ask?

Well with PC Optimum partnering with Esso, they have just put their feet into the coalition program waters. No longer is the program strictly Loblaw. With the recent amalgamation of the Shoppers Optimum program and the Loblaw PC Plus program you have a new giant to contend with and this giant has deep pockets. In fact, unlike Aeroplan and AIR MILES who are in the business of collecting data and selling miles, Loblaw has major businesses that can generate the revenues they need and they can use the PC Optimum program as a loss leader. That is they can sell PC Optimum points to potential partner merchants for a lot less than Aeroplan and AIR MILES are accustomed to. Think about it, Loblaw sells points cheap to Esso and PC Optimum members eat them up then redeem them at Loblaw or Shoppers Drug Mart locations - typically with purchases that are more than the points being redeemed so the company is still generating revenue. It is a great business move from the folks at Loblaw.

The new partnership between PC Optimum and Esso sees PC Optimum members earning 10 points per litre purchased at Esso, for most purchases that equates to less than a 1% return and they will also earn 10 points per dollar on eligible convenience store or car wash services at Esso stations. The latter of course equates to a 1% return. These earn rates are pretty much equivalent to what Esso Extra and Petro-Points offer albeit Petro-Points has accelerators for tying in cards like HBC, RBC as well as some others and you can also double dip if you link your More Rewards card to your Petro-Points cards. For me personally, the Petro-Points route is the most rewarding for gas, lotto and convenience store purchases. Prior to this announcement I would bounce between Esso and Petro but will most likely move all of my gas purchases to Petro-Canada.

Of course you don't have to go with PC Optimum points at Esso, you can still choose to earn Esso Extra points which are decent for those who frequent Esso. However if you shop even only so often at Shoppers Drug Mart and/or Loblaw stores you are probably better off choosing to earn PC Optimum points at Esso.

Overall though, for most Rewards Canada readers I would say this is not good news as I know many people used Esso as a place to boost their balances or keep their Aeroplan accounts active.  This was a good place for those infrequent Aeroplan users or people from out of the country traveling to Canada to keep Aeroplan miles alive.

Learn more about the Esso and Aeroplan split here.

What do you all think? Are you happy about the news? Upset? Indifferent as you don't use Esso?

25% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert hotel loyalty program points to Aeroplan until April 16

We see the return of another Aeroplan conversion bonus! Last seen before Christmas, the hotel only transfer bonus is back but once again it is 5% lower than previously seen. This time it is 25% versus 30% in November 2017 and of the flat 35% seen in July 2017. You have the make sure that you transfer enough hotel points to earn 5,000 Aeroplan Miles to get the 25% bonus. You'll have until April 16 to make any transfers and the 5,000 miles can be cumulative from multiple hotel programs - this is a good way to use up some of those orphaned hotel points you may never use if you are a frequent Aeroplan redeemer.

Most of Aeroplan's hotel partners are participating in the promotion so you can convert from any of the following to add to your final tally:

Your best bet for transfers is Starwood Preferred Guest of course since they transfer 1 to 1 to Aeroplan and if you transfer 20,000 Starpoints at one time SPG will throw in an additional 5,000 miles for 25,000 Aeroplan miles. With the conversion bonus you are actually looking at getting 31,250 Aeroplan Miles for the 20,000 Starpoints. Those miles can get you two short haul tickets, so you can see the potential value in transferring Starpoints to Aeroplan.





Of course if you have points sitting in other hotel programs that you may never use or are about to expire you should look at transferring them to Aeroplan so that you actually get some value out of them!

Offer details:
25% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert Hotel loyalty programs points to Aeroplan Miles.  Full details Until Apr 16, 18

Normally we would recommend getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card to be able to take advantage of this offer but seeing how there is only about a one month window for it, the chances are that getting the card and the points from it would most likely happen after April 16th. You could look at getting the American Express Cobalt Card since it earns Membership Rewards points which you have access to immediately and start putting tons of spend on it in the 5x Food & Dining category and then convert whatever points you have to SPG shortly before April 16th and that will equate to 2.5 Starpoints per dollar spent.

Introducing the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card - a strong well rounded no foreign transaction fee travel rewards credit card

Back in 2014 we put out an article that discussed why No Foreign Transaction Fees have not proliferated here in Canada. In that article we state the following:

In general the Canadian credit card market is one of the most sophisticated and ahead of the times, our cards have pretty much maxed out on the rewards and benefits they offer. That’s why the trend in the last couple of years has been first year free, enhanced travel benefits (think The Platinum Card from Amex, the Amex Air Miles Reserve, TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege) as the adders or differentiators for new or revamped cards. Now that those are being maxed out what’s left? No Foreign Transaction fees is one for that matter and as we stated a few years ago the first major card issuer to go this route stands to take a big chunk of the Canadian market. Will they lose revenue? Possibly as we don't know the actual numbers card issuers make off the fee but possibly not, there could be an equal trade off, the loss of revenue from foreign transaction fees could be made up by volume as the more cardholders you have the more transactions there are and of course the banks make money off each of those transactions.

Well, the time has come and a major Canadian bank has finally taken the plunge and in fact they make a play on our words from our 2014 article in their marketing material. The new cards is the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card. The card officially launched today, although some news leaked about the card just over a week ago (we even gave it a mention in last week's podcast). This card is coming out strong and is just a further signal from Scotiabank that they want to become Canada's rewards bank.

The card is taking many aspects of cards in the market right now and copying them or making them even better. Let's look at Scotia's marketing on this card first and give ourselves a pat on the back as here is Scotia's comment on the No Foreign Transaction fee:

• No FX mark-up on foreign transactions made on purchases abroad. Only the exchange rate applies. Most cards charge 2.5% and currently, no other major financial institution in Canada offers a credit card with no FX Mark-Up.

Here are the rewards and benefits of the card outside of the No Foreign Transaction Fee and in brackets the card this card is trying to compete against:

• 2x the points on grocery, dining, entertainment and daily transit (including buses, subways, taxis, Ubers and more) - we see this as taking quite a few cards in the first three categories but most notably American Express' Cobalt Card as it was the first card to have a multiplier on Transit
• Priority Pass Annual Membership with 6 lounge visits - we see this as a direct challenge to the BMO Rewards World Elite Mastercard:
  Complimentary airport lounge membership with six free visits per year. Customers can use the visits for themselves or anyone else they are travelling with. No other Canadian credit card under $150 annual fee currently offers more than four lounge visits per year.
  Well what do you know, the BMO card is $150 per year and offers 4 lounge visits. 
• The card will earn 1 Scotia Rewards point per dollar spent outside of the categories listed above.
• The card also provides an annual bonus of 10,000 points if you spend $40,000 or more on the card per year. 
• The sign up bonus for the card is 25,000 Scotia Rewards points, that is worth $250 towards any travel and it comes with Comprehensive Travel Insurances: Travel Emergency Medical, Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption. 
• Annual fee of $139 and supplementary card fee of $50. Update: the first supplementary card will be free and any others after that will have a $50 fee.

My initial thoughts on this card are that it is a really strong well rounded offering even though the points earn rate is a little bit lower when compared to some of the best cards out there. You can look at this card earn rates as follows: 2 points per dollar equates to a 2% return towards any travel and the 1 point per dollar is 1%, all other redemption options offered by Scotia are lower than this. One has to look at how this card compares to the new Brim Financial World Elite Mastercard as it going to offer a straight 2% return with a strong insurance package and no foreign transaction fee although it does not have the Priority Pass benefit. You will definitely need to work the numbers to see which card makes sense for you. Off the bat, if you travel at least once per year or more than the Scotia card makes a lot of sense with the Priority Pass benefit but if you don't travel much but shop online a lot outside of Canada then a card like the Brim Financial card would make more sense.

We have always said there has to be some give and take when a card comes out and offers a lot of benefits, especially when it comes to no foreign transaction fee and this card shows it. By offering No Fx Fees the card offers a lower points earn rate than other cards out there that it competes with, but that's not saying the earn is bad. 1 to 2% for any travel is pretty healthy considering you can save 2.5% on all your foreign purchases and throwing in the Priority Pass benefit worth US$261 for an annual fee of only $139? That's a pretty darn good deal. This card is a well rounded travel rewards card - one that I will consider for our family since we are losing our main Visa card, the Chase Marriott Premier card later this week.

As is always the case with new cards, we'll have lots more coverage of the card over the next few weeks including our full on Rewards Canada review, the card being added to our comparison charts and updating of a lot of features that this card may fit in!

Click here to learn more about and/or to apply for the card

Save up to 50% on Economy and Business Class award tickets between Toronto or Montreal and Europe

As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" discounted mileage awards!  This month we see a nice bump up in the offers that are available. First we see  the continuation of economy class offers on LOT from Toronto to Poland, we see economy class offers on Lufthansa to most of Europe from Montreal as well as business class offers to Europe on Lufthansa from Montreal as well.

These are good for travel on LOT until April 1 with bookings allowed until March 31 while Lufthansa is good for travel from July 1 to August 15 and must be booked by April 2

You can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip economy class tickets on LOT from Toronto to Poland for only 30,000 miles. This is a 50% discount off the normal Economy Class award ticket price of 60,000 miles and LOT does not charge a lot for additional taxes and fees so this is an ideal redemption to look at!

For Lufthansa economy class between Montreal and Europe, the discount is the same at 50% off or only 30,000 miles in total. Here is an example of some of the cities you can redeem for:

And for business class this month the offers are between Montreal and Eruope on Lufthansa, 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. And just a small example of the cities you can take in with this offer:

 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 easily boost you to the 30,000 miles required. That's enough miles to redeem for one of the economy class tickets in this offer.  If you have or had the Chase Marriott Visa then your in luck as you can go for the 25,000 Starpoint offer on the SPG card which with the additional bonus provided by SPG when you convert gives you enough miles for the economy class offer. Of course timing of getting the card now, spending and getting the points will likely not happen for this month but it sets you up for future offers.  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 for two tickets on LOT or one business class ticket on Austrian.

Full details on this Miles & More offer can be found here

March 8 Update: RBC Visa Infinite Visa Avion Resource Page, April 30 is the end date for the Avion offer & more!

We've created a page on our main site that lists all the RBC Visa Infinite Avion Resources we have as there have been quite a few articles and features about the card. You'll find them all on this page! Hopefully all of these articles listed together will make it easier for you to decide if you want to get the card. This our second compiled resource page after the Cobalt Card. We'll continue to follow suit and do the same for other cards that have numerous articles on the site!

And speaking of the RBC Avion Visa Infinite card, several people asked us about an end date for the really good new sign up offer on the card. RBC has got back to us and the offer will end on April 30.

Air Canada will launch new daily, seasonal Calgary-Palm Springs and Edmonton-Las Vegas Flights next winter. The Palm Springs flights are online mainline Air Canada aircraft while the Edmonton-Las Vegas flight will be flown by Rouge. (Source Air Canada)

Air Canada will also be launching new service to Kauai, Hawaii from Vancouver and will also double their capacity to the islands from Western Canada for the Winter 2018/19 season as the airline takes Rouge of routes and implements their new Boeing 737MAX on the routes. (Source Air Canada)

Posts since our last update:

• Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for March
  Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of March! This is not…
• Highest ever sign up bonus out now for the RBC Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum card - Up to 35,000 Asia Miles
  As far as we call recall this new offer for the RBC Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum card is the…
• Exclusive offer for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express for Chase Marriott Premier Cardholders
  In a little over a week the Chase Marriott Visa card will come to a complete end. Now, there…

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
Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn 1,000 bonus JPMiles per sector flown on Jet Airways that is booked online including Jet Airways' flights out of Toronto. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Quadruple Guest Rewards Points per stay at La Quinta properties in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. More... Until Jun 30, 18

Etihad Guest
- 20% Bonus Guest Miles when you transfer points from phone plan, banking and hotel loyalty programs to Etihad Guest. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Hyatt World of Hyatt
- 1,000 Bonus World of Hyatt Points per qualifying night at Oasis home rentals. More... Until Jun 30, 18

Iberia Plus
- 25% Avios Discount when you redeem for award travel on Iberia Express between Madrid to Toulouse, Palermo or Mykonos. More... Book by Apr 30 for travel Apr 2 - Jul 31, 18
- 50% Avios Discount when you redeem for award travel on Iberia Regional Air Nostrum from Valencia to Bilbao, Malaga or Seville or from Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela or Vigo. More... Until Apr 30, 18
- Double Avios for stays at Derby Hotels in Barcelona. More... Until Apr 30, 18
- 400 bonus Avios for minimum 4 nights stay length in: Hotel Jerez & Spa, Villa Jerez, Playa de la Luz and Duque de Najera. More... Until Apr 30, 18
- 500 Bonus Avios on Budget rentals of 2 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Mar 23, 18

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn 1,000 bonus JPMiles per sector flown on Jet Airways that is booked online More... Until Mar 31, 18

Le Club AccorHotels
- 4X Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at new Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Apr 15 for stays until Jun 3, 18

Starwood Preferred Guest
-Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays of 3+ nights at any participating SPG® hotels in Cambodia, Thailand or Vietnam. More... Book by Mar 19 for stays until Jun 30, 18

Follow Rewards Canada:

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for March

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

BMO is on a roll with their no annual fee or annual fee waivers in the first year. They now take up three of the five spots for this month. That is also thanks to two major offers losing their first year free offer (the Scotia Gold American Express card and TD First Class Visa Infinite Card). The CIBC Aventura Visa card is even better this month with an additional 5,000 points and of course the new offer on the RBC Visa Infinite Avion has to be included here as the bonus is increased, it's first year free and there is no spend requirement to get the points!

Here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for March (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 continues to be in the 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 Mastercard- 20,000 Points  (Apply here)

Included in the revamped BMO Rewards program that essentially sees the program devalued the BMO Rewards Mastercard has never been on this list before. It now makes the list because it actually has a limited time sign up bonus and the card has no annual fee so these 20,000 points (worth ~$142) come to you at no charge.  10,000 points are awarded after the 1st purchase and then 10,000 more if you can hit $1,000 in spending in the first three months.

BMO Rewards World Elite Mastercard- 35,000 Points  (Apply here)

Revamped on January 15th with a reward program that is less rewards on your day to day spend the card still graces this list thanks to its sign bonus and first year free offer. The card now offer a 35,000 point sign up bonus that is worth $250 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 $250 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 - 20,000 Points (Apply Here)
The CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card now offers up to a 20,000 Aventura Points sign up bonus worth up to $400 in travel depending on what type of flight you redeem for and since the annual fee of $120 (and supplementary cards are waived as well) those 20,000 points come at no cost to you.

RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card - 25,000 Points (Apply here)
A card not known for straying too far from its standard sign bonus comes out huge this month with a bonus that's 10,000 points higher than normal and offers the first year free! That means you can get 25,000 RBC Rewards points at literally no cost to use towards flights via the RBC airline redemption program or convert to other programs like WestJet (it's 250 WestJet dollars!), British Airways or Cathay Pacific.

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

Highest ever sign up bonus out now for the RBC Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum card - Up to 35,000 Asia Miles

As far as we call recall this new offer for the RBC Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum card is the best one ever. The normal sign up bonus is 10,000 Asia Miles and we've seen bonuses of 15,000, 20,000 and even 30,000 last year. Now we see that increased even further here in early 2018 to 35,000 Asia Miles! Granted the bonus is split up and you'll have to hold onto the card for more than a year but then again this card is really targeted towards the frequent Cathay Pacific traveler so chances are they'll hold onto the card for sometime.

Here is how the bonus works this time:
Step 1: 15,000 Asia Miles welcome offer upon card approval
Step 2: 10,000 Asia Miles when you spend $6,000 CAD in the first 3 months
Step 3: Another 10,000 Asia Miles after the first Anniversary of your card account opening

This new bonus, once earned after a year, provides enough miles to fly round trip in Economy Class on Cathay Pacific's 5th freedom flight between Vancouver and New York:

or even one way in Business Class:

Of course there are many more options out there as well on Cathay Pacific and any of their oneworld or other airline partners.

Click here to find out more about this offer or to apply for this card.

[EXPIRED] Exclusive offer for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express for Chase Marriott Premier Cardholders

THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED  

In a little over a week the Chase Marriott Visa card will come to a complete end. Now, there are two main types of people who have this card. Those who are Marriott Rewards members and were using it for the points and benefits that came with the card or those who got it for the no foreign transaction fee. If you are in the Marriott Rewards camp you may be asking how will I be able to earn points outside of Marriott stays after March 15? Well the answer to that is the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express.

If you have been collecting Marriott Rewards points and the program is your hotel program of choice then you should already know that Marriott owns Starwood and that you can link and convert points between the loyalty programs of both chains. This means you can use the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to actually earn Marriott Rewards points. How so? The American Express card will earn Starpoints for your purchases and then you can link your Starwood Preferred Guest account with your Marriott Rewards account. Once you do this you can convert the SPG Starpoints to Marriott Rewards points at a rate of 1 to 3. That's right you are technically earning three Marriott Rewards points for every one Starpoint earned on the credit card.

So what should I do if I have the Chase Marriott Premier Visa Card?
The good news is if you have the Chase Marriott Visa card, American Express has come out with an exclusive offer for you for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card as long as you have not had it before.

The offer sees the sign up bonus boosted by 5,000 Starpoints to 25,000 Starpoints (non-Marriott cardholders are offered 20,000 Starpoints) after meeting the minimum required spend on the card as well as a 8.99% balance transfer for the first 12 months, the latter of which I guess makes sense for anyone who has been carrying a balance on their Marriott Visa card.

Starpoints, the currency of Starwood Preferred Guest is one of the most valuable loyalty currencies on the market today and that extra 5,000 points is a sweet deal, adding at least $150 in value to the card. As we mentioned already, Starpoints easily convert to Marriott Rewards points, all you have to do is link your Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest accounts and then the transfers are easy. One Starpoint is worth three Marriott Rewards Points. What does that mean with the SPG Credit Card? That means the sign up bonus is equivalent to 75,000 Marriott Rewards points, the standard earn of 1 Starpoint per dollar spent is equal to 3 Marriott Rewards points and the 2 Starpoints per dollar spent at participating Marriott and Starwood Hotels is worth 6 Marriott Rewards points. The last offer of spend at their hotels has now been extended to July 31 from the previous end date of February 15.

Just so you know 75,000 Marriott Rewards is a really good sign up bonus! What can those points get you? It can get you at least 10 free nights at a Category 1 hotel within the Marriott Rewards program or even 2 nights at a Category 8 hotel if you catch a PointSavers Reward! Here is the Marriott Rewards free night chart:

The points can also be used at the higher Ritz-Carlton Hotels and 75,000 Points can score you one to three free nights at these posh hotels:

You can search all Marriott Hotels and their respective category placements here.

Of course you don't have to convert to Marriott Rewards right away, you can store the points in your SPG account for use at Starwood Hotels which once again, the sign up bonus of 25,000 Starpoints provides some huge value!

Recommended reading:

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

This offer is only available to existing Marriott Rewards Visa Credit cardholders who do not already have the SPG card.

The Details of this specific offer are as follows:
• Applications accepted January 25 to April 18, 2018. Offer valid for existing Marriott Rewards Visa Cardholders who do not already have the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card and are residents of Canada.
•  Receive 25,000 Starpoints after you spend $1500 CAD in the first three months after opening their account.
•  8.99% on balance transfers for the first 12 months.

Here are all the regular details of the card:
You can find out more and apply for the card via this link: www.americanexpress.ca/spgrewards
 
“This post was sponsored by Amex Bank of Canada.  The views and opinions expressed in this blog, however, are purely my own.”

March 5 Update: Episode 40 of our Podcast now available for download, Club Carlson officially becomes Radisson Rewards and more!

Episode 40 of the Rewards Canada Round Up Podcast is here! You can listen to or download it on Apple iTunes, Google Play, our website and Soundcloud.  In this milestone episode we discuss the hot topic of No Foreign Transation fee credit cards, new IHG hotels in Canada, Hyatt's new stay promotion and the very valuable new RBC Avion Visa Infinite sign up bonus!

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Carlson Hotels and their Frequent Guest Program Club Carlson were going to be re-branded under the Radisson moniker. That change officially happened today with the company now being called Radisson Hotel Group and the FGP being renamed to Radisson Rewards. Most of the program remains the same save for two parts: Elite status qualifying and points earning on stays.

The Elite qualifying requirements have been relaxed, especially for reaching the first level, Silver:

• Silver Qualification: 9 nights or 6 stays (used to be 15 nights or 10 stays)
• Gold Qualification: 30 nights or 20 stays (used to be 35 nights or 20 stays) 
• Platinum Qualification: 60 nights or 30 stays (used to be 75 nights or 30 stays)  

This is good news if you are a Club Carlson Radisson Rewards regular as you can now qualify sooner. Remember as well if you have the Platinum Card from American Express you get Radisson Rewards Gold status automatically.
For points earning, the adjustment to easier elite qualifying doesn't come without any detraction as Silver and Gold members will now earn a little bit less on stays:

• Base earn rate: 20 points per US$ (no change)
• Silver earn rate: 22 points per US$1 (used to be 23)
• Gold earn rate: 25 points per US$1 (used to be 27)
• Platinum earn rate: 35 points per US$1 (no change)

Learn all about the new Radisson Rewards program here

Posts since our last update:

• Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Awards - Save 25% on Business Class award tickets between Calgary and Europe
  The newest set of Air France KLM's Promo Awards were released last week and this time we only see…
• British Airways Executive Club: 35% Bonus Avios when you transfer hotel points until March 31
  British Airways Executive Club has brought back their transfer bonus for moving points from hotel programs into Avios. The…

Travel Deals
Contiki: 25% off Europe Trips on Select Departures from Canada with Contiki! Full details & online booking

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
Get up to 500 AIR MILES Bonus Miles plus 3x the Miles on all your purchase in the first 3 months with the Shell AIR MILES MasterCard from BMO. More...

BMO Rewards
Get up to 20,000 BMO Rewards welcome points when you apply for and receive the BMO Rewards Mastercard. More...


Other Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- 2,000 Bonus Club Premier Points for stays of 2+ nights at participating hotels in Latin America and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 15, 18

American AAdvantage
- 750 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for stays at any Best Western Hotels worldwide. More... Until Apr 1, 18

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 16,000 Bonus Avios when you fly between the U.K. and Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine. More... Until Jun 30, 18
- 35% Bonus Avios when you convert hotel points from Carlson Hotels, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Marriott Hotels, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts to British Airways Executive Club. More... Until Mar 31, 18

Delta SkyMiles
- Up to 1,000 Bonus SkyMiles on your 1st booking with airbnb. More... Ongoing

Stash Hotel Rewards
1,000 Bonus Stash Rewards Points when you book any hotel (including non-Stash Hotels) worldwide via Stash Rewards Travel. More... Book by Mar 31 ,18

Follow Rewards Canada: