May 29 Update: 50 Bonus AIR MILES at Rexall, use Mileage Plan miles for hotel stays, new Amex discount for Air Canada flights

Earn yourself 50 bonus AIR MILES if you spend $50 or more at Rexall with this coupon.

Alaska Airlines has expanded their relationship with Rocketmiles and have launched Mileage Plan Hotels as a result. The interface is very similar to their previous earning relationship with Rocketmiles however now they have their own URL and branding for it. The big difference with the new Mileage Plan Hotels is that you can now redeem miles for hotel stays. Find out more here

Surprisingly the value of using miles for hotels isn't terrible - about C$ 1.44 cents per mile, not great but not as bad as we see with other programs. Still Mileage Plan miles are way too valuable to be using them for hotels unless you have so many miles that you don't know what to do with them!

Check your email for an exclusive 15% discount code for Air Canada flights if you are an American Express cardholder!

Posts since our last update:

• Flight Review: Air Canada Business Class AC8567/8568 Calgary - San Francisco (YYC-SFO)
  It's been sometime since I've posted a flight review on here so I thought I would bring you one that…
• IHG Rewards Club: Gold Elite Status with one stay (Targeted offer - may not work for everyone)
  Received this offer in my email not too long ago - it may possibly work for some of you…
• Earn 750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for Best Western stays this summer
  We've already let you know about Best Western's own summer promo offering a $20 gift card but what if…

Travel Deals
Accor Hotels: Enjoy this summer with 30% off in more than 2,700 properties worldwide. Offer valid from May 29th until June 1st, 2018 for stays between July 6th and September 2nd, 2018 Phuket from $31 Paris from $57 Berlin from $58. 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
- Earn 750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each stay at Best Western Hotels in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands. More... Until Sep 30, 18

WestJet Rewards
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Elite Qualifying Spend when you fly on WestJet. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone y Register and book by Jun 30 for travel until Jul 10, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Copa ConnectMiles
- 750 Bonus ConnectMiles on qualifying rentals of 3 or more days at participating Budget locations worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 18

Hilton Honors
- 5,000 Bonus Honors Points when you stay at least two nights at participating Waldorf Astoria or Conrad hotels & resorts. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Until Dec 31, 18

IHG Rewards Club
- Fast Track to Gold Elite Status - Complete one stay within 90 days of registering and receive Gold Status. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone  Until Aug 7, 18

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn Double JPMiles for stays at Wyndham Hotels Worldwide. Bonus will be awarded on the first, second and third stays. More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Nov 9, 18

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus GC Awards Points when you book a return flight on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir, and reserve a stay at any Shangri-La Hotel and Resort, Kerry Hotel, Traders Hotel or Hotel Jen. More... Book by Jun 30 for flights/stays Jul 1 - Aug 31, 18


Follow Rewards Canada:

Flight Review: Air Canada Business Class AC8567/8568 Calgary - San Francisco (YYC-SFO)

It's been sometime since I've posted a flight review on here so I thought I would bring you one that I did take a few pictures on!

The Rewards Canada family made our annual pilgrimage to Maui, this time for Easter Break and for the first time in a long time we took connecting flights instead of flying direct. There were several reasons for this. First Air Canada rouged the Calgary to Kahului route so International Business Class pods are no longer available on the route and secondly since we were booking for Easter break which meant both Air Canada and WestJet were charging an arm and a leg for the direct flights! I started researching other options to get their comfortably and found Hawaiian Airlines was selling their first class (really business class but that’s what they call it for flights from the US mainland to the islands) but out of San Francisco. Not a big problem easy enough to fly to SFO from YYC and Air Canada has excellent pricing for business class there and back so it didn’t take long to book all the flights. The combination of AC business class and Hawaiian business calls came in at a price that wasn’t far off what WestJet and Rouge were charging! This was a good way to travel, try out a new airline and add in a day in SFO to our Maui trip

Here is the actual review of our YYC-SFO flights!

The flights between Calgary and San Francisco are operated by Air Canada Express (Jazz) with CRJ-900s. It’s been probably 10 years since we’ve flown on a CRJ and that last flight was in Economy Plus on United from SFO to Calgary! The flight down had an older plane while the flight back had a much newer one which was super clean, had LED lighting and felt and smelled brand new!

The seats seemed like your standard North American business class seats but all of us in the family did find them more comfortable than those used on Air Canada's Airbus family.  The business class cabin has a 1-2 layout which is perfect for families of 4 (2 and 2 ahead of each other) or for single travelers who want that coveted single seat! The seats offer a 37" pitch and are 21" wide. For a family that doesn't tower like ours the 37" pitch works just fine - here are shots of the leg room I had:

Flights in both directions were delayed especially so for the return. On that return flight the incoming plane was apparently held in Calgary due to ground delays at SFO for the rain. In SFO we wanted to visit the American Express Centurion Lounge for the delay, we went in and were out within about 5 minutes as it was so crowded! The line up to get drinks from the single bartender was at least 10 people deep if not more. Even with further entry restrictions on these lounges they are proving to be so popular that they can't be enjoyed. We found a much quieter and surprisingly comfier spot in terminal G where AC flies out of, sure the food and drinks weren't free but the sanity was worth it.
 
Arriving into SFO is always fun as it is one of the best airports to plane spot from your seat on the plane:

In flight service both ways was attentive and good. There are no complaints at all with the friendliness of the crews as well as  the drink and snack selections.

Food was so-so for both flights. Going down to SFO the chicken dish was edible and on the return flight you could tell the my wife’s meal was at the hottest part of the oven as the rice was rock hard while mine was probably next to it as it was partially hard!

AC8568 Menu SFO-YYC

General Tao Chicken with hard rice

On the flight back to Calgary the in-flight entertainment system was inoperative and despite several resets the cabin crew could not get it to work. They had issues on the flight down to SFO as well so the attendants already had compensation cards ready and handed them out to all of the business class passengers. Good planning on the flight attendant's part!

Overall flying AC domestic business class between Calgary and California is always nice and many times it is a great deal price wise - we've been lucky enough to do it quite a few times and find it a better option over WestJet's Plus cabin although the latter will start implementing a true 2-2 cabin so we'll have to see how that compares!

You may ask, why did we fly business class on this relatively short flight instead of economy and bring the price down even further? Well, we were lucky, when booking the flights business class was pricing out only about $100 more than economy - likely to compete with WestJet's Plus pricing and when you factor in bag fees, seat selections fees and so on with the economy class fare not to mention extra Aeroplan miles earned in business the difference ends up only being around $40 which is more than worth it on a ~2 hour flight.

For future flights I would definitely fly Air Canada Express' Business Class on this route if the price is right like it was for these ones!

IHG Rewards Club: Gold Elite Status with one stay (Targeted offer - may not work for everyone)

Received this offer in my email not too long ago - it may possibly work for some of you as well. Always be careful however with IHG as they have been known to close accounts that sign up for too many targeted offers that weren't targeted for that member.

Offer details:
Fast Track to Gold Elite Status - Complete one stay within 90 days of registering and receive Gold Status. Full details and online booking  Until Aug 7, 18
Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Find many more IHG Rewards Club Bonus Points offers here

Earn 750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for Best Western stays this summer

We've already let you know about Best Western's own summer promo offering a $20 gift card but what if you will have more than one stay at a BW (since the BW promo is limited to one $20 gift card) or don't think you can make use of the gift card within 120 days? Credit your stay to Aeroplan! Especially now that they have a summer promotion offering 750 bonus miles (1,000 total miles) for stays until the end of August.

Offer details:
Earn 750 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each stay at Best Western Hotels in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands . Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Until Sep 30, 18

Find many more Aeroplan bonus offers here.

May 25 Update: 3x AIR MILES on select outdoor items at Lowe's and Cathay Pacific YVR-JFK seat sale

Now that spring has hit most of Canada (Newfoundland we hope you get it soon after that big snow day this week!) lots of you will be doing gardening and outdoor updates which may include new patio furniture and more. Well if that's the case Lowe's is offering 3x AIR MILES Reward Miles when you spend $150 or more on patio furniture, grills, gazebos and more this weekend. Find out more here.

Posts since our last update:

• Good and bad news - Cathay Pacific Asia Miles changes coming on June 22
  Asia Miles has been sending out emails to their members announcing changes to Asia Miles program. Changes are happening…
• American AAdvantage: Earn up to 4x Miles for stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide until July 31
  This offer awards triple AAdvantage miles on all IHG stays except those at Crowne Plaza which will earn quadruple…
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - Up to a 40% bonus when you buy miles
  Alaska Airlines has launched their next buy miles bonus of 2018! The 40% bonus is their ongoing bonus these…

Travel Deals
Cathay Pacific Vancouver - New York JFK sale: Economy class from $525 and Premium Economy from $965 round trip. Book by May 31 for travel until June 30. 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
Best Western Rewards
- Earn a US$20 Best Western Travel Card on your next Best Western stay Worldwide. More... Until Sep 3, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn up to 40% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you buy 10,000 or more miles. More... Until Jul 3, 18

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 4x AAdvantage Miles for stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 18

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 50% Bonus Asia Miles for 2-night stays at any participating properties under Millennium Hotels & Resorts. More... Until Jun 30, 18

Copa ConnectMiles
- 40% Bonus ConnectMiles when you buy or gift 5,000 or more ConnectMiles. More... Until May 31, 18

Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- Double ShebaMiles when you fly Ethiopian between Addis Ababa and Barcelona. More... Jul 1 - Jul 31, 18

Iberia Plus
- Triple Avios for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 18

IHG Rewards Club
- Fast Track to Elite Status or earn Triple Points for stays at Kimpton Hotels More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone  Until Aug 15, 18

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at participating Chatrium Hotels in Asia. More... Until Jun 30, 18

Marriott Rewards
- 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays on the opening package at the Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse. More... Until Jun 28, 18
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay of 2+ nights at any of 8 participating Kessler’s Autograph Collection hotels in Southeast U.S. More... Jun 1 - Aug 24, 18

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Earn up to Triple ROP Miles for stays of 2+ nights at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 18


Follow Rewards Canada:

Good and bad news - Cathay Pacific Asia Miles changes coming on June 22

Asia Miles has been sending out emails to their members announcing changes to Asia Miles program. Changes are happening on both the earning and redeeming sides. Overall they aren't crazy terrible changes for us Canadians although one could ultimately look at this as a devaluation since some of the most aspirational awards that some Asia Miles members look forward to are becoming more expensive. All of these changes will take place on June 22.

Let's look at the earning changes first:
No longer will Asia Miles be earned based on the exact distance you fly, they will now award you miles based on the zone you fly.  Here are the zones and miles you will earn for flying based on the cabin and fare class:

This new mileage earning format is only applicable to Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights. All flights on partner airlines will continue to earn miles based on actual distance and fare class.

Here are comparisons of what you earn now and what you will earn as of June 22 between Vancouver and Hong Kong:

As you can see in most cases (4 of 6) you'll earn more Asia Miles now. But of course you have to also look at redemption to complete the equation!

Let's look at the redemption changes:
Cathay Pacific will now be in the league of most other airlines and price tickets based on one way awards and these will be 50% of the round trip cost. We saw Aeroplan do this a few years back and it has proved to be very popular so we could only expect the same for Asia Miles. Cathay is being honest in that they state economy class redemptions will be the same or cheaper with this update however premium cabin redemptions, especially on long haul flights will become more expensive.

Let's look at Vancouver - Hong Kong again - here are the comparisons of the old rates versus the new redemption rates for Standard awards:

This isn't very good news for those looking at this route! While economy stays the same all other classes have gone up in price and some are significant like the near 25% increase for a round trip flight in First Class.

Another popular redemption is Cathay Pacific's 5th freedom flight between Vancouver and New York - and it's mostly good news here except for the popular first class redemption sees a 10,000 mile increase:

And one more look for our last Canadian route:

Only good news here is for those flying on Economy Class award tickets - all others see pretty big increases again.

Cathay does say they will increase award availability with the new charts by 20% but what they don't tell us is where that 20% will fit - will it be in their standard charts or their more expensive Choice or Tailored award charts that already provide more availability?

I don't know of too many people who have been using their Asia Miles for the long haul routes out of Canada but there are quite of few of you who have been using them for the YVR-JFK route and thankfully that route isn't affected terribly.

You can read more about these changes here.

American AAdvantage: Earn up to 4x Miles for stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide until July 31

This offer awards triple AAdvantage miles on all IHG stays except those at Crowne Plaza which will earn quadruple miles! This offer is good for those who may not be planning many IHG stays where they could do better with an Accelerate offer credited to IHG Rewards Club.

Offer details:
Earn up to 4x AAdvantage Miles for stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Until Jul 31, 18
Triple miles awarded for stays at all IHG brands except Crowne Plaza Hotels. Stays at Crown Plaza Hotels will earn quadruple miles.

Excerpts from the T&Cs:
Must be an IHG® Rewards Club member  with a registered address in North or South America with
American Airlines AAdvantage®miles as the chosen earning preference,must register member number in advance and must be in good standing in the AAdvantage® program to participate in “3X/ 4X the miles” campaign. Triple miles will be awarded on all Qualifying Stays after completing 1st Qualifying  Stay, between May 15, 2018 and July 31, 2018 (“Promotion Period”) (both dates inclusive).  Quadruple miles will be awarded on all Qualifying Stays at Crowne Plaza® brand hotels  after completing 1st Qualifying Stay,  during Promotion Period.  Bonus miles multiplier will be based on the current base  miles awarded per IHG hotel brand.  Member will only receive bonus miles for one offer for each Qualifying Stay (i.e. – a member who is registered and completes a Qualifying Stay at a Crowne Plaza will only be eligible for the 4X offer).  Maximum bonus award is 15,000 bonus miles per member during this campaign.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - Up to a 40% bonus when you buy miles

Alaska Airlines has launched their next buy miles bonus of 2018! The 40% bonus is their ongoing bonus these days and is always decent but we do see a 50% bonus several times per year so unless you need the miles right away we would wait to buy. Remember there is also no limit to the number of miles you can buy each year, you are simply limited to a maximum of 60,000 miles pre-bonus per transaction. The last offer saw the 40% bonus kick in at the 40,000 mile level while this time you can score that bonus with a lower purchase of only 30,000 miles.

With the 40% offer you are buying Mileage Plan Miles at roughly US$ 2.11 cents each:

 
Seeing that you can redeem miles for premium class flights on British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Hainan, Korean Air and more, there are lots of options for you to use these miles. Remember it only takes 70,000 Mileage Plan miles to fly Cathay Pacific First Class one way from North America to Asia and those 70K will cost you $1478.13 as seen above - and to pay for that first class ticket will cost you a lot more than that!

Offer details
Earn up to 40% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you buy 10,000 or more miles.  Buy Miles Here Until Jul 3, 18

20% bonus for purchases of 10,000 to 19,000 miles
30% bonus for purchases of 20,000 to 29,000 miles
40% bonus for purchases of 30,000+ miles

Find many more Mileage Plan offers here.