Wednesday, June 6, 2018

June 6 Update: $10 statement credit for J. Crew with Amex Cobalt and British Airways drops Calgary for the winter



Another American Express Cobalt Perks offer came out this month. This time they have partnered with J. Crew (a long time Amex partner) that when you shop at J. Crew stores in Canada and you can receive a $10 statement credit when you spend $50 or more on your registered Cobalt Card. Find out more and register your card here.

Frontier Airlines
which just restarted their YYC-Denver flights last week has announced new two times weekly service between Calgary and Las Vegas starting on August 15. (Source: Frontier Airlines)


But the bigger news for YYC and it's bad news - it looks like British Airways is leaving Calgary, at least for the Winter. Routesonline has reported that reservations for the Calgary-London Heathrow route have been closed for flights from late October to early March. Some are saying (per CBC) they are only gone for the winter and will come back for summer while others say they are gone for good. Either way the disruption for winter is not good for those who have already booked flights (they will be rebooked on other airlines or refunded) and of course not good for the frequent flyers and Executive Club members in the region!

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals
Hilton Summer Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. 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
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 20% Bonus Flying Club Miles when you convert your Diners Club Club Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles. More... Until Jun 30, 18

Other Bonus Offers
British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to Quadruple Avios for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 4, 18

Le Club AccorHotels
- Triple Le Club AccorHotels Points on Hertz rentals Worldwide More... Book by Jul 14 for rentals until Dec 15, 18

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Double Mabuhay Miles when you fly in Business Class between Manila and Puerto Princesa. More... Until Sep 10, 18

Radisson Rewards
- Earn Double Radisson Rewards for Business Points for stays at Radisson Hotel Group hotels worldwide. Plus: you can also earn a one-time bonus of 3,000 points when you complete just three bookings during the promotion period! More... Until Jul 31, 18


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Hilton Summer Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=3624&awinaffid=159284&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhiltonhonors3.hilton.com%2Fen%2Foffers%2F100113044.htm
The Hilton Summer Sale Is Now On. Don't Miss Out On Savings Of Up To 25% On Selected Hotels in Europe, Middle East & Africa.

Make your summer one to remember with the Hilton Sale. Save up to 25% off breaks across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. To access our best savings, simply join Hilton Honors for free while you book. With hotels in over 100 locations, there is a break for every occasion.

Stays must be booked by September 3, 2018 and completed on weekends until October 7, 2018. Remember that you should also be earning Double Points on these stays with the current summer Hilton Honors promotion that runs until August 31. Find that and all other Honors bonuses here.
Also remember  if you have the Platinum Card from American Express you get automatic Hilton Honors Gold status that will get you extra benefits on these stays. 

Discounts are up to 15% off the Best Available Rate and Best Available Bed & Breakfast Rate and vary by property, excluding Hampton by HiltonTM hotels where the discount is up to 10% off. The Summer Sale Hilton Honors member rates are an additional 10% off the Best Available Rate and the Best Available Bed and Breakfast Rate, for weekend stays.

Click here to take advantage of the Hilton Summer sale 

For purposes of this offer, "weekend" is defined as Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday nights and in Middle East (excluding Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Africa) as Thursday, Friday and/or Saturday nights. Must book a minimum 3 days before arrival, this may vary and be reduced at points throughout the campaign
 Simply look for the Summer Sale terminology when you search for your hotels to get this deal!

Monday, June 4, 2018

June 4 Update: La Quinta & Wyndham take first step to integration with status matching & points transfers, British Airways 50% off Avios awards + more


In what isn't as big of hotel merger news like we've seen from Marriott and SPG, news came out today about the first step of integration between La Quinta Returns and Wyndham Rewards. The latter bought the smaller U.S. chain that has hotels across the U.S., Mexico and even a couple here in Canada. The integration of the programs is taking similar steps to what we say with the Marriott-SPG merger in that you can now get reciprocal elite status between the programs if you hold status with one of them. And just like we saw with Marriott-SPG you can now transfer points between your LQ Returns and Wyndham Rewards accounts. Points convert at a 1:1 ratio between the accounts. Finally, also like Marriott-SPG there isn't a way to currently earn LQ Returns points for Wyndham stays or vice versa. You'll have to earn in each respective program and then transfer points. The earning and redemption of Wyndham Rewards points is expected to be available at La Quinta Inns & Suites and LQ Hotel properties in 2019. Click here to learn all about the intergration of the two programs.


British Airways has launched a 50% discount for redeeming Avios on select long haul routes in Economy to/from London. We checked out Toronto-London which is included in the sale. We picked Nov 7-21 which does have the sale amount of 13,000 Avios for the round-trip flight. That seems like a really good deal until you look at the dreaded fees that we know BA adds on - $662 in this case! And how much does the ticket cost outright? $715.26! You are essentially redeeming 13,000 Avios to save a little over $50. Not worth it at all! That being said if you are travelling abroad or constructing some flights around the world there are some deals to be had - mainly from place that forbid such high fees like Hong Kong. Find out more here

Here is the full cash price for the same ticket


The summer concert season is an AIR MILES is celebrating with once-and-a-lifetime experiences for members with the “___ with the band’ contest:
From a helicopter ride above the festival grounds of Rockin’ River Music Festival in BC, to becoming part of the band at a VIP soundcheck with the Arkells in their hometown of Hamilton; AIR MILES is giving Canadians the chance to win these Instagrammable experiences with their favourite artists this summer, through the AIR MILES Stage Pass: “___ with the band’ contest.

AIR MILES Stage Pass “____ with the band” gives Collectors the opportunity to win amazing grand prizes including playing Cornhole with Vance Joy in Montreal, soundcheck with Arkells in Hamilton and a helicopter ride over the Rockin River Fest with Midland in BC.

Click here to enter the contests!
Today only - you can save 20% when you redeem RBC Rewards points for The Keg gift cards. Find out more here.


Speaking of RBC Rewards - I know everyone is eagerly awaiting the next transfer bonus to British Airways for Avion cardholders and it looks like you'll have to wait even longer since last month was AA and this month it is HBC. We don't have access to the offer but if one of our readers does please let us know the details of the HBC offer (what % and until when!)


Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals
WestJet: One day sale - Save up to 15% on Econo base fares to all destinations within Canada for travel until the end of July. 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
- 1,000 bonus Aeroplan miles when you become an Aeroplan member and make your first accumulation transaction with an eligible Aeroplan partner. More... Until Jul 15, 18

Other Bonus Offers
British Airways Executive Club
- 50% Avios Discount when you redeem Avios for select award flights on British Airways to/from London. More... Book by Jun 17 for travel Sep 1 - May 13, 19

Hilton Honors
- 15,000 Bonus Honors Points when you complete a stay of 2 or more nights within 90 days at Hilton Hotels Worldwides. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Until Jan 10, 19

Iberia Plus
- Earn up to Triple Avios for stays of 5 or more nights at Melia Hotels & Resorts in Spain. More... Book by Jun 30 for stays Jun 15 - Sep 15, 18
- Double Avios for stays at NH Hotels in in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Marseille, Rome, Genoa, Venice or Florence. More... Until Jun 30, 18
- Double Avios for stays at Paradores hotels. More... Until Jun 30, 18

Marriott Rewards
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays of 3 or more nights at the Domes Noruz Chania, Autograph Collection. More... Jun 24 - Aug 31, 18
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night when you stay between 2 and 6 nights at over 30 participating Marriott Hotels across the Southeastern U.S. in 7 states. More... Until Aug 20, 18
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay including any night Thursday-Sunday at the Courtyard or Residence Inn Syracuse Downtown at Armory Square. More... Until Jun 24, 18

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Thursday, May 31, 2018

Earn 1,000 Miles when you join Aeroplan and complete your 1st transaction



What's the next step in Aeroplan's evolution and eventual growth away from Air Canada? Acquire more members. And how do you do that? Entice them with a bonus for joining the program! Right now when you join Aeroplan and make an eligible mileage earning transaction with an Aeroplan partner they'll give you an additional 1,000 miles. Your first transaction could be very easy from purchasing something at Home Hardware (there is a free miles offer from HH for subscribing to their email but we're not sure if that will count towards this 1,000 miles) to buying something from Amazon via the Aeroplan eStore. You have until July 15 to join and make that first mileage earning transaction to get the bonus.

Offer details
1,000 bonus miles, you must become an Aeroplan member by completing and submitting this form and making a first accumulation transaction with an eligible Aeroplan partner. Join Aeroplan via this link to be eligible to earn this bonus. Until Jul 15, 18

Find many more Aeroplan bonus offers here

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

May 30 Update: 50 Bonus AIR MILES for travel bookings, Aeroplan's new Avis/Budget offers plus 500 bonus miles flying Air Creebec to Waskaganish


You can earn 50 bonus AIR MILES for making a travel booking via airmilesshops.ca. This bonus is awarded when you spend $35 or more, excluding shipping, duties and taxes, on eligible travel bookings through airmilesshops.ca at participating online travel stores until June 29. Find out more hereHere are the participating partners:


Aeroplan will be releasing their new bonus offers for Avis and Budget rentals on June 1st. We have them for you already! The bonuses aren't as big the last offers as they have gone to Triple Miles for Avis and Double Miles for Budget - still it's better than nothing! Check out the bonus offers section below for details!


And also on the Aeroplan side they have a very specific flight bonus. Air Creebec is celebrating Waskaganish’s 350th Anniversary with 500 bonus Aeroplan miles on flights to this Cree community on James Bay!


Posts since our last update:

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
- 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you fly Air Creebec to Waskaganish (YKQ). More... Jul 1 - Jul 31, 18
- Triple Aeroplan Miles on Avis rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 18
- Double Aeroplan Miles on Budget rentals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 18

Other Bonus Offers
Delta SkyMiles
- 2 SkyMiles + Starpoints per dollar spend for stays at any SPG-participating hotel or resort in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Jul 15, 18

Finnair Plus
- Triple Plus Points on Europcar rentals in Germany. More... Book by Jun 2 for rentals until Jun 30, 18

IHG Rewards Club
- Double IHG Rewards Club Points for stays of 5 nights or more at any Candlewood Suites or Staybridge Suites in the U.S., Mexico, or Canada. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone  Until Aug 15, 18
- 3,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points on Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 18

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay at one of 12 participating Moxy hotels in the UK, Germany, Italy and Norway. More... Jun 29 - Sep 2, 18

Radisson Rewards
- Receive a USD $25 gift card of your choice when you stay 2 or more consecutive nights at a Radisson Hotel Group property in the U.S. and Canada. More... Book by May 31 and between Jul 8 - Aug 2 for stays until Sep 3, 18

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Double Starpoints for stays on the grand opening offer at the Four Points by Sheraton Danang. More... Until Jun 30, 18
- 1,000 Starpoints on Hertz rentals. More... Until Jul 31, 18

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 30% Bonus VHR points when you stay at participating VOILÀ network hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 18

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7 months in and The American Express Cobalt Card is still going strong - we've earned a LOT of points and huge value organically

Last September American Express launched the Cobalt card - their new card targetted towards Millennials but in reality it is a card that is good for everyone. How good is this card? Good enough for us to crown it the 2018 Top Travel Rewards Credit Card in Canada. There are numerous reasons the card took over top spot in Canada in our 10th annual rankings but the primary reason is the earning ability for Eats and Drinks. The card earns an unprecedented 5 points per dollar on eats and drinks and unlike most of the card's competition, this category bonus is unlimited. This earn rate is huge - it equates to a 3.5% return when looking at it as cash back (Use points for purchases non-travel), 5% return towards any travel (Use points for purchases travel) or even more by converting those points to Starwood Preferred Guest.

About a month after the card was released both my wife and I applied for our own Cobalt cards. At that time the card had it's standard sign up bonus of up to 30,000 Membership Rewards points (split into 2,500 per month for 12 months when you spend $500 per month) but it also had an extra 10,000 points if you spent $3,000 on the card in the first three months as the card's launch bonus. With these bonuses, the 5x multiplier and then a special bonus in December that offered up 10x points on eats & drinks up to $2,000 for the month we have racked up a lot of points in the short 7 months of having the cards.

On my Cobalt card I have earned nearly 138,000 Membership Rewards points and my wife is just over 82,000 points.


Combined we are approaching a quarter million points in this short time. What are those points worth? To us a minimum of $2,200 towards travel. That's a good chunk of change and we aren't even putting business expenses on the cards or any manufactured spending. It's all organic and almost exclusive to eats and drinks categories and the bonuses for getting the cards. We have purchased gift cards here and there for places like Amazon.ca and Sephora at grocery stores as this is a good way to earn 5x points for places that don't have category multipliers but for the most part it has been groceries and restaurants. These are pretty big returns for day to day non-business related spending and it is why I recommend for others to get the card - its not hard to earn a lot of points. The points come quickly, here is a snapshot of some my regular spending over a very short period:
As you can see outside of the two Petro-Canada purchases, all of my spending on the card is at the 5x points level.

Related: American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations
A listing of all the confirmed 5x/2x/1x point earning locations in Canada and around the globe


The $2,200 of value comes from the Use Points for Purchases on travel purchases but that's not the route we are going right now with the cards. We will be converting those points very soon to Starwood Preferred Guest. The points will convert 2:1 to SPG which equates to about 110,000 Starpoints. I value Starpoints at a minimum of 2.5 cents each but closer to 3 cents (in C$) so right away you can see the value of these points is now up to a minimum of $2,750. The plan is to convert points in the next week to make sure we get the full value out of the Starpoints as come August this could all change. This August the new combined Marriott/Starwood program will launch and in all likelihood I expect the conversion ratio from Membership Rewards to the combined program to change and not for the better. This guess is based on the earn rate of the new Starwood credit cards Stateside. Nothing is confirmed but I'm not holding out hope. The good thing is all points in Starwood accounts up to the date the new program launches will be converted 1:3 so the points will for the most part retain their value. As my wife is the main SPG earner in the family and the one with Platinum status once the points are in my SPG account we will move them over to her account thanks to SPG allowing household accounts


Now let's see if we do a dummy booking and see how much value you can really get out of the Starpoints:


I tested five nights at the St Regis Mauritius Resort which is a category 6 hotel that normally runs 20,000 to 25,000 points per night, however with SPG (and the new combined Marriott/SPG program) when you book 5 award nights you get one free. So 5 nights in November at this resort will cost 90,000 Starpoints. The cheapest non-cancellable rate is EUR2950, for us however, we never book the non-cancellable rates so the price would go up even more from this:


2950EUR equates to C$4,424 (xe.com rate on May 30) which means for 90,000 Starpoints you are getting $4424 in value. That's a redemption value of 4.9 cents per Starpoint. So if we apply that to the 110,000 Starpoints earned via our Cobalt cards our return is $5,390! That's nearly double my minimum valuation of $2,750. Think about this way - between my wife and I, the Cobalt cards have cost us $140 so far in monthly fees and all of our spending is spending we would have done anyways and would have put on other cards if we didn't have the Cobalt cards. To earn nearly $5,400 of rewards for $140 is insane and would be the envy of any financial planner. I can tell you right now that putting $140 into other investments would not generate that sort of return!

Update: Just wanted to add in that this $5390 equates to about a 17% return on the actually spending made on the cards!

Ultimately we will continue to run with two separate Cobalt accounts for another 5 months until the 12 months is up at which time the plan is to cancel my card and get a supplementary card for my wife's account. There will not be a need for two separate accounts as the 12 months of sign up bonuses will be complete and might as well pool the spending into one account.

How about you? How has the Cobalt card been for you? What sort of value are getting from it? let us know in the comments section below!

Don't have the card and are still not convinced and want to learn more about it? Visit our Cobalt Card Resource page for lots more information!

Otherwise here are the details for the card:



This is not a sponsored post and is fully the opinion of the author. American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details, current product information and Terms and Conditions, click the Apply now link.