January 9 Update: TAP to fly new A330-900neo between Toronto & Lisbon, Toronto to Bangkok or South Africa for only $936 on KLM & more!

TAP Portugal is up-gauging some of its flights between Toronto and Lisbon to their brand new A330-900neo aircraft. Several flights per week will be operated by the new planes while some will still be the older Airbus A330-200. TAP was the launch customer of the newly updated A330 which has 298 seats (34 Business, 96 Economy Plus, 168 Economy) TAP does have their own frequent flyer program which was recently renamed to Miles&Go from Victoria. The airline is also part of Star Alliance which means you can earn and burn Aeroplan, MileagePlus and other miles on these flights. (Source Routesonline) Photo courtesy of Airbus

Air Transat is boosting service between Toronto and Zagreb for the summer to three times per week. As we all know Air Transat does not have a loyalty program (and the partnership announced in 2018 with Aeroplan not coming to fruition) so your best bet is to earn credit card points if you pay cash for these and you can redeem those flexible proprietary credit card points as well. (Source Routesonline)

Posts since our last update:

• Earn 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels until May 12
  We see the return of the Aeroplan Best Western stay bonus for the remainder of the winter and into…
• Aimia's Shareholders Approve Sale of Aeroplan (Aimia Canada) to Air Canada
  The last hurdle in Air Canada's move to purchase Aeroplan back from Aimia was cleared yesterday. The "transaction was…
• Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for January - nearly $1,400 in travel rewards with these cards
  Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of January! This is not…

Travel Deals

KLM has some pretty amazing economy class fares available right now. Europe starts at $765 round trip from Toronto but probably the best deal is Toronto to Bangkok, Johannesburg or Cape Town for only $936! Find out more here.

Avis: Save up to 20% with their New Year Worldwide sale. Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Dec 15, 19. Find out more here.

Hilton APAC Year End sale - Save up to 25% when you book by Feb 2 for stays until Sep 30, 2019!

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

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 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each stay at Best Western Hotels in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands More... Until May 12, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at participating Anantara Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 20
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at participating AVANI Hotels Worldwide More... Until Feb 29, 20

Le Club AccorHotels
- Triple Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in South America More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until Mar 31, 19
- 1,000 Bonus Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at the Fairmont Copacabana. More... Book by Mar 17 for stays Apr 1 - Jul 1, 19

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 6,000 QMiles when you fly Qatar Airways between Doha and Malta. More... Jun 4 - Aug 31, 19

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles for purchasing entries into No1 Lounges. More... Purchase by Jan 31 for entry until Apr 30, 19


Follow Rewards Canada:

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Earn 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels until May 12

We see the return of the Aeroplan Best Western stay bonus for the remainder of the winter and into spring. The offer is the same as the previous one that ended on December 15 of 500 bonus miles per stay. This is typically the lower bonus (it can get as high as 1,000 miles) that we see but it is still better than nothing and considering BW Reward does not have a systemwide bonus offer right now this is the better way to go. You do have to be a Best Western Rewards member with your earning preferences set to Aeroplan to earn the bonus.

Offer details
Earn 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for each stay at Best Western Hotels in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) Until May 12, 19

Find many more Aeroplan bonus miles offers here.

Aimia's Shareholders Approve Sale of Aeroplan (Aimia Canada) to Air Canada

The last hurdle in Air Canada's move to purchase Aeroplan back from Aimia was cleared yesterday. The "transaction was approved by holders representing 96% of Aimia's common shares and preferred shares who voted on the Transaction on a combined basis" With this approval it is expected that the transaction should be completed in the coming days. Once that happens we hope that we will start to hear some news from Air Canada on what their new program will look like starting in July 2020. If anything we should know more details of the new program in the second half of this year.

For more details on the story visit "The Air Canada Aeroplan Saga - All the resources you need"

Source: Aimia

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for January - nearly $1,400 in travel rewards with these cards

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of January! 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 just 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 the sign up rewards.  This month all five cards have no annual fee in the first year so you can try them out at no cost and decide later on if the card is right for you.

This month sees the return of the CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card as the great sign up offer the HSBC World Elite Mastercard is now gone.

Here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for January (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 on our 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! Add in a free companion fare when you redeem for flights and the value jumps even higher. 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. Please note: new Collectors have Miles automatically deposited into their Dream Account, not their Cash account. Minimum Income: $80,000 Personal or $150,000 Household

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

 The card offers 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 LoungeKey access and 4 lounge passes included in that first year free. And the latest offer on the card also includes a $100 travel bonus! Minimum Income: $80,000 Personal or $150,000 Household

CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Card - 20,000 points (Apply here)
The CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card is back on the list with its 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) is waived those 20,000 points come at no cost to you. Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card - 20,000 Points (Apply here)
Continuing on the list is this decent offer of 20,000 RBC Rewards points at literally no cost other than the spend requirement to use towards flights via the RBC airline redemption program or convert to other programs like WestJet (it's 200 WestJet dollars!), British Airways or Cathay Pacific.  Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

TD First Class Visa Infinite Card - 40,000 Points (Apply here)
Last time this card was being featured with no annual fee in the first year was back in August! It's nice to see it return albeit with a slightly lower sign up bonus of 40,000 points versus 50,000 earlier this fall You get the standard sign up bonus of 20,000 points upon approval and another 20,000 if you spend $1,000 on the card in first 90 days having it. Those 40,000 points translate to $160 worth of travel credits for any travel booking or $200 worth of travel for bookings made via Expedia For TD. Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with nearly $1,400 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

January 8 Update: Earn Double QMiles & Elite QPoints on all Qatar flights, Mastercard drops Mastercard from logo, Condor increasing YYC & YYZ flights

Qatar Airways is offering not only Double Qmiles on their flights but also Double Elite Qualifting QPoints. Be sure to register and book if your are planning on flying Qatar out of Montreal (or anywhere else for that matter). Bookings must be completed by February 28 and you have until March 5th to register for flights until the end of August! Find out more here.

Mastercard has updated their branding to drop the actual "Mastercard" name from their logo. The brand and logo will simply be the interlocking red and yellow circles that have become synonymous with the brand. I wouldn't expect replacement cards from MC issuers to be automatically sent out, rather you'll probably see it when you get replacement cards sent in the future or when you apply for a new card. (Source Mastercard)

 For next summer Condor Airlines (a Lufthansa subsidiary) will be increasing flights from Calgary and Toronto to Frankfur. Calgary moves to 4x weekly while Toronto jumps to 5x weekly. You can earn and redeem Miles & More miles or earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles for Condor flights but I figure most Canadians if they are choosing to travel on Condor would look at using proprietary credit card points for these flights. Condor is a Rewards Canada partner and you can book flights with them directly to help support RC. (Source Routesonline)

Posts since our last update:

• Save up to 50% on Economy and Business Class award tickets for spring travel between Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver and Europe
  As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" or Mileage Bargain discounted…

Travel Deals
Hilton APAC Year End sale - Save up to 25% when you book by Feb 2 for stays until Sep 30, 2019!

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

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
N/A

Other Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- Quadruple AAdvantage Miles on all rentals of three days or longer at any Dollar location Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 19
- Earn up to 50,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you buy American AAdvantage Miles. More... Until Jan 31, 19

Avianca LifeMiles
- Earn up to 6x LifeMiles when you rent with Thrifty in the Americas or Europe. More... Until Dec 31, 19

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at participating Anantara Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 20

Iberia Plus
- 25% Avios Discount when you redeem for award flights between Madrid and Copenhagen, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Stuttgart, Berlin or Dublin. More... Book by Feb 28, for travel until Mar 31, 19
- Double Avios for stays at NH Hotels in Rome, Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Mexico City, Rotterdam, Cologne, Marseille, Santiago (Chile), and any city in Andalusia. More... Until Feb 28, 19

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to Double QMiles and Double Elite QPoints when you book and fly with Qatar Airways. More... Book by Feb 28, register by Mar 5, for travel until Aug 31, 19

Saudia Alfursan
- 1,000 Alfursan Miles for Sixt car rentals Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 19

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 30% VHR Points discount when you redeem points for an award night at any participating Voila Hotel Rewards Hotel. More... Until Mar 31, 19



Follow Rewards Canada:

Save up to 50% on Economy and Business Class award tickets for spring travel between Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver and Europe

As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" or Mileage Bargain discounted mileage awards. This month all the offers are for flying on Lufthansa from Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver

Montreal
Lufthansa Economy and Business Class
Book by January 31 for travel between May 1 - June 15 , 2019

Toronto
Lufthansa Business Class
Book by January 31 for travel between May 1 - June 15 , 2019


Vancouver
Lufthansa Business Class
Book by January 31 for travel between May 1 - June 15 , 2019

With this offer you can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip business class tickets on Lufthansa from all three cities to 80+ destinations in Europe for only 55,000 miles. This is nearly a 50% discount off the normal award ticket price of 105,000 miles. Remember however Miles & More charges some major fees for redeeming miles on these flights so be sure you also check what a revenue ticket costs however remember this is for business class so even several hundreds of dollars in fees along with 55,000 miles could be the savings you are looking for.

Here are just some of the Business Class offers this month:

You can also choose to redeem 30,000 miles for round-trip Economy Class flights out of Montreal to 81 destinations in Europe. This is a 50% discount off the normal Economy Class award ticket price of 60,000 miles.

Here is an example of some of them:

Short on Miles & More miles? Your best bet is to convert Marriott Rewards points to Miles & More on a 3:1 basis plus you'll earn 5,000 bonus miles when you convert 60,000 points at a time. That means 75,000 points is all it would take to get one of these tickets if you don't have any Miles & More miles to your name.

If you don't have any Marriott Rewards Points you can get close to amount required to redeem for the tickets by grabbing some credit cards! How so? As we always mention in this post you can boost your Miles & More account with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to top off your account. Currently the card comes with a 50,000 point sign up bonus when you spend $1,500 on the card and then you could also grab The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express as it also has 50,000 point sign up bonus and then you would ultimately be able to have 100,000 points not including what is earned on spending. Of course timing of getting the card(s) 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 for an itinerary? You could choose to get one SPG card for yourself and one for your partner or spouse.

Click here for full details on this Miles & More offer 

January 7 Update: Turkish Miles&Smiles extends mileage validity, Aer Lingus introducing intra-Europe lie flat business class & more!

Rewards Canada contributor Martin L. passed along this note from Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles. On December 31st, any miles that were three years old were set to expire (the program has a three year life span on miles) however due to some technical issues with their booking processes Turkish has extended the expiry date to January 15. So if you happen to have some older Miles&Smiles Miles check their website to see if there is anything you can redeem for rather than losing the miles!

Aer Lingus, which flies to Toronto and soon to Montreal will be adding lie flat business class seats to some of their European routes late in 2019. They will be utilizing some of their new A321LR aircraft that have the lie flat seats from Dublin to cities like London, Paris and Barcelona. This is a definite perk if you are flying Aer Lingus beyond Dublin from Canada! For the most part we have seen true business class disappear for intra-Europe flights so this will be a welcome change. (Source Irish Times)

WOW Air, the troubled Icelandic carrier officially nixed plans to fly to Vancouver next year. If you have purchases tickets for those flights you can get a refund from the airline or your credit card company. (Source Routesonline)

We are still looking for someone who would be interested in reviewing the newly opened Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in St. John's. If you are interested please email us at info@rewardscanada.ca (we do pay you for it!)

Posts since our last update:

• IHG Rewards Club 2019 Hotel Award Night Category Changes - 28 hotels in Canada affected
   As is always the case when a New Year comes around we can expect the usual changes from hotel programs…
• Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards - Save 25% on business class awards from Calgary or Toronto to Europe
  The newest set of Air France KLM's Promo Rewards are out now and for this month we see two…
• IHG Rewards Club Rewards Nights. Faster. Earn 40,000 or more bonus points on your stays until April 15
  IHG Rewards Club becomes the second major chain to release their first quarter global systemwide bonus offering. It is…
• Up to 25% off Asia Pacific Hilton stays
  Hilton Honors members can to save up to 25% on stays across the entire Asia Pacific region when you…

Travel Deals
Hilton APAC Year End sale - Save up to 25% when you book by Feb 2 for stays until Sep 30, 2019!

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

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 France KLM Flying Blue
- January Promo Rewards - Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. Calgary and Toronto included this month. More... Book by Jan 31 for travel Mar 1 - Apr 30, 19

Other Bonus Offers
Avianca LifeMiles
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus LifeMiles when you stay 2 nights at participating Marriott Hotels in Caribbean and Latin America. More... Until Jan 31, 19

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn 500 to 40,000 or more Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Bonus varies by member. More... Register by Mar 15 for stays Jan 15 - Apr 30, 19
- Receive a Free Night Award when you complete 2 nights at selected UK IHG hotels. Free night award must be redeemed by Oct 31, 19. More... Until Mar 31, 19

Le Club AccorHotels
- 1,000 Bonus Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in the United Kingdom More... Book by Jan 27 for stays until Mar 31, 19

Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Safar Flyer Miles when you rent with Avis for 4 or more days worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 19

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Triple ROP Miles for stays at participaing Anantara Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 20



Follow Rewards Canada:

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IHG Rewards Club 2019 Hotel Award Night Category Changes - 28 hotels in Canada affected

 

As is always the case when a New Year comes around we can expect the usual changes from hotel programs of individual hotel locations moving up or down in free night award/reward categories. These aren't changes to the redemption amounts within categories though. We get our first experience in annual changes from IHG Rewards Club and they sure aren't giving lots of notice. These changes according to their PDF list of hotels changing will take effect on January 14. As is always the case with changes like this you'll want to try to book award nights at hotels that are going up in price right away and wait until the 14th to book ones that are going down in price. 

The 2019 changes sees nearly 700 hotels moving up or down in categories. It's not a huge amount, around 13% of their entire portfolio and 28 of them are in Canada. Of those 28, only 5 are going in down in award price while the other 23 are moving up. Most significant is the newly opened Kimpton Saint George Hotel in Toronto that moves from 40,000 points per night to 45,000 and the InterContinental Montreal moving from 45,000 to 50,000 points per night.  You can find the entire list here. This list can be attributed to FlyerTalk member Lionheart who discovered it a couple of days ago.

Here is the entire list of Canadian properties that are changing:

What are your thoughts of these changes? Will you be booking some hotels right away (or waiting for that matter?)

Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards - Save 25% on business class awards from Calgary or Toronto to Europe

The newest set of Air France KLM's Promo Rewards are out now and for this month we see two of five Canadian cities they serve on the list.  With promo awards the discount ranges from 20 to 50% off the regular amount of miles required to redeem for these flights. As you can see just by the discount this can be a very good offer if you get 50% off for Business Class! However this month there aren't any 50% off offers for us Canucks like we saw last month. All we get is 25% off business class tickets out of Calgary and Toronto which can still be a good deal for cities like Athens or Brussels!

Offer details
January Promo Rewards - Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. Full Details
Book by Jan 31 for travel Mar 1 - Apr 30, 19
Calgary  - 25% off business class
Toronto - 25% off business class

Here are the mileage requirements for flying from the two Canadian cities to Amsterdam and/or Paris (the mileage amount will vary for other destinations in Europe)

And an example of some of the availability from Toronto to Paris:

 and Paris to Toronto:

Here's what a round trip on the above route looks like:

 But there are better opportunities for less miles for the business class offer from Toronto (same goes for Calgary)

There are lots other possible options to check out to see if this works for you and if you don't have enough miles for a Promo Reward your best bet is to convert Marriott Rewards points to Flying Blue on a 3:1 basis. Remember you'll earn 5,000 bonus miles when you convert 60,000 points at a time (a total of 25,000 miles per 60,000 points) That means 120,000 points will get you to 50,000 miles which is enough to cover any of the above on a one way basis.

If you don't have any Marriott Rewards Points you can always look at getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express to top off your account. Currently the card comes with a 50,000 point sign up bonus when you spend $1,500 on the card and then you could also grab The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express as it also has 50,000 point sign up bonus and then you would ultimately be able to have 100,000 points not including what is earned on spending. Of course timing of getting the card(s) 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 for an itinerary? You could choose to get one SPG card for yourself and one for your partner or spouse and you'll have a lot more points!

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IHG Rewards Club Rewards Nights. Faster. Earn 40,000 or more bonus points on your stays until April 15

IHG Rewards Club becomes the second major chain to release their first quarter global systemwide bonus offering. It is essentially the same as previous Accelerate offers where the bonuses vary by member and you find out what your offer is after registering. Based on the wording of the promotion I received the base offer of earning up to 40,000 points.

Here is what I received as my offer:

I should actually be able to make a few of these bonuses as we learned our daughter's new volleyball team stays at Holiday Inn Express locations (her last one was Marriott) so maybe with those stays it will lead to better offers in future promotions as the bonuses tend to get better the more you stay with IHG. More than likely I will earn the 1,000 point mobile booking and the Stay More. Earn More 2,000 point bonus.


Let us know what offer you get in the comments below!

Offer details
Earn 500 to 40,000 or more Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you complete stays at IHG Hotels Worldwide. Bonus varies by member. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Register by Mar 15 for stays Jan 15 - Apr 30, 19

Find many more IHG Rewards Club bonus points offers here!