Best Western New Hotel Openings in Canada for 2019 - 13 hotels in the works including two new brands

Best Western Hotels is a large worldwide hotel chain that was best known for just being Best Western. About eight or so years ago they added in Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier brands to help distinguish some of their hotels. However over the past couple of years they decided to follow the other major hotel chains with expanding the brands to meet specific travel needs. There are now 13 brands associated with Best Western:

Most hotels in Canada still fall under Best Western, BW Plus, BW Premier and BW Premier Collection (plus one Glo and one SureStay location) but 2019 will see two other brand types introduced to our market, namely BW Signature Collection and Executive Residency.

Overall Best Western are planning to grow their presence by opening or rebranding no less than thirteen hotels across our nation in 2019 These are the hotels and their anticipated opening dates (of course these are subject to change):

• Best Western Plus Prince George BC - Slated Opening April 1, 2019
• Best Western Signature Collection Mississauga ON - Slated Opening January 30, 2019 First of this brand in Canada
• Best Western Premier Northwood Hotel Timmins ON - Slated Opening May 31, 2019
• Best Western Premier Montreal Metropolitane Hotel & Suites QC - Slated Opening March 20, 2019
• Best Western Plus Hinton AB - Slated Opening Feb 15, 2019
• Loyalist Lakeview Resort, Best Western Signature Collection Summerside PEI - Slated Opening Feb 15, 2019 (This hotel is a rebranding)
• Best Western Plus Montreal East QC - Slated Opening May 17, 2019
• Executive Residency by Best Western Calgary AB - Slated Opening May 31, 2019 First of this brand in Canada
• Best Western Premier Prince Albert SK - Slated Opening June 1, 2019
• Copper River Inn & Conference Centre, Best Western Signature Collection Fort Frances ON -  - Slated Opening June 30, 2019 This hotel is a rebranding)
• Best Western Premier Regent Winnipeg Inn & Suites - Slated Opening August 26, 2019
• Best Western Plus Morden MB - Slated Opening November 19, 2019   
• Best Western Premier Executive Residency Medicine Hat AB - Slated Opening December 29, 2019

Of the new hotels (not rebrands)the only photos we could find were of the pool and hot tub of the new Best Western Plus Hinton

Remember to take advantage of all the possible Best Western Rewards bonus points offers that are on offer if you plan on staying at any of these new Best Western hotels or any other Best Wester hotels for that matter! You can find all the promotions listed on our Best Western Rewards Bonus Points page. Or you can choose to earn airline miles and there is currently an Aeroplan offer of 500 bonus miles for Best Western stays until May 12

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

---

Hilton Asia Pacific Sale - Save up to 25%

Hilton Honors members will be able to save up to 25% on stays across the entire region when you book by February 2, 2019. The offer for non-members is only up to 15% off so it really makes sense to join Honors to get the additional discount seeing that it costs nothing to join the program.

Stays must be booked by February 2, 2019 for stays until September 30,  2019. Remember that you should also be earning 2,000 bonus points on these stays with the current winter Hilton Honors promotion that runs until May 5. Find that and all other Honors bonuses here..

Discount varies from 5% to 25% off Flexible Rate (BAR) or Breakfast Included Rate (B&B) across all participating properties. Hilton Honors members will receive an additional 10% discount for bookings outside of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.


Click here to take advantage of the Hilton APAC Year End sale
Here's just a small sample of the offers available:

January 11 Update: Reminder of upcoming mbna Rewards changes (cash out now for cash back), up to 100 bonus AIR MILES from Shell & more!

A friendly reminder to those of you who have MBNA Rewards World Elite or Platinum Plus Mastercards about the cash back rate changing on February 1st. As of that time the rate is being devalued so you'll want to ensure you redeem for cash back prior to then to get the full value of the points. Otherwise you can still redeem for travel at the same rate as before. Read this post for more details: Negative changes coming to the popular MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard

There is a new AIR MILES bonus offer for filling up at Shell stations across Canada. You have to text them first and once you do so you can earn 10 bonus AIR MILES per fill up of 25L or more. You can earn the bonus up to 10 times. Find out more here.

Posts since our last update:

• Great Deal! 50% off all TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go Award Tickets Worldwide - Fly Toronto to Portugal for as little as 26,000 miles
  TAP Miles&Go has launched an awesome discounted award ticket sale! Right now when you redeem your Miles&Go miles for…
• Podcast Episode 50 is here! Panel discussion with Barry Choi - A look back at 2018, what to expect in 2019 along with predictions!
  Episode 50 - January 10, 2019 -- Panel discussion with Barry Choi - A look back at 2018, what…
• Air Canada completes acquisition of Aeroplan - miles will transfer 1:1 and Amex remains in the mix
  As we mentioned yesterday, Aimia shareholders approved the purchase of their Canadian division by Air Canada and we now…
• Hilton Winter Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa - Book by Jan 31
  A friendly reminder of Hilton's weekend sale where you can save up to 25% on stays in Europe, The…

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 MILES
- Earn up to 100 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you register your AIR MILES number via text and then purchase gas at Shell stations in Canada. More... Unknown end date

TD Rewards
30,000 Bonus TD Points when you make your first Purchase with the TD Business Travel Visa Card. More...

Other Bonus Offers
Miles & More
- Earn 1,500 Bonus Miles & More Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels in Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia or Slovakia. More... Until Mar 31, 19

Saudia Alfursan
- 20% Alfursan Miles discount when redeeming for award flights to select destinations in the Middle East. More... Book by Jan 31 for travel until Mar 31, 19

South African Airways Voyager
- 1,000 Bonus Voyager Miles when you stay on Friday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday required) at any participating Marriott hotel in Africa. More... Until Feb 23, 19

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- 250 FREE GC Award Points for new members who join GC on the App and existing members who sign in to their GC accounts on the App within the offer period. More... Until Feb 28, 19

TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- 50% Miles&Go Miles discount when you redeem for award travel on any TAP Portugal flight. More... Book by Jan 31 for travel until Mar 31, 19
- 50% Discount when you buy Miles&Go Miles online. More... Until Jan 31, 19

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

Follow Rewards Canada:

---

Great Deal! 50% off all TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go Award Tickets Worldwide - Fly Toronto to Portugal for as little as 26,000 miles

TAP Miles&Go has launched an awesome discounted award ticket sale! Right now when you redeem your Miles&Go miles for award flights on TAP you'll receive a 50% discount! That means you can fly one way between Toronto and Portugal for 13,000 miles in Economy Class or 25,000 in Business Class.  If you are short miles the sale is also valid on their Miles&Cash redemption options which means you can redeem 8,725 miles + 126EUR for one way in Economy class or 17,150 miles + 235EUR for business class on the same route. At the same time they are also offering a discount of 50% on buying Miles&Go miles. You can only buy miles if you have 2,000 or more miles in your account.  You can also convert Marriott Rewards points to TAP Portugal if you need miles to top off your account.


Here is Toronto to Lisbon in Economy on some random days in February:

As you can see it is 52,000 miles but that will be discounted by 50% so you only need 26,000 miles + 88.62EUR to fly round trip on this flight.  All you need to do to get this flight is convert 63,000 Marriott Rewards points to get the 26,000 miles in TAP Miles&Go!


Offer details:
50% Miles&Go Miles discount when you redeem for award travel on any TAP Air Portugal flight. Valid for MilesOnly and Miles&Cash (High Season) prices. Full details & online booking  Book by Jan 31 for travel until Mar 31, 19

1. Changes: only date and time within the promotional period and until 31 March 2019 (inclusive), upon payment of €50; 
2. Refunds: issued tickets can only be refunded upon payment of the applicable refund charge – €80 for TAP Miles&Go Gold and TAP VISA Platinum clients; for TAP Miles&Go and TAP Miles&Go Silver clients, €80 for European flights, €120 for all other destinations (except Europe); 
3. Valid only on TAP flights;
4. Valid only for bookings made at milesandgo.flytap.com;
5. Valid for economy and executive class;
6. Available for one-way and round-trip journeys;
7. Valid for Miles and Miles & Cash High Season table;
8. Excludes upgrades, child tickets and companion tickets;
9. Stopover not allowed (layover of more than 24 hours);
10. No waiting list;
11. Promotion ends at 11.59pm on 31 January 2019, mainland Portugal time;
12. Ticket validity: until 31 March 2019;
13. Ticket validity cannot be extended;
14. On the Miles&Cash table, the discount only applies to the miles value. 

Find more Miles&Go Bonus Miles offers here!

Podcast Episode 50 is here! Panel discussion with Barry Choi - A look back at 2018, what to expect in 2019 along with predictions!

Episode 50 - January 10, 2019 -- Panel discussion with Barry Choi - A look back at 2018, what to expect in 2019 along with predictions!

In this episode we do our first panel discussion format podcast with Canadian finance and travel blogger Barry Choi. We look back at the big news from 2018, what we can expect in 2019 and both Patrick & Barry's predictions for the upcoming year!

Click Here to download the podcast

Or download/subscribe via:

Links relating to this week's topic:

• Barry Choi's Money We Have Blog
• The Air Canada Aeroplan Saga
• The Marriott SPG Saga

Air Canada completes acquisition of Aeroplan - miles will transfer 1:1 and Amex remains in the mix

As we mentioned yesterday, Aimia shareholders approved the purchase of their Canadian division by Air Canada and we now have confirmation that the transaction is complete. Air Canada officially owns Aeroplan once again and they give us some but not many details of what can be expected:

• Aeroplan Miles will convert 1:1 to the new Air Canada program
• Altitude Status and privileges remain unchanged for customers
• Credit card loyalty program and network agreements finalized with TD, CIBC and Visa Canada for future participation in Air Canada's loyalty program
• Agreement in principle entered into with American Express for its continued participation in Air Canada's loyalty program post 2020.

The big question remains is what value will the new Air Canada program bring. Will they devalue the Aeroplan program as we know or will they keep it the same. This sooner Air Canada reveals this the better, that is if the program will remain relatively the same or better. Of course if they are going to make it worse don't expect them to announce anything until well into Q4 or even into 2020. That being said I don't think there will be major changes on the redemption side. People are worried about the redemption side but the new Air Canada program still has a huge amount of competition, primarily on the economy class front and that is where most people redeem there miles in the current Aeroplan program. You have AIR MILES, RBC Avion, CIBC Aventura, BMO Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, More Rewards, and the list goes on for companies and programs that compete for the biggest chunk of the pie of collectors. If the Air Canada program devalued economy class redemptions they would stand to lose out to all those proprietary credit card programs, coalition programs and even WestJet Rewards. Where Air Canada will probably look to recoup some of the money they are spending will be on premium redemptions like business and first class flights. They have less competition here albeit WestJet is up and coming in that department. If any devaluations were to happen I would guess it would be on these premium redemption options but even if that happens it can't be major or even happen for the first couple of years. Air Canada doesn't want to anger their elite members who are their biggest revenue generators. AC already angered them with the announcement of the new program, hence AC reaching out to 30,000 members and learning the following:

"Air Canada has undertaken extensive consultations with more than 30,000 customers to identify key program attributes. Customers expressed their strong preference to use their Aeroplan Miles in the new Air Canada loyalty program"

They realized they needed to buy Aeroplan to appease those high end customers.  These members have huge Aeroplan balances and they were not happy they would have to start from zero in the new program and have a lot miles in a program that potentially wouldn't let them redeem for the flights they wanted. So why would Air Canada anger them all over again by jumping into a big devaluation on the redemption side.

They do say in their press release that they will still have the best reward value for Air Canada flights, but they don't say for what fare class and in reality most of its competitors that do offer access to Air Canada will primarily only do so for economy class. Let's see if that will be the case!

With all this being said I predict the biggest change in the new program will be Air Canada going to true revenue based earning when flying on paid tickets. That is, you earn a certain amount of miles per dollar spent on a ticket just like we have seen from United, American, Delta, and countless other programs - even WestJet is revenue based. Base members will earn something like 5 miles per dollar spent and the various elite members earning 7 to 11 miles per dollar. This is where the main devaluation can happen in the program.

For more details and continued updates we recommend reading and bookmarking Air Canada's dedicated site for the new loyalty program.

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

Hilton Winter Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa - Book by Jan 31

A friendly reminder of Hilton's weekend sale where you can save up to 25% on stays in Europe, The Middle East and Africa!

Make the festive season one to remember with the Hilton Sale and save up to 25% off breaks across Europe, The Middle East and Africa. For the best savings, simply join Hilton Honors for free while you book. Need some inspiration? Take a look below at some of our fantastic locations on offer to create your perfect break.

Stays must be booked by January 31, 2019 and completed on weekends until May 29, 2019. Remember that you should also be earning 2,000 bonus points on these stays with the current winter Hilton Honors promotion that runs until May 5. Find that and all other Honors bonuses here.

Discounts are up to 15% off the Best Available Rate and Best Available Bed & Breakfast Rate and vary by property. The Winter Sale Hilton Honors member rates are an additional 10% off of the Best Available Rate and the Best Available Bed and Breakfast Rate.

Click here to take advantage of the Hilton Winter 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.

Full prepayment is required at time of booking. Your credit card will be charged immediately for the total amount quoted for the entire stay as reserved. Rates are not refundable; in case your contract with Hilton is governed by German law a refund of 10%, of the paid rates applies upon cancellation. In such case you may however prove that no or a significantly lower damage has been incurred for Hilton. Charges cannot be applied to other stays, services or merchandise. Booking cannot be changed.

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:

---

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