Offer details
Double Coast Rewards Points on all stays at Coast Hotel locations in Canada and the U.S. Full details Until Jan 30, 19
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Coast Hotels Coast Rewards: 2x Points on all stays until January 30
Offer details
Double Coast Rewards Points on all stays at Coast Hotel locations in Canada and the U.S. Full details Until Jan 30, 19
Monday, January 14, 2019
January 14 Update: IHG point changes delayed to January 25, Earn up to 500 bonus AIR MILES for booking flights via Redtag & more!
Last week we brought you the details of the IHG hotels that were changing categories (28 in Canada) and there is some good news in that it has been delayed to January 25 instead of today. The PDF of the list of hotels affected now states the 25th as the date the changes will take place. That gives 11 more days to book any of the hotels going up in points at the current lower rates but of course on the other if a hotel you wanted to book is going down you'll have to wait longer to book it. (Source: HFP)
- 500 AIR MILES® Reward Miles on a Business Class flight
- 175 Miles on a Transborder flight (travel from Canada to the U.S.)
- 175 Miles on an International flight (travel from Canada to any country other than Canada or the U.S.)
- 125 Miles on Domestic flights (travel within Canada)
For some reason the link we had the Shell 100 AIR MILES offer last week wasn't working. Here is the correct link.
Posts since our last update:
- Rewards Canada's popular Credit Card Charts get their first makeover in 15 years!
Today marks a big day for Rewards Canada! 15 years after we first launched Canada's first credit card comparison…
- 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…
- 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…
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 500 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you book flights via Redtag.ca. More... Until Apr 14, 19
Other Bonus Offers
Le Club AccorHotels
- Quadruple Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at participating Banyan Tree Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Feb 24 for stays until Apr 14, 19
- Earn up to 500 Bonus Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia, or Ukraine. More... Book by Feb 4 for stays until Feb 28, 19
Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Marriott Rewards Points for stays of 3 or more nights at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas. More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until Sep 30, 19
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays at the Threadneedles, Autograph Collection London. More... Until Mar, 15, 19
- 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night when you stay 2 nights or more Sunday-Thursday at the TownePlace Suites Whitefish Kalispell. More... Until Mar 8, 19
Miles & More
- 2,000 Bonus Miles & More Miles + 2 Bonus Miles per Euro Spent on all Avis rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Apr 30, 19
SAS EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points when you stay at Radisson Blu and Radisson Collection Hotels in the Nordic countries. More... Until Feb 28, 19
Follow Rewards Canada:
Rewards Canada's popular Credit Card Charts get their first makeover in 15 years!
Today marks a big day for Rewards Canada! 15 years after we first launched Canada's first credit card comparison charts they have received their first esthetic update since 2004! Sure the information in the charts was constantly updated but the actual look and feel of them had not been touched since we first launched them and it was time to do so.
The charts now read much better with the information being set up left to right rather than up and down and the columns are sortable! We have to thank our reader James M. for telling us about the Javascript that allowed us to add this feature. We are not programmers by trade so it took a little bit of time to figure how to work it! We still are in the process of trying to figure out how to lock the table header in place so that you can see it no matter where you scroll in the charts and hope to have that feature soon.
You'll notice some of our original comparison info is no longer in table, such as Minimum Credit Limit but you'll also we have added in more detail into the insurance and benefits section so that you can better compare things like travel medical insurance, flight delay and so on!
Here are the links to all the charts that have seen the update:
- Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: All Travel Rewards Credit Cards
- Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Most Popular Cards
- Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Travel Points Credit Cards
- Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Hybrid Credit Cards
- Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Airline Credit Cards
- Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Hotel Credit Cards
- Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Business / Corporate Credit Cards
- Canadian Credit Card Comparison: Cashback Credit Cards
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
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.
Friday, January 11, 2019
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…
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
Find more Miles&Go Bonus Miles offers here!
Thursday, January 10, 2019
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: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"
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Hilton Winter Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa - Book by Jan 31
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.