IHG Rewards Club Accelerate returns for the summer – earn bonus points for your IHG stays worldwide

IHG Rewards Club has launched their next systemwide global points promotion and this time they have returned to the venerable Accelerate offer. The individualized systemwide bonus offers provides IHG Rewards Club members with opportunities to earn 500 to 40,000 or more IHG Rewards Club points on their stays. There are some issues with registration right now – some people including myself are getting errors that we are not eligible for the offer. If registration is successful for you please let us know below – and let us know what offer you got!

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 Jun 19 for stays May 1 – Aug 31, 19

Find many more IHG Rewards Club bonus points offers here!

April 26 Update: Changes coming to the Scotiabank Gold American Express and Momentum Visa Infinite Cards, PC Optimum redemption bonus event this weekend & more!

If you read Red Flag Deals or Reddit you may have seen news about upcoming changes to the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card and Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card. We are working on getting more details of the changes and have a call with Scotia next week about them and will follow up with a post with all the details. It does seem the details that were leaked and revealed on RFD a couple of days ago of the changes coming on August 1st are legit. Here are the images that are being shared:

Scotia is really upping their game again and really making the claim as Canada's rewards bank more of a reality- the Scotiabank Gold American Express seeing 5x points (still capped at $50K) and No Foreign Transaction fee makes this card even better. In fact it is a big time Cobalt challenger if you don't need to convert points to Marriott. It does surprise me as they are also now competing against their own Passport Visa Infinite Card with the no foreign transaction fee and better earning! I'm guessing Scotia wants clients to carry both cards and in reality that can make a lot of sense.

PC Optimum members can get more for their points this weekend at Shoppers Drug Mart. You can up to an extra $100 in value if you redeem points at the highest level for the promotion. Find out more here!

https://global.americanexpress.com/offers/eligible


Posts since our last update:

• Hilton Honors – 2x Points + additional bonus points for stays this summer
  Hilton has released the details of their summer systemwide global points promotion which launches exactly the day after the…
• Podcast Episode 54 is here! The No Foreign Transaction Fee Episode!
  Episode 54 - April 24, 2019 The No Foreign Transaction Fee Episode!This week we delve into the world of…
• New Marriott Bonvoy bonus offers in Whistler, Vancouver and Montreal
  In our regular updates of bonus offers for our sites we added three new bonus offers for stays at…

Travel Deals

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 up to 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at all participating Accor Hotels Worldwide More... Book and stay May 1 – Jun 30, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Hilton Honors
- Double Honors points + additional bonus points on every stay starting on your second stay at Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... May 6 - Sep 8, 19

Marriott Bonvoy
- 10,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points when you stay 2+ nights at any one of 5 participating Marriott Hotels in Paris. More... Until Jun 6, 19

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays in a Horizon Club Room or above at the Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen. More... Until May 31, 19


Follow Rewards Canada:

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Hilton Honors – 2x Points + additional bonus points for stays this summer

Hilton has released the details of their summer systemwide global points promotion which launches exactly the day after the current 2,000 bonus points per stay offer ends. Its nice to see double points back on all stays since this is very rewarding on more expensive stays or longer stays. Granted the only negative is that you have to make sure you have two stays since your first stay will not earn any bonus points.

Offer details:
Double Honors points + additional bonus points on every stay starting on your second stay at Hilton Hotels Worldwide.   Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) May 6 – Sep 8, 19
Plus earn additional bonus points as follows:
10,000 Bonus Points on your 10th stay
15,000 Bonus Points on your 15th stay
20,000 Bonus Points on your 20th Stay

Find many more Hilton Honors bonus points offers here!

Image via Hilton

Podcast Episode 54 is here! The No Foreign Transaction Fee Episode!

Episode 54 - April 24, 2019
The No Foreign Transaction Fee Episode!

This week we delve into the world of No Foreign Transaction fee credit cards! The evolution of the benefit, what it provides, why it took so long to come to Canada and more! We are proud to have this episode sponsored by the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card!

Earn up to $400 in bonus travel rewards in your first year with the Passport Infinite credit card from Scotiabank. And enjoy no foreign transaction fees (only the exchange rate applies). Conditions apply. Offer ends June 30, 2019. Click here for more details

Click Here to download the podcast

Or download/subscribe via:

† For a limited time, become a new Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite credit cardholder and earn a one-time 30,000 Scotia Rewards point bonus with your first $1,000 in everyday eligible purchases if made within the first 3 months (the “Bonus Offer”). Bonus Offer ends June 30, 2019. Conditions apply - see below1 for further details. Bonus Offer may be changed, cancelled or extended and cannot be combined with any other offers.
Plus, as a Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite credit cardholder you are always eligible to earn an annual 10,000 Scotia Rewards point bonus when you spend at least $40,000 in everyday eligible purchases annually on your Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite account. Conditions apply - see below2 for further details.
The current annual fee for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite credit card (“Account”) is $139 for the primary card, $0 for one additional supplementary card and $50 for each additional supplementary card thereafter. 
The current preferred annual interest rates for this Account are: 19.99% on purchases and 22.99% on cash advances (including balance transfers, Scotia® Credit Card Cheques and cash-like transactions). All rates, fees, features and benefits are subject to change. 
1 To be eligible for the 30,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points (the “Bonus Offer”), you must have at least $1,000 in eligible purchases posted to your Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite credit card account (“Account”) in the first 3 months from the Account open date. Eligible purchases include purchases (less any refunds, returns or other similar credits) but do not include payments, cash advances (including balance transfers, Scotia® Credit Card Cheques or cash-like transactions), interest, fees or other charges. Any bonus points received under the Bonus Offer will be credited to the primary cardholder’s Scotia Rewards account within 5 to 10 business days after the first 3 months has passed, provided the Account is open and in good standing at time of payout. The Account is considered in good standing if it is not delinquent (past due) or over limit and the Cardholder(s) is not in breach of the Revolving Credit Agreement that applies to the Account.
Former or current Scotiabank credit cardholders of any kind in the past 2 years, including those that transfer from an existing Scotiabank credit card account or re-open a closed Scotiabank credit card account, are excluded from this Offer.  Offer may be changed, cancelled or extended and cannot be combined with any other offers.
2 As a Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite credit cardholder earn an annual Scotia Rewards point bonus starting at 10,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points when you make at least $40,000 in eligible purchases annually on your Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite account (“Account”) each year (12-months). Eligible purchases include purchases (less any refunds, returns or other similar credits) but do not include payments, cash advances (including balance transfers, Scotia® Credit Card Cheques or cash-like transactions), interest, fees or other charges. Annual period starts from the Account open date and resets every 12 months thereafter. You will earn 2,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points for every additional $10,000 in Purchases thereafter in that same year, after the $40,000 annual spend has been reached.
Annual bonus Scotia Rewards points will be applied within two statement cycles after you have met the $40,000 annual spend threshold on the Account or within two statement cycles after you have met each additional $10,000 annual spend threshold on the Account, provided your Account is open and in good standing. The Account is considered in good standing if it  is not delinquent (past due) or over limit and the Cardholders(s) is not in breach of the Revolving Credit Agreement that applies to the Account.

New Marriott Bonvoy bonus offers in Whistler, Vancouver and Montreal

In our regular updates of bonus offers for our sites we added three new bonus offers for stays at select Marriott Hotels in Canada.  Those added today are as follows:

• 2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points when you stay any night Sun - Thu at the Delta Hotel Whistler Village Suites. Full Details and online Booking Until Jun 15, 19
• 500 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Montreal Downtown. Full Details and online Bookin  Until May 31, 19
• 500 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays in a suite at the Element Vancouver Metrotown. Full Details and online Booking Until Jun 30, 19

Sometimes these bonus offers are available on the best rates so it makes 100% sense to book them. Other times they can be more expensive but it also depends on what else is offered. For example the Whistler offer also includes parking and one free appetizer and a choice of two tasting glasses of craft beer on tap (with the purchase of two signature entrees) at Brickworks Public House.

Here is an example to see if the 2,500 Bonus Points offer in Whistler is worth it:

Regular rate is $166:

 The 2,500 points + parking + apps/drinks offer is $184

As you can see this special offer is $18 more than the flexible rate and it is not cancellable. But if you know you won't cancel is it worth to book it?  Let's look:

• 2,500 Marriott Bonvoy Points are worth ~$25
• Self parking is $30 per night 
• We won't even look at the food option.

The two options listed are worth $55 alone yet you are only paying $18 more. So yes in this case it is worth it to book this offer and you gain even more if you do use the food option.

Find many more Marriott Bonvoy bonus points offers here

April 25 Update: IHG Rewards Club Contest, 15x AIR MILES for online shopping

Barry Choi at Money We Have is running another IHG contest! You can enter on his site to win 75,000 IHG Rewards Club points! That's enough points for up to 15 nights if you take advantage of IHG's PointBreaks offers which start at only 5,000 points per night! You can enter Barry's contest here. Also check out our podcast from January that featured Barry!

You can earn 15x AIR MILES Reward Miles on purchases made via airmilessshops.ca until April 30th. Find out more here.

You can earn an extra 30 PC Optimum Points per litre at Esso and Mobil gas stations this weekend. Check you PC Optimum app for the offer.

Posts since our last update:

• While the BMO World Elite Mastercard provides up to $540 in tangible value, it provides intangible value as well
  In our past series of posts for the BMO World Elite Mastercard we focused on the a dollar value…

Travel Deals

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

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points when you stay any night Sun - Thu at the Delta Hotel Whistler Village Suites. More... Until Jun 15, 19
- 500 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Montreal Downtown. More... Until May 31, 19
- 500 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays in a suite at the Element Vancouver Metrotown. More... Until Jun 30, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Etihad Guest
- Earn Triple Guest Miles for stays at all participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 19

Iberia Plus
- Earn up to Quadruple Avios for stays at all participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Jun 15 for stayts until Jul 15, 19

IHG Rewards Club
- Triple IHG Rewards Club Points for stays of 2 or more nights at the voco™ Dubai. More... Until Jul 15, 19
- 50% IHG Rewards Club Points discount when you redeem for award night stays at the voco™ Dubai. More... Until Jun 30, 19

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points & 20% off for weekend stays at Autograph Collection hotels in South Africa. More... Until Jul 1, 19
- 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per night for up to four night + a complimentary beer when you stay at the  Hotel Nia, Autograph Collection Menlo Park. More... Until Jun 6, 19

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Up to a 50% QMiles discount when you book award tickets for travel between Doha and Lisbon More... Until Aug 20, 18

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Triple KrisFlyer Miles and enjoy 25% off Taj Club rooms & suites when you stay at participating Taj hotels worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 19

World of Hyatt
- 2,000 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Place Page - Lake Powell, Hyatt Place Moab or Hyatt Place St. George - Convetion Center. More... Book by May 31 for stays Jun 1 - Jul 31, 19


Follow Rewards Canada:

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While the BMO World Elite Mastercard provides up to $540 in tangible value, it provides intangible value as well

In our past series of posts for the BMO World Elite Mastercard we focused on the a dollar value that the card can provide to you when you apply and are approved for it. To recap, that dollar value is up to $540 in the first year of having the card, broken down as such

Welcome offer: Get 35,000 points and the $150 annual fee waived in the first year ($250 value* towards a flight booked on bmorewards.com + $150 Value*).

Complimentary membership in Mastercard Airport Experiences provided by LoungeKey, with exclusive VIP access, plus four annual complimentary passes* ($140 Value/Year).

Let's add it up. $250+$150+$140 = $540

This is still a pretty rich offering for this card that is quite popular with many Canadians and seeing that it is first year free it is definitely enticing to try it out. But the value in the card does not end there. There are benefits beyond that $540 which include the strong insurance package that comes with the card and the actual use of the Mastercard Airport Experiences by LoungeKey. This benefit is one of the easiest to use from the card that provides both tangible and intangible value (you may never need the insurance but it is reassuring knowing you have it)

The Mastercard Airport Experiences provided by LoungeKey comes on many World Elite Mastercards in Canada however many stop at only providing the annual membership. Where the BMO World Elite Mastercard differs is that it also includes four annual complimentary passes. This means your first four visits for yourself or maybe one visit with your family of four, will cost you nothing.  Other cards, you'll have to pay the lounge access fee of $35 per person. That means those passes alone provide you with $140 in tangible value but even more value can be placed from the intangible benefit this provides.  There is nothing like the hustle and bustle of airports - crowded gates, long lines for food, lack of seating that add to anxiety and stress for so many people who travel. Airport Business Class lounges, while getting busier each day still offer a huge respite from the zoo that airports can become. Take it from my family and I, we try to use lounges whenever and where ever we are flying. Then add in complimentary food, which depending on the lounge you visit can be from so-so to excellent and you can see where I'm going with this. Then, on top of that, free drinks, including alcohol at many lounges, coffee, tea, nap rooms, loungers and you start to see that intangible value far exceeds the $140 you get from the four free lounge visits. After you have used up the free visits you will probably find it worthwhile to pay for additional lounge visits, just for all of the benefits what we list above.

The Aspire lounges in Calgary's airport are just some of the lounges you can access

You can learn all about accessing business class lounges here and take away that essentially whatever Priority Pass offers is what the Mastercard Airport Experiences provided by LoungeKey provides. There are over 1,000 lounges that participate in the program in over 400 airports and not only does it provide lounge access but you'll also find that the Mastercard Airport Experiences also provides discounts at many airport retail and food establishments around the globe.

You can get complimentary massages with the Mastercard Airport Experiences

 As you can see, when it comes to choosing a credit card you sometimes have to look beyond the welcome bonus and the earning and redeeming options. Rather you want to look at a combination of that and what other value and benefits a card can provide to you. A well rounded card will provide you with a healthy balance of it all and the BMO World Elite Mastercard is one of those that provides you with a little bit of everything you would want in a well-balanced credit card.

Related: BMO World Elite Mastercard Review

This post was sponsored by BMO. The views and opinions expressed in this post however, are purely those of Rewards Canada.

 

April 24 Update: Resources for gaining Elite Status faster, WestJet 20% off promo code to select destinations and more!

Earlier today we brought you details of the new WestJet Rewards Elite Status Match offer and wanted to remind our readers of some resources we have to help you with other status matches, fast track to status and bonus status points miles and offers. The two sources on our site are our Elite Status Offers aggregator page where we compile all the offers onto one page. You can access the page here. The other is tied into a credit card offer but shows you how can get status with 10+ hotels, airlines and more with that card. You can access that feature here. Finally there is a great website call Status Matcher that compiles the wins (and losses) of frequent travellers who try to match status between programs. You can visit StatusMatcher.com here.

Posts since our last update:

• Earn Double Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at Fairmont Hotels in North & Central America
  I know many a member of the old Fairmont President's Club are not happy with the program being integrated…
• WestJet Rewards Elite Status Match for Air Canada Altitude, Aeroplan & Porter VIPorter members
  WestJet has brought back their elite status match offer for members of select Canadian loyalty programs. Those who hold…
• 30 to 35% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert hotel loyalty program points extended to April 26th
  The Aeroplan hotel loyalty program conversion bonus that launched on March 25 and was set to end today has…

Travel Deals

WestJet  is offering their Rewards members an additional 20% off fares to select destinations in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. The promo code is only valid for 24 hours and covers travel from May 1 to October 27 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

Le Club AccorHotels
- Double Le Club AccorHotels Points & up to 25% off for stays at participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts locations in North & Central America. More... Book by May 5 for stays Apr 22 – Sep 30, 19

WestJet Rewards
- Elite Status Match - Receive WestJet Silver or Gold Elite status when you hold status with Air Canada Altitude, Aeroplan or Porter Airlines VIPorter. More... Apply by May 23, 19

Other Bonus Offers

British Airways Executive Club
- 25% Bonus Avios on you next hotel booking made via Rocketmiles. Open to existing and new customers. More... Book by Jun 30, 19

Emirates Skywards
- Earn Double Skywards Miles when you fly Emirates to or from Lisbon or Porto. More... Book by Jun 30 for travel Jul 2 – Sep 30, 19

IHG Rewards Club
- Double IHG Rewards Club Points for stays of 2 or more nights at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia. More... Until Jun 30, 19

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 14,000 QMiles when you fly Qatar Airways between Doha and Lisbon More... Jun 24 - Sep 20, 19


Follow Rewards Canada:

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Earn Double Le Club AccorHotels Points for stays at Fairmont Hotels in North & Central America

I know many a member of the old Fairmont President's Club are not happy with the program being integrated into Le Club AccorHotels last year as many of the great benefits that came along with the program are gone. The one part of the old program that was lacking however was points or miles earning. It was a flat rate of 500 miles per stay in about half a dozen airline programs. This is the one area that Le Club AccorHotels can be more advantageous. Seeing the program awards points based on spend - and seeing that Fairmont Hotels tend not to be cheap, you can typically earn more points or miles than before, especially on longer stays.  The earn rate for non-elite members is 25 points per 10 Euros spent. Then those points typically convert at a rate of 4,000 points to 2,000 miles (This is the Aeroplan rate) So before if you spent $900 on a three night Fairmont stay you'd only earn 500 Aeroplan miles whereas now the equivalent would be about 750 miles. Not a huge amount either way though. Add in a bonus like below and you are earning 1,500 miles versus the typical 1,000 miles seen with the Fairmont Moments offers of past. If you don't convert to miles, that $900 spend is about 1,500 Le Club AccorHotels points which is worth roughly 30EUR towards a future stay.

Offer details:
Double Le Club AccorHotels Points & up to 25% off for stays at participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts locations in North & Central America Full details and online booking.  Book by May 5 for stays Apr 22 – Sep 30, 19

WestJet Rewards Elite Status Match for Air Canada Altitude, Aeroplan & Porter VIPorter members

WestJet has brought back their elite status match offer for members of select Canadian loyalty programs. Those who hold elite status with Air Canada Altitude, Aeroplan (yes Aeroplan!) and Porter's VIPorter program can get matched to Silver or Gold Elite status with WestJet Rewards.

As you can see, if you are a true frequent traveller, that is basically every level with Air Canada Altitude outside of 25K or a VIPorter Priority member you will get WestJet Gold Elite status. Aeroplan members of the program's two highest levels, Black or Diamond and the lowest levels of AC Altitude and VIPorter will receive Silver Elite Status.

Not only will you get the WestJet Elite status until the end of the year, you will also get a fast track to retain status to the end of your qualifying year. That means if you joined WestJet Rewards in May of whatever year you'll get the elite status until December 31st of this year but if you hit the lower spend thresholds with WestJet you would get that status extended to May of 2020. The spend requirements are $2,900 to retain Gold or $1,700 to retain Sliver. Normally you have to spend $5,000 to get Gold or $3,000 to get Silver.

Remember WestJet revamped their elite tiers earlier this year with such things as unlimited lounge access for Gold members, published details for upgrades and more.

Related:  WestJet has unofficially opened their first lounge in Calgary


Here are the benefits of WestJet Silver and Gold Elite tiers:

You have until May 23rd to send in your elite status details from any of the three competing programs to get your WestJet elite status match.

Offer details:
Elite Status Match - Receive WestJet Silver or Gold Elite status when you hold status with Air Canada Altitude, Aeroplan or Porter Airlines VIPorter. Full details. Apply by May 23, 19

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