Aeroplan Availability Alert: Using miles on LOT Polish Airlines' new flights between San Francisco and Warsaw

Air Canada's Star Alliance partner LOT is well know for having decent availability on their flights for Aeroplan award tickets and are also known for have lower carrier surcharges, taxes and fees than many of Aeroplan's airline partners.

Last week they announced a new route between San Francisco and Warsaw that will be launching in August 2020. The flight will operate twice weekly with a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

This new route seems ideal as an option for those in Western Canada as another way to get to Eastern Europe.

We checked availability for next August on the route and Aeroplan does show it available:

So why would you want to pick this routing? As we mentioned it all comes down to the fees and taxes that are tacked onto the flights. As you can see above the San Francisco-Warsaw flights has $264.10 in taxes and compare this to Vancouver to Warsaw with Air Canada operating the Transatlantic portion of the flight (in business class both ways, the economy portion is the Frankfurt-Warsaw leg):

The fees are nearly $1,000 more! You could easily buy flights to/and from SFO for a lot less than that! Most days are showing at least 2 business class seats available for this flight.

Just some food for thought if you are thinking of heading to Poland or beyond from Western Canada from next summer on! Remember as well LOT does fly from Toronto to Warsaw as well so that is always another option! However for more of August 2020 we couldn't find business class availability on the return portion.

You can check availability and/or book these flights online at aeroplan.com. You can also check availability using services like ExpertFlyer.com

One of the easiest ways to earn enough Aeroplan Miles for redemptions like those listed above is to grab a co-branded Aeroplan credit card. At the time of posting this article the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card offers up to a 40,000 Aeroplan Mile welcome bonus with no annual fee in the first year. You could look at the American Express Gold Rewards card - it offers a 25,000 Membership Rewards points welcome bonus which can then be converted to Aeroplan almost instantaneously at a 1:1 rate. Also with the Gold Rewards card you don't have to wait until the end of your billing period to receive your welcome bonus after you've met the minimum spend. There are numerous other card options to earn Aeroplan Miles which you can find listed on our Aeroplan Bonus Miles page.

Images via LOT & Aeroplan
Source of route news: Routesonline

Great availability for Air France KLM Flying Blue Special Edition Promo Rewards - fly Toronto to Europe for 22,000 miles in Economy, 64,000 for business class

As we detailed yesterday in our 'Advance Notice' post, Air France KLM are running a 'Special Edition' Promo Rewards and these are now bookable.  We have found lots of availability from Toronto to many cities in Europe at the highly discounted rewards rates that are being offered.

You can book award tickets between Toronto and Europe for the following mileage amounts:

• Economy - 11,000 miles one way (22,000 round trip)
• Premium Economy - 25,000 miles one way (50,000 round trip)
• Business - 32,000 miles one way (64,000 round trip)

These flights have to be booked by October 20 for travel between November and March. As we mentioned in our previous post those redemption rates above are amazing! Only 64,000 miles round trip in business class! Yes, you'll have to pay about 400-500EUR in taxes and fees but it is business class worth much more than that. Most times with Promo Rewards you have to redeem in the high 70,000 to 90,000 mile range and with no Promo Rewards you are way above 100,000 miles for these same flights.

Now if you don't have enough Flying Blue miles (or none at all) there is currently a way to gets these flights for cheap. Chances are if you convert points from Marriott Bonvoy as we normally recommend for Flying Blue reward tickets, those points won't show up in your account by the 20th so it would be a waste. The way to get these points right now is to buy them. Flying Blue is currently running a promotion where you can buy Flying Blue miles with a 75% bonus as long as you buy 4,000 miles or more. When you buy miles they post almost immediately into your account so you can have them for this promotion.

Here is the availability of Business Class (1 seat) between Toronto and Paris (as of 11:00PM MT Oct 15)

 

As you can see there a lot of flights open at the 32,000 mile one way mileage rate for business class! Return availability is almost as good, for example here is December, and don't be fooled by the two only Promo Reward dates, you'll notice most dates are 32,000 miles but are about 4 EUR more for taxes.

We didn't pick all the months on the return so as to keep this post from being too long!

Here is an example of a round trip booking:

It's the 64,000 miles as published and 487.01 EUR in taxes and fees.

Here are some other city options we looked at:

As we mentioned in our 'Advance Notice' post of this special mileage deal, it can make sense to buy the miles for flying in business class. For example, the above flight between Toronto and Paris costs C$3855:

However you can buy 66,500 miles with the current 75% bonus offer on buying Flying Blue Miles for about C$1520:

Add in the taxes and fees and you are looking at just over $2,200 to buy the miles and pay the fees on the ticket, thereby saving you $1,600!

Here is an Economy Class example which could also make sense to buy miles for:

You need to buy at the 14,000 miles option that with the bonus will give you 24,500 miles

The cost for those miles would be 385EUR or about C$560. Add in taxes and fees of 192.65 EUR or about C$280 for a total of $840. A savings of over $400 over the price to buy the ticket.

And if you are on the West Coast, Seattle is part of this offer so you could drive down from Vancouver or wherever to get in on this deal as well:

Click here to book the Special Edition Promo Rewards and Click here to take advantage of the Flying Blue Miles 75% bonus offer!

Save 10% and earn up to 8,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on Maple Leaf Lounge memberships

From now until October 29th is the time to buy an Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge membership if it has been on your radar! You can purchase any one of their six membership options and receive 10% off the regular price plus bonus Aeroplan miles ranging from 1,000 to 8,000 depending on which membership you buy.

Here are the options and offers available:

Canada:

North America Plus:

Worldwide:

Related: Rewards Canada's Guide to Business Class Lounge Access

Overall this isn't a bad if your flying situation has you in spot where can't access lounges as you are flying in economy class or your elite status with Altitude (below Elite 50K) or other Star Alliance airlines doesn't grant you regular access to Maple Leaf lounges.

Visit Air Canada's Maple Leaf Lounge membership page for complete details

Advance notice of Air France KLM Flying Blue Special Edition Promo Rewards - fly Toronto to Europe for 22,000 miles in Economy, 64,000 for business class

At the start of every month we provide you with the details of Air France KLM's Flying Blue Promo Rewards. These are discounted award flight offers the program provides on a monthly basis. On occasion Flying Blue releases 'Special Edition' Promo Rewards and the latest version of these specials offers will be bookable as of 6pm ET tonight (give or take a little bit)  They are especially of interest to us Canadians this time round as Toronto is included and the deal to be had is great!

You will be able to book award tickets between Toronto and Europe for the following mileage amounts:

• Economy - 11,000 miles one way (22,000 round trip)
• Premium Economy - 25,000 miles one way (50,000 round trip)
• Business - 32,000 miles one way (64,000 round trip)

These flights have to be booked between October 16 and October 20 for travel between November and March. Those redemption rates above are amazing! Only 64,000 miles round trip in business class! Yes, you'll have to pay about 400-500EUR in taxes and fees but it is business class worth much more than that. Most times with Promo Rewards you have to redeem in the high 70,000 to 90,000 mile range and with no Promo Rewards you are way above 100,000 miles for these same flights.

Now if you don't have enough Flying Blue miles (or none at all) there is currently a way to gets these flights for cheap. Chances are if you convert points from Marriott Bonvoy as we normally recommend, those points won't show up in your account by the 20th so it would be a waste. The way to get these points right now is to buy them. As we write this Flying Blue is running a promotion where you can buy Flying Blue miles with a 75% bonus as long as you buy 4,000 miles or more. When you buy miles they post almost immediately into your account so you could buy them today for use later tonight or by the 20th for this promotion. So is this a good value?

Let's take a look at what it would cost to buy miles for each of the above redemption options (we'll look at round trip values)

Economy Class
You need to buy at the 14,000 miles option that with the bonus will give you 24,500 miles

The cost for those miles would be 385EUR or about C$560. You would then have to pay taxes and fees on the award flight which more than likely would put you at over $800 or more. This isn't a great option seeing that you can buy round trip economy class tickets on Air France and KLM for $600-$700. Of course if there are specific dates you need to fly where economy class is expensive then it may make sense.

Premium Economy Class
You need to buy at the 30,000 miles option that with the bonus will give you 52,500 miles

The cost for those miles would be 825EUR or about C$1,200. You would then have to pay taxes and fees on the award flight which more than likely would put you at over $1,500 or more. This is a better option than economy class but still not great as many times you can get premium economy for well under $2,000

Business Class 
You need to buy at the 38,000 miles option that with the bonus will give you 66,500 miles

The cost for those miles would be 1,045EUR or about C$1,520. This is where the value is had with buying miles! Add in taxes and fees on the award ticket and you are looking at a total cost of about $2,100 to redeem for a business class flight with this promotion. We almost never see Air France KLM flights out of Toronto fall below $3,500 for business class so you can see this is a great option to get in on this deal!

Click here to take advantage of the Flying Blue Miles 75% bonus offer and to learn more or to book the Special Edition Promo Rewards click here!

And it's not just Toronto to look at! For those in the Vancouver area, Seattle is also on the list with Premium Economy for 25,000 miles one way and Business for 36,000 miles one way. 


We will follow up with another post when the Special Edition Promo Rewards go live with details on availability!

Marriott Bonvoy Unlock More: 2,000 bonus points on your 2nd stay with additional bonuses thereafter

Marriott released their next systemwide bonus points promotion today. Entitled Unlock More, the promotion will award you with 2,000 bonus Bonvoy Points when you complete your second stay (no bonus if you only have one stay) and then Marriott will email you two to three days after that second stay with additional bonus offers for your next stay(s). Of course when you stay at Marriott Hotels your best bet for paying for those stays is with the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card since it earns 5 points per dollar spent at all Marriott Hotels worldwide:

Offer details:
Earn 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points on your second stay at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. Once complete you will unlock additional bonus offers for your stay(s) made after that second stay. Additional offers will be appear in your account and also be emailed to you by Marriott. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required) Register by Dec 31 for stays between Oct 29 & Jan 14, 20

Here are some more Marriott Bonvoy offers to check out:

• 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy points PER NIGHT when you book a deluxe water view room or a club floor room at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort. Full details & online booking.
• 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy points for stays of 2+ nights at the Delta Hotels Toronto. Full details & online booking.
• 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy points per stay at the JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District. Full details and online booking.

Find all these and many more offers on our Marriott Bonvoy bonus points page

Tracking our spend on the American Express Cobalt Card to see how we fare with the $30K cap on 5x points

Not only does Rewards Canada rank the American Express Cobalt Card as the number one travel rewards credit card in Canada but it is also the number one card in our own wallets. Since it was introduced in late 2017 the card has been the one to match in terms of earning points. However since it is so good at earning points in the Eats & Drinks category American Express found themselves in a bit of a pickle.

Related: American Express Cobalt Card Resources on Rewards Canada


You see, by earning 5x points on Eat & Drinks it meant you could buy anything at a grocery store and earn 5x points on it. I even recommended going to the grocery store to buy gift cards for places you would shop at where you would only earn 1 point on this card or maybe 2 points on some other card.  The fact that you could do this didn't go unnoticed by some people in the miles and points community, namely manufactured spenders. Word is some people were putting through four figures on their card everyday at grocery stores buying prepaid cards that could be cashed out to pay down the balance on the card. Good for them, there are loopholes that can and will be taken advantage of whenever a good credit card or loyalty program earn or burn perk is available. It is the nature of this game and when it's out there, people will use it and then the programs or card issuers will do what they can to quell that loophole. That is exactly what American Express did earlier this year when they announced the 5x points category multiplier will be capped at $30,000 annually. Since August 20th that cap has been in effect. For the vast majority of Cobalt cardmembers this isn't a big deal at all - they fall under that amount and won't even have to worry about it. The manufactured spenders - well that's a different story, you know how they feel about it. But there is also a third category, those who legitimately spent a lot on food and drink. There are people who can easily spend more than $30,000 a year on food and drinks and they range from large families to affluent families to salespeople taking clients out to lunch or dinner on a daily basis and a whole slew of others.

Related: Are the American Express Cobalt Card category multipliers available globally?

So I decided to see where the Rewards Canada family will fall into, the first category of not even having to worry about hitting $30K or the third category of easily spending more than $30K per year. We don't do manufactured spending in our family as we only occasionally purchase gift cards at grocery stores, and by occasional I mean maybe 2-3 per year for ourselves and 3-4 for our kid's teachers and coaches. Ultimately, knowing our spending habits I know we'll fall into the third category of spending over $30K on the card in this category. Now that we are a little past one month of the cap coming into effect I looked into our spending for the 5x Eats & Drinks category to see how we were coming along. Well, I can tell you that from August 20 to September 20 we spent quite a bit. In fact we were north of $4,500. That puts us at $54,000 in that category for a 12 month period which means $24,000 of that spending would only earn 1 point per dollar instead of 5.

So what should we do, or you do, if you are in the same boat?

My plan is to utilize other cards once we are that $30,000 level on our main Cobalt card. The first card we will use once we hit that level will be our other Cobalt card! You see, my wife has her own Cobalt card account and I have mine. Her Cobalt card is the primary one in the family (my kids and I each have supplementary cards for it) but once we get to $30K on it we can start using my Cobalt Card. By having two separate Cobalt Cards we have effectively doubled our 5x points earning capability to $60,000 per year. Sure we have to pay two annual fees but the points earned are worth a heck of lot more than the fees paid. We also have the option of using The Platinum Card from American Express that are in our wallets for dining purchases since it earns 3x points on those purchases. I may actually go ahead with that last option for some of the spending since the 3x points on The Platinum Card equate to 3 Aeroplan Miles per dollar on dining, which in most cases is more than the Cobalt card if you convert Cobalt's Membership Rewards Select points to Marriott and then to Aeroplan.

Related: Membership Rewards Use Points for Purchases explained

I will continue to track the spending on a month to month basis to see where this will go over the course of the year. Was this first month just an anomaly being so high or will it continue at that rate? By tracking I'll be able to see when we get close to hitting $30K and start planning on pulling out the other cards for payments.

Do you have the American Express Cobalt card? Where do you sit with it and the new $30K cap? How are you doing after one month? Is it something you don't even have to worry about? Are you PO'd that your manufactured spending has been capped? Or are you just a big time spender and wondering what to do when you hit that $30K? Talk to us in the comments section below!

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card Refresh Event with Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski

Jeff Fredericks, the host of the Rewards Canada Podcast brings us another blog contribution today. Jeff was lucky enough to attend Scotiabank's special event on October 1st celebrating the refresh of their Gold American Express card. Here is his recap of the event:

Last week more than 70 media, blogger and VIP socialites swooped into Toronto’s Hotel X for a "live & interactive" cooking lesson with television personality Antoni Porowski.  Porowski, the wine and food expert on Netflix’s smash hit Queer Eye, also happens to be in the middle of a book tour promoting the aptly titled ‘Antoni in the Kitchen’.  His good looks, charming demeanor and hipster sensibility played well for a crowd of equally impressive looking Millennials. 

But Porowski wasn’t the only star in attendance.  Scotiabank made sure the audience understood the connections between the aspirational lifestyle Porowski showcases (on and off camera) and its newly refreshed Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.  The bank’s senior vice president of credit cards and lending, Brett Mooney, kicked off the evening by highlighting the long list of enhancements now featured on the card.

At a time when many of its rivals are devaluing their loyalty currency, Scotia is bumping up their reward offering and in the process doubling down on a segment of the population that’s keen to spend on categories rich in experience including food and drink.  The bank has a made a point of evolving its offering to keep pace with the changing spending behaviors of consumers. For example, customers can now earn accelerated rewards in new categories such as food delivery, ride sharing and streaming services.

Perhaps it’s what the card doesn’t feature that truly sets it apart.  As Mooney indicates, “we’re the only major bank to have a credit card that doesn’t charge customers a foreign transaction fee, saving them 2.5% on purchases made online or while travelling abroad in another currency.  Mooney adds that this feature alone will save the average customer more than $150 per year. 

To learn more about the Scotiabank Gold American Express card, check out Reward Canada’s podcast interview with Brett Mooney here.

Or listen and download it on:

 Here are some more photos from the event:

 

All images courtesy of Jeff Fredericks 
 

October 10 Update: AIR MILES Bonus Boom offers tons of bonus miles until Oct 13, new Vancity cards added to our comparison charts, 14 new miles & points bonuses

AIR MILES Bonus Boom has returned for the next four days. There are tons of offers from various AIR MILES partners like Shell, Sobeys, Rexall, Hudson Bay and more. This offer runs from today to October 13. Check out your Bonus Boom offers here.

A few weeks ago we brought you the details of the new Visa Infinite and Visa Infinite Privilege Cards from Vancity. We wanted to let you know that both cards have now been added to our credit card comparison charts. You'll find the cards on the following charts:

• Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: All Travel Rewards Credit Cards 
• Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Travel Points Credit Cards
  

Posts since our last update:

• You can now book Singapore Airlines award tickets with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
  This is an update to news that goes back over two years where we detailed the news of a…
• Podcast Episode 58 - The revamped American Express AIR MILES Platinum Card and a Marriott Bonvoy redemption story that saves over ten grand in cash
  In this episode we look at the changes that will be coming to the American Express AIR MILES Platinum…
• Aeroplan Availability Alert: Lie flat business class seats between Toronto and Halifax for the Christmas season
  For the Christmas season Air Canada is flying an internationally configured Boeing 777 once a day between Toronto and…
• Hotel Review: Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa
  Earlier this year the Rewards Canada family spent an awesome 5 days at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort…
• October 8 Update: 20% Bonus for converting hotel points to Etihad Guest, Double Avios on all Accor Hotel stays Worldwide including Fairmont & more bonus offers
  Today was primarily a bonus offer day on our websites! There are definitely a couple you may want to check…

Travel Deals

Fairmont Hotels - Save up to 25% and earn up to 5x points for stays at Fairmont Hotels in Canada and around North America 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

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 30% Bonus Asia Miles + additional bonus miles when you convert points from select hotel loyalty programs to Asia Miles. More... Until Oct 31, 19

Hilton Honors
- 1,000 Bonus Honors Points PER NIGHT for stays at the C. Baldwin, Curio Collection by Hilton Houston. More... Until Dec 12, 19
- 5,000 Bonus Honors Points for stays of 3+ nights at the DoubleTree by Hilton Phuket Banthai Resort. More... Until Dec 15, 19

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays of 2+ nights Thu-Sun at the Marriott Atlanta Perimeter Center. More... Until Nov 18, 19
- 2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the Delta Hotels Woodbridge Islen. More... Until Dec 5, 19
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy points PER NIGHT for stays between Thursday-Sunday at The Westin Austin at The Domain. More... Until Nov 27, 19

Miles & More
- 1,000 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with Alamo for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for rentals until Nov 30, 19
- 2,500 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with Enterprise for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for rentals until Nov 30, 19
- 5,500 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with National for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for rentals until Nov 30, 19

South African Airways Voyager
- 1,000 Bonus Voyager Miles + Up to 15% off stays at  50+ Marriott hotels in 13 countries across Africa & the Indian Ocean. More... Book now for stays Nov 1 – Jan 31, 20

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 30% Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles when you fly on Turkish Airlines between Istanbul and Almaty, Bishkek, Graz, Isfahan, Casablanca, Constantine, Prague, Strasbourg, Shiraz, Vienna or Yekaterinburg. More... Nov 1 - 30, 19
- 30% Miles&Smiles Discount when you redeem for award travel on Turkish Airlines between Istanbul and various cities in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. Moreo... Nov 1 - 30, 19

United MileagePlus
- 500 Bonus MileagePlus miles when you spend $200 or more for shopping online via the MileagePlus Shopping portal. More... Until Oct 20, 19

World of Hyatt
- 10 Bonus World of Hyatt Points for for every eligible $1 USD spent on Fitness classes, Spa experiences, Boutique purchases or Exhale On Demand at Exhale Spas. More... Until Jan 10, 20



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