Introducing Wayfarer Points – Save up to 70% off luxury, boutique and other hotels - includes a special Rewards Canada discount for membership

Wayfarer Points has been working diligently behind the scenes across their social media channels to slowly get their name out and today marks the official launch of the new hotel booking site that has a fully equipped app and all!

What is Wayfarer Points ?
Wayfarer Points is a membership based hotel booking site offering savings of up to 70% off rates normally charged on stays at over 1.5 million accommodations. There are two membership levels, a free membership and an annual fee based membership offering the biggest discounts:

• Everyday membership – joining Wayfarer Points is FREE with our Everyday membership, which provides up to 50% off hotels
• Premium Membership is US$99 annually/US$9.99 a month, and provides up to 70% off hotels, and includes discounts on boutique hotels by Mr. & Mrs. Smith

The great news is that Rewards Canada has teamed up with Wayfarer Points to offer our readers a discounted annual Premium membership of US$69.99 that includes a 14-day risk free trial! That means you can try it out with no risk. Like it and you’ll only pay US$69.99 in the first year instead of the standard $99. You can access our special offer here!

The question you may have before proceeding is it worth it? Are the savings there? And the answer is yes they are. Here are some examples of the savings provided by Wayfarer Points:

Wayfarer Points All Inclusive Pricing
One thing you have to note right of the bat with Wayfarer is they display all inclusive pricing – that is the total nightly rate for the hotel stay – not just the base rate as displayed by most hotel booking sites. Take this into consideration when making your comparisons!

Our own comparison
We did one of our own comparisons of the Wayfarer Points app. We looked at the Hotel US Grant in San Diego for a stay on November 13 in a 2 Queen Superior room and Wayfarer didn’t disappoint:

This is Wayfarer’s all in price:

 
and the best rate we could find was on Hotels.com:

Almost a $60 savings with Wayfarer – that almost pays for our discounted annual membership in one night! Book multiple nights and you’ll be saving more!

There’s more than hotel savings
In addition to travel bookings, Wayfarer Points tracks loyalty points. Different from similar services, Wayfarer Points shows users how they rank in loyalty programs compared to other users. The Groups function allows users to create their own groups and includes chat functionality allowing group members to chat about anything and everything loyalty, travel and discounts.

Overall this new company looks promising as they look to take a bite out of the hotel booking market! The competition is big and they are not first in the paid membership hotel discount space but if Wayfarer points can come out ahead in pricing and have the added app benefits then they will be a stand out. I’m excited to give it a try here in the near future myself and would love to hear what you all think about them!

Just a reminder that you can save 30% with our membership offer for Wayfarer Points when you subscribe to the premium membership.

** At the time of posting Rewards Canada is the only Canadian points & miles website/blog to have this discount offer available! **

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for November - These cards provide some of the best value out of their welcome bonuses

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of November! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards that have very good acquisition (welcome/sign up) offers. As always when choosing a card you should always take other factors into account other than the just sign up bonus, but when most or all of these cards are first year free, they can and do pay off even when you grab them strictly for the sign up rewards.  This month we once again have 3 cards that have no annual fee in the first year and two cards with an annual fee in the first year.

There are no changes to the list for this month but we did want to let you know that you will now also find this list right on the Rewards Canada homepage for easy reference! Heads up that this is the last month to grab the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card and TD First Class cards with their current offers.

Here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for November (in order of welcome bonus value)

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - 40,000 Miles (Apply here)

TD has come out with the best ever offer for this card and it is first year free so that means up to 35,000 of the 40,000 miles would come to you at no cost other then spending on the card. The bonus is awarded as follows: 15,000 Aeroplan Miles when you make your first Purchase with your Card + Double Aeroplan Miles on all purchases in the first three months (up to 20,000 miles) and 5,000 miles for adding an additional card ($50 fee). Depending on how you redeem those Aeroplan miles should be worth no less than $400 but more likely closer to $800 or more! In fact if you take the per mile value from our post from late July this welcome bonus would be worth $2,000 or more.
Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card - 50,000 Points (Apply here)

This is the first card on the list that has an annual fee right of the bat but the sign up bonus and other benefits more than make up for it. The 50,000 points, awarded after spending $1,500 on the card in three months are worth at least $500 in our minds which means after subtracting the annual fee you are coming out ahead by $380. In reality you can pull even more value out of the card (into four figures) as we outlined in our post A look at how The Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card provides huge value!  
Minimum Income: N/A

National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard - $480 Cash Back (Apply here)
This the second card on the list that has an annual fee that isn't waived, however the sign up bonus and other benefits provide some big value over that annual fee. You will get $40 cash back for each month you spend $500 on the card in the first 12 months. This will give you $480 in rewards but then subtracting the annual fee of $150 you are coming out ahead by $330.
Minimum Income: $80,000 Personal or $150,000 Household

BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard - 3,000 Miles  (Apply here)
This almost best ever sign up bonus for an AIR MILES co-branded card continues on our Top 5 sign up list thanks to its 3,000 miles sign up bonus (worth a minimum of $315) and no annual fee in the first year!  Even if you aren't a fan of AIR MILES the fact you can get 3,000 miles and them use them as cash rewards for no cost to you should be enough to go out and get this card. Please note: new Collectors have Miles automatically deposited into their Dream Account, not their Cash account.
Minimum Income: $80,000 Personal or $150,000 Household

TD First Class Visa Infinite Card - 90,000 Points (Apply here)
This card is offering up to 90,000 points when you apply for it along with the first year annual fee waived on the primary card. The bonus is awarded as follows: 20,000 points when you make your first Purchase with your Card + Double Points on  all purchases in the first three months (up to 60,000 points) and 10,000 points for adding an additional card ($50 fee). Those 90,000 points (less the add. card fee) translate to $310 worth of travel credits for any travel booking or $400 worth of travel for bookings made via Expedia For TD. 

Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with anywhere from $1,700 to over $3,000 in travel value. However even if you only take on one or two you are helping your travel budget significantly at no cost other than regular credit card spend. We don't really recommend getting all five in one month unless you know you can meet the minimum spend for them all at once, rather you'd want to pick one or two right now, perhaps another next month and so on.

Disclaimers:
American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link.

Sponsored advertising. The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) is not responsible for the contents of this site including any editorials or reviews that may appear on this site. For complete and current information on any TD product, please visit the TD site. 

It's time to earn thousands of bonus miles for online shopping - up to 7x miles with Aeroplan, 5x miles with AIR MILES, 5,000 with United & more!

The pre-Black Friday/Cyber Monday holiday shopping push is on with tons of online shopping bonuses via the various online shopping portals. The current set of offers are perfect for those who like to get their holiday shopping done early or need to buy things before they go out of stock (this is critical if you have two teenage girls like I do!) and don't want to miss out.

These offers run for the better part of the next week to two weeks and all end before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You can bet they will all have offers for that holiday shopping weekend as well. Some may be better than we're seeing below but some may be lower. The choice is yours as to whether you're happy with these bonuses or want to wager that they will be better for the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

In perfect timing with this post we have updated our Top 6 tips for maximizing miles & points earning on your holiday shopping feature that has been the go to guide for holiday shopping since 2014! In this feature we look at several ways to maximize your holiday shopping and one of the big tips is shopping online. In the section for online shopping we track all of the shopping offers that you'll find below and any future ones during this holiday shopping season. Be sure to bookmark it and return to it often to see all the latest offers.

Aeroplan
Earn up to 7x Aeroplan Miles for shopping online with select retailers via the Aeroplan eStore shopping portal. Full details.  Until Nov 17, 19

AIR MILES

AIR MILES Earn up to 5x AIR MILES Reward Miles when you shop online with select retailers via the portal.Full details. Until Nov 17, 19

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Earn up to 1,500 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you shop online via the Mileage Plan Shopping portal. Full details Until Nov 21, 19
Tier 1 bonus: 300 miles for qualifying purchases of at least $150
Tier 2 bonus: 750 miles for qualifying purchases of at least $300
Tier 3 bonus: 1,500 miles for qualifying purchases of $500 or more.

American AAdvantage

Earn up to 3,500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you shop online via the AAdvantage Shopping portal. Full details Until Nov 21, 19
Tier 1 bonus: 500 miles for qualifying purchases of at least $150
Tier 2 bonus: 1,500 miles for qualifying purchases of at least $600
Tier 3 bonus: 3,500 miles for qualifying purchases of $1,200 or more. 

Delta SkyMiles
Earn up to 3,500 Bonus SkyMiles when you shop online via the SkyMiles Shopping portal. Full details Until Nov 14, 19
Tier 1 bonus: 500 miles for qualifying purchases of at least $150
Tier 2 bonus: 1,000 miles for qualifying purchases of at least $300 or more

United MileagePlus
Earn up to 5,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you shop online via the MileagePlus Shopping portal. Full details Until Nov 21, 19
Tier 1 bonus: 500 miles for qualifying purchases of at least $150
Tier 2 bonus: 2,500 miles for qualifying purchases of at least $750
Tier 3 bonus: 5,000 miles for qualifying purchases of $1,500 or more

Wyndham Rewards
Double Wyndham Rewards Points for shopping online via the Wyndham Rewards Shopping site. Full details. Until Dec 2, 19 

And one more you won't find in Holiday Shopping feature as we typically don't cover this program for Canada (but it may make sense for anyone following suit of the traveler in our Podcast Episode 57!):

Southwest Rapid Rewards
Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Rapid Rewards Points when you shop online via the Rapid Rewards Shopping portal. Full details Until Nov 21, 19
Tier 1 bonus: 500 bonus points for qualifying purchases of $150 - $499.99
Tier 2 bonus: 1,000 bonus points for qualifying purchases of $500 - $999.99
Tier 3 bonus: 3,000 bonus points for qualifying purchases of $1,000 or more 

Remember not only do you earn the miles/points/cash back with these portals but you also earn the points or miles that are earned on your credit card and you also earn the points or miles from the end retailers loyalty program as well. For example, you can go through the Aeroplan eStore to shop online at Chapters Indigo - that means you'll earn Aeroplan miles for the portal purchase, whatever points or miles from your credit card and the Plum points from Chapter's program. Add in the bonus from the portal and you have completed a quadruple dip! Remember as well many of the stores for the U.S. based airlines and hotels are in US$ and ship from there so you can save some extra cash by using a No Foreign Transaction fee card like the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Card.  Learn more about all the Canadian No FX fees cards here.

November 5 Update: WestJet adds gate upgrade benefit, buy Delta SkyMiles status and 24 new miles & points bonuses

WestJet has added a new gate upgrade benefit for WestJet Rewards elite members. This is the first confirmed and publicized offer these members being able to get upgrades to their new business class pods on the Calgary-Toronto route. The terms say only single traveller reservations are considered so don't be alarmed if you don't get upgraded when travelling with some else! Find out more here (HT WestonC on FlyerTalk)

Starting October 31, 2019, Platinum, Gold and Silver members may be eligible to receive a last-minute upgrade at the boarding gate when seats in the next higher cabin remain open.

• Gate upgrades from Economy to Premium is an extension of the current benefit which provides upgrades prior to check-in with the purchase of an eligible fare. A second round of upgrades closer to departure provides even more opportunities for a Premium experience.
• Those who purchase a Premium fare on flights between Calgary and Toronto on our state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner may also be eligible for an upgrade to a spacious pod in the Business cabin.
•  Provided on single-guest reservations only, subject to the purchase of an eligible fare and availability of seats for upgrade. When available, upgrades will be allocated in priority order by tier, starting with Platinum, followed by booking class. Upgrades to Premium may be assigned either 1) prior to the opening of the check-in period, or 2) at the gate immediately prior to boarding. Upgrades to Business will be assigned at the boarding gate only. Terms and conditions for complimentary upgrades

Delta SkyMiles has brought back their 'Elevate your Status' offer. This offer always run in late fall and provide SkyMiles members to opportunity to pay to upgrade their elite status for the upcoming year. Find out more here.

Who is eligible for Elevate Your Status?

• If you are a Platinum, Gold or Silver Medallion Member, you are eligible for Elevate Your Status unless you received complimentary Status for a Tier above the Tier you earned Status for.
  • Example: If you were given complimentary Gold Medallion Status, but earned Silver Medallion Status through the published requirements, you are not eligible for Elevate Your Status.
• If you are a General SkyMiles Member, you must be within range to reach Silver Medallion Status by purchasing the maximum bundle of MQMs, MQSs and MQDs, in order to be eligible.
  • Example: If you have 12,000 MQMs, you will not be eligible because the maximum amount of MQMs that can be earned through Elevate Your Status to reach Silver Medallion Status is 12,500 and the MQMs requirement for Silver Medallion Status is 25,000.
• If you are a Diamond Medallion Member, you are not eligible, because you have already reached the top Tier of Medallion Status.

 

 We've added another new airline partner that you book with via Rewards Canada. Aer Lingus is now on board here at Rewards Canada and on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com. You can use our link to book Aer Lingus' flights from Toronto to Dublin and beyond as well as next summer's Montreal to Dublin flights. Book direct with Aer Lingus here!

Posts since our last update:

• Starting tomorrow - Earn 7x Aeroplan Miles for Apple store purchases via the Aeroplan eStore
  Need to buy Apple products? Wait until tomorrow if you can as the Aeroplan eStore will once again be…
• Fly round trip premium economy class between Vancouver and Europe for only 42,500 miles!
  The newest set of Air France KLM’s Promo Rewards are now out!  This month we see a drop to only…
• Increased sign up bonus for the American Express AIR MILES Reserve Credit Card - now earn up to 3,800 AIR MILES
  Earlier today we brought you the details of the new welcome offer for the enhanced American Express AIR MILES…
• Great new welcome bonus of 350 WestJet dollars on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard
  The credit card wars are heating up for the last two months of the year! We're seeing new offers…
• Earn up to 3,500 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles with the newly enhanched American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card
  Towards the end of September we brought to you the details of the changes coming to the American Express…
• Coveted 50% Transfer Bonus for RBC Rewards (Avion only) to British Airways Executive Club is back until Dec 15, 19
  RBC Avioners rejoice! The 50% transfer bonus to British Airways Executive has made a come back after three years!…
• October 30 Update: BMO and Tangerine credit card offer extensions, WestJet route increases for Calgary-Europe and $300 off Aer Lingus Business Class out of Toronto
  There are three current credit card offers that are being extended into 2020: Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card with 4%…

Travel Deals

Cathay Pacific is offering some big savings on flights between Vancouver and India, the Philippines or Vietnam along with 3 pieces of checked luggage at no charge. Book by November 9 for travel until November 30. Find out more here.

WestJet is running a systemwide seat salefFor travel within Canada, and from Canada to the U.S, Mexico, Europe and the Caribbean. Book by November 6 for travel until June 15, 2020. 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

AIR MILES
- Earn up to 3,500 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles with the American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card. More... Until Jan 20, 20
- Earn up to 3,800 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles with the American Express AIR MILES Reserve Credit Card. More... Until Jan 20, 20

British Airways Executive Club
- 50% Bonus Avios when you covert RBC Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club More... For residents of Canada only Until Dec 15, 19

WestJet Rewards
- Get 250 welcome WestJet dollars + for a limited time, earn an additional 100 WestJet dollars when you make your first purchase in the first 3 months on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard. More... Until Jan 6, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to 7x Aeroplan Miles for shopping online with select retailers via the Aeroplan eStore shopping portal. More... Until Nov 17, 19

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- November Promo Rewards – Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Best offers this time are Chicago, Quito and Vancouver. More... Book by Nov 30 for travel Jan 1 – Feb 29, 20

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you shop online via the Mileage Plan Shopping portal. More... Until Nov 21, 19

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 3,500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you shop online via the AAdvantage Shopping portal. More... Until Nov 21, 19

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios on every hotel booking made with Kaligo. More... Book by Nov 30, 19 for stays until Jun 30, 20

Choice Privileges
- Double Privileges Points when you stay at new Cambria® Hotels in the U.S. More... Book by Nov 13 for stays until Dec 31, 19

Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to 3,500 Bonus SkyMiles when you shop online via the SkyMiles Shopping portal. More... Until Nov 14, 19

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Renaissance Charlotte SouthPark Hotel. More... Until Dec 31, 19

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you shop online via the MileagePlus Shopping portal. More... Until Nov 21, 20
- Receive complimentary baggage delivery to Marriott London hotels when flying United Polaris from New York. More... Until Apr 30, 20

World of Hyatt
- Double World of Hyatt Elite Qualifying Nights for stays at luxury hotels within The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. More... Until Dec 31, 19
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at Grand Hyatt Hefei. More... Dec 9 - Mar 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Regency Thrissur More... Nov 14 - Feb 28, 20
- OFFER UPDATED 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Regency Dharamshala Resort More... Nov 14 - Feb 28, 20
- OFFER UPDATED 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Great Scotland Yard London More... Dec 2 - Mar 30, 20
- OFFER UPDATED 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Place Huntsville/Research Park More... Dec 10 - Mar 30, 20
- OFFER EXTENDED 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Place Atlanta / Centennial Park More... Until Jan 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Place Indianapolis / Carmel More... Nov 20 - Feb 28, 20
- OFFER UPDATED 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt Place New York City / Times Square More... Nov 13 - Feb 20, 20

Wyndham Rewards
- Double Wyndham Rewards Points for shopping online via the Wyndham Rewards Shopping site. More... Until Dec 2, 19


Follow Rewards Canada:

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Starting tomorrow - Earn 7x Aeroplan Miles for Apple store purchases via the Aeroplan eStore

Need to buy Apple products? Wait until tomorrow if you can as the Aeroplan eStore will once again be offering 7x the miles on Apple purchases. This works for all eligible online purchases, even those you pick up in store! This is how I have been doing all my Apple purchases now, buy online and pick up usually within 2-3 hours at the Apple store all the while earning tons of Aeroplan miles (plus the points or miles earned on the credit card!) This offer only runs from November 6th to 8th!


Learn more about the offer here.  (Details will be posted on Nov 6)
 
If you can wait even longer, there is the potential of an even better bonus coming for Black Friday/Cyber Monday as we have seen Apple Store bonuses reach 10x miles but also only be at 5x miles. The gamble is yours if you choose to buy during this promotion or stick it out for Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

Here's some example of a bonus I received earlier this year when they ran 5x miles and this 7x offer would provide even more miles than that!

Fly round trip premium economy class between Vancouver and Europe for only 42,500 miles!

The newest set of Air France KLM’s Promo Rewards are now out!  This month we see a drop to only one option for flying out of Canada. With promo rewards the discount ranges from 20 to 50% off the regular amount of miles required to redeem for these flights. As you can see just by the discount this can be a very good offer if you get 50% off for Business Class! This month sees only one of five Canadian cities as part of the deal. You can save 50% off premium economy class reward tickets to Europe from Vancouver on Air France.

 

Offer details
November Promo Rewards – Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period.  Full Details & online booking  Book by Nov 30  for travel Jan 1 - Feb 29, 20

This month's Canadian cities:
Vancouver - 50% off premium economy class on Air France

Here are the mileage requirements for flying from Vancouver or Paris (the mileage amount will vary for other cities in Europe).

And an example of some of the availability from Vancouver to Paris in January:

  And return flights:

As you can see there is pretty good availability for the route in premium economy.

Here are other options which price out less in terms of the mileage requirement!

 

Remember one way flights are exactly half of the above mileage amounts.

If you don't have enough miles for a Promo Reward your best bet is to convert Marriott Bonvoy points to Flying Blue on a 3:1 basis. Remember you'll earn 5,000 bonus miles when you convert 60,000 points at a time (a total of 25,000 miles per 60,000 points) That means 120,000 points will get you to 50,000 miles which is more than enough to cover a round trip flight between Vancouver and Rome, Lisbon or Warsaw in premium economy class!

If you don't have any Marriott Rewards Points you can always look at getting the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card to top off your account. Currently the card comes with a 50,000 point sign up bonus when you spend $1,500 on the card and then you could also grab the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card as it also has 50,000 point sign up bonus. You would then ultimately be able to have 100,000 points which can be converted 3 to 1 to Flying Blue Miles plus Marriott will kick in an additional 5,000 miles for every 60,000 points transferred.  Of course timing of getting the card(s) now, spending and getting the points will likely not happen for this month but it sets you up for future offers.  Need to grab two tickets for an itinerary? You could choose to get one Marriott card for yourself and one for your partner or spouse and you'll have a lot more points!  
 

[OFFER EXPIRED] Increased sign up bonus for the American Express AIR MILES Reserve Credit Card - now earn up to 3,800 AIR MILES

THIS OFFER IS NOW EXPIRED - PLEASE SEE THE CARD DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE MOST CURRENT OFFER BEING FEATURED.
 
Earlier today we brought you the details of the new welcome offer for the enhanced American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card. Of course with that card getting a higher welcome bonus American Express had to also boost the offer on the American Express AIR MILES Reserve card since the new Platinum offer eclipsed the old Reserve offer.  The new bonus on the Reserve cards sees new cardmembers being able to earn 3,800 AIR MILES Reward Miles. To my best recollection this is the highest sign up bonus for an AIR MILES Credit Card ever seen. We've seen 3,000 before on competing AIR MILES cards and earlier today the 3,500 for the Platinum Card but never have we seen the potential to earn 3,800 miles.

• New American Express AIR MILES Reserve Credit Card Cardmembers earn a welcome bonus of up to 3,800 AIR MILES®* Bonus Miles – here’s how:
• Earn 1,400 Bonus Miles when you charge a total of $3,000 in purchases to your Card in the first 3 months of Cardmembership.
• Earn up to 2,400 Bonus Miles - In your first 6 monthly billing periods as a new American Express AIR MILES Reserve Credit Card Cardmember, you can earn 200 Miles for every $750 you spend in purchases in each monthly billing period (up to a maximum of 400 Miles per monthly billing period). Welcome bonus offers end January 20, 2020.

As we mentioned earlier this morning with the new offer on the Platinum AIR MILES card, this card also continues the trend where card issuers are rewarding ongoing spend over and above the initial welcome bonus. Looking at this new welcome bonus we see the old offer of 2,400 miles for $1,500 in spend actually being lowered to 1,400 for the same spend over 3 months. However they are now adding in the potential to earn 2,400 more miles for 3,800 miles in total. To earn those 2,400 additional miles you have to spend $1,500 per billing cycle for the first six billing cycles. That bonus is broken down at 200 miles per $750 spent in each cycle up to 400 miles in each of those periods. If you take an average value of 13 cents per AIR MILE Reward Mile you can see that the 3,800 mile welcome bonus is worth around $494 and ultimately $195 when taking the annual fee into account. This is a limited time offer that runs until January 20, 2020. This valuation actually puts the welcome bonus of this card below the Platinum card - and the Reserve actually earns less miles for everyday spending than the Platinum card. So the question to ask is why get this card instead of the Platinum card? The answer is for the benefits the card provides beyond the rewards. It gives you automatic AIR MILES Onyx status, it has a decent insurance package with out of province medical coverage, flight delay and baggage insurance. It also provides Priority Pass membership along with four lounge passes per year. That last benefit is worth US$227 alone. The card also has its exclusive AIR MILES FlexFly feature where you can redeem 770 AIR MILES for $100 in travel, this means you can actually use your AIR MILES Reward Miles for business class flights and so on.

Still as I write this piece I think the Reserve card may need some enhancements soon seeing how the Platinum AIR MILES Card has better earn rates and other cards that compete with it have insurance benefits and features that match or exceed what this card offers.

You can apply for the American Express AIR MILES Reserve Card here.

Great new welcome bonus of 350 WestJet dollars on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard

The credit card wars are heating up for the last two months of the year! We're seeing new offers left, right and centre. One of those new offers is on Canada's #1 airline credit card*, the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard. The regular bonus of 250 WestJet dollars when you apply for and receive the card is still the norm but now they have added in an additional 100 WestJet dollars when you make your first purchase on the card within three months of being approved for the card. That's a really easy welcome bonus to earn considering most of the cards competing with this card have a lot of spend requirements tied to them! You literally only have to make one $1 purchase on the card and you have 350 WestJet dollars to use right away towards to flights or vacation packages with WestJet. You have until January 6, 2020 to take advantage of this offer.

Not only is the welcome bonus an attractive offer there are other benefits on the card that are the reason why it is the best airline card in Canada. Once you have the card you get the first checked bag free for yourself and up to 8 others travelling on the same reservation. With checked bags on WestJet running between $30 to $35.40 for the first bag you can already see how this card can provide some huge savings on WestJet travel.

Related:  Credit cards that help you avoid those dreaded airline fees

Then the card has the best companion voucher benefit of any credit card in Canada. You can use the voucher for travel anywhere on WestJet's network for travel in Economy or Premium Class. Business Class is not included. Essentially what this voucher is that you buy one ticket at a regular price and you can have a companion travel with you for only $99 in Canada and the Continental U.S., $299 to sun destinations and $399 anywhere else WestJet flies (only Europe right now). Seeing that Premium Economy tickets can run into four figures for round trip getting one of them for only $399 can provide some immense savings. If you have a family of four or more it can make sense to have two separate WestJet RBC World Elite Credit Cards as that will give you two companion vouchers to use. This is exactly Why my wife and I each grabbed our own WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercards. In the couple of years of both of us having the cards we have saved thousands of dollars on flights, especially when we had to buy last minute travel which as we all know tends to be really expensive!

Related: The Ultimate Flight Companion Pass Credit Card portfolio


The WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard does have a $119 annual fee that comes on it but when you look at getting 350 WestJet dollars with it (so a net benefit of 231 dollars to start) and then the baggage fee savings and companion voucher benefit you can see how this card is extremely valuable to get! Even if you have just one WestJet flight planned and none after that, being able to use the equivalent of 231 dollars towards that flight makes this card worth getting. 

Click here to learn more about this offer and to apply for the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard

UPDATE: This offer runs until March 31, 2020

* As ranked by Rewards Canada in Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards for 2019

[OFFER EXPIRED] Earn up to 3,500 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles with the newly enhanced American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card

THIS OFFER IS NOW EXPIRED - PLEASE SEE THE CARD DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE MOST CURRENT OFFER BEING FEATURED.
 
Towards the end of September we brought to you the details of the changes coming to the American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card. Those changes, most of which can be considered true enhancements are now live! Along with the changes however comes a new welcome bonus offer on the card, an amazing 3,500 bonus AIR MILES are up for grabs when you get the newly enhanced card:

• New American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card Cardmembers, earn a welcome bonus of up to 3,500 AIR MILES®* Bonus Miles – here’s how:
• Earn 1,700 Bonus Miles when you charge a total of $1,500 in purchases to your Card in the first 3 months of Cardmembership.
• Earn up to 1,800 Bonus Miles - In your first 6 monthly billing periods as a new American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card Cardmember, you can earn 150 Miles for every $500 you spend in purchases in each monthly billing period (up to a maximum of 300 Miles per monthly billing period). Welcome bonus offers end January 20, 2020.

This welcome bonus continues a trend that we are seeing more often now where card issuers are rewarding ongoing spend over and above the initial welcome bonus. Looking at this new welcome bonus we see the old offer of 2,000 miles for $1,500 in spend actually being lowered to 1,700 for the same spend over 3 months. However they are now adding in the potential to earn 1,800 more miles for 3,500 miles in total. To earn those 1,800 additional miles you have to spend $1,000 per billing cycle for the first six billing cycles. That bonus is broken down at 150 miles per $500 spent in each cycle up to 300 miles in each of those periods. If you take an average value of 13 cents per AIR MILE Reward Mile you can see that the 3,500 mile welcome bonus is worth around $455 and ultimately $335 when taking the annual fee into account. This is a limited time offer that runs until January 20, 2020. The question at that point will be if the standard welcome bonus will only be 1,700 miles or will revert to the 2,000 we saw up until the day before the enhancements kicked in. And speaking of those enhancements here is a reminder of what they are:

• 1 Mile for every $5 in Card purchases, up to $30,000 annually, on eligible food and drinks (including stand-alone grocery stores, restaurants and coffee shops) and eligible gas and transit (including local commuter transportation, ridesharing services and taxis) in Canada
• 1 Mile for every $10 in Card purchases everywhere else
• Annual Travel Redemption Benefit – Once per calendar year, when an eligible Cardmember uses Dream Miles with the AIR MILES Reward Program to book their first single flight or package vacation through airmiles.ca or vacations.airmiles.ca, they can get Bonus Miles equivalent to 25% of the net number of Miles used (up to a maximum of 750 Bonus Miles)
• Annual fee increased to $120 

These changes make this card the number one credit card in Canada for earning AIR MILES Reward Miles. Before these changes the card earned 1 Rewards Miles for every $10 spent at AIR MILES Partners and at other eligible grocery stores, gas stations, and drugstores in Canada and then 1 mile for every $15 everywhere else. As you can see you'll be earning double the miles on a lot of those purchases now with the 1 Mile for every $5 on food and drinks, gas and transit (same categories as the American Express Cobalt Card so you can utilize our Confirmed Cobalt Multipliers page to see where you'll earn the 1 Mile for every $5 on food, drinks, transit and gas) and then all other purchases will earn 1 Mile for every $10 - not just purchases from AIR MILES partners, grocery stores etc. The 1 Mile for every $5 is capped for $30,000 in spending annually just as we see on the American Express Cobalt Card. This means you can earn 6,000 AIR MILES each year for that $30,000 in spending. We value AIR MILES Reward Miles between 11 and 15 cents each when you redeem for travel although you can get even more than that out of each Reward Mile. This means the 1 Mile for $5 sees you getting a return of 2.2% to 3% for travel or if you look at Cash Rewards where you redeem 95 miles for $10 your return would have an effective return of 2.1% - that's higher than a lot of the cash back cards in the market.

The other enhancement to the card comes on the redemption side. When you book a flight or vacation package with AIR MILES you will receive 25% of the miles redeemed back to you as a bonus (up to 750 miles). This means  you will get some miles back to your account when you redeem up to 3,000 miles. Ideally this is what you would want to do and push your first redemption of each year as close to that 3,000 miles mark if at all possible to maximize your return. Still, 25% back on redemptions below that amount is a great feature as you may be someone who never gets to the 3,000 mile level but can easily get to 1,200 or 1,500 miles and redeem for a short haul flight and save 25% on it. I'm happy to see American Express add this feature as it is something we don't see very often, the BMO AIR MILES World Elite Card does have it's 15% off on redemptions in North America with no cap but other than that there aren't many cards offering a miles or points discount when redeeming for flights.

As is usually the case with enhancements to cards, all the positive changes tend to be offset by some negative changes and the card has only one, the annual fee is being increased to $120 from the previous $65. As before I still feel this is on the high side since the card doesn't have a large benefits and insurance package however the current welcome bonus offer makes it more than worthwhile. If you already have the card you will not have to pay the $120 annual until your next card anniversary date.

You can learn more about this limited time offer and apply for it here.

Coveted 50% Transfer Bonus for RBC Rewards (Avion only) to British Airways Executive Club is back until Dec 15, 19

RBC Avioners rejoice! The 50% transfer bonus to British Airways Executive has made a come back after three years! Last seen in November of 2016 (see our post here) many of us thought this awesome offer was never to be seen again! We have become accustomed to the 30% twice per year since then but are super happy RBC has brought back this dinosaur

The offer is for all of you RBC Avion cardholders (Infinite, Infinite Privilege, Platinum, Business Commerical etc.) and runs until December 15. Despite a recent devaluation to award flight pricing on partner airlines, this promotion is still an amazing deal as BA Avios are a great option for flights to Asia (via Cathay Pacific), short to medium haul within North America (short haul offer is great on Alaska Airlines or American Airlines see this post here) and even though huge surcharges are added to their UK/Europe redemptions they can still be an alright value because of this bonus based on your spend with the credit card (see my post about Earn & Burn for an explanation). As always though with any frequent flyer program you will have to be flexible in your options when redeeming due to seat availability issues (ie it may be hard to get tickets to Europe in Summer etc.) so take this into consideration before transferring.

Also consider reading our post on How you can easily get a free flight between Toronto and Dublin, Ireland (pre taxes/fees) or 4 flights for $240+fees as this transfer bonus will work well with it. With the 50% you only have to transfer 17,000 RBC Rewards points to get to the 26,000 Avios level to redeem for these Dublin flights. Compare this to the 65,000 RBC Rewards points it would take to get the same flight and you can quickly see why there is value in the BA program. Heck if you have 65,000 RBC Rewards Points that's nearly four flights to Dublin and back! Remember as well that Aer Lingus is launching Montreal-Dublin flights next year and those will start as low as 20,000 Avios round trip in Economy!

Full details on the transfer bonus can be found here