December 4 Update: Condor Airlines adds Edmonton-Frankfurt flights, Tangerine World added to comparison chart & new Amex Offers added

Condor Airlines, the German leisure airline that serves several cities in Canada has announced a new destination, Edmonton! The airline will fly twice a week between Edmonton and Frankfurt starting on June 1, 2020. The airline participates in the Miles & More frequent flyer program (Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines etc.) so you can earn and burn your M&M miles on these flights should you wish however I think for most Edmontonians the better option is utilizing proprietary credit card loyalty programs for these flights. Find out more about the new route here.

Rewards Canada is a guest on the North Report podcast which focuses on all avenues of running a technology business in Toronto and beyond. In episode 5 of their 2nd second season we discuss the back end of loyalty programs and what sort of shifts we have seen in the industry. Check it out here!

We have added the recently released Tangerine Bank World Mastercard to Cash Back Comparison Chart. Visit the chart here and see how this card stacks up against the rest of the cash back cards in Canada!

Several new Amex Offers are now available! The offers are for Clear Clinical (spend $250 get $50 credit) and Busy Bee Tools (spend $100 get $20 credit). I don't think I'll use either of these ones but maybe you can! Simply login to your online account or the app to see if you these offers are available to you. I received both of these offers on my American Express Gold Rewards Card.

And speaking of Amex Offers I recently took advantage of the Wayfair offer (spend $125 get $25 credit). The credit showed up 2 days after the Wayfair purchase posted. Always nice to get some money back on something you have to buy!

Posts since our last update:

• Aeroplan's 12 Days of Gifting launched today with 10x Miles for online purchases with Indigo
  Aeroplan's 12 Days of Gifting has returned for 2019! The campaign kicks off today and will feature a different…
• Give A Mile 2019 Flight Hero Christmas Campaign - Help Rewards Canada raise 50,000 miles for flights of compassion
  Rewards Canada's charity partner Give A Mile has launched their annual Flight Hero Christmas Campaign. We have covered Give…
• Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for December - 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 December! This is not…
• Fly Edmonton to Europe in business class for as little as 58,000 miles, Calgary & Toronto from 79,500 miles
  On Saturday I brought you the details of the Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards for December. As…
• December 3 Update: Rewards Canada Podcast on Stitcher, Aer Lingus Cyber Sale extended & save 750 points on Coast Hotels Free Night Rewards
  We continue to expand the service providers that you can listen to the Rewards Canada Podcast on! As of…

Travel Deals

Ethiopian Airlines is offering 20% off their flights out of Toronto with promo code EUA01. Book by Dec 26 for travel to any Ethiopian Airlines destination in the New Year! 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

Aeroflot Bonus
- 5,000 Bonus Bonus Miles when you book a Maldives package from Maldiviana. More... Book by Dec 31 for stays until Jan 15, 20

British Airways Executive Club
- OFFER EXTENDED Double Avios on every hotel booking made with Kaligo. More... Book by Dec 31, 19 for stays until Jun 30, 20

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles for stays at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney More... Book by Jan 17 for stays until Mar 17, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus  Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Moxy Minneapolis Uptown. More... Until Jan 23, 20

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Double FlySmiles when you fly on SriLankan in business class from Trivandrum to Colombo. More... Book by Dec 10 for travel until Jan 31, 20


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Aeroplan's 12 Days of Gifting launched today with 10x Miles for online purchases with Indigo

Aeroplan's 12 Days of Gifting has returned for 2019! The campaign kicks off today and will feature a different bonus mile offer each and every day for the next 12 days. The first offer that is for today only is 10x Aeroplan Miles for purchases made online with Indigo. You do have to click through the Aeroplan eStore to earn the miles so make sure you start your shopping process there! Remember as well that you can still earn your Chapters Indigo Plum Rewards points on these purchases as well and not to mention whatever points or miles you earn on your credit card for the purchase as well!

You'll find this offer and more tips for holiday shopping on our Top 6 tips for maximizing miles & points earning on your holiday shoppinng feature!

Give A Mile 2019 Flight Hero Christmas Campaign - Help Rewards Canada raise 50,000 miles for flights of compassion

Rewards Canada's charity partner Give A Mile has launched their annual Flight Hero Christmas Campaign. We have covered Give A Mile many times before on the blog and our podcast but as a quick refresher here is what Give A Miles is all about:

Established in Calgary, Canada in February 2013, Give A Mile is dedicated to bringing together the terminally ill, or critically sick, with family members or close friends by crowdfunding airline flights through micro-donations of travel loyalty miles. We work across Canada. We are 100% donation model so all miles donated go to flights.  We are 100% volunteer team with a Big Hairy Audacious Goal of giving 1 billion miles to families that need these flights.  A federally registered not-for-profit agency in Canada, Give A Mile is recognized as a charity by Aeroplan’s Beyond Miles program, and offers tax receipts for money donations to donors through an agreement with the Place2Give Foundation.

For the 2019 Flight Hero Christmas Campaign Give A Mile's goals are to raise enough miles to provide 60 flights of compassion. 

Rewards Canada has signed on to be a Flight Hero for the 2019 campaign and our Flight Hero goal is to raise 50,000 miles!

We are asking our readers to help us reach that goal! Rewards Canada has donated 10,000 miles to kick start our portion of the campaign and as we do each year we ask the Rewards Canada community to help Give A Mile and Canadians in dire circumstances get the flights they need to visit their loved ones. Whether it is 40 of you at 1,000 miles each or any other combination - any donation is greatly appreciated!

Donate today via Rewards Canada's Flight Hero Page on Give A Mile

To donate simply click the link above and then click on Donate to this Story

 

You'll go through a couple of steps and be able to choose which program to donate from and once your donation is complete the total should be updated on the Give A Mile site within a few minutes.

Give A Mile and Rewards Canada appreciate and are very thankful for any and all donations!

Finally we ask that you comment below after you donate! Don't be shy, let us and our readers know how much you donated and feel free to pass along any comments or well wishes to Give A Mile!

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for December - 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 December! 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 some 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 actually only see one first year free card on the list! A

A big change this month as we look at overall value - not just if a card is first year free. We also rank the cards based on minimum travel value. That being said there are  3 of the same cards from November, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and the National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard.  The two newcomers are the American Express AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard as it had a new welcome offer brought to it in November and also the Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard as we updated the value on that card.

Remember as well that you will  find this list right on the Rewards Canada homepage for easy reference!

Here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for December (in order of welcome bonus value, calculated as mile/points minus annual fee)

American Express AIR MILES Platinum Card - 3,500 Miles (Apply here)

New to the list the American Express AIR MILES Platinum Card recently underwent some changes and to mark those changes they came out with this big offer on the card. The bonus is split, 1,700 on spending $1,500 on the card in the first three months and then an additional 1,800 miles when you spend $1,000 on the card in each of the first six months of having the card. Those 3,500 miles are worth no less than $385 in our latest valuations.  This card just underwent some changes that make it the best card for earning AIR MILES in Canada which you can learn more about that here: Earn up to 3,500 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles with the newly enhanced American Express AIR MILES Platinum Credit Card
Minimum Income: N/A

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

No changes to this card means it stays put on the list 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

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - 30,000 Miles (Apply here)

The new offer on this card is somewhat lower than the last offering but it is actually a lot easier to obtain and you only come out 5,000 to 10,000 miles below. The bonus is awarded as follows: 15,000 Aeroplan Miles when you make your first Purchase with your Card + 5x Aeroplan Miles on all purchases per $1,000 in the first three months (up to 15,000 miles) Depending on how you redeem those Aeroplan miles should be worth no less than $360 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 $1,800 or more.
Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard - 30,000 Miles (Apply here)

This card offers a welcome bonus of 30,000 miles when you spend $1,000 on the card in the first three months of having it. This is one of the easiest bonuses to achieve and this card is one of the most churnable in Canada. There are really no problems in getting it 2-4 times in one year alone! Those 30,000 miles are worth no less than $330 when redeeming for economy class flights and just go up from there like the TD Aeroplan card.
Minimum Income: $80,000 Personal or $150,000 Household

National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard - $480 Cash Back (Apply here)
This card's offer hasn't changed in a few months so it retains its spot in the list. 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

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. 

Fly Edmonton to Europe in business class for as little as 58,000 miles, Calgary & Toronto from 79,500 miles

On Saturday I brought you the details of the Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards for December. As I mentioned in the post they weren't bookable just yet and would follow up with an availability post. As promised, here it is! Check out Edmonton to Milan - only 58,000 miles round trip in business class!

Air France KLM’s Promo Rewards offer mileage discounts from 20 to 50% off the regular amount of miles required to redeem for flights. As you can see just by the discount this can be a very good offer if you get 50% off for Business Class and that's the case for flights on KLM out of Edmonton! For Calgary and Toronto the discount is 25% off business class. 

Offer details
December Promo Rewards – Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. Full Details  Book by Dec 31 for travel Feb 1 – Mar 31, 20

This month's Canadian cities:
Calgary - 25% off business class on KLM
Edmonton - 50% off business class on KLM
Toronto - 25% off business class on Air France or KLM

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

And an example of some of the availability from Edmonton to Amsterdam in February:

 And return flights:

Here is an example of a round trip booking:

It's actually 500 miles less than published at 60,500 miles and 424.88 EUR in taxes and fees. Even with the taxes and fees at that amount this is a great redemption as business class flights on these routes will cost you over $3,900 (this is actually a really good seat sale price too!)

Here are some other city options we looked at that price out at the same amount or even less miles:

And some 25% off potential from Calgary and Toronto:

Honestly though if you are based in Calgary I would maybe consider taking a drive up to Edmonton to save those 30,000 miles!

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!   

December 3 Update: Rewards Canada Podcast on Stitcher, Aer Lingus Cyber Sale extended & save 750 points on Coast Hotels Free Night Rewards

We continue to expand the service providers that you can listen to the Rewards Canada Podcast on! As of last night we are now on Stitcher. Here's the direct link to our podcast on Stitcher or just search for 'Rewards Canada' on the Stitcher!

You'll now find the MBNA True line Mastercard on our MBNA card offers page. This is an ideal card if you are carrying some balances on other cards and are having a tough time paying them down as they are offering a 0% rate on balance transfers for 12 months:

" You could get a 0% promotional annual interest rate (“AIR”)† for 12 months on balance transfers✪ completed within 90 days of account opening, with a fee of 3% of the amount advanced (minimum fee of $7.50). Offer expires February 29, 2020"

Aer Lingus' Cyber Sale that offers up to $100 off economy class fares or $200 off business class fares on their flights out of Toronto has been extended. You now have until December 10 to take advantage of the deal and the travel dates have been extended to March 22. Find out more here.

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards members who redeem for free night stays until the end of the year can enjoy a 750 point discount on those redemptions. With regular hotel rates running 1,750 to 2,250 points you can now get those rooms for only 1,000 to 1,500 points per night! Find out more here.

Posts since our last update:

• IHG Cyber Sale – Save 30% on stays around the globe if you book by December 6
  Just a friendly reminder that IHG’s Cyber Sale we brought to you back on November 12 has now bumped…
• Cyber Monday Offer: 20x AIR MILES Reward Miles for shopping via AIR MILES Shops (if you can access the site)
  AIR MILES launched their Cyber Monday offer earlier today, which is essentially an extension of their Black Friday offer.…
• RBC Visa Infinite Avion - Up to 25,000 Bonus RBC Rewards Points and First Year Annual Fee waived (Only until Dec 6)
  Looks like RBC released an extra special welcome offer on the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card for Black Friday…
• Best Western Rewards: Get up to $60 in Best Western Gift Cards After 3 Eligible Stays
  Best Western Rewards Winter systemwide promotion is now here. They have returned to the gift card offer however this…
• WestJet Cyber Monday Sale - Save 20% on all base fares + an additional 15% off with promo code
  Here is WestJet's Cyber Monday sale offer - it is the same as Air Canada's (which I believe AC…
• Air Canada Cyber Monday Sale - Save 20% on Economy Basic and Standard base fares + an additional 15% off
  Air Canada launched their Cyber Monday sale today as well! Today's offers sees discounts of 20% on Economy Basic…
• Air New Zealand Cyber Monday Sale - Fly Vancouver to New Zealand and Australia from $988
  Continuing on with our Cyber Weekend deals we have a new one from Air New Zealand for Cyber Monday.…
• New welcome offer for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with first year free
  The latest set of TD credit card offers are out now and while most of the cards have lower total…
• Korean Air Cyber Sale - Save on flights to Asia from Vancouver & Toronto
  Use coupon code CYBER19 to get a special discount for your Prestige or Economy Class ticket from Vancouver and…
• 50% Off Business Class Award Tickets between Edmonton & Europe, 25% off for Calgary and Toronto
  The newest set of Air France KLM’s Promo Rewards will be released around 6pm ET tonight (November 30) and…
• November 29 Update: More Black Friday Cyber Monday deals, Tangerine page on main site & last day to enter our contest!
  It's Black Friday and there so many offers out in the market now, in fact too many to keep…

Travel Deals

Check out our Black Friday Cyber Monday deals page for all the latest travel deals as many are still going strong!

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 France KLM Flying Blue
- December Promo Rewards – Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. This month includes Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto. More... Book by Dec 31 for travel Feb 1 – Mar 31, 20

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
- 750 Coast Rewards Points Discount on redemptions towards a night stay, through the Coast Rewards redemption catalogue or at any Coast Hotel. More... Until Dec 31, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Best Western Rewards
- Earn up to $60 in Best Western Gift Cards when you complete stays at Best Western Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Feb 2, 20

Choice Privileges
- 2,000 Bonus Privileges Points for stays at any one of seven participating Choice Hotels locations in the Caribbean. More... Until Jan 31, 20
- Discounted Privileges Points redemption for stays at any one of seven participating Choice Hotels locations in the Caribbean. More... Until Jan 31, 20

Iberia Plus
- 25% Avios Discount when you redeem for select Iberia Express award flights between Madrid and Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Rennes, Nice, Nantes, Lyon or Fuerteventura. More... Book by Dec 18 for travel until Feb 16, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Four Points by Sheraton Warsaw Mokotow. More... Until Jan 31, 20
- 4,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stay at the London Heathrow Marriott Hotel. More... Until Jan 4, 20

Wyndham Rewards
- 40% Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points when you purchase Wyndham Rewards Points. More.... Until Jan 13, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

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IHG Cyber Sale – Save 30% on stays around the globe if you book by December 6

Just a friendly reminder that IHG’s Cyber Sale we brought to you back on November 12 has now bumped up to 30% until December 6. After this date it will drop back to 25% until December 17. If you have any stays planned now would be the time to book them to take advantage of that extra 5% off!

Click here for complete details and to book this offer.

You can also earn up to 4x IHG Rewards Club Points on stays until Jan 31, 20:
Earn 1,000 Bonus Points on your 1st stay, Double Points on your 2nd stay, Triple Points on your 3rd stay and Quadruple Points on your 4th stay and beyond. . Full details, online registration and booking  (Registration is required)  Register by Dec 15 for stays until Jan 31, 20

Cyber Monday Offer: 20x AIR MILES Reward Miles for shopping via AIR MILES Shops (if you can access the site)

AIR MILES launched their Cyber Monday offer earlier today, which is essentially an extension of their Black Friday offer. That offer is 20x AIR MILES Reward Miles on all purchases made via airmilessshops.ca. There's only one problem - we can't access the site and it appears we're not the only ones experiencing this issue! I've been holding off on this post hoping the site would be back up at time of posting but it doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. I just wanted to pass this along to anyone just in case they are trying to access this offer. Hopefully they do get it fixed soon so that you can get your AIR MILES fix on Cyber Monday!

Click here for more details and to shop online via airmilessshops.ca