Devaluation coming to the popular Rogers World Elite Mastercard, Platinum Mastercard and Fido Mastercard

For several years now the Rogers World Elite Mastercard has been the go to card for people wanting cash back rewards with no annual fee. Ranked the number 2 cash back rewards card in Canada for the past years by Rewards Canada the card with its cash back returns of 1.75% to 4% is going to change on June 2, 2020. And that change isn't for the better. Thanks to Rewards Canada Twitter follower Joshua C. Culp for letting us know this morning that those changes are coming.

Here are the changes for the World Elite Mastercard

Screenshot via Rogers

As you can see it is the cash back earning that is changing on June 2 and although not consider a true no foreign transaction fee card the Rogers World Elite Mastercard has been popular for non-Canadian currency transactions thanks to earn more cash back than the foreign transaction fee charged on the card. Currently and up until June 1st the card earns 4% cash back on foreign currency charges and was subject to a 2.5% foreign transaction fee. This means on those types of purchases the you would net a 1.5% return. The earn on those purchases is changing to 3% and only for U.S. dollar transactions! This means you'll only earn 0.5% cash back in purchases in U.S. dollars, albeit this is the most popular non-Canadian currency that Canadians transact with however if you are off to Europe, Asia, Australia or wherever else you will only earn the new base rate of 1.5% and be charged the 2.5% foreign transaction fee.

That leads us into that base earn rate which is currently 1.75% (2% on Rogers products) and that rate is also being devalued. As of June 2 you will only earn 1.5% on all these other purchases and it surprises me that they aren't even keeping an incentive there on Rogers products!

Here's the devaluation in a nutshell:

• Purchases made in U.S. dollars - earn rate goes down by 1%
• Purchases made in other foreign currencies - earn rates goes down by 2.5%
• Rogers purchases - earn rate goes down 0.5%
• All other purchases - earn rate goes down 0.25%

We always hate seeing such devaluations but I always wondered about this card being too valuable considering the insurance benefits and earn all with no annual fee. It just isn't financially feasible especially so for a small card issuer like Rogers. This is very reminiscent of the Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite Mastercard as it pretty much gave away the bank in terms of earn rate and benefits making it the best card in Canada for years on end but it just wasn't financially feasible for Capital One so they had to cut it. At least this card is sticking around but I think many of you will now reconsider your card options as there are other cash back cards that will be just as or more rewarding along with equal or better no foreign transaction fee options.

Recommended reading: No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians


Also to note in the changes is that Rogers is adding one new benefit to the card which we feel doesn't make up for the changes and that is Global WiFi for the primary cardholder from Boingo. This is a feature we see on cards like the Brim Mastercards and the HSBC World Elite Mastercard.

Finally there is also one other big change to note - as of June 2, 2020 if you don't spend at least $15,000 annually on the Rogers World Elite Mastercard, they can at their discretion bump you down in their products to a card like the Rogers Platinum Mastercard which has a lower earn rate and also less insurance benefits.

I'm not going to go into detail on the changes to the Platinum card as they are essentially the same in that foreign transactions going to U.S. only and dropping to 3% and the same 0.25% drop in all other spending other than Rogers products which drops by 1%:

 And the FIDO card is as follows:

The Fido card loses any benefit for foreign transaction purchases but actually sees the only reasonable gain out of all the cards in that you can earn 1.5% on all recurring payments and subscription services. Not sure if that would sway me since the base earn rate drops by 0.25% and wiping out of any benefit to foreign transaction fees but it may appeal to those with lots of recurring payments.
 
All in all these aren't the changes we like to see and I'm sure many of you feel the same way and will be reconsidering your options. More so that this is going to be a big year in card competition and we are going to see new competitors in the market and a lot more limited time offers. If anything Rogers should have probably stuck it out another year to see what transpires in our market as it is going to be a bloodbath in trying earn and retain cardholders!

Read all about the changes coming to the World Elite Card here, the Platinum Card here and the Fido card here.
 

Priority Pass adds two restaurant options at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport

Last week One Mile at a Time reported that Priority Pass added two restaurants in Montreal to their ever expanding list of non-lounge options for cardholders. This is great news for Priority Pass members flying out of or via YUL as their is only one lounge in YUL that has Priority Pass access which is the National Bank lounge and that is only for International departures. Those flying domestic or to the U.S. don't have any lounge options via Priority Pass. The two restaurants that are now part of the program fill that gap, at least until the new YUL domestic lounge that we first reported about a few weeks ago opens towards the end of this year. The first restaurant, Pork & Pickle is in the Canadian domestic departures area near Gate 3 while the second, Houston Avenue Bar & Grill is located in U.S. departures near Gate 77.

When you visit one of these restaurants and show your eligible Priority Pass membership you will receive a C$37 deduction off your entire bill*

Remember that Priority Pass memberships issued from American Express cards do not get the Priority Pass restaurant benefit. If you get your Priority Pass membership from cards like the CIBC Aventura cards, RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege Card or the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card you do receive the Priority Pass restaurant benefit. Also if you buy your Priority Pass directly from them (you can get up to a 20% discount with our exclusive offer) you also get the restaurant benefit.

* For those of you who receive limited free visits via cards like the Aventura cards or Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite those free visits can be utilized for these restaurant options. If you don't have any free visits left you would be charged US$32 for the C$37 credit. Same goes for the lower end Priority Pass memberships where you have to pay for each visit or only receive 10 visits.

You can learn more about Priority Pass and other business class lounge access options in our Guide to Business Class Lounge Access.

Alaska Airlines to join oneworld alliance and rehashes partnership with American Airlines

Last week while the Rewards Canada family was enjoying the teacher's convention and Family Day holiday Alaska Airlines came out with some news that was rather unexpected from them! There's other news from other programs that we will catch up on this week as well but we wanted to get to this article first.

Alaska Airlines has announced a refreshed partnership with American Airlines that comes only weeks before their existing partnership was set to end - looks like they came to terms and a realization its better to work with each other rather than against each other. In this announcement also came the news that Alaska Airlines will join the oneworld alliance as a full fledged member airline, not just a 'connect' airline as mentioned a few years ago.

These are the key takeaways from the news (excerpt from Alaska's press release):

• Alaska Airlines intends to join the oneworld^® alliance, the world's fastest growing and most highly rated global airline alliance, by summer 2021, which will connect Alaska guests to more than 1,200 destinations worldwide.
• American will launch the first service from Seattle (SEA) to Bangalore, India (BLR) beginning October 2020. A new American route from SEA to the global business hub London Heathrow (LHR) will begin flying in March 2021.
• The airlines will continue their domestic codeshare that offers customers hassle-free booking and travel between the two networks. The codeshare will expand to include international routes from Los Angeles (LAX) and SEA.
• Alaska and American loyalty members will enjoy benefits across both airlines, including the ability to earn and use miles on both airlines’ full networks, elite status reciprocity and lounge access to nearly 50 American Admirals Club lounges worldwide and seven Alaska Lounges in the U.S.

The good news from this is that it will give Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members, which is a very popular program for us Canadians (well popular for many of miles and points enthusiasts) a broader range of airlines and flights to earn and redeem Mileage Plan miles with. On top of that, if you have elite status with Alaska (or vice-versa with AA or oneworld airlines) is the recognition of that status when flying on any of the oneworld airlines.

The bad news at this time is purely speculation however it is very likely we may see some changes in the mileage requirements when redeeming Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles. Right now the program is one of, if not the best for redeeming on many of the world's best airlines like Cathay Pacific and Emirates but that may change when Alaska joins oneworld. One can hope they won't change their award charts but typically we have seen redemptions become more expensive when an airline joins an alliance. The other bad news is that once Alaska Airlines joins oneworld you have that many more airline partner frequent flyer programs, namely American AAdvantage, that will be vying for seats on Alaska metal itself so finding seats may be more difficult if you are someone who does redeem for flights on Alaska.  We probably can also expect changes to status earning requirements for Mileage Plan to be brought more inline with those of other oneworld carriers so as to not make an easy path for people to receive alliance wide benefits. So one word of advice would be to try to earn that Alaska status as soon as you can!

One other concern that may come into play would be Alaska's non oneworld airline partners, will they continue on as partners? I would think for the most part yes, despite the old way of thinking at alliances that we saw emerge in the 90's and 00's where it was alliance partners only (no partners from other alliances)  the last few years we've seen airlines bring in partners that were part of other alliances. For example Air Canada has a relationship with Cathay Pacific even though they are both part of different alliances. I think the mindset within the airlines is that they know they have to forge other partnerships that work for them and their frequent flyer membership base regardless of their partner airlines' alliances.

Here is the timeline of the implementation of all the news:

Overall I think this could be a positive change for the Canadian market as it opens more airlines and routes that you'll be able to earn and redeem Mileage Plan miles with. Many of you have jumped on the MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard with it's 30,000 mile welcome bonus and not just once, but once every 3-6 months ;-) so that you have built up sizeable balances in your Mileage Plan accounts. Not only that I'm sure many of you have also bought Mileage Plan miles with their great bonus offers and in about a years time you'll be able to use them on even more airlines. You can start planning for those oneworld airlines that aren't partners with Alaska like Royal Air Maroc (which joins oneworld in only a few weeks) which flies between Montreal and Casablanca or Qatar Airways which also flies out of YUL. Of course it may take you more miles than you are accustomed to if they do increase mileage requirements but only time will tell if that will happen.

What about WestJet? I know this really doesn't have much to do with this article but in terms of WestJet's frequent flyer program they have kind of followed in Alaska's footsteps in forging relationships with airlines from various alliances and stating they have had no intention of joining one. Will Alaska's news change the way WestJet thinks? If so, it would seem likely that WestJet would move to SkyTeam since most of the airline's partners are in SkyTeam, are in the process of creating a joint venture SkyTeam's Delta Airlines and the SkyTeam alliance does serve the most cities in Canada after Star Alliance. Of course this is just a thought on our part but I would bet that this news form Alaska does have some of the heads at WestJet shifting their thinking.

Images via Alaska Airlines

Best Western Rewards: Earn a Free Night when you complete 2 nights in the U.S., Canada or Caribbean

Best Western’s next big promotion sees the return of their free night voucher being awarded after you complete two nights between February 18 and April 20. This offer can be really lucrative as you can choose to complete one or two really cheap stays and then use the voucher for a stay at a more expensive Best Western hotel. There is one big caveat however, you have only 70 days to use your voucher from the time it is issued to you. Keep this in mind when you are looking at this promotion.

Offer details
Earn a Free Night when you complete 2 eligible nights at a Best Western® branded hotel in the United States, Canada or Caribbean. Limit of 1 free night voucher per member and that voucher is valid for 70 days. Full details, online registration and booking. (Registration is required) Register & book now for stays Feb 18 – Apr 20, 20

Here are some other BWR offers to check out:

• Elite Level Status Match Best Western Rewards will match your other Hotel Reward program status with no catch. Full details,
• Free Gold Elite Status - As a Canadian Military member you can receive Automatic Best Western Rewards Gold Elite Status when you join the Best Western Service Rewards program. Full details and online registration (Registration is required).
• Earn 20,000 Best Western Rewards® points†† on your first purchase with the mbna Best Western Mastercard®
• Find our complete list of Best Western Rewards bonus offers here

Marriott New Hotel Openings in Canada for 2020 - 14 hotels in the works including the W Toronto

With over 7,000 hotels Marriott Hotels is one of the largest hotel companies in the world and they are one of the biggest in Canada. The chain comprises of a whopping 30 brands ranging from mid-level budget locations to high end luxury resorts.

Marriott is looking to add no less than 14 more hotels to their Canadian portfolio in 2020. This is about half the amount they opened in 2019 and will bring their portfolio of hotels in Canada to nearly 300.

To the best of our knowledge this is largest growth out of any of the major hotel chains as IHG comes close with 13 new openings.

These are the hotels and their anticipated opening dates (of course these are subject to change):

• TownePlace Suites Edmonton Sherwood Park
  
  • Slated opening February 5, 2020
• Residence Inn Toronto Mississauga Southwest
  
  • Slated opening March 22, 2020
• Courtyard Montreal Brossard
  
  • Slated opening April 5, 2020
• Element Toronto Airport
  
  • Slated opening April 5, 2020
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Penticton 
  
  • Slated opening April 2020 (At time of posting June 30 was the earliest bookable date)
• TownePlace Suites Petawawa
  
  • Slated opening April 2020 (At time of posting May 31 was the earliest bookable date)
• W Toronto
  • Slated opening June 2020 (At time of posting September 1 was the earliest bookable date)
• TownePlace Suites By Marriott Hamilton
  
  • Slated opening June 2020
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Orillia
  
  • Slated opening June 2020
• Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Salmon Arm
  
  • Unknown opening date
• Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Kitimat 
  
  • Unknown opening date
• Delta Hotels by Marriott Mont-Sainte-Anne
  
  • Unknown opening date
• TownePlace Suites By Marriott Toronto Oakville
  
  • Unknown opening date
• Courtyard By Marriott Kitchener
  
  • Unknown opening date

Artist rendering of the W Toronto exterior - Image via Marriott

I would say the most anticipated hotel this year is the W Toronto, which according to Marriott's site is slated to open in June however nights are not bookable until September 1.

The W Toronto will have 255 rooms on 9 floors and is located in the Yorkville neighbourhood at 90 Bloor Street East. The hotel will open as a Category 6 hotel in the Marriot Bonvoy program meaning you'll require 50,000 points per night at the standard level (40,000 off peak/60,000 peak). This unfortunately means it will be out of reach for the annual free night award that comes with the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card - however the welcome bonus on the card is 50,000 points so that could be utilized for one night at this new location. There is availabilty every night in October - albeit at a mix of Off Peak, Standard and Peak:

On the night that is only 40,000 points you would be redeeming for a room that costs $490+taxes which means you would be getting 1.225 cents per point and seeing that we value Marriott Bonvoy points at a minimum of 1 cent per point you can see this would be a good redemption. On 50,000 point nights the going rate seems to be $519 so it still a little over 1 cent per point.

Artist rendering of the Fairfield Inn Kitimat - Image via Horizon North Logistics

I also want to note that I find the Fairfield Inn in Kitimat as the most interesting of the new hotel builds. Why so? Because it is a modular build! It is a 119 room 5 storey hotel that is being built in modular sections by Horizon North Logistics. Here is a timelapse video of how they built another modular hotel

The hotel giant has also recently opened up five hotels in the past few months:

• Delta Hotels by Marriott Toronto Mississauga
• Four Points by Sheraton Vaughan
• Courtyard by Marriott Oshawa
• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Oshawa
• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Medicine Hat

Remember to take advantage of all the possible Marriott Bonvoy bonus points offers that are available if you plan on staying at any of these new Marriott hotels or any other Marriott hotels for that matter! You can find all the promotions listed on our Marriott Bonvoy Bonus Points page

Are you excited about any of the new Marriot hotels opening up this year? Are there any locations or brands you'd like to see in your neck of the woods? Let us know in the comments below.

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Other posts in our 2020 series of new hotel openings in Canada:

• InterContinental Hotels Group New Hotel Openings in Canada for 2020 - 13 hotels in the works 
  
  

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Air New Zealand Valentine's Day Sale - 25% off premium fares out of Canada when booking for two

Air New Zealand has released a companion seat sale offer for Valentine's Day! You can get 25% off tickets in Premium Economy or Business Class when you buy 2 tickets for travel between Canada and Australia or the Cook Islands. Book between now and February 14 with promo code V25. This offer is valid for departures between February 15 and October 15 and return travel completed by October 24.

Here is a Premium Economy booking example between Vancouver and Sydney that with the promo code saves just over $1,500:

And business class between Vancouver and Raratonga with the promo code saving over $3,100

Here's a pricing example of Calgary to the Cook Islands in September in Business Class:

When booking Air New Zealand flights remember to use a credit card that maximizes your points earning on travel purchases such as the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, American Express Gold Rewards Card or the Platinum Card from American Express. These are just three cards that have excellent multipliers on travel purchases, for a larger list of cards check out our Credit Card comparison chart

Learn more about and/or book the Air New Zealand Valentine's Day sale here!

Images via Air New Zealand

February 11 Update: New Amex Offers offer for Altitude Sports and Air Italy enters liquidation - Toronto flights will still operate for 2 weeks

Another new Amex Offers offer was released today. This time you can earn a statement credit of $20 for spending $100 or more online with Altitude Sports. I personally received this offer on The Platinum Card from American Express. You can find this offer and many more on our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

Italy's second largest airline Air Italy announced a suspension of operations today as they move into liquidation. Air Italy does serve Toronto and will continue to do so for the next two weeks. After that they will try to accommodate you on another airline and/or offer you a full refund. Here is an excerpt from Air Italy's website:

From 11 to 25 February2020 inclusive, all Air Italy flights will be operated by other carriers at the times and on the days previously scheduled; all passengers who booked flights (outward or return) after 25 February 2020 will be re-protected or fully refunded.

More specifically:

• All scheduled flights (outward or return) up to and including 25 February 2020 (including the first departures on the morning of 26 February 2020 of domestic flights to Malpensa and from Male and Dakar airports) will be regularly operated, without any changes to the original scheduled dates and times and on the same flight conditions. Passengers will be able to fly using their ticket. Alternatively, passengers can always opt for a full ticket refund by emailing the following address refunds@airitaly.com (or contacting their travel agency) prior to their flight’s departure time.

• For all tickets scheduled to depart by 25 February 2020 and to return after 25 February 2020:

  • - the outward journey will be regularly operated, without any changes to the original scheduled dates and times and the same flight conditions; with regards to the return flight, passengers will be offered a travel option on the first available flight of another carrier, the details of which will be provided from 18 February 2020 by calling the following number from Italy: 892928, from abroad: +39078952682, from Usa: +1 866 3876359, from Canada: +1 800 7461888, or by contacting the travel agency in the case of purchase through this channel.

  • - Alternatively, passengers can opt to claim their refund for unused flight segments, by emailing the following address refunds@airitaly.com (or by contacting the travel agency if the ticket was purchased through it) prior to the flight’s departure time.

• Tickets for return flights after 25 February 2020:
  

  • - If purchased directly via the web (Air Italy portal) or Air Italy contact center, they will be fully refunded in a manner that will be provided via email, or requesting it at the address refunds@airitaly.com
  • - If purchased through the Air Italy ticket office, they will be fully refunded by going to any Air Italy ticket office
  • - If purchased through a travel agency it will be necessary to request a refund or a change of travel by contacting the agency

Posts since our last update:

• Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – February Edition
  Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available! One of the…
• Tim Hortons Tims Rewards being revamped - changes coming on February 26
  Less than a year after it was launched Tim Hortons Tims Rewards is being revamped. The struggling coffee and…
• Miles & More Mileage Bargains - Big mileage discounts on flights to Europe out of Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto & Vancouver
  As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" or Mileage Bargain discounted…
• February 10 Update: More Amex Cobalt confirmed multiplier locations, WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard dropping concierge service & more
  We've added even more retailers to the American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations page on the Rewards Canada…

Travel Deals

IHG See the City Lights Sale - Save at least 15% when book by Feb 29 for stays until Apr 30

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

Avianca LifeMiles
- 3,000 Bonus LifeMiles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Marriott Hotels in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama & Peru. More... Book by Mar 31 for stays until Dec 31, 20

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Infinity MileageLands Miles when you book and fly on EVA Air scheduled international flights. More... Until Jun 15, 20
- Save up to 20,000 Infinity MileageLands Miles when you redeem for award flights on EVA Air. More... Until Jun 15, 20

Iberia Plus
- 25% Avios Discount when you redeem for select Iberia Express award flights. More... Book by Feb 29 for travel until Mar 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays of 3 or more nights at Atlantis, Paradise Island. More... Book by Feb 29 for stays until May 31, 20

Miles & More
- 5x Miles & More Miles when you rent with Europcar for 3 or more days in in Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, England, Spain, Norway and Portugal (for Germany 5 days or longer) More... Book by Feb 29 for rentals until Aug 31, 20

World of Hyatt
- Double World of Hyatt Points with each stay starting with your second qualifying stay at over 1,000 participating Hyatt Hotels worldwide. More... Register by Mar 31 for stays Feb 15 – May 15, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

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Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – February Edition

Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available! One of the easiest ways to rack up lots of hotel points is to take advantage of these systemwide bonuses that come from many of the big chain programs and also from the lesser known programs. In fact, right now it should be rare for you NOT to earn a bonus. Unless you are staying at a boutique hotel or perhaps an independent hotel most other hotels out there have a bonus. So take advantage of it! These systemwide bonuses simply require you to register beforehand and they do not affect hotel pricing as long as you book a point eligible rate which are most rates out there. Of course booking through a third party site like Expedia or Rocketmiles does not count as most chains only award points on bookings that are made directly with them. Without further ado here are all the current promotions that are available to everyone:

Provider	Offer	Validity Date
ALL Accor Live Limitless	Earn up to 6,000 bonus Rewards points for stays of 2+ nights at participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required) Bonuses as follows: – 500 Rewards points on your first stay (minimum two nights) – 2,500 Rewards points on your second stay (minimum two nights) – 3,000 Rewards points on your third stay (minimum two nights)	Register and book by Mar 6 for stays Feb 14 – Jun 7, 20
	For a complete listing of all ALL Accor Live Limitlessbonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's ALL Accor Live Limitless page
Best Western Rewards	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Best Western Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Best Western page
Choice Hotels Privileges	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Choice Privileges bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Choice page
GHA Discovery	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all GHA Discovery bonus offers please visit Rewards Canada's GHA page
Hilton	Earn 2,000 Bonus Honors points per stay at Hilton Hotels worldwide plus 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights stayed. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required )	Until May 3, 20
	For a complete listing of all Hilton HHonors bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hilton page
Hyatt	Double World of Hyatt Points with each stay starting with your second qualifying stay at over 1,000 participating Hyatt Hotels worldwide. Hyatt credit card holders will earn an extra 1,500 Bonus Points with each qualifying stay, starting with the second, that includes a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night. Full details, online registration and booking(Registration is required)	Register by Mar 31 for stays Feb 15 – May 15, 20
	For a complete listing of all Hyatt Gold Passport bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hyatt page
InterContinental Hotels Group	Earn up to 4x IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at participating IHG Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Earn 1,000 points on your 1st night Double Points for nights 2-5 Triple Points for nights 6-14 Quadruple points for night 15+	Register by Apr 15 for stays Feb 15 – May 15, 20
	For a complete listing of all IHG Priority Club bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's IHG page
Marriott	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Marriott Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Marriott page
Millennium Hotels My Millennium	2,000 Bonus My Millennium Points + up to 20% off for stays of 2 or more night at participating Millennium Hotels Worldwide. Full details & online booking.	Until Mar 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Millennium Hotels My Millennium bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's My Millennium page
Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer	8,000 Bonus iPrefer Points when you Book a Stay More, Save More package at participating Preferred Hotel Group hotels Worldwide  Full details & online booking	Until Feb 29, 20
	For a complete listing of all Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's iPrefer page
Radisson Rewards	Earn up to 150,000 Bonus Rewards Points at all Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson hotels worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) Eligible nights include your typical paid stays but also include Award Night and Points + Cash redemption stays. • Complete two (2) Stays, earn 5,000 Bonus Points when the second Eligible Stay is completed. • Complete three (3) Stays, earn 10,000 additional Bonus Points (totaling 15,000 Bonus Points) when the third Eligible Stay is completed. • Complete five (5) Stays, earn 15,000 additional Bonus Points (totaling 30,000 Bonus Points) when the fifth Eligible Stay has been completed. • Complete (10) Stays, earn 45,000 additional Bonus Points (totaling 75,000 Bonus Points) when the tenth Eligible Stay has been completed. • Complete (15) Stays, earn 75,000 additional Bonus Points (totaling 150,000 Bonus Points) when the fifteenth Eligible Stay has been completed.	Until Mar 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Radisson Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Radisson Rewards page
Red Roof Inns RediRewards	Earn 7,000 Bonus RediPoints when you complete 2 separate stays at any Red Roof location, including The Red Collection and Hometowne Studios by Red Roof in the U.S., Japan, Brazil and Canada (if the Canadian location opens soon as it seems to be continually delayed) Full details, online registration and booking. (Registration is required)	Until Feb 29, 20
	For a complete listing of all Red Roof bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's RediRewards page
Shangri-La Golden Circle	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Shangria-La bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Golden Circle page
Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Sonesta Hotels bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Travel Pass page
Voila Hotel Rewards	5,000 Bponus VHR Points for each stay at any participating VOILÀ hotel Worldwide. Full details & online registration (Registration is required) Maximum of 100,000 bonus points awarded	Until Mar 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Voila Hotel Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's VHR page
WorldHotels Rewards	Quadruple Rewards Points for stays at all participating WorldHotels locations Worldwide. Full details & online booking	Until Apr 30, 20
	For a complete listing of all Wyndham Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's WorldHotels page

Tim Hortons Tims Rewards being revamped - changes coming on February 26

Less than a year after it was launched Tim Hortons Tims Rewards is being revamped. The struggling coffee and donut chain was banking on having the rewards program help it regain some traction in our market. With over 7.5 million members the loyalty program grew quickly to be one of the largest in Canada and yet it doesn't seem to be working for them.

The program as we know it right now was pretty simple, make 7 purchases and get one item free. That free item was limited to a brewed coffee, tea or baked good with a typical maximum value of $2.00. You could hold up to 5 rewards at once in your account and they were valid for only 120 days.

The new program is moving to points based system which really only affects the redemption side. The reason why is that you will earn 10 points per purchase - not per dollar like one of Tim's biggest competitors. So it doesn't matter if you spend $0.50 (the minimum to earn the points) or $20 - you'll only get 10 points. So the function of earning hasn't changed at all. The move to a points system however is allowing Tim's to give its customers more redemption options rather than just a brewed coffee, tea or baked good. For those wondering - if that's all you want to redeem for, the program hasn't changed as it will take 70 points (ie 7 visits) to get a brewed coffee, tea or baked good. (dream donuts, bagels etc.) So this is good news - they haven't devalued the program! That 70 point redemption level is only one of 14 reward levels the new program will have. All the levels haven't been revealed yet however we do know the lowest level will be 50 points (5 visits) for a classic donut or cookie. You will also be able to redeem for breakfast items, lunch items, Iced Capps and more.

You must register your reward level
Unlike other programs where you can choose what you want to redeem your points for at time of purchase the revamped Tims Rewards program will require you to register for the reward level you want. For example, if you are registered to receive rewards at 70 points and want to redeem for a 50 point item you'll have to go into your Tims Rewards account (online or via the app) and change your registered reward level. They state they have this to make a quick and seamless in-restaurant experience. I see it as being a big in the butt. People who sign up for the program or already members aren't going to read all the details of the programs. They are simply going to go to store hoping to redeem points for something at 50 points and won't be able to as their account will be set to 70 points. as that is the default level. I see this being a big issue with the new program and they will have lots of unhappy customers at the till wanting to redeem for a sandwich and they can't. This is probably one of the most convoluted redemption requirements I have ever seen from a loyalty program.

Existing rewards and visits
When the program switches over to points they will give each member 10 points for visits that are already in their accounts and 80 points for each reward that is stored in their accounts. This is nice move to give an extra 10 points per reward.

Expiring Points
Points held in your Tims Rewards account will expire 12 months after they are earned. You may ask how can they do this when Ontario and Quebec have laws against expiring points. Well in Ontario the law allows programs whose reward values are below $50 to still expire. Seeing that Tims Rewards redemption options range from below a dollar to maybe five or six dollars they can expire their points.

Double Points to celebrate launch
To celebrate the launch of the revamped program Tims is offering 2x points between February 26 and March 18, 2020.

You can learn more about the new Tims Rewards program here.

So what do you think Rewards Canada Community? It the new program going to change any of your habits? Will it make you visit Tims more? Let us know in the comments below!

Miles & More Mileage Bargains - Big mileage discounts on flights to Europe out of Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto & Vancouver

As we do each month we bring you the latest set Miles & More "Meilenschnaeppchen" or Mileage Bargain discounted mileage awards. This month the offers sees many more cities than usual - and an airlines that we haven't seen on the list in ages! Those airlines are Condor and you can get in on their flights out of Calgary and Vancouver and also SWISS' flight out of Vancouver is in there as well. The other cities included are Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. All of these last four have direct service with Lufthansa - the Ottawa route being the newest which actually launches on May 16 (see our post here).

This month's offers:

Calgary to Germany
Condor Economy Class
Book by February 29  for travel between March 1 - June 1, 2020

Montreal to Europe
Lufthansa Premium Economy and Business Class
Austrian Airlines Business Class
Book by February 29  for travel between May 15 - June 30, 2020

Ottawa to Europe
Lufthansa Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class
Book by February 29  for travel between May 15 - June 30, 2020

Toronto to Warsaw
LOT Economy Class
Book by February 29  for travel until February 29, 2020

Vancouver to Germany/Switzerland
Condor Economy Class
Book by February 29  for travel between March 1 - June 1, 2020
SWISS Economy and Business Class
Book by February 29  for travel between May 15 - June 30, 2020

With this month's offer you can redeem Miles & More miles for round trip business class tickets on the routes listed above for only 55,000 miles. This is just over a 50% discount off the normal Business Class award ticket price of 112,000 miles. For premium economy class it is a straight 50% discount from 80,000 miles down to 40,000 miles as is economy at 30,000 miles instead of 60,000 miles.

Normally at this point we go into our discussion on how you can get more Miles & More miles by converting Marriott Bonvoy points to the program. However as we reported previously all hotel points transfers to Miles & More have been suspended. That means if you want to take advantage of the offers this month you'll have to just make sure you have all the miles in your account.

Click here for full details on this Miles & More offer