Thursday, February 20, 2020

Receive a 50% bonus when you buy Marriott Bonvoy points


Earlier in the week Marriott Bonvoy revealed their next buy points offer. This is Marriott’s fourth offer on buying points since taking over SPG, who was famous for their offers! All the previous offers were discounts on the price of the points while this time they take a new approach and keep the pricing at the base amount but are adding bonus points. When you 2,000 or more Bonvoy points you’ll receive a 50% bonus and they have also increased the maximum number of points you can buy from 50,000 to 100,000 annually with this promotion. Note that you can only buy 50,000 points in one transaction so you would have to complete 2 transactions to get to the annual maximum. Marriott points are sold a flat rate so you are paying the same amount per point if you buy 2,000 points or 50,000 points. With a 50% bonus the per point cost drops to 0.83 cents (US) or about 1.1 cents in Canadian dollars. This is the lowest price we have seen for Marriott points to date but still not as low as we saw with SPG. With that being said 0.83 cents US is a pretty good price seeing that you can easily achieve well over 1 cent US per point on award night redemptions – more so if you take advantage of the 5th night free benefit.



For example, Rewards Canada’s most recent redemption was just over 1.4 cents (C$) so such a redemption would be advantageous if you bought the points at 1.1 cents each – that’s only of course if you don’t already have tons of points in your account which we did. And that 1.4 cents was only for four nights as that's all our schedule allowed, had we had more time we could have received a fifth night for free and have bumped that up to about 1.75 cents per point.

Chances are I won't be buying points this time as we still have well over 7 figures in our accounts but for those of you who are on the low end this could be an opportune time to buy some - as long as you know you can use them soon and will come out ahead.

Offer details:
50% Bonus Bonvoy Points when you buy 2,000 or more points online. Buy points here. Until Mar 25, 20
You can buy a maximum of 100,000 points annually with this promotion.

Here are some more Marriott Bonvoy Bonus Points offers to check out:

February 20 Update: Nova Scotia's Trout Point Lodge now part of World of Hyatt, throwback to Cathay Pacific's 2007 Roadshow & more!


Over the past year or so we have been giving you updates on the World of Hyatt and Small Luxury Hotels of the World partnership. Most of those updates have been when more SLH Hotels were added to the World of Hyatt program. One thing we always kept an eye out for was the one Canadian SLH Hotel location and up until recently it was never included in the updates. Well good news is that it is now participating in the World of Hyatt program! That hotel is Trout Point Lodge in East Kemptville Nova Scotia. The hotel clocks in as a Category 6 hotel in the World of Hyatt program which means the standard award night rate is 25,000 points per night. As of March 22 there will also be Peak and Off Peak pricing which means the hotel could go low as 21,000 points per night or as high as 29,000 points per night. Suites are more - from 36,000 to 44,000 points per night and since Trout Point consists primarily of Suites and Cottages chances are most redemptions will be in this latter points range. Learn more here!
Title Image via Hyatt


Here's a Throwback Thursday from the Rewards Canada archives! This one goes back to October 2007 and covers the Cathay Pacific Roadshow. This article details the time Cathay Pacific drove an 18 wheeler to various cities including Calgary to reveal their new cabin interiors from Economy Class to First Class. In Calgary the had the truck and display on Stephen Avenue during the day to reveal the cabin interiors to all the business people who walk the street during the lunch hour! Let us know in the comments if you happened to visit the roadshow and remember it! You can read the old article here!

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals

Expedia is offering up to 40% off select hotels. Book yours by Mar 1 to save up to 40% on spring escapes through May 31. Terms and conditions may apply. 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


Alitalia MilleMiglia
- OFFER EXTENDED Earn up to 1,500 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles when you fly Alitalia between Milan and London City. More... Until Mar 31, 20

Aer Lingus Aer Club
- 700 Bonus Avios when you rent with Avis for 3 or more days in Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Asia, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals until May 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy points PER NIGHT on Thursday-Sunday nights at The Westin Austin at The Domain. More... Until Mar 16, 20
- Earm up to 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy points PER NIGHT at The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square. More... Until Mar 24, 20

Miles & More
- 2,500 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with Enterprise for 3 or more days in Worldwide. Complete 5 rentals and earn an additional 5,000 miles. More... Until Apr 30, 20

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- 30% ROP Miles discount for award tickets on 34 international routes, economy and Royal Silk classes operated by THAI and THAI Smile. More... Book by Feb 29 for travel until Jun 30, 20

United MileagePlus
- 5,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles per adult member when you book a 6+ night United Vacations air+hotel package to Iberostar Resorts in Mexico. More... Book by Feb 27 for travel until Oct 31, 20


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Wednesday, February 19, 2020

February 19 Update: Swissport Aspire lounge now open in Ottawa, AIR MILES expands partnership with Samsung, more Cobalt multiplier locations



Back at the start of the month we let you know that Swissport was setting up to open a new Aspire lounge in Ottawa. Good news is that lounge opened up on Valentine's Day! Bad news is they don't have their liquor license yet! So for the time being there is no alcohol being served in the lounge. The lounge does not show up yet on the Priority Pass or Mastercard Airport Expereinces websites (nor any other third party sites) but it should be accesible to all members of these programs. The lounge is open from 4am to 10pm each day and is located just after gate 18 (post-security) You can learn more about the lounge and book it here. Image via Swissport

Recommended reading: Rewards Canada's Guide to Business Class lounge access 


AIR MILES announced today an expanded relationship with Samsung Canada that allows for more mileage earning opportunities. Here's an excerpt from today's press release:
"AIR MILES Collectors and Samsung fans now have the opportunity to get Miles when purchasing leading-edge mobile technology products. This includes Samsung smartphones and tablets, as well as wearables and accessories available at samsung.com/ca"
When you go to the site you'll see that if you pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy S20+ or Ultra you can earn up to 2,000 Bonus AIR MILES. The base earning with Samsung is 1 Mile for every $20 spent on mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, as well as wearables and accessories. Find out more here! Image via Samsung


We have more Amex Cobalt multiplier updates for you! Vendors like Porter Airlines, Dutch Bros, Pink Jeep Tours and Sedona's Oak Creek Brewery have been added to the list. Visit the feature here.

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers

Best Western Rewards
- Earn a Free Night when you complete 2 eligible stays at a Best Western® branded hotel in the United States, Canada or Caribbean. More... Register & book now for stays Feb 18 – Apr 20, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Copa ConnectMiles
- Up to 40% Bonus ConnectMiles when you buy or gift ConnectMiles. More... Until Mar 2, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- 4,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays of 7 or more nights at the Staybridge Suites Grand Forks. More... Unknown end date

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the Four Points by Sheraton Fargo Medical Center. More... Until Mar 25, 20
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Courtyard Salt Lake City Airport. More... Until Mar 9, 20

MEA Cedar Miles
- 25% Bonus Elite Qualifying Cedar Miles on all MEA flights systemwide when flying on a U, H or K fare class ticket. More... Until May 19, 20

Stash Hotel Rewards
-  Double Stash Rewards Points for stays at the The Chateaux Deer Valley Park City More... Mar 1 - May 31, 20

United MileagePlus
- OFFER EXTENDED 1,500 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you book a mid-size or larger car with Hertz for 2 or more days. More... Until Sep 30, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:
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Hyatt's 2020 hotel category changes are here - 217 hotels changing categories Worldwide with no changes in Canada


Following on the heals of Marriott's hotel category changes from two weeks ago, Hyatt Hotels released their hotel changes for the World of Hyatt program last week. A much smaller hotel chain when compared to Marriott, Hyatt's changes don't look as drastic as Marriott's. As we always start with, there are no actual changes to the number of points required for the actual redemption categories - the changes we are alluding to are for individual hotels moving up or down in those redemption categories. Here are the categories and the point requirements for each:

 This is just the standard award night redemption chart - there are additional charts and requirements for suite upgrades, points+cash, all inclusive resorts and more.  You can see all the charts here.

As well, we now know when the previously announced Peak and Off Peak rates will start. Those will be on the same day the hotel category changes happen and that is March 22, 2020.

This year will see 217 of Hyatt's hotel change categories with an almost even split between going up or down in categories. 117 will be going up while 100 will go down. You can find the complete list of hotels changing here.


You should consult this chart if you are planning on booking any Hyatt hotels outside of Canada with points in the near future as you'll want to lock in a hotel that is going up before March 22 as you'll only pay the current points requirement. Oh and if you are planing or have already booked a hotel that will go down after March 22 Hyatt will automatically refund you the points difference - no need to cancel and rebook or wait until after that date to book.

You'll notice I mentioned 'outside of Canada' in the paragraph above and that's simply because no hotels in our country are changing - they are all staying the same. We don't have a lot of Hyatt hotels here but I know the program is quite popular with the frequent traveller crowd and the chain is growing within our borders as well. Keep an eye out for our new Hyatt Hotels opening in Canada post that will be coming soon!

Remember as well that you can earn Double World of Hyatt Points with each stay starting with your second qualifying stay at over 1,000 participating Hyatt Hotels worldwide when register by March 31 for stays until May 15. Find out more here.
All images via Hyatt 

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


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.
 

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

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



Thursday, February 13, 2020

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:

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

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):
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:
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.



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

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