March 5 Update: Air Canada & Aeroplan offer change fee waivers, Hyatt Place Toronto/Mississauga Centre set to have opening bonus points plus earn bonus Marriott points in Ottawa and Vaughan

Air Canada and Aeroplan have now officially released details on flight change fee waivers that follow in the footsteps of what many U.S. airlines are doing to encourage consumers to book sooner than later. Find out more here.

When you purchase a ticket between March 4 and March 31, 2020, Air Canada will allow you to make a one-time change to your flight without incurring a change fee up to 14 days before travel.

Changes can be made online, through your travel agent, or by calling Air Canada Reservations at 1-888-247-2262 (Other numbers). 

The one-time change fee waiver also applies to Aeroplan Flight Reward bookings. Please contact Aeroplan directly if you choose to make changes to your booking. 

Image via Air Canada

At the start of the week we brought you the details of the new Hyatt Hotels that will be opening up in Canada this year. One of those, which is the next slated hotel to open is the Hyatt Place Toronto/Mississauga Centre. The hotel is now listed on World of Hyatt's New Hotel Bonus offer page which details all their new hotels that you can earn 500 bonus points per night at during their first few months of opening. Based on Hyatt's page they have the opening as February 29. We know this isn't the case as right now the earliest you can actually reserve rooms at this hotel is April 14. The page of new hotels that Hyatt is one we track often and see Hyatt update it every week or two so we know the dates they publish right now will definitely shift to when the hotel does actually open. Nonetheless you can be sure to earn 500 bonus points per night in the first few months of opening!

Image via Hyatt

Continuing on the bonus front, there are two new Marriott Bonvoy bonuses that we have become aware of here in Canada as follows:

• 1,500 bonus Bonvoy points when you stay 2 nights or longer at the Element Vaughan Southwest. Full details & online booking 
• 2,500 bonus Bonvoy points when you stay 2+ nights Thursday-Sunday at the Sheraton Ottawa Hotel. Full details & online booking (Hey Anshul - need a staycation to earn some bonus points?)

Posts since our last update:

• A look at the business class redemption feature for the CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege Card - it offers up to a 7.5% return!
  The CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege Card is a relative newcomer to our market with it only being released…
• March 4 Update: Update for Air Canada flights to China, Hong Kong & Seoul, Marriott Bonvoy adds two new airline partners, earn 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan miles with Rocketmiles
  Air Canada provided their latest update on flights for regions with Coronavirus scares yesterday. Here is the jist of…

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

Air Canada Aeroplan
- 4x Aeroplan Miles when you convert Coast Hotels Coast Rewards points into Aeroplan miles. More... Until Mar 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points on each stay starting with your second stay at over 7,200 Marriott Hotels worldwide. More... Register by May 31 for stays Mar 17 – Jun 14, 20
- 1,500 bonus Bonvoy points when you stay 2 nights or longer at the Element Vaughan Southwest. More... Until Apr 13, 20
- 2,500 bonus Bonvoy points when you stay 2+ nights Thursday-Sunday at the Sheraton Ottawa Hotel. More... Until Mar 31, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Air New Zealand Airpoints
- Triple Airpoints Dollars when you book and take a vehicle trip with Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries. More... Until Apr 30, 20

Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 2,000 Bonus ShebaMiles when you fly on Ethiopian Airlines from Bangkok to Addis Ababa More... Until Apr 10, 20

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles when you rent with Avis for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals Mar 10 - Aug 31, 20
- Double Guest Miles when you rent with Budget for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals Mar 10 - Aug 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points on each stay starting with your second stay at over 7,200 Marriott Hotels worldwide. More... Register by May 31 for stays Mar 17 – Jun 14, 20
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the at London Marriott Hotel Park Lane that are booked in advance. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Jun 24, 20

Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer
- 5,000 Bonus iPrefer Points when you when you book a stay at one of these 40 Members’ Choice Award-winning hotels from Preferred Hotel Group  More... Book by Mar 10 for stays until Dec 31, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

---

A look at the business class redemption feature for the CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege Card - it offers up to a 7.5% return!

The CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege Card is a relative newcomer to our market with it only being released late in 2019 but it is really starting to make some inroads in our market. The card comes with a 50,000 point welcome bonus, a $200 annual travel credit, Priority Pass Lounge access with 6 passes per year, 2 NEXUS fee rebates and much more.

March 4 Update: Update for Air Canada flights to China, Hong Kong & Seoul, Marriott Bonvoy adds two new airline partners, earn 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan miles with Rocketmiles

Air Canada provided their latest update on flights for regions with Coronavirus scares yesterday. Here is the jist of the latest update:

• Flights to Beijing and Shanghai are suspended until April 10
• Flights from Toronto to Hong Kong are suspended until May 30 however the Vancouver-Hong Kong route contiunes to be operated
• Flights from Toronto to Seoul will be temporarily suspended between April 1 and 30

Many U.S. airlines are now providing free flight change waivers for any international flights while United has gone one step further waiving change fees on all flights - domestic or international (Source One Mile at a Time)

Image via Air Canada

Marriott Bonvoy has added two new airline partners that you can convert points to. You can now convert points to Aer Lingus Aer Club and Vueling Club. Aer Lingus is of more importance to the Canadian market as Vueling is a Spanish low cost carrier flying intra-Europe flights. This brings the total number of airline programs for the Marriott Bonvoy program to 45. We have updated our Complete list of Airline & Hotel loyalty programs that you can earn miles or points in with Canadian Credit Cards to reflect this update. (Source Loyalty Lobby)

Image via Marriot

Posts since our last update:

• Happy 10th Birthday to WestJet Rewards! We look at where the program is now and reveal some great birthday offers!
  Yes, it has been 10 years since WestJet launched their frequent flyer program! Rewards Canada was there when WestJet…
• The least rewarding travel rewards credit cards in Canada
  Here on Rewards Canada we spend a lot of time discussing the best credit card options and offers for the…
• March 3 Update: Complete list of new TD Credit Card offers, fly Air Canada's new A220 between Montreal & LAX and No AF KLM Promo Rewards for Canada this month
  Earlier today (well late last night for us) we let you know about the new offer for TD Aeroplan…

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

Air Canada Aeroplan
- 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you make 3 reservations, each for 2 nights or longer for any hotels booked via Rocketmiles More... Until Dec 31, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- 75% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy 4,000 or more miles online. More... Until Mar 11, 20
- 60% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy 4,000 or more miles online. More... Mar 12 -29, 20

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Double Mileage Plan Miles when you fly on Condor between Seattle and Munich. More... Register by Mar 31 for travel May 30 – Oct 1, 20

ALL Accor Live Limitless
- Quadruple Rewards points for stays at participating new Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Apr 19 for stays until May 31, 20

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios on Avis rentals of a Group C vehicle or higher for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Apr 15 for rentals until May 31, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

---

Happy 10th Birthday to WestJet Rewards! We look at where the program is now and reveal some great birthday offers!

Yes, it has been 10 years since WestJet launched their frequent flyer program! Rewards Canada was there when WestJet entered the world of airline loyalty. If you are feeling nostalgic you can read Rewards Canada's first review of the program which was posted the same day the program launched - March 4, 2010. At that time the program was called WestJet Frequent Guest (as all passengers were called guests) and re-reading what I wrote then to what the program has become now is really interesting! The program has really come a long way in the past decade. We even have an interview with WestJet when the program turned one so it is only fitting to cover the program on its 10th birthday!

Now that the program is a decade old WestJet is celebrating with some special offers and Rewards Canada had the opportunity to speak with d'Arcy Monaghan who is WestJet's Vice President Loyalty and Guest Strategy d'Arcy Monaghan.

We kicked off our discussion talking about the growth and evolution of the WestJet Rewards programs. d'Arcy let me know that they now have over 6.5 million members in the program. This number is bigger than the last known numbers out of Aeroplan and is second only to AIR MILES in terms of Canadian based travel rewards programs. He also stated that there are also no signs of the program slowing down its growth. This is evidenced with the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard enjoying a record year in 2019 with its biggest growth ever and that's despite fierce competition in the market.

Next up was a discussion about the most recent changes to the program - namely those surrounding the elite tiers. The past year saw a lot of focus on priority services for elite tier members like priority bag delivery and priority boarding. The former I can attest to working pretty well for us, I would say that three quarters of the time the Rewards Canada family has had our bags come out within the first few minutes of bags arriving on the carousel.

A little over a year ago WestJet launched it's new top tier elite level, Platinum and d'Arcy told me that it is being well received by members, especially those enjoying the unlimited upgrade program at check in and also with gate available upgrades. He also said more enhancements will be coming to the upgrade system for elite members as well as to the milestone awards that were just recently improved this past December.

He told me that we will see further enhancements also coming to WestJet Rewards Member Exclusive fares. One of which I had actually learned about during a meeting with the WestJet Rewards team several years ago and is now coming to frution. That enhancement is Member Exclusive business class redemption options. They are slated to come late this year or early next year and will be available on WestJet and WestJet's partner airlines.

I asked about the addition of more partners to the program like hotel and car rental companies and while on their radar d'Arcy did say this is something that is more likely going to happen next year. He explained for this year their focus is on expanding the utility of WestJet dollars - that is being able to use them for more than just your base fares. As d'Arcy explained to me they are looking at adding options to use your WestJet dollars for seat selection, upgrades and more. This is would be an awesome addition to the redemption side of the program!

Finally WestJet is really excited about their flagship business class lounge that will be opening later this year in Calgary. According to d'Arcy it will be the best domestic business class lounge in North America. If that's the case, we can't wait to see it and try it out!

All I can say is that is has been exciting watching WestJet launch, develop and evolve their frequent flyer program over the past 10 years and I am looking forward to the next 10. Happy Birthday WestJet Rewards!

And now on to the WestJet Rewards Birthday offers!

There are two offers as follows and take note of the Silver for Summer offer - be one of the first 10 to qualify and you Get Gold for Summer:

Get Silver for Summer
Earn Silver status for this summer when you register and book a minimum $800 qualifying spend before March 10, 2020 for travel within Canada between April 14 – June 24.* Plus, the first 10 members that qualify will be upgraded to Gold status. Register for this offer here.

WestJet Seat Sale + 20% off discount code
To celebrate their birthday WestJet is running a seat sale for travel within Canada and between Canada and the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean but also offering a 20% off discount code for Basic and Econo fares. Both offers must be booked between today and March 6. The travel periods do differ however. The discount code is good for March 11 – April 30, 2020 with blackouts on April 8-10 and 13. The seat sale has no blackouts and is good for travel May 1 - June 24.
Click here for details on the discount code and here for the seat sale

All images via WestJet

---

The least rewarding travel rewards credit cards in Canada

Here on Rewards Canada we spend a lot of time discussing the best credit card options and offers for the Canadian market. While we do discuss all types of rewards cards you can tell our focus is primarily on travel. Travel is the reward coveted by most Canadians hence the huge popularity in these type of credit cards. With over 70 different travel card options the rewards offered really vary by card and by issuer. We thought it would be fun to look at the opposite end of the spectrum with this post. Instead of the top cards or offers we thought we’d take a look at the least rewarding travel rewards cards in Canada.

Let me start off by saying that the worst or least rewarding credit cards out there are those that don’t  earn any rewards. With this piece we’re not gonna touch up on those but are going to look at the ones that you can actually earn rewards with but are the weakest in terms of redeeming those rewards for travel.

Recommend reading: The True Value in Reward Redemptions


Now, we have always stated that as long as you earning rewards on your credit card spending - and are financially responsible in that you pay off your balance every month - you are ahead of the game whether you are earning 0.5% or 5%. And there can be reasons why you are earning only 0.5% instead of 5%. You may have a poor to average credit rating, you may be a student with little to no credit rating or any one of many other reasons including being new to Canada. However you may also not be aware of what is in the market as you just have stayed put with a card for years or just took the one your bank gave you. Chances are you are fully capable of handling and using a better and much more rewarding card. And that’s where this post comes in - if you have one of the cards listed below and have a good to premium credit rating, pay off your bills every month and have income levels north of $40,000 there are better options for you.

The four least rewarding travel cards in Canada are as follows:

RBC Rewards+ Visa Card
The RBC Rewards+ Visa Card is RBC's entry level rewards card that rewards holders of the card with 1 RBC Rewards Point for every $2 spent on the card but bumps that up to 1 points for every $1 spent on gas, grocery and drug store purchases. When you go to redeem your RBC Rewards points for travel with this card you'll receive a $1 credit towards any travel for 100 points. This means you are receiving a 0.5% to 1% return on your spending. Thus you're average return will be below 1% unless you only use the card for gas, grocery or drug store purchases.

Scotiabank Rewards Visa Card 
Also an entry level card, the Scotiabank Rewards Visa Card rewards 1 Scotia Rewards point for every $2 spent on the card. There are no category bonuses with this card. When you redeem those points for travel you redeem at a rate of 100 points for $1 just like the RBC program above however you have to redeem a minimum of 5,000 points for a $50 credit. This means you are only receiving a 0.5% return on your card spending.

Vancity Enviro Classic Visa
The Vancity Enviro Classic Visa is a card that is only available to BC residents that rewards 1 Vancity Rewards point for every $2 spent on the card. It does have one category bonus, where you earn double the points for booking travel via Vancity Rewards. So for the most part when it comes to day to day spending this card is giving you only a 0.5% return as you redeem 100 points for $1 credit towards travel. You'll get 1% back on those Vancity Rewards travel purchases however.

HSBC +Rewards Mastercard
This relatively new card to our market is HSBC's new entry level card that is marketed more so towards being a low interest rate card with rewards so take this into account if you have this card or are considering it. It also has an annual that at time of posting is being waived for the first year. The card earns 1 HSBC Rewards point for every $1 spent on the card except for dining and entertainment where it earns 2 points per $1 spent. HSBC Rewards points are worth 0.5 cents each when redeeming towards travel which means this card gives a 0.5% return on all spending outside of the 1% for dining and entertainment.

As I already mentioned - just because you have one of the above cards it may not mean this is a bad thing. There could be very good reasons you have one of the above cards and by having one you are ahead of the game when compared to cards that have no rewards at all. However I want to make you aware that perhaps you should review what you have in your wallet to see if you can do even better with your rewards. There are plenty of no fee cards in our market where you will earn no less than 1% which means you could be doubling your rewards if you have one of the above cards.

I recommend checking out our Travel Rewards Credit Card comparison chart to see what options are out there for you!

March 3 Update: Complete list of new TD Credit Card offers, fly Air Canada's new A220 between Montreal & LAX and No AF KLM Promo Rewards for Canada this month

Earlier today (well late last night for us) we let you know about the new offer for TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card. This is the best offer of all the new TD offers that are out right now. Here are the others that also updated today:

THESE OFFERS HAVE ALL EXPIRED

Yesterday we let you know about the new round of Shop Small offers from American Express here on the blog. Those offers have now been added to our Amex offers page where you can see all the available offers at this time and also learn more about Amex offers.

If you are looking to try out Air Canada's new A220 aircraft they released details of another route it will fly. You can fly it between Montreal and Los Angeles between August 1 and September 7 as it will operate one of the three daily flights on this route. (Source RoutesOnline)

Finally if you are wondering about this month's Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards and why we haven't posted about it well its because they have no offers from Canada this month. There are several from the U.S. including Seattle which might work for those of you in Southwestern B.C.. Find out more here.
 

Posts since our last update:

• Last day to lock in awards before Marriott category changes take effect (we're looking at you Vancouver)
  Early in February we provided you with details on Marriott's annual hotel category changes and those will take effect…
• Air Canada to launch new flights between Vancouver and Orange County
  Great news for Air Canada and Star Alliance flyers who enjoy the LAX area beaches, are part of the…
• Marriott Bonvoy 2,000 bonus points on each stay starting with your second stay
  Marriott has revealed the details of their next systemwide bonus points promotion called Elevated Earning. It was first hinted…
• New welcome offer for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with first year free on Primary Card & 1st Additional card
  A new offer for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card was released today and it is almost the same…
• Amex Shop Small promotion returns for March - earn $5 credits or 300 bonus Membership Rewards points
  Amex's awesome Shop Small offer is back again for this month!  Last seen in November & December the offer once…
• March 2 Update: Best Western Rewards extending elite status for all members to 2022, 50% discount on transferring Aeroplan Miles and a lot of new bonus offers
  Another hotel chain has come out with a great loyalty move in light of the Coronavirus scare. Best Western…

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

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- March Promo Rewards – Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. More... Book by Mar 31 for travel May 1 – Jun 30, 20

Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Double Guest Rewards Points plus a free day when rent with Hertz for 6 or more days at participating locations in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, on all Car Classes and Collections. More... Mar 31, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- 2,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you stay on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday at the Holiday Inn Port Of Miami-Downtown More... Unknown end date

Marriott Bonvoy
- OFFER EXTENDED 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for weekend stays at the Renaissance Boulder Flatiron Hotel. More... Until May 12, 20

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 14,000 QMiles when you fly Qatar Airways between Doha and Cebu. More... Until Jun 30, 20

Scandic Hotels Friends
- 50% discount when you redeem Scandic Friend points for award night stays at select hotels in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. More... Until Mar 31, 20

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 500 VHR Points when you complete a short member survey on VHR’s Facebook page. More... Until May 31, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

---

Last day to lock in awards before Marriott category changes take effect (we're looking at you Vancouver)

Early in February we provided you with details on Marriott's annual hotel category changes and those will take effect as of tomorrow. We also covered it in last week's podcast if you haven't given it a listen yet. This is just a friendly reminder that if you have been thinking of redeeming points or a free night certificate for a stay you may want to expedite it to today if the hotel you are looking at is moving up in the category list. If its moving down you can wait until tomorrow or later.

View the entire list of category changes here.

Just to recap the changes quickly - a total of 29% of Marriott's locations Worldwide will be changing categories and for the most part it's not pretty - 22% are moving up in categories with a lot of Category 5 hotels (Those that you can redeem for with your free night from the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card) moving to Category 6. Here in Canada the changes weren't as bad if you just look at the numbers with 42 hotels changing and 55% of them moving down. However, Vancouver was hit hard in the changes with many of their downtown hotels moving from that Category 5 sweet spot to Category 6.  There are seven hotels in downtown Vancouver that are moving to the category 6 and some of you have already voiced your displeasure as you enjoyed using that free night certificate for staycations in the heart of YVR. So if you have been thinking of using a cert for downtown Vancouver stay you best be trying to book today! Other notable hotels moving up to Category 6 are the Residence Inn Mont Tremblant Manoir Labelle, Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, Autograph Collection and the Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Falls Fallsview.

That will say Category 6 as of tomorrow!

For other hotels we wait - in fact the Rewards Canada family is, we have a couple older Category 1-4 certificates that will expire soon and will need to use them up. As of tomorrow there will be a couple of more options as the Calgary Airport Marriott In-terminal hotel and Westin Calgary drop to Category 4 so those are on our radar to use the certs at for a staycation.

Now even with the category changes don't let it detract you from the Marriott Bonvoy program - it still provides a lot of potential value with its points (both on earning and redeeming) and not to mention having such a large footprint of over 7,200 hotels worldwide - it is a program that most people should use, even if its not your primary hotel programs.

Air Canada to launch new flights between Vancouver and Orange County

Great news for Air Canada and Star Alliance flyers who enjoy the LAX area beaches, are part of the tech industry and of course those who love Disneyland as Air Canada announced today a new daily year round flight between Vancouver and Orange County.

"We are very pleased to announce new daily, year-round flights from Vancouver to Orange County as we strategically expand our transborder network into the populous greater Los Angeles area," said Mark Galardo, Vice President, Network Planning and Alliances at Air Canada. "In addition to offering direct flights to the iconic tourism, sports and entertainment attractions that Orange County is known for, our new flights will also conveniently link the increasing start-up, tech and innovator businesses that both Vancouver and southern California are home to.  Air Canada's Orange County flights will also offer a wide array of connections across Canada and to Australia and India via our YVR hub."

The new flights will launch on June 15 and operate once daily with the following schedule:

Dep YVR 0900 Arr SNA 1159
Dep SNA 1240 Arr YVR 1527

The route will be operated with an Air Canada A319 featuring 14 business class seats and 106 economy class seats. Many times those business class seats don't price out much more than economy class so be sure to keep an eye out on that. Here at the Rewards Canada family we have flown to California with AC in Business Class as the fares were only about $100 more than economy and that doesn't even factor in seat selection fees and baggage fees for economy so you can see how it can be a good deal! Since WestJet already flies the route you can expect there to be some competitive pricing on the part of both airlines!

I have to say that I hope this works out for Air Canada and for selfish reasons pushes WestJet to fly Calgary to Orange County instead of out of YVR as our family does frequent Newport Beach and having direct flights to SNA would be awesome!

Source and image courtesy: Air Canada

Marriott Bonvoy 2,000 bonus points on each stay starting with your second stay

Marriott has revealed the details of their next systemwide bonus points promotion called Elevated Earning. It was first hinted at last week on the Marriott Insiders forum and the gentleman there was indeed correct with the offer. This offer is a flat rate bonus of 2,000 bonus Bonvoy points on each stay starting with your second stay. There is no limit to the number of bonus points you can earn during the promotion and as we always state with flat rate bonuses – these are the good ones for the short (think 1 night) cheaper stays if you are looking to maximize your earning value. Think about it – you can have two $80 per night stays and earn 2,000  bonus points whereas someone who has two $800 5 night stays will also just earn 2,000 bonus points.  Simply register for the offer by May 31 for stays between March 17 and June 14.

Offer details:
2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points on each stay starting with your second stay at over 7,200 Marriott Hotels worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required) Register by May 31 for stays Mar 17 – Jun 14, 20

Here are some more Marriott bonus offers to check out (and stack on top of this offer):

• New Marriott Bonvoy™* American Express® Cardmembers earn 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy™ points enough for 3 free nights at a Category 2 hotel after you charge $1,500 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership
• E0% Bonus Bonvoy Points when you buy 2,000 or more points online. Buy points here.
  You can buy a maximum of 100,000 points annually with this promotion.
• 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stay at the Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton Gateway. Full details & online booking
• Find Canada's most indepth list of Marriott Bonus Points offers right here!

New welcome offer for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with first year annual fee rebate on Primary Card & 1st Additional card

A new offer for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card was released today and it is almost the same as the offer we have seen for the past three months. The only change for this iteration of the offer is the addition of a first year annual fee rebate offer for the first additional/supplementary cardholder. This is in addition to the primary card having a first year annual fee rebate. The bonus is the same at 30,000 Aeroplan Miles with $3,000 in spending however the earning of the 30,000 has changed slightly.

Now what you'll want to know is how do you earn the full 30,000 Aeroplan Mile welcome bonus. When you receive the card you will be awarded with 15,000 Aeroplan miles on the first purchase made. Then you will receive 5,000 additional Aeroplan miles when you spend $1,000 in each of the first three months you have the card. That is, if you spend $1,000 on the card in month one you'll earn 5,000 Aeroplan miles. This bonus is over and above the normal 1 to 1.5 Aeroplan Miles per dollar you would earn on the card for purchases.  All told, spend $1,000 in each of those three months ($3,000 in total) and you have the additional 15,000 Aeroplan Miles.  This is all with the first year annual fee rebate of $120 on the primary card and $50 fee rebate for the first additional cardholder. Of course if you have a TD All Inclusive Banking plan you don't ever pay annual fees on the primary or first additional card.

Just remember, the $1,000 is key - as the offer states you will earn 5,000 Aeroplan Miles for hitting that $1,000 mark each month.  So don't go out and blow $3,000 in the first month thinking you'll get 15,000 miles right away. Play it cool and make sure you can hit the $1,000 each month for those first three months.

I would also recommend that if you play the credit card sign up bonus game or are a credit card churner - you may want to take a break from other cards when you get this card.  The reason why is so you can focus your spend to reach that $1,000 spend per month without stretching your finances to meet the minimum spend requirements on other cards at the same time. We've heard too many stories of people scrambling because they signed up for and received too many cards in a short period of time and struggled to hit the minimums to earn the welcome bonuses.

That aside - once you do have this card and have earned the 30,000 Aeroplan miles you have a lot of travel reward value at your disposal. Looking at the Aeroplan Classic Flight reward chart there are lots of round trip options that run from 15,000 to 30,000 miles and even more one way options since they are exactly half of the rates listed on the chart:

 Here are some of the possible redemption options for the 30,000 mile level:

• 2 Round Trip Economy Class Short Haul tickets 
• 1 Round Trip Business Class Short Haul ticket 
• 1 Round Trip Economy Class Long Haul ticket in Canada and the U.S. (with 5,000 miles left over)
• 1 One Way Economy Class Ticket to South America or Europe

The value you get out of the sign up bonus will really vary based on what you redeem your miles on. In many of our past posts we see Aeroplan miles being worth as little as 1.2 cents for economy class flights to well over 6 cents per mile for business class flights. That means the 30,000 mile welcome bonus is worth anywhere from $360 to $1,800+ which makes it one of the most worthwhile sign up offers in the market seeing that it basically comes to you at no cost since the first year annual fee is waived.

This is a limited time offer and only valid until May 31 2020.

Find out more and apply for the card here.

This offer is not available for residents of Quebec. For Quebec residents, please click here.