Wednesday, March 18, 2020

March 18 Update: Instacart now coding properly for 5x points with Amex Cobalt Card, Centurion Lounges shutting down temporarily & 2x RBC Rewards points when converting Hudson's Bay Rewards points

Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel, lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.


And on the note of closures it has been announced that all American Express Centurion lounges worldwide will shut down temporarily as of March 21. So if you are still trying to make your way back to Canada and its after that date you can count on not accessing those lounges. (HT One Mile at a Time)


Rewards Canada reader Titaniumtux let us know that American Express has fixed the coding for Instacart, the grocery delivery service. No longer is it coding as 1x but now it is 5x points! The timing couldn't be better seeing that is really the only thing most people will be buying right now. Check out our confirmed Cobalt multipliers page right here.
Image via Instacart

Rewards Canada reader Amy let us know that RBC makes you wait 90 days between applications for any of their credit cards - that puts a wrench into our post on How to score 700 WestJet dollars for 240, not that people are really interested in travel rewards in the short term but still many of us will go to a hoarding stance until things return to normal so you may still want to take a look at this offer as there are very good chance one or both of the cards in the article will have their offers extended past March 31.

Now to some bonus offers and I'll reiterate what I stated on our global bonus offers site FrequentFlyerBonuses.com and I'll do the same thing here on Rewards Canada. I'm not going to post any short term offers unless they make sense to like More Rewards Pile on the Points promotion. All offers I'll post will be more forward looking beyond mid-April when hopefully things start to return to normal here in Canada and globally. Here is what I have been posting on FFB:

In light of global events and a major slow down it travel we here at FFB will continue with our mission of delivering frequent traveller promotions to our audience but with some limitations. We will not be posting offers that end in the short term – that is for March and the first half of April. We will post offers that go beyond that or if it is a short term one, it will be one that doesn’t require travel such as free points for some sort of non-travel action, elite status matches or other promotions like that.
 

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank has a 10% bonus for transferring Marriott Bonvoy points until May 10. Learn more about that bonus here. Marriott Bonvoy points convert to JAL Mileage Bank miles at a 3:1 ratio and Marriott kicks in an additional 5,000 miles when you convert 60,000 points at once. That means 60,000 Bonvoy Points will get you 25,000 Mileage Bank Miles and this promotion will give you an additional 2,500 miles on top of that for a total of 27,500 miles per 60,000 points. Learn more about converting Marriott Points to Airline Miles here.

These are really the promotions to watch out for right now since travel is almost non-existent.  JAL has some reward chart sweet spots in their program including the ability to ‘renew’ status for only 5,000 miles when you are part of JAL’s Global Club. A promotion like this will let you start getting ready for those future redemptions when the world returns to normal.
Image via JAL




RBC Rewards is offering 2x points when you choose to auto-convert Hudson’s Bay Rewards points until April 20. Now Hudson's Bay has closed all their stores but you should be able to set auto-convert on existing balances and you can still shop online with Hudson’s Bay and earn Hudson’s Bay Rewards points. Beauty of this is that you can go through an online shopping portal like Rakuten, Aeroplan eStore or airmilesshops.ca to earn in those programs, then earn the Hudson’s Bay Rewards points from the Hudson’s Bay purchase and then of course this RBC bonus! Find out more here!
Image via RBC

Posts since our last update:



Canadian Bonus Offers

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Triple Aeroplan Miles when you stay at Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S.. More... Apr 13 - Jun 30, 20


Other Bonus Offers


ALL Accor Live Limitless
- 2,000 bonus Rewards points when you complete two stays at participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Register and book by May 4 for stays until Sep 30, 20

Choice Privileges
- 13,000 Bonus Privileges Points when you book 5 nights or more at a vacation rental on ChoiceVacationRentals.com. More... Book by May 31, 20 for stays until Dec 31, 21

JAL Mileage Bank
- 10% Bonus Mileage Bank Miles when you convert Marriott Bonvoy Points to JAL Mileage Bank Miles. More... Until May 10, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at more than 30 Marriott hotels in the Dallas area. More... Apr 1 – Jun 24, 20

World of Hyatt
- Instant World of Hyatt Explorist status and fast track to keep that Explorist or reach Globalist status. More... Register by Nov 16, 20




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Air Transat to gradually suspend all flights


Porter Airlines isn't the only Canadian airline announcing a suspension of flights today. Air Transat also released news today that they are going to gradually suspend all flights with most if not all flights ending in about two weeks. They have also halted sales on most flights to/from European, Mexico, Caribbean and U.S. destinations for departures until April 30.

"Sales for departures until April 30 are suspended immediately from and to most destinations in Europe and the United States. Repatriation flights will still be operated during the next two weeks, in order to bring Transat customers back to their home country. So as to allow as many repatriations as possible, sales will, however, remain temporarily open in both directions between Montreal and Paris and Lisbon and between Toronto and London and Lisbon. A date for a full halt to operations will be announced soon.

Sales are also halted immediately from and to the Caribbean and Mexico. Again, flights will continue for a few more days in order to repatriate Transat customers to Canada. Transat is advising its Canadian customers who were scheduled to depart in the coming days to heed the government's recommendations and postpone their departure.

For domestic flights, clients are encouraged to check that their flight is maintained on the website.
Transat customers who are currently at destinations are asked to check the company's website, where necessary information for the organization of their return will be made available. There will be no booking fee and passengers will not have to pay any price difference. It is of the utmost importance to Transat to bring everyone back.

All customers who were unable to travel because their flight is cancelled will receive a credit for future travel, to be used within 24 months of their original travel date."

Remember as well that if an airline cancels a flight you can be entitled to a full refund so you can also ask for that instead of a credit for future travel although this kudos to Air Transat for putting out one of the longest credit periods out there that we have seen yet at 24 months.

Learn more about Transat's announcement here

We have updated our COVID-19 Resources page with these details as well.

Image via Air Transat
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Porter Airlines to suspend all operations from March 20 to May 31


Porter Airlines announced this morning that they will be temporarily suspending all operations from Friday March 20 to May 31 and will resume flights on June 1.

Here are the details as provided by Porter's CEO Michael Deluce:

"The speed of developments related to COVID-19 is shocking. It is having an unprecedented impact around the globe on businesses, economies and people. 

Porter supports the efforts of the Canadian, U.S. and global authorities in their responses. Government actions make it apparent that restricting activities by people in all communities is what’s required to keep everyone healthy, and ultimately to end this fast-spreading pandemic. 

As a result, we are doing our part by temporarily suspending flights at the conclusion of the operating day on Friday, March 20. We will resume service on June 1. This time period allows the COVID-19 public health crisis to diminish and then time for us to effectively restart operations. 

We intend to operate a schedule through Friday, to ensure all customers have an opportunity to complete trips or make last-minute travel arrangements. This will occur as long as aviation and public health infrastructure allows us to do so safely. 

To assist our passengers in returning home on short notice, we’ve waived change and cancellation fees for all our flights. Changes and cancellations can be made online. If you have an upcoming flight booked with us during our temporary suspension, we will email you or your travel agent with information specific to your reservation. It isn’t necessary to contact us at this time while we assist passengers with travel requirements between now and Friday."

If you have a flight booked between those dates you should be able to get a full refund should you not want to re-book your travel for a later date.

You can learn more about this new development here. 

Image via Porter Airlines

We have updated our COVID-19 Resources page with these details as well.
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Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Scotiabank raising points requirements for some non-travel redemptions including Points for Credit on May 4


Of course only a few days after we put up our post "In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?" we come to find Scotia Rewards is changing many of their Pay for Credit rates (aka cash back rate), Gift Card rates and Apple/Best Buy Catalog redemption rates. Guess this change was announced back in January and we missed it and Scotia didn't let us know either.

In our piece from earlier this we really focused on the Pay with Points option that many travel rewards and proprietary credit card programs provide as a great stop-gap redemption item in the new world we live in right now. This is where you get to redeem points against almost any purchase you make with a card but still have the choice to redeem for travel or other options. And in our piece we touted that Scotia Rewards was a really good option for paying down your credit card balance to help with your finances and that got devalued - well as of May 4th it does.

These are the old and new Points for Credit rates:
As you can see on the lower level, that is up to 11,000 points there are no changes. But it gets worse from there on in. The $100 redemption Pay with Points level is going up by  about 3.57%, $150 level is up about 2.38% but now the best levels of $300 and $500 are going up by a whopping 14.66% and 14.4% respectively! Those are some big jumps and they are coming at a really bad time! This changes the effective top end cash back rate for one Scotia Rewards points from 0.8 cents to just under 0.7 cents. You may say well point one of a cent isn't much but in reality reaching that $500 level now takes anywhere from $1,800 to $18,000 in more spending dependent on which Scotia credit card you have.

If we look at the top earning Scotia Rewards Card, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card which earns as much as 5x points per dollar its top end cash back return moves from 4% to just under 3.5%. In the big picture this is still a really good cash back rate, it is essentially equivalent to the American Express Cobalt Card and makes for a good use of your points if the majority of them were earned at the 5x rate. Still it is a hard pill to swallow to lose that half a percent.

For gift cards these are the old and new rates:

As you can see here, every single gift card option is increasing in price. Surprisingly the $500 level takes less points than the $500 level in Points for Credit. You'll come with a 0.71 cents per point redemption value or just over 0.1 cents better than Points for Credit. Overall the gift card changes aren't as drastic as the Points for Credit but it still sees a 9.38% increase at the top level.

Finally if you want to redeem points for Scotia's Apple or Best Buy catalogues you are going to see those redemption rates increase by 14% from 127 points for $1 to 145 for $1.

It really sucks when redemption rates get nerfed like this and it's taking place at a really bad time in the market. Looks like Scotia may be finding the increased earn rates on their Gold American Express card and No Foreign Transaction fees on their two most popular cards are cutting into their revenues and they need to make up for it elsewhere.

As many Canadians are going to be stretching their dollars over the next few months and many are hoping to have their points help them along the way it may be time for Scotia to provide some good will and postpone these changes until late summer or early fall when (hopefully) things are back to normal in this world.

These changes affect all of the following Scotiabank credit cards:

I'm sorry I didn't catch this back in January but hopefully by getting it to you now means that maybe you can get your redemptions in before May 4 so that you can get the most value for your points.

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Rewards Canada's COVID-19 Resources Page


While we have been posting a lot of details on airline and hotel policies, news and more on the blog we thought it best to compile all the information on to one page. We have made that accessible on the main Rewards Canada site at:

https://www.rewardscanada.ca/covid19/

We are still in the process of adding more details for U.S. and International airlines as well as more hotel chains however you will find all the major Canadian airlines are up to date on the page. If you come across new information, airlines, hotels or programs we haven't covered let us know in the comments section and we'll add it as soon as possible
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More Rewards Pile up the Points - Earn up to 20,000 bonus points for collecting at multiple partners until April 8



More Rewards big promotion called Pile up the Points has returned until April 8. Last seen in August of 2019 this is the More Rewards equivalent of AIR MILES' Mega Miles (which was officially postponed today) The promotion awards bonus More Rewards points when you shop or collect points from multiple More Rewards partners. Bonuses are awarded as follows:
  • Shop at 3 Partners 2,000 Points
  • Shop at 4 Partners 5,000 Points
  • Shop at 5 Partners 20,000 Points
These are the participating partners:
  • Save-On-Foods, Urban Fare, PriceSmart Foods (Count as 1 partner)
  • Petro-CanadaTM
  • Panago Pizza
  • Jim Pattison Auto Group 
  • Speedy Glass
  • Accent Inns
  • Coast Hotels 
  • Vancouver Attractions 
  • Vancouver Hino 
  • Oxygen Yoga and Fitness
  • More Rewards Insurance (receive a quote or purchase)
  • More Rewards Travel (valid only for cash purchases)
 Couple of notes for the promotion this time round. First, their three grocery store brands only count as one partner, last time they were all separate partners. Second, given the current situation in our country and globally it will probably be tough to get to 5 partners. Easiest by far is to shop at one of their grocery stores and spend at least $1 (Save-On even has home delivery), get gas or make a purchase at Petro-Canada (make sure your Petro-Points account is linked to your More Rewards account and spend at least $20) and also get a quote for More Rewards Insurance. There's 3 partners for 2,000 points. Order some pizza from Panago (min $20 spend) and you have four partners for 5,000 points. The remainder of the partners may be tougher to achieve unless you need a rock chip or something fixed on your car as I'm sure many of you won't be going to yoga classes or travelling by April 8.

I know this promotion launched just over a week ago before a lot of the most recent developments here in Canada but am actually glad it is still available. Right now many Canadians will be taking a look at how they can stretch their finances further during this time of uncertainty and one way is the ability to use points for everyday purchases. More Rewards points can be used at Save-On-Foods, Urban Fare and PriceSmart Foods to help bring down the price of your groceries. In reality, 2,000 or 5,000 points isn't a lot in this program but every little bit helps.

Learn more about Pile up the Points here.

Image via More Rewards
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AIR MILES Mega Miles was set to launch this week but has now been postponed


The ever popular AIR MILES Mega Miles event was slated to start tomorrow but it has now been postponed in light of COVID-19 situation in Canada. AIR MILES reached out to us this morning and provided the following:

"As a result of the developments surrounding COVID-19, we have decided to postpone the MEGA MILES promotion currently planned to launch on March 19, 2020.
 
As we continue to learn more about COVID-19 situation and respond accordingly, new dates have not yet been selected. We ask Collectors for their patience while we work on finalizing new dates for MEGA MILES. We will proactively communicate the new MEGA MILES dates when they are solidified."

AIR MILES also advised us that they will update the airmiles.ca/megamiles site with an FAQ later today.

In some ways I'm not surprised they have postponed it given the current situation, I do hope however that AIR MILES and its sponsors come out with some healthy promotions for the type of shopping people will need to be doing over the coming weeks - groceries, drug stores etc. as this is the time collectors (especially those who choose Cash Miles) will be relying heavily on the programs to help ease the financial burden many may face during this time.

Also be sure to read and bookmark our COVID-19 Resources page for all the latest news, policy updates and more.

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WestJet suspends all transborder and international flights as of March 22 for 30 days


Late last night WestJet announced they will suspend all transborder and international flights as of 11:59pm MT on March 22 for 30 days.

"To be clear, this means our final commercially scheduled flights from international and transborder destinations will launch on Sunday night by 11:59 p.m. local time; after that, we will be operating rescue and repatriation flights with our partners. As of tonight, international and transborder tickets are no longer available for sale during this 30 day period." said Ed Sims on the WestJet blog.

And WestJet posted the following course of actions for passengers who have such flights booked (yours truly included)

If you have an existing booking, for:
  1. a flight within Canada that departs anytime -- no action is required. We will contact you if your flight is affected.
  2. an international flight that departs all travel segments prior to 11:59 p.m. local time on Sunday March 22 -- no action is required. We will contact you if your flight is affected.
  3. an international flight with the first segment departing after 11:59 p.m. local time on Sunday, March 22.
    1. most flights can be changed or cancelled online with Manage Trips
    2. if you are unable to change or cancel your flight online, we will contact you with flight options
  4. an international flight and have started your trip, but plan to return to Canada on a flight that departs after 11:59 p.m. local time on Sunday March 22.
    1. there may be flights available for you to return to Canada prior to 11:59 p.m. local time on Sunday March 22. Please check westjet.com for availability and manage your flight via Manage trips on our website.
    2. if you are unable to secure a flight back to Canada on WestJet, please contact the Canadian Government via travel.gc.ca to register for possible repatriation
If you are booked on any of those flights affected after 11:59pm on March 22 you should now be entitled to a full refund of your flights rather than a credit towards future travel.

I haven't logged in to try to manage my trip yet on WestJet.com to see if cancelling online will trigger the full refund and the return of our companion vouchers nor will I call in just yet as our flights aren't until the middle of April and I don't want to contribute to inundating their call centre and systems. I'll give a few weeks still and then proceed to cancel the flights. As is recommended by WestJet and most other airlines - if you aren't travelling within 72 hours please wait to call.

This news has been added to our COVID-19 Resource Page

Image via WestJet
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Monday, March 16, 2020

In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?


Over the weekend some much happened here in Canada and while lots of travel was shutting it seems so much more has transpired in the last 72 hours alone! Here in Alberta we had nearly a 50% jump in confirmed COVIV-19 cases in one day and that prompted the closure of all schools here as Alberta was one of the remaining provinces not to do so plus the City of Calgary declared a local state of emergency which means all city run facilities like libraries and rec centres are shut down.

With travel being curtailed so drastically Matt over at Pointshogger put out a really good article over the weekend as to whether you should shift your credit card focus to cash back instead of travel. This is something I've been thinking about for quite a few days as well and in Matt's article he goes into some good details of the pros and cons of the two types of cards and managing low risk versus high risk. He does such a good job I'm not going to rehash it here or write about those items. Simply click the link above and give it a read - it's short and to the point. Then come back here and read what I think.

Yes the question of should you focus on cash back instead of travel rewards is very valid. We are in a new world thanks to the Coronavirus and this world may mean working less hours, lower incomes and looking at how you can stretch your dollar. This is where cash back cards come into play, they put cash into your pocket as your reward for spending on those cards. There is one very big drawback however - the majority of cash back cards only provide you with cash back once per year. Some cards are September, some cards are November, some are January while others are on your card anniversary date. That doesn't help you in the short term - most people who will need cash back will need it now and for the next few months. So what options do you have? Well there are several cash back cards that do let you cash out monthly or whenever your cash back rewards balance reaches a certain amount. Probably the best example of this is the Rogers World Elite Mastercard (and other cards in the Rogers Financial portfolio) as you can use your cash back towards any purchase once your rewards balance hits $20.

But what I would consider to be an even better option are cards that let you choose what rewards you want. That is, travel or cash back! Any why not?  This way you are not stuck with one or the other, you have the option of what you want to do with your points. Don't need cash now? Collect on these cards to fund you future travels since travel almost always provides a better return on your spending. But if you need the cash now they let you redeem those points for almost any purchase on the card - at anytime! That's right at anytime. Almost all travel cards now have an option to redeem your points for any purchase on your card albeit at a rate lower than what you get for travel. Most are around that 1% return mark but there are some cards that actually provide potentially higher returns thanks to their category earn bonuses. Some of the cards on the lower end of the redemption value spectrum for cash back are the RBC Avion Cards, CIBC Aventura cards and BMO Rewards cards.
RBC Rewards Pay with Points options

BMO Rewards Points for Cash option


While on the higher end of cash back return value you have most American Express Cards (those earning Membership Rewards points), the MBNA World Elite Mastercard, the Scotiabank Gold American Express and Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card. Here are the cash back returns you can expect on these cards:

UPDATE:

Limited Time Offer: Increased value in American Express Use Points for Purchases (1,000 points = up to $20!)

  • American Express Cobalt Card
    • 5x points on eats & drinks equates to a 3.5% cash back return (limited to $30,000 annually)
    • 2x points on transit, gas, travel equates to a 1.4% cash back return
    • 1x points for everything else equates to a 0.7% cash back return
    • Minimum redemption amount: 1,000 points for $7 (or as little as $200 in spending)
  • American Express Gold Rewards Card
    • 2x points on grocery, gas, drug store travel equates to a 1.4% cash back return
    • 1x points for everything else equates to a 0.7% cash back return
    • Minimum redemption amount: 1,000 points for $7 (or as little as $500 in spending)
  • The Platinum Card from American Express
    • 3x points on dining equates to a 2.1% cash back return
    • 2x points on travel equates to a 1.4% cash back return
    • 1x points for everything else equates to a 0.7% cash back return
    • Minimum redemption amount: 1,000 points for $7 (or as little as $334 in spending)
  • MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard
    • 2x points on all purchases equates to a 1.67% cash back return
    • Minimum redemption amount: 6,000 points for $50 (or $3,000 in spending)
  • Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
    • 5x points on grocery stores,  dining and entertainment equates to a 3.3% to 4% cash back return (limited to $50,000 annually)
    • 3x points on gas stations, daily transit and select streaming services equates to a 2% to 2.4% cash back return (limited to $50,000 annually)
    • 1x points for everything else equates to a 0.66 to 0.8% cash back return 
    • Minimum redemption amount: 3,000 points for $20 (or as little as $600 in spending)
  • Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
    • 2x points on grocery, dining, entertainment and daily transit equates to 1.32% to 1.6% return
    • 1x points for everything else equates to a 0.66 to 0.8% cash back return  
    • Minimum redemption amount: 3,000 points for $20 (or as little as $1,500 in spending)
As you can see you have lots of cash back options with the above cards with really decent value. Most cash back cards in Canada average between 1% to 2% although some category multipliers push those to 4%. For example the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite and Platinum Cards offer 4% back for gas and groceries (up to $80,000 annually) while the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card provides 4% back for groceries and recurring bills and the American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card provides a straight 2% back on all purchases. But as I said before most cash back cards only reward you once per year and all those mentioned in this paragraph are that way while the list of travel cards above are not. As long as you have those minimum points amounts that we detail you can redeem for cash back at any time. Now when we say cash back it's technically not cash in your pocket but rather cash to use towards any purchase. For example here's Amex's slider that lets you use points for any purchase:

Sure a 0.7% return isn't as good as some of the regular cash back but you have instant access to that cash and when you take into account the other multipliers like 5x points for a 3.5% return it's not hard to move your cash back rate well above 1%. And with everything pretty much shutting down right now, most purchases that people will be making will only be for groceries, take out and food delivery like Skip the Dishes so cards like the American Express Cobalt Card and Scotiabank Gold American Express/Passport Visa Infinite cards are the ones to really look at!

Personally if I was in the market right now for a new card for the situation that we are in today, hands down the one that would be on top of that list is the American Express Cobalt Card. And I'm saying this from someone who has two Cobalt accounts in our family - it's earning and redemption options are the best. It is the reason why we rank the card as the number one travel rewards card in Canada and fourth overall cash back card in Canada even though it isn't marketed or known as a cash back card. And for non Amex purchases I would throw in a card like the Rogers World Elite Mastercard or the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card.

Finally remember all of the cards we highlighted above are strong cards for travel so if you don't end up using the points for cash back you'll have some healthy balances ready to travel the world once it returns to normal.
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Canada closing borders to most non-residents and international flights limited to four airports

Prime Minister Trudeau announced this afternoon that Canada is closing its borders to most non-residents of Canada. Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be allowed to return as long as they are not presenting with symptoms of COVID-19. In addition to Canadian citizens and permanent residents being allowed back into Canada immediate family members of citizens, diplomats, air crew and U.S. citizens will still be allowed to travel to Canada - again as long as they are not presenting with symptoms.

Also if you must self-isolate for 14 days if you arriving from abroad and all international arrivals will now be funneled through four Canadian airports - Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver as of Wednesday.

Trudeau added that he is encouraging all Canadians who are abroad to come home as soon as you can and that is some advice that should be heeded as most airlines are really cutting back their schedules or shutting down completely which it may be harder to get home in the near future.

Source: CTV News
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