April 17 Update: Air Canada updates international flight schedule, 20x PC Optimum points at Shoppers, 40% bonus when buying Wyndham Rewards points

Air Canada provided a major schedule update to their international operations yesterday. Based on the data it appears that Air Canada is hoping that things will be improving by June. This latest update sees international flights return to Calgary and a significant increase to flights out of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. It also shows many routes (mostly summer seasonal) that have been cancelled for 2020 including Calgary to Tokyo, Vancouver to Paris, Toronto to Prague and Montreal to Marseille just to name a few. View the complete update on RoutesOnline

Image via Air Canada 

PC Optimum members can earn 20x points when you spend $50 or more at Shoppers Drug Mart this weekend. Online the offer runs from today to Sunday, in-store it is only available for Saturday and Sunday. Find out more here.

Image via Shoppers Drug Mart

Pacific Coastal Airlines has pushed back their plan to resume flights from May 2 to June 1. They are still providing essential charter flights to remote communities and are still flying as WestJet Link providing connections to some smaller WestJet cities. Hopefully this enough to keep the airline alive! (Source Pacific Coastal) 

Image via Pacific Coastal

Wyndham Rewards is the latest program to reveal a bonus for buying points. As of today you can earn a 40% bonus for buying their points and have increased the limit on the number of points you can buy to 45,000 (pre-bonus). Find out more here.

Cathay Pacific has updated their schedule between Vancouver and Hong Kong to 2 weekly flights until May 31. Toronto remains suspended at this time. (Source RoutesOnline)

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.

Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• 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?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• Now is a good time to pay off your student loans and tuition using points and miles via HigherEdPoints
  A few weeks ago I was contacted by Suzanne Tyson from HigherEdPoints.com after my post on Shifting your loyalty…
• Front Line Workers can receive free Best Western Rewards Gold status, upgrade to next tier or Diamond Select for Life
  Best Western Rewards has come out with an elite status promotion for Front Line Workers. If you work in…
• April 15 Update: Earn 3x Aeroplan Miles at Coast Hotels until the end of June, 20% bonus Avios on your first British Airways eStore purchase and WestJet cuts 5 domestic routes
  A reminder of a bonus offer we let you know about quite a few weeks that just launched this…
  
   

Deals:

The Fairmont Store has launched a white sale where you can save 20% on all beds, linens, pillows, duvets, robes and towels. You can bring the comforts of Fairmont Hotels home with this sale. Find out more here. This sale runs until April 20.

Casper: Take 10% off a mattress with code GOODSNOOZ. Valid through 5/11.

Hello Fresh: save $65 in total, including free shipping on the first box! Find out more here.

Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.
Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.

Canadian Bonus Offers

Marriott Bonvoy
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT when you book a deluxe water view room or a club floor room at the Delta Hotels Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort. More... Until May 10, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points or Airline Miles for stays at the Best Western Plus Hollywood Hills Hotel More... Until Aug 31, 20
- Double Rewards Points or Airline Miles for stays of 2 or more nights Sunday-Thursday at the Best Western Plus Cincinnati Riverfront Downtown Area More... May 1 - 31, 20

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you book a minimum of two consecutive nights stay at Casa del Rio Melaka. More... Until May 31, 20


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AIR MILES extends Gold and Onyx elite status to 2021 and further extends travel change fee waiver

Over the past few weeks we have been passing along the news of many airline and hotel loyalty programs extending the elite status for their members and now AIR MILES has followed suit. The program reached out to us today to pass along the news that Gold and Onyx elite status members will have their status extended to the end of 2021. AIR MILES has also extended the period of their travel change fee waiver to the end of May.

Here are the details that AIR MILES provided to us:

AIR MILES GOLD® and Onyx® Status Extension

For Collectors who achieved AIR MILES GOLD® or Onyx® Collector status in 2019, their status has been automatically extended for an entire year – until December 31, 2021. Given the current circumstances, AIR MILES understands that it may be hard to re-qualify for status in 2020 and wanted to provide our Collectors with the assurance that your status and benefits are secure.

Travel change fee extension

Additionally, AIR MILES is extending its one-time waiver of all AIR MILES change fees until May 31, 2020 for all bookings with travel dates between March 13, 2020 and May 31, 2020. This one-time waiver applies to changes on existing bookings made through AIR MILES. Cancellations, however, are facilitated by AIR MILES in accordance with the policies put in place by individual airlines, travel Partners and providers.

As you can see the travel change fee waiver has been pushed back by a month as that was originally set for April 30. For the extension of status you can see it is for those who achieved status in 2019. I have asked AIR MILES about those who qualified in 2020 as technically their status would end in March 2021. At this time I am still awaiting a response but once I get the answer I'll update the post. Be sure to check back through out the day for that update!

UPDATE 9:59am MT: AIR MILES has confirmed that if you earn status in 2020 it will also be extended to the end of 2021!

Title image via AIR MILES

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April 16 Update: Wyndham Rewards pauses points expiry and extends status, new Amex Offers for Clearly, summary of buy miles/points bonus offers

Wyndham Rewards is one program we haven't covered yet for their COVID-19 policies. They announced that no points will expiry until September 30 and will extend the status of all current elite tier members to the end of 2021. Since they now have status extensions Wyndham has temporarily stopped matching status from other programs. In terms of actual stays they are offering no fee cancellations and changes for all stays until June 30. Find out more here.

 Image via Wyndham

A new Amex Offers offer is available to select cardmembers. The offer is for Clearly and it is a statement credit equal to 15% of total qualifying purchases up to a maximum of $40 in credits- Personally I received it on the Platinum card. You can find this and most other offers on our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

Image via Amex

If you have been studying the in and outs of airline and hotel loyalty programs while staying at home you'll know that there can be opportunities to pull value out of buying miles and points from the programs. Right now there are 9 different offers available in the market which we summarized on our global website. See that summary here.

Image via United

Avianca LifeMiles has also put a pause on the expiration of their miles until the end of the year. This is good news if you are one who has taken advantage of their amazing buy miles offers and are still sitting on a balance of miles.

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.
Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• 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?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• Now is a good time to pay off your student loans and tuition using points and miles via HigherEdPoints
  A few weeks ago I was contacted by Suzanne Tyson from HigherEdPoints.com after my post on Shifting your loyalty…
• Front Line Workers can receive free Best Western Rewards Gold status, upgrade to next tier or Diamond Select for Life
  Best Western Rewards has come out with an elite status promotion for Front Line Workers. If you work in…
• April 15 Update: Earn 3x Aeroplan Miles at Coast Hotels until the end of June, 20% bonus Avios on your first British Airways eStore purchase and WestJet cuts 5 domestic routes
  A reminder of a bonus offer we let you know about quite a few weeks that just launched this…

Deals:

Casper: Take 10% off a mattress with code GOODSNOOZ. Valid through 5/11.

Stream Man With a Plan commercial-free on CBS All Access Canada. Join now & get 1 month FREE!. Find out more here.

Hello Fresh: save $65 in total, including free shipping on the first box! Find out more here.

Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.

Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.

Canadian Bonus Offers

No new bonuses added today

Other Bonus Offers

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to a 65% bonus and 15% off when you buy AAdvantage Miles. More... Until May 31, 20

Best Western Rewards
- Receive Gold Elite Status or an upgrade to the next elite status level in Best Western Rewards for being an essential Front Line Worker. More... Register by Jul 31 to receive status until Jan 31, 2022 except for Diamond Select for Life

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the at Milwaukee Marriott Downtown, The Westin Milwaukee or SpringHill Suites Milwaukee Downtown. More... Until Jun 14, 20

Saudia Alfursan
- 75% Bonus Alfursan Miles when you buy 5,000 to 300,000 miles. More... Until Apr 20, 20

WorldHotels Rewards
- Elite Level Status Match - WorldHotels Rewards will match your other Hotel Reward program status with no catch. More... Ongoing offer

Wyndham Rewards
- Receive Wyndham Rewards Gold Elite Status for free as an essential worker. More... Register by Sep 30, 20





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Now is a good time to pay off your student loans and tuition using points and miles via HigherEdPoints

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Suzanne Tyson from HigherEdPoints.com after my post on Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times and she reminded me about their service and how right now may actually be the best time to use them. In my piece we looked at shifting from a travel focus to a cash or cash equivalent focus in your loyalty programs and that's what HigherEdPoints is - a cash equivalent.

We've covered HigherEdPoints in the past on Rewards Canada but if you are unfamiliar with them here is a quick recap.

HigherEdPoints is a program that provides students and their families an option for using points towards post-secondary tuition and student loans. They are currently partnered with Aeroplan, CIBC and TD as a redemption option and you can convert points to cash payments towards payment of tuition at over 100 institutions in Canada or towards Canada Student Loans and other provincial student aid programs. To date Canadians have utilized HigherEdPoints to offset over $2 million in student loans and tuition.

How does it work?
You simply log in to your rewards account with Aeroplan, TD or CIBC and navigate to the proper page for redeeming and click on HigherEdPoints.  Or you can access the redemption option links via this page on HigherEdPoints.

How many points or miles does it take?
You can convert 35,000 Aeroplan Miles to receive a $250 credit. Same goes for CIBC where you'll get $250 for 35,000 CIBC Rewards points. Finally, there is TD Rewards which provides the best redemption rate: 62,500 TD Rewards points nets you that $250 credit. Compare this to the regular TD Rewards Cash Back rate of 100,000 points to get $250 cash back and you can see why it is such a good redemption option. It fact it's actually not far off the best redemption rate for ExpediaForTD redemption and is equivalent to the travel anywhere redemption option (up to $1,200 in travel)

Listen in: Rewards Canada podcast Episode 53 - Interview with Suzanne Tyson, founder of HigherEdPoints

Why redeem points and miles now?
"It's going to be so important for people to know about HigherEdPoints to help fund their education because it's a quadruple whammy coming ...parents laid off, student jobs disappearing, campuses needing to cut back on financial aid because students can't enroll (bursaries are funded by tuition offsets...so, less tuition, fewer bursaries) and the government funding may take a hit because of all the other funding they are providing nationwide..." states Suzanne, "Given the Feds have taken away student loan repayments and taken interest accruals off until September, this is a perfect time for students to get out from under their debt."

Recommended Reading: Using Points & Miles to pay for Tuition 

It's the latter point Suzanne makes that really may hit home with a lot of you. You can pay down your student loans right now to lower your future potential interest by using one of their three program partners. If you are a student and don't have the points or miles to redeem it never hurts to ask your family members. Remember that outside of TD the redemption rates from Aeroplan and CIBC may not be tempting for those who track value but take into account the interest savings, yours or your child's possible lack of cash flow to start making payments in September and all of a sudden those Aeroplan and CIBC redemptions become very valuable.

If you don't have enough points in any of the programs but are stable enough financially to take on a new credit card you could look at the TD First Class Visa Infinite Card as it provides up to 65,000 points as its welcome bonus (when you apply by May 31, 2020 and complete the minimum spending) and with no annual fees on the primary and first additional card in the first year as those are rebated. This means you can get that $250 HigherEdPoints credit, have 2,500 points left over at no cost outside of your actual spend on the card. Similarly you could do the same with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card but you'll have to spend a bit more to get to the 35,000 Aeroplan Mile level to redeem so if you were only looking making a move on a credit card for the sake of paying tuition or student loans I would recommend the TD First Class Visa Infinite card.

Learn more about HigherEdPoints here.

Front Line Workers can receive free Best Western Rewards Gold status, upgrade to next tier or Diamond Select for Life

Best Western Rewards has come out with an elite status promotion for Front Line Workers. If you work in the medical field, the hospitality industry, the restaurant industry, shipping and e-Commerce, retail, and others you are eligible to receive free Best Western Rewards Gold Elite status until January 31, 2022. If you already have status that was earned by meeting tier requirements over the previous 12 months you’ll be upgraded to the next level and if you happen to have Diamond Select status you will be awarded Diamond Select for Life status. The terms don’t state how BWR confirms you are an essential front line worker but they do state it can take 2-3 weeks to get the upgrade so it may be possible they will reach out for confirmation.

Offer details
Receive Gold Elite Status or an upgrade to the next elite status level in Best Western Rewards for being an essential Front Line Worker. Full details & online registration. Register by Jul 31 to receive status until Jan 31, 2022 except for Diamond Select for Life

• New BWR members will receive an upgrade Gold Elite status
• Current Elite BWR members will receive an upgrade to next Elite status
• Current Diamond Select Elite tier members will receive a Diamond Select for Life status

Full terms:
Individuals who (a) serve in essential roles* on the front lines for the COVID-19 response; (b) are Best Western Rewards^® (“BWR^®”) members or enroll in BWR; and (c) register for the Program by Friday, July 31, 2020, 11:59 pm MST; will receive one of the following benefits:

• Newly enrolled BWR members will receive an upgrade to Gold Elite level
• Elite level members will receive an upgrade to the tier above their current Elite level
• Diamond Select members will receive a “Diamond Select for Life” Status**

There is a limit of one (1) upgrade that may be earned through this Program. There is a limit of one (1) upgrade in a 12-month period. Members who earned an upgrade by meeting tier requirements during the past twelve (12) months are eligible to earn an upgrade through the Program. Newly upgraded Elite members will maintain their Elite tier status until January 31, 2022, without meeting tier requirements. Program registration and BWR enrollment/membership required prior to Friday, July 31, 2020, to earn the upgrade. BWR enrollment and registration may be completed by visiting bestwestern.com/frontlineheroes.
No extensions, substitutions, or replacements available. Program may not be valid with certain other offers, promotions, or discounts. Program is subject to cancellation or change without notice. Please allow for approximately two to three weeks (2 to 3) weeks for the upgrade to occur. All BWR program rules apply. Visit bestwesternrewards.com for complete program terms and conditions.
*Essential roles are defined as any employee in the medical field, the hospitality industry, the restaurant industry, shipping and e-Commerce, retail, and others.
**“Diamond Select for Life” status is a VIP Diamond Select status where annual downgrades do not occur to the “Diamond Select for Life” Elite members’ tier.

April 15 Update: Earn 3x Aeroplan Miles at Coast Hotels until the end of June, 20% bonus Avios on your first British Airways eStore purchase and WestJet cuts 5 domestic routes

A reminder of a bonus offer we let you know about quite a few weeks that just launched this past Monday. That offer is for 3x Aeroplan Miles when you stay at Coast Hotels until June 30. I know many of you aren't travelling but if you do have some essential travel and Coast Hotels are somewhere you might stay check out this offer. The base earn rate is 250 to 500 miles depending on the hotel so with this offer you'll earn 750 to 1,500 miles. As it is a flat rate earn the bonus is best for one night stays but in fact it is still pretty good for longer stays when you compare it to earning Coast Rewards Points and then converting to Aeroplan. Find out more here.

Last week we brought you The ultimate guide to earning miles, points, and cash back for online shopping and food delivery services and one topic we discuss is taking advantage of bonus offers for online shopping. Another bonus has emerged now where you can earn 20% bonus Avios when you complete your first online purchase via the British Airways Executive Club eStore. Now they don't have a Canadian specific shopping site but do have a U.S. one so you can use it to shop at any U.S. retailers who ship to Canada (or your U.S. forwarded if you have one). When you navigate to the site it may set you by default on the U.K. shopping site so to switch to U.S. scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll see a selection option on the bottom left to switch over to U.S.. Find out more here.

Towards the end of March WestJet provided an updated flight schedule for their domestic operation until May 31. An adjustment has been made to the schedule with some of the flights being removed:

 For guests with travel after April 16 through May 4, we are proactively notifying them of their travel options.

The following city pairs have been temporarily removed:
Vancouver – Fort St. John                 1x daily
Edmonton – Kelowna                        1x daily
Edmonton – Saskatoon                     3x weekly
Edmonton – Regina                           4x weekly
Edmonton – Winnipeg                      1x daily

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.
Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• 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?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• Reader Question: Can lifetime Air Canada Altitude elite members share status for 2021?
  Back on April 6 we revealed Air Canada Altitude's COVID-19 response. The news was that they are extending elite…
• April 14 Update: Earn points for registering for Rexall's new Be Well program, Best Western cancellation policy update, hotel occupancy rates down to 12.8% in Canada
  Rexall has brought back the sign up bonus for preregistering for their loyalty program that will launch on May…
  
   

Deals:

Casper: Take 10% off a mattress with code GOODSNOOZ. Valid through 5/11.

Stream Man With a Plan commercial-free on CBS All Access Canada. Join now & get 1 month FREE!. Find out more here.

Hello Fresh: save $65 in total, including free shipping on the first box! Find out more here.

Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.

Rona: 20% off online exclusive BBQs until April 17.  Find out more here.


Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.

Canadian Bonus Offers

No new bonuses added today

Other Bonus Offers

British Airways Executive Club
- 20% Bonus Avios on your first transaction when shop online via the British Airways eStore. More... Unknown end date

Czech Airlines OK Plus
- 2,000 Bonus OK Plus Miles when you fly on any Czech Airlines flights once flights resume. More... Until Aug 31, 20

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Earn up to Quadruple Infinity MileageLands Miles when you rent with Hertz for 2 or more days in USA, Canada, Europe, Asia Australia and New Zealand. More... Book by Jun 30 for rentals until Aug 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Residence Inn Fargo. More... Until May 30, 20




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Reader Question: Can lifetime Air Canada Altitude elite members share status for 2021?

Back on April 6 we revealed Air Canada Altitude's COVID-19 response. The news was that they are extending elite status for their members, providing an option to share status and an ability to earn Altitude Qualifying Miles for donating Aeroplan Miles. Today's reader question is on the option to share elite status.

Here is a recap of what Air Canada states for sharing status:

Since Altitude status is secure through 2021, if a member has already achieved status for next year, or does so by the end of 2020, they can gift it to a friend or family member.

This means if you have already achieved status for next year or will by the end of 2020 you can gift the status you earn from 2020 to someone else.

On our original post our reader Paul S. who has lifetime Air Canada Altitude Elite 50K status posed a very valid question in regards to sharing. He wondered since he has lifetime status can he also share status for 2021?

I reached out to Air Canada with this question and they responded to let us know that lifetime status does not have a sharing option as part of Air Canada Altitude's pandemic response.

"The answer is that members will be able to share the status they “earn” based on their 2020 Altitude Qualifying Miles or Segment AND the Altitude Qualifying Dollar as tracked and published on the Air Canada Altitude website."

This means if you have lifetime Altitude status you will only be able to share status with someone if you reach a qualifying Altitude level yourself within the program in 2020. 

Hope this helps Paul!

April 14 Update: Earn points for registering for Rexall's new Be Well program, Best Western cancellation policy update, hotel occupancy rates down to 12.8% in Canada

Rexall has brought back the sign up bonus for preregistering for their loyalty program that will launch on May 1. With today's news we now know it will be called Be Well and it will replace AIR MILES as the loyalty program for Rexall. We first brought you the details of the program back in February and the new offer is the same as the one in February whereby you preregister for the program and they'll award you 10,000 points when it launches. Those 10,000 points are worth $4. If you haven't preregistered already you are eligible to earn this bonus now as long as you sign up by April 29. Find out more and preregister here.

Best Western has finally published a COVID-19 cancellation policy. Prior to this they were leaving it up to each individual hotel as to what they wanted to do with non-refundable/non-cancellable reservations. They have now set in place a policy for their locations in Canada, the U.S. and Caribbean as follows:

• The policy applies to any reservation for any future arrival date.

• The policy applies to hotels located in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. 

• Guests may cancel at any time, as long as cancellation occurs least 24 hours before arrival, and the reservation is cancelled on or before June 30, 2020.

• Hotels will waive all fees associated with the cancellation of the booking.

• Applies to all booking channels.

• A more restrictive cancellation policy may apply to a limited number of high-demand dates at individual hotels
• Learn more about BW's policy here

And on the topic of hotels - the occupancy of hotels in Canada for the week of March 31 to April 6 dropped from 79% in 2019 to 12.8%. Ouch. The worst decline was seen in Quebec with occupancy rates dropping to 6.1% from 89.8%. (Source Canadian Lodging News)

It appears that Etihad is planning to resume 5x weekly flights between Toronto and Abu Dhabi as of April 22 (Source RoutesOnline)

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.
Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• 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?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• American AAdvantage provides elite status extension, lowers qualification requirements and more
  American Airlines is the last of the big 3 U.S. airlines to come out with details for the elite…
• April 9 Update: Air Canada & WestJet to hire back laid off employees, even discontinued grandfathered Mastercards get new benefits & Air Canada's May flight schedule
  Air Canada and WestJet will re-hire over 16,000 and 6,000 employees respectively thanks to the Government of Canada's Emergency... 

Deals:

Stream Man With a Plan commercial-free on CBS All Access Canada. Join now & get 1 month FREE!. Find out more here.

Indigo plum PLUS members enjoy 2x plum points on all purchases* (Until April 30)




Enterprise: Student Travel Assistance – Waiving young renter fees and reducing the minimum age to 18 for rentals through May 31, 2020. Find out more here

Hello Fresh: save $65 in total, including free shipping on the first box! Find out more here.

Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.

Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.

Canadian Bonus Offers

No new bonuses added today

Other Bonus Offers

No new bonuses added today






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American AAdvantage provides elite status extension, lowers qualification requirements and more

American Airlines is the last of the big 3 U.S. airlines to come out with details for the elite status portion of the AAdvantage program. Like most airline and hotel programs American is now offering extensions to those who currently hold elite status. On top of that they are providing a reduced qualifying structure to account for the lower demand in travel, extending the validity of upgrade vouchers and more.

Here are the details as provided by American:

• Extending elite status for AAdvantage members until Jan. 31, 2022.
• Reducing elite status qualifications for 2020.
• Extending Admirals Club® memberships purchased from American for 6 months.*
• Introducing up to $400 special credits for future travel on American Airlines Vacations packages for elite members.**
• Every dollar spent on an eligible AAdvantage co-branded credit card through the end of 2020 will count for one mile toward Million Miler℠ status.
• Award reinstatement fees waived for travel through September 2020.

Elite Status Extension
If your current elite status expires on January 31, 2021, we’ll automatically extend the expiration date until January 31, 2022.
You’ll continue to enjoy all the benefits that come with your status, and you can earn a higher status through lower elite qualification requirements this year.
Accounts will be updated by May 15, 2020.

Lowering elite qualification requirementsYou’ll be able to qualify for a higher elite status in 2020 with lower Elite Qualifying Dollar (EQD), Elite Qualifying Mile (EQM) and Elite Qualifying Segment (EQS) requirements.

Qualifying metric	Gold oneworld® Ruby	Platinum oneworld® Sapphire	Platinum Pro oneworld® Sapphire	Executive Platinum oneworld® Emerald
EQDs	$1,500	$4,000	$6,000	$9,000
EQMs	15,000	30,000	45,000	60,000
EQSs	15	30	45	60

Extending expiration of systemwide upgrades
Any unused systemwide upgrades with an expiration date of January 31, 2021, will be automatically extended through July 31, 2021.
While we’re not awarding new systemwide upgrades with the extension of Executive Platinum status, members who qualify or re-qualify for Executive Platinum status in 2020 will receive 4 systemwide upgrades valid through January 31, 2022.
Accounts will be updated by May 15, 2020.

Promotion to reach Million Miler status
We’re introducing a limited-time promotion to help you reach Million Miler℠ status and receive benefits like elite status. For all eligible Citi / AAdvantage^® and AAdvantage^® Aviator products, as well as select AAdvantage^® credit cards outside the U.S., every dollar spent on net purchases that post between May 1, 2020, – December 31, 2020, will count as 1 mile toward Million Miler℠ status.

Waiving award reinstatement and change fees for award bookings
Waived award reinstatement and change fees for awards booked by May 31, 2020, for travel through September 30, 2020. For award travel ticketed on or after June 1, 2020, we’ll waive change and reinstatement fees when the change is made at least 60 days before travel. A new fee structure will apply to changes made with fewer than 60 days before travel:

Elite status	Change made 60 days or more before travel	At least 7 days, but fewer than 60 days before travel	Fewer than 7 days before travel
Executive Platinum	$0	$0	$0
Platinum Pro	$0	$50	$75
Platinum	$0	$75	$100
Gold	$0	$100	$125
Regular member	$0	$125	$150

American Airlines Vacations credit
We’re giving AAdvantage^® elite members another reason to look forward to a vacation. On July 1, 2020, they’ll receive a special one-time credit of up to $400 to use toward an American Airlines Vacations package.

Elite status	Credit amount
Gold	$300
Platinum and Platinum Pro	$350
Executive Platinum	$400

Great news for the small amount of Canadians who do hold status with American AAdvantage as you now get to have it for one full year extra and have the possibility to boost that status higher with the lowered requirements if you get the chance to fly on American later this year. For the even smaller portion of our population, there may a select few of you who hold a U.S. based American AAdvantage credit card you have an amazing opportunity to boost your run for Million Miler status by having your credit card spend from May to December count towards that status.

I'm surprised at their reinstatement fee structure - having no fees for changing 60+ days out is the good part and sure you have no change fees at all for awards booked by May 31 for travel until September 30 but still with so much uncertainty around travel in the next 6 to 12 months to have fees that will be charged for travel changes within 60 days does seem a bit ridiculous.

We also see in the news release that people who have purchased Admirals Club memberships will have those extended for 6 months.

Overall this was expected from AA seeing that their competitors have already announced their elite status extensions and the such. And most of it is great news if you hold status or know that you can now qualify for it next year with the lowered requirements.

Learn more about this announcement here.

Title image via American Airlines