Tuesday, May 12, 2020

May 12 Update: Avianca goes into bankruptcy protection, Pacific Coastal Airlines set to resume flights on June 1, Air Canada schedule update


We updated the entire Canadian airline and loyalty program section on our COVID-19 resource page. We'll continue the big update of this page with U.S. and International programs over the next few days.


B.C.'s Pacific Coastal Airlines announced they are going to resume service next month. The airline first announced a suspension of all flights until May 3 which was then extended to May 31. They have now announced on their website that they will be back in the air as planned on June 1 although with a reduced flight schedule. Learn more here.
Image via Pacific Coastal


Colombia's Avianca filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday citing the COVID-19 Pandemic. While Avianca themselves only flew to Toronto their loyalty program is extremely well known and popular in points and miles circles. Being a Star Alliance airline and loyalty program LifeMiles is famous for their frequent very valuable buy miles bonus offers and great redemption options on Star Alliance that didn't have fuel or carrier surcharges added on. Avianca reiterates they will return to the skies but most of you are probably more concerned about LifeMiles. The good news that LifeMiles are safe as the LifeMiles program is a separate company from Avianca and is actually not part of the bankruptcy process. The potential bad news for LifeMiles is if Avianca does not survive as the program would lose access to Star Alliance. This is exactly what we saw happen with India's Jet Airways. When they went under their separate loyalty program JetPrivilege lived on to become Intermiles. It was no longer associated with Star Alliance but did expand earning and redemption options for its members albeit at a more expensive cost on the latter. Learn more about Avianca's Bankruptcy plans here and learn more about LifeMiles plans here.
Image via Avianca




Airline Schedule Updates
This will now be a standard feature for the foreseeable future in our daily update posts as we summarize Canadian operations based on data from RoutesOnline and other sources. Remember that many of these route plans are subject to change and right now they are changing frequently!


Air Canada's provided a major schedule update on May 8. The airline looks to restart some service to the U.S on May 22 with flights from Toronto to Washington Dulles as well as Vancouver to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Two more flights will be added on May 25 and then a much broader U.S. schedule looks to be implemented on June 1. June also sees a planned increase with more international flights resuming See all the planned and suspended flights here

Posts since our last update:

Deals:

Great deal! Fairmont Chateau Whistler golf package offer - stay and play from $185pp per night in June. Find out more here.
 
Travelzoo and Huntingdon Manor Hotel in Victoria B.C. are selling discounted vouchers offering Breakfast & Parking, 35% Off for future stays that are 100% fully refundable. You can buy vouchers for stays starting at $95 per night each for stays between June and November. Find out more here.

Travelzoo and Cape Mudge Resort on B.C.'s Quadra Island are selling discounted vouchers for future stays that are 100% fully refundable. You can buy vouchers for 2 night stays starting at $179 each for May 2021 or $229 each for summer stays in 2020 or 2021. 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.

WealthSimple Trade:  Receive $5 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $5 when you receive $5)


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 bonus offers added today

Other Bonus Offers

No new bonus offers added today




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Hilton further extends Points Unlimited Promotion – earn 2,000 bonus Honors points per stay until September 7

 

Hilton’s systemwide promotion that offers 2,000 Bonus Honors points per stay at Hilton Hotels worldwide plus 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights stayed has been extended once again. It was originally scheduled to end on May 3 but was extended to May 31 and now has been further extended to stay the course of the summer until September 7.  It makes sense for Hilton to extend the offer as they don’t need to spend money on creating and promoting a new offer when this very enticing offer is already in place. If you have essential travel and need a hotel stay you can consider Hilton’s brands of hotels to take advantage of this bonus right away otherwise for the rest of us the offer may not become useful until July or August. If you do have a stay between now and July 20 we recommend paying for that stay with the Platinum Card from American Express as it earns 4 points per dollar spent on travel purchases until that date.

Offer details
OFFER EXTENDED Earn 2,000 Bonus Honors points per stay at Hilton Hotels worldwide plus 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights stayed. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required ) Until Sep 7, 20

Image via Hilton
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TD Aeroplan cards will also earn 5 extra miles per dollar spent when shopping online via the Aeroplan eStore until May 31


More TD Aeroplan news to pass along to you today. If you recall a week ago today we let you know about a new promotion that saw CIBC and American Express co-branded cards receive a bonus of 5 Aeroplan Miles per dollar spent via the Aeroplan eStore. At the time TD was not included in the offer but as of today that has changed. From now until May 31 all purchases made via the Aeroplan eStore that are paid for with a TD Aeroplan Visa card will earn 5 extra miles. This is on top of the base miles and any bonus miles you normally earn from the individual eStore retailers.

You can visit the Aeroplan eStore here.

This bonus works for the following TD cards:
Image via Aeroplan
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Only a few weeks left to grab the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card with up to 30,000 Aeroplan Miles


The current welcome bonus offer for the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card has been one of the better ones in the market and there are only a little over two weeks left to apply for it. The bonus is up to 30,000 Aeroplan Miles along with the primary card having a first year annual fee rebate and a first year annual fee rebate offer for the first additional/supplementary cardholder.
Welcome Bonus Breakdown:
Welcome Bonus of 15,000 Aeroplan Miles when you make your first Purchase with your card1.
+
5,000 Aeroplan Miles in each of the first 3 months when you spend a minimum of $1000 per month, up to a total of 15,000 Aeroplan Miles1 
 In light of the current situation in regards to travel and the COVID-19 pandemic you may be asking why would I want to get an Aeroplan credit card? There are two primary reasons why you could or should get this card within the next couple of weeks:
  • You love to travel. Even though we all may not be travelling now you have it in your blood. Once borders open up and travel is safe you are planning to jetset somewhere near or far. If that’s the case you can start building up your Aeroplan balance with this card. Outside of actual spend on the card, your first year will not set you back anything with this card so you can score 30,000 Aeroplan miles at basically no cost. Then you can start looking at how you can use those miles - whether it is the 30,000 or more if you already have Aeroplan miles accumulated.
  • You are looking at a way to help supplement your finances. Aeroplan is not just a travel program. You can redeem Aeroplan miles for gift cards from popular retailers or pre-paid credit cards. For 28,000 miles you can get a $200 Best Buy Gift Card or Chapters Indigo card. And you still have 5,000 miles left since the welcome bonus is 30,000 miles and you had to spend $3,000 to get the bonus for a total of 33,000 miles (at a minimum). You can then redeem 3,500 miles for a $25 gift card from numerous retailers. All in you have just added $225 to your finances.
Now that we’ve looked at the gift card options let’s go back to travel and see what you can try to plan for the future with 30,000 miles.

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 comes to you at no cost since the first year annual fee is waived.

As you can see even with no travel happening right now you shouldn’t discount a program like Aeroplan as the program allows you to not only bank for future travel but use miles earned for cash equivalent requirements in the short term.

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.  

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Monday, May 11, 2020

May 11 Update: 25% more value for RBC Pay with Points, 500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for future American Airlines flights, great Alaska Airlines car rental offer


RBC Rewards has a limited time offer providing 25% more value when you pay down your RBC Rewards credit card balance using Pay Credit Card with Points. The standard redemption rate is 4,300 points for $25 meaning that until May 19 you will get $31.25 per 4,300 points. With this bonus you are receiving 0.7 cents per point. I would only use this option if you need help with your finances right now - if you are financially stable save the points for future travel. Find out more here. 
Image via RBC


American Airlines has become one of the first airlines to provide an incentive for future travel. They are offering 500 bonus AAdvantage Miles per flight on American Airlines between July 1 and December 31. The catch is that you have to register and book those flights by May 18. Good news is they are allowing free changes on those flights. The bonus maxes out at 5,000 miles. Find out more here.
Image via American Airlines


Alaska Airlines has a potentially lucrative car rental deal out in the market right now. You can earn 10,000 Mileage Plan miles for rentals of a premium car for 5 or more days. I detail the offer more in a post on FrequentFlyerBonuses as there are opportunities to earn miles at a cost just above 2 cents US per mile which is in the same neighbourhood of buying miles. Unfortunately the better prices for rentals are in the U.S., I did some random searches for cities across Canada and couldn't find any cheap rentals like I did for places like Orlando. That being said if you do need to rent a car here or abroad be sure to check the offer out. Find out more here.
Image via Alaska Airlines


Airline Schedule Updates
This will now be a standard feature for the foreseeable future in our daily update posts as we summarize Canadian operations based on data from RoutesOnline and other sources. Remember that many of these route plans are subject to change and right now they are changing frequently!

Looks like Air Canada has decided to not re-start their Vancouver-Taipei service this fall as reservations are closed for flights until March 2021. (Source RoutesOnline)

WestJet provided details on their latest schedule update for flights between June 5 and July 4. We have a separate post about the news here.



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.



Posts since our last update:

Deals:

Great deal! Fairmont Chateau Whistler golf package offer - stay and play from $185pp per night in June. Find out more here.
 
Travelzoo and Huntingdon Manor Hotel in Victoria B.C. are selling discounted vouchers offering Breakfast & Parking, 35% Off for future stays that are 100% fully refundable. You can buy vouchers for stays starting at $95 per night each for stays between June and November. Find out more here.

Travelzoo and Cape Mudge Resort on B.C.'s Quadra Island are selling discounted vouchers for future stays that are 100% fully refundable. You can buy vouchers for 2 night stays starting at $179 each for May 2021 or $229 each for summer stays in 2020 or 2021. 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

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

American AAdvantage
- 500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles per American Airlines flight for up to 10 flights (5,000 bonus miles maximum). More... Register and book by May 18 for travel Jul 1 – Dec 31, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- Triple IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at the Crowne Plaza Englewood Island More... Until Dec 31, 20



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WestJet further extends Transborder & International flights suspension to June 25 plus provides domestic schedule updates


In yesterday's WestJet media brief they provided details of their planned flight schedule  for travel between June 5 and July 4. As can be expected the airline will continue to not fly many routes within Canada outside of those that are critical for essential travel and cargo. WestJet has also confirmed that they are further extending the suspension of transborder and international flights to June 25 for the time being.

Here are the domestic routes that WestJet has chosen to not operate for this schedule update as well as new start dates for several summer seasonal routes.

Domestic route suspensions from June 5 through July 4, 2020 
Market 
Previous frequency 
Vancouver – Nanaimo 
2x daily 
Vancouver – Comox 
1x daily 
Vancouver – Regina 
4x weekly 
Vancouver – Saskatoon 
1x daily 
Vancouver – Winnipeg 
3x daily 
Vancouver - Fort St. John 
1x daily 
Vancouver – Cranbrook 
1x daily 
Vancouver - Ottawa 
2x daily 
Vancouver - Montreal 
6 to 13x weekly 
Vancouver - Halifax 
6x weekly 
Kelowna – Victoria 
12x weekly 
Calgary - Prince George 
1x daily 
Calgary - Ottawa 
2x daily 
Calgary - Montreal 
2x daily 
Calgary – London, ON 
1 to 2x daily 
Calgary - Halifax 
3x daily 
Calgary - St. John's 
1x daily 
Edmonton – Comox 
8x weekly 
Edmonton – Victoria 
20x weekly 
Edmonton - Kelowna 
7x daily 
Edmonton - Grande Prairie 
13x weekly 
Edmonton – Yellowknife 
1x daily 
Edmonton - Saskatoon 
3x daily 
Edmonton - Regina 
3x daily 
Edmonton - Winnipeg 
20x weekly 
Edmonton - Ottawa 
4x weekly 
Edmonton - Montreal 
3x weekly 
Edmonton – Halifax 
10x weekly 
Edmonton - St. John's 
4x weekly 
Winnipeg – Ottawa 
1x daily 
Winnipeg – Regina 
1x daily 
Winnipeg - Halifax 
1x daily 
Toronto - Victoria 
4x weekly 
Toronto – Regina 
10x weekly 
Toronto – Saskatoon 
12x weekly 
Halifax - Montreal 
2x daily 

The following domestic markets will have a new seasonal start date: 
Market 
New start date 
Calgary - Quebec City 
6-Jul-20 
Calgary - Charlottetown 
5-Jul-20 
Winnipeg - Montreal 
5-Jul-20 
Toronto - Kelowna 
5-Jul-20 
Toronto – Sydney, NS 
5-Jul-20 
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Receive 20% off Marriott Gift Cards until May 17


With travel at a virtual standstill, travel providers are having a hard time bringing in much needed cash. We've seen hotel chains sell points to card issuers (Hilton and Marriott) and we are starting to see more travel providers attempting to boost immediate cash flow by launching promotions for future travel by discounting or bonusing products that can give them cash right now.

The latest offer came this morning from Marriott who are offering 20% off e-gift cards that you can use to pay for future stays at any time since these cards don't expire. This is a great way to get some savings for your future travels or even close in if you have essential travel that is required. The cards are sold in US$ but can be used at any Marriott Hotel worldwide.  The gift cards come in $50, $100, $250, $500 or $1000 options and you can buy up to $5,000 in cards per day. Also you should be aware that you cannot use Marriott gift cards on prepaid stays.

Marriott also announced that once the gift card sale is done they will be offering a bonus on selling Marriott Bonvoy points starting on May 18. The bonus will be 60% which is the highest ever seen from Marriott. The points sale bonus will run until June 30 so there will be some time to contemplate the offer to see if it makes sense for you. At 60% you are buying Marriott Points at about C$ 1.1 cents each. On the lower end we value Bonvoy points at 1 cent each so you can take that into account but there are many award night opportunities that are worth a heck of a lot more than 1.1 cents so you can come out ahead with the bonus.

Learn more about the Marriott gift card offer here 

Here are the full terms and conditions:

  • Marriott’s GiftCard promotion is limited to eGiftCards in denominations of $50, $100, $250, $500 and $1,000 (United States Dollars). Offer is valid from May 11 through May 17 while supplies last.
  • Marriott GiftCards may be used at Hotels operating under the following Marriott brands and at participating retail, spa, golf and food and beverage outlets:
    AC Hotels by Marriott®, Aloft®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Courtyard®, Delta Hotels and Resorts®, EDITION®, Element®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Gaylord Hotels®, JW Marriott®, Le Méridien®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Hotels®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Moxy Hotels , Protea Hotels by Marriott®, Renaissance® Hotels, Residence Inn®, Sheraton®, SpringHill Suites®, St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, The Ritz-Carlton, The Ritz-Carlton Reserve® hotels, TownePlace Suites®, Tribute Portfolio™, W®, Westin®
  • The following brands in the Marriott portfolio DO NOT accept Marriott GiftCards:
    Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts, Design Hotels™, Homes & Villas by Marriott International™, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club®, The Ritz-Carlton Residences.
  • Marriott GiftCards and the Marriott Shop Retail Gift Cards may be redeemed on participating retail sites toward the purchase of Marriott retail branded merchandise:
    Marriott Hotels, shopmarriott.com; Courtyard Hotels, shopcourtyard.com; JW Hotels, curatedbyjw.com; Gaylord Hotels, gaylordhotelsstore.com; Renaissance Hotels, collectrenaissance.com; Fairfield Inn & Suites, shopfairfieldinn.com
  • Card carries no value until activated. Card is a prepaid card, not a credit card or debit card, and is the property of and issued by MI Fulfillment Services, LLC.
  • Card is available in United States Dollars only.
  • Card does not expire.
  • Card is not redeemable for cash in any amount except when otherwise required by applicable law.
  • Card becomes inactive upon use of all card value.
  • Card may not be used for deposit, advance purchase or to secure or confirm a reservation. 
  • Each transaction will be debited against card balance, if transaction exceeds balance, user must pay the difference.
  • Lost, stolen or damaged cards will be replaced only if previously registered on gifts.marriott.com. Value of replaced card will equal balance on card at the time it was reported lost, stolen or damaged.
  • To check card balance, visit gifts.marriott.com. 
  • For Customer Service call +1 800.442.6132 or email Gifts@marriott.com.
 
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BA Executive Club Buy Avios Bonus only 50% for Canadian British Airways credit card holders


Last Wednesday we posted about the latest British Airways Executive Club buy Avios bonus that runs until May 18. The bonus as seen in other countries like the U.S. and U.K. is 50% for those members who don't hold a British Airways co-branded credit card but was 75% for those who do have one. We weren't 100% sure if that was the case for those in Canada who have the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card so we reached out to the Rewards Canada community to find out. One of our readers, Dennis C who has the RBC BA card logged into his account and only showed a 50% bonus. Based on this I would have to assume that this unfortunately means that Canadian BA credit card holders aren't getting the same bonus as seen by those in the U.S. and U.K. This is really too bad as we've never seen a 75% bonus before from British Airways and as Dennis puts it:

"Which is not fair, but that is par for the course here in Canada!"

Anyways here's a recap of the offer which now has the 75% wording removed from our site:

Offer details:
50% Bonus Avios when you buy or gift Avios. Buy Avios here. Until May 18, 20
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