Earn 500 bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays this summer at Best Western Hotels in Canada, the U.S. and Caribbean

This offer was originally slated to end on April 30 but has been extended to the end of August. This is the perfect offer for the type of travel many Canadians may be doing this summer and that is staycations and road trips within our great nation! Best Western has a large presence in many small towns and out of the way places that other major chains don't in Canada. So if you are thinking of getting on the road this summer be sure to remember this offer. Well, actually just register for it right now and make sure you Best Western Rewards account is set to earn Aeroplan miles and you'll be all set to earn the bonus all summer long.

Offer details:
Earn 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for stays at Best Western Hotels in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean Islands Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) Until Aug 31, 20

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TD Aeroplan Visa cards receive limited time boosted earn rate on food and grocery delivery services

TD is following the lead of American Express with the release of a limited time boosted earning option on their Aeroplan cards. All existing and new cardholders will earn double Aeroplan miles for purchases make with the following food and grocery deliver services:

Cartly, Chanmao Inc., Chefs Plate, Cook it, Cornershop, CultivatR, DoorDash, GOcery, GoJava, Goodfood, Grocery Gateway, HelloFresh, INABUGGY, Instacart, Just Eat, metro.ca online grocery, MissFresh, Mister Produce, PC Express, Save-On-Foods Online, SkipTheDishes, SPUD.ca, The Grocery Link, The Organic Box, and Uber Eats.

This means orders from places like PC Express, Save-On Foods and other orders that are direct with the grocery store will earn 3 Aeroplan Miles per dollar as they normally earn 1.5 miles while the rest of the services will earn 2 Aeroplan Miles per dollar. This offer runs until August 15.

If you don't have a TD Aeroplan card and have been thinking about getting one you'll want to do so right away as the current offer on the primary card, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card of up to 30,000 Aeroplan Miles ends on May 31.

Fairmont's Canadian mountain resort hotels offering every 2nd night or 2nd room free for the rest of 2020!

We are just over a week away from Fairmont's four Canadian mountain resorts reopening and they are offering a pretty sweet deal to encourage stays at these iconic hotels! This follows on the heels of the Fairmont Whislter golf offer we brought to you a little over a week ago and I believe this will not be the last offer we see from them this year!  This offer is good for stays at the Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

The deal is that you book one night at any of the four hotels and you'll get a second night free during the same stay. Or you can choose to book two rooms for one night, pay for one room and the second room will be free and so on! The stay must be pre-paid at time of reservation but it is fully refundable (cancel 7 days in advance). Unlike the Whistler golf offer which is only for June this offer is good for the rest of 2020 as long as you book by June 15.

I did a quick search for a 2 night stay at the Banff Springs Hotel in September to see if this is a good deal:

Stay Close Rate: (Book 1 night get 1 free):

Best Available Rate:

CAA/AAA Rate:

As you can see the offer does provide significant savings as this isn't one of those offers where they boost the price and discount it. It is based on the best available rate and they simply charge you 50% of that rate per night. It even provides big savings over the CAA/AA rate.  I also checked the Alberta Residents Rate (B.C. has one as well for Whistler) that provides discounts of up to 30% but I couldn't find any availability which leads me to believe that Fairmont has actually pulled that deal as they probably expect most of their traffic to be from within the province. I must say I am a little surprised that the daily rates are in the $600 range given the current situation in regards to travel and that these hotels haven't even reopened for business yet.

If you have been contemplating a stay at one of these hotels this offer is your best bet at achieving some savings but you do need to stay two nights or book two rooms. Even if you have some hesitation you could book now as you can be cancel up to a week before with a full refund. I am seriously considering booking the Chateau Lake Louise in fall when all the Larch Trees start changing colours - the area is typically insane during that time with access and parking hard to come by but by staying at the hotel that problem can be avoided.

These are the black out dates for each property in regards to this offer:
Banff:  December 23-31, 2020
Jasper: September 10-12, 15-17; October 9-10, 22-24; December 24-26, 30-31, 2020

Lake Louise: July 1-5, 31; August 1-2; September 4-6, 12; December 24-31, 2020
Whislter: August 1; September 5; December 12, 18-31, 2020

For more details or to book this offer you can do so via these links*

• Fairmont Banff Springs  
• Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge  
• Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise  
• Fairmont Chateau Whistler

* Rewards Canada receives a small commission for all stays booked via these links.

Remember that Fairmont Hotels is now part of the ALL Accor Live Limitless program so stays at Fairmont Hotels will rack up points in that program.
 
Here are the terms & conditions of the offer:

Buy one night and receive a complimentary second night during the same stay. A 1 night prepaid fully-refundable deposit is required. This promotion is subject to availability and may not be combined with any other offers, promotions or packages. For stays through December 31, 2020. Blackout dates may apply.

*You may also use your complimentary night as a second room on the same night. Should you wish to do so, please book a two night stay and then you must call the hotel directly to amend the reservation. The reservation will be amended to have two rooms in the same room category for the price of one for one night.  

Title image via Fairmont Hotels

May 19 Update: Canada and the U.S. agree to keep border closed until June 21, 15x AIR MILES for Apple Store online purchases & more!

Canada and the United States will be extending the closure of the border to non-essential travel for another 30 days. This will definitely affect Air Canada's plans to start some U.S. flights later this week as we reported previously. I would guess we will see a schedule update from Air Canada later today or by tomorrow at the latest. (Source Global News)

If you are looking to buy some Apple products now may be the time to go ahead with that purchase as you can earn 15x AIR MILES Reward Miles via airmilesshops.ca. This offer runs until May 20 and remember if you are in a city where stores have reopened you can buy online then pick up your items if you don't want to wait for them to be shipped to you. I have done this in the past where I ordered online via the Aeroplan eStore and two hours later was at the Apple store picking up the order.  Find out more here.

Image via AIR MILES

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!

AeroMexico plans to operated 2 to 3 weekly flights from Montreal and Toronto to Mexico City in June and 3 to 5 flights per week out of Vancouver. (Source RoutesOnline)

In their latest schedule update Icelandair has cancelled their flights out of Edmonton and Montreal for the summer 2020 season and postponed Vancouver service until January 1, 2021. Toronto service remains in place for this summer with 7 flights per week. (Source RoutesOnline)

Lufthansa is planning on three flights per week between Toronto and Frankfurt starting on June 3. (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.

Posts since our last update:

• Shopping online from the U.S.? Check out these bonus offers from Alaska Airlines, American & United
  Online shopping portals are more popular than ever thanks to the huge shift in shopping habits due to the…
• Earn Double Stamps on hotel bookings made via Hotels.com – earn a free night after only 5 nights
  Hurry if you want to get in on this deal as it is limited to 12,444 bookings! Right now…
• 65% bonus for buying Aeroplan miles extended to May 15
  Aeroplan's first ever buy miles bonus offer has been extended to May 15. The tiered bonus offer that saw…
• May 13 Update: Amex lowers welcome bonuses on The Platinum Card & Business Platinum Card, a look back at the first 100K point credit card bonus in Canada, good Travelzoo deal for Brewster's Mountain Lodge in Banff
  American Express has really shifted focus on keeping current Platinum cardmembers engaged and using their cards as much as…

Deals:

Travelzoo and Brewster's Mountain Lodge in Banff are selling discounted vouchers for future stays that are 100% fully refundable. You can buy vouchers for starting at $179-$199 each for June, $199-$239 for July and $269-$319 for August & September. Based on these numbers looks like they are anticipating a decent return to travel in late Summer. We did a quick check for a mid-week stay in June and Brewster's wanted $339 for the same room and the cheapest 3rd party rate we could find was $209. Sot the $179 voucher definitely provides some savings. Find out more here. 

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. 

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)

4Ocean - Introducing the Sperm Whale Beaded Bracelet - $20 at 4ocean! Valid until 5/31. Shop Now!

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

British Airways Executive Club
- 50 % Bonus Avios when you convert Heathrow Rewards points to Avios. More... Until Jun 2, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- Receive a 60% Bonus when you buy 2,000 or more Marriott Bonvoy Points. More... Until Jun 30, 20

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- 600 Bonus ROP Miles and your 2nd night for only THB 60 at Dusit Hotels in Thailand More... Book by Jun 30 for stays until Oct 31, 20
- 60 Bonus ROP Miles per day on Sixt car rentals of 5 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 20
- Earn up to 10X ROP Miles and get an extra 60 miles for every 600 THB spent on hotel stays booked with Agoda PointsMAX. More... Book by Jul 31 for stays until Sep 30, 20


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Receive a 60% bonus when you buy Marriott Bonvoy points

The best ever bonus for buying Marriott Rewards points went live yesterday. The bonus is 60% when you buy 2,000 or more points in one transaction. Marriott has also increased the annual limit for buying points to 100,000 for the duration of the promotion. To buy 100,000 you’ll have to make two transactions of 50,000 points each as that is the maximum Marriott allows for each purchase. Those amounts do not include the bonus so if you buy 100,000 points you’ll end up with 160,000 points in your account.

Here is an example of the cost of buying 50,000 points:

As you can see you’ll be buying points at 0.78 US cents each. Most valuations of Marriott Bonvoy points has them valued at 0.7 cents each however that is the minimum value. There are many redemption options for award nights where you can get much more value out of each point so buying them right now for future travel can make a lot of sense.

Offer details:
Receive a 60% Bonus when you buy 2,000 or more Marriott Bonvoy Points. The annual limit of points that can be bought per member. has been increased to 100,000 during this promotion. Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points here. Until Jun 30, 20

Image via Marriott

American Express® Gold Rewards Card sees increased earn rate of 5 points per dollar with Skip the Dishes and Uber Eats

Yet another limited time enhancement from American Express! Last week on Thursday we saw a boosted earn rate on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and later that day they came out with an earn offer for the American Express® Gold Rewards Card. We were already off for the long weekend when the offer came through to our email so are posting it a few days late but hopefully you saw the email from Amex if you have the card.

The offer for the Gold Rewards card sees all Uber Eats and SkipTheDishes purchases earn 5 points per dollar spent instead of 1. Like the Marriott offer this one runs until August 31, 2020 and is available to new and existing cardmembers.

Learn more about and apply for the American Express Gold Rewards Card here.

Images via American Express Canada

AIR MILES Pop Up and Shop event - 7x Reward Miles sitewide on airmilessshops until May 18

AIR MILES' Pop-Up & Shop event has returned for the long weekend! If you need to get an online shopping fix and are collecting AIR MILES this offer is for you. From today to May 18 you'll receive 7x the base miles site wide across airmilessshops.ca and there is no minimum spend outside of what it takes to earn the first mile with a retailer. In most cases that's $20 (before taxes & fees) to earn 1 mile which translates to 7 miles with this promotion.

Recommended Reading: The ultimate guide to earning miles, points, and cash back for online shopping and food delivery services

The offer can be combined with other bonus offers that are available for select retailers over the weekend. For example Kiehl's has a 5x miles offer which means if you spend $20 you'll earn 12 AIR MILES with that purchase, $40 would earn you 24 miles and so on. These earnings don't take into account any points or miles you earn on your credit card for the purchase nor any points you earn with the retailer's own loyalty program.

Learn more about the AIR MILES Pop-Up & Shop event here.

Image via AIR MILES
 

Qatar Airways Travel with Confidence - The best airline rebooking policy yet that can be used to obtain cheap business class flights to destinations around the globe

A couple of days ago Qatar Airways released their latest initiative to stimulate bookings amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic. They have entitled it Travel With Confidence and it is by far the best re-booking policy to emerge during this travel downturn. The airline is offering unprecedented change and rebooking options for flights that are completed in 2020. That's the key to this deal - the minute bookings are for 2021 you won't get as sweet as deal as this!

First we'll explore Qatar Airways Travel With Confidence guarantees:

• Hold on to your ticket
  Keep your ticket and use it when you are ready with our extended ticket validity, now valid for 2 years from the date of ticket issuance for greater flexibility.
• Unlimited changes
  You can change your travel date or destination free of charge, as often as you need, for travel until 31 December 2020. You can change your origin to another city within the same country or any other destination we fly to within a 5,000 mile radius of your original destination.
• Swap for Qmiles
  Swap your ticket for Qmiles and redeem them towards reward flights, extra baggage or cabin upgrades when the time is right. For every 1 USD, you will earn 100 Qmiles that are valid for at least three years, so you can have the flexibility to choose how, when and for whom to redeem them.
• Exchange for future travel
  You can exchange your ticket for a future travel voucher with 10% additional value. Vouchers are now valid for two years from the date of voucher issuance.
• Refund your ticket
  Qatar Airways will refund your ticket to the original form of payment if your flight gets cancelled.

All of the above do provide a lot of confidence for travel in 2020 and if you are willing to give it a shot the point that is getting the most buzz is number 2 - unlimited changes. If you read it you may at first not believe it but it is true and Qatar is abiding by what they state. You can book any flight for travel until December 31 and change it as much as you want to any destination within 5,000 miles of your originally booked flights. Yes you read that right - 5,000 miles! And you can even change your origin as long as it is in the same country although that's not really useful for us seeing that Qatar only flies to Montreal and nowhere else in Canada. However they do have several U.S. departure points that you can look into and that's where the biggest buzz comes from.  One Mile at a Time shows that you can fly from Philadelphia to Kiev in business class for around US$1,600 and if you take a 5,000 mile radius from Kiev you have most of Africa, Asia and Europe covered where you can choose to change your ticket to. There are other examples that have been brought forward from bloggers showing New York to Kiev as a low price option as well. The route to Kiev is the one you'd want to book first since it prices out the cheapest and then you call to change to the actual city or cities you would want to visit. Basically you'd be looking at paying US$1,600 to fly business class to cities like Seoul, Delhi, Hanoi and so many others. A real steal of deal!

But if you don't want to go the route of travelling via the U.S. (getting a positioning flight etc.) you can look at Montreal departures. Here is just one example we found that doesn't price out too bad at all:

Montreal to Mumbai for $2892.45

Once booked you could then switch to cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo or even Perth. Of course you have the beautiful Indian Ocean island nations to pick from as well. We checked out Perth on the same dates as above and it prices out at over C$6,500 so by booking a ticket to Mumbai first and then changing it to Perth you would save yourself over 50% of the ticket price.

If you do choose to book some flights to try to take advantage of this generous policy I recommend putting the purchase on The Platinum Card from American Express as it earns 4 points per dollar spent on travel until July 20. If you take the Mumbai example above you would earn 11,568 Membership Rewards points on the purchase and if you take into account their double redemption value at 1,000 points to $20 you would essentially be earning $231 cash back on the flight purchase.

Now you do have a couple questions that you'll have to ask yourself before taking advantage of this offer:

• Do I want to travel in 2020? If you have any hesitation about travelling outside our borders don't move on this offer.
• Do I wait to see how and where the world goes in the next few months before booking? This one is tough to answer and I would say not to wait.  Even though they say it is good for tickets purchased up to September 30 that could change at anytime. The reason why is this policy and subsequent amazing deal to switch flights is being posted on so many miles & points and travel blogs around the world! It is very possible the demand along with so many flight changes may overwhelm Qatar Airways and force them to cut the policy short.

Should you choose to go ahead and give it a shot we'd love to hear from you and have you document and write about it for the Rewards Canada community.  Let us know in the comments below or send us an email!

Learn more about the policy and book your Qatar Airways flights here

Title image via Qatar Airways

Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card sees increased earn rate for groceries, food delivery and take out until the end of August

A couple of weeks ago we saw Marriott co-branded credit cards in the U.S. get an earning boost for grocery store purchases and now we see something similar for our Canadian Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card!

From today to August 31, 2020, Cardmembers will now earn 5 points for every $1 in eligible purchases on groceries, food delivery and takeout. That's 3 more points than the standard 2 points per dollar spent on the card for those categories. The bonus points will be awarded up to a maximum 30,000 bonus points.  Cardmembers can also continue to earn 5 points per $1 in purchases at Marriott Bonvoy properties and 2 points per $1 in purchases everywhere else.

This offer is open to existing and new Marriott Bonvoy American Express Cardmembers. So if you don't have the card yet you can apply for it now and take part in the promotion until the end of August. This is a really good boost for the card and continues to show how American Express is really at the forefront of making sure their Cardmembers are taken care of during these times.

Learn more about and apply for the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card here 

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May 14 Update: Receive 50% more value on hotel vouchers for future travel to Australia/New Zealand, don't use PayPal for Aeroplan's eStore co-brand card promotion & more!

Think you might travel to Australia or New Zealand by 2022? There is a pretty amazing offer from Swiss Belhotel. For a limited time you can get 50% more value by buying vouchers for future stays at their New Zealand and Australia Hotels. That's right - 50% more. Buy a $1,000 voucher and you'll get $1,500 in value to use towards the room and most incidental costs. The vouchers are valid until September 1, 2022 and come in $100, $200, $500 and $1000 denominations before the bonus.  Find out more here To ensure the most savings use a No Foreign Transaction fee credit card for the purchase!
Redeemable at Swiss-Belsuites Victoria Park Auckland, Zest OK Auckland, Swiss-Belsuites Pounamu Queenstown, Swiss-Belresort Coronet Peak, The York Sydney, Swiss-Belhotel Brisbane. Voucher can be used for any payment (rooms, food, drinks, incidentals)

One of our readers, Phil M, asked if the current promotion to earn 5x Aeroplan Miles on Aeroplan eStore purchases with an Aeroplan co-branded card requires the purchase to be made directly with the card or if a card connected to PayPal will work. We reached out to Aeroplan and they told us it will not work. You have to make the purchase with your card directly at the retailer to earn the bonus..

We've now set up a section for Travel Resumption News, Articles & Information on our COVID-19 resource page . This section will provide details on quarantine procedures, country opening dates etc. for those who are just itching to start travelling when it becomes possible. If you find any details not listed or information that needs updating please let us know. Right now we've populated it with one country but will be adding to it on an ongoing basis.

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!

Emirates has confirmed on their website that they will be flying between Toronto and Dubai as of May 21 instead of July 1. It is one of 9 cities that they are starting operations to next week. (Source Emirates)

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:

• Shopping online from the U.S.? Check out these bonus offers from Alaska Airlines, American & United
  Online shopping portals are more popular than ever thanks to the huge shift in shopping habits due to the…
• Earn Double Stamps on hotel bookings made via Hotels.com – earn a free night after only 5 nights
  Hurry if you want to get in on this deal as it is limited to 12,444 bookings! Right now…
• 65% bonus for buying Aeroplan miles extended to May 15
  Aeroplan's first ever buy miles bonus offer has been extended to May 15. The tiered bonus offer that saw…
• May 13 Update: Amex lowers welcome bonuses on The Platinum Card & Business Platinum Card, a look back at the first 100K point credit card bonus in Canada, good Travelzoo deal for Brewster's Mountain Lodge in Banff
  American Express has really shifted focus on keeping current Platinum cardmembers engaged and using their cards as much as…

Deals:

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)

Travelzoo and Brewster's Mountain Lodge in Banff are selling discounted vouchers for future stays that are 100% fully refundable. You can buy vouchers for starting at $179-$199 each for June, $199-$239 for July and $269-$319 for August & September. Based on these numbers looks like they are anticipating a decent return to travel in late Summer. We did a quick check for a mid-week stay in June and Brewster's wanted $339 for the same room and the cheapest 3rd party rate we could find was $209. Sot the $179 voucher definitely provides some savings. Find out more here. 

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. 

4Ocean - Introducing the Sperm Whale Beaded Bracelet - $20 at 4ocean! Valid until 5/31. Shop Now!

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

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn up to 2,020 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you shop online via the Mileage Plan Shopping portal.  More... Until May 19, 20

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 2,020 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you shop online via the AAdvantage Shopping portal. More... Until May 18, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- 4,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays of 7+ nights at the Staybridge Suites Washington-Greenbelt More... Until Dec 31, 20

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 2,020 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you shop online via the MileagePlus Shopping portal. More... Until May 19, 20




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