More Rewards partnership with Petro-Canada ending on July 31

Not so good news for those who collect More Rewards points - one of the programs best partners will be leaving the program on July 31. On that date the partnership between More Rewards and Petro-Canada will come to an end. I received the email yesterday from Petro-Canada stating this development and when you go to the More Rewards website it confirms the change:

This is a really unfortunate change to the program that affects all members but more so for those who don't live in Western Canada. The More Rewards program started to make in roads nationally a few years back when they launched a nationwide credit card with Scotia (it was the best no free travel rewards credit card) and made this partnership with Petro-Canada. However the credit card went the way of the dodo bird last August and now with Petro-Canada leaving the program it will next to impossible for anyone not from Alberta, B.C., Manitoba and Saskatchewan to earn More Rewards points. With the departure of Petro-Canada the only partners that are available Canada wide are More Rewards Insurance and More Rewards Travel, the rest of them are only out west.

For me this will cut my More Rewards points earning by a significant amount as most of the points I have earned in the program came from Petro-Canada. I don't shop often as Save-On Foods as I don't have a location close to me and as much as I've wanted to shop online for delivery from them I only did so once as the wait times were long to get a delivery compared the Instacart and Real Canadian Superstore. Here's a screenshot of my transaction history for the first three months of 2020:

As you can see it is very Petro-Canada heavy and once they are out of the program I basically won't earn points at all. My balance isn't big by any means, just over 22,000 points or just over $90 in value towards travel. With little to no points earning I may just cash out my points as a donation to one of the children's charities that More Rewards partners with.

This news also adds fuel to my thoughts that the coalition rewards program as we knew it from years gone by is not working anymore. More Rewards had aspirations of becoming a larger coalition program and that just isn't happening and if the big players like AIR MILES and Aeroplan aren't making it happen anymore, there's no way More Rewards can either.

OFFER EXTENDED – 100% bonus when you buy IHG Rewards Club points

The 100% bonus for buying IHG Rewards Club points has been extended by five days to June 20.  IHG has also raised the annual limit of points you can buy to 250,000 per member for this promotion from the standard 150,000. Buying 250,000 points (500,000 total with bonus) costs US$2,500 which means each point will only cost you 0.5 cents.  Again we don’t encourage buying points just because there is a bonus but if you can foresee a potential use for them in the next 4-6 months it may be worthwhile to buy them.

Offer Details
OFFER EXTENDED 100% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy 3,000 or more points. Buy IHG Rewards Club Points here Until Jun 20, 20

Find many more IHG Rewards Club bonus point offers here!

CIBC offering double Aventura points, Aeroplan Miles and Cash Back on dine in, take out and delivery purchases

Hot on the footsteps of card issuers like American Express and TD who have been boosting earn rates on their credit and charge cards CIBC is now doing the same. From today through to August 4 CIBC cardholders will earn double rewards on  up to $1,000 in spending on dine in, order take-out (including curbside pickup), or order delivery from local restaurants. The initiative is called Revival Rewards and stems from CIBC data that shows spending at restaurants has declined by 60% over the past three months.

CIBC passed along the following to us:

 With restrictions on restaurants beginning to ease across Canada, CIBC is launching a new program to support these business owners and help them bring back customers.

Through the Revival Rewards program, clients who use their CIBC rewards credit cards, including Aeroplan®, Aventura® and Dividend® to dine in, order take-out (including curbside pickup), or order delivery from local restaurants will receive double the rewards on their purchase.
Over the last three months, credit card spending at restaurants has declined over 60% and was down more than 70% during the peak of the pandemic, according to CIBC data, highlighting that restaurants were some of the hardest hit businesses during the pandemic.
“From patio nights out with friends to weekend brunches with family, local restaurants serve as mainstays in our neighbourhoods. As restaurant owners start to re-open their doors while observing public health measures to keep guests safe, we want to help revitalize these important businesses,” said Laura Dottori-Attanasio, Group Head, Personal and Business Banking. “Our Revival Rewards program is designed to help restaurant owners get back on their feet and underscores our commitment to providing support for small business owners.”

 Here are the cards that are eligible for Revival Rewards (click to make larger):

It is good to see CIBC go down the route of rewarding existing cardholders by encouraging them to use their CIBC cards on dining. The good news is new cardholders will also earn the double rewards if you get a card soon enough to take advantage of the deal. I do wish they didn't cap it at $1,000 in spend however as we haven't seen caps from the likes of Amex and TD on their boosted earning initiatives. Still with a cap it is a great offer from CIBC and if you carry cards from more than one of these issuers you are now covered in more spend categories.

Learn more about CIBC cards here.

Images via CIBC

June 16 Update: Earn 39,000 Aeroplan Miles or 28,000 BA Avios for free, AIR MILES Shops Father's Day bonus & an issue with Choice Privileges new promotion

We updated our Travel Hacking 101 post which details how you can earn Aeroplan Miles and/or Avios for free just by signing up for fee free or annual fee waived credit cards. It has been updated with the newest offers for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, CIBC Aerogld Visa Infinite Card and have removed the RBC Avion card as all of it's increased welcome bonus and no annual fee promotions have been removed. You can check out the Travel Hacking 101 post here.

AIR MILES is offering 20 Bonus Reward Miles when you spend $60 or more via airmilesshops.ca for Father's Day. This offer runs until June 21. Find out more here.

The Laurentian Bank Visa Explore card has been added to our credit card comparison charts. You'll find it on the All Travel Rewards Credit Cards Comparison chart and Travel Points Credit Cards comparison chart.

Long time Rewards Canada reader Kevin A. alerted us to an issue with the Choice Privileges Stay Twice Get a Free Night offer. When he tried to register for the promotion it didn't work so he reached out to Choice Hotels on Twitter and they told him it is for U.S. residents only even though the T&C's state U.S. and Canada. I tried to register for it as well but no dice for me so I have reached out directly to our contact at Choice for clarification and will pass along any details we receive. Let us know if you have had any success registering for it!

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!

ANA is planning to continue flying between Vancouver and Tokyo Haneda for the month of July with three flights per week. (Source: RoutesOnline)

Turkish Airlines has delayed the launch of their Vancouver to Istanbul flight further to September 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:

• WestJet announces summer flight schedule - 102% increase in flights including the return of select U.S. and Mexico routes
  WestJet announced their summer flight schedule yesterday which will see the airline more than double the number of flights…
• Podcast Episode 68 - Clash of the Credit Cards - The Ten Percenters
  Episode 68 - June 16, 2020 Clash of the Credit Cards - The Ten PercentersIn this episode we present…
• The 100% bonus for buying Hilton Honors points is back until July 15
  Wow, it’s only been 12 days since Hilton’s 100% bonus on buying points ended and they have already brought…
• June 15 Update: New Amex offer for goodfood, Fairmont Stay Close extended for Canadian mountain resorts and Flair & Swoop's summer flight schedules
  Yet another excellent Amex offer came out today - this one is for the prepared meal service goodfood and…

Deals:

LAST DAY TO BOOK! Fairmont Hotels Explore Canada offer - Get every 2nd night free for stays at 18 Fairmont Hotels until June 30, 2021

LAST DAY TO BOOK! Save 20% on all Air Canada flights within Canada when you book by June 16 - good for travel until May 15, 2021!

Instacart: Get $10 when you place your first order with Instacart! Register here.

SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. 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

Best Western Rewards
- Receive a $25 Best Western Travel Card when you complete 1 stay at a Best Western Hotel and submit a gas receipt or electric vehicle charging receipt within 10 days of your stay. More.. Until Aug 31, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Etihad Guest
- Receive up to a 60% bonus when you buy Etihad Guest miles. More... Until Jun 18, 20

Radisson Rewards
- 2,500 Bonus Radisson Rewards Points, €50 credit per stay for in-house services and complimentary breakfast for stays at Radisson Hotel Group hotels in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. More.. Until Aug 30, 20

Southwest Rapid Rewards
- Save 45% when you buy 2,000 or more Rapid Rewards points. More... Until Jun 25, 20

United MileagePlus
- Receive up to a 70% bonus when you buy MileagePlus Miles. More... Until Jul 2, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

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WestJet announces summer flight schedule - 102% increase in flights including the return of select U.S. and Mexico routes

WestJet announced their summer flight schedule yesterday which will see the airline more than double the number of flights they are currently operating. Even with that doubling they will only be flying about a quarter of their schedule that was seen in July 2019. The summer flights include the resumption of some flights to the U.S. and Mexico while in Canada WestJet will be flying to 39 cities in total. The summer schedule takes effect on July 5 and published frequencies will be valid until August 4.

On the U.S. side flights to Las Vegas will be operated from Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver, Los Angeles from Calgary and Vancouver while Atlanta will see flights from Calgary and finally there will also be flights to New York La Guardia and Orlando from Toronto. The one Mexico flight will be a weekly rotation between Toronto and Cancun which starts up on July 11.

Even though WestJet has released these details and published the schedule they are subject to change based on demand and governmental requirements (ie quarantines, travel bans etc.)

Read the full press release here to see all the planned routes and frequencies for the summer.

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Podcast Episode 68 - Clash of the Credit Cards - The Ten Percenters

Episode 68 - June 16, 2020
Clash of the Credit Cards - The Ten Percenters

In this episode we present to you our first Clash of the Credit Cards! This is the rehashing of our Credit Card Showdown and the first time that we make it into a podcast. We take the four major cash back credit cards in the Canadian market that are offering a 10% cash back welcome bonus on all spending and compare them to see what they all offer and in the end crown a champion of the clash!

 

Click Here to download the podcast (mp3)

 

or Download/subscribe via:

Links relating to this week's topics:

• BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard
• CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card
• Scotia Momentum® VISA* Infinite card
• TD Cash Back Visa Infinite* Card
• Rewards Canada's Guide to Credit Card Cash Back Liquidity

 

The 100% bonus for buying Hilton Honors points is back until July 15

Wow, it’s only been 12 days since Hilton’s 100% bonus on buying points ended and they have already brought it back to market. Not that it’s a bad thing! Once again it is a flat rate bonus of 100% when you buy 10,000 or more points. This means you are paying US$ 0.5 cents per point which can be easily redeemed at values of 0.8 cents or more!

Reward nights start out at only 5,000 points so you could potentially get a lot of nights out of this offer.

Also with travel curtailed we don’t say you should buy points speculatively right now but some of you are still needing to travel and could very well make use of this bonus. Or if you do want to speculate…..

Offer details:
100% Bonus when you buy 10,000 or more Hilton Honors points online. Buy points here Until Jul 15, 20

Remember as well that Hilton has extended their Points Unlimited promotion of earning 2,000 bonus points per stay until Sep 7.

Find our complete list of Hilton Honors offers right here

June 15 Update: New Amex offer for goodfood, Fairmont Stay Close extended for Canadian mountain resorts and Flair & Swoop's summer flight schedules

Yet another excellent Amex offer came out today - this one is for the prepared meal service goodfood and provides a $20 statement credit when you spend $80 or more. Rewards Canada contributor Jeff W. let us know he got it on his Marriott Bonvoy card while in the Rewards Canada household we got it on the The Platinum Card and Cobalt Card. You can find the offer details and more on our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

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By now you should be very familiar with Fairmont's Stay Close offer as we've had probably close to half a dozen posts about the offer but wanted to pass along news that the booking window for the first four hotels to have the offer has been extended to June 22. Originally if you wanted to book the at the Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louiseand Fairmont Chateau Whistler. you had only until today (June 15) to get in on the offer. Now you have an additional week to make that decision! Learn more about the Stay Close offer here.

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Hotel occupancy rates in Canada climbed slightly for the week of June 2 to the 8 to 22.2%, the previous week was 21.4% however this is still down from 70.4% from the same period last year. Source HNN

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!

Swoop has provided details on the routes they plan to fly when they relaunch flights on July 1. It will only operate four routes from that date until September 13. (Source: RoutesOnline)
Edmonton – Abbotsford 4 weekly
Hamilton – Abbotsford 4 weekly
Hamilton – Edmonton 6 weekly
Hamilton – Halifax 3 weekly

Flair Airlines has also loaded their summer schedule which sees more routes being added to current four routes being flown. (Source RoutesOnline)
Calgary – Kelowna eff 16JUL20 2 weekly
Calgary – Toronto 2 weekly
Calgary – Vancouver 2 weekly
Calgary – Winnipeg eff 17JUL20 2 weekly
Edmonton – Kelowna eff 17JUL20 2 weekly
Edmonton – Toronto 2 weekly
Edmonton – Vancouver 2 weekly
Toronto – Winnipeg eff 17JUL20 2 weekly

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:

• Receive a $25 Best Western Gift Card when you complete 1 stay and submit a receipt for filling you car with gas or electric charging
  Last week we let you know about Best Western's upcoming summer promotions and the first of the two promotions…
• Marriott Bonvoy offering Off Peak pricing at the majority of their hotels + gifting qualifying nights to current elite members
  In September of 2019 the Marriott Bonvoy program officially started using Off-Peak and Peak pricing on top of standard…
• Staycation deal: Sheraton Cavalier Calgary $50 Cross Iron Mills shop cards or Calgary Zoo tickets
  Looking for a little shopping Staycation in Alberta? The Sheraton Cavalier Hotel in Calgary may just have the offer…
• StayVancouver's Visa gift card offer returns for hotel stays in YVR - receive up to $125 in gift cards for the first two nights + $50 for three nights after that
  This week we also see the return of the awesome StayVancouver (nee BeVancouver) gift card offer for booking select…
• New welcome offer for the National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard - $300 cash back with minimum spend
  National Bank of Canada has released a new welcome bonus for the premier card in their portfolio - the…
• American Express AeroplanPlus cards see limited time enhanced earn rates on all purchases
  Yet another boost for American Express cards. This time it's for their AeroplanPlus cards. American Express let us know…
• Great offer from Rocketmiles – 5,000 bonus miles or points on your first hotel booking (includes Aeroplan)
  You may have seen this over on our global site a couple of days ago and am finally getting…
• June 11 Update: Up to 5x Aeroplan miles with select eStore retailers for Father's Day, big AIR MILES bonuses for Safeway/Sobeys liquor, earn Double Stamps for Sandman Hotel stays
  You can earn up to 5x Aeroplan Miles with select online retailers via the Aeroplan eStore with their Father's…

Deals:

Fairmont Hotels Explore Canada offer - Get every 2nd night free for stays at 18 Fairmont Hotels until June 30, 2021

Save 20% on all Air Canada flights within Canada when you book by June 16 - good for travel until May 15, 2021!

Instacart: Get $10 when you place your first order with Instacart! Register here.

SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. 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

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

ALL Accor Live Limitless
- 500 Bonus ALL Rewards Points for stays at participating hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. More.. Until Sep 1, 20

Hilton Honors
- 100% Bonus when you buy 10,000 or more Hilton Honors points online. More... Until Jul 15, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

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Receive a $25 Best Western Gift Card when you complete 1 stay and submit a receipt for filling you car with gas or electric charging

Last week we let you know about Best Western's upcoming summer promotions and the first of the two promotions is now here! Tanks-A-Lot as it is called will provide BW Rewards members with a $25 Best Western Travel Card after they complete 1 stay at a Best Western Hotel and submit a receipt showing a purchase of $10 (C$/US$) or more of gasoline or electric vehicle charging charges.

This was the offer as outlined as follows by Best Western to us last week:

• Travel by car and Best Western will cover your gas. Valid from June 15 to August 31, 2020, any member staying at a Best Western-branded hotel and visiting by car during the promotional period will receive a $25 Best Western Travel Card® (gift card). Registration will be required.

The only difference we see now from the actual offer being live to that from last week is that you don't have to register for the promotion. You simply need to submit all the details to Best Western after your stay to receive the travel card. Here are the exact instructions from Best Western:

Best Western Rewards members*** (“Member(s)”) who: (a) have a valid email address listed in the Member’s account profile; (b) complete an eligible stay* at any Best Western^® branded hotel in the United States, Canada, or the Caribbean Islands between June 15, 2020 and August 31, 2020, (“Promotion Period”); (c) purchase at least $10 USD/CAD worth of gasoline/electric vehicle charges within ten (10) days of the eligible stay; and (d) email their Best Western Rewards number as well as the confirmation number and hotel location (city/state) for the eligible stay and an image of their gasoline/electric vehicle charging station receipt showing only the amount purchased and date on the receipt to tanks-a-lot@bestwestern.com by September 5, 2020, will earn one promotional USD/CAD $25** Best Western Travel Card^® (“Travel Card”). There is a limit of one (1) USD/CAD $25 Travel Card per Member during the Promotion. Travel Card expires on December 31, 2020.

As you can see the Travel Card must be used for future travel in 2020 as it has an expiry date of December 31, 2020.This is the same as the 20% bonus travel cards that you can receive right now when you buy $100 Best Western Gift Cards. Read more about that offer here.

Learn more about this promotion and book your BW stays here.

And taking notes from our post last week here are the details of the other Best Western offer that will launch next Monday:

• Stay with Best Western this summer and earn a $25 gift card. BWR members who stay one eligible night between June 22 and September 7, 2020 at any Best Western-branded hotel in the U.S. or Canada will earn a $25 Best Western gift card. Registration will be required.

Image via Best Western

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Marriott Bonvoy offering Off Peak pricing at the majority of their hotels + gifting qualifying nights to current elite members

In September of 2019 the Marriott Bonvoy program officially started using Off-Peak and Peak pricing on top of standard award night rates. Off Peak and Peak award night pricing is where they charge less or more points per award night based roughly on how much the hotel is charging or how full it is for that night. To refresh your memory, here is the Marriott Bonvoy reward night redemption chart indicating the points required for each category for Off Peak, Standard and Peak pricing:

And now that travel is slowly and I mean really slowly starting up again Marriott has launched a promotion to encourage booking at their hotels by offering Off Peak pricing at roughly 5,500 of their 7,000+ hotels globally. We're not sure if 5,500 is chosen as that is how many of their properties are actually open for business or if there is another metric for them choosing that amount of hotels. This offer is good for bookings made by June 30 for stays completed by July 31, 2020. Simply log in to your account on Marriott.com and start searching for availability at the hotel of your choice to see it is one offering Off Peak pricing. I checked some favourites like Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, The Douglas Autograph Collection Vancouver, W Montreal and more were pricing at Off Peak rates for random dates in July. You will however want to compare cash pricing versus points pricing to see if it is worth redeeming as many hotels are offering some great cash prices right now. For example the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge was pricing as low as $185 or 40,000 points for the same night - that's getting under 1/2 cent per point value which is very low value when you can easily get 1 cent or more. Granted with travel curtailed and the likelihood of jetting off to some far flung destination where hotels are $1,000 per night and getting more value for your points is not likely happening until 2021 you may be inclined to just use up some points now for a stay closer to home and while the value may be less you would be keeping that cash in your pocket.

The other portion of the new released from Marriott today is that all elite members will be receiving free qualifying nights posted to their accounts. The amount of nights will be 50% of the requirement of the elite status level earned in 2019:

2019 Elite Level	# of nights being credited
Silver	5 Nights
Gold	13 Nights
Platinum	25 Nights
Titanium	38 Nights
Ambassador	50 Nights

These additional nights will be added to all elite members accounts by the end of July. As all elite members have already had their status extended to February 2022 these extra nights are a boost to potentially get you to that next elite level. On top of that these nights do count towards lifetime status within the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Visit Marriott.com for more details (there isn't a dedicated landing page for these offers btw)

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