Wednesday, August 19, 2020

August 19 Update: AIR MILES adds redemption options for Spotify and gaming subscriptions, Hawaii delays reopening plan to October 1, new Tangerine Savings Account offer

 

AIR MILES expanded their reward catalog offerings yesterday with some great new redemptoin options for digital services. You can now redeem Cash Miles to pay for your Spotify membership fees at the usual Cash Miles rate of 95 miles to $10. On top of this option there are now Dream Miles options to redeem for 12 month digital gaming subscriptions and those are Nintendo Switch Online, Xbox Live Gold Membership, PlayStation NOW, and PlayStation Plus. These are all welcome new additions to the AIR MILES reward catalog as travel is still curtailed and many collectors are looking for different options to use their miles on.  Learn more at airmiles.ca




 

No so good news for Canadians who were getting excited to go to Hawaii soon. After seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases the state has delayed its non-quarantine reopening to tourists from September 1st to at least October 1st. (Source State of Hawaii)
Beginning Oct. 1, 2020, trans-Pacific travelers arriving in Hawaii from out-of-state will have the option to get a valid COVID-19 test prior to their arrival, and show proof of a negative test result, to avoid the 14-day quarantine. Evidence of a negative test result must be provided upon arrival in Hawaii.

 
Tangerine
has an updated the offer for their Tangerine Savings Account: Become a new Client and earn 2.50%* interest for the first 5 months on your first Savings Account. And within 24 hours of a Raptors win, you could earn $250*. Find out more here.

To earn 2.50% interest*

1. Become a new Client online within 24 hours of a Raptors NBA 2020 Playoffs win using promo code 'RAPTORSWIN'

2. Open your first eligible Savings Account and Chequing Account within 30 days

3. Earn 2.50% interest in your Savings Account for 5 months

To get a payroll Bonus of up to $250*

4. Complete steps 1 to 3

5. Add your payroll - have the first payroll direct deposit in your Chequing Account within 60 days of opening the Account

6. Keep your payroll direct deposits going into your Account for at least 3 straight months and you'll earn a $250 bonus after the 3rd month

7. Don't worry if you've entered the promo code 'RAPTORSWIN' during the Playoffs but not within 24 hours of a Raptors win, you can still get a $200 payroll Bonus when you complete all the other steps

 

Airline Schedule Updates
A summary 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!

Here is Air Canada's planned transborder flights for September:

Montreal – Boston 1 daily E175
Montreal – Chicago O’Hare eff 08SEP20 Increase from 3 to 5 weekly, E175 operating
Montreal – Fort Lauderdale 2 weekly A320
Montreal – New York LaGuardia eff 08SEP20 1 daily E175
Toronto – Boston eff 08SEP20 Increase from 6 to 7 weekly, E175 operating
Toronto – Chicago O’Hare 2 daily E175
Toronto – Fort Lauderdale 2 weekly A320
Toronto – Houston 1 daily E175
Toronto – Los Angeles 5 weekly 787-8/-9
Toronto – New York LaGuardia 13 weekly E175
Toronto – San Francisco eff 09SEP20 A220-300 replaces A320, 5 weekly
Toronto – Washington Dulles 1 daily E175
Vancouver – Los Angeles 1 daily A320
Vancouver – San Francisco 1 daily A319
(Source RoutesOnline)

And United Airlines' planned transborder operations for September are as follows:

Chicago O’Hare – Calgary 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 1 daily Embraer E175 operated by Skywest, replacing Republic Airways
Chicago O’Hare – Montreal 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 Skywest CRJ200 replaces ExpressJet ERJ145, 1 daily
Chicago O’Hare – Quebec City 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 Skywest Embraer E175 replaces ExpressJet E145, 1 daily
Chicago O’Hare – Toronto 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 Increase from 2 to 3 daily (1 daily GoJet CRJ550 and 2 daily Republic Airways E175)
Denver – Calgary 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 Skywest Embraer E175 replaces A320, 1 daily
Houston – Calgary 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 1 daily service suspended
Newark – Toronto 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 Reduce from 7 to 5 weekly, Republic Airways E170 operating
San Francisco – Vancouver 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 Skywest Embraer E175 replaces A319, 2 daily
Washington Dulles – Toronto 02SEP20 – 30SEP20 Increase from 1 to 2 daily, Commutair Embraer ERJ145 operating
(Source RoutesOnline)

Turkish Airlines has once again pushed back the launch of their highly antiicpated Vancouver route. The new route to Istanbul from YVR is now not slated to start until December 1. (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:

Deals:

If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more here

Fairmont Hotels Stay Close - Buy Night 1 Get 1 Night free at select hotels in Canada, U.S. and Mexico. Find out more 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

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
- Double Coast Rewards Points, Aeroplan Miles, Mileage Plan Miles, HawaiianMiles and More Rewards Points when you stay at any Coast Hotels location in Canada or the U.S. More... Until Sep 14, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Emirates Skywards
- Receive up to a 25 % discount when you or gift buy Skywards Miles. More... Until Aug 30, 20

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- 4x Infinity MileageLands Miles for hotels booked via Trip.com's PointsPLUS. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Dec 31, 20



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Event Review: Sneak peek at Air Canada’s transformed loyalty program event in Montreal [Guest post]

 

Today we welcome a new contributor to Rewards Canada as we collaborate with Anshul Singh of Points, Miles & Bling.  Based in Ottawa, Anshul is well known in the Canadian points and miles circuit hosting weekly virtual points & miles events, having presented at PointsU and much more. His first contribution to Rewards Canada is a look back at Air Canada's event this past July announcing the new Aeroplan program. The timing for this post was perfect as Rewards Canada was not able to attend this event in Montreal. We look forward to more collab's with Anshul! Now here's his recap of the event:

Having waited over a year for details on the new Aeroplan program, I was excited to receive an invitation from Air Canada, for a sneak peak into the new Aeroplan program. Without hesitation, I confirmed my availability for the media event, which was held in Montreal on July 29th, 2020. The event was to host a group of up to 20-25 people, including AC folks, in Montreal.

The day of the event started with a scheduled pickup at the hotel. In keeping with strict COVID guidelines, each guest was provided with a separate car and brought to the event venue. In fact, the Health and Safety guidelines for the event were shared in advance:

Health and Safety
“Please note that all attendees must wear masks/face coverings throughout all indoor areas as mandated by the province of Quebec. Masks will be available at the event, however please ensure you have your own upon arrival to the venue. Upon registration we are pleased to provide you with your own Air Canada CleanCare+ kit which contains hand sanitizer, antiseptic wipes, and a face covering.
 
With an abundance of caution, the presentation will take place in a tented outdoor area at L’espace Canal with physical distancing seating arrangements in place. Masks may be removed while eating or drinking.”

The venue L’Espace Canal, is a chic urban space with waterfront terrace, which made for a picturesque setting to this marquee event. Once at the venue, I followed the Air Canada signs through the building to access the event space in the rear of the building.  Air Canada event staff was on site to guide me to the terrace for the presentation. Upon registration, I was handed a welcome package in an Air Canada bag which included AC cloth masks, a CleanCare+ kit (hand sanitizer, antiseptic wipes, bottle of water), name tag, AC branded pen and book! With registration completed, I was able to network and chit-chat with AC staff and other guests arriving at the venue - Masks on!




The Agenda for the day was presented as following;

Agenda
10:00 – Arrival and Registration
11:00 – Session begins
12:45 – Lunch
17:00 – Session concludes
The presentation area (media tent) on the terrace was setup with physical distancing in mind, including the snacks and coffee section which was managed by the venue staff, who helped serve the items on hand:


The sessions were led by senior Air Canada executives, Mark Nasr, VP – Loyalty and eCommerce, and Scott O’Leary, Managing Director – Loyalty Planning and Development. Before they did that, the attendees were instructed to keep their phones and recording devices in a sealed envelope (provided with the welcome package), while AC staff came around to make sure that was happening. What?! This was the first indication that this was going to be a special presentation and not just a bullet points of takeaways. It became pretty evident that this was no run of the mill media event, since the Air Canada team not only showcased the new Aeroplan program, but they were also keen to hear first reactions from the group. The conversations were candid, and feedback was genuine. Mark and Scott did not shy away from any uncomfortable conversations, including current program shortcomings, and even disclosing some of the rationale behind the final decisions that went into features of the new program.

Having led us in a deep dive of new brand, and flight rewards, our minds soaked with exciting new information, the AC team had one more trick up their sleeves. As the scheduled lunch rolled up, I chuckled at the sight of venue staff pushing Air Canada food trolley towards us. Lunch included AC Signature Class boxed meals, with 2 main options, Chicken Curry, and Vegetarian Lasagna. Chef Antonio Park himself was in attendance, who shared the sustainable food sourcing vision at Air Canada, specifically the need to engage with Canadian food providers, in a COVID stressed global food supply chain. 

Currently, for flights departing Canada, an all-inclusive pre-packaged meal box crafted by Chef David Hawksworth on flights to Europe and Israel, Chef Antonio Park on flights to Asia, and Chef Vikram Vij on flights from Canada to India - feature a hot main course, salad, dessert and packaged bread.



  • Salmon and Apple mix, rocket tomato salad, Olive balsamic vinegar
  • Curried Chicken and wild rice
  • Oka, medium Cheddar, Brie, crackers, fruit

, 
  • Caramel Custard
  • Prawn, mango and avocado salad, honey and chili vinaigrette
  • Grilled eggplant and zucchini lasagna, tomato sauce 
  • Oka, medium Cheddar, Brie, crackers, fruit


  • Lemon tart

Post-lunch sessions were equally engaging as we discussed the nuts and bolts of new AC status, family account, priority rewards, and the suite of credit card perks . If you haven’t read about the details of the new AP program yet, I recommend the following;

 
 
I realized how immersed I was throughout the seven hours, when the closing comments for the event sneaked up on me. The sessions were truly engaging, and a reaction inducing affair. Far from your typical ‘media event’, the 7 hours seemed short, and my mind was rushing with scenario based examples and questions. The only thing that would make it better, if they allowed us access to the new portal and let us play in that sand box for another 7 hours☺. The world is not perfect, but this media event nearly was. 

Be sure to check out Points, Miles & Bling!

 
All images courtesy of Anshul Singh except the title image courtesy of Aeroplan

Top 5 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for August - These cards provide the best value out of their welcome bonuses

 

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of August 2020! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Cash Back Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards that have very good acquisition (welcome/sign up) offers. As always when choosing a card you should always take other factors into account other than the just sign up bonus, but when some of these cards are first year free, they can and do pay off even when you grab them strictly for the sign up rewards. This month we see four of the five of the cards offering the first year free.

Here are our top 5 cash back credit card sign up offers for August (in alphabetical order)


BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard  - 10% cash back on all purchases up to $2,000
(Apply here)
Welcome offer cash back value: $200
This card is offering 10% cash back on all spending during the first three months of having the card. The 10% is capped at $2,000 of spending for a maximum return of $200 cash back as your welcome bonus. The card does come with a first year annual fee waiver on the primary card and allows to redeem as little as $1 cash back at anytime for a statement credit.
Minimum Income: $80,000 (individual) or $150,000 (household)
 
CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card - 10% cash back on all purchases up to $2,000 (Apply here)
Welcome offer cash back value: $200
This card is offering 10% cash back on all spending during the first four billing cycles of having the card. The 10% is capped at $2,000 of spending for a maximum return of $200 cash back as your welcome bonus. The card does come with a first year annual fee waiver on the primary card and up to three additional cards. Cash back on this card is awarded once per year as a statement credit. Minimum Income: $60,000 (individual) or $100,000 (household)
 
ManulifeMONEY+ Visa  Infinite  - 10% cash back on grocery purchases up to $2,500 (Apply here)
Welcome offer cash back value: $250
This card is offering 10% cash back on grocery spending during the first three months of having the card. The 10% is capped at $2,500 of spending for a maximum return of $250 cash back as your welcome bonus. The card does come with a first year annual fee waiver on the primary card. Cash back on this card is awarded quarterly as a statement credit.
Minimum Income: $60,000 (individual) or $100,000 (household)

SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express - 5% cash back on all purchases up to $6,000 (Apply here)
Welcome offer cash back value: $201 ($300 - $99 annual fee)
This card is offering 5% cash back on all spending during the first six months of having the card. The 5% is capped at $6,000 of spending for a maximum return of $300 cash back as your welcome bonus. This is the only card on the list that does not have its first year annual fee waived. That fee is $99 hence the welcome bonus sign up value of $201. Cash back on this card is awarded once per year as a statement credit.
Minimum Income: N/A
 
TD Cash Back Visa Infinite* Card - 10% cash back on all purchases up to $2,000 (Apply here)
Welcome offer cash back value: $200
This card is offering 10% cash back on all spending during the first three months of having the card. The 10% is capped at $2,000 of spending for a maximum return of $200 cash back as your welcome bonus. The card does come with a first year annual fee waiver on the primary card and the first additional card. Cash back on this card can be redeemed at anytime for a statement credit as long as your cash back rewards balance is $25. This limited time offer ends September 8, 2020.
Minimum Income: $60,000 (individual) or $100,000 (household)
 
Between these five cards there is over $1,000 in cash back welcome bonus rewards! However even if you only take on one or two you are helping your finances at no cost other than regular credit card spend. We don't really recommend getting all five in one month unless you know you can meet the minimum spend for them all at once, rather you'd want to pick one or two right now, perhaps another next month and so on.

Disclaimers:
Sponsored advertising. The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) is not responsible for the contents of this site including any editorials or reviews that may appear on this site. For complete and current information on any TD product, please visit the TD site

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

New increased welcome bonus of 1,150 miles on the BMO AIR MILES No-Fee Business Mastercard + earn 5x miles at Shell until the end of the year

 

Just like its personal counterparts the no fee version of BMO's AIR MILES business card also sees a boost to its welcome bonus. The new bonus for the BMO® AIR MILES®† No-Fee Business® Mastercard®* is 1,150 Reward Miles which is 150 miles over the previous offer that we have seen for sometime now. That 1,150 miles is worth $120 in cash if you are collecting AIR MILES Cash Miles in your account. Travel wise, the 950 is worth about $149.50 (on average we value AIR MILES at 13 cents each when redeeming for travel) but I feel like lots of members have shifted to Cash Miles right now due to many not wanting to travel. If you are thinking of grabbing one of these cards so that you can get the $120 in value in Cash Miles be sure to set you AIR MILES earning preference to Cash Miles prior to apply for one of these cards.

There has also been an limited time accelerator added to this card and also the fee based  BMO® AIR MILES®† Business® Mastercard®* for purchases at Shell. That accelerator is 5x the base miles you earn at Shell - this means it will be 5 times the following:

  • 1 AIR MILES Reward Mile for every 20L of Shell Bronze, Shell Silver or Shell Diesel fuel; or
  • 1 AIR MILES Reward Mile for every 10L of Shell V-Power® Premium fuels; or 
  • 1 AIR MILES Reward Mile for every $5 spent at a Shell convenience store (“Convenience Store Transactions”), which exclude tobacco products, lottery tickets (instant and scratch), Shell gift cards, partner/third-party gift cards, prepaid credit cards, phone cards, and any other goods or services specified from time to time or as excluded by law.   

You can find all the BMO AIR MILES  and other BMO card offers on our BMO page.

 

New increased welcome bonus of 950 miles on BMO's no fee AIR MILES cards + earn 5x miles at Shell until the end of the year

BMO updated their portfolio of no fee AIR MILES credit cards today with a new increased welcome bonus offer of 950 AIR MILES Rewards Miles. This is an increased of 150 miles over the previous offer that we have seen for sometime now. That 950 miles is worth $100 in cash if you are collecting AIR MILES Cash Miles in your account. Travel wise, the 950 is worth about $123.50 (on average we value AIR MILES at 13 cents each when redeeming for travel) but I feel like lots of members have shifted to Cash Miles right now due to many not wanting to travel. If you are thinking of grabbing one of these cards so that you can get the $100 in value in Cash Miles be sure to set you AIR MILES earning preference to Cash Miles prior to apply for one of these cards. 

These are the no fee AIR MILES cards from BMO that have this new welcome bonus offer of 950 miles when you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months:

There has also been an limited time accelerator added to all of the above cards and also to the BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard and the Shell AIR MILES World MasterCard from BMO for purchases at Shell. That accelerator is 5x the base miles you earn at Shell - this means it will be 5 times the following:

  • 1 AIR MILES Reward Mile for every 20L of Shell Bronze, Shell Silver or Shell Diesel fuel; or
  • 1 AIR MILES Reward Mile for every 10L of Shell V-Power® Premium fuels; or 
  • 1 AIR MILES Reward Mile for every $5 spent at a Shell convenience store (“Convenience Store Transactions”), which exclude tobacco products, lottery tickets (instant and scratch), Shell gift cards, partner/third-party gift cards, prepaid credit cards, phone cards, and any other goods or services specified from time to time or as excluded by law.   

You can find all the BMO AIR MILES  and other BMO card offers on our BMO page.


Monday, August 17, 2020

Hyatt Place Toronto/Mississauga Centre is now open for business

 

Back on March 2 we brought you our annual New Hyatt Hotel Openings in Canada post that detailed six new hotels the chain was planning on opening this year. Two weeks after that Canada pretty much shut down due to the Coronavirus and that led to many planned hotel openings being postponed. In fact one of those hotels, the Hyatt Place Toronto/Mississauga Centre was postponed from April to June, to late July but we can tell you now that the hotel officially opened last week on Wednesday!

This is the first Hyatt Place brand hotel to open in Ontario with the next one planned for Ottawa. There are already several Hyatt Place hotels open in B.C. and Alberta with even more coming later this year including the Hyatt Place Prince George which is the first modular-build Hyatt Place hotel opening by the end of the month.

The Hyatt Place Toronto/Mississauga Centre is a 123-room hotel that falls into Category 2 in World of Hyatt’s award chart. This means members can redeem 8,000 points for a free night in a standard room. To celebrate the opening there are several offers available for staying at the hotel:

  • Earn 500 Bonus Points for qualifying nights now through November 30, 2020, part of Hyatt’s new hotel member offer 
  • Enjoy up to 20% off and free breakfast for stays with check-in dates on or before December 20, 2020 
  • Earn Triple points through World of Hyatt Bonus Journeys, starting with the second qualifying stay from June 15 to September 15 – members must register by August 31
  • Elite members can register to earn 2,500 Bonus Points on their first qualifying stay

Right now the daily rates are quite low to stay here so I wouldn't recommend using points for stays just yet as the value per point will be quite low:

These are  rates for August 21

Are you excited for the opening of this new Hyatt Place in Toronto? Do you plan on staying here soon? Let us know in the comments section below! 

Image courtesy of Banko Media Inc.

August 17 Update: New Amex offers for Burberry, Lululemon, The Chesterfield Shop, More details on the Walmart World Mastercard and last day to grab the HSBC World Elite 60K+FYF offer

A trio of new offers are available as part of the Amex Offers program. Check your card accounts to see if you have been targeted for these. The offers are from Burberry (we received it on Marriott Bonvoy American Express Cards and The Platinum Card), the Chesterfield shop (not sure which cards, this is on Amex's general shopping page) and Lululemon (we received it on the American Express Cobalt Card and The Platinum Card). You can find these and all other current offers on our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

 

An update to follow up on our post from Friday about the new Walmart Rewards World Mastercard. Walmart Financial let us know the card will have the same welcome bonus of $25 as the base card and provided the card art as to what the card will look like. Learn more here.

And a reminder! Today is the last day to get HSBC World Elite Mastercard offer of up to 60,000 points with the first year annual fee waived. Apply for the card here.

Airline Schedule Updates
A summary 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!

The latest inventory update from Austrian Airlines shows their Montreal-Vienna route not returning for the winter season. (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:

Deals:

TAP Air Portugal released a new us 15% Discount Code for new bookings made between today and August 18. The discount applies for flights from Canada to Europe. The discount code MULTI15 is good for travel until March 31, 2021 (Black out from Dec 17 to Jan 10) and is valid on all fares except Discount and Top Executive. Bookings made with this promo code are allowed 1 free booking change should your travel plans change due to COVID-19. Find out more here.

If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more here

Fairmont Hotels Stay Close - Buy Night 1 Get 1 Night free at select hotels in Canada, U.S. and Mexico. Find out more 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

AIR MILES
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus AIR MILES Rewards Miles when you earn miles at multiple AIR MILES partners. More... Until Sep 10, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points or Airline Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at the Best Western Plus Hilltop Inn Redding More... Until Oct 31, 20
- Double Rewards Points or Airline Miles for stays at the Best Western Royal Palace Inn & Suites Los Angeles. More... Until Sep 7, 20

British Airways Executive Club
- 800 Bonus Avios on Avis rentals of a Group C vehicle or higher for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book now for rentals Sep 1 - 30, 20

Miles & More
- Triple Miles & More Miles per night for stays at H-Hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. More... Until Sep 30, 20


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Friday, August 14, 2020

Walmart Rewards World Mastercard coming this September

 

The market continues to get flooded with new credit cards. One of the latest to be announced is the Walmart Rewards World Mastercard. The card is being released just as the original Walmart Rewards Mastercard celebrates its 10th anniversary in Canada. The new card will open up for applications in September and offers some increased earn rates and benefits over the basic version of the card.

Recommended reading: There is a rewards card out there for everyone - including the Walmart Rewards Mastercard

We don't know yet what the welcome bonus will be. Seeing that the basic card offers $25 we would have to assume it will be at least that if not more. Also being a World version it will most likely have higher income requirements ($60,000 individual, $100,000 household) to qualify for the card.

Update: The card will have the same $25 welcome bonus as the base card

Here is what Walmart has provided to us so far for what this card will offer in terms of earning Walmart Rewards Dollars:

  • 3% of your spend on Walmart.ca
  • 1.25% in Walmart stores
  • 1% everywhere else Mastercard is accepted
  • 1.25% on gas 

Walmart Rewards Dollars work just like cash so 1 Walmart Reward dollar equates to $1 you can spend at Walmart. 

 

We also that since this is a World Mastercard it will get the benefits that are afforded to all World Mastercards and those are:

  • Free global Boingo Wi-Fi (including flights on WestJet and other airlines)
  • Credits for using Ritual and other everyday digital offers
  • Mastercard Airport Experiences provided by LoungeKey
  • Car Rental Insurance
  • Purchase Protection
  • Extended Warranty

Recommended reading: A look at the new benefits that have been added to all World & World Elite Mastercards in Canada

At this time we don't know yet if there will be any additional benefits or insurance added to the card as well.

In general this card will appeal primarily to the more affluent Walmart shopper, especially those making those Walmart purchases online. Outside of that there are other no fee card options out there that may be better suited for most as this card limits you to strictly redeeming at Walmart. That being said this card earns no less than 1% cash back which is pretty good considering other no annual fee cards like Tangerine, BMO et al only earn a 0.5% base rate. Some food for thought....

Click here to learn more about this card

August 14 Update: Canada, U.S., Mexico non-essential travel ban extended to September 21, Turkish Airlines further delays new Vancouver route & hotel occupancy rates approach 40%

 Canada, the U.S. and Mexico have agreed to extend the non-essential travel ban between the countries to September 21. Remember this applies primarily to land and sea travel whereas air travel is not covered by this ban. (Source Global News)

 

The much anticipated (well at least before COVID) new route from Turkish Airlines from Vancouver to Istanbul has had its launch postponed again. The latest update has them launching the route on October 3. (Source RoutesOnline)


 

Hotel occupancy rates in Canada continue to increase ever so slightly. For the week of August 2-8 the average was 39.9%. This still down almost 50% from the same time last year. (Source HNN)

 

Airline Schedule Updates
A summary 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 Aeroplan partner EVA Air will be flying three flights per week out of Vancouver and two per week out of Toronto to Taipei for the months of September and October. (Source RoutesOnline)

Cathay Pacific is banking on increased travel by October it seems as right now they are planning 2 flights per day out of Vancouver and 1 flight per day out of Toronto for that month. (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:

Deals:

TAP Air Portugal released a new us 15% Discount Code for new bookings made between today and August 18. The discount applies for flights from Canada to Europe. The discount code MULTI15 is good for travel until March 31, 2021 (Black out from Dec 17 to Jan 10) and is valid on all fares except Discount and Top Executive. Bookings made with this promo code are allowed 1 free booking change should your travel plans change due to COVID-19. Find out more here.

If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more here

Fairmont Hotels Stay Close - Buy Night 1 Get 1 Night free at select hotels in Canada, U.S. and Mexico. Find out more 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

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stay at any participating Marriott Hotel in Canada and Worldwide. Plus earn a one time bonus of 5,000 points when you complete 3 stays. More... Until Oct 18, 20

Other Bonus Offers


Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points or Airline Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at the Best Western Danville Sycamore Inn More... Until Oct 1, 20

United MileagePlus
- 100% Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you convert Wyndham Rewards points to MileagePlus miles. More... Until Aug 31, 20

World of Hyatt
- OFFER EXTENDED 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night at the Grand Hyatt Hefei, Hyatt Place Changchun Jingyue, The Lixury Hotel Chongqing, Hyatt Regency Hengqin or the Hyatt Place Changsha Airport More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Miraval Berkshires Resort and Spa More... Aug 31 - Nov 29, 20





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