WestJet extends top-tier status for Platinum, Gold and Silver members, extends qualifying period + they'll move to calendar year qualifying rather than basing it on join date

 Today WestJet provided a much needed update for their elite status members by granting extensions for existing elite members and adjusting some of the qualifying rules for the near future. This is the first news we've had from WestJet regarding elite status since they first provided select extensions to those who were set to lose their status early on during the pandemic.

Status Extension

WestJet will be extending top-tier status for all current Platinum, Gold and Silver members through to December 31, 2021. This is welcome news as many of these members haven't been able to travel or are travelling much less than before. In some ways I wish this happened during the start of the pandemic as my entire family lost our Gold status back in May - which with pre-pandemic plans we were hoping to re-qualify just in time. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and it wasn't only us, there are numerous others who didn't have their status extended during those first few months as their spend wasn't close to re-qualifying yet.

WestJet told us they want to ensure their members have certainty about their status and that the change will take place by September 30 with members keeping their current status and tier benefits until December 31, 2021 or until a higher tier is reached. 

Qualifying Period Extension

On top of those existing tier extension WestJet Rewards is extending the qualifying period for all members including Teal members to December 31, 2021. This means all spend in your current qualifying period will be added to any additional spend you have from now until the end of next year to qualify for or retain status.  This update will take place by September 30 for Platinum, Gold and Silver members along with WestJet RBC credit card holders and any members whose qualifying period ends on September 30. For all other members this update will take place no later than October 31, 2020.

I'm guessing for a lot of you whose qualifying periods ended up until today this doesn't change things very much. That's the case for our family as our qualifying period resets in May so much like the majority of Canadians our spend since that time (or even March and April) is $0. 

Qualifying spend requirements for each tier will stay the same and are as follows:

Tier	Qualifying spend
Silver	$3,000
Gold	$5,000
Platinum	$8,000

 

Future Qualifying Period Changes

WestJet also announced they will be changing the elite status qualifying period once this current qualifying extension comes to a close. As of January 1, 2022 a new qualifying year will begin for all members as the rewards program moves to the calendar based model. This means all members will have from January 1 to December 31 of each year to qualify or re-qualify for status. 

Double Qualifying Spend Promotion

To celebrate this news WestJet has also launched a new promotion today that provides all members double elite qualifying spend on eligible WestJet flights booked between today and September 30 for travel until December 15, 2020. To qualify for double qualifying spend members must register for the offer first.  You can register for the promotion here.

Final thoughts

Overall this is positive news from WestJet as they make the move from selective status extensions to offering it to their entire membership base. My only qualm with the news is that there isn't any retroactive portion to it. There are lots of WestJet loyalists who lost their status and had their qualifying spend reset during the past six months only to see this news come out now. Many other loyalty programs offered extensions for their entire membership base when the pandemic hit and it would have been nice for WestJet to do so as well as they'll have some members peeved at seeing this being offered now instead of four or five months ago.

Learn more about these changes from WestJet here.

I would love to hear from our readers how you feel about this news. Were you one of those members who lost their status and had their qualifying spend reset over the past 6 months? Or are you one of the lucky ones who will have their status extended and have some qualifying spend that hasn't reset yet? Let me know in the comment section below.

One more note - be sure to keep an eye out for another WestJet Rewards promotion coming next week!

September 3 Update: Earn Aeroplan Miles for donating to the Canadian Red Cross, 50% bonus points for discount store & stationary purchases on Collabria credit cards, Choice Privileges buy points flash sale

 

For the month of September you can get rewarded for being charitable as you can earn 100 Aeroplan Miles for every $5 donated to the Canadian Red Cross. Find out more here. 

 Credit cards issued by Collabria have a limited time offer to 50% more points for purchases made at discount and stationary stores. The offer runs until October 31. Learn more here.

 The Choice Privileges program is running a buy points flash sale where you can earn up to a 40% bonus when you buy points by September 8. Find out more 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!

Swoop has released their winter flying schedule which sees an increase in flights with a big shift in Toronto region as Swoop has moved most of the region's flights to Toronto Pearson from Hamilton. (Source RoutesOnline)
Edmonton – Abbotsford 14 weekly
Edmonton – Hamilton 4 weekly (6 of 10 weekly flights moves to Toronto/YYZ)
Edmonton – Las Vegas 2 weekly (4 weekly from 18DEC20)
Edmonton – Mazatlan 2 weekly
Edmonton – Phoenix Mesa 2 weekly (4 weekly from 18DEC20)
Edmonton – Puerto Vallarta 2 weekly
Toronto – Abbotsford 6 weekly
Toronto – Cancun 4 weekly (5 weekly from 07FEB21)
Toronto – Edmonton 6 weekly
Toronto – Halifax 1 daily
Toronto – Kelowna 4 weekly
Toronto – Las Vegas 2 weekly (4 weekly from 05FEB21)
Toronto – Montego Bay 4 weekly (5 weekly from 04FEB21)
Toronto – Orlando eff 14DEC20 4 weekly (5 weekly from 05FEB21)
Toronto – Tampa eff 13DEC20 2 weekly (4 weekly from 04FEB21)

Alaska Airlines will be offering 2 flights per day between Vancouver and Seattle during the month of September (Source RoutesOnline)

 

Posts since our last update:

• U.S. airlines eliminate some ticket change fees permanently - find out which airlines have done so and which of them included Canada
    At the start of this week news broke from United Airlines that they were permanently removing some of…
• September 2 Update: 50,000 bonus PC Optimum points for Shoppers Drug Mart online purchases, 50,000 bonus Be Well points on Thursday and earn 150 AIR MILES on a free hearing test
  Today and tomorrow you can earn 50,000 bonus PC Optimum points when you spend $150 or more online with…

Deals:

WestJet has a seat sale for flights in Premium Economy as the now have over 85% of their 737 aircraft fitted with 2x2 seats instead of the old three economy seats with the middle seat blocked. Book by Sep 4 for travel Sep 9 to Dec 16. 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

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 Canada Aeroplan
- 100 Aeroplan Miles for every $5 donated to the Canadian Red Cross More... Until Sep 30, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Air New Zealand Airpoints
- Triple Airpoints Dollars when you rent with Avis or Budget in New Zealand. More... Until Sep 30, 20

American AAdvantage
- Up to 100,000 bonus miles when you buy or gift AAdvantage miles. More... Until Sep 30, 20

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 1,000 Bonus Asia Miles for stays at any one of 11 Marriott Hotels in Hong Kong More... Until Oct 31, 20

Choice Privileges
- Receive up to a 40% Bonus when you buy Choice Privileges points. More... Until Sep 8, 20

Miles & More
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with Avis in Europe. More... Book by Sep 30 for rentals until Dec 15, 20

Follow Rewards Canada:

U.S. airlines eliminate some ticket change fees permanently - find out which airlines have done so and which of them included Canada

 

At the start of this week news broke from United Airlines that they were permanently removing some of those dreaded fees that airlines charge when making changes to tickets. It didn't take long for other U.S. based airlines to follow suit as American and Delta removed fees next and then followed by Alaska Airlines. There is no word yet here in Canada whether our airlines will follow suit and do away with at least some of those pesky fees but I don't hold my hopes up. In fact WestJet just increased some fees on domestic flights citing increased fees from Nav Canada. That being said, most Canadian airlines do offer at least one change to tickets for free based on the current COVID-19 circumstances and that is also what the U.S. airlines have been doing but with this weeks news have gone on to not just consider COVID but make those changes permanent.

United Airlines

As United was first out of the gate with the news here is what they are changing in regards to these fees. They are permanently removing change fees for most economy and premium class tickets for travel within the U.S. (including Alaska, Hawaii Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands) This change doesn't help us Canadians very much unless you are booking a purely U.S. itinerary. United's COVID policy will cover flights out of Canada until the end of the year however after that it is entirely possible those flights will once again incur change fees. This same policy is in effect for Basic Economy fares and other international flights on United.

Image courtesy of United

 United also added free same day standby for any flights in their network.

Learn more about United's changes here.

American Airlines

American Airlines took what United did, copied it and went one step further - they included Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico for destination where the ticket change fees were removed from.  Ticket types are the same as United's in that it covers all types except Basic Economy. However AA will waive fees on Basic Economy and other International flights until the end of the year as part of their pandemic policy.

Image courtesy of AA

 

American will also offer free same day standby as of October 1st. They are also allowing those who buy Basic Economy fares to buy extras like upgrades, priority boarding and others as of October 1.

Learn more about AA's changes here.

Delta Airlines

Delta Airlines copied United to a tee and didn't expand it like AA did. This means Delta has eliminatied change fees for travel within the domestic U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. It covers pretty much all fare classes except Basic Economy tickets.And just like AA and United, Delta is waiving fees on all fares and flights until the end of December.

Learn more about Delta's changes here.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska was the last out of these four to announce the elimination of ticket changes fees and they chose to be like American Airlines and expand on what is offered beyond what United first set out. Alaska went beyond by eliminating ticket change fees for their entire network which means the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Just like all the other airlines this elimination covers all fares except their lowest saver fare. Where Alaska went one step further is that they have also eliminated the change and cancellatoin fees on Mileage Plus award tickets that for travel on Alaska Airlines.

Learn more about Alaska'a change here.

What about Canada?

As you can see, American and Alaska have included us Canadians in their policies so it is possibly something the two big Canadian airlines may be eyeing. However given the current travel situation, both Alaska and American have very flights from Canada and not many Canadians are even traveling to the U.S.. If history is any indication Canadian airlines tend not to follow U.S. or other international carries with removing revenue sources (they do like to copy policies that increase revenue) so I don't suspect our carriers will follow suit just yet. Given that the airlines have pandemic policies in place already granting some change fee waivers it is entirely possible they'll just keep extending that policy until travel levels return to a somewhat normal level and then start charging everyone again. 

Title image via AA

September 2 Update: 50,000 bonus PC Optimum points for Shoppers Drug Mart online purchases, 50,000 bonus Be Well points on Thursday and earn 150 AIR MILES on a free hearing test

Today and tomorrow you can earn 50,000 bonus PC Optimum points when you spend $150 or more online with Shoppers Drug Mart. Those 50,000 points are worth $50. Find out more here.

Image via Shoppers Drug Mart

 

Meanwhile Rexall will also be awarding 50,000 bonus points on beauty products but on Thursday only. There is a minimum spend of $50 for their offer and you have to login and load the offer to your account.

Image via Rexall

 AIR MILES has a new offer out with Hearing Life where you can earn 150 miles for completing a hearing test with them and up to 1,000 more miles if you purchase hearing aids. This offer is good to the end of September. Find out more here.

Image via AIR MILES

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!

American Airlines is planning to add a new route between Calgary and Phoenix this November. The flight will operate once daily. (Source RoutesOnline)

Japan Airlines will be offering 2 flights per week between Vancouver and Tokyo during the month of September (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:

• Earn up to 5 Aeroplan Miles per dollar spent on Air Canada Gift Cards until September 7
    Air Canada is once again offering some bonus Aeroplan miles for buying gift cards directly from them. Until…
• New increased welcome bonus for the SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express - 10% back on all purchases (up to $400 cash back)
   It's American Express' turn to jump back into the 10% return welcome bonus market. We've seen it on many…
• Reminder: One month left in American Express' increased value for Use Points for Purchases redemptions
  You may recall that back in April during the height of the major shutdown American Express launched a promotion…
• September 1 Update: New welcome bonus offers for several BMO Small Business Cards and a couple of Scotia consumer cards, new Amex Offer for Parcel Pal & IHG updates their cancellation policy
  The BMO CashBack® Business Mastercard®*sees an increased welcome bonus as of today of 10% cash back on gas, office…

Deals:

WestJet has a seat sale for flights in Premium Economy as the now have over 85% of their 737 aircraft fitted with 2x2 seats instead of the old three economy seats with the middle seat blocked. Book by Sep 4 for travel Sep 9 to Dec 16. 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

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

Aeroflot Bonus
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Bonus Miles when you fly Aeroflot to/from Orsk, Penza or Yaroslavl. More... Until Sep 15, 20

Aeromexico Club Premier
- 50% Club Premier Points Discount when you redeem for award flights between Guadalajara and Cancun or Los Cabos. More... Book by Sep 15 for travel Sep 10 - Mar 25, 21

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for each and every eligible stay at over 5,700 participating IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Dec 31, 20 for stays until Mar 31, 21

Finnair Plus
- Up to a 35% discount when buy Finnair Plus points. More... Until Sep 16, 20

SAS EuroBonus
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus EuroBonus Points when you rent with Hertz in Europe. More... Book by Sep 30 for rentals until Dec 15, 20

Follow Rewards Canada:

Earn up to 5 Aeroplan Miles per dollar spent on Air Canada Gift Cards until September 7

 
Air Canada is once again offering some bonus Aeroplan miles for buying gift cards directly from them. Until September 7 when you buy an Air Canada Gift Card you will receive 2 Aeroplan Miles per dollar spent on cards up to $750 or 5 Aeroplan Miles per dollar when you purchase cards with a value over $750. The miles can be earned up to a maximum of $10,000 for 50,000 Aeroplan Miles. Note however that you can only buy a maximum of $2,000 per order so it would take 5 separate transactions if you do want to max this offer at the $10,000 level.

This is quite an appealing offer as receiving 5 Aeroplan Miles per dollar spent is more than you would earn with any credit card out there for Air Canada flights. On top of that you also get whatever miles or points you earn on your credit card for the actual gift card purchase, so the earning potential is very attractive. The only concern that you need to take into account with using gift cards for flights is that you may not be covered by your credit card insurance for those flights in terms of trip interruption, cancellation, baggage delay and so on.

Learn more about this offer here.

Here are the terms and conditions of this offer:

• Please note the maximum online purchase is $2,000 per order.
• This exclusive, one-time offer for Aeroplan members is available for a limited time, online only at aircanada.buyatab.com.
• Earn 2 bonus Aeroplan Mile for every $1 spent up to $750; earn 5 bonus Aeroplan Miles for every $1 spent above $750, up to a maximum of $10,000 (50,000 bonus Aeroplan Miles).
• In order to be eligible for this offer, you must enter your Aeroplan number at time of purchase.
• Members will be credited in September 2020 based on the total amount spent during the promotional period, up to a maximum of $10,000 spend in gift card purchases made online at aircanada.com/giftcard
• Eligible purchases must be made between September 1 and September 7, 2020. 
• Bonus Aeroplan Miles are not Altitude Qualifying Miles and do not count towards Air Canada Altitude status.
• Complete Air Canada Gift Card terms and conditions can be found at aircanada.com/giftcard.

New increased welcome bonus for the SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express - 10% back on all purchases (up to $400 cash back)

 It's American Express' turn to jump back into the 10% return welcome bonus market. We've seen it on many of Canada's cash back cards this year and we even did our first Clash of the Credit Cards podcast on those 10% offers back in July. 

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

As of today if you apply for and are approved for the SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express you will earn 10% cash back on all eligible purchases for the first 4 months of Cardmembership. The welcome bonus is capped at $400 cash back which is $4,000 in spending on the card or as little as $1,000 per month. The previous offer was the standard 5% for 6 months capped at $300 cash back. The card still has its $99 annual fee that you have to pay, no waiver for the first year like some of its competitors but once you earn the $400 you'll come out with $301 in cash back. Even with having to pay the annual fee this new welcome bonus puts the SimplyCash Preferred Card at the top of the list in terms of initial value as the next closest card is $250 (and that card is limited to select spend categories) while most of the other majors are at $200. So as you can see this has now become the most valuable cash back credit card welcome offer in Canada.

Recommended reading: Canada's Top Cash Back Credit Cards 2020

After months of turning down the volume knob it appears that Amex is ready to start acquiring new customers again. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit with full force in March American Express took the route of supporting existing cardholders as the market wasn't prime for new cardholders of quality - rather most people applying for cards during the first few months of the pandemic were considered high risk for default so Amex new client marketing efforts were curtailed. Then you have the other major factor seen with this pandemic and that is the virtual stop to travel. This saw a major shift for consumers looking to non-travel rewards products like cash back credit cards hence American Express' first limited time increased welcome bonus is being placed on their premium cash back product and I must say it is a welcome sight.

Learn more about and apply for The SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express here.

The latest offer for the card is listed below and may not be indicative of the article above:

Reminder: One month left in American Express' increased value for Use Points for Purchases redemptions

You may recall that back in April during the height of the major shutdown American Express launched a promotion to provide more value out of Membership Rewards points for their non-travel Use Points for Purchases redemption option. Here's an excerpt from our April blog post detailing the offer:

On April 17 American Express Canada started new promotions for redeeming Membership Rewards points on non-travel purchases. In light of the current global situation with COVID-19 American Express wanted to continue to provide value to their cardmembers and with virtually no one redeeming or being able to redeem for travel they came out with this offer. The offer, which is a limited time one (we don't know the end date yet) sees the redemption of points for the Use Points for Purchases boosted by nearly 43% to 1,000 points for a $10 statement credit for Membership Rewards Select cards like the American Express Cobalt Card or as high as 1,000 points for a $20 statement credit for Membership Rewards cards like the Platinum Card.

 And I just wanted to remind our readers that this offer is slated to come to a close at the end of this month and keep that in mind if you think you might want to use the non-travel Use Points for Purchases option.

If you are unfamiliar with Amex's Use Points for Purchases, it is their redemption option where you can redeem points for any eligible purchase made on a card that earns Membership Rewards points or Membership Rewards Select points. Typically the rate is 1,000 points for a $7 credit while the rate for travel was 1,000 points for a $10 credit. The topic of being able to use points for any purchases, which is basically a cash back redemption option, has been discussed frequently here on Rewards Canada since early March due to the huge shift away from travel in loyalty programs for the vast majority of Canadians. With families out of work or working reduced hours many have seen their cash flows severely hampered and have needed avenues to supplement what little income they may have. That's where the shift from travel to cash or cash equivalents rewards comes in. I'm not going to into deep discussion on it in this post since we have covered the topic previously, instead here are the links to the articles should you want to research it further:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times 
• Guide to Credit Card Cash Back Liquidity
• In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?

Now back to this offer - as already mentioned Amex has increased the redemption value of their points for any purchase you make on your card.  What this means is that on a card like the American Express Cobalt Card you are receiving up to 5% cash back return as the card earns 5 points per dollar on eats and drinks. While cards like The Platinum Card now peaks at up to a 3% cash back return.

Remember as well that you only need to have that 1,000 points to redeem or in the case of the Cobalt Card as little as $200 in spending. Not many cards have this low of minimum points requirement to redeem. You could literally receive the Cobalt card on a Monday, spend $200 by Wednesday and be able to redeem those 1,000 points for $10 by the following Monday.

Here are the Amex cards that you can utilize this promotion with and the equivalent cash back rate of return:

• American Express Cobalt Card  1% to 5%
• American Express Gold Rewards Card 1% to 2% (to be confirmed)
• The Platinum Card 1% to 3%

To redeem the points for any purchase you simply have to log in to your Amex account online and click on Use Points for Purchase or via the Amex app and click on the transaction you would like to redeem points for. Here's a screenshot from my Cobalt Card taken off the mobile app:

Personally I utilized this offer on my Platinum Card in July when that card had its Use Point for Purchases doubled so 1,000 points equaled a $20 and have also used it from my American Express Cobalt Card. The reason why I used my Cobalt is that my points balance is lower since the primary Cobalt card in our household is my wife's card. So while she has a very healthy six figure points balance poised to be used once we are ready to travel again, my paltry four figure balance was and will be best used for this increased cash back reward as I will probably redeem once more just before the end of September when this promotion ends.

How about you? Have you or will you redeem your Membership Rewards points for some cash back credits? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images via American Express

Check out all the available American Express Card offers here.

September 1 Update: New welcome bonus offers for several BMO Small Business Cards and a couple of Scotia consumer cards, new Amex Offer for Parcel Pal & IHG updates their cancellation policy

The BMO CashBack® Business Mastercard®*sees an increased welcome bonus as of today of 10% cash back on gas, office supplies, and cell phone/internet bills for 3 months.* Previously the offer was 6% in those categories

The welcome bonus for the BMO® AIR MILES®† Business® Mastercard®* became a little harder to achieve in that you no longer get a bonus on first purchase. All 3,000 miles will only now be awarded once you hit the $5,000 spend hurdle in the first three months of having the card. The card does remain first year free however.

 

A few updates to our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers' page. Thanks to our readers we have learned that the Dollarama offer is available on a lot more cards including those Amex cards issued by Scotiabank. We have also added a new offer from Parcel Pal where you can get a $5 statement credit when you spend $20 or more. See all the offers here.

 The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card finally sees an slight increase to it's welcome bonus. As of today you can earn 25,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points with your first $1,000 in everyday purchases in first 3 months on the card. That's 5,000 more than what the bonus has been recently. Unlike many of this card's competitors however there is no waiver of the annual fee in the first year.

 However The welcome bonus for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card has been lowered by 5,000 points today (boo, hiss!). It is now 25,000 points when you spend $1,000 on the card in the first three months. The 10,000 ponit bonus for $40,000 in annual spending remains in place.

IHG has updated their cancellation policy that as of October 1st everything will be back to pre-pandemic rules and regulations:

1. For bookings made prior to April 6, 2020: Any non-refundable/pre-paid bookings for all future arrivals can be cancelled without penalty (up to 24 hours before arrival) up until September 30, 2020. 
2. For bookings made from April 6 to September 30: Any non-refundable/pre-paid bookings for arrivals up to and including September 30, can be cancelled without penalty (up to 24 hours before arrival) up until September 30, 2020. 
3. All reservations made from October 1, 2020 will be subject to the terms and conditions of the rate booked

A few things to note include: 

• Hotels are subject to local law in the market in which they operate. Therefore, government legislation and regulations may supersede this policy in specific circumstances. (including the type and timing of the refund) 
• If you cancel a rate which required a deposit or payment in advance, we will do everything we can to process your refund as quickly as possible. Refunds (which may be vouchers where allowed by local law) may take up to 90 days for hotels to process from the date of cancellation. Reservations may be changed without a fee but may result in different pricing.
• Exclusions may apply for time periods with special event restrictions or peak demand weeks and policies may vary by hotel depending on the status of the special event.
• Hotels in Greater China continue to be excluded from this policy -- cancellation fees for existing and new domestic bookings there were eligible to be waived for stays up to April 30, 2020. 

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!

For most of September and October Air Transat will be combining their Toronto-Glasgow and Toronto-Manchester routes into one routing Toronto-Glasgow-Manchester and vice versa on the route back. (Source RoutesOnline)

China Airlines will be offering 2 flights per week between Vancouver and Taipei during the month of September (Source RoutesOnline)

 

Posts since our last update:

• Receive a 25% bonus when you convert American Express Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy points
    American Express' bonus for transferring Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy has returned. For the month of September…
• The Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite card limited time welcome bonus of 10% back for first three months & first year free is back!
  Well it didn't take Scotia too long to bring back this offer. In fact it has only just over…
• IHG Canada Road Trip Gas and Go - Receive a $25 gas card or evoucher for stays at select IHG Hotels in Canada
    Similar in vain to Best Western's promotion that is actually ending today, IHG is offering a $25 gas…
• British Airways Executive Club: 50% bonus when you buy or gift Avios
  British Airways is once again offering a bonus for buying or gifting Avios. This time it is a flat…
• Marriott Bonvoy status match is back! Match your Accor, Hilton, Hyatt or IHG status to Marriott
    Marriott let us know today that they have brought back their elite status match offer. For a limited…
• August 27 Update: Ultimate No Strings Attached Travel Credit Card Portfolio refreshed, InterContinental Toronto Yorkville to become a Sonesta Hotel, Business Platinum sees Dollarama offer as well
    Rewards Canada's Ultimate No Strings Attached Travel Credit Card Portfolio received a much needed update yesterday after a…

Deals:

Air Transat Here Comes the Sun Promotion. Early bird perks and extra flexibility for travel between August 5, 2020, and April 30, 2021 Book by September 11, 2020. Find out more here.
Book a South package and benefit from Option Flex* which allows you to: Change your travel dates Transfer your vacation package Cancel your trip Our Price Drop Guarantee† A reduced deposit of only $100​ Final payment 25 days before departure

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

Scotia Rewards
- Earn up to 35,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points in your first year (that’s up to $350 towards travel ) with the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
- Earn 25,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points with your first $1,000 in everyday purchases in first 3 months with the Scotia Gold American Express Card

Other Bonus Offers

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- September Promo Rewards – Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. More... Book by Sep 30 for travel until Mar 30, 21

ALL Accor Live Limitless
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus ALL Rewards Points for stays of 2 or more nights at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 9 for stays until Dec 15, 20

British Airways Executive Club
- 50% Bonus Avios when you buy or gift Avios. More... Until Sep 30, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- Elite Status Match - For a limited time elite members of Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt, ALL Accor Live Limitless and IHG Rewards Club can have their status matched. More... Unknown end date

World of Hyatt
- 25% Discount when you buy 5,000 or more World of Hyatt points. More... Until Sep 30, 20

Follow Rewards Canada:

Receive a 25% bonus when you convert American Express Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy points

 

American Express' bonus for transferring Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy has returned. For the month of September when you convert Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy you'll receive 25% more Marriott points. The regular conversion ratio is 1 Membership Rewards Point = 1.2 Marriott Bonvoy points but with the bonus that is now 1.5 Marriott Bonvoy points:

All cards that earn Membership Rewards First or Membership Rewards Select points are eligible for this offer and those cards are as follows:

• American Express Cobalt™ Card
• American Express® Gold Rewards Card 
• The Platinum Card® 
• American Express Business Edge™ Card  
• American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card 
• Business Platinum Card® from American Express 

This is a transfer bonus that many people American Express cardholders anxiously await for so they can convert their points as it represents a decent value proposition.  We value Marriott Rewards points around 1 cent each (in C$) so in effect you are getting 1.5 cents per Membership Rewards points converted. Now you might be saying well 1.5 cents for every dollar I spent isn't that great and when making that direct comparison it isn't. But you have to consider the points multipliers on the various Amex cards. For example, if all your Membership Rewards Select points earned on the American Express Cobalt Card were from the 5x eats and drinks category, you are in fact getting 7.5 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent or a 7.5% return! That's a good return and something to really consider especially given that you can pull even more value out of Marriott Bonvoy than 1 cent per point. We've had many examples over the years where that number approaches 2 cents, 3 cents or more. Those higher values are typically achieved when you take into account Marriott Bonvoy's benefit of redeeming points for a 5 night stay and only paying for four nights. Again looking at 5 points per dollar earning and getting 3 cents per Marriott Bonvoy point back you are looking at a return of 22.5%. That's talking about value! And since you can't convert Membership Rewards Select points to airlines directly this conversion to Marriott is king.

Remember though that's only taking into account 5 points per dollar spending. Once you take into account non Eats and Drinks spend or the earn levels on the other cards the value drops but not to a point where it should be ignored. It really depends on how, when and where you as an individual want to be rewarded. For example the 1 to 3 Membership Rewards First points earned per dollar spent on The Platinum Card may be better off being converted to Aeroplan or British Airways as you can potentially pull more value out of those conversions.

Again, look at the big picture of when, where, how and who you think you might travel with in the future. I've said for the better part of my 19 years of doing this that for some Canadians, hotel programs can make better sense for a family than a frequent flyer program. Think about it - how much money would you have to spend to get four business class tickets for a family versus how much money you need to spend to get one luxurious hotel room? The latter in many cases will take less and then ask yourself this question that I have also posed for many years:  do you want 7-10 hours or luxury or 7 days of luxury? I know which I'd pick. Granted some of us our lucky in that we can potentially do both for our families but for most Canadians it will be one or the other. That being said f you are single traveller or perhaps only two of you it is a bit more of grey area as to where to park your points and which bonuses to take advantage of. Do you convert your Membership Rewards points to Marriott right now for this bonus or wait and convert if and when they run a bonus to British Airways Executive Club? These are all questions you need to ask yourself before you convert. And then you have one more thing to take into consideration and that's the ability to convert Marriott Bonvoy points to over 40 different airline loyalty programs - much more than the six currently available through Membership Rewards.  So much to take into consideration!

Learn more about this promotion here.

The Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite card limited time welcome bonus of 10% back for first three months & first year free is back!

Well it didn't take Scotia too long to bring back this offer. In fact it has only just over a month since it last ended but seeing that all the cards that compete with the  Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card all have better welcome bonuses it only made sense to offer 10% again. 

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

Right now for new applications Scotia will award you with 10% cash back on all purchases up to $200 cash back in the first three months. Not only that but they will waive the first year annual fee of $120 on the primary card and if you grab a supplementary card they'll waive the $50 fee on that as well at no cost. That means if you can spend $2,000 on the card in the first three months you'll get the full $200 at no cost.

After the first three months you will have your usual 4% on eligible recurring bill payments and grocery store purchases, 2% on eligible gas station and daily transit purchases and 1% cash back on all other eligible everyday purchases and with the annual fee waived in the first year it won't cost you anything to give this card a shot. Remember your cash back reward gets paid out in November so you'll want to wait until then to cancel this card if so chose to.  This offer is valid for applications made up until November 1, 2020.

 

With this revised welcome bonus you may think the card should move up in our Top Cash Back Card rankings and technically it does but there's one more change coming tomorrow in the cash back market so I actually won't update the rankings until after tomorrow's news comes out!

Learn more about this new offer and/or apply for the Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite card here

 

Here are the most current details for this card and may not be reflective of the discussion above: