Thursday, September 10, 2020

Top 5 Travel Credit Card Sign Up offers for September - These cards provide some of the best value out of their welcome bonuses

 


Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of September 2020! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Travel Rewards 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 three first year free cards on the list

For the first time in a long time the card that has sat on top of this list has been dethroned! The Marriott Bonvoy American Express has to say good bye to first place thanks to the amazing new welcome bonus on the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. We also see the return of two TD cards to the list, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card and the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card.

Editor's Note:
As travel is curtailed right now these offers are more forward looking and can and should be used towards your long term travel plans - whether that's later this year, next year or even beyond. Getting the cards now allows you to achieve the sign up bonuses as you wish and then continue to spend to build up those points and miles balances to make those future vacations that much better. - Or in the case of all the cards except the Alaska Airlines Mastercard you can also look at cash back or cash back equivalents like gift cards from each program if you are looking at short term financial help. If you are going for the latter focus on the cards that have no fee in the first year so that you can maximize your value.

Remember as well that you will find this list smack dab in the middle of the Rewards Canada homepage for easy reference!

Here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for September (in order of welcome bonus value, calculated as minimum mile/points value minus annual fee)



HSBC World Elite Mastercard - 100,000 points (Apply here)
Minimum value: $500
This card offers a welcome bonus of 100,000 points, split between 20,000 on first purchase and 80,000 more when you spend $5,000 within 180 days of getting the card. The annual fee of $149 is waived in the first year as well meaning these points come to you at no cost other than card spend. The card has a lot of other good benefits like no foreign transaction fees to consider as well! Those 100,000 points are worth $500 in travel rewards but those points can also be converted to British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
Minimum Income: $80,000 personal or $150,000 household or $400,000 in assets at any Canadian Financial Institution

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card - 50,000 Points (Apply here)
Minimum value: $380
The 50,000 points, awarded after spending $1,500 on the card in three months are worth at least $500 in our minds which means after subtracting the annual fee you are coming out ahead by $380. In reality you can pull even more value out of the card (into four figures) as we outlined in our post A look at how The Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card provides huge value!  Don't forget you get an annual free night with the card as well on the card anniversary date, automatic Silver Elite status, 15 night credit towards the next elite status and more.
Minimum Income: N/A

Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard - 30,000 Miles (Apply here)
Minimum value: $330
This card offers a welcome bonus of 30,000 miles when you spend $1,000 on the card in the first three months of having it. This is one of the easiest bonuses to achieve and this card is one of the most churnable in Canada. There are really no problems in getting it 2-4 times in one year alone! Those 30,000 miles are worth no less than $330 when redeeming for economy class flights and just go up from there like the TD Aeroplan card.
Minimum Income: $80,000 Personal or $150,000 Household

OFFER EXPIRED TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - 25,000 Miles
Minimum value: $300
After a few months hiatus the mainstay card for the Aeroplan program returns to the list with it's newest offer. The bonus is awarded as follows: 15,000 Aeroplan Miles when you make your first Purchase with your Card + 10,000 Aeroplan Miles when you spend $1,500 in the first three months of having the card.  Add in no annual in the first year on both the primary and 1st additional card and you get full value of the miles earned. Depending on how you redeem those Aeroplan miles should be worth no less than $300 but more likely closer to $800 or more! In fact if you take the per mile value from our post from late July 2019 this welcome bonus would be worth $1,800 or more.
Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household
 
OFFER EXPIRED TD First Class Visa  - 60,000 Points
Minimum value: $240
The First Class Visa Infinite Card makes it back onto the list this month with its latest offer as well. You receive 20,000 points on your first purchase and 40,000 more points when you spend $1,500 on the card in the first 90 days. The card also has rebates on the primary and first additional card for the first year. At a minimum the points are worth $240 towards any travel but are worth $300 if you choose to redeem via ExpediaForTD
Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with anywhere from $1,750 to well over $2,500 in travel value. However even if you only take on one or two you are helping your travel budget significantly 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:
American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link.


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

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard everyday spending to count towards tier status for the next three months


WestJet is the latest airline to jump into the fray with a promotion that provides its members a way to earn elite status without even flying the airline! We've already seen offers likes this from Air Canada, Alaska Airlines and others but now it's WestJet's turn. Although they may seem late to the party sometimes it's not a bad thing to wait and see what others do. Now that WestJet has observed and learned from the others they have been able to develop a stay a home elite status boost offer that best suits the airline and it's members.

The offer which officially launches on September 10th but is open for registration right away provides all members who hold a WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard with an elite tier qualifying spend boost of 10% of all their eligible purchases until December 9. This means if you go out and buy $250 worth of groceries, which by the way will still earn 2x rewards until the end of September with their Grocery & Dining accelerator (Read more about that here) you'll earn $25 in qualifying spend. Considering the airline has also extended the qualifying spend period of all members to the end of 2021 this boost should really make it a lot easier for a lot of members to reach that next elite tier. And don't forget that if you are flying WestJet any time soon you can still earn double qualifying spend on all eligible flights until December 15 which makes achieving status that much easier.

Recommended reading: 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

There are some rules and regulations to the offer of course - the most important of them are as follows:

  • You have to register for the offer at: westjet.com/tierboost
  • The maximum amount of qualifying spend you can earn will be achieving a 1-tier upgrade compared to your rewards tier as of September 10th, 2020. This means if you are Teal member you can boost up to Silver (ie $30,000 card spending will net you $3,000 in qualifying spend to get Silver status), Silver can boost to Gold and Gold can boost to Platinum.

    Qualifying spend requirements

  • Platinum members are excluded from this promotion since they have no higher tier to achieve
  • Eligible purchases made on a secondary card will receive qualifying spend boost that will be deposited in the registered primary cardholder’s account. Only the primary cardholder must register.
  • The Offer Period will be divided into three tracking periods, each consisting of approximately 30 days:
    • Period 1: September 10 – October 9, 2020
    • Period 2: October 10 – November 9, 2020
    • Period 3: November 10 – December 9, 2020
  • Qualifying spend will be based on the total amount of purchases made on your card in the period that you register in. Ex: If you register anytime between Sep 10th – Oct 9th, 2020 all your purchases for the entire period 1 and 2-3 will count. If you register in period 2, then only purchases made in periods 2 and 3 will count. Qualifying spend accruals will be posted 2 weeks after each period ends.
This promotion is also open to new cardholders who can register at any point during the campaign so the sooner you apply for the card the sooner you can start earning the elite tier boost. The card itself still has their best ever offer of $350 WestJet dollars as the welcome bonus. Be sure to register for this offer once you receive your card if you are just applying for it now. 
 

September 9 Update: The Ultimate Student Credit Portfolio, a better offer for the LifeMiles buy miles bonus and 2x RBC Rewards points on airbnb & VRBO bookings

 


Rewards Canada's Ultimate Student Credit Card Portfolio received a much needed update at the end of last week and it is perfect timing for those students returning to school right now. This portfolio looks at one American Express, one Mastercard and one Visa card that are best for students and when you combine them all they create the Ultimate Student Credit Card Portfolio. We see the Student BMO CashBack Mastercard take over the Mastercard position while the Scotiabank SCENE Card and SimplyCash from American Express remain in their respective positions. Check out the portfolio here.

 

 A quick update to our piece from yesterday about buying LifeMiles with a bonus and utilizing it for cheap flights on Air Canada and other Star Alliance airlines. It turns out there is an exclusive 'blog' offer from One Mile at a Time. His offer provides the 200% bonus on any amount of miles purchased from 1,000 miles and up. Much better than the standard offer of only getting a 200% bonus when you purchase 101,000 miles or more. This means our example of using 50,000 LifeMiles for an Air Canada flight in business class means you only have to buy those 50,000 miles (or less if you already have some LifeMiles) instead of double that amount. Find out more here.

RBC Avion cardholders can earn 2x RBC Rewards points on airbnb or VRBO bookings. The offer is good until November 10. 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!

Air Canada has cancelled more international flights for the upcoming winter season as follows. (Source RoutesOnline)
Calgary – Los Cabos
Calgary – Puerto Vallarta
Montreal – Holguin
Montreal – Port-au-Prince
Montreal – Puerto Plata
Montreal – Toulouse
Ottawa – Varadero
Toronto – Barcelona
Toronto – Belize City
Toronto – Copenhagen
Toronto – George Town
Toronto – Holguin
Toronto – Madrid
Toronto – Puerto Plata
Toronto – Quito
Toronto – Samana
Vancouver – Auckland
Vancouver – Melbourne
Vancouver – Orange County

Pacific Coastal Airlines is looking to resume flights between Victoria and Prince George in October (Source RoutesOnline)

Icelandair has cancelled pretty much all their flights to Canada except for Toronto right through to October of next year. Seeing that it is for such a long period there is a chance this could change but for now Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver flights are all gone. (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

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
- Earn up to 50,000 Aeroplan Miles when apply for and approved for the TD® Aeroplan®Visa Infinite Privilege* Credit Card. More... Until Nov 7, 20 For residents of Canada only
- Earn up to 25,000 Aeroplan Miles when apply for and approved for the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card More... Until Nov 7, 20 For residents of Canada only
- Earn up to 20,000 Aeroplan Miles when apply for and approved for the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Platinum* Card More... Until Nov 7, 20 For residents of Canada only

Other Bonus Offers

Avianca LifeMiles
- 200% bonus when you buy LifeMiles. More... Until Sep 25, 20

ALL Accor Live Limitless
- Triple ALL Rewards Points for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide when you book that stay via Flight Centre. More... Until Nov 30, 20
- Double ALL Rewards Points when you book the Swissoffice package at the Swissotel Chicago.  More... Unknown end date

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 18,000 Bonus Avios when you subscribe to The Economist. More... Until Oct 31, 20

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you stay at any Paradores Hotel in Spain. More... Until Oct 31, 20

JAL Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the Tokyo Bay Shiomi Prince Hotel. More... Oct 1 - Dec 31, 20

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles when you book a stay at the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. More... Until Dec 20, 20

WestJet Rewards
- Earn Double Elite Qualifying Spend on all eligible WestJet flights. More... Book between Sep 4 and 30 for travel until Dec 15, 20

World of Hyatt
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt House Kanazawa or the Hyatt Centric Kanazawa More... Until Oct 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt Place Altoona / Des Moines More... Until Sep 29, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at The Last Hotel St Louis More... Until Sep 29, 20




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Heads up: Earn 3,000 Bonus Best Western Rewards points on all stays booked Sep 10-13 (Targeted offer)

 

Here’s advance notice of an offer that will launch on September 10th. It’s the return of Best Rewards’ 3,000 bonus points on all stays bonus. This is a targeted offer (you should get the email the sent to you on the 10th) but if not you can always try to register for it via our link below. The bonus is 3,000 points per stay booked between September 10 and 13 for stays completed by October 31.  Just ensure you wait until 12:01am ET tonight to start making your bookings.

Offer details:
3,000 Bonus Rewards Points for every stay at a Best Western Hotel in the United States, Canada, or the Caribbean Islands. Full details, online registration & booking  (Registration is required) Book by Sep 13 for stays until Oct 31, 20
Targeted offer – may not work for everyone

Here are some other Best Western Rewards offers to check out:

  • Elite Level Status Match Best Western Rewards will match your other Hotel Reward program status with no catch. Full details
  • Book 2 nights and get the 3rd night Free at participating Best Western® Hotels & Resorts across Asia. Full details & online booking
  • Earn 20,000 Best Western Rewards points on your first purchase with the
    mbna Best Western Mastercard®

[OFFER EXPIRED] New welcome bonus of up to 60,000 TD Rewards Points with the TD First Class Visa Infinite Card


PLEASE NOTE THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED

A new offer came out today for TD's premier proprietary rewards cards, the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card. The new offer is for up to 60,000 TD Rewards Points along with first year no annual fee for the primary card and first additional card. This is a limited time offer that ends on August 16, 2021. 

This new offer is about the middle of the road for this card - better than the 20,000 points seen up until yesterday but shy of the 80,000 to 90,000 we have seen in previous promotions. I know TD is being careful here as travel cards haven't been as popular of late thanks to the pandemic so I feel like they are testing the waters out here. I also believe they don't want pull any potential people away from the new Aeroplan cards they will be issuing soon either but they do want to remain competitive as they have seen their competitors ramping up their travel rewards card offers. 

The offer of 60,000 points is broken down into two components whereby you'll get 20,000 points on your first purchase made with the card and an additional 40,000 points when you spend $1,500 on the card within the first three months of having it. That's a pretty easy spend threshold to hit as you really only have to spend $500 per month on the card.

Remember as well the card has a first year free limited time benefit attached to it so outside of the actual spend these points come you at no cost. 60,000 points translates to $240 worth of travel credits for any travel booking or $300 worth of travel for bookings made via Expedia For TD. However as travel isn't on everyone's radar right now the TD Rewards program does have some cash or cash equivalent options you can also look at utilizing. You can redeem for a cash back credit your account at a rate of 400 points equaling $1 (minimum of 10,000 points has to be redeemed) so those 60,000 points will net you $150 in cash back. There is a better option if you happen to have kids, grandkids, nieces or nephews who are in university or college. TD Rewards is partnered with HigherEdPoints which is a company that facilitates the redemption of loyalty points to help pay for post secondary tuition and even for government student loans. That redemption options sees 62,500 points equaling $250. This means the 60,000 points are worth $240 via this route - yes you do have to have 62,500 to redeem but seeing that you have to spend $1,500 to get the welcome bonus you'll have more than enough points to redeem for the HigherEdPoints option. 

Recommended reading: Now is a good time to pay off your student loans and tuition using points and miles via HigherEdPoints

Listen in: Rewards Canada podcast Episode 53 - Interview with Suzanne Tyson, founder of HigherEdPoints

Recommended Reading: Using Points & Miles to pay for Tuition  

 Below you will find the most current offer for this card and it may not be reflective of the above post:

 

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 information on this TD credit card, please click on the Apply Now button.

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

New TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card offer of up to 25,000 bonus miles and first year free

 

With the new Aeroplan program only a few short months away from launching the marketing efforts from them and their financial partners are going to start ramping up. Given that travel has been curtailed for the better of almost half a year now credit card issuers moved money away from their travel card portfolios and that included TD with their Aeroplan cards. That's starting to change now - travel is slowly coming back and of course with Aeroplan going ahead with launching their new program in November efforts are returning to the marketing of these cards. It all starts today with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card seeing its welcome bonus boosted 10,000 Aeroplan Miles (soon to be points) from 15,000 to 25,000 while retaining the no first year annual fee on both the primary card and the first additional card. This offer is available for new applications until November 7 (which makes total sense seeing the new Aeroplan cards launch on November 8) This means as long as you can meet the minimum spend requirement of only $1,500 in the first three months you'll get the full 25,000 miles at no cost outside of that spending.

Now the real question you have to ask yourself is "do I get the card now or do I wait for the new cards to launch in November?" This is question we here at Rewards Canada do not have the answer to but sure wish we did. Here are some things you'll want to consider and right now the predicament we are in is just like playing the stock market. Do you play it safe by jumping in now or do you risk it and wait for a potential bigger reward but also stand a chance at being rewarded less?

If you choose to go sign up for the card now here's what you can expect:

  • Your cards will be automatically updated to the new version of the card on November 8 along with all the new bells and whistles
  • You'll get the annual fee rebated for the primary card and first additional cards. That's $120 and $50 savings based on the current version of the cards. However the new version of the card will be $139 and $75 and you won't have to pay that until the first year anniversary of the card.  By signing up now you are essentially locking in the new card with all the new benefits for at least 10 months with no cost. My gut tells me when the new cards come out in November they will not be waiving the annual fees.
  • A smaller welcome bonus. Chances are when the new card offers are revealed for November the welcome bonus will be bigger and better. How much bigger and better? We don't know. Will it be so much more higher that it's worth waiting and paying the $139 fee (and $75 for additional cards) if they don't waive the annual fee in the first year as of November 8?
  • You'll get 25,000 miles that you can start using sooner than if you wait for the new cards
  • You only have to spend $1,500 to get the full bonus from this current offer. I am anticipating that the new card will have a higher spend requirement but again this is just speculation.

If you choose to play with fate and want to risk it by waiting until November 8 here's what you can expect:

  • You'll have the new card with all the bells and whistles
  • You will likely be able to earn more points thanks to a bigger welcome bonus. This is pure speculation but if Aeroplan and TD really want to come out guns a-blazing you can bet the bonus will be big.
  • There is high likelihood the annual fee will not be rebated thanks to a large welcome bonus offer. Aeroplan and its partners need to play their cards correctly here - offer a big bonus with no annual fee right off the bat and you really open it up to gamers as you are doling out a lot of points at a big cost. On the other hand many of the benefits associated with the new version of card won't be overly utilized for some time still due to the severe downturn in travel so that savings may somewhat offset offering an annual fee waiver. It is a crap shoot right now.
  • You may have to spend more to achieve the welcome bonus on this new card. The current offer only requires $1,500 in spending in the first three months and I am guessing that requirement will be higher come November 8.

 Like I already mentioned in this post - I don't have the answer to what the new card will offer as a welcome bonus. All I have written above is pure speculation and can be totally wrong. I'm just putting it out there so that you can consider your path, ultimately choosing your own adventure. Will you play it safe or take a risk? It's all up to you and the page you choose.

Now if you choose to go with this current offer, which by the way is quite good in its own form you are looking at receiving 10,000 miles upon your first purchase and another 15,000 miles when you spend $1,500 on the card within the first 90 days of opening your account. For most people this shouldn't be too hard as that will equate to $500 in spending per month.no fee etc. However if you want to be able to get the miles as soon as possible you'll want to try to get that $1,500 in spending done quickly so that the miles post after your first statement. That way you can still redeem the miles under the old award chart system that will be in effect until November 7. Here is a broad example of what 25,000 Aeroplan Miles can get you under the current program:

  • 3 one way economy class short haul flights in Canada & Continental USA
  • 1 round trip or 2 one way economy class long haul flights in Canada & Continental USA 
  • 1 one way economy class ticket from Canada to Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, or Northern South America
  • 1 one way business class long haul flights in Canada & Continental USA

Air Canada reward chart valid only to November 7

As of November 8th the above chart will no longer be applicable as the new Aeroplan program will be live. Here is what can expect for those 25,000 miles in the new program:

  • 2 to 4  one way economy class flights (0-500 miles)
  • 4 one way economy class flights on partner airlines (0-500 miles)
  • 1 to 2 one way premium economy class flights (0-500 miles)
  • 1 one way business class flight (0-500 miles)
  • 1 to 2  one way economy class flights (501-1,500 miles & 1,501-2,750 miles)
  • 2 one way economy class flights on partner airlines (501-1,500 miles & 1,501-2,750 miles)
  • 1 one way premium economy class flight (501-1,500 miles) 
  • potentially 1 one way business class flight (501 - 1,500 miles) 
  • 1 one way business class flight on partner airlines (501-1,500 miles) 
  • potentially 1 one way premium economy or business class flight (1,501-2,750 miles)
  • 1 one way economy class flight (2,751+ miles)

Air Canada's new redemption rates (click to make bigger)

 The 25,000 miles will also cover some flights within select other zones such as for flights within Asia or within South America. The new program also allows for points plus cash redemptions so while 25,000 miles may not cover an entire flight to Europe or Asia you can use towards a portion of the flight and pay  cash for the remainder. This is one of the great new benefits of this program is that increased flexibility.

Another great benefit of the new program is the Family Sharing plan you will be able to create a group of 8 people to pool points from to make it easier to reach those reward goal. Savvy collectors take note - get yourself two cards if you can with this current promotion and you'll have 50,000 Aeroplan Miles which will open up even more redemption options. For example you get your own TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card then have your spouse or partner get their own account as well. As long as you are both approved and both meet that minimum spend threshold you'll each have 25,000 miles that you can pool into one come November 8. And the great thing is both of you pay no annual fee on the cards for that first year. This can also be a way to curb the risk of waiting in some sort, perhaps apply for one card right now to get the 25,000 miles with no fee and then have the partner/spouse wait to November 8 to apply for the new card with whatever sign up bonus it comes with.

There you have it! TD's new offer for the Aeroplan Visa Infinite card definitely presents a dilemma as it raises the question, do I get the card now or do I wait until November 8. I wish I could answer that for you but your guess is as good as mine right now. Hopefully though  I was able to present enough information in this post to at least give you a little more guidance as to making the right choice for you. 

Learn more about and apply for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card here.

The card matrix below shows the latest offer on this card and may not be representative of the discussion above:

 


LifeMiles offering up to a 200% bonus when buying miles - huge opportunity to fly Air Canada or other Star Alliance airlines on the cheap

 

UPDATE: If you access the offer via One Mile at a Time you can get the 200% right from the lowest mileage purchase level of only 1,000 miles!  This means you can buy just the amount of miles you need (such as 50,000 as in the example below) for an award ticket.

LifeMiles has long been famous for their buy miles bonuses as being some of the best in the business. Well today they have gone beyond what made them famous with their latest offer that came out today. From now until September 25 they are offering up to a 200% bonus when you buy LifeMiles. That’s right 200% or Triple Miles in total. This is the biggest and best offer they have ever run and it’s not even exclusive to select bloggers – this one is for everyone. Now the airline associated with LifeMiles is Avianca and the latter is in bankruptcy protection right now. That being said the two are separate companies and LifeMiles isn’t in bankruptcy protection but you could imagine that if Avianca went under it would adversely affect LifeMiles just like JetPrivilege (now InterMiles) was when Jet Airways folded. The good news is Avianca has received several hundred million dollars in loans so the hope is the airline will survive. The program itself also placed this line in the email announcing the sale today, which is definitely a bit suspect:

Even though we do not intent to change our award rates, for the members who purchase this promotion we will honor these award tables until at least January 2021.

So while they do not intend to change their award charts right now for them to mention this and actually state a date of January 2021 would have me worried that the loyalty program is having some back room discussions around their charts.  I mean why else would you put that line in the email? Anyways, now back to the offer, it is a tiered bonus as follows:


 

If you buy at the 200% level (101,000 to 200,000) you are buying LifeMiles at an incredible 1.1 cents each.


Offer details:
Receive up to a 200% bonus when you buy LifeMiles. Buy miles here. Until Sep 25, 20
Buy 1,000 to 50,000 miles receive a 150% bonus
Buy 51, 000 to 100,000 miles receive a 175% bonus
Buy 101,000 to 200,000 miles receive a 200% bonus

And here's how this buy miles offers can offer huge savings and provides a classic example of some great travel hacking by being able to buy a $2800 business class ticket for under $800.

Even though there isn't much international travel happening right now you can still utilize this great Latin American offer to travel within Canada. How about a quick weekend getaway from Toronto to Vancouver - and not in economy class but business class on internationally configured aircraft with lie flat seats. This is for October 8 to 11. Here is the availability from LifeMiles (click to make larger)



 And to buy the same flights on Air Canada:




Let's do the math here. The redemption is 50,000 LifeMiles plus US40.05 in taxes and fees. You are buying the miles at 1.1 cents US each. That equates to US$550 for the miles and add in the fees for a grand total of US$590.05. Convert that to Canadian and you are looking at about $780. To buy the same ticket with cash on Air Canada is $2809.72. By taking the buy miles route with this bonus from LifeMiles you are saving over $2,000 on this flight alone! It's like paying for an economy class ticket (Well the cheapest no frill price is $608 on those same flight) but being able to fly in a lie flat business class cabin in both directions!

Top 6 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for September - These cards provide the best value out of their welcome bonuses

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 6 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of September 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 five of the six cards offering the first year free. Oh and this month we had to go with 6 cards instead of our usual 5 cards due to the four of them all offering the same welcome bonus.

Here are our top 6 cash back credit card sign up offers for September (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)
 
Scotia Momentum 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 supplementary cards. Cash back on this card is awarded once per year as a statement credit. Minimum Income: $60,000 (individual) or $100,000 (household)

SimplyCash™ Preferred Card from American Express - 10% cash back on all purchases up to $4,000 (Apply here)
Welcome offer cash back value: $301 ($400 - $99 annual fee)
This card is offering 10% cash back on all spending during the first four months of having the card. The 10% is capped at $4,000 of spending for a maximum return of $400 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 $301. 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
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 six cards there is over $1,100 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

Monday, September 7, 2020

OFFER EXPIRED Amazing new welcome offer for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard - Up to 100,000 points with first year free! (Quebec gets 130,000 points with fee)

This offer has expired and is no longer available. 

HSBC has just come out with their biggest and best offer yet for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard and in fact the bonus for Quebec residents, in terms of the number of points, is now the highest ever credit card sign up bonus ever seen in Canada. The offer for all of Canada sans Quebec is up to 100,000 points which ties the highest ever points offer outside of Quebec. The PC Optimum World Elite Mastercard and ATB Gold My Rewards Mastercard have both offered 100,000 in the past but those two offers were only worth $100. On top of the 100,000 point bonus on the HSBC World Elite Mastercard this current welcome bonus also provided no annual fee in the first year for the primary cardholder. Those 100,000 points are worth $500 towards any travel and as that first year annual fee is waived you get the full value of that $500! Since Quebec doesn't allow the first year free waiver the offer there is a whopping 130,000 points worth $650 towards travel but you do have to pay the annual fee so you end up with $501 in travel value.

The bonus outside of Quebec is awarded as follows:

  • 20,000 Point Welcome Bonus on your first purchase
  • 80,000 points when you spend $5,000 in the first 180 days

The 100,000 points once achieved are worth $500 in travel rewards but this card isn't just a travel points card, it is actually a Hybrid Card. This means points can also be converted to partners outside of HSBC Rewards. In this card's case, they can be transferred to British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and this new welcome bonus is very attractive for those people looking to boost their accounts in these frequent flyer programs. 

The points convert as follows:

  • 2.5 points to 1 British Airways Executive Club Avios
  • 3 points to 1.35 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles 
  • 3 points to 1.2 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 
This means the sign up bonus is worth 40,000 Avios in British Airways' Executive Club which if you have followed us for sometime now know that is a good amount for a lot of various redemptions.

Here are some options to check out with British Airways:

The sign up bonus isn't the only good feature about this card however. It is one of only nine cards in Canada that have No Foreign Transaction fees, it also comes with a $100 annual travel enhancement credit (to use on bag fees, seat selection etc) and like most World Elite Mastercards in Canada it has airport lounge access membership via LoungeKey, free Boingo WiFi and more.

Recommend Reading: No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards for Canadians  & The Ultimate No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Card Portfolio

Now, with travel being curtailed due to the Coronavirus pandemic you may be more interested in cash back options to help with your financial situation and this card does have that option. The points can also be redeemed for many other non-travel items like merchandise, experiences, gift cards, HSBC financial products and even for any purchases made on the card. HSBC calls this last option their Cash Back Rebate and is 25,000 points for a $75 statement credit. That works out to a 0.9% to 1.8% return (based on 3 points for everyday spending and 6 points for travel) and also makes the welcome bonus of 100,000 points worth $300 for cash back rebates which is pretty decent still! 

I would also recommend reading our review of the card

Here are the most current details for this card:  

Today also sees an increased welcome bonus for HSBC's low interest card the HSBC +Rewards Mastercard of 20,000 points with no annual fee in the first year on the primary card.

Friday, September 4, 2020

WestJet Rewards offering double qualifying spend on all eligible flights until December 15


As part of today's broader update from WestJet that detailed the extension of member's elite status and qualifying spend period they also released this promotion for fall travel which we quickly mentioned in that first post. All members who register for this offer will earn Double Qualifying Spend for WestJet flights booked between today and September 30 that are completed by December 15, 2020.  If you happen to be at $0 in terms of qualifying spend at the moment this means you can achieve Silver status for as little as $1,500 in spend, Gold for $2,500 or Platinum for $4,000. If you are lucky enough to have some qualifying spend already in the bank then those requirements will be even less! 

You do have to note that any bookings made prior to September 4th will not count towards this promotion as it is only open to new bookings made from today on.

Offer details:
Earn Double Elite Qualifying Spend on all eligible WestJet flights. Full details & online registration. Book between Sep 4 and 30 for travel until Dec 15, 20

Image via WestJet