WestJet's flagship Elevation Lounge set to open on November 2 in Calgary

 Despite the serious downturn in travel in Canada and globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic WestJet is going ahead with the opening of their flagship business class in Calgary. The lounge which was officially announced just over a year ago was due to open this past summer but of course due to reasons we are all aware of that was pushed back. Now we know WestJet will officially open that lounge next week on November 2.

Called the WestJet Elevation Lounge, the new flagship space for airline is set to deliver a true business class experience for those entering the lounge.

Working in partnership with The Calgary Airport Authority, the Elevation Lounge will open to the public on November 2, 2020 and is conveniently located at Concourse B of the Domestic Terminal and is accessible to guests departing from Concourses A, B and C, as well as Concourse D of the International Terminal (when accessed from security checkpoint B or C).

Hilton Honors provides further extension to elite status, points expiration and lowers thresholds for select benefits

 

Hilton is next out of the gate with further adjustments and extensions for their frequent guest program. The hotel chain announced the following Hilton Honors updates today:

New global program adjustments to 2020 and 2021 policies include:

 

• Extending Points Expiration so that no Points will expire until December 31, 2021.  
• Extending Status to March 31, 2022 for Silver, Gold and Diamond members that were set to downgrade in 2020 or 2021. This means members can keep their status longer and continue to enjoy their benefits. 
• Reducing Status Qualification Requirements by 50 percent across all tiers, including stays, nights and Base Points in 2021, to allow members to achieve status in half the time. For example, this means to earn Gold status, a member must complete 20 nights, 10 stays or 37,500 Points instead of 40 nights, 20 stays or 75,000 points. And, as previously announced, all 2020 nights will automatically roll over to the 2021 calendar year to help Hilton Honors members upgrade their tier status even faster.
• Lowering Milestone Bonus Night Threshold to begin at 20 nights in 2021 (was previously 40 nights) to align with new Gold status qualification and allow members to earn rewards faster. Gold members will earn 10,000 Bonus Points for 20 nights stayed and will continue earning the additional 10,000 Bonus Points every 10 nights above that level in a calendar year. At 60 nights, a member would still earn the additional Milestone Bonus of 30,000 Bonus Points. 
• Reducing Gifting Status Night Threshold to the new Diamond status night qualification. Diamond members who stay 30 nights in 2021 will be able to gift Gold status (was previously 60 nights) or 60 nights to upgrade the gift to Diamond status (was previously 100 nights). 

 Earlier in the year Hilton had announced status extensions and pausing of points expiration but has extended those even further. Previously the pausing of points expiration was set to December 31, 2020 and that has been extended by a year. The status extension remains the same for those who have 2020 status but is a boon for those with 2019 status that was extended as that will now be kept until March 2022. On top of that they have also now added lower qualification requirements in 2021 for those who don't have status or want to achieve a higher status than what is being extended plus they are lowering the thresholds for earning milestone bonuses and status gifting. 

Learn more about these changes here.

Image via Hilton

Air Canada to launch flights to Doha this December!

 

According to RoutesOnline Air Canada will be launching flights between Toronto and Doha, Qatar in just over a month! This comes as a big surprise not only for the route itself but even the timing of launching it in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Qatar Airways already flew the route for about a month this past summer when out of the blue they announced the flights and started up the route a few short days after that! The route didn't last very long but perhaps it was being done more as a test for this upcoming Air Canada flight. The airlines do have agreements in place with Air Canada providing feed to Qatar's flights out of Montreal and will be doing so on the vice versa out of Doha. This is why you have the option to choose additional Canadian cities on Qatar Airways' website even though Qatar Airways only flies out of Montreal. In fact a recent email from Qatar Airways even mentioned utilizing Air Canada for those connecting flight.

Marriott Bonvoy further extending free night award expiry and points expiration to August 1, 2021

 

Excellent news coming out from Marriott today - they are providing further extensions to free night awards and points expiration! These changes will be effective as of December 11, 2020:

Free Night Award (FNA): Members who currently have a Free Night Award (FNA) that had an original expiration date in 2020, or which will expire before July 31, 2021, as part of their co-brand credit card benefit, annual choice benefit, promotions or travel package will now be able to redeem it through August 1, 2021. Free Night Awards with an original expiration date prior to 2020 will not be eligible for the additional extension.

Points Expiration: Points expiration won’t resume until August 1, 2021 so they have more time to use them for free nights, gift cards and more. At that time, your points will only expire if your account has been inactive for at least 24 months.

Early on during the onset of the pandemic Marriott announced they will extend free night awards which were due to expire in 2020 to January 31, 2021. Today's news will see those awards being extended an extra six months. This is very welcome news for those members who have not undertaken travel yet and most likely weren't going to travel by the end of January. I see this as a good move by Marriott - not only to look good in the eyes of its members but to potentially increase the likelihood of having members return to Marriott instead of other chains thereby increasing potential revenue. That is, having members redeem free nights may add to their revenue in hopes those members may be booking longer stays using the free night and paying for other nights as well as those members eating and drinking on site thereby increasing the revenue stream on the F&B side.  Hotels have struggled here in Canada with occupancy rates dropping to below 30% again and worldwide the numbers aren't much better so the chains are doing anything possible to grow those numbers and these extensions are just one example of that.

We have two Free Night Awards that were set to expire this past September which were extended to January 31, 2021 and should now be extended to that August 1, 2021 date. Our Free Night Awards include those provided as an anniversary bonus from the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card.

Marriott also realizes those members who haven't stayed with them due to the pandemic shouldn't be losing their points balances either so we see the company extend that pausing of points expiry from the previous date of February 2021 to August as well.

Marriott becomes the second major hotel chain to provide extensions on extensions after Hyatt Hotels. The latter who's news came out early in October did go a step further than Marriott by providing extension on points expiry and earned awards all the way to the end of 2021. That's not to say Marriott won't either. I bet they will be evaluating the use of these awards on a monthly basis and before we know it we may see further extensions.

Image via Marriott

Changes coming to CIBC's cash back Dividend cards on February 1, 2021

 

CIBC reached out to us yesterday to let us know they are revamping their suite of cash back credit cards. These are the cards better known as their Dividend Cards and all the cards in the portfolio are seeing an update. There are both positive and negative and negative changes being applied to all the cards. We'll delve into those individual changes below but the most important change that is portfolio wide is a great one! You will be able to redeem your cash back balance from any of these cards at any time now so long as your cash back balance is at $25! This is the same redemption option seen on the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite* Card and it is welcome change! If you are familiar with the Dividend Card(s) you'll know that your cash back rewards balance is only available once per year but that all changes February 1st. Called On Demand Redemption CIBC Clients can redeem their cash back anytime as long as their account is open, in good standing, and they have a minimum of $25 in cash back. You will be able to redeem cash back at any time through the CIBC mobile app or online.

October 23 Update: Double PC Optimum or Esso Extra points at Esso & Mobil this weekend, IHG extends the Ambassador free night offer, Air Transat winter flight schedule

This weekend you can earn double the PC Optimum or Esso Extra points at participating Esso and Mobil stations across Canada. The offer runs Oct 23-25. ` 

Image via Esso

IHG Rewards Club has extended the free night offer when you buy an IHG Ambassador membership. Originally it was set to end on November 15, now you have until December 31 to register, book and stay to get that free night. You do have four hotels in Canada to achieve this bonus! Learn more here

These are the four hotels:

• InterContinental Toronto Yorkville
  
• InterContinental Toronto Centre
  
• InterContinental Montreal
  
• Kimpton St. George Toronto

 Image via IHG

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 Transat has published their schedule for the winter season and the list is quite a bit bigger now so I won't post it here. Check out the list on RoutesOnline Remember Air Transat is a Rewards Canada partner and you can book their flights right here! (We earn a small commission on those bookings so we thank you in advance if do choose to book via our link!)

Image via Air Transat

I can't recall if I covered this before in this spot but for the Winter season KLM will be returning to Edmonton as part of the airline's Calgary service. 2 of 5 flights per week between Calgary and Amsterdam will have a stop in Edmonton. Meanwhile Toronto is being bumped up to 9 flights per week and Vancouver is being scaled back to 3. (Source RoutesOnline)

For the month of November British Airways will be increasing service between Toronto and London to 11 flights per week. (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:

• Reward night sale at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas – Stay for as little as 30,000 IHG Rewards Club points
    The following offer may only be of interest to a select few of you as I know a…
• Governments of Canada and Alberta to run COVID-19 rapid testing program at Calgary International Airport & Coutts land border crossing
  The Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta announced a new 26 week pilot project for rapid COVID-19…
• WestJet expands refund policy - more tickets are now eligible for full refunds including domestic flights (leads to a Twitter fight with Air Canada!)
    The events of yesterday afternoon and evening played out quite interestingly for the airline industry in Canada, namely…
• An introduction to Neo Financial - one of Canada's newest credit card and savings reward programs
   About a year and a half ago one of the founders of SkipTheDishes reached out to me to discuss…
• October 21 Update: 50% discount on award nights at the Shangri-La Toronto and Save up to 25% on last minute stays at 50+ Marriott Hotels in Canada
  In the bonus offers section below you'll note a new redemption offer from Shangri-La Hotels that provides a 50%…

Deals:

Earn $300 cash when you open a new Scotiabank Ultimate Package! Plus earn Scotia Rewards or SCENE Rewards points. Find out more here.

Enterprise Rent A Car - Weekend Car Rental Special! Available now through 20/5/2021 at participating locations .Find out more here.

Fairmont's Stay Close offer of every 2nd night free returns with a vengeance and you can earn triple ALL Accor Live Limitless points on those stays

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 MILES
- 5x AIR MILES Reward Miles when purchase a qualifying Pennzoil or Shell Rotella oil change at a participating Jiffy Lube locations in Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 20

Other Bonus Offers

ALL Accor Live Limitless
- Earn up to 1,000 bonus ALL Rewards Points for stays at Accor Hotels in Europe. Bonus can be earned up to 5 times. More... Register and book by Nov 16 for stays until Dec 13, 20
- Earn up to Triple ALL Rewards Points plus a status match in Europcar's program when you rent a car for 1 or more days with Europcar in France, Germany, Australia, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Portugal or Belgium. More... Book by Dec 15 for rentals until Dec 31, 20

American AAdvantage
- Triple AAdvantage Miles for stays at participating Hyatt Hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - may not work for everyone Register by Dec 1 for stays until Dec 31, 20

Hainan Fortune Wings
- Triple Fortune Wings Points for hotels booked via Booking .com More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Dec 31, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- OFFER EXTENDED Receive a free night (worth up to 40,000 points) when you enroll in or renew an InterContinental Ambassador membership and stay once at an InterContinental, Kimpton or Regent Hotel. More...   Enroll/join/stay by Dec 31, 20

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Double KrisFlyer Miles, 35% off and daily breakfast for stays at the Gili Lankanfushi Maldives. More... Until Nov 30, 20

World of Hyatt
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night at the Grand WUJI Hotel, Hyatt Regency Lanzhou or the Andaz Xiamen More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt Place Atlanta / Perimeter Center or the Hyatt Place Atlanta / Centennial Park More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt House Louisville - East More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt Place National Harbor More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Grand Hyatt Nashville More... Until Dec 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points per night for stays at the Hyatt Place Austin / Lake Travis / Four Points More... Until Dec 30, 20


Follow Rewards Canada:

 

Reward night sale at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas – Stay for as little as 30,000 IHG Rewards Club points

 

The following offer may only be of interest to a select few of you as I know a lot of Canadians are avoiding travel to the U.S. for numerous reasons like their high case counts and 14 day quarantine upon return etc. However there are a bunch Canadians who winter in the U.S. and are itching to get those homes way down south regardless of those reasons listed above. One such popular destination is Las Vegas which I know some of you like to visit from those winter homes in Arizona and the Palm Springs areas. Not to mention Air Canada will be launching Toronto-Las Vegas flights on November 5 and Montreal-Las Vegas flights on December 1. Then with the new rapid COVID-19 testing at YYC launching on November 2 we may see WestJet relaunch Vegas flights before we know it! That's why I'm bringing you this offer that I published earlier today on Frequent Flyer Bonuses right here on Rewards Canada.

Governments of Canada and Alberta to run COVID-19 rapid testing program at Calgary International Airport & Coutts land border crossing

The Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta announced a new 26 week pilot project for rapid COVID-19 testing at Calgary International Airport:

“YYC Calgary International Airport is proud to be the first and only airport in Canada to have a government-approved testing pilot for arriving international passengers—which we hope will lead to reducing and one day eliminating the current 14-day self-isolation requirements. This innovative testing is the lifeline our airport and airline partners need to instill confidence in air travel,” said Bob Sartor, President & CEO, The Calgary Airport Authority. (Source Calgary Airport Authority)

The project will start on November 2nd for residents of Alberta and eligible international travellers arriving into Calgary on a non-stop flight. Results should be available within two days which could shorten those arriving passengers quarantine period from 14 days to 2 days. 

After taking the rapid test, guests must:

• stay within Alberta after their arrival
• enter quarantine until test results are delivered in as little as 2 days
  • If the results are negative, guests are no longer required to stay at home. If results are positive, the 14-day quarantine is still required.
• commit to submitting a second test after 6-7 days for validation and data collection
• provide daily check-ins
• avoid large events and senior care facilities
• wear a mask in public

**This pilot project may be restricted or broadened at any point as the Governments of Canada and Alberta evaluate through the trial.

Guests who do not participate in the pilot must adhere to the 14 day quarantine. (Source WestJet)

This is such welcome news for the travel industry! It is that much needed boost and first step the industry requires to bounce back from the pandemic. I would assume that it may be expanded to other airports in short order after seeing how it goes in Calgary. Calgary's probably a good choice as there aren't very many passengers arriving each day from the U.S. or internationally compared to Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. Once they get the hang of things here and show success I would think it will be quickly expanded to those other airports. Should it be successful I think many more Canadians would look at travelling outside of Canada knowing that they could potentially only quarantine for two days versus 14 days. It's that latter amount that people just can't afford to do, especially those who can't work from home. Right now if you want to take a one week vacation out of Canada you pretty much have to plan on three weeks of time off due to that quarantine period.

FYI the program is also being introduced the Coutts land border crossing on the Alberta-Montana border.

WestJet expands refund policy - more tickets are now eligible for full refunds including domestic flights (leads to a Twitter fight with Air Canada!)

 
The events of yesterday afternoon and evening played out quite interestingly for the airline industry in Canada, namely on Twitter. Around 3:30pm MT WestJet came out with a news release stating they were the "first national carrier in Canada to voluntarily provide refunds to original form of payment" to which that statement was quickly challenged by Air Canada and then just as quickly rebutted by WestJet:

 

An introduction to Neo Financial - one of Canada's newest credit card and savings reward programs

 About a year and a half ago one of the founders of SkipTheDishes reached out to me to discuss rewards programs and credit cards in Canada as he and other founders were getting ready for their next venture utilizing some of the funds they earned from selling the big food delivery service. That venture would be a new rewards program for Canadians. Fall of 2019 saw me meet with one of them again to further discuss the market and their planned intentions. In our discussions they wanted to create something new and exciting by taking what was good from most other programs, add their own twist to it and in the end they created Neo Financial. 

Neo Financial is based in Calgary and in their short lifespan so far are already employing over 100 people at their office located just on the outskirts of downtown YYC. Their initial product plan was a rewards credit card but that has quickly expanded to include other financial products like savings accounts. Neo  partnered with ATB (Alberta Treasury Branch) to be the issuer of their Mastercard and have Concentra Bank being the supplier of Neo's savings account.