July 13 Update: American Express Gold Rewards Card is NOT being discontinued, confirmation of HSBC to BA transfer bonus & an Etihad bonus for travel between Toronto & Dubai

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

 

A correction for our Daily Update post from yesterday - American Express has reached out to us to let us know the American Express Gold Rewards Card IS NOT being discontinued. We'll provide more details as soon as we can about this news. You will notice however that it will be removed from the Rewards Canada site later this week but it will return in the near future!

Get the American Express Cobalt Card right away to lock in a lower monthly fee for 12 months

 

We know that American Express will be updating the Cobalt Card as of August 16, 2021. On that date the card will get an increased earn rate of 3x points for select streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. It will also get Mobile Device insurance added to insurance suite of benefits. The biggest change however will be the ability to convert points earned on the Cobalt Card directly to American Express' airline partners. This is big news for many points and miles enthusiasts as this means 1 to 1 redemption to Air Canada Aeroplan and British Airways Executive Club. And then a redemption rate of 1 to .75 points for the other airline partners.

World of Hyatt and American AAdvantage fast track to elite tier status in both programs

 World of Hyatt and American AAdvantage have had a long standing partnership that goes beyond your standard hotel-airline earning partnership seen with most programs and today they launched additional opportunities for elite members in both programs to fast track to elite status in the reciprocal program.

Receive a best ever 40% bonus when you transfer HSBC Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club

 

For this month HSBC has brought back their transfer bonus to British Airways Executive Club and it is the best ever that we've seen at 40%! The last few iterations of the bonus have seen it at 35% so now if you choose to transfer you'll score an extra 5%.  And seeing that most of you who jumped on the amazing 100,000 bonus points (or 130,000 if you are in Quebec) from the HSBC World Elite Mastercard in Fall of 2020 should have your points in your account you may want to seriously take this transfer bonus into account. 

July 12 Update: The end of an era - Amex to discontinue the Gold Rewards Card and earn up to 8,000 bonus points at Sonesta Hotels in Toronto

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

 
GREAT NEWS! American Express has reached out to us to let us know the Gold Rewards Card IS NOT being discontinued. We'll provide more details as soon as we can about this news.

We have received word that the American Express Gold Rewards Card will be coming to an end. The iconic card that really seemed to get things restarted for American Express over a decade ago and was crowned the best card in Canada for many years will no longer be available for new applicants. It does appear it will be grandfathered for those who choose to keep it - an Amex customer service rep said my card isn't going anywhere so I can only assume that means it will be grandfathered. 

A new or revamped RBC Avion Card is in the works

 

Thanks to one of our regular contributors of breaking news: @joshnet on Twitter, we have be alerted to what appears to be a new or revamped RBC Avion credit card being released soon. Josh directed us to a post on Red Flag Deals that provides some details of this card that will be in the suite of RBC Avion cards. Price and benefits wise this card falls in between the premium veteran RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card and the Ultra Premium RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege card. Part of me actually thinks this is the anticipated revamping of the current RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card. 

Aeroplan Elite Status offer for new and existing premium Aeroplan co-brand cardholders

 
Starting today there is a new exciting offer for premium Aeroplan cardholders to earn Aeroplan Elite Status without even setting foot on a plane! New and existing cardholders will be able to earn Aeroplan Elite Status or increase their current Elite Status level by simply spending on their eligible credit cards.

The offer is broken into two parts - one for existing cardholders (those who have the card on or before July 11, 2021) and the one for new cardholders who apply for and receive an eligible card between today and October 1, 2021. Existing cardholders have to register for the offer while new cardholders do not.

July 8 Update: Flair Airlines announces flights to six U.S. cities, update on new Marriott Hotels in Canada & Neo Financial now has a page on Rewards Canada

 Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

Flair Airlines announced that starting this October the airline will fly between 8 Canadian cities and 6 U.S destinations: Fort Lauderdale, Orlando-Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, Hollywood-Burbank, Palm Springs and Las Vegas (Source Flair Airlines)

Halifax, Montreal, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, Vancouver,Calgary, Ottawa and Abbotsford will receive service to a variety of the U.S cities tarting this October.The ultra-low fares will start between $79 to $109CAD one-way

Earn 2,500 bonus points per night for stays at any of three Toronto Airport Marriott Hotels

 

Here's another Marriott Bonvoy stay bonus we came across for stays here in Canada. This one covers three hotels around the airport in Toronto. You can earn 2,500 bonus points per night for up to two nights at the Element Toronto Airport, Four Points by Sheraton Toronto Airport or The Westin Toronto Airport. This offer is good for stays until September 11, 2021.

Limited time offer: Get 50 Aeroplan points every time you spend $15+ at Starbucks

 

Earlier this year launched Aeroplan launched their partnership with Starbucks Canada where you can link your Aeroplan account to your Starbucks Rewards account. Once your account is linked you can double dip and earn rewards from both programs. There are base earn rates with Aeroplan when you load your Starbucks card (75 points for $50-$74.99, 150 points for $75+) and then they have run bonuses on top of that which brings us to this new bonus offer.