You can now purchase annual benefits for flying on Emirates with Skywards+

 
Dubai based Emirates Airlines who flies to Toronto 5x weekly has introduced a new subscription based program that provides additional benefits when flying with the airline. Entitled Skywards+, the new program has three tiers ranging in cost from C$502 to C$1,256 per year with each higher level progressively adding more benefits. Those benefits range from bonus Skywards miles, discounts on flight rewards, lounge access passes and more - much of what you would see if you held elite status with the Skywards program. So with this program you are kind of buying yourself a hybrid elite status with the airline.

August 12 Update: Canadian airport business class lounges reopening update, another confirmed Cobalt multiplier location & Wayfair returns to Amex Offers

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.

Here's a small update to the reopening of some airport business class lounges across Canada that has happened over the past few weeks:

• National Bank Airport Lounge at Montreal reopened on July 26
• Toronto Plaza Premium Lounge Domestic Departures Terminal 3 reopened on July 28
• Calgary Airport Aspire Lounge International reopened on August 10
• Montreal Air France Lounge operated by Plaza Premium Group opened on August 11 (we'll have a separate post coming about this lounge!)

RBC Avion to British Airways Executive Club transfer bonus has returned!

 

The transfer bonus to British Airways Executive Club for RBC Avion cardholders has made a come back after a long hiatus! Last seen in November/December of 2019 when the bonus was 50% (see our post here) it has now returned for the next month and half albeit with a 30% boost. This is the bonus level we had become accustomed from about 2015/16 on as prior to that it was almost always 50%. Even though it is only 30% this time it is still a very good offer to consider taking advantage of.

Four credit cards that can make flying with Flair Airlines even cheaper!

Flair Airlines has been making a big return to flying and even expanding as we slowly emerge from the pandemic. Touted as Canada's only independent Ultra Low Cost Carrier, Flair Airlines offers rock bottom prices on flights within Canada and shortly to the U.S.. Those rock bottom prices are for bare bones tickets - no carry on bags, no check bags, no seat selection and so on. Basically outside of the base ticket price you can pick and choose what services you want for your flights and pay for those accordingly. So while the base fares are cheaper than the competition once you start adding the extras the price can creep up to being equivalent to what Air Canada and WestJet are charging. So how can you save yourself some money - either just on the insanely cheap base fares or even those fares that include add ons? By utilizing a credit card that has high points earning value that can be redeemed for Flair purchases and cards that provide credits for additional fees charged by airlines.

August 12 Update: Scotia introduces flexible payment plans for their Visa cards, Air Canada adding Vancouver-Orange County flights & your weekly drug store bonuses

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.

 
Scotiabank has followed in the footsteps of other card issuers in Canada like American Express and CIBC by now offering an optional flexible payment plan for purchases over $100. Called Scotia SelectPay the new feature allows eligible Scotiabank Visa cardholders to turn eligible purchases of $100+ into installments. They can choose fixed installment plan of three, six, or 12-months and pay a flat fee with no interest. The example Scotia provides shows a 2% fee ($24) being applied to a $1,200 purchase. This makes carrying a balance on big purchases much more tolerable than the two figure interest rates but do know you do have to pay the full amount of the purchase within the fixed installment plan time frame you selected. Learn more aboust SelectPay here. To see what Visa cards Scotiabank offers please visit our Scotia page here.

Neo Financial tweaks their credit card offerings again including a lowering of the monthly fees for their Plus and Ultra cards

 

One of Canada's newest financial providers, actually I should say FinTech companies Neo Financial has tweaked their credit card offerings once again. It seems every few months they are changing things up - which can be both a good and a bad thing. Good in that they are flexible and learning the market as they go and are adjusting as needed, bad in that having someone grab their product(s) based on something they have only offered for a short period of time and are already switching it up which may leave a few people wondering if being with a new entrant like this is a safe and rewarding alternative to the traditional offerings. Read on the find out what those tweaks are.

Air Canada launches interactive fare finder to search for getaways using cash or points

 

Are you one of those people who likes to book trips on a whim? Or have a budget for travel and are open to go wherever that budget can take you? Well Air Canada has just released a beta version of an interactive graphical fare finder tool that is similar in vain to Google flights. The new tool allows you to input your departure city, dates of travel (with +/- 5 days of flexibility), your budget, what fare class you want to travel in and even travel interests like beaches, luxury & wellness and much more. The difference between Air Canada's interactive tool from Google flights is that you can choose between cash fares and Aeroplan points. The latter is something Google doesn't have and can make it really fun and easy to find some points deals faster than going to the Air Canada search engine and inputting each search separately!

Earn up to 6,000 bonus IHG Rewards points for multiple night stays

 
Check your email in-box to see if you have been targeted for this offer. IHG Rewards sent out a pre-registration email yesterday and it appears a lot of members are receiving it. The offer awards 3,000 bonus points on your first stay of 2 or more nights plus an additional 3,000 bonus points on your next stay of 2 or more nights. The promotion is for stays between August 19 and September 30.

August 10 Update: Porter Airlines contest giving away 300 tickets, new look for the Walmart Rewards Mastercard & Chatrium Hotels Points Plus added to 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.

Porter Airlines is getting ready to start service again in September and to celebrate they have launched a contest giving away 300 tickets over the next three weeks. Each week 100 tickets will be given away to 100 lucky winners for completing a social media action on Instagram or Facebook. Learn more about the contest here.

Save up to $100 on Aer Lingus flights from Toronto to Dublin & Europe

 

Aer Lingus has brought back their offer that provides up to an additional $100 off of their flights out of the U.S. and Canada to Ireland and Europe. The discount is available on economy or business class fares booked by September 15 for travel until October 31. The wording of the offer makes it seem that the discount can vary but in a couple of searches I made the promo code gave $100 off round trip flights in any fare class.