October 7 Update: Flair Airlines to offer Toronto-Palm Springs flights, earn 2x miles on all TAP Air Portugal flights & Ethiopian Airlines eyes Montreal-Addis Ababa route

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your near daily dose of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more. This update is brought to you by the HSBC World Elite Mastercard which is currently offering a welcome bonus of up to 70,000 bonus points and no annual fee in the first year! 

Flair Airlines announced another new U.S. route this week. Starting on December 15 they will offer direct non-stop flights between Toronto and Palm Springs. The flights will operate twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays. (Source Flair Airlines)

Fly Air Canada to Switzerland and earn up to 15,000 bonus Aeroplan points

Air Canada has come out with an awesome bonus points offer for travel to Switzerland! If this amazing country smack dab in the middle of Europe is on your radar make sure you register for this offer before booking your flights. The offer awards Aeroplan members up to 15,000 bonus points on flights between Canada and Geneva or Zurich. This promotion seems to tie into a lot of co-promotions that Air Canada has had over the past few months with Switzerland Tourism.

Marriott Bonvoy Week of Wonders is here with bonus points, stay offers, discounted award nights & more

 

 

Marriott’s Week of Wonders kicked off today with a whole bunch of offers that are available through to the 14th of October. From bonus points on buying points, to award nights pricing at Off-Peak levels to hotel credits at select luxury brands there is something for everyone in this the second annual run of this promotion. Let’s dive into all the offers:

Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for October - These cards provide the most value out of their welcome bonuses

 

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Travel Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of October 2021! 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 two first year free cards on the list.

October 6 Update: Mandatory COVID vaccination for Air & Rail travellers will start October 30, receive a 50% bonus when converting Marriott Points to Etihad & more

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. This update is brought to you by the HSBC World Elite Mastercard which is currently offering a welcome bonus of up to 100,000 bonus points and no annual fee in the first year! 

 
Back in August the Federal Government stated that COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for air, rail and cruise ship travel. At the time they didn't put dates in place that this new rule would become effective. We now know from Justin Trudeau's announcement that it will be mandatory for "air travellers departing from Canadian airports, and travellers on VIA Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains" to be vaccinated by October 30 however there will be a one month transition period "during which travellers not yet fully vaccinated will be able to travel if they can show a negative COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours of travel. This transition period will end on November 30, 2021." (Source Government of Canada)

New record high welcome bonuses on Tangerine Mastercards - 15% cash back for the first 2 months

 

Tangerine just launched what could be considered the bigger cash back bonus ever - percent wise that is!   Both the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card and the Tangerine World Mastercard have now eclipsed the world of 10% cash back welcome bonuses and have gone for the gusto with an awesome 15% back! From today through to November 30th when you apply for and are approved for either of these Tangerine cards you'll be able to earn 15% cash back on all purchases in the first 2 months. The 15% is capped on $1,000 of purchases for a total cash back reward of $150. After that 15% cap is hit or after 2 months the regular earn rate of up to 2% cash back kicks in. 

The revamped American Express Business Gold Rewards Card is now here with a 70,000 point welcome bonus

 

Early in September we provided our readers with details of the changes coming the American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card. Those changes are now here and along with the relaunch of the card comes an increased limited time welcome bonus offer of up to 70,000 Membership Rewards points.

Get up to 12 months of DoorDash DashPass for free with RBC Credit Cards

 
A popular trend we have seen over the past year or so has been credit card issuers and loyalty programs teaming up delivery service companies to provide extra value for their members. One of those that emerged over summer that provides great value was the partnership between RBC and DoorDash. In August the two companies came out with an offer that provides a complimentary DashPass subscription for up to 12 months with an eligible RBC credit card. The offer was made available to both existing cardholders and also to any one who gets themselves a new RBC credit card.

WestJet continues Transatlantic expansion with new Toronto to Dublin flights in 2022

 

It was a little over a month ago that WestJet announced new flights from Toronto to Edinburgh and Glasgow and now they have added Dublin to that list. For the 2022 summer season WestJet will fly their Boeing 737 MAX aircraft directly from YYZ to Ireland. The flights will operate four times per week in May and October but during the busier summer months it will be operated on a daily basis.

October 5 Update: Thank you for voting, Shangri-La Hotels extends elite status & an amazing business class fare from Toronto to the Maldives

 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. This update is brought to you by the HSBC World Elite Mastercard which is currently offering a welcome bonus of up to 100,000 bonus points and no annual fee in the first year! 

I want to thank everyone who voted in Canada's Choice 2021! Voting has now closed. We will tally up the votes over the coming days and you can expect to see the winners announced soon!