Canada's Choice results are in! See who Canada chose as their favourite credit cards and loyalty programs

 

Canada, we asked you to come out and vote for your favourite credit cards and loyalty programs in late September and early October for our Canada's Choice awards. The results are in and we are pleased to present them to you here. For some categories there are no surprises while we were definitely surprised by some others! We want to give a big thank you to our regulars readers who cast their votes and also a big thank you to a lot of newcomers who came to our site to vote!

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

 
Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Small Business Credit Card Sign Up offers for this month! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards for small businesses 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! And remember this list is based on minimum value towards travel which we calculate as the minimum value of the welcome bonus less the annual fee. It is entirely possible to receive more value out of the welcome bonuses on all of these cards since they earn Aeroplan points or Marriott Bonvoy points - both of which can provided some huge outsized value rewards!

October 18 Update: New Amex Offer for Whole Foods and the U.S. online shopping portals are where it's at!

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 worth $500, no annual fee in the first year and has no foreign transaction fees!

 

One more Amex Offers offer to let know about today! The latest sees the return of a statement credit for Whole Foods. I received this on the Platinum Card but am surprised I was targeted seeing that I'm in Calgary and we don't have any Whole Foods locations here. Anyways be sure to check your Amex account to see if you have received this offer and register for it right away as it is limited to 15,000 cardmembers. Of course I didn't register for it as I don't think I'll be visting a Whole Foods in the B.C. or Ontario by the end of the year. Here is the offer:

Starbucks Rewards Star Days: Earn bonus Stars and Aeroplan points this week

 

Starbucks Canada Star Days are here for the next five days with offers for bonus Stars, bonus Aeroplan points and discounted drinks. Since we're all about the points will just focus on what bonuses you can earn during this week.

Aeroplan Elite Status Update: Extension of eUpgrades, membership kits to be limited & a change to SQD for non-Canadian residents

 
The following updates and changes to Aeroplan Elite Status are being sent to Air Canada Elite members today. Good news for all members is the extension of eUpgrade credits by a couple of weeks and not so good news for non-Canadian members in that they lose the 50% fewer Status Qualifying Dollars requirement. 

Save up to 30% for stays at Accor Hotels in Canada and the Americas

 

A friendly reminder that Accor Hotel’s Take Your Time promotion has returned for the fall and winter.  Take Your Time provides up to a 30% discount for stays at Accor Hotels in Canada (Montreal, Ottawa & Toronto) as well as the U.S. and Central America. Plus you have the opportunity to earn extra ALL Rewards points on those stays.

Amex Offers: $40 statement credit on $200 Ivanhoe Shopping Cards, $70 credit on $70 1password spend and $100 credit on $100 Indeed spend

 This past week saw three new Amex Offers come out including the return of an Ivanhoe Cambridge gift card statement credit . In the Rewards Canada household we received all these offers on The Platinum Card and the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card. Here are the offers:

Save up to 30% for stays at Fairmont Hotels in Canada and the Americas

 
A friendly reminder that Fairmont Hotel’s Take Your Time promotion has returned for the fall and winter.  Take Your Time provides up to a 30% discount for stays at Fairmont Hotels in North and Central America plus you have the opportunity to earn extra ALL Rewards points on those stays.

October 15 Update: Check out the AIR MILES Carousel of Dreams in Toronto this weekend and don't forget to earn miles & points for shopping online from the U.S.

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 worth $500 and no annual fee in the first year! 

If you are in Toronto today and tomorrow and can make it down to Yonge-Dundas Square (1 Dundas St E) go check out the AIR MILES Carousel of Dreams! To celebrate the revamping of the program this 40ft long luggage carousel that offers major rewards and prizes from top brands. The event is open for AIR MILES collectors and AIR MILES & Onyx credit cardholders. Prizes from top brands and AIR MILES Partners like BMO, Sobeys, Shell, Metro, Samsung, Smeg and many more, are all up for grabs on the Carousel of Dreams, as well as free flights from travel partners Air Canada, WestJet, Porter, and Delta. Featuring a 40-foot luggage carousel, the event reinforces AIR MILES’ commitment to providing collectors with more redemption benefits, more ways to earn, and more opportunities to take part in promotions.

Miles & More Mileage Bargains - Big mileage discounts of 50% or more on flights to Europe from Montreal, Toronto & Vancouver

 
It's been a long time coming, since February 2020 in fact, but the Miles & More Mileage Bargains (Meilenschnaeppchen) are back with Canadian departures! Yes, after 19 months of not having them on offer due to the pandemic these discounted award flight offers have returned. And there's a lot of them in Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class! In fact a total of 540 options to redeem for!