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

 
Here are the Rewards Canada Top Travel Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of March 2022! 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.

New Plaza Premium Americas Pass saves you up to 50% on business class lounge entry

Plaza Premium has introduced a new lounge access pass for their lounges in the Americas which includes those here in Canada. Via View from the Wing we learned this new pass can be purchased for US$59 and includes two lounge visits of three hours each in length. This is perfect for those who don't have lounge access via their credit card and also don't need Plaza Premium's global 2 lounge visit or higher pass.

Canadian Lounge Access

This pass will provide you with access to Plaza Premium Lounges (going West to East here) in Vancouver (4 lounges),  Edmonton (1 lounge), Winnipeg (1 lounge), Toronto (6 lounges) and Montreal (1 lounge). These include the new T3 lounge in YYZ, the pre-security concept lounge at YYZ and YUL's Air France Lounge.

Recommended reading: Rewards Canada's Guide to Business Class Lounge Access

Rest of Americas Lounge Access: 

Outside of Canada the pass is accepted at any Plaza Premium Lounge, Avianca Lounge, Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse operated by Plaza Premium Group and MERA Business Lounge in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador and Colombia (excluding Argentina) 

Click here to see the entire list of lounges for this pass.

 

Costs, Savings & Points

The pass costs US$59 for two visits, which is $16 less than the global lounge two visit pass. However if you use promo code SPRING10​ you can save an additional 10% on the pass price making it only US$53.10. That works out to US$26.55 per visit or about C$34 per visit.  To book a 3 hour visit to any of these lounges on their own runs in the neighbourhood of C$60-$70 so you can see how this can be a worthwhile deal.

Even if you have a credit card with access you may want to look at this pass with the discount code for additional guest or family members as most lounge access programs charge US$32 per guest.

If you are a member of Plaza Premium's Smart Traveller program (it's free so you really should join) you will earn 150 Arrture points for each purchase of one of these passes.

The pass is valid for 12 months so do only buy it if you know you'll use up both visits in that time and it is also transferable/sharable. 

Click here for more details and/or to buy this pass. (and use promo code SPRING10​)

 

Images via Plaza Premium

March 9 Bonus Offer Highlight: What you actually have to spend to get some of the best credit card welcome bonus offers & TD extends their refer a friend promotion

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 100,000 bonus points worth $500, has no foreign transaction fees and no annual fee in the first year! 

We completed an update to another one of our popular features on the Rewards Canada website. That feature is What you actually have to spend to get some of the best credit card welcome bonus offers. This piece looks at exactly that - how much you have to spend to get a bonus. With so many bonuses out in the market and many of them requiring Spend X to get Y the chart here will show which cards will take $0 in spending to get a bonus all the way up to those that require $40,000 to get the advertised welcome bonus. Click here to check out the updated feature.

Buy or gift Aeroplan Points with up to a 100% bonus

Aeroplan's has come out with another buy or gift points promotion where you can earn up to a 100% bonus. This tiered offer sees bonuses ranging from 50% to 100% dependent on how many points you buy. This offer runs until March 22, 2022 and allows members to buy up to 350,000 points per transaction up to the annual limit of 1 million points. If you buy 5,000 to 19,000 points you'll earn a 50% bonus, 20,000 to 55,000 points will earn a 65% bonus, 60,000 to 90,000 you'll get a 80% bonus and 100,000+ will earn the 100%. 

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

 
Marriott Bonvoy has brought back their bonus for stays at any one of 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 May 24, 2022 and you can stack this offer with the global Marriott promotion to earn 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points + Double Elite Night Credit for each night you stay at Marriott Hotels Worldwide.

Save up to 30% & earn 3x points for stays at Fairmont Hotels in Canada, the U.S., Mexico & Barbados

A friendly reminder of Fairmont Hotels Take Your Time promotion that is currently running for stays in the Americas. The promotion provides up to a 30% discount for stays at Fairmont Hotels in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Barbados. On top of this if you are an ALL Accor Live Limitless member you can earn triple ALL Rewards points on these stays.

Top Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for March - These cards provide the best value out of their welcome bonuses

 Here are Rewards Canada's Top 5 Cash Back Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of March 2022. This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Cash Back 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.

OFFER EXTENDED: 450 WestJet dollars + $0 companion fare when you get the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard

 

WestJet and RBC have further extended the combined offer of 450 WestJet dollars  + $0 companion fare on the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard. The 450 bonus WestJet dollars are awarded when you spend $5,000 in the first three months and the $0 companion fare voucher is typically added a few weeks after you pay the annual fee on the card. The offer has been extended for new applications until May 2, 2022. WestJet has taken a different approach here than Aeroplan who have removed their Buddy Pass offers on their cards in keeping this $0 voucher offer going. It's a great opportunity for some big savings if you know you will booking travel for two or more people.

Earn up to 10,000 bonus Aeroplan points on Air Canada flights to Europe!

Air Canada has a new flight bonus offer for Aeroplan members travelling out of Canada or the U.S.. The bonus offers up to 10,000 bonus Aeroplan points on flights between Canada or the U.S. and select in Europe. As is standard with Aeroplan flight promotions, flights booked prior to the launch of this promotion on March 2 are not eligible to earn the bonus. 

Save up to 30% for stays at Accor Hotels in Canada, the U.S., Mexico & Barbados

A friendly reminder of Accor Hotels Take Your Time promotion that is currently running for stays in the Americas. The Take Your Time promotion provides up to a 30% discount for stays at Accor Hotels in Canada, more specifically Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. The sale also works for stays in the U.S., Mexico and Barbados. On top of this if you are an ALL Accor Live Limitless member you can earn triple ALL Rewards points on these stays.