March 23 Update: Canada dropping pre arrival testing for fully vaccinated travellers and new Amex Offers for Hugo Boss

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

Today we are mostly playing catch up on some items from last week!

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has officially made Avios its loyalty currency and includes easy transfers from British Airways Executive Club

Back in February Qatar Airways announced they will be adopting Avios in place of Qmiles as the loyalty currency in their Privilege Club program. That time has come and as of March 22 the switch has been made. Qatar Airways Privilege Club members now earn and burn Avios and any Qmiles in accounts up to this date have been converted 1:1 to Avios. 

Air Canada will acquire 26 Airbus A321XLR aircraft that will feature lie flat business class seats

An exciting announcement from Air Canada today as they revealed they will acquiring 26 Airbus A321XLR planes with deliveries starting in 2024. The planes will serve a mixture of North American and Transatlantic routes with greater comfort and range than other narrowbody planes that Air Canada is currently flying. 

March 22 Update: More confirmed Cobalt Card multipliers, Lynx Air expands in the Toronto area and Home & Villas by Marriott lowers stay requirement

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

A pretty big update up to our American Express Cobalt™ Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations feature. The following were added to the section on Canadian merchants: 

Receive a 100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points

Five days after it came to a close we see the return of Hilton’s bonus for buying points!  Once again you can earn a 100% bonus when you buy points and just like the last version the bonus kicks in when you buy a minimum of 5,000 points. Also the promotion this time does see  the doubling of the annual cap on buying points so you can buy up to 160,000 points.  That 160,000 cap does not include the bonus points so if you max out this offer and buy 160,000 points you’ll receive 320,000 into your account.

Flight Review: Air Canada Business Class Vancouver - Toronto (YVR-YYZ)

 
Today we are pleased to present the latest Rewards Canada Flight Review! This review is provided by Dee who has contributed to Rewards Canada in past with the articles  A look at the great value provided with the Annual Worldwide Companion Pass from Aeroplan's Ultra Premium Credit Cards and Earning Stories: An elite status boost and nearly 20,000 bonus points thanks to Aeroplan's credit card promos and more. 

I recently had the pleasure of flying from Vancouver to Toronto with Air Canada as my work had me heading out for the first time in two years. For this flight I used four of my eUpgrade credits to upgrade from Premium Economy to Business Class. The eUpgrades I have are part of the yearly benefits for being an Air Canada Aeroplan elite member.

Clash of the Credit Cards! American Express Cobalt™ Card vs. Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

It's time for another Rewards Canada Clash! Here is the clash so many of you have been asking for! A battle of the true 5x points earners and two of the overall best cards in Canada! We have the Best Overall Credit Card Canada and Top Hybrid Rewards Card the American Express Cobalt™ Card going up against the Top Travel Points Card with an annual fee and 6th place overall card, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card

March 15 Update: Congratulations to our contest winners, new Visa Infinite Privilege stay and dining offers & an update to our Guide to Business Class Lounge access

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! 

Congratulations to René S. of Toronto, Ontario and Donna L. of North York for winning the two 5,000 Aeroplan Point prizes from our Aeroplan eStore contest last week! Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter! 

Amazing deal: Fly from Canada to Europe and beyond from $676 in Economy or $1,947 in Business (Round Trip)

KLM has brought back their Dream Deals offers for departures out of Canada! This seat sale sees round trip economy class fare being offered for as little as $676 all in (Toronto-London). The sale covers KLM destinations in Europe, Africa and Asia. The business class fares however are some of the lowest we have seen in long time from KLM! 

Top 5 Small Business Credit Card Sign Up offers for March - 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 provide some huge outsized value rewards!