Sutton Hotels Prestige cuts points earning hotels in half

The little known program called Prestige from the Sutton Place Grande Hotels group has cut the number of hotels members can earn points at in half. Now, half makes it sound huge but this little chain of hotels comprises of 4 properties in Chicago, Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver. As of June 15, members of Sutton's FGP lost the ability to earn points in Chicago and Toronto leaving only the Edmonton and Vancouver locations as point earning properties. Members will however continue to enjoy Prestige benefits in Chicago and Toronto such as free Wi-Fi, priority rooms and free newspapers. Elite member benefits are also being met at the two properties.

Source: Sutton

American AAdvantage adjusting fees for close in rewards

American Airlines has made some changes to the fees they charge on award tickets that are issued less then 21 days before departure. Depending on when you are redeeming you may be paying more or less. See the following for clarification. As always Elite members are exempt from these fees.

AAdvantage Award Processing Charges

Ticketing less than 21 days prior to departure (Waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum®, AAdvantage Platinum® and AAdvantage Gold® members using miles from their account)
Tickets issued prior to 8/25/11
Tickets issued 20 - 7 days prior to departure††	$50
Tickets issued 6 days to 2 hours prior to departure††	$100
Tickets issued on or after 8/25/11
Tickets issued 20 days to 2 hours prior to departureˆ	$75

Source: AA.com

3,000 Gold Points for joining Club Carlson (Targeted offer)

This offer was added to our Club Carlson page this morning and as always free points are good thing to take advantage of. However this is a targeted offer so it may not work for everyone (YMMV).

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
3,000 Bonus Gold Points when you join the Club Carlson program using promotion code PPH611. Full details. Until Aug  31, 11
Targetted Offer - May not work for everyone

Capital One credit cards now available in Quebec and Northern territories

This is a topic I received many emails on, asking whether we knew why Capital One Cards were not available in Quebec or when would they be. Well, people in Quebec, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon will be happy to know that on Tuesday July 19th Capital One opened up their offerings to all residents of these provinces and territories.

RBC Avion 50% Transfer Bonus to British Airways Executive Club

In case you missed it on our main or in our newsletter, British Airways and RBC are once again offering Avion cardholders a 50% bonus on transferring RBC Rewards points to BA Miles. The offer runs until August 31 and if past years are any indication we should see it again this November.

This is a great offer to take advantage of if you are not looking at booking travel using the set RBC Rewards chart as BA provides some decent economy, business, and first class offerings to the U.K. and beyond. They also offer miles for upgrades so if you do not have enough miles for a business class or first class flight you can use miles to upgrade a paid fare in economy, economy Plus, or business class. Another good use of BA miles is with their partners from the OneWorld Alliance which means you don't have to redeem for BA flights via London but go direct on airlines like Cathay Pacific to Asia or American Airlines to the U.S. One thing to watch out for however with BA is seat availability, we have heard mixed stories of people being able to get or not get reward seats on flights plus redemptions on BA to the U.K. can carry heavy taxes and fuel surcharges.


For more details on this offer please visit British Airways

Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards for 2011

Today on RewardsCanada.ca we posted our third annual picks for Canada's top travel rewards credit cards. New for this year is Canada's Choice, where we asked Canadians to vote for their favorite travel rewards credit cards with the results to be posted along side our rankings. We have combed over 70 different credit cards offering travel rewards for Canadians and of those there are a few that really stand out. While it is practically impossible to give this question a perfect one card answer, we can breakdown the market of Canadian Travel Rewards credit cards into five major categories that these cards fall into. Without further ado, here are the top travel rewards credit cards for 2011 as picked by RewardsCanada.ca along with Canada's Choice for each category:

Top Travel Points Credit Card (with annual fee)
Rewards Canada's Pick: Capital One Aspire Travel™ World MasterCard®
Canada's Choice: American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card

Top Travel Points Credit Card (with no annual fee)
Rewards Canada's Pick: American Express Blue Sky Credit Card
Canada's Choice: American Express Air Miles Credit Card

Top Hybrid Travel Credit Card (with annual fee)
Rewards Canada's Pick: American Express Gold Rewards Card
Canada's Choice: American Express Gold Rewards Card

Top Airline Credit Card
Rewards Canada's Pick: CIBC AeroGold Visa Infinite
Canada's Choice: American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum Card

Top Hotel Points Credit Card
Rewards Canada's Pick: (tie) Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express and Priority Club® Platinum MasterCard® from Capital One
Canada's Choice: Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

For the complete article, details on each card plus runners up in each category please visit the full Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Card for 2011 page on the Rewards Canada website

Care to comment on our choices? Want to voice your opinion on the good and the bad of all the Travel Rewards Credit Cards in Canada. Share you views and experiences by leaving a comment below.


“The interest rates, fees, rewards details, benefits and other details of the Capital One product(s) described in the article may have changed since the time of publication. Please consult the product information pages on the Capital One website for accurate product details. In the event of any conflict between the product details in this article and the Capital One website, the details on the Capital One website shall prevail.”

RBC ups the sign up bonus for WestJet MasterCards

One of the weakest components of the WestJet RBC MasterCards has been the relatively low sign up bonus. Most premium travel rewards credit cards in Canada offer a large enough bonus to get a free flight within Canada or North America (short haul or long haul depending on the card), the premium card for WestJet is the WestJet RBC World MasterCard and since the launch it has only offered a $100 WestJet Dollars sign up bonus, nowhere near a free flight. That has changed, well at least for a limited time only.

As of yesterday you can now get a $350 WestJet Dollar sign up bonus for the WestJet RBC World MasterCard, which according to WestJet's promo material is enough for a free flight in most cases (not including taxes and fees). Overall the WestJet Frequent Guest program is average however if someone is planning a flight with WestJet in the near future, then this sign up bonus would be well worth the $79 annual fee on the card as you will end up saving $271 on your flight(s). There could also be a chance of lowering that annual fee if you cancel the card before you renew and they prorate it for you and refund the difference. Some card issuers (like TD) are known to do this so RBC may do it also. (just make sure you redeem your WestJet dollars before cancelling)

The lower end WestJet RBC MasterCard has also had its sign  up bonus upped to $100 and carries a $39 annual fee. Definitely not as good of a deal like the one above.

For complete details on this promotion please see here.

Air Canada cuts service to Iqaluit

According to Airline Route Updates Air Canada is ending their service to Iqaluit, Nunavut on July 31st. The service from Ottawa utilized a CRJ705 and operated for just over a year.

Hainan Airlines offering 2 for 1 Business Class on Toronto-Beijing Route

On this relatively new route it appears Hainan is trying to generate some business for the upfront cabin during the summer season when more families tend to travel economy rather then people flying for work in business class. The offer states that if you buy a business class ticket you can get another one free, or if you buy two business class tickets you can still get one free(?). So if you have a family of four and you want to take advantage of this offer you may want to do two separate bookings to get two free business class tickets. Either way this is not a bad deal and may allow for some people to travel upfront who normally would not. The offer itself runs until August 31. For full details please see the promotional offer on Hainan's website

Diners Club continues to expand airport lounge access including 4 more Canadian cities

Back in March we had mentioned that Diners Club had expanded their lounge access program (this is the program where you use your Diners Club card not the Priority Pass that also comes with the card) and now they have expanded it even further. In March the total number of lounges you could access with your Diners Club card was just 350 and that has now grown to over 400. Of particular interest to us Canadians is the expansion of the program to include more lounges in Canada. After the first expansion only the KLM Crown Lounge in Toronto was participating but now there is access to lounges in Calgary (2),  Montreal, Quebec City and Winnipeg. A quick glance at the list of lounges shows a large increase in the  amount of lounges one can access south of the border.

This card keeps getting stronger after a bit of a lull when it was be pawned off by Citibank and we here at Rewards Canada can only anxiously await its return to the general public. Meanwhile us current cardholders can sit back and relax..... in one of the many more lounges now available.

Here are the specifics on the Canadian lounges that are participating, for a list of all the lounges please see here:

Calgary International Airport – Calgary, Canada
Lounge Name	Chinook Lounge
Lounge Location	Concourse D
Telephone	403 221 1506
Fax	N/A
Hours Open	6:00 am - 9:00 pm daily Closed : Dec 25, Jan 01 & 02
Languages Spoken	English
Entry Conditions	Cardmembers must present their Diners Club card. Maximum 3 hour stay. Dress code applies (no shorts, baseball caps or football shirts allowed). Non-smoking.
Amenities Offered	Air conditioning, Disabled access, Flight monitor, Newspapers, Magazines, Conference facilities, Internet, Wi-Fi, Telephone, TV, Snacks, Soft Drinks and Alcoholic beverages.
Fees	Cardmembers please check with your issuer for terms and conditions of lounge access. Children under 2 years are admitted free. Guest fee - US $27.

Calgary International Airport – Calgary, Canada
Lounge Name	Rocky Mountain Lounge
Lounge Location	Concourse C
Telephone	403 221 1534
Fax	N/A
Hours Open	6:00 am - 9:00 pm daily Closed : Dec 25, Jan 01 & 02
Languages Spoken	English
Entry Conditions	Cardmembers must present their Diners Club card. Maximum 3 hour stay. Dress code applies (no shorts, baseball caps or football shirts allowed). Non-smoking.
Amenities Offered	Air conditioning, Disabled access, Flight monitor, Newspapers, Magazines, Conference facilities, Internet, Wi-Fi, Telephone, TV, Snacks, Soft Drinks and Alcoholic beverages.
Fees	Cardmembers please check with your issuer for terms and conditions of lounge access. Children under 2 years are admitted free. Guest fee - US $27.

Trudeau International Airport – Montreal, Canada
Lounge Name	TD First Class Lounge
Lounge Location	Airside - after Security Checks (Entrance B) the Lounge is located between Gates 52 and 53, next to the Duty Free Airport Shop
Telephone	514 636 7638
Fax	N/A
Hours Open	5:00 am - 10:00 pm daily
Languages Spoken	English
Entry Conditions	Cardmembers must present their Diners Club card. Maximum 3 hour stay. Non-smoking.
Amenities Offered	Air conditioning, Disabled access, Flight monitor, Newspapers, Magazines, Internet, Wi-Fi, Telephone, TV, Snacks, Soft Drinks and Alcoholic beverages.
Fees	Cardmembers please check with your issuer for terms and conditions of lounge access. Children under 2 years are admitted free. Guest fee - US $27.

Quebec International Airport – Quebec, Canada
Lounge Name	Salon VIP Lounge
Lounge Location	Airside - after Security Checks on the 2nd Floor, the Lounge is located on the left hand side between two escalators
Telephone	418 640 2700
Fax	418 640 2656
Hours Open	4:00 am - 10:00 pm daily
Languages Spoken	English
Entry Conditions	Cardmembers must present their valid Diners Club card. Non smoking.
Amenities Offered	Air conditioning, Disabled access, Flight monitor, Newspapers, Magazines, Conference facilities, Internet, Wi-Fi, Telephone, TV, Snacks, Soft Drinks and Alcoholic beverages.
Fees	Cardmembers please check with your issuer for terms and conditions of lounge access. Children under 2 years are admitted free. Guest fee - US $27.

Toronto Pearson International – Toronto, Canada
Lounge Name	KLM Crown Lounge
Lounge Location	Terminal 3: Airside - Concourse C, above Gate C33, and after the Duty Free shops. The lounge is situated after the International Security Checks (accessible only to International passengers.)
Telephone	N/A
Fax	N/A
Hours Open	1:00 pm - 12:00 am daily. Hours are subject to seasonal changes
Languages Spoken	N/A
Entry Conditions	Cardmembers must present their valid Diners Club card. Non smoking.
Amenities Offered	Air conditioning, Fax facility, Internet access, Wi-Fi, Newspapers, Magazines, Telephone, Television, Snacks, Soft drinks, and Alcoholic beverages.
Fees	Cardmembers please check with your issuer for terms and conditions of lounge access. Guest fee - $25 USD.

Winnipeg International Airport – Wininipeg, Canada
Lounge Name	Travel Lounge by Palliser
Lounge Location	Airside - after Security Checks and Passport Control, the Lounge is located on the 2nd Floor of the main departure lounge, adjacent to Gate H. Due to it's location, the lounge is not accessible to passengers traveling on transborder flights to the US.
Telephone	204 987 9439
Fax	204 987 2074
Hours Open	7:00 am - 8:00 pm Monday - Friday Closed Saturday and Sunday.
Languages Spoken	English
Entry Conditions	Cardmembers must present their valid Diners Club card. Non smoking.
Amenities Offered	Air conditioning, Disabled access, Flight monitor, Newspapers, Magazines, Internet, Wi-Fi, Telephone, TV, Snacks, Soft Drinks and Alcoholic beverages.
Fees	Cardmembers please check with your issuer for terms and conditions of lounge access. Guest fee - US $27.