Rewards Canada Daily Update: July 31, 2012

News, Tips & Tricks
I got an email yesterday with an invite to attend a launch party for a new Canadian rewards program called Freshpoints. The program appears to be solely iPhone based via an app that will reward you with points for scanning the barcodes off of products you buy grocery shopping. Since I mentioned that we are expanding Rewards Canada horizons to include programs outside of the travel realm I thought this program was worth mentioning here. I have not talked to them directly and have no details on the program but my best guess is that Freshpoints will 'share' this data of scanning with the grocery chains, food manufacturers etc for a bounty and more than likely will also track the things you scan so that you can be targetted in the future with coupons and offers on those items you bought so that you will be inclined to buy them again. They do state that you will earn points for scanning any food product in any store but you may get 'bonus points' based on the picture of the app on their website as it looks like you may have a timelimit to scan a specific item for points which means you either have to find that item in-store and scan it (plus be tempted to buy it) or you may actually have to buy it to get the points. Overall some people may not like this idea but honestly it is no different than Shoppers Optimum, Club Sobeys, Air Miles etc. as many of them track individual items or purchases as well and target members with individualized coupons or promtions in the future. For more details check out Freshpoints at Freshpoints.ca

IHG released their latest set of Point Breaks offers yesterday and just in case you are not aware of this promotion this is IHG's famous discount for reward nights at select hotels Worldwide. Point Breaks offers are available for a a flat 5,000 Priority Club points per night and can include the highest of the high end InterContinental Hotels and Resorts locations that normally cost between 40,000 and 50,000 Priority Club points. See below in the bonus offers section for the link and more details.

Travel Deals
Starwood is offering its Starwood Preferred Guest members up to 30% off Starwood Hotel stays in Canada for stays until September 3. You must book by Aug 10, 2012. Full details can be found here.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles when you fly on all Brussels Airlines flights to/from Brussels except New York. More... Sep 1 - Oct 31, 12

Air France KLM Flying Blue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 2,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you book your ticket online on klm.bg. More... Until Aug 31, 12

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
Priority Club Point Breaks Offer- 5,000 points per night for reward stays at participating hotels Worldwide. Offer and participating hotels are subject to change at any time, valid for stays thru Oct 15, 2012. More...

Royal Brunei Royal Skies (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Triple Royal Skies Miles when you rent a Hertz car from participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand or Asia. More... Until Oct 31, 12

Thai Airways Royal Orchid
- Double Royal Orchid Miles and 20% off for stays 2+ nights that are booked at least 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 12

United Mileage Plus
- Double Mileage Plus Miles and 20% off for stays 2+ nights that are booked at least 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 12

US Airways Dividend Miles
- 750 Dividend Miles for stays at La Quinta Inns & Suites in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. More... Until Sep 30, 12
- Earn up to Triple Dividend Miles on all Sixt Car Rentals worldwide. More... Book by Sep 30, 12 for rentals until Dec 31, 12

Rewards Canada Daily Update: July 25, 2012

News, Tips & Tricks
Its the start of the week, so no news to report of yet. I am working on some more features for Rewards Canada, some of which should be out by Thursday as this will be short work week as I will be taking Friday and next Monday (Heritage Day) off.

Bonus Offers
Air Baltic Baltic Miles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Baltic Miles for stays at the Viimsi Spa hotel. More... Aug 7 - Sep 30, 12

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles for stays at any Sino Group of Hotels in Hong Kong and Singapore. More... Until Sep 30, 12

Emirates Skywards
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus Skywards Miles with the August Miles Accelerator offer which enables you to earn more Skywards Miles when you fly with Emirates, irrespective of the fare you pay or where you buy your ticket. More... Aug 1 - 31, 12

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays on the "JAL Mileage Bank, Double Mileage Plan" at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo. More... Aug 1 - Sep 27, 12

Kuwait Airways Oasis Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Oasis Club Miles when staying on the best available rate at any Rotana property across the Middle East and Africa. More... Ongoing

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 10,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa Scottsdale and Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa Chandler. Bonus Points awarded when you complete at least a one night stay at each resort. More... Aug 10 - Dec 29, 12
- 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays in a Suite at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa Scottsdale. More... Until Dec 31, 12
- 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays in a Suite at The Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa Chandler. More... Until Dec 31, 12

TAP Portugal Victoria (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 200 Victoria Miles to all Victoria members who register with the TMN spotyad service. Limited to the first 1500 people who join. More...

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 500 Miles&Smiles Miles per night (max 2,000) for stays at Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 12

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles and 20% off for stays 2+ nights that are booked at least 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 12

Rewards Canada Daily Update: July 27, 2012

News, Tips & Tricks
For the second time this week the biggest news comes from Chase Canada. Another card with no foreign transaction fees and its the one we asked for: the Marriott Rewards Visa. But its not just a single change to the existing Marriott Platinum Visa in fact that card has been shelved for the new Marriott Rewards Premier Visa. The card now comes with a much better offering then the previous Platinum Visa although it still lacks most of the standard insurance benefits seen on most of its competition. See my post from earlier today for more details.

In other news, California based Voila Hotel Rewards which is an independent hotel loyalty program for locations primarily outside of North America will be running a co-branded loyalty program for the St Regis Hotel in Vancouver called St Regis Rewards. If this boutique is regular haunt of yours in YVR then you should be able to be rewarded for those stays soon. More details can be found here.

Bonus Offers
China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
- Double Dynasty Flyer Miles for stays at participting Regal Hotels in Hong Kong and China. More... Until Oct 31, 12

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles when staying in a Club Rotana Room or a Club Rotana Suite at Amwaj Rotana - Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai. More... Until Sep 30, 12

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 1,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays at participating Hyatt properties in the United Arab Emirates. More... Until Sep 1, 12

New Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card includes no Foreign Transaction fees

Following closely on the footsteps of other Chase issued credit cards in Canada, the new Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card becomes the fourth card from Chase and also the fourth card in Canada to offer no Foreign Transaction fees. If you followed Rewards Canada for at least a year, you will know that I brought this topic of no foreign transaction fees on credit cards in Canada to light last summer due to the emerging trend in the U.S.. At that time none of the banks were really considering it and I stated the bank or card issuer that was the first to jump on this benefit would reap a lot of new customers. Well Chase Bank of Canada was the first with their Amazon.ca Rewards card which was followed by their Sears cards earlier this week and as we hinted the next logical choice was the Marriott Rewards Platinum Visa issued by Chase. Well that has happened, although its not the same Marriott card we are all used to. Instead of adding the new no-fx fee benefit to the existing Marriott Rewards Visa offered by Chase they have decided to totally revamp their offering with a new card which is now called the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card (btw the Platinum card is gone now)

I will give the card the full on Rewards Canada review treatment in the next couple of weeks but in the mean time here is a quick summary of what the new card offers with the old card offerings in brackets:

Annual Fee: $120 ($75) but this fee is waived in the first year
Supplementary cards remain free

Points Earning:
30,000 Marriott Rewards Points sign up bonus after your first purchase (15,000 Marriott Rewards Points sign up bonus after your first purchase)
1 Free Night at a Category 1 - 4 location upon card approval (not on the old card)
5 Marriott Rewards points per $ spent at Marriott locations (3 Marriott Rewards points per $ spent at Marriott locations)
2 Marriott Rewards points per $ spent on Airline Tickets, Car Rental agencies and restaurants (not on the old card)
1 Marriott Rewards point on all other spending (1 Marriott Rewards point on all other spending)

Other features
15 Night credit towards elite status, which translates to automatic Silver status (5 Night credit towards elite status, which translates to automatic Silver status
Anniversary bonus of 1 free night at a Category 1 - 4 location (not on the old card)
The card retains Collision damage waiver insurance

This is significant improvement to the the Marriott Credit Card offering in Canada. I'll be honest I was considering the old Marriott card to replace my TD Visa since that TD visa was my least used card and I wanted to bring down the amount I spend on annual fees but with this new card now offering the first year free the change is almost inevitable. I did mention earlier in the week I would see about upgrading my TD Platinum to the First Class Infinite but I don't think I will be doing that now. I will give you all an update if I decide to go ahead with the change.

I would love to hear your comments on the new Marriott Rewards Premier Visa. Do you think these are positive changes? Will you go for this card? Do you think its not worth it? so on and so forth. Please leave your comments below.

For more details or to apply for the card please click here.

Rewards Canada Daily Update: July 26, 2012

News, Tips & Tricks
I got an email from Air France KLM yesterday that announced an new enhancement to the program, roll over elite level miles. Essentially what this means is that any elite level qualifying miles that you earn over and above the highest status you achieve in that year will be rolled over to the next year's qualification process. This basically means that you can achieve elite level status faster in the following year. If you do not reach elite level status (ie Silver) then level miles do not roll over. More details can be found here.

Over on the blog for FrequentFlyerBonuses.com I posted about a way to earn up to 1,000 Free Emirates Skywards Miles which I also list below in the Bonus Offers section but go into more detail about the offer in the blog post.

Travel Deals
Etihad Airways is offering some great fares for fall travel out of Toronto to various destinations in Asia. These fares must be booked by July 31 at Etihad Airways
Bangkok CAD 1358 10 Sep 12-11 Dec 12
Chennai CAD 1549 11 Sep 12-11 Dec 12 4
Dhaka CAD 1752 15 Sep 12-11 Dec 12
Dubai CAD 1817 10 Sep 12-26 Nov 12
Jeddah CAD 1886 10 Sep 12-05 Oct 12 28 Oct 12-26 Nov 12
Karachi CAD 1402 10 Sep 12-07 Nov 12
Lahore CAD 1579 10 Sep 12-07 Nov 12
Manila CAD 1384 10 Sep 12-11 Dec 12
Shanghai CAD 1427 10 Sep 12-11 Dec 12

Bonus Offers
Emirates Skywards
- 500 Bonus Skywards Miles for entering Sofitel's 80 Night contest plus 500 more bonus Skywards miles if you are not a member of Le Club Accorhotels and join the program. More... Until Aug 18, 12

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles for stays at participaiting Marco Polo hotels in Hong Kong, China and Philippines. More... Until Aug 30, 12

Marriott Rewards
10,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay any night Thursday-Monday in a king leisure room at the London Marriott Hotel Regents Park. More... Aug 4 - Oct 26, 12
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay on a Wednesday or Thursday night at the Jeddah Marriott Hotel. . More... Aug 1 - Oct 15, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay of two nights Friday-Sunday at the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel, Courtyard Bangkok, or the JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok. More... Oct 22, 12 - Jan 14, 13
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay on Thursday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday required) at the Courtyard Albuquerque Airport or tge Residence Inn Albuquerque. More... Oct 14 - Dec 19, 12
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at the Courtyard San Antonio Airport/North Star Mall, Fairfield Inn & Suites San Antonio Downtown/Market Square, Fairfield Inn & Suites San Antonio Airport/North Star Mall or the Residence Inn San Antonio Downtown/Market Square. More... Until Oct 1, 12
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay five or more nights at the Residence Inn Dallas Market Center.More... Oct 21, 12 - Jan 12, 13

Saudi Arabian Alfursan (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 5,000 Bonus Alfursan Miles for Hertz rentals of 5+ days in Belgium; Canada; France; Germany; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Spain; Switzerland; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom or the USA. More... Until Sep 30, 12
- Double Alfursan Miles on all Budget rentals in Saudi Arabia. More... Until Aug 31, 12
- Double Alfursan Miles for stays at all participating Golden Tulip locations Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 12

Ukraine International Panorama Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 3,000 Bonus Panorama Club Miles when you flt 4 segments between Kiev and Brussels. More... Aug 1 - Sep 30, 12
- Double Panorama Club Miles for flights between Kiev and Helsinki.. More... Aug 1 - Sep 30, 12

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles and 20% off for stays 2+ nights that are booked at least 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 12

Rewards Canada Daily Update: July 25, 2012

News, Tips & Tricks
Today was a quiet day across the sites so not too much new going on and no exicting news from the world of loyalty. One blogger did mention that the Stash Hotel Rewards offer I talked about yesterday may be limited to only 10 rooms! If that is the case it is going to be quite the fight between people for those rooms. I guess it will come down to whoever is the fastest or has the fastest Internet connection to make the booking.

Bonus Offers
Frontier Airlines Early Returns (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Early Returns Miles for flights between Denver and South Bend IN. More... Oct 11 - Nov 11, 12

Hainan / Hong Kong Airlines Fortune Wings
- Double Fortune Wings Kilometers on all qualifying rates at any participating Meritus Hotels and Resorts in Singapore, Malaysia or China. More... Until Sep 30, 12
- Double Fortune Wings Kilometers for all Hertz at participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Sep 30, 12

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Quadruple TrueBlue Points when you rent any Hertz vehicle for one or more days at participating locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. More... Until Oct 31, 12
- Earn up to 200 Bonus TrueBlue Points for Carmel ground transportation that is booked online. More... Until Dec 15, 12

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Double Frequent Flyer Points for stays on the "3 = 2" special offer rate at The Menzies Sydney, Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach or Novotel Wollongong Northbeach. More... Book by Oct 21 for stays until Nov 10, 12

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Double QMiles for all Budget rentals in Europe, Middle East and Africa. More... Aug 1 - Sep 30, 12

Rewards Canada Daily Update: July 24, 2012

News, Tips & Tricks
AMAZING REWARD DEAL!!!: Over on my blog for FrequentFlyerBonuses.com I detail how to get a totally free night in New York City with Stash Hotel Rewards. I'm sure it will be limited so be sure to read the post and follow Stash Hotel Rewards closely to take advantage of this amazing offer.

Today we received confirmation that the Sears MasterCards, including their Travel Card, the Sears Voyage MasterCard will no longer charge Foreign Transaction fees. For complete details see my post from earlier today.

Travel Deals
British Airways is having a fall seat sale with fare as low $199 before taxes and fees to Amsterdam, London, Paris and Rome depending on your Canadian departure point. (Toronto is $199, Calgary is $399). These fares can found for travel between Oct 2012 and March 2013. For complete details or to book visit BritishAirways.com

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 60,000 Aeroplan Miles when you purchase or lease a new 2012 Infiniti FX, QX or M. More... Until Aug 31, 12

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at participating Kempinski and Lugaron Collection Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 12
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays of at least 2 nights at participating Regent hotels in China, Croatia, Germany, Singapore, Taiwan and the Turks and Caicos Islands. More... Until Aug 31, 12
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays at any of the Taj Grand Palaces including Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur and Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad. More... Until Sep 30, 12
- Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Flying Blue Miles for Avis rentals of 3 days or more Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 12

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN Poitiers Centre Le Grand Hotel - Poitiers or the BEST WESTERN Prince Montmartre - Paris. More... Until Sep 30, 12
- Double Rewards Points for stays of 3 or more nights Sunday to Thursday at the Best Western Country Suites Indianapolis. More... Until Oct 31, 12

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Double Gold Points for stays at participating Park Inn, Park Plaza and Radisson Blu hotels in Europe, The Middle East and Africa. More... Aug 1 - Sep 30, 12

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 1,000 Bonus Asia Miles when you book a cumulative total of six hotel nights via Ctrip within one promotion month. More... Until Sep 30, 12

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles on Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo. More... Jun 1 - 30, 13

South African Voyager
- Double Voyager Miles for stays at the Hyatt Regency Oubaai Golf Resort & Spa. More... Until Aug 31, 12

Sears MasterCards officially drop their Forex fees

As you know Rewards Canada has been pushing for the removal of foreign exchange fees on Canadian Credit Cards since last summer. We brought the topic up as the trend emerged in the U.S. over the past two or so years and has been proven to be a very popular selling point to many travellers south of the border. Fast forward to earlier this year and we saw Chase release their new Amazon.ca Rewards Visa which was the first publicly available credit card in Canada with no foreign exchange fee. It seems a no-brainer that the Chase issued Sears cards would follow suit and they have (see our post last week). This is particularly interesting feature for the recently released Sears Voyage MasterCard which in itself is not a bad travel card, it falls somewhere in the middle of the pack of all travel cards but now suddenly it has become stronger. The only thing with it is that you are still stuck booking via Sears travel if you want to use the points earned on the card. Here is the press release announcing this change on the Sears cards:

Sears Financial says farewell to foreign currency transaction charges for over two million Canadians

Half of Canadians would swap their existing credit card for one that doesn’t charge this fee, survey reveals

TORONTO, ON – July 12, 2012 – Sears Canada’s Financial Services division, Sears Financial, announced today that as of July 23, 2012, foreign currency transaction charges will no longer be incurred on the Sears Financial MasterCard® and Sears Financial Voyage™ MasterCard®.  With over two million MasterCard credit cards in the market, and hundreds of thousands of vacations booked through Sears Travel annually, eliminating the fee is part of Sears Canada’s renewed commitment to do more for the customer.

The foreign currency transaction charge is applied in addition to the exchange rate when a customer uses a credit card for a transaction outside of Canada.  Most Canadian credit cards charge 2.5 percent.

Half of Canadians (51 percent) said they would consider switching to another credit card if it meant they didn’t have to pay the foreign currency transaction charge, revealed a recent survey commissioned by Sears Financial, which looked at travel and spending habits. 

The results also showed that 65 percent of Canadians travel abroad at least once every two years and that the overwhelming majority (92 percent) use their credit card to pay for meals, entertainment, and other purchases when travelling. In fact, 61 percent always or frequently use credit cards as their primary form of payment when travelling. 

A recent Statistics Canada survey found that during the first quarter of 2012 travellers spent $8.3 billion outside the country, $5 billion spent in the United States alone.  These numbers include “snowbirds” who travel to warmer climates, and suggest Canadians pay millions of dollars a year to use their credit card abroad.

“Many of our customers are snowbirds.  They and others will benefit significantly from this change,” said Peter Kalen, Senior Vice-President, Sears Financial and Home Services. “While many travellers will continue to incur additional charges on all their foreign purchases, over two million Sears Financial MasterCard cardmembers will enjoy the freedom to spend without being charged  2.5 percent on foreign purchases. We also see this as a positive move for our Sears Travel customers.”

Sears Financial made the decision to remove foreign currency transaction charges as part of Sears Canada’s company-wide initiative to do more for the customer.  This includes recently lowering the price on over 5,000 items, an improved return policy and satisfaction guarantee, and the re-launched ‘The Baby’s Room,’ offering new brands and more selection of nursery and juvenile products at great prices.

“Removing this charge is another demonstration of our ongoing commitment to provide customers and cardmembers with the quality and value they’ve come to expect from Sears,” added Kalen.

In addition to no foreign currency transaction charge, Sears Financial cardmembers will also earn valuable Sears Club Points everywhere MasterCard is accepted. These points can be redeemed for almost anything in-store and online, including a full range of flight and travel bookings at Sears Travel.  Canadians can apply for a Sears Financial MasterCard at any Sears store.

Survey Results Highlights:

·         Most Canadians (92 percent) use their credit card while travelling, with nearly two-thirds (61 percent) using it as their primary method of payment

• Canadians spent an average of $880 using a Canadian credit card on their last trip abroad

·         Travellers cheques are a thing of the past, with 82 percent saying they rarely or never use them, while 64 percent rarely or never use their debit card abroad

·         Transaction fees are more important than any other consideration when choosing to use a credit card outside of Canada; 82 percent of Canadians describe transaction fees as very or moderately important, followed by:

o   Interest rates  64 percent

o   Travel insurance  61 percent

o   Rewards points  60 percent

·         Half of Canadians (51 percent) said they definitely or probably would switch to another credit card if the other card does not charge a foreign transaction fee

For more information on foreign currency transaction charges, please visit searsfinancial.ca/fx. 

Now the question is will this be further extended to other Chase cards (Marriott Visa hint hint) and will other banks/credit card issuers follow suit?

Rewards Canada Daily Update: July 23, 2012

News, Tips & Tricks
The big news today was the increased sign up bonus for the TD First Class Visa Infiinte card where you can walk away $80 ahead. For complete details see my post from earlier today.

If you do lots of travelling within the U.S. and frequently use JetBlue or Virgin America you may be excited to hear the both airline's frequent flyer program announced elite programs today. For details on JetBlue's Mosaic program see here and for Virgin America see here.

For bonus offers the stand out offer is the American AAdvantage Avis car rental offer for up to 5,000 Bonus AAdvantage miles, check it out below! Also if you are a member of Royal Air Maroc's Safar Flyer, the program is offering a 25% discount sale on award tickets which includes their Montreal-Casablanca route.

Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- 1,000 Bonus Miles per night for stays at the Amathus Beach Hotel Limassol and Amathus Beach Hotel Paphos. More... Until Sep 30, 12
- 1,500 Bonus Miles per night for stays at the Amathus Beach Hotel Rhodes in an Elite Suite. More... Until Sep 30, 12

American AAdvantage
Earn up to 5,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles on a qualifying rental at participating Avis airport locations in the US and Canada.More... Until Aug 31, 12
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles on a qualifying rental at participating Budget airport locations in the US and Canada. More... Until Aug 31, 12

Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- 50% Bonus Safar Flyer Miles for flights between Casablanca and London. More... Jul 27 - Aug 12, 12
- 25% Safar Flyer Miles Discount on economy class award tickets to/from Morocco. More... Until Aug 17, 12
- Double Safar Flyer Miles for stays at the Pullman Marrakech Palmeraie Resort & Spa. More... Until Sep 30, 12

United Mileage Plus
- Earn up to Triple Mileage Plus miles for stays at any participating Shangri-La hotel, resort, Traders hotel or Kerry hotel Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 12

TD ups the sign bonus for the First Class Visa Infinite to 40,000 points

The card that took second spot in the Travel Points Credit Card with Annual fee in our 2012 Top Travel Credit Card rankings has doubled the sign up bonus for a limited time. The TD First Class Visa Infinite Card normally comes with a 20,000 point sign up bonus but as of today that has been doubled to 40,000 points. This is a limited time offer and requires potential applicants to apply by September 14, 2012.

What does the 40,000 points get you? It gets you $200 in credit for any travel booked on the card whether it is with TD Rewards Expedia partnership or the ultimate in flexibility any travel booking you put onto your card and then you can redeem that $200 against the charge.

Considering this card comes with a $120 annual fee you can come out $80 ahead just for getting this card. Not a bad deal for anyone looking to a credit card churn as long as your credit rating can handle the inquiry. For example if you are a heavy Aeroplan user you can book an Aeroplan reward ticket and put the fees/taxes on this card and use that $200 towards it. If you aren't doing a reward redemption regular airline bookings made on this card will earn frequent flyer miles (Aeroplan for Air Canada, WestJet Dollars for WestJet etc) and once again you can put this $200 towards the cost of that ticket. No matter what you can look at saving $80 on any travel whether it is flights, hotels, car rentals, vacation packages and more.

I may look at upgrading my TD Platinum to this card if they let me get the 40K points, otherwise I won't!

Full details on this offer can be found here.

Are you going to consider this offer? Let us know by commenting below on why or why not?