Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Sep 24 Update: Further changes to Asia Miles flight awards, Triple Aeroplan Miles for Coast Hotel stays, 1,000 Starpoints for Sheraton Club level

Remember to vote for you favourite Travel Rewards Credit Cards at rewardscanada.ca/vote

News, Tips & Tricks
Only a few days ago we mentioned some changes to Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles program and now there are even more coming. Thelatest is a negative change that affects Asia Miles Priority Awards. These awards are those that give you a better chance of getting an Economy Class seat on Cathay Pacific and Dragonair flights during peak-travel periods (think Aeroplan Market Fare nee ClassicPlus flight awards. These changes go live on Ocotober 16th:

Priority Awards until Oct 15

Priority Awards as of Oct 16.

Those are some hefty increases!

Petro Points members can earn 3x Petro Points on cruise bookings made through iTravel2000.com. Bookings must be made by Oct 18. Full details

Travel Deals
Etihad Airways: is offering up to $2,400 off their Pearl Business Class fares out of Toronto! Some of the destinations are shown below but more are available. Flights must be booked by Sep 30 for travel until Dec 31. Simply book online at Etihad

Bonus Offers
Aeroflot Bonus
- Double Bonus Miles for every stay at participating Kempinski Hotel locations Worldwide. More... Oct 1 - Nov 30, 13

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Triple Aeroplan Miles on every qualifying Coast Hotels stay in the U.S. or Canada. More... Oct 1 - Dec 31, 13

airberlin topbonus
- Triple topbonus Miles for stays at participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 31, 13
- Triple topbonus Miles for stays at the INNSIDE Düsseldorf Hafen. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Earn up to Quadruple topbonus Miles on Avis rentals Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13

IHG Rewards Club
- 5,000 Bonus Priority Club Points for your next IHG stay Worldwide. Stay must be made within 90 days of registering. More... Until ? Valid for IHG Rewards Club Elite Members only & targeted offer - may not work for everyone
- 2,000 Bonus Priority Club Points per stays for the next 60 days at IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Until ? Targeted offer - may not work for everyone

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- 500 Bonus JetPrivilege Miles and a level 2 upgrade when you join PointsHound and complete your first booking. More.. Until Oct 31, 13

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints on every Sheraton Club stay. Offer available when you pay with any American Express® Card. More... Booking Until Oct 31, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- 3,000 Bonus Dividend Miles when you make your first purchase on RocketMiles. More... Book by Dec 14, 13 for stays until Mar 31, 14
- Double Dividend Miles and save up to 25% when you rent a compact size car or larger at any participating location in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our Newsletter and RSS feed

Monday, September 23, 2013

Sep 23 Update: Miles & More devalued for low end economy, Etihad Biz Class sale, ANA award sale for Air New Zealand flights

Have you voted? Be sure to cast your vote for your favourite travel rewards credit cards in Canada in our 3rd annual Canada's Choice! You can vote here.

News, Tips & Tricks
Starwood Preferred Guest has added a new airline transfer partner, Virgin Australia. Starpoints can be transferred at 1 to 1 basis (and of course if you transfer 20,000 Starpoints SPG will kick in the extra 5,000 miles) Source: Loyalty Lobby

Miles & More, the frequent flyer program for the Lufthansa group which includes Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, Swiss, Austrian and more has announced lower mileage earning for discount economy class tickets on all flights worldwide. Source Miles & More

Qatar Airways and American Airlines have joined forces on the FFP side, another step in Qatar Airways joining the oneworld alliance. A few weeks ago we mentioned that Qatar and British Airways started their reciprocal FFP partnership and now we AA as well. Here are the earning details from Qatar's site and here they are for American.

In the bonus offers section we list an offer from ANA All Nippon Mileage Club for discounted award flights. This is one of those better offers for Canadian Mileage Club members since ANA doesn't actually fly to Canada but the promotion is for reward tickets on Air New Zealand and ANZ does serve Vancouver. If you don't collect Mileage Club miles you can take advantage of this offer by converting Starwood Preferred Guest Points into Mileage Club.

Travel Deals
Etihad Airways: is offering up to $2,400 off their Pearl Business Class fares out of Toronto! Some of the destinations are shown below but more are available. Flights must be booked by Sep 30 for travel until Dec 31. Simply book online at Etihad

Bonus Offers
airBaltic BalticMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 2,500 BalticMiles Points for stays of two nights or more at the Gallery Park Hotel Riga.More... Until Dec 20, 13

ANA All Nippon Mileage Club
- 30% Mileage Club Miles discount on the number of miles for Air New Zealand Flight Awards when reserving and issuing for flight tickets via ANA SKY WEB More... Book by Dec 15 for travel until Dec 19, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Save up to 12,000 Mileage Bank Miles for Mileage Bank Award tickets between Tokyo and Guam. More... Nov 1 - Mar 31, 14
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at the The Okura Prestige Taipei. More... Oct 1 - Dec 31, 13

Le Club accorhotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points when you book a minimum two night City Breaks stay at participating Novotel and Suite Novotel hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 1 for stays until Dec 31, 13

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Points for stays at athe Residence Inn Montreal Airport. More... Until Oct 31, 13
- 500 Bonus Points per stay at the SpringHill Suites Vero Beach. More... Until Nov 6, 13
- 500 Bonus Points per stay at the Fairfield Inn St. Petersburg Clearwater. More... Until Nov 1, 13

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Triple Frequent Flyer Points for stays of 2 or more nights at over 160 participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 14

TAM Fidelidade
- Triple Multiplus Points for stays of 2 or more nights at over 160 participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Transaero Privilege (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Privilege Points for stays of 2 or more nights at over 160 participating World Hotels Worldwide .More... Until Mar 31, 14

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Earn 2 bonus Tier Points, 50% Bonus Flying Club Miles and Complimentary Little Red Flights when you register, book and fly in Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic Worldwide. More... Register and book by Oct 20, 13 for travel until Feb 28, 14

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Virgin Atlantic: Bonus Tier Points, 50% Bonus Miles & Complimentary Little Red Flights for flying in Upper Class

Here is a great offer if you are flying Virgin Atlantic in Upper Class out of Vancouver for the next month or so (VS' seasonal YVR service ends on October) or if you are flying them out of one of many U.S. gateways. Not only does it offer bonus miles, but it also offers bonus elite qualifying tiers points (perfect timing as we approach the end of the year) and complimentary flights awarded after you complete your first qualifying flight!

Here is the offer as it will appear on RC's Flying Club Bonus Miles page later today:

Earn 2 bonus Tier Points, 50% Bonus Flying Club Miles and Complimentary Little Red Flights when you register, book and fly in Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic Worldwide. (Flights on Little Red are excluded). Full details, online registration and booking. Register and book by Oct 20, 13 for travel until Feb 28, 14
Bonuses are as follows:

50% extra Flying Club miles and 2 bonus tier points will be awarded to a Qualifying Member on completion of each of the first, second, third and fourth Qualifying Flights. These promotional bonus Flying Club miles will be calculated on standard miles earned per sector and exclude Flying Club Silver and Flying Club Gold tier bonus miles.
One return flight on the Virgin Atlantic Little Red service (a "Little Red Reward Flight") will be awarded to a Qualifying Member on completion of each of the first and second Qualifying Flights.

Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our Flying Club Bonus Miles page for dozens of other flight, hotel, car rental and other bonuses!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Sep 20 Upate: Canada's Choice voting now open, Asia Miles program change, 10K Bonus Points at Residence Inn YYZ

Big day here on Rewards Canada with the launch of the 3rd annual Canada's Choice portion of our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card feature. It looks like it is gaining steam every year! Two years ago we only had 700 some odd votes, last year we had 180 in the first 5 hours and over 3,000 total and if the first 5 hours this year are any indication it will be even bigger as we more than doubled the responses in that short 5 hour time frame with nearly 400 votes at the time of posting this. Have your say in the results this year by voting at rewardscanada.ca/vote

News, Tips & Tricks
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is making two changes to their program as of October 8th. One is positive and the other is negative. First the positive news is that as of that date if you fly on discount economy tickets booked into S, N or Q classes you will earn 25% of the mileage in Asia Miles whereas right now those fares earn 0. The bad news is that Asia Miles will charge $25 or 1,000 Miles each time a confirmed award flight date or flight number is changed (per flight sector per passenger, with the same itinerary, same airline, and same ticket expiry date. Details on these changes can be found here

Priority Pass, the third party airport lounge program has added another lounge in Toronto to their roster, the Plaza Premium Lounge (International Departures): Terminal 3.

Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- Earn up to Triple Rewards points for stays at participating Best Western Hotels in Denmark. More... Until Nov 30, 13

Etihad Guest
- 20% Bonus Guest Miles when you convert points from select Etihad Guest partners into the Guest program. More... Until Oct 11, 13

Iberia Plus
- Triple Avios for stays of 2 or more nights at over 160 participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple TrueBlue Points when you fly JetBlue to or from San Juan, Puerto Rico. More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Earn up to 5x TrueBlue Points on any Hertz rental at participating locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Malaysia Airlines Enrich (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Enrich Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at over 160 participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 14

Marriott Rewards
- 10,000 Bonus Points when you stay five consecutive nights or more at the Residence Inn Toronto Airport. More... Until Nov 30, 13
- 3,000 Bonus Points per stay at one of 8 participating DFW area Marriott or Renaissance hotels. More...Until Nov 15, 13

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Lodge on the Desert Tucson. More... Until Oct 31, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Bristol Hotel San Diego. More... Until Oct 31, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Edgewater South Beach Miami Beach. More... Until Oct 31, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino Resort.More... Oct 1 - 31, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Resort at Port Ludlow. More... Oct 1 - 31, 13
- 2,000 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Wilshire Grand Hotel West Orange. And if you were born on Oct. 14 (Discovery Day) or Oct. 31 you will earn 5,000 additional bonus points More... Oct 1 - 31, 13
- 1,000 Bonus Stash Rewards Points PER NIGHT for stays at the SHOREHAM Hotel or the The Mansfield New York. More... Until Dec 30, 13
- Double Stash Rewards Points for Thursday or Sunday stays at the Inn at Great Neck. More... Oct 1 - 31, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Benjamin New York. More... Until Nov 30, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the James New York.More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Mar 31, 14

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our Newsletter and RSS feed

Canada's Choice - Vote for Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards

It's that time again!

Back in June we released our annual rankings of Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards, and for the third year in a row we are now asking you Canada to vote for your favourite Travel Rewards Credit and Charge cards!

Voting is now open for the 75+ cards in the five major travel rewards credit card categories. Most new cards that have come onto the market are included and we've made the survey one page in length instead of five so it is easier to find the cards you like in each category.

So make sure you let your voice be heard and head on over to Canada's Choice - Vote for Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2013 and place your vote!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Sep 19 Update: RC Blog Updated posts and 1,000 Bonus Points for your first Accor stay

Thursday has proven to be a little quiet on the loyalty front in part because we are working on a feature behind the scenes that will launch here on Rewards Canada tomorrow. So stay tuned!

News, Tips & Tricks
Yesterday we had Robb Engen from Boomer & Echo fame provide us with an updated post on Making the most of Canada’s Best Cash Back Credit Cards. Check it out here.

Also updated yesterday was our Travel Hacking 101 post to reflect the changes made to a couple of American Express cards earlier this month. Now you can earn over 80,000 Aeroplan Miles or 60,000 Avios virtually for free. See the post here.

In the bonus offers section check out the Le Club accorhotels first stay bonus, it is a nice bonus to take advantage of if you have not joined Accor Hotels' loyalty program and believe you'll have a stay at any of their hotels before the end of the year.

Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- Triple Phoenix Miles Kilometers for stays of 2 or more nights at over 160 participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Apr 30, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- 1,000 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points when you join the Le Club accorhotels program and complete your first stays. More... Join by Oct 31 for stays until Dec 27, 13
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points and up to 20% off for stays at participating Accor hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland More... Book by Sep 30 for stays until Oct 6, 13
- 300 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in Singapore. More... Book by Nov 15 for stays until Mar 31, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at the Novotel New York Times Square. More... Book by Dec 15 for stays until Jan 5, 14

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Loyalty Club
- Earn Double Loyalty Club Points when you stay at any one of 22 participating M&C hotels in Europe. More... Sep 20 - Oct 31, 13

Oman Air Sindbad (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Sindbad Miles and up to 33% on rentals Worldwide of 3 or more days off during the Hertz Global sale. More... Book by Sep 30 for rentals until Mar 31, 14

SAS Scandinavian EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus points for stays at the Radisson Blu Riverside Hotel Gothenburg. More... Sep 20 - Dec 31, 13

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Quadruple Rapid Rewards points and save up to 25% on qualifying Alamo rentals of two days or longer at any participating location in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Nov 15, 13

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our Newsletter and RSS feed

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Sep 18 Update: Fly Jamaica announces Toronto service, Air Canada Earn Your Wings is back, Best Western extends 1,000 points bonus

Another relatively quiet day on the newsfront but no so for the bonus offers world!

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Canada is bringing back their Earn Your Wings promotion which just ended in June. This time it is called the "Amazing Race Canada Edition" and will follow the same premise as the spring version of collecting wings and badges and of course the more you collect the more Aeroplan bonus miles you'll receive. See our post from earlier today for the details and for the pre-registration link which gets you additional wings.

Fly Jamaica, a new airline from Jamaica has announced that they plan on serving Toronto from Kingston Jamaica and Georgetown Guyana from early October. They don't have a frequent flyer program yet but you can utilized one of the many travel points or hybrid cards like the RBC Avion, BMO World Elite, Amex Gold Rewards etc. to redeem points for a flight with them. (Source Airline Route Udpates)

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays at Velas Resorts. More... Until Dec 19, 13
- Triple Club Premier Kilometers for rentals in all Hertz locations in Mexico and at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Dec 19, 13

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to 200,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with this fall's Earn Your Wings promotion. Registered members will complete certain activities (primarily flights) to earn RaceWings and collect badges which will also count to the RaceWings total. More... Flights must be booked between Sep 24 and Nov 17 for travel Sep 24 - Dec 15, 13

American AAdvantage
- Save up to 15,000 AAdvantage Miles when you travel on an award ticket from the Caribbean to the United States, Canada or Mexico for only 20,000 miles using your Scotiabank / AAdvantage® credit card. More... Book by Oct 5 for travel until Dec 10 or Jan 20 - Apr 10, 14 for AAdvantage members who reside in Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis and Grenada with a Scotiabank / AAdvantage® credit card.

Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points and up to 20% off of the Best Available Rate when booking an "Internet Only" rate for stays at participating Best Western hotels Worldwide. Elite members will earn 1,500 bonus points per stay. More... Until Nov 24, 13

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Avios for each weekend stay at participating Hilton Hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa. More... Until Dec 16, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles for stays at select Anantara Hotels in the Middle East and Asia. More... Oct 1 - Dec 31, 13
- Triple Skywards Miles for stays at the Shangri-La Villingili, Maldivesa. More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Dec 20, 13

Hilton HHonors
- Receive a free Callaway wedge when you register and stay one night at any Embassy Suites™ Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13

IHG Rewards Club
- 5,000 Bonus Priority Club Points for stays of 3+ nights at any Candlewood Suites or Staybridge Suites Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles when you stay on a qualifying rate for at least three consecutive nights at any particpating Millennium & Copthorne Hotel Worldwide. More... Oct 1 - Dec 31, 13

Remember to follow Rewards Canada on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our Newsletter and RSS feed

Air Canada Earn Your Wings The Amazing Race Canada Edition - earn up to 200,000 bonus Aeroplan Miles

Air Canada's Earn Your Wings promotion is back again this time being called The Amazing Race Canada Edition. Last seen in spring when the original Earn Your Wings promo was launched and once again the promotion has the same concept in that registered members complete certain activities (primarily flights) to earn RaceWings (last time they were just called 'Wings') and collect badges which also count to your RaceWings total. Depending on how many RaceWings and Badges you collect you could earn up to 200,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with this fall's Earn Your Wings promotion.

The promotion runs from Sep 24 to Dec 15 (however all Air Canada flights must be booked between Sep 24 and Nov 17, so flights booked before won't count as we have seen with all of AC's bonus promos of late) but you can pre-register now to receive 500 RaceWings.

The details for the majority of the badges have not been revealed, we assume those will be made public on Sep 24 at which time we will do a follow up post. In the mean time be sure to pre-register to ensure you get 500 RaceWings instead of the 250 that is awarded after the promotion starts.

Click here to pre-register

Badge Legend

You receive badges for completing certain challenges, tasks and specific activities. Each time you earn a badge, you also earn RaceWings

CHALLENGE BADGES

To earn these badges, you’ll have to be in the know because some of them are only available for a limited time. Rise to the challenge and we’ll reward you with even more RaceWings!

Fast Forward 1

Get ahead of the game. Fly to a Pit Stop city in Latitude or Premium Economy and earn 500 bonus RaceWings and this badge. This challenge is on-going and the badge can be earned more than once.

Fast Forward 2

Get further ahead of the game! Fly to a Pit Stop city in Executive First or Executive Class and earn 1,000 bonus RaceWings, as well as this badge.

Detour

The Detour badge details and its bonus RaceWings value will be revealed during the promotion period. Keep your eyes open and check your emails!

Speedbump

The Speedbump badge details and its bonus RaceWings value will be revealed during the promotion period. Keep your eyes open and check your emails!

U-Turn

The U-Turn badge details and its bonus RaceWings value will be revealed during the promotion period. Keep your eyes open and check your emails!

Task Badges - 5000 RaceWings

You’ll need to do some planning to earn these badges! A task badge is awarded once you have completed a combination of specific airports. There is no limit to how many times you can earn these badges.