oneworld alliance to celebrate Qatar Airways entrance with double miles

oneworld posted two new press releases on their website on the subject of Qatar Airways officially joining the alliance as of Midnight tonight! We haven't come across any of the offers on the individual airlines websites but assume they will be out shortly and some if not most of them will require registration. So be sure to keep checking back here on FFB for each of those airlines' offers! We do know from the press release the Qatar Airways Privilege Club members do have to register.

Here is an excerpt from oneworld's release on the double miles:

Members of Qatar Airways' Privilege Club loyalty programme will receive double Qmiles rewards when flying between 15 November 2013 and 31 January 2014 (until 24 January 2014 for Cathay Pacific),  apart from during the holiday peak (20 December 2013 to 5 January 2014), on the airline's new oneworld partners - airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and around 30 of their affiliated airlines, provided they register first by logging into their account at qmiles.com

Similarly, members of existing oneworld airlines' loyalty programmes will receive double mileage awards when flying on Qatar Airways between 15 November 2013 and 31 January 2014 (until 24 January 2014 for Cathay Pacific's The Marco Polo Club cardholders) - apart from during the holiday peak (20 December 2013 to 5 January 2014).  For further details, see member airlines' websites.

Oct 29 Update: American nixes Ottawa-Chicago, US Airways bonus for La Quinta stays, Travelocity Promo Code

A couple of newsworthy items were already posted as their own posts earlier today (Earn Your Wings and WestJet National Bonus) so the update is a little light on that end!

News, Tips & Tricks
American Airlines will be cancelling their Ottawa to Chicago route as of January 8, 2014. This isn't good news for American AAdvantage, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, British Airways Executive Club or any oneworld frequent flyers in the Ottawa region! (Source Airline Route updates)


Travel Deals
Take $100 off select Flights + Hotels (Min. Spend $2,500) with the Travelocity.ca Halloween Monster Sale! Use PROMOCODE: MONSTER100CA. Ends 10/31.



Bonus Offers
Air China Phoenix Miles
- Fast Track to HHonors Gold and 30,000 Bonus Phoenix Miles Kilometers when you stay at Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 13 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Dec 31, 13

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Fast Track to Silver Status when you stay at least six eligible nights at any Carlson Rezidor hotel in Asia Pacific. More... Until Dec 31, 13 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn 20% Bonus JetPrivilege Miles when you purchase JetPrivilege Miles online. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Earn up to 20,000 bonus Qantas Points when you fly Qantas in International Business between Sydney and Bangkok. More... Book by Nov 4 for travel Dec 1 - Jan 31, 14

Stash Hotel Rewards
- 500 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Plaza Suites Santa Clara. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Menger Hotel San Antonio More... Until Jan 31, 14
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Resort at Port Ludlow. More... Until Nov 30, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- 500 Bonus Dividend Miles per stay at La Quinta properties in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles when booking the Double Miles for Early Birds rate for stays of 2 nights or more at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Dec 1 - Feb 28, 14
- Double Flying Club Miles on Hertz Collections rentals Worldwide. More.. Book by Nov 30 for rentals until Dec 31, 13

WestJet Rewards
- Triple WestJet Dollars plus save up to 25% off on National Car Rentals in North America booked online westjet.com. More... Book by Dec 31 for rentals until Feb 28, 14

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WestJet: Earn 3x WestJet Dollars for National Car Rentals

The evolution of the WestJet Rewards program continues with their first ever (to our knowledge) bonus offer for using a WestJet partner. Most bonuses from WestJet have been for flights and not much else. We've seen the addition of earning partners (WestJet Hotels, Cars, and American Airlines) but all those avenues have not seen bonuses until now.

Here is The offer as is was added to our WestJet Rewards page earlier today::

Triple WestJet Dollars plus save up to 25% off on National Car Rentals in North America booked online westjet.com. Full details Book by Dec 31 for rentals until Feb 28, 14

While it is not a true promotion from National Car Rental itself (if it was you could book this on National's site to earn the bonus Dollars) it is nice to see WestJet expanding the earning opportunities for its Rewards members. In fact this exact topic has come up on numerous occasions when we have had lunch with the WestJet Rewards team and that topic is more partners and more offers from those partners!

Air Canada Earn Your Wings: New Badge released - The Detour Badge

If you are taking part in the Air Canada Earn Your Wings The Amazing Race Edition promotion you'll want to know that a new badge has been released that can earn you even more Race Wings (for details on the promotion overall, please see our post here). We'd love to hear how everyone is doing in the Earn Your Wings promotion! We personally are doing not so good as all of our flights planned over the next few month take to us cities that don't earn any additional Race Wings other than the 200 for each take off or landing!

The new badge is the 'Detour Badge' and awards Race Wings as follows:

Take the Detour to the top. To get through this challenge, you’ll need to make some decisions. Choose from amongst four regions and then book a round trip or two one-way flight segments from amongst the eligible routes. You’ll earn between 5,000 and 10,000 additional RaceWings depending on the region chosen, as well as the Detour badge, every time you complete the challenge. You can earn this badge more than once but remember, once you confirm your region, you can only book flights in that region for the remainder of the challenge. Book your eligible routes between October 28 and November 17, 2013, for travel by December 15, 2013. You’ll also keep earning Pit Stop, Fast Forward and Task Badges through the detour, so choose strategically!

The regions for this badge are as follows:

Europe

Earn 10,000 additional RaceWings and the Detour Badge for every round-trip or two one-way flight segments between:

• – Paris (CDG) and Toronto (YYZ)
• – London (LHR) and Toronto (YYZ)
• – London (LHR) and Montreal (YUL)

Asia

Earn 10,000 additional RaceWings and the Detour Badge for every round-trip or two one-way flight segments between:

• – Seoul (ICN) and Vancouver YVR)
• – Seoul (ICN) and Toronto (YYZ)
• – Beijing (PEK) and Vancouver (YVR)
• – Shanghai (PVG) and Vancouver (YVR)
• – Hong Kong (HKG) and Vancouver (YVR)
• – Hong Kong (HKG) and Toronto (YYZ)

West Coast USA

Earn 5,000 additional RaceWings and the Detour Badge for every round-trip or two one-way flight segments between:

• – Los Angeles (LAX) and Montreal (YUL)
• – Los Angeles (LAX) and Toronto (YYZ)
• – Los Angeles (LAX) and Calgary (YYC)
• – Los Angeles (LAX) and Vancouver (YVR)
• – San Francisco (SFO) and Montreal (YUL)
• – San Francisco (SFO) and Toronto (YYZ)
• – San Francisco (SFO) and Vancouver (YVR)
• – Seattle (SEA) and Toronto (YYZ)
• – Seattle (SEA) and Vancouver (YVR)

New York

Earn 5,000 additional RaceWings and the Detour Badge for every round-trip or two one-way flight segments between:

• – New York – LaGuardia (LGA) and Montreal (YUL)
• – New York – LaGuardia (LGA) and Ottawa (YOW)
• – New York – LaGuardia (LGA) and Toronto (YYZ)
• – New York – Newark (EWR) and Montreal (YUL)
• – New York – Newark (EWR) and Toronto (YYZ)
• – New York – Newark (EWR) and Calgary (YYC)
• – New York – Newark (EWR) and Vancouver (YVR)

Oct 28 Update: 500 Bonus Points/Miles for PointsHound bookings in CAD and last day for Aeroplan eStore 5x Miles bonus

The news side of things continues on the light side from last week, this is not unusual however as the end of the month approaches! More news should filter out late in the week and early next week as a fresh new month starts.

News, Tips & Tricks
Over on the FFB blog we highlighted a new feature from PointsHound. The ability to book and pay in different currencies other than USD. The Canadian dollar is included so now you don't have to worry about foreign transaction fees on your credit card but I am not 100% sure on their foreign exchange rates and whether they will be better than what the credit cards offer including the forex fee. Either way , you should make your next PointsHound booking in CAD as will earn an extra 500 points or miles from anyone of their 12 loyalty program partners for doing so. More details can be found here

On Thursday Aeroplan released a very limited time offer of 5x Miles for eStore purchases. Today is the last day to take advantage of that! See here.




Bonus Offers
Aegean Miles&Bonus
- 25% Aegean Miles Discount when you redeem your Award Miles for tickets on any Aegean-operated flights.More... Until Nov 17, 13
- Gold Members, will be entitled to two (2) Complimentary Seat Upgrades after reaching  six flight activities either on Aegean Airlines or Olympic Air-operated flights. More... Nov 1 - Dec 31, 13
- Double Miles&Bonus Miles for car rentals with Hertz in Greece, Cyprus, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Netherlands. More... Until Nov 21, 13

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles plus, save up to 15% on qualifying Hertz Affordable Rate rentals of one or more days at participating locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and St. Thomas. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Delta SkyMiles
- Double SkyMiles plus, save up to 15% on qualifying Hertz Affordable Rate rentals of one or more days at participating locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and St. Thomas. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Gol Smiles  (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 3,000 Smiles Miles for Gol Smiles award tickets within Brazil. More... Until Dec 11, 13

Orbitz Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Orbucks on stand-alone flight bookings (or flight bookings made in the flight path with car add-on or hotel add-on), where the validating carrier is airberlin, Qatar Airways, Asiana Airlines, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, More... Book by Nov 22, 13
- $10 Orbucks on the next flight you book on Orbitz.com More... Book by Nov 22, 13
- $25 Orbucks when you use the “Zap That Bag Fee” feature on the Orbitz Rewards homepage & send a photo of your receipt. More... Until Nov 30, 13
- $25 Orbucks when you refer a friend to the Orbitz Rewards program. More...

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for Sunday - Thursday stays at the Lodge on the Desert Tucson. More... Until Dec 30, 13
- 500 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for prepaid Sunday - Thursday stays at the Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 30, 13
- 500 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Inn at Saint Mary's South Bend, IN. More... Until Nov 30, 13

United MileagePlus
- Double MileagePlus Miles plus, save up to 15% on qualifying Hertz Affordable Rate rentals of one or more days at participating locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and St. Thomas. More... Until Dec 31, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles plus, save up to 15% on qualifying Hertz Affordable Rate rentals of one or more days at participating locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and St. Thomas. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Flying Club Miles plus, save up to 15% on qualifying Hertz Affordable Rate rentals of one or more days at participating locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and St. Thomas. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Wyndham Rewards
- 20% Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points every time you buy or gift points. More... Until Nov 30, 13

Oct 25 Update: Up to 6,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles for Hilton stays, Double Elite Credit with Club Carlson, IHG Airline Bonus

We end the week off here at Rewards Canada with an all bonus offer day!

News, Tips & Tricks
Some of the offers to pay particular attention to in our bonus offer list below are the targeted Club Carlson Double Elite Night credit offer (perfect timing if you aren't that far away from the next status level and of course if the offer works for you). Also another offer that is worth a deeper look is the new Hilton stay bonus for Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members. Why, well even if you may not be a Flying Club accumulator they offer the ability to transfer Flying Club miles to HHonors at a ratio of 1:2, so if you register for this offer and are only a HHonors accumulator you will also earn the Flying Club miles (up to 6,000 bonus miles) since all Hilton stays are double dips (Points and miles) which you can then convert back to HHonors for up to 12,000 bonus HHonors points! An almost no-brainer here if Hilton HHonors is where you place your points into!

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Earn up to Quadruple Club Premier Kilometers for stays at La Quinta Inns and Suites. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays at NH Hotels in Mexico. More... Nov 1 - Dec 31, 13
- Double Club Premier Kilometers on all Budget rentals Worldwide. More... Until Dec 1, 13

Air China Phoenix Miles
- Double Phoenix Miles Kilometers plus a One Car Class Upgrade when you rent for 3 days or more at Hertz participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia (except China). More... Until Dec 31, 13

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Double Elite Nights when you stay at any of more than 1,000 participating Carlson Rezidor hotels worldwide. More... Until Dec 23, 13 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles for stays at The Johnston Suites Hong Kong. More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Double Asia Miles on first-time purchases of 5-visit Plaza Premium Lounge Gift Card online More... Until Nov 30, 13

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple HawaiianMiles and up to 25% off with Avis on rentals of 2 to 5 consecutive days at participating airport locations in Hawaii, California, Oregon and Washington. More... Until Jun 30 , 14
- Triple HawaiianMiles and save up to 20% on Budget rentals of 2 or more days. More... Until Jun 30 , 14

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn Double Airlines Miles when you stay at any participating hotel in Australasia, Southeast & Southwest Asia, Japan & Korea, and the Middle East & Africa. More... Nov 1 - 30, 13

Stash Hotel Rewards
- 5x Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Liaison Capitol Hill, an Affinia Hotel Washington, DC. More... Dec 1 - Jan 31, 14
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Wilshire Grand Hotel West Orange. More... Nov 1 - 30, 13
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for Sunday - Thursday stays at The Resort at The Mountain Welches (Mt. Hood) More... Until Dec 30, 13

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 25% Miles&Smiles Discount on Miles&Smiles award tickets to select Turkish Airlines destinations Worldwide. More... Nov 1 - 30, 13
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days in Europe, the US, or Turkey. More... Book by Dec 31 for rentals until Mar 31, 14

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Earn up to 6,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles when you register and complete a qualifying stay at any of more than 4,000 hotels within the Hilton HHonors portfolio of brands.  More... Until Jan 31, 14



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Turkish Airlines: 25% Discount on Miles&Smiles Award Tickets between Toronto and Turkey

Every month Turkish Airlines offers up a 25% discount on their Miles&Smiles award tickets to select destinations in their network. Well November includes Toronto! So if you are a Canadian Miles&Smiles member now is your chance to visit Istanbul (or elsewhere in Turkey) for 25% less miles. Normally you are looking at 50,000 Miles for economy class redemptions, 60,000 for comfort or 70,000 for business class. With this promo those lower to 37,500, 45,000 and 52,500 respectively. The 25% discount also applies to using miles for upgrades (normally 22,500 miles now 16,875) and companion ticket options. One item to note is that award flight high season ends on November 4th so if you are looking to redeem for flights between Nov 1 and 4 this mileage rates will be higher.

Click here for full details on this promotion


Here are the conditions of the award tickets for this promotion:

• Promotion will include the award tickets which are issued as of 23 October 2013.
• Promotional award tickets shall be issued for travels between 01 november 2013– 30 november 2013 and travel must be completed between these dates stp
• The validity of the award tickets will be restricted by 30 november 2013 stp
• This promotion is valid for all miles&smiles award tickets, companion tickets and upgrades
• The promotion is valid for all Turkish Airlines capacity controlled and seat guaranteed all economy and business reservation classes. Furthermore promotion is valid forcomfort class on applicable destinations
• The related promotion will be applied only for Turkish Airlines scheduled flights and anadolujet flights stp promotion is not permitted on codeshare flights (tk8000) and for the award tickets issued for the star alliance member airline flights Promotion will be applied for all flights from/to turkey and from/to abroad on the routes stated
• The routes within different award regions cannot be combined
• Return flight can be done from different cities in condition within the same award region
• All rebooking and reroutings can be applied within the same route, class and season until 30 november 2013 no changes is permitted for travels after 30 november 2013 . Mileage refund can be done within 1 year after the ticket issuance date. Any mileage refunds, rebookings and re-routings are subject to penalty.
• One open jaw and one stopover is permitted either on the outbound or on the return segment.
• Tickets can not be issued open.
• The general conditions applied in miles&smiles award tickets are also applicable for award tickets issued in this campaign.
• Taxes must be paid while ticketing

Oct 24 Update: Aeroplan Bonus for Marriott stays in the U.S., MileagePlus online shopping bonus, Saudia Toronto Bonuses

Today is was quiet day in the world of travel rewards, mainly new bonuses to tell you about.

News, Tips & Tricks
Last night Scotiabank put on a cross country event for bloggers in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver to discuss travel and travel rewards and ultimately put the spotlight on their Scotiabank Gold American Express card. Probably the most interesting part of the evening was the live cross country question and answer sessions using Turning Point to see live responses from across the country to the questions. Here are a couple of photos from the Calgary portion:

Travel Deals
Its time for another 5 day sale from Air France and KLM! Fares to Europe and beyong start at $899 including all taxes and fees from Eastern Canada, $1049 from Western Canada. Travel must be booked by Oct 27 for depatures by Dec 10 or between Dec 25 and May 6. Book online at airfrance.ca or klm.com



Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles per night at participating JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance, Marriott Resorts and Gaylord Hotels in the U.S..  More...Nov 1 - Jan 31, 14

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Earn 5,000 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles for your first mileage earning action after enrolling in the program online at Alitalia. Mileage earning action must be carried out within 3 months of registration. More... Join by Oct 31, 13 
 
Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards points on your thirds stay at participating Best Western Hotels in Denmark. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Finnair Plus
- Earn 5,000 Bonus Plus Points when you complete one long haul flight to Asia on Finnair. More...Until Jan 31, 14
- Earn Silver Elite status when you complete one long haul flight to Asia on Finnair. More... Until Jan 31, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 2,500 Bonus TrueBlue Points when you join the TrueBlue program and complete your first qualfying JetBlue flight.More... Until Feb 13, 14

Saudia Alfursan
- Earn up to 16,000 Bonus Alfursan Miles when you fly between Toronto and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. More.... Oct 28 - Dec 31, 13
- Double Alfursan Miles when you fly Saudia direct between Istanbaul or Madrid and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. More.... Oct 29 - Dec 31, 13
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus Alfursan Mileswhen you stay at one of 14 participating Marriott hotels in London. More... Until Dec 23, 13
- Earn 1,000 Bonus Alfursan Miles for stays at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre, Renaissance Toronto Downtown,  Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville, or Toronto Airport Marriott. More... Valid Oct 28 - Dec 31, 13
- Earn Triple Alfursan Miles on Avis Rentals of 5 or more days in Canada.More... Until Dec 31, 13
- Double Alfursan Miles on Budget car rentals in the KSA, , Egypt or Kuwait. More... Until Nov 30, 13
- Double Alfursan Miles on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days in Europe, the US, or in the Middle East. More... Book by Dec 31 for rentals until Mar 31, 14

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus MileagePlus miles when you shop via MileagePlus shopping. More... Until Nov 11, 13



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Alitalia MilleMiglia Sign Up + 1st Activity Bonus increased to 5,000 Miles (sign up by Oct 31)

Normally Alitalia offers a 2,000 MilleMiglia mile bonus when you join the program and complete your first mileage earning action within three months of doing so. For a limited time however, if you choose to join the program by October 31 and complete that first mileage earning action you will get a 5,000 mile bonus. And as they state on the sign up page that 5,000 Miles can be used right away for a EUR25 discount on Alitalia flights using their cash+miles option.

Here are the details of the offer as it will appear on RC's MilleMiglia Bonus Miles page later today:

Earn 5,000 Bonus MilleMiglia Miles for your first mileage earning action after enrolling in the program online at Alitalia. Mileage earning action must be carried out within 3 months of registration. Full details. Join by Oct 31, 13

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

Earning Your Wings: 5 Tips to Ensure You Reach Elite Status

With less than three months to go, members of travel reward programs are paying close attention to their 2014 airline and hotel status.  As every road warrior knows, life is a whole lot easier when enjoying the perks and comforts of elite status.

Yet remarkably, every year thousands of frequent flyers are left kicking themselves for coming up short on the status requirements set by rewards programs. It most cases it comes down to not knowing program details and a limited knowledge of the various options available.  As someone who tracks and reports on the bonus offers issued by every major global travel reward program, I’ve become intimately familiar with the rules and requirements of these programs.

Here are five tips to help ensure frequent travellers get the ‘royal treatment’ each time they take to the friendly skies:

1. Stay True to Your Main Program - Make sure you funnel all your flights and hotel bookings into your primary frequent flyer and frequent hotel guest program. If you spread yourself too thin across multiple programs you will never reach an elite status.

2. Check the Fine Print – Always confirm your flight and hotel stays earn elite status rewards. Seems simple enough but many frequent travelers make the mistake of booking hotels through third party sites such as Expedia which typically do not count towards elite status.

3. Mileage & Mattress Running - This technique involves booking a flight(s) or hotel stay(s) strictly for more elite qualifying points/miles. Sure, on the surface it may seem like a foolish way to spend your hard earned money. But consider the benefits of forking out a few hundred dollars on a same day flight if it means elite status and thousands of dollars of free upgrades, lounge access and more for 2014.

4. Total Bonus! A great way to ensure you qualify for elite status is to take advantage of qualifying bonus offers. Many airline and hotel programs run bonus promotions throughout the year that count towards your elite status. Bonus point gurus FrequentFlyerBonuses.com track the elite status bonus offers of all major reward programs at: frequentflyerbonuses.com/statusoffers.html

5. Match Maker - One of the easier ways to reach elite status with another program is when you already have it with your primary program.  This is called status matching. Status matching can be immediate (many hotel programs match automatically) while many airlines have a ‘challenge’ period where they offer elite status for a specific period provided you fly enough with them.  Meet their criteria and you will earn elite status for the following year.