Jan 23 Update: up to 50% off Starwood stays in Hawaii/French Polynesia, 75% Bonus Aeroplan miles on select AC routes, 17 other bonuses

Today proves to be a relatively quiet day in the world of travel rewards!

News, Tips & Tricks
No news to pass along today!

Travel Deals
Starwood Hotels is offering up to 50% off Ocean View and other select premium rooms in Hawaii and French Polynesia. Full Details and online booking Until Jun 30, 14

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn 75% Bonus Aeroplan miles when you fly Air Canada or Air Canada Express on select routes in Canada. More.... Register and book by Feb 17 for travel until Apr 30, 14

Air Jamaica 7th Heaven Rewards
- Triple 7th Heaven Miles on Hertz rentals of 1 or more days in the U.S. or Canada. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Asiana Club
- Double Club Miles for stays of two nights and more that are booked at least 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Delta SkyMiles
- Fast Track to Gold Status + 50,000 Bonus SkyMiles when you book one BusinessElite® ticket and fly within 60 days of registration. More... Until Mar 31, 14 Targeted offer - May Not Work for everyone

Gulf Air Falconflyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Falconflyer Miles for stays at the Karbala Rayhaan by Rotana. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Double Falconflyer Mile and save up to 33% when you rent from Hertz during their Global Sale for three days or longer in participating countries Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 14

Hilton HHonors
-  Earn up to 9,000  HHonors points for Thursday to Sunday stays at any participating hotel or resort in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. More...  Feb 1 - Apr  30, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the “Le Club Exclusivity” offer at participating Sofitel hotels in United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy. More... Until Feb 28, 14
- 400 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays in a Suite at participating Novotel Hotels in France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Luxembourg, Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia . More... Book by Feb 28 for stays until Mar 31, 14
- 400 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the “MGallery Gourmet Morning ” offer at participating MGallery hotels in Germany, France, Italy, UK, Netherlands, Swizterland, Hungary and Austria . More... Book by Feb 9 for stays until Mar 30, 14
- 400 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 2 nights or more at participating Pullman hotels in Europe. More... Book by Feb 21 for stays until Mar 16, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays of 3 nights or more at participating Sofitel hotels in Canada or the U.S. More... Book by Mar 31 for stays Feb 1 - Apr 30, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Accor Hotels in France. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- 150 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays on the Ready for Business offer at participating Mercure Hotels in Sweden,The Netherlands and in France. More... Until Mar 14, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Accor Hotels in Grenoble. More... Until May 11, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at the Novotel Roma La Rustica. More... Book by Jan 28 for stays until Mar 31, 14
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at the Ibis Edinburgh Centre South Bridge. More... Book by Feb 17 for stays until May 5, 14

United MileagePlus
- 1,000 Bonus MileagePlus miles when you join MileagePlus Dining for free and create an online profile then Spend $30 or more on a single dine at a participating restaurant, bar or club within 30 days and complete a review within 30 days of dining. More... Until Dec 31, 14

Air Canada: 75% Bonus Aeroplan Miles on select Air Canada routes in Canada

This one just came across our desk! As has been the norm with Air Canada flight promos of late existing bookings made before today do not count towards this promotion.

Here is the offer as it will appear on RC's Aeroplan Bonus Miles page tomorrow:

Earn 75% Bonus Aeroplan miles when you fly Air Canada or Air Canada Express on select routes in Canada. Register online. Register and book by February 17 and travel by April 30, 2014. Only valid on new bookings made between January 22, 2014 and February 17, 2014.

 Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our Aeroplan Bonus Miles  page for dozens of other mileage bonuses!

Hilton Weekend Rewards: Up to 9,000 HHonors points for Thu-Sun stays at participating locations Worldwide

Hilton has released the details of their next systemwide (but not really) promotion. We say not really because once again there is a huge list of properties that are not participating! Most are in the U.S. which kind of defeats part of the marketing around this promotion of Hilton HHonors being the official team partner of Team USA for the upcoming Sochi Olympics. Overall the offer is average if you have weekend stays planned and are a Hilton regular. If your stays are 2 nights or longer the promotion has a bit more value but you may be better off with IHG's Big Win, Starwood's Bring on the Nights or Hyatt's Endless Possibilities.

Here is the offer as it will appear on RC's HHonors Bonus Points page tomorrow:

Weekend Rewards: Earn up to 9,000  HHonors points for Thursday to Sunday stays at any participating hotel or resort in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. Bonuses as follows:
- Earn 1,000 Bonus Points for every night you stay
- Earn An additional 5,000 Bonus Points for every weekend stay of two nights or more
 Full Details, Online Registration and Booking  (Registration is required)  Feb 1 - Apr  30, 14

For a list of hotels that are not participating please click here.

Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our HHonors Bonus Points  page for dozens of other stay,  car rental and airline mileage bonuses!

Jan 22 Update: 500 Aeroplan Miles per night at Marriott's in Canada, Starwood Resort offer, Etihad Discounted Award Tickets

Can't believe we are already half way through the week! Here's what is happening this Wednesday:

News, Tips & Tricks
In case you missed it yesterday we are running a small contest right here on the blog! Entries are accepted until 2pm EST tomorrow. Find out more here.

If you have any Best Western stays coming up in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany or Luxemburg you will now be able to use your Best Western Rewards points to pay for hotel extras such as dining and spa services. It will cost you 1,350 points for every 5 EUR credit towards your hotel bill extras. Full details

 

Etihad launched an award flight sale offering up to a 25% Guest Miles discount on select routes. Unfortunately Toronto is not included but there are several U.S. gateways such as New York included. You could always redeem 9,000 Avios for Toronto to New York to then redeem your Guest Miles for the New York-Abu Dhabi flight! See the bonus offer section below for more details

Travel Deals
Starwood Hotels is offering up to 20% off and a resort credit up to $100 when paying with your MasterCard® at destinations throughout North and Latin America. In Canada locations in Vancouver, Victoria, Whistler and Mont Tremblant are included. Full Details and online booking Valid for stays until Dec 31, 14

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn 50,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum Card after you spend $1,000 in your first three months of Card membership. 35,000 miles of your welcome bonus can be eligible towards reaching DistinctionTM status in the Aeroplan Program. More... Until Apr 1, 14
- 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles per night for stays at any one of 59 participating Marriott Hotels in Canada. Maximum bonus of 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles per stay. More... Jan 27 - Mar 31, 14

airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles when you rent a premium fleet car (ie BMW or Mercedes-Benz) in the USA at locations such as Miami, Orlando, Seattle and more. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Best Western Rewards
- Triple Rewards Points for stays at select Best Western locations in Austria or the Czech Republic. More... Dates vary by property - Until Dec 31, 2014
- Double Rewards Points for stays at select Best Western locations in Austria,Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia or Slovenia. More... Dates vary by property - Until Dec 31, 2014
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN PLUS Hotel Isidore - Rennes BEST WESTERN PREMIER Opera Faubourg - Paris BEST WESTERN Hotel Les Bains de Perros-Guirec - Perros-Guirec More... Until Mar 31, 14

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles for stays at select Anantara Hotels in the Middle East and Asia. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Etihad Guest
- Up to 25% Guest Miles Discount on select award ticket redemptions to/from Abu Dhabi. More... Book by Feb 6 for travel until Mar 31, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- 5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for your next IHG stay Worldwide. Stay must be made within 60 or 90 days of registering. More... Until ? Valid for IHG Rewards Club Elite Members only
- 3,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for your next IHG stay Worldwide. Stay must be made within 60 or 90 days of registering. More... Until ?
- 1,500 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for your next IHG stay Worldwide. Stay must be made within 60 or 90 days of registering. More...Until ?
- 75% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy points online. More... Until Jan 31, 14 Targeted offer - may not work for everyone.

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- 1,000 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles for stays at The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto. More... Feb 7 - May 31, 14

JetBlue TrueBlue (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 5,000 Bonus TrueBlue Points with the purchase of 3 roundtrip flights in 2014 (High Five Bonus). More... Until Dec 31, 14
- 7,000 Bonus TrueBlue Points with the purchase of 7 roundtrip flights in 2014 (Lucky 7 Bonus). More... Until Dec 31, 14

TAP Portugal Victoria
- 100 Victoria Miles per day on Avis rentals of 2 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Reader Giveaway: Air Canada OnBoard Cafe redemption codes

Rewards Canada reader Leo G. has graciously donated two Air Canada OnBoard Cafe redemption codes for us to giveaway! Since we have two codes we'll give them away in two separate ways (you can enter both and have the chance to win both!) as follows:

Entry #1:
Comment right here on this blog post with your favourite feature or page on Rewards Canada. It can be anything we do, comparison charts, twitter feed, blog, you name it, just tell us what your favourite is!

Entry #2:
Follow us on Twitter and tweet to us @RewardsCanada what you favourite feature of our site is just like in Entry #1 above. Be sure to include the hashtag #rcfave. To make it easier you can copy, paste and complete the following in twitter:
My favourite part of @rewardscanada is [INSERT FAVOURITE PART HERE] #rcfave

Entries will be accepted until 2pm EST on Thursday January 23rd. Limit 1 entry per person per contest portion (ie 1 entry on the blog and 1 entry on Twitter) Winners will be chosen by random draw

Please note that these codes are only good until June 30th with the following rules:
Applicable for travel on flights within North America operated by Air Canada and Air Canada Express over 90 minutes. Each promotion code is valid for a one-time use and for a maximum of six passengers per reservation. Each passenger will be eligible for one meal item and one snack item, up to CAD$9 in value. To apply, all the passengers must be booked on the same reservation and all travel must be booked and completed by June 30, 2014. Your entitlement to complimentary OnBoard Café will automatically appear on your boarding pass.

Jan 21 Update: Reader tip to bypass points ban on prescriptions, CBC National piece on Award Ticket Fuel Surcharges, 15 new bonuses

Tuesday January 21st brings us the following:

News, Tips & Tricks
A great tip was passed along to us by one of readers if you happen to be in one of the provinces that do not allow the collection of loyalty points on prescription drugs, most recently of which is British Columbia. Although this is not a travel reward points option it is an option if you shop at Shoppers Drug Mart / Pharmprix. Apparently they award Optimum points when purchasing their own branded gift cards and then you can use the gift card when paying for prescriptions.  By then you've already captured your points. Thanks to Simon R. for passing this tip along to us!

Rewards Canada and one of our readers were featured in a CBC National piece on Fuel Surcharges last night. You can check out the video here or below and also be sure to read about our 5 Tips to Avoide or Mitigate Fuel Surcharges on Award Tickets





Travel Deals
Emirates has launched a seat sale out of Toronto with fares as low as $1,122 all in to Dubai and $1,181 to Mumbai. Business Class comes in under $5,000 for those same routes and other routes are available. Tickets must be booked by Feb 3 for travel Mar 1 - May 31. Book online here.



Bonus Offers
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 25% Bonus Asia Miles when you convert Shangri-La GC Award Points to Asia Miles.More... Until Feb 28, 14

Delta SkyMiles
- Fast Track to Platinum Status + 100,000 Bonus SkyMiles when you book one BusinessElite® ticket and fly within 60 days of registration. More... Until Mar 31, 14 Targeted offer - May Not Work for everyone

Etihad Guest
- Double Guest Miles on all eligible flights with Etihad Regional in Europe. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Hilton HHonors
- 1,000 Bonus HHonors Points per night for stays at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Bangalore.  More... Until May 31, 14

Marriott Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay when you stay any night Friday--Sunday at Renaissance Brussels Hotel, Courtyard Brussels, or the Brussels Marriott Hotel. More... Until Feb 21, 14
- 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at anyone of 11 participating Marriott Hotels in France. More... Book between Feb 17 and Apr 16 for stays Feb 22 - May 4, 14
- 1,500 Bonus Rewards Points per stay when you stay two weekend nights or more Thursday - Sunday at anyone of 5 participating Marriott locations in Chicago. More... Until Feb 16, 14
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points per stay when staying two nights or more Thursday-Sunday at participating hotels in New Jersey, New York or Pennsylvania. More... Until Feb 18, 14
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points per stay including any night Friday through Sunday at the Residence Inn Hazleton More... Until Feb 16, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards Points per night at the TownePlace Suites Williamsport. More... Until Feb 17, 14

Miles & More
- Earn up to Silver Status and additional bonuses when you fly 30 scheduled flights taken with participating Miles & More airline partners: Adria Airways, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines Group, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Germanwings, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Luxair or SWISS. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Miles & More Miles for stays at Best Western hotels in Germany and Luxembourg. More... Until Mar 31, 14

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points when you dine at MARKET by Jean-Georges at Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Triple GC Award Points when you dine at Shang Palace at the Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok. More... Jan 23 - Mar 31, 14

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 50% Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles or 25% Miles&Smiles Discount on select Turkish Airlines International Routes. More... Feb 1 - 28, 14

Double GC Award Points for dining at MARKET by Jean-Georges Vancouver

Today we added this bonus offer to our Shangri-La Golden Circle page but thought the offer is worthy of its own post on the Rewards Canada blog. The beauty of the offer is that you don't actually have to stay at the Shangri-La Vancouver to take advantage of it, you simply have to dine at MARKET by Jean-Georges. It was only as of the 1st of this year that Shangri-La Golden Circle started awarding points for dining at this YVR restaurant and in what looks to be a way to promote the new point earning opportunity they are offering double the points when you dine at MARKET by Jean-Georges until March 31st.  If you have followed Rewards Canada for at least a few months you should have upward of 1,200 GC Award points in your account from the free points offer tied into Golden Circle's 3rd anniversary contest late last fall. Now if you are in the YVR area you can earn more points if you choose to dine at MARKET. Or you can 1,000 of those points to redeem for USD100 voucher to use towards your dine as well.

Here is the offer as it appeared on our Golden Circle Bonus Points page today:

Double GC Award Points when you dine at MARKET by Jean-Georges at Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver. More... Until Mar 31, 14


Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our Golden Circle Bonus Points page for dozens of other bonuses!

Turkish Airlines: 50% Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles between Toronto and Istanbul (or 25% discount on award tickets)

Once again Turkish Airlines is offering up bonus miles or discounted award tickets on a whole bunch of their routes and one that we have not seen for quite some time is Toronto - Istanbul. Well the good news is that for February our beloved center of the universe, YYZ, ;-) is included for the February version of TK's offer! The offer is for 50% bonus miles on eligible paid tickets or a 25% discount on Miles&Smiles award tickets which means it is only 37,500 Miles&Smiles miles for an economy class redemption. Unfortunately for us Canucks there is no easy way to earn Miles&Smiles miles (ie. Credit Card spend) outside of actual travel so the redemption offer is really only a good offer for those of you who are Miles&Smiles earners via travel!

Here is the offer as it appeared on our Miles&Smiles Bonus Miles page today:

50% Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles or 25% Miles&Smiles Discount on  Turkish Airlines flights between Toronto and  Istanbul. Full details. Feb 1 - 28, 14


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

Jan 20 Update: Major WestJet expansion for Summer 2014, Emirates seat sale YYZ-DXB for $1122, 27 new bonus offers

Welcome to another of travel rewards and more on Rewards Canada!

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet released their 2014 summer schedule which sees the airline is adding five new routes, increasing frequency on 20 existing routes across the network, while five seasonal routes move to year-round service. Inlcuded are WestJet Encore's first foray into to the East with flights between Toronto and Thunder bay, Thunder Bay and Winnpeg. It also sees the Calgary-Newark flight being replaced with Calgary-New York JFK where WestJet partners American Airlines and Delta have a greater presence. Full details can be found here.

Petro Points is offering a 1,000 point bonus when you redeem 12,000 points in-store for a fuel savings reward card by Jan 28.

Europe Airpost a small French charter carrier has announced a new weekly service from Halifax to Glasgow and Paris for the summer season. Of course there are no frequent flyer options for this airline but you can use a travel points credit card like the American Express Gold Rewards Card, TD First Class Visa Infinite, BMO World Elite or others for flights on this airline. A quick check of prices has some round trip flights coming in under $900 all in between Halifax and Paris. (Source Airlineroute.net)
Planned schedule as follows:
5O901 CDG1300 – 1340GLA1430 – 1700YHZ 73W 4
5O902 YHZ1000 – 2000GLA2050 – 2330CDG 73W 5

Travel Deals
Emirates has launched a seat sale out of Toronto with fares as low as $1,122 all in to Dubai and $1,181 to Mumbai. Business Class comes in under $5,000 for those same routes and other routes are available. Tickets must be booked by Feb 3 for travel Mar 1 - May 31. Book online here. 

Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Double Mileage Plan Miles on weekend rentals of 2 or more days, or rentals of 5 or more days, at a participating airport or off airport location in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico. More... Until Apr 30, 14

ANA All Nippon Mileage Club
- Double Mileage Club Miles for stays of two nights and more that are booked at least 20 days in advance at participating World Hotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 14

Best Western Rewards
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards points when you book the "Rewards - 1,000 bonus points per night" rate for stays at over 40 Best Western Hotels in the Netherlands. More... Until ?

China Eastern Eastern Miles
- Double Eastern Miles Points for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Regal Hotels in China. More... Feb 1 - Apr 30, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- 3,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for your next IHG stay Worldwide. Stay must be made within 60 or 90 days of registering. More... Until ? Valid for NEW IHG Rewards Club Members only
- 1,500 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for your next IHG stay Worldwide. Stay must be made within 60 or 90 days of registering. More... Until ? Valid for NEW IHG Rewards Club Members only
- 5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for your next IHG stay Worldwide. Stay must be made within 60 or 90 days of registering. More... Until ? Valid for IHG Rewards Club Elite Members only
- Triple IHG Rewards Club Points on qualifying rentals of 2 days or more, at participating Avis locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- Quadruple IHG Rewards Club Points on rentals of 2 or more consecutive days at participating locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- 1,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for Hertz rentals in US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for Japan Airlines flights between Hanoi, Jakarta or Manila and Tokyo. More... Valid for JMB Members in Asia/Oceania Region only Until Apr 30, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Triple QMiles for stays at Atlantis Paradse Island. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Sep 30, 14
- Triple QMiles for stays at Atlantis The Palm Dubai. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Sep 30, 14
- Triple QMiles for stays at any hotel or resort in Europe, Middle East and Africa within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Double QMiles for stays at participating Marco Polo Hotels Worldwide for two consecutive nights or more on the “Marco Polo Stay and More” offer. More... Until Feb 28, 14
- 500 Bonus QMiles for stays at participating Courtyard by Marriott® hotels in the Middle East & Africa region. More... Until Feb 15, 14
- Triple QMiles for stays at the Mazagan Beach Resort. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Sep 30, 14
- Double QMiles for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Triple QMiles for stays at participating One & Only Resorts Worldwide. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until Sep 30, 14
- Double QMiles for stays at the Karbala Rayhaan by Rotana. More... Until Mar 31, 14
- Triple QMiles when staying at least three consecutive nights or Double Miles for two consecutive nights at any Shangri-La Hotel and Resorts, Traders Hotel or Kerry Hotel at the Best Available Rate. More... Until Feb 28, 14
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- Triple QMiles when staying at least three consecutive nights or Double Miles for two consecutive nights at any Shangri-La Hotel and Resorts, Traders Hotel or Kerry Hotel at the Best Available Rate. More... Until Feb 28, 14
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- Double QMiles on Budget rentals in Turkey, Canada, United States, Oman, Lebanon, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Kuwait, Qatar and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. More... Until Feb 28, 14
- Double QMiles and save up to 33% when you rent from Hertz during their Global Sale for three days or longer in participating countries Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 14

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 40% Bonus Elevate Points when you transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Virgin America Elevate points. More... Until Jan 31, 14

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege loses a key benefit - HHonors Diamond status removed

Back on January 2nd we posted the details of the new TD Aeroplan cards that have been front and center in the news since last summer. The high end premium version called the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege was noted as being a great card with some drawbacks such as a high annual fee and a high income requirement. One of the key benefits we noted (that was somewhat hidden on TD's website) was a benefit extended from being an "Infinite Privilege" card and that was instant Diamond Elite status with Hilton HHonors. In fact we know of quite a few people who simply applied for the card for this benefit alone and unfortunately it has been pulled from the Infinite Privilege branding! Ultimately this is not TD's doing but Visa in general as all Infinite Privilege cards would be entitled to the benefits even though TD's is the first and only one of its kind in Canada.

We here at Rewards Canada heard inklings of this news last week but even up until Monday of this week the Visa Infinite Privilege website still listed the HHonors Diamond Status as a benefit. However an email from one of our loyal followers this morning confirmed the removal of the Diamond status benefit with a letter from Visa:

Since our reader got the card primarily for this benefit he called up TD and this is what transpired:

"I then called TD and had a spirited debate with a TD bank telephone agent who escalated the call to her manager who had to be brought up to date by me that Hilton has indeed pulled out of the VISA PRIVILEGES portion offered on this Premium $399 card. Feeling misled and basically considering this change a breach of contract, I threatened to close my TD Visa Infinite Privilege card basically on the same day I activated it. Escalating to Hilton Diamond status is what I consider possibly the best feature of this card, but now with it being dropped, they offered to refund my card fee. .... They did concede that negotiations are supposedly underway to add another global hotel chain to the VISA INFINITE PRIVILEGES offered on this product."  (Bolding is Rewards Canada's)

This is the first we have heard of someone having the fee waived on the TD Visa Infinite Privilege!

Granted its not a waiver on signing up for the card as some people have been trying to get but have been unsuccessful. If you applied for this card with the Hilton Diamond status as one of your decision factors you should definitely be calling TD and asking for the same treatment! We know benefits of cards come and go but in many cases cardholders are given ample notice (ie. 30 days) but in this case it has been less than two weeks and the benefit was pulled without any notice at all!

We can also let you know that the Visa Infinite page has now been updated as it no longer lists the Diamond status.