Apr 10 Update: Hilton HHonors 2014 Category Changes (they're not bad!), Alaska raises redemption rates for travel on Delta, 14 new bonuses

Hilton HHonors announces their 2014 category changes and the Alaska Airlines-Delta war continues

News, Tips & Tricks
We've updated our "Which Credit Card earns the most Aeroplan Miles" Infographic and feature for 2014. Check it out!

Hilton HHonors released their hotel category changes for 2014 and the changes are very mild when you compare them to their drastic devaluation last year! A total of 14 hotels are moving down in their redemption category (some even drop 2 categories!) while only 25 are moving up by one or two categories. These hotels account for less than 1% of the Hilton portfolio and none of them are in Canada. The changes take place on April 15 but you can see them all on Hilton's site here.

Alaska Airlines will be raising the amount of miles required for Mileage Plan award flights on Delta Airlines. The new amounts take effect on May 6. The majority of redemption options from domestic to international travel are going up. This is just the latest development in the big fight going on for Seattle between these two airlines. Details can be found here. Are there any guesses as to when their

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Double Aeroplan Miles and a complimentary upgrade for stays of 2+ nights at participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts locations in Canada & the U.S. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Earn 12,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you sign up for any Primus Value Bundle. More... Until May 31, 14

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Double Mileage Plan Miles when you fly between Seattle and Fairbanks or Juneau. More... Jun 1 - Sep 1, 14
- Double Mileage Plan Miles when you fly between Seattle and Anchorage, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, or Vancouver. More... Jun 1 - Dec 31, 14

Czech Airlines OK Plus
- Double OK Plus Miles for flights between Prague and Moscow. More... Register and book by Jul 31 for travel until Aug 31, 14

Delta SkyMiles
- Double SkyMiles on every eligible stay at a Country Inns & Suites hotel in the U.S. More... Until May 31, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- 5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points including breakfast at 22 participating InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts across Europe. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until May 31, 14

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn up to Triple JetPrivilege Miles when you stay at properties within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio Worldwide. More...  Until Jun 30, 14

S7 Airlines Priority (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 1,000 Bonus Priority Miles for first S7 Airlines flight after you register between Tomsk and Moscow. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- 500 Bonus Priority Miles for first S7 Airlines flight after you register between St. Petersburg and Moscow. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Priority Miles for your first S7 Airlines flight and double miles for every third flight between Novy Urengoy and Moscow. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- 2,000 Bonus Priority Miles for every two S7 Airlines flights between Ulan Ude and Moscow. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Earn 1 Bonus Elite Status Segment for every two S7 Airlines flights between Kazan, St. Petersburg and Moscow. More... Until Jul 31, 14

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 3,000 Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles on your very first booking (ie you cannot have booked with Rocketmiles before)  More... Book by May 31 for stays until Sep 30, 14

Which Credit Card Earns the Most Aeroplan Miles? The 2014 Update!

Please read the latest updated version of this article here

Apr 9 Update: Air Canada to add Wi-Fi to entire N. American fleet, Best Western $50 Travel Card after 2 stays, Fairmont Double Miles returns

After a busy day yesterday today is bit quieter with the best news being Air Canada's announcement of adding in-flight Wi Fi

News, Tips & Tricks
For several years now Air Canada has been 'testing' inflight wifi with Gogo on two of their A319s flying between YYZ/YUL and LAX. Today they announced that inflight Wi-Fi will be expanded to their North American fleet of aircraft and it will be done soon. More than likely a response to WestJet's announcement of providing inflight Wi-Fi, Air Canada saw the need to bring this feature up to full speed sooner than their rival. Here is an excerpt from today' AC press release:

Air Canada presently has two Wi-Fi-equipped Airbus 319 aircraft operating in Canada and the U.S. and, subject to a final agreement with Gogo, plans to begin outfitting its remaining Airbus A319, A320 and A321 and Embraer 190 fleet types, as well as its Air Canada Express CRJ-705 and Embraer 175 aircraft, with Air-To-Ground Wi-Fi connectivity. The installations are to begin in May with the goal of equipping 29 aircraft in 2014 and a targeted completion date of December 2015 for the designated 130 narrow-body aircraft. The system offers peak connection speeds comparable to mobile broadband services available on the ground. Current regulations prohibit the use of cellular phones for voice communication. Pricing will be competitive with other in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity offerings. 

In the bonus offers section check out the latest systemwide stay offer from Best Western Rewards. After a few months of offering bonus points as their systemwide promotion, Best Western Rewards has moved back to their trusted $50 travel card promotion. It consists of the usual requirement of completing two separate stays and as is the dream of any loyalty marketer, the $50 travel card must be used by September 1st. Not a huge time frame to use it hence it's popularity with BW as they probably see a lot of breakage with these types of offers! See the offer details via the link below.

Also making a continuing return is Fairmont's Double Airline Miles offer for stays at their hotels Worldwide, only difference this time is a name change for the promo. Gone is the" Everyone's an Original" moniker and in is "Fairmont Moments" See the offer details via the link below.

Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participiating Preferred Hotel Group hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Best Western Rewards
- Receive a $50 Best Western Travel Card when you complete 2 separate stays at Best Western Hotels Worldwide. More... Until May 18, 14

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Asia Miles on hotel bookings made and confirmed via Ctrip during the promotion period. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Triple Asia Miles plus a 10% discount whenyou purchase a Plaza Premium 5-visit gift card online. More... Until May 31, 14

Ethiopian Airlines Sheba Miles
- Double Sheba Miles on Ethiopian flights between Addis Ababa and Abuja. More.... Until Jun 14, 14

Fairmont President's Club
- Double Airline Miles when you stay on the Fairmont Moments Summer Offer at participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 14

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- 25% Royal Orchid Miles Discount when redeeming roundtrip international or domestic Award travel on THAI in Economy Class to any THAI destination. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles when staying at Dusit International hotels and resorts on the Getaway by Dusit rate. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating First Hotels, Pan Pacific and Parkroyal Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plu Miles when you stay at any participating IHG hotel in Australasia, Southeast & Southwest Asia, Japan & Korea, and the Middle East & Africa. More... May 1 - Jul 31, 14
- Earn up to Truple Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Triple Royal Orchid Plus miles when you stay in a Towers room at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers Bangkok. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Triple Royal Orchid Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at over 160 participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus and a 50% discount when you rent any car from any Budget location in Thailand for 3 or more days. More... Until Jun 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days at participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Quadruple Royal Orchid Plus Miles and a 55% discount when you rent from Hertz in Thailand for 3 or more days. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Apr 8 Update: AA, US Airways, IHG program changes, KLM extends their biz class sale, 4x Miles & More miles on Europcar rentals

American & US Airways program devaluations dominate the day's news but IHG provides a shining light!

News, Tips & Tricks
No need to rehash the major news from today in the update, rather check out our posts here on the good and bad news that came out today:

US Airways devalues Canada to North Asia award flight redemption rate and adds second high level award tier

American AAdvantage Changes: AAnytime Awards Move to Three Tiers, oneworld Explorer Awards and International Gateway Stopover gone

IHG Rewards Club: Reward Night Pricing Changes...For the Better

Travel Deals
KLM has extended their Spring and Summer business class on flights from Canada to Europe and beyond. Book by Apr 14 for travel May 1 - Aug 31. Book online at klm.com

Bonus Offers
Air New Zealand Airpoints
- Earn up to Triple Airpoints Dollars when you stay at properties within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 14

airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles on Hertz weekend rentals of 3 or more days in Germany. More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals between Apr 30 and Jun 21, 14

China Southern Sky Pearl
- Up to a 60% Sky Pearl Kilometers Discount when you redeem for Sky Pearl award tickets for travel on China Southern. More... Until Jun 21, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 1,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points on qualifying rentals of 3 days or more at participating Avis locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. More... Until Dec 31, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club points for stays at select IHG Hotels in the Middle East and Africa. More... Until Jun 30, 14

Miles & More
- Quadruple Miles & More Miles on all Europcar rentals Worldwide. More... Until May 31, 14

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 500 Bonus Velocity Points when you book a stay with Agoda between 7 and 21 April and stay between 7 April and 30 May 2014. More...  Book by Apr 21, 14

US Airways devalues Canada to North Asia award flight redemption rate and adds second high level award tier

The other bad news to bring you today comes from US Airways.

To bring itself inline with American AAdvantage's rate for travel to North Asia from North America, US Airways has, without advance notice, increased the amount of miles required for business class redemptions. This change will take affect on June 1st and sees the rate increase by 20,000 miles from 90,000 to 110,000. While 110,000 is still not a bad redemption value the lack of notice is disheartening and we find it kind of odd that they only increase the business class amount..... wait... no we don't. That redemption was most likely the most popular one that people took advantage of with the consistent US Airways 100% bonus on buying Dividend Miles as you could buy 50,000 get 50,000 as a bonus and have that business class to Asia with miles to spare and having spent under $2,000. What we really do find odd is that haven't touched first class, you can get a first class award on the same North Asia route for only 10,000 more miles.....

They have also added one higher high level award tier to put themselves inline with the same changes from American AAdvantage todday. (think Aeroplan's Market Fare Awards):

American AAdvantage Changes: AAnytime Awards Move to Three Tiers, oneworld Explorer Awards and International Gateway Stopover gone

Earlier in the day we posted the good news from IHG and said most of the news today was. Here is the first of the bad news.

Without advance notice, although now emails are starting to trickle out, American AAdvantage has made some changes to their award charts and other redemption options. The concerning changes are those to the award charts which the email dances around by simply stating you can redeem less miles for the lowest level AAnytime Award but fails to mention the addition of new AAnytime Award levels that will cost more miles. The AAdvantage Award chart is now 5 levels deep Mile Saver 1 and 2, which have not changed and that is good news as most of us redeem at those levels while AAnytime Awards have 3 of their own levels with the third being reminiscent of Aeroplan's Market Fare awards as their is no set redemption amount but rather the amount will fluctuate dependent on how full a flight is and/or how high revenue tickets are pricing out at.

Here is a snippet of the new AAdvantage award chart that takes affect on June 1st:

Here is an example for Canadians who redeem AAnytime award flights to Europe between the old and new rates:

Economy 60,000 (old)  vs. 45,000 to 65,000+ (new)
Business 100,000 (old)  vs. 110,000 to 135,000+ (new)
First 125,000 (old) vs. 140,000 to 170,000+  (new)
miles required are one way.  + symbol represents the new AAnytime level 3 as we don't know what those rates will be.

The complete new American AAdvantage Award chart can be viewed here. These changes only affect award travel on American Airlines, partner travel (ie oneworld) remain at saver levels.

Another change from American is the elimination of their distance based oneworld explorer awards. These were complicated to book but provided a great value if you took advantage of them.

The International Gateway stopover also appears to be gone, this is the feature where you could do a  stopover at the North America city where your International flight was departing from.

In general the changes aren't huge and given the fact the American AAdvantage has not touched their partner awards or their mile saver awards I believe most of us will not be affected by these changes. The biggest gripe that we have along with pretty much everyone else was the lack of advance notice for some of these changes.

IHG Rewards Club: Reward Night Pricing Changes...For the Better

On what is going to be a good news bad news day (mostly bad) we thought we'd bring you the good news first!

We received an email from IHG this morning stating there will be changes coming to some IHG Rewards Club Reward Night redemption rates and unlike most of the changes happening these are actually decreases!

Here is the email:

More than 100 IHG hotels will require 5,000 less IHG Rewards Club points per Reward Night. We will not be making any increases to our Reward Night pricing during 2014.

These changes to our Reward Night catalog will be effective on April 15 

Below are some highlights of the more than 100 properties whose Reward Nights will be decreasing by 5,000 points.

InterContinental Hotel Shanghai-Puxi, China - 35,000 to 30,000 IHG Rewards Club points
Crowne Plaza Geneva, Switzerland - 35,000 to 30,000 IHG Rewards Club points
Hotel Indigo Fort Myers Downtown River District, Florida, U.S. -  30,000 to 25,000 IHG Rewards Club points
Holiday Inn Resort PhuketMai Khao Beach Resort, Phuket, Thailand - 20,000 to 15,000 IHG Rewards Club points
Holiday Inn Ciudad De Mexico- Trade Center, Mexico - 15,000 to 10,000 IHG Rewards Club points
Holiday Inn Express Frankfurt-Messe, Germany -  25,000 to 20,000 IHG Rewards Club points
Staybridge Suites - San Antonio-Stone Oak, Texas, U.S. - 20,000 to 15,000 IHG Rewards Club points
Candlewood Suites Virginia Beach-Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. -  25,000 to 20,000 IHG Rewards Club points

It is nice for once to announce that the only changes are decreases and not a devaluation!

Hilton Hot Deals: Stays in the Asia Pacific region from as low as US$54

Another big sale from the folks at Hilton! This is a really good promotion if you are planning any upcoming stays in the Asia Pacific region including Australia & New Zealand 

With low rates, there’s no better time to pack your bags for your favorite destination in Asia Pacific and stay at any property within the Hilton portfolio. Whether it’s a tropical paradise or an extraordinary getaway like no other, we give you more reasons to book that dream holiday of yours now. Book online at hiltonhotdeals.com. Book by June 30 for stays until Dec 31, 14

 

Apr 7 Update: 500 Free Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles, Aeroplan & Birks part ways, SAS increases point earning on Avis rentals

Free miles from Virgin Atlantic, US Airways share miles bonus and more set the tone for this week!

News, Tips & Tricks
SAS EuroBonus will now award a standard 1,000 points per Avis rental instead of 500 when you book online at http://www.avisworld.com/eurobonus. Rentals made at an Avis desk or via phone will only earn 500 points. If you do a lot of one day rentals this type of earning structure can become very lucrative.

Another SAS news piece is that right now for stays at Scandic Hotels you can earn both SAS EuroBonus points and Scandic Friends points on all your stays. This offer runs until Jun 30. Full details

If you missed it earlier the amazing up to 100% Bonus on sharing US Airways Dividend Miles is back for this week only! See our post here.

In the bonus offers section see the free miles from Virgin Atlantic Flying Club when you download their ShopsAways Milesfinder tool bar. I did this offer last year when it was only 250 miles and those miles posted within a few days.

The partnership between Aeroplan and Birks didn't last too long (a year and a half at most I believe). As of April 1st Birks is no longer an Aeroplan partner. See the details here.


Bonus Offers
Air Astana Nomad Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Nomad Club points for stays at Mediterranean or Aegean Coasts Rixos Hotels More...  Until Jun 1, 14

Best Western Rewards
- Double Rewards Points for stays at the Best Western Antea Palace Hotel & Spa. More... Until Apr 30, 14
- 500 Bonus Rewards Points for stays in Turkey that are booked online at www.bestwestern.com.tr More... Ongoing
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards points for stays on the Park, Sleep and Fly package at BEST WESTERN Amsterdam Airport Hotel More... Until ?
- 1,000 Bonus Rewards points for stays at the BEST WESTERN Hotel Restaurant Stadskanaal. More... Until ?

British Airways Executive Club
- Double Avios on all TAM flights Worldwide when flown in an eligible booking class.More... May 1 - 31, 14

Icelandair Saga Club
- Double Saga Club Award Points on Sixt rentals of 3 or more days in Finland. More... Until Apr 30, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- 400 Bonus Le Club accorhotels points when you join Le Club accorhotels and complete your first stay. More... Join by Apr 30 for stays until Jun 30, 14
- 500 Bonus Le Club accorhotels points on your next stay at any participating Accor Hotel Worldwide made within 3 months of registering. More... Until Dec 31, 14 Targeted Offer - may not work for everyone

South African Airways Voyager
- 500 Bonus Voyager Miles when you book a cruise with Cruises International. More... Until Apr 30, 14

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Earn up to Triple FlySmiles Miles when you stay at properties within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio Worldwide. More...  Until Jun 30, 14

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 500 Bonus Flying Club Miles when you download the Download the ShopsAway toolbar. More... Until May 14, 14

US Airways: Up to 100% Bonus on shared miles (Apr 7 - 13 only)

Last seen in December the US Airways Dividend Miles bonus on sharing miles is back! This is the most lucrative buy miles offer out there but does have one stipulating requirement: you must have miles in your account for the bonus to work. Just like the offer in December this week's offer is tiered and the 100% bonus only kicks in when you transfer between 30,000 and 50,000 miles.

The tiered bonuses are as follows:

Share	Receive
10,000 - 19,000 Miles	50% Bonus Miles
20,000 - 29,000 Miles	75% Bonus Miles
30,000 - 50,000 Miles	100% Bonus Miles

Essentially what happens with this offer is that when you transfer points to a friend or family members account they will receive the bonus miles. Transfer 50,000 points they get a total of 100,000 miles and there is nothing stopping them from transferring 50,000 back to you so you end up with your original 50,000 back plus 50,000 bonus miles. The cost is 1 cent per mile + 7.5% tax + $30 processing fee which means at the 50,000 mile level it costs $567.50 or about 1.13 cents per mile. Transfer back for another $567.50 and for that $1135.00 you spent you now have enough miles for a business class ticket to North Asia. Have fun trying to buy that same ticket at that low of price! As you can see this is a great deal, if you have the miles in your account to transfer.

For complete details or to share miles visit here.