Rewards Canada: Your premier points, miles & credit cards resource

Monday, July 28, 2014

Rewards Canada Offer: 1,000 Bonus Miles/Points on all PointsHound bookings made in CAD

Similar to last weeks offer on our global site, FrequentFlyerBonuses.com, we are excited to announce that Rewards Canada has teamed up with PointsHound.com for a 5 day Bonus Offer. Keep on reading for the details!

For over two years we have been providing coverage of PointsHound right here on Rewards Canada so our seasoned followers should know this site well. However for those of you who have not heard of or perhaps have forgotten about them, PointsHound.com is a third party hotel booking site that awards loyalty program miles and points for booking hotels via their site. The U.S. based site was recently acquired by Points (the Canadian company based in Toronto responsible for most program's buy/share/gift miles offers) and since that time they have added more partners with Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles being the latest and heftily increased the amount of miles/points you can earn on hotel bookings.

One of those changes has been the addition of their 'Big Earn Rate' hotels which earn you the most possible miles/points on your booking. These hotels can be identified on the PointsHound site with a tag "Big Earn Rate" on the hotel's picture. A quick search of hotels in Toronto showed these Hot Deals hotels offering between 8 and 14 times the regular amount of miles that PointsHound would award for a stay. These 'Big Earn Rates" are only available for bookings made in USD or CAD. This is great news for those of us here in Canada, by choosing CAD you get to avoid foreign transaction fees on your credit card and get a very competitive exchange rate that matches the actual markets (see the XE.com screenshot below)

PointsHound.com had the Sheraton Toronto Airport at US$150 or C$161

Overall the site is a great way to earn more miles and points than you could regularly within an airline program for stays at many hotels or even from hotels that don't partner with an airline or hotel loyalty program. By booking a stay via PointsHound.com you are looking at a good way to boost the balance(s) in your favourite program that is a participating partner.

The RewardsCanada.ca Offer!
Now with this Bonus Offer with PointsHound.com when you purchase any hotel reservation on PointsHound in Canadian currency you’ll get a bonus of 1,000 points or miles — on top of your regular reservation earning! This offer is good not only for new members but also existing members who have already booked via PointsHound! Simply make your booking via our link by August 1st for any stay completed in 2014.

Friday, July 25, 2014

July 25 Update: Germanwings becomes Aeroplan's latest airline partner, 100 Bonus Air Miles at Safeway and more!

Our first and last daily update for this week since we were on vacation and always try to disconnect as much as possible while our family travels!

News, Tips & Tricks
Germanwings, the low cost German carrier owned by Lufthansa has become an Aeroplan earning partner. Aeroplan Miles earned on all eligible Germanwings flights are also Air Canada Altitude™ Qualifying Miles, and each eligible Germanwings flight will also earn one Altitude Qualifying Segment. Altitude Qualifying Miles and Altitude Qualifying Segments count towards Air Canada Altitude status. Full details

Hainan Airlines must be doing well with their Toronto flights as they usually cut back over the winter but that is not the case this year as they will maintain their 787flights between YYZ and Beijing on a daily basis. (Souce Airlineroute.net)

Air Miles members can earn 100 Bonus Reward Miles for purchases of $100 or more at Safeway until July 31st. Get the coupon here.

And a further round up of news we already posted to the blog today:

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn 100 Aeroplan Miles when you subscribe to Aeroplan Text Messages. More... Until Sep 15, 14

British Airways Executive Club
- Triple Avios for stays at any participating Small Luxury Hotels of the World hotel Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 14

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios on participating Iberia or Iberia Regional Air Nostrum flights Worldwide when you book your tickets online at Iberia. More... Book by Aug 31 for travel until Dec 31, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Double QMiles for stays at any participating Anantara Hotels in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. More... Book by Jul 31 for stays until Aug 31, 14
- Double QMiles for stays of 2 or more nights at any participating PARKROYAL Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 14

Southwest Rapid Rewards
- 40% Bonus Rapid Rewards Points when you buy Rapid Rewards points. More... Until Aug 1, 14

United MileagePlus
- 1,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you stay at select JW Marriott, Autograph Collection Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, Gaylord Hotels and Marriott Hotels in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. More... Book by Sep 5 for stays until Oct 31, 14

WestJet Rewards
- Earn double WestJet Dollars each time you fly round-trip to select destinations within Canada. More... Book by August 29 for travel until Oct 31, 14

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Air Miles opens up membership to 16 and 17 year olds

For years we here at Rewards Canada have always stated that there are two age categories under served by most loyalty programs, the young and the old. While we have seen some bonus offers and such being provided to young people and not much for those who are considered 'senior' it is always nice to see programs take note of the potential business these two groups can provide a loyalty program and that program's partners.

Air Miles seems to have seen the light and as of today the requirement of being 18 years old to join the program gets dropped to 16. Not a huge change considering one of their largest competitors, Aeroplan has its lower age level set at 2 (my kids pump up their balances with the Aeroplan Star Challenge), but definitely a good marketing move on Air Miles behalf as they acknowledge the spending power of older teens/young adults. The timing is perfect as the Air Miles cash option expands to place like Cineplex, Starbucks and Kernels and considering most 16 and 17 year old teens won't spend enough to earn a free flight, the option of saving money at these places should not be ignored. Even if you choose not to go with the Cash option the merchandise reward selection for those in this age group should also be appealing. So if you have a 16 or 17 year old in your household who wants loyalty independence you should get them to look at the Air Miles program as a cost saving measure. If you don't think your teen will do much shopping at Air Miles sponsors you will probably be better off getting an additional card for you own account and having them pad it for you!

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• Earn 1 reward mile for every $10 in Card purchases at AIR MILES®* Sponsors
• Earn 1 reward mile for every $10 in Card purchases at other eligible grocery stores, gas stations, and drugstores in Canada
• Plus, earn 1 reward mile for every $15 in Card purchases everywhere else
• Shop at participating AIR MILES Sponsors across Canada with your Card and show your AIR MILES®* Collector Card, and you can earn reward miles twice
• More than 1000 rewards to choose from! Redeem for a wide range of rewards - everything from movie tickets to electronics, travel and more
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IHG PointBreaks Preview: 167 Hotels (6 in Canada) bookable at the 5,000 Point level starting on Jul 28 for stays until Sep 30

100 Free Aeroplan Miles for subscribing to Aeroplan Text Messages

Now that we are back at work after a quick jaunt to the Palm Spring area it is time to play catch on all the news and offers that have been released since last Friday. One that you may have seen hit many of frequent flyer/points blogs or in your email if you are an Aeroplan member, is this one that we bring to you today for some Free Aeroplan miles. What type of miles are best? Free Miles of course!

Offer details
Earn 100 Aeroplan Miles when you subscribe to Aeroplan Text Messages. Simply text your Aeroplan number to 27767 and confirm your subscription by September 15th to earn the miles. You will also be entered for a chance to win 50,000 Aeroplan miles.

Screen shot taken from my phone showing the easy process!

Monday, July 21, 2014

WestJet Rewards: Double WestJet Dollars on select flights in Canada

We come across this in the U.S. all the time, when an airline launches a bonus mile promotion others tend to follow and it is nice to see it happening here in Canada as well! A few weeks ago Aeroplan launched a double Aeroplan Miles offer for select Air Canada flights within Canada and now WestJet has followed suit with their own offering of double WestJet Dollars on select routes in Canada with the same booking and end dates as their competitor's offer.

Offer details:
Earn double WestJet Dollars each time you fly round-trip to select destinations within Canada. Full details and online booking. Book by August 29 for travel until Oct 31, 14
Here are the eligible routes:

Friday, July 18, 2014

July 18 Update: Major changes coming to LifeMiles award flight mileage requirements, Marriott updates its Plus Points promotion

A busier day to close off the week! Aeroplan contest winner, not so good news from Avianca and Marriott...

News, Tips & Tricks
Congrats to Jason S. of Newfoundland who is the winner of our Aeroplan Turns 30 contest! Thanks to all of you who participated.

A few months ago we let you know about the beta launch of Marriott Rewards Plus Points where you could earn points for completing social media activities. When this new Marriott initiative posted it was quite easy to earn 2,000 Rewards points in a month with only 8 or so social media actions however that has changed now and to earn the same amount of points will require ten times that! I know I won't be making the effort to complete 80 actions in a month as it a big time draw so this easy point earning strategy will dwindle for me as I'll get points each month for the Marriott follows I already have but not as much as before. You can find out more at www.marriottrewardspluspoints.com

Avianca LifeMiles sent out emails to their members over the past 24 hours or so giving advance notice of some upcoming award chart changes that take effect on October 15th. Kudos to them for giving a heads up this time as they are notorious for making changes without any advance notice but that is all they can get kudos for as it seems that award flights in general may get more expensive. We say 'may' as the email and corresponding page on the LifeMiles website is quite vague in what the changes will be. The page with the details shows what redemptions will be on Avianca flights which for us Canadians only affects their flights from Toronto which for example jump from 60,000 miles to 80,000 miles for flights to Barcelona all on Avianca metal. Here are the new award flight rates for Avianca flights out of Toronto:

However of more interest to all us and especially those who have taken advantage of the numerous 100% bonus on buying LifeMiles is the Star Alliance award chart changes. All they tell us is the following:

As for changes in air ticket redemption with Star Alliance member airlines, these include increases up to 13.000 miles in Economy Class and up to 26.000 miles in Business Class. Both cases apply for roundtrip flights from North America.

For roundtrip flights from Mexico, there will be reductions up to 15.000 miles and increases up to 14.000 miles in Economy Class, also reductions up to 20.000 miles and increases up to 28.000 miles in Business class.

We are led to believe this is for flights to/from Europe as that is where many of the 'buy miles' miles are being used but could be for their entire Star Alliance chart as we don't forsee them reducing rates on European awards. Complete (well not so complete) details on the changes can found here

Bonus Offers
Hilton HHonors
- 2,500 Bonus HHonors Points when you join HHonors and complete your first stay at a Hilton Hotel in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. More... Register and book by Aug 31 for stays until Dec 1, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points and up to 40% off for stays at participating Accor Hotels in France More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Novotel Hotels in Poland More... Until Aug 29, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Mercure & Novotel Hotels in Russia More... Until Sep 2, 14
- 2,000 Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Ibis hotels in the U.K. More... Book by Jul 27 for stays Jul 21 - Nov 2, 14

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles when you fly on Brussels Airlines between Brussels and Bari, Cagliari, Krakow, Montpellier and Seville. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- 1,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at Courtyard properties in United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. More... Until Sep 27, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 35% Starpoints Discount on award night stays at 6 Starwood resorts Worldwide. More... Until Mar 3, 15

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights on the “Club and Suite Retreat” offer at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide More... Book by Sep 15 for stays until Sep 21, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More...Until Sep 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Up to Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at any selected Shangri-La Hotel, Traders Hotel or Kerry Hotel when booking at the Best Available Rate. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Thursday, July 17, 2014

July 17 Update: NH Hotels relaunches their loyalty program, Credit Card Travel Medical Insurance, Petro-Points bonus via iTravel2000

Thursday brings us another relaunched hotel program.

News, Tips & Tricks

Yesterday we brought you the details of Kimpton Hotels relaunched program and they are not the only ones to have a change. Spanish based NH Hotels who have hotels in Europe and Latin America have also relaunched their program as NH Rewards. NH Rewards now awards 3% of your stays in points (essentially a 3% cash back program) which is higher return than some of the other cash back type hotel programs like World Hotels Peakpoints and Preferred Hotel Group's iPrefer. The new program also offers to option to use your points at anytime for redemption via their cash+points option. The interesting thing with the new NH Rewards is they will always reward you with the 3% back whether you pay for the stay with cash or points! Elite levels in the program are awarded even more points and more benefits. No matter what, if you have an NH Hotel stay you should join the program to make sure you get free Wi-Fi. Find out more about NH Rewards here.

In case your wondering, the winner for our Aeroplan Turns 30 contest has been picked, we are just waiting to hear back from them! Be sure to check your Twitter Direct Messages to see if you are the one!

Our tip of the day, Find out which cards offer Out of Province Medical Insurance Coverage, for how long and how old you are! See our post on Travel Reward Credit Card Medical Insurance Coverage

Travel Deals
Hotels.com Canada Rebate - Save between $20 and $100 on all hotel bookings now with Hotels.com!

Bonus Offers
airBaltic PINS (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 400 Bonus PINS on airBaltic flights to Athens. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- 500 Bonus PINS when you book a hotel via PointsHound. More... Until ?

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Triple MilleMiglia Miles for stays of 4 or more nights at the Petriolo SPA Resort or 7 or more nights at the Golf Hotel Campiglio. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double MilleMiglia Miles for stays at participating UNA Hotels in Italy. More... Until Aug 31, 14

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles for stays at participating Raffles Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 30 for stays until Oct 7, 14

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles on all Sixt Car Rentals Worldwide. More... Until Nov 13, 14

Petro-Points
- 3x Petro Points when you book a pre-packaged vacation between July 15, 2014 and August 19, 2014 for travel by December 31, 2014. More...

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 1,000 HawaiianMiles on Avis rentals of 5 consecutive days or more at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S. (including Hawaii) and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- 750 HawaiianMiles on qualifying Budget rentals of 5 or more days at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- 30% Bonus HawaiianMiles when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to HawaiianMiles. More... Until Aug 7, 14 Valid for Residents of the U.S. and Canada only

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Quadruple Velocity Points for stays at any Shangri-La hotels, Kerry hotels or Traders hotels Worldwide. Not applicable to Shangri-La resorts (except Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa, Maldives). More... Until Aug 31, 14

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

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Monday, July 28, 2014

Rewards Canada Offer: 1,000 Bonus Miles/Points on all PointsHound bookings made in CAD

Friday, July 25, 2014

July 25 Update: Germanwings becomes Aeroplan's latest airline partner, 100 Bonus Air Miles at Safeway and more!

Air Miles opens up membership to 16 and 17 year olds

IHG PointBreaks Preview: 167 Hotels (6 in Canada) bookable at the 5,000 Point level starting on Jul 28 for stays until Sep 30

100 Free Aeroplan Miles for subscribing to Aeroplan Text Messages

Monday, July 21, 2014

WestJet Rewards: Double WestJet Dollars on select flights in Canada

Friday, July 18, 2014

July 18 Update: Major changes coming to LifeMiles award flight mileage requirements, Marriott updates its Plus Points promotion

Thursday, July 17, 2014

July 17 Update: NH Hotels relaunches their loyalty program, Credit Card Travel Medical Insurance, Petro-Points bonus via iTravel2000

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