Aug 28 Update: Air Canada cancels Ottawa-Frankfurt service for the winter, Starwood Preferred Guest Tap Into Luxury Contest

Here is what Thursday offers to the travel rewards world in Canada:

News, Tips & Tricks
It appears that Air Canada will be cutting their direct non-stop Ottawa to Frankfurt service for the winter season. According to Airlineroute.net the route has been pulled from the schedules from late October through to March 2015.

Starwood Preferred Guest has launched a new contest which has a grand prize of 250,000 Starpoints and numerous other prizes. The contest is open to Canadians except those who live in Quebec. You can enter the contest here 

Bonus Offers
American AAdvantage
- 3,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles on your very first Rocketmiles booking More... Book by Oct 31 for stays until Apr 30, 15

Etihad Guest
- 2,000 Bonus Guest Miles per stay at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 14
- Quadruple Guest Miles when you stay at any Viceroy hotel or resort Worldwide. More... Until Dec 19, 14

Frontier EarlyReturns (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Chicago and Salt Lake City. More... Oct 26 - Nov 26, 14
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Chicago and Phoenix. More... Oct 26 - Nov 26, 14
- Double EarlyReturns Miles when you fly between Dallas and Memphis. More... Oct 26 - Nov 26, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at select IHG Hotels in Fiji More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at select hotels in Europe More... Until Sep 30, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for stays at participating Starwood Hotels in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia More... Sep 1, 14 - Mar 31, 15

United MileagePlus
- 1,000 Bonus MileagePlus miles when you sign up for Uber via the United app and complete their first transaction. More... Until ?


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Aug 27 Update: United cuts 3 Canadian routes, SkyTeam Elite Status with 1 Flight, KLM Fall Sale to Asia

A whole bunch of news and bonuses to bring your way today!

News, Tips & Tricks
Ft. McMurray continues to grow its air service as the 'often seen in the news lately' airline Sunwing adds Cancun service from the Oilsands mecca. (Source Airlineroute.net)


United Airlines will be cutting three of their Canadian routes this fall, Chicago to Regina and Saskatoon as well as Newark to Edmonton are all being cancelled. Not good news for those MileagePlus or Star Alliance members who made use of these routes. (Source Airlineroute.net)

Yesterday we let know that Air Canada's Earn Your Wings has returned. I know a lot of our readers were asking when it would start and I think many will be dissapointed since it is only available to Air Canada Altitude members for this third iteration. We had a quick synopsis post yesterday and will follow up with a more detailed post soon.

Over on FFB we detail a new offer from Garuda Indonesia about how you can get SkyTeam Elite Status after one flight between London and Jakarta. I don't think many of you will jump on this but it is worth a mention just in case this a flight you can take this fall. Read more about it here.

And if you missed it here is a post to read from earlier today: Alaska Airlines Buy Miles Bonus & Fall Award Sale - a good deal for several flights out of Vancouver



Travel Deals
KLM is offering some great Fall/Winter fares for flights to Asia from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. Flights start as low as $1170 all in for travel Oct 16 - Dec 10. Full details.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to 750,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with the third edition of Air Canada's Earn Your Wings promotion. This edition is limited to Air Canada Altitude members only. More... Register and book between by Oct 3 for travel until Nov 30, 14

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Fall Award Sale - Flights from as low as 5,000 Mileage Plan Miles one way. More... Aug 30 - Oct 31, 14
- Up to 40% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you buy miles online. More... Until Oct 14, 14

Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 100% Bonus GarudaMiles and an Elite Status Tier Upgrade when you fly between Jakarta and London with Garuda Indonesia in any eligible class. More... Sep 8 - Dec 8, 14
- Triple GarudaMiles when you fly between Balikpapan and Palangkaraya or Pontianak. More... Sep 1 - 30, 14
- Double GarudaMiles when you fly between Surabaya and Kupang. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Earn up to 100% Bonus GarudaMiles when you fly between Medan and Surabaya. Business Class earns 100% bonus, economy class earns 50% bonus. More... Oct 15 - Nov 15, 14
- 1,000 Bonus GarudaMiles for members sharing photos or videos of their Jakarta - London trip with Garuda Indonesia. More... Sep 8 - Dec 15, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at select IHG hotels in China More... Until Oct 31, 14

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Nanjing. More... Nov 1 - Feb 28, 15

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Earn up to Triple FlySmiles Miles when you stay at properties within the Hilton HHonors™ portfolio Worldwide. Earn triple miles in Asia Pacific, and double miles anywhere else worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Up to 50% QMiles Discount on Qatar Airways Privilege Club Award ticket redemptions for various routes via their "Easy Deals" offer. More... Until Oct 31, 14
- Triple QMiles and save up to 33% on rentals of 7 or more days at participating Hertz locations Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 30 for rentals until Dec 31, 14


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Alaska Airlines Buy Miles Bonus & Fall Award Sale - a good deal for several flights out of Vancouver

Alaska Airlines launched two new promotions yesterday that are worth mentioning here on the Rewards Canada blog. The first promotion is the latest Mileage Plan buy miles bonus which can be worthwhile for all Canadian travellers while the second offer which is Alaska's Fall Award ticket sale is primarily good for those in the YVR area.

The buy miles bonus is the highest we have seen in about 5 months from Alaska Airlines and is a tiered offering. The more miles you buy the higher the bonus is:
5,000 - 19,000 miles, get a 20% Bonus
20,000 - 34,000 miles, get a 30% Bonus
35,000 - 40,000 miles, get a 40% Bonus
This offer is around until October 14th so you don't have to jump on it right away and even though Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles are some of those most valuable out there I wouldn't buy the miles unless you have an award flight in mind or need to top offer you account. This buy miles bonus may even help you with the next offer listed below for those discounted award flights out of Vancouver.

The Fall Award Flight sale sees a bunch of Alaska Airlines' routes discounted but for their Canadian cities only Vancouver is included with discounts on flights to San Jose, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Oakland. These are some pretty good deals especially for the flights to the San Francisco bay area with round trip flights as low as 15,000 miles! If you have no Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles you can easily earn 25,000 of them right away with the Alaska Airlines MasterCard® credit card for Canadians and have 10,000 miles left over after redeeming for one of these discounted awards! The Fall Award sale is good for flights until Oct 31st. 

The combination of these two new Mileage Plan offers can prove quite lucrative for those of you in the Vancouver area!

Air Canada launches the third edition of Earn Your Wings

Air Canada officially released the third edition of Earn Your Wings today. We will have a more detailed post on this later as I am posting this from my iPhone but bring you this initial overview so that our readers who are Air Canada Altitude members can register right away, that's right this third EYW offer is exclusive to AC Altitude members.

OFFER: Fly with Air Canada and earn Wings for each worldwide destination and collect badges to earn even more Wings. The more badges and Wings collected, the more Bonus Aeroplan Miles participants earn. Plus, if participants make it to the top 20, they’ll earn their share of 10,000,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles.

DATES: Register and book by October 3, 2014 for travel until November 30, 2014

Website: http://earnyourwings.aircanada.com/en

Register:http://earnyourwings.aircanada.com/en/register

Aug 26 Update: National Car Rental Rent Rent Reward, Quadruple MileagePlus Miles on Hertz rentals and more

The final few days of August are like the end of any month with a slow down in news and a slow down in new bonuses.

News, Tips & Tricks
As we see every year once the summer holiday season is over, the loyalty industry ramps up with new offerings, promotions and more. The first of which that we know will be coming on September 3rd. We cannot tell you any details right now but be sure to follow our Twitter and Instagram feeds on the first Wednesday of September to find out!

And if you missed it from earlier this morning, National Car Rentals Rent Rent Reward has returned. Find out more here.

Travel Deals
Cathay Pacific is offering up to 35% off their Business Class fares for flights between Toronto and Asia. Fares start at $4,723 all in for travel until Feb 28, 2015 that is booked by August 31. Full details.

Bonus Offers
airBaltic PINS (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double PINS on all airBaltic flights to/from Moscow and St. Petersburg. More... Book by Sep 18 for travel until Nov 30, 14
- Double PINS for stays at the Gallery Park Hotel Riga. More... Until Sep 30, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 3,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points per stay of 2 or more nights at the Hyatt Union Square New York. More... Until Sep 30, 14

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays of 2+ nights at participating Dusit International hotels and resorts Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 14

National Emerald Club
- Earn a Free Rental day when you earn 600 points or complete two qualifying rentals. A qualifying rental is the paid rental, via the Emerald Club®, of a Midsize or larger vehicle at participating National Car Rental® locations in Canada and the 50 United States, including the District of Columbia, for a period of two or more consecutive days during the promotion. More... Until Jan 31, 15 Valid for residents of Canada only

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints and free Internet when you stay in a Single Room at the Four Points by Sheraton Milan Center. More... Until Dec 31, 14

United MileagePlus
- Quadruple MileagePlus Miles and save up to 35% on qualifying rentals for rentals at participating locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. More... Until Oct 31, 14

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

National Car Rental Rent Rent Reward Returns - Earn a free rental after two qualifying rentals

One of the best Car Rental Reward program promotions, National Emerald Club's Rent Rent Reward has returned. Once again there is a U.S. version and a Canadian version so naturally we bring you the details of the Canadian version! It is slightly better than the U.S. version on the rental portion as we Canucks can credit Canadian and U.S. rentals towards the promo whereas our U.S. counterparts can only credit U.S. rentals (although both versions have a 300 point offer for Mexican rentals as well). You can earn points other than via rentals such as connecting to Facebook, visiting the Drive Alliance website and a few other options but in general to earn enough points to get the free rental day you will probably have to complete at least one of the qualifying rentals since us Canadian's don't get the 300 point refer-a-friend bonus like the U.S. does.

Offer Details
Earn a Free Rental day when you earn 600 points or complete two qualifying rentals. A qualifying rental is the paid rental, via the Emerald Club®, of a Midsize or larger vehicle at participating National Car Rental® locations in Canada and the 50 United States, including the District of Columbia, for a period of two or more consecutive days during the promotion. Register Online (Registration is required) Valid for residents of Canada only

Additional Opportunities to Earn Points:
To be eligible for the email opt-in bonus of 50 points toward a Free Rental Day, you must electively opt in to receive emails from National®. Offer expires January 31, 2015, and is valid for new opt-ins only.

Aug 25 Update: Targeted Aeroplan Bonus for Air Canada flights, Cathay Pacific Business Class sale, Targeted Hyatt stay bonuses

Rewards Canada is back after a week of vacation where we disconnected, literally. The cabin we rented on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho had no Internet access and no TV just sunshine, an amusement park, fun watersports and more! Other than a few hits of WiFi at Starbucks in Sandpoint is was really nice to fully disconnect from work and the world of loyalty. Now we are back and there is some news and bonus offers that came out in the last week that we will catch you up on today and throughout the week and of course bring you all the latest news and offers that come out each and every day.

News, Tips & Tricks
American Express is going to give you some more time on their latest offer of earning Aeroplan Distinction status on the AeroplanPlus Gold Card. The offer has now been extended to September 2nd (from August 31). You can apply for the card here

Air Canada sent out some emails last week for an Aeroplan bonus on your next flight. The offers of up to 6,000 bonus miles are targeted to select members but you can try to register to see if it may work for you (no guarantees however!) See the bonus offers section below for more details.

Hyatt is also running a targeted stay bonus with the emails coming out last week. The bonuses are varying, I received the 'up to 6,000 bonus points' offer but some Gold Passport members have received offers where they can earn up to 50,000 points. Once again see the bonus offers section below for details.

Shangri-La Golden Circle has introduced Instant Dining Awards where you can use your GC Award points to pay for your dining at a Shangri-La hotel. 

"From now on, your GC Award Points can be redeemed instantly with 10 GC Award Points covering every USD 1* of your bill. There's no minimum point use and point redemption is as quick as paying the bill would have been. Just show us your GC membership card and we'll take care of the rest."

If you took advantage of the up to 1,200 free points offer last fall that we detailed right here on Rewards Canada and don't think you'll use those points towards a stay this can be a good way to use them at their properties in Toronto and Vancouver (no stay required) Find our more here.

If you still haven't flown on Air Canada's 787 Dreamliner you have another route option to fly on the newest plane in Air Canada's fleet. For a few months this fall the plane will fly between Toronto and Copenhagen three times per week. (Source Airlineroute.net)

British Airways has introduced an option to hold onto a fare for 72 hours for a $10 fee. With that fee BA will hold onto to the tickets for you with the promise that if the fare rises you won't have to pay the higher price and if the fare drops you'll get the lower fare plus you won't lose those seats. If you end up buying the ticket the hold fee is refunded and of course if you don't end up buying you lose the fee. This option is only available for flights being booked at least 21 days in advance. Find our more here.

Travel Deals
Cathay Pacific is offering up to 35% off their Business Class fares for flights between Toronto and Asia. Fares start at $4,723 all in for travel until Feb 28, 2015 that is booked by August 31. Full details.

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 6,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your next Air Canada flight. More... Register and book between by Sep 21 for travel until Feb 28, 15 Targeted Offer - May Not Work for Everyone
- 3,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on your next Air Canada flight. More... Register and book between by Sep 21 for travel until Feb 28, 15 Targeted Offer - May Not Work for Everyone

British Airways Executive Club
- Earn up to Quadruple Avios for stays at participating Hilton Hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa. More...   Until Nov 30, 14

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus HawaiianMiles for stays of 3 nights or more at a participating Aston hotel or condominium resort. More... Until Dec 31, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- Earn up to 50,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays at Hyatt Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 14 Targeted Offer - May Not Work for Everyone
- Up to 30% Bonus Gold Passport Points when you buy points online. More... Until Sep 15, 14

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up to 4,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at select IHG Hotels in Japan or South Korea. More... Until Sep 30, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- 2,500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at the Sofitel St James London. More... Until Sep 25, 14

S7 Airlines Priority (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Priority Miles for stays at the Radisson Blu Hotel Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, Radisson Resort Zavidovo, or the Radisson Blu Hotel, Chelyabinsk More... Until Oct 15, 14

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Rapid Rewards Points for every qualifying stay at participating Choice Hotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Nov 15, 14

United MileagePlus
- Triple MileagePlus miles on all qualifying roundtrips on United. More... Sep 1 - Oct 31, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Today's Daily Update has been brought to you by

Rocketmiles: 10,000 Bonus Miles/Points when you complete 10 stays by September 23

We haven't seen a new Rocketmiles bonus for nearly a month that wasn't targeted to just one of their partner programs but that all changes with this offer.  The folks at Rocketmiles are looking to grow their business and it shows with this latest promotion as they look to get people booking multiple stays rather than only your first stay like we have seen from previous acquisition promotions. This one is open to new and existing Rocketmiles customers and they really want to see those multiple bookings as you'll only get the bonus if you complete 10 stays over the next 5 or so weeks. All 10 stays need to booked via this special link only (see below) and does not work for existing reservations you may have made via Rocketmiles (perhaps cancel and rebook if the rates haven't changed!

Offer Details:
10,000 Bonus Miles/Points in the Rocketmiles partner program of your choice when you make and complete 10 stays. Stay must be booked via the special promotion page at www.rocketmiles.com/rocket-challenge-8-14-14/. Until Sep 23, 14


Qualifying Activity: To be eligible for this promotion, all hotel reservations must be booked using this promotional link (rocketmiles.com/rocket-challenge-8-14-14/) and checkout date must occur before 23 September 2014. Upon completion of a 10 nights through the link above, Rocketmiles will award 10,000 bonus miles/points to the reward account of the user’s choice. Limit one bonus per customer. Promotional offer cannot be applied to existing bookings or retroactively applied to bookings not made using the link above. This promotional offer cannot be combined with any other offers, including a sign-up from referral bonus. Rocketmiles reserves the right to retract a bonus at any time if it detects technical errors, cancel/rebooking activity (defined by identical search criteria), or any deceptive behavior attempted to circumvent the limits expressed above, including multiple accounts. If Rocketmiles is not contacted directly about reservation modifications until after miles/points have already been posted, any approved refund amount may be reduced by up to the full retail value of the reward. Rewards that cannot be posted due to incorrect or incomplete information may become ineligible after 12 months and no customer response to our e-mail outreach. See www.rocketmiles.com/terms for full terms, or call Rocketmiles concierges at 1-855-355-7625 with questions of eligibility or for any other assistance. Please contact your loyalty program directly for information about redeeming miles/points, or for questions about earning miles/points for past flights.

Can't make use of this promotion? Be sure to visit our Rocketmiles Bonus pages for other bonuses!

IHG Rewards Club: 50% off Reward Night Redemptions for stays at IHG Hotels & Resorts in Mexico, Central America & Caribbean

From flash sales to 50% off offers, IHG Rewards Club has spent the better part of this past year offering up some great discounted reward night redemption options for the membership base. The latest will go live this coming Monday August 18th and is for stays at 12 of their locations in Mexico, Central America & Caribbean. The 50% off offer on the number of points required will be bookable until September 6 and is good for stays between September 1st and October 31st.

Offer Details:
Receive a 50% IHG Rewards Club Points discount on Reward Night redemptions for stays at participating IHG Hotels and Resorts in Mexico, Central America & Caribbean. Full details and Online Booking. Book between Aug 18 and Sep 6 for stays between Sep 1 and Oct 31, 14
Participating Hotels:
InterContinental® Presidente Ixtapa Resort, Mexico            
InterContinental® Playa Bonita Resort & Spa, Panama
InterContinental® Presidente Cozumel Resort Spa, Mexico
Crowne Plaza® hotel Acapulco, Mexico
Holiday Inn Resort® Aruba
Holiday Inn Resort® Grand Cayman                                    
Holiday Inn Resort® Acapulco, Mexico
Holiday Inn Resort® Los Cabos All Inclusive, Mexico          
Holiday Inn Resort® Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Holiday Inn® hotel Cancun Arenas, Mexico                                                 
Holiday Inn Express® hotel Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Holiday Inn Express® hotel Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Can't make use of this offer? Be sure to visit our IHG Rewards Club Bonus Points page for many more offers!

August 14 Update: 100 Bonus Air MIles at Safeway, Up to Triple Guest Miles for Premium Class flights on Etihad Airways

Still pretty quiet in the loyalty world today.

News, Tips & Tricks

If you missed it yesterday we released details on which airline are the most generous in terms of issuing bonus offers. Read more about here.

You can earn 100 Bonus Air Miles on your Safeway purchases of $100 or more  over the next week with this coupon.

If you are planning a trip to the Middle East or beyond check out Etihad's latest premium class bonus offer. See the bonus offer section for more.


Bonus Offers
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Double Flying Blue Miles when you fly Air France between Paris and Brasília. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double Flying Blue Miles when you fly Air France between Paris and Jakarta. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double FlyerBonus Points for stays at participating Chatrium Hotels. More... Until Oct 31, 14
- Double FlyerBonus Points for stays of 3 or more nighst at all participating Dusit Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 14
- Double FlyerBonus Points when renting an Avis car in Thailand, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa, USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Double FlyerBonus Points when renting a Hertz car in Thailand for 3 or more days. More... Until Sep 30, 14

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 500 Bonus Asia Miles on Thailand packages from Cathay Holidays. More... Book by Aug 31 for travel until Mar 31, 15

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Triple Guest Miles on all Etihad flights Worldwide when flying in a Premium Class. More... Book by Aug 31 for travel Aug 20 - Sep 25, 15

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 250 Bonus HawaiianMiles when you spend $50 or more in a single in-store transaction at participating Papa John's locations in Hawaii. More... Until Oct 13, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays on the Fashion Shopping Package at participating Starwood Hotels in Italy. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for stays at the Element New York Times Square West. More... Until Oct 30, 14
- 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays on the W Suite Treat package at the W Verbier More... Booking Until ?
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for stays at the Le Méridien Angkor More... Sep 1, 14 - Mar 31, 15
- Double Starpoints for stays at the Le Méridien Angkor More... Until Aug 31, 14
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for stays at the St. Regis Bangkok More... Sep 1, 14 - Mar 31, 15
- Double Starpoints for stays at the St. Regis Bangkok More... Until Aug 31, 14

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