July 21 Update: Air Canada Altitude & SPG partnership with fast track to Elite Status and 8 new bonuses

News, Tips & Tricks

Air Canada Altitude members have been receiving the following email announcing new stay benefits at Starwood Hotels which also offer fast track to elite status challenges (Source: FlyerTalk):

Air Canada Altitude™, in partnership with Starwood Preferred Guest®, is taking your benefits to a whole new level. This means being an Altitude Super Elite™ 100K member just got even better! Elevate your eligible hotel stays with a selection of new benefits.
• Exciting benefits within Canada
• Dedicated Altitude service line for Super Elite members only
• SPG® Gold and Platinum Status Challenge

Present your Air Canada Altitude card when checking into more than 60 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in Canada for an eligible stay and until February 29, 2016 you’ll enjoy:
• Priority check-in via the SPG® check-in line
• Complimentary high-speed internet throughout your stay, where available
• Late check-out at 2 p.m. based on availability at time of check-in1

Visit spg.com/altitude for the list of participating hotels.

To top it all off, you can now earn SPG Gold and Platinum status faster with the Status Challenge. With SPG Elite status, you can enjoy a host of privileges like complimentary room upgrades, additional earnings and more.

GOLD STATUS CHALLENGE
Register for the challenge, then stay 9 eligible nights within 90 days of registration and you’ll be rewarded with benefits like:
• 4 p.m. late checkout
• An upgrade to an enhanced room – corner, higher floor or better view
• Your choice of welcome gift upon arrival
• Complimentary in-room, premium internet

PLATINUM STATUS CHALLENGE
Register for the challenge, then stay 18 eligible nights within 90 days of registration and you’ll be rewarded with:
• Your choice of welcome gift upon arrival
• An upgrade to best available room – including Standard Suites
• Complimentary in-room premium internet access
• Guaranteed room availability

Gold and Platinum Status will be valid through February 28, 2017.

You're also entitled to these complimentary benefits2*, valid on eligible stays at participating hotels in Canada.

Sheraton Club – The Upside of Everything
Two one- time passes to experience Sheraton Club Level, with access to the exclusive Club Lounges, featuring complimentary daily breakfast and evening hors d'oeuvres between 5 and 7 p.m. during your eligible stay

Pack Light and Stay Fit with Westin
Two vouchers to enjoy complimentary usage of Westin Gear Lending throughout your eligible stay

Four Points by Sheraton
Two vouchers to start your morning with a complimentary breakfast for one (1) person during your eligible stay

Aloft Hotels
Two vouchers to enjoy an Aloft re:fuel (SM) breakfast for one (1) person during your eligible stay

Element Hotels
Two vouchers each redeemable for a $5.00 Restore pantry credit during your eligible stay

I would have to venture a guess that a lot Altitude members may already have at a minimum Gold Status with SPG due to their travels or by having The Platinum Card from American Express not to mention the status challenges attached this promotion are the same that any SPG member can take advantage of. Nonetheless it is nice to see this option out there for those who have no status with SPG and the ability for Altitude members to get those little extras on their stays in Canada.

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Air Canada has expanded their Calgary-Portland flights to year round service. (Source Air Canada)

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Travel Deals
Use promo code BOOK2WIN on Aircanada.com for a chance to win back your purchase! This promo runs until July 26th and there is a winner everyday. Also be sure to check out the social media portion of the contest as well. Find out more here.

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays of 2 or more nights at participating NH Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 15
- Earn up to 6x Club Premier Kilometers for Hertz rentals in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. More... Until Oct 31, 15
- Double Club Premier Kilometers on Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 15

airberlin topbonus
- Double topbonus Miles for stays at participating Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson hotels worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 15

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to Triple AAdvantage Miles for stays at participating Okura Hotels & Resorts, Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Hilton HHonors
- Triple HHonors Points for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Hilton Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 16

United MileagePlus
- 750 Bonus MileagePlus Miles for stays at La Quinta Inns and Suites in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. More... Until Dec 31, 15

Virgin America Elevate (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Elevate Points for bookings made via Kaligo. More... Book by Sep 15, 15



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July 20 Update: WestJet adds Boston and several other new routes, Instant Hilton HHonors Gold status offer, 25 Free Air Miles

Welcome to another week of travel rewards news, bonuses and more on RC! The latter half has vacation included so there may lack in updates depending on our family's schedule!

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet announced their winter schedule today and includes some new routes. The one of note is Toronto to Boston with WestJet Encore! Good to see another U.S. city in their network, hopefully it works for them as they have to compete with Air Canada and Porter.  Halifax also gets one daily flight to Boston! Also announced is the return of Calgary to Ft. Lauderdalem new routes from three Canadian cities to Orlando and a few other sun destination routes. Find out more here, here and here.

A few different airline programs are sending out invites to their members for instant Hilton HHonors Gold Status (I've received it from Alitalia MilleMiglia and Saudia Alfursan). This is a great offer if you don't have Gold status as it gets you the status until October 31st and extends it to March 2017 if you complete 3 separate stays by October 31st. The offer also includes an up to Quadruple Miles bonus for those stays. BE CAREFUL however if you already have Hilton HHonors Gold or Diamond Status as it specifically states you'll drop down to Gold if you are Diamond or if you are Gold and don't meet the stay requirements by Oct 31st you'll lose that status. I almost jumped on it but I have Gold Status until March 31st 2016 and am pretty sure I will not be able to complete this challenge by Oct 31st which means I would lose out on the status between Oct 31 and Mar 31.

Posts since our last update:

• 25 Free AIR MILES for subscribing to Rona E-News
  Here is a nice easy way to earn some free AIR MILES Reward Miles if you don't subscribe to Rona…
• IHG Share Forever promotion expanded to include Double Points on all stays until August 15th
  IHG Rewards Club has decided to up the ante with their current Share Forever promotion! The promo which launched back…
• Save up to $1,000 on Emirates flights out of Western Canada via Seattle + earn up to Triple Mileage Plan miles
  Emirates may not fly to any cities in Western Canada but they have agreements with WestJet and Alaska Airlines…
  
  

Bonus Offers
AIR MILES
- Earn 25 AIR MILES Reward Miles when you subscribe to the Rona E-News newsletter. More... Until Aug 31, 15

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 3,500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you shop via the AAdvantage eShopping portal. More... Until Aug 16, 15

Best Western Rewards
- 500 Bonus Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN PLUS Paris Meudon Ermitage - Meudon-La-Foret More... Until Aug 31, 15
- 500 Bonus Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN PLUS Paris Val de Bievre - Jouy-En-Josas More... Jul 25 - Aug 25, 15
- Double Rewards Points on all qualifying stays at the BEST WESTERN Hotel des Thermes - Balaruc-Les-Bains More... Until Sep 30, 15

Etihad Guest
- Earn up to Quadruple Guest Miles when you fly on Etihad's new 787 between Abu Dhabi and Singapore or Zurich. More... Register by Aug 31, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Guest Miles when you make your first booking on PointsHound. More... Until Aug 15, 15
- 500 Bonus Guest Miles when you spend £/€500 at any of the nine Chic Outlet Shopping Villages in Europe. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Meridiana Club (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 2,000 Bonus Avios on your first booking made with Kaligo. More... Book by Aug 31, 15 for stays until Dec 31, 16

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to 3,500 Rapid Rewards Points when you shop via the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping portal. More... Until Aug 16, 15

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Earn up to Quadruple FlySmiles Miles for stays at participating Hilton hotels and resorts Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 15

Starwood Preferred Guest
- Earn a $50 Prepaid MasterCard when you stay three or more times at Four Points, Aloft or Element hotels. More... Until Nov 30, 15
- Triple Starpoints for stays at the Le Meridien Saigon. More... Until Dec 31, 15

25 Free AIR MILES for subscribing to Rona E-News

Here is a nice easy way to earn some free AIR MILES Reward Miles if you don't subscribe to Rona E-News yet.

Offer details
Earn 25 AIR MILES Reward Miles when you subscribe to the Rona E-News newsletter. Full details. Until Aug 31, 15

IHG Share Forever promotion expanded to include Double Points on all stays until August 15th

IHG Rewards Club has decided to up the ante with their current Share Forever promotion! The promo which launched back in May awards a lot of points to begin with however this addition of double points on all stays until the middle of August just made it even better! Remember you have until September 7th to try to maximize the main promotion but only until August 15th to earn the double points.

Offer Details
IHG Rewards Club Share Forever - Earn up to 115,500 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points + DOUBLE POINTS (until Aug 15) when you stay at IHG Hotel stays Worldwide. You can also earn up to 58,500 more to share or to keep. Bonus points vary per member and are awarded for various stay and other activities. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Until Sep 7, 15
open to residents of Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the fifty (50) United States (and the District of Columbia), Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Save up to $1,000 on Emirates flights out of Western Canada via Seattle + earn up to Triple Mileage Plan miles

Emirates may not fly to any cities in Western Canada but they have agreements with WestJet and Alaska Airlines to bring connecting passengers out of the west to the gateway cities. This promotion is for the latter, flying on Alaska Airlines out of Western Canada and connecting to Emirates' flights out of Seattle you can save up to US$1,000 on these flights not to mention you can earn up to Triple Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles! The savings are as follows: $1,000 off all First Class fares, $500 off select Business Class fares and $50 off all Economy Class fares. Book online at emirates.com with promo code ALASKA5 to take advantage of this deal.

Bonus Miles Offer details:
Earn up to Triple Mileage Plan Miles when you fly Emirates from the U.S.. Earn Triple Miles when you fly in First Class, or Double Miles when you fly Business or Economy Class non-stop between  Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, New York-JFK, San Francisco, Seattle, or Washington D.C. and Dubai, plus onward connecting Emirates flights from Dubai. Register Online  (Registration is required) then book online at emirates.com with promo code ALASKA5 to save $1000 on First Class fares, $500 on Business Class fares or $50 on Economy Class fares.

Bonus miles: Register and book by Sep 7 for travel Jul 15 - Nov 30, 15
Fare Discounts: Book by Sep 15, 15 for travel until Feb 28, 16

Here is an excerpt from the  terms of the promotion that mention the offer of flying out of Western Canada:
When you book a round-trip flight using promotional code ALASKA5 in the search box on this page, you can fly Emirates and save $1,000 off all First Class fares, $500 off select Business Class fares and $50 off all Economy Class fares....
...Book by September 15, 2015 to take advantage of this incredible offer. Travel available through February 28, 2016.
*US gateways include Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD) Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), Washington D.C. (IAD) and Orlando (MCO) and the following interior Canadian cities for travel over (SEA) only - they are YVR (Vancouver), YEG (Edmonton), YYC (Calgary), YYJ (Victoria) and YLW (Kelowna).

July 17 Update: Air Canada announces Vancouver-Brisbane route, 15,000 Point sign up bonus for the HSBC Advance MasterCard, Hyatt Las Vegas Bonus

Final update of the week!

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Canada has announced a new Australia route! Starting in June of 2016 Air Canada will be using their new Boeing 787's to fly three times weekly between Vancouver and Brisbane. As we always say it's great to see new routes like these at provide more redemption options for Aeroplan and other Star Alliance members. (Source Airlineroute.net)

HSBC Bank Canada has added a very rare sign up bonus to one of their MasterCards! If you apply for the HSBC Advance MasterCard before August 31st they will award you 15,000 bonus HSBC Advance Rewards points. Note that you have to be a HSBC Advance customer to apply for this card. Find out more here.

Travel Deals
Hilton Hotels are offering a $100 resort credit and 4th night free for stays participating Hilton Hotels in the Caribbean. Book by Sep 26 for stays until Sep 30. Find out more here!

Bonus Offers
Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Quadruple FlyerBonus Points for stays at Anantara Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Oct 31, 15

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Earn up to Quadruple Gold Points on eligible Stays at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels in the Asia Pacific region. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles on hotel and flight bookings with Ctrip More... Until Oct 6, 15

Hong Kong Airlines Fortune Wings
- Double Fortune Wings Miles when you fly Hong Kong Airlines in Business Class between Hong Kong and Bangkok, Beijing, Okinawa, Sapporo, Shanghai or Taipei. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Hyatt Gold Passport
- Earn up to 1,500 Bonus Gold Passport Points after every 3 nights you stay at participating properties in Las Vegas. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Earn up to Triple JetPrivilege Miles when you fly Jet Airways within India. More... Until Sep 30, 15
- 50% JetPrivilege Miles Discount on any domestic Jet Airways award tickets within India. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Le Club accorhotels
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... For residents of Sweden, Denmark, Norway or Finland only Until Sep 13, 15
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in Danang. More... Book by Aug 30 for stays Sep 6 - 12, 15

South African Airways Voyager
- 10% Bonus Voyager Miles when you book your SAA flight online. More... Until Jul 31, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple Voyager Miles for stays at any participating Shangri-La hotel or resort Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 15

July 16 Update: Up to Triple Aeroplan Miles on Avis rentals in Canada & the U.S., How to earn 125,000+ Aeroplan Miles and 1,000 Free Petro-Points

Relatively quiet Thursday!

News, Tips & Tricks
A new Aeroplan bonus for Avis rentals has come out. The offer is for up to Triple Miles for rentals in the U.S. or Canada. See the bonus offer section below for details!

We've updated our Travel Hacking 101 post on how to earn free Aeroplan Miles or British Airways Avios. With current offers you can potentially earn over 125,000 Aeroplan Miles or 91,250 BA Executive Club Avios for nothing more than credit card spend. Find out more here.


Posts since our last update:

• 1,000 Free Petro-Points for logging into their new Members-Only Travel Website
   Here is a quick and easy way to earn 1,000 FREE Petro-Points! Simply log in to their new Petro-Points members…
  
  

Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles on Avis rentals in Canada and the U.S...More... Until Sep 30, 15
- 60,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with the American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Reserve card. More... Residents of Canada only Until Oct 31, 15
- 50,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with the American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Platinum card. More... Residents of Canada only Until Oct 31, 15

China Southern SkyPearl
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly on China Southern between Guangzhou and San Francisco. More... Until Aug 22, 15
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly on China Southern between Beijing and Amsterdam. More... Until Aug 20, 15
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly on China Southern between Guangzhou and Nairobi. More... Aug 5 - Oct 5, 15
- Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly on China Southern between Changsah and Osaka  More... Until Sep 25, 15
- Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly on China Southern between Lanzhou/Urumqi and St.Petersburg More... Until Sep 16, 15
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus Sky Pearl Kilometers when you fly on China Southern between Guangzhou and Nha Trang  More... Until Aug 20, 15

Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to Triple SkyMiles for stays at participating Okura Hotels & Resorts, Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 15

EVA Air InfinityMileageLands
- Double Infinity MileageLands Miles for stays at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel (Shanghai) More... Until Aug 31, 15
- Double Infinity MileageLands Miles for stays on the a family package at Evergreen International Hotels (Keelung/Taipei/Taichung/Tainan/Bangkok) More... Until Aug 31, 15

Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 70% Bonus GarudaMiles on all Garuda Indonesia flights systemwide. More... Aug 14 -17, 15
- 25% GarudaMiles Discount on Garuda Indonesia award tickets flights systemwide. More... Aug 14 -17, 15
- Double Elite Qualifying Credit on all Garuda Indonesia domestic flights to Jakarta. More... Jul 21 - 26, 15

La Quinta Returns
- La Quinta Up to a 25% discount when you buy La Quinta Returns Points. More... Until Aug 23, 15

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 3,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays in a Suite at the Sheraton Denarau Villas. More... Until Dec 31, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays on the Grand Opening offer at the Sheraton Mesa Hotel. More... Until Jul 31, 15
- 1,000 Bonus Starpoints for stays on the Grand Opening offer at the Four Points by Sheraton Coral Gables. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 2,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles for stays at participating Jumeirah Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jul 31, 15
- Triple Flying Club Miles for stays at the St Martins Lane hotel London. More... Until Aug 31, 15
- Earn up to Quadruple Flying Club Miles for stays at any participating Shangri-La hotel or resort Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 15
- Double Flying Club Miles for stays at the Virgin Hotel Chicago. More... Until Sep 30, 15

Today's Bonus Offer Highlight is brought to you by:

1,000 Free Petro-Points for logging into their new Members-Only Travel Website

 Here is a quick and easy way to earn 1,000 FREE Petro-Points!

Simply log in to their new Petro-Points members only travel site powered by iTravel2000.com

Log in here!

This offer is limited to first 100,000 people who log in by July 24th.