Monday, October 26, 2015

Decent Aeroplan Business Class availability from Canada to Turkey for next summer

Late last week several U.S. based blogs were detailing lots of open business class space between the U.S. and Turkey on Turkish Airlines for travel next Summer. Yes, next summer during the busy travel season! (HT One Mile at a time)

We decided to give it a shot to see what availability is like out of Canada and the United website is showing quite a few days where you can 4 seats in Business Class between Toronto and Istanbul via the U.S.:

Outbound:


Return:


However since most of us have Aeroplan miles over MileagePlus miles or even Turkish Miles&Smiles miles I decided to give it a go on Aeroplan and there are even more options than what United brings up (and you don't have to go via the U.S.) Here is just one screenshot of where you can get 4 Business Class tickets between Toronto and Istanbul for travel during the high season (this was a one way search but as you can see from the graphic above there are quite a few days showing availability for 4 seats return. Granted the second option below has an economy class leg but that is for the short YYZ-YUL flight.

And both the options above aren't bad on fees! Take the EgyptAir/Turkish example:

So 210,000 miles (52,500 per person) and $221.84 ($55.21 per person) total in taxes. Not bad at all!

Some of the U.S. blogs were showing up to 8 business class seats available on the U.S. Turkish Airlines departures so there is lots of potential to use your Aeroplan miles here to get Business Class travel to Turkey! Our examples only show flights from Toronto but you should be able to connect from most major Canadian cities to the various options shown above.

Aeroplan availability for 4 business class tickets

You could technically get enough miles for the one way flight with AeroplanPlus Reserve Card which has a sign up bonus of 60,000 miles until Oct 31 or check out our post on how to earn up to 100,000 Aeroplan Miles or more with various credit cards for free. Granted however by the time you get the card and get the miles posted these great business class offers could be gone.

Do you plan on or have you already jumped on this offer?
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Receive up to a $150 Gift Card when you fly Air Canada to Japan and beyond


Air Canada has launched a new promotion that doesn't involve bonus miles but gift cards instead! With this promotion you’ll receive one Air Canada Gift Card per passenger, of up to $150 each when you book an eligible flight to Japan or Southeast Asia through Tokyo. This promotion is good for tickets purchased by Dec 12 for travel between Nov 21 and Mar 21, 16.  Register online for this promotion. (Registration is required)

Sure the amounts aren't huge but any reward like this is better than nothing and for those of you who don't have Aeroplan as you major FFP this is the type of promotion that works more for you rather than bonus miles. Why? You can add your United MileagePlus, Lufthansa Miles & More or any other airline partner of AC to your reservation, earn the miles in that program and still get the gift cards to use on future Air Canada flights. Note however that these Air Canada Promotional Gift Cards come with expiry dates of Dec 15, 2016.


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October 26 Update: Eurowings becomes an Aeroplan partner, fly Hainan Airlines out of YYZ to earn up 35K bonus miles, Etihad 96 hour sale

Happy final week of October to everyone!

News, Tips & Tricks
The biggest news today is the release of IHG Rewards Club's latest PointBreaks offers. These are the single handily the best hotel redemption out there especially if you can grab an InterContinental Hotel (which there is only one in this batch of ~190 hotels!). Read more about PointBreaks here.


Aeroplan has added their 34th airline partner to the roster. Eurowings, the low cost subsidiary of Lufthansa is now an earning partner for Aeroplan members. Redeeming Aeroplan miles for Eurowings is not being offered at this time. (Source Aeroplan)

More 787 news for those looking to fly this plane out of Canada!
Air Canada is adding the 787-8 on their Toronto-Istanbul route as of May 1, 2016 (Source airlineroute.net) and KLM will be putting the 787-9 on their Calgary and Edmonton routes for the winter 2016 season (Source airlineroute.net)

Check out the Hainan Airlines flight bonus below and be sure you register for it if you are planning on flying Hainan out of Toronto before the end of January.


This is the last week to vote for your favourite travel rewards credit card! Vote here!


Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals
Etihad Airways has launched a 96 hour Early Bird sale for travel out of Toronto (and globally). Its called Early Bird since its for travel from January 18 to June 30, 2016. In addition to low fares they are offering double miles on all bookings made during the sale period. You have to register for the double miles first (do that here) and then book your flights here. 



Bonus Offers
Choice Privileges
- 30% Bonus Privileges Points when you buy point online. Minimum purchase of 13,000 points. More... Until Nov 24, 15

Delta SkyMiles
- Earn up to Triple SkyMiles for stays at participating Okura Hotels & Resorts, Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City Worldwide. More... Nov 1 - Jan 31, 16

Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings
- Earn up to 35,000 Fortune Wings Miles when you fly on Hainan Airlines or Grand China Air. More... Until Jan 26, 16

IHG Rewards Club
- IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks Redeem only 5,000 points for stays at select hotels Worldwide. More... Until Jan 31, 16

Le Club accorhotels
- 100 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at 300 ibis hotels in 28 countries. More... Until ?

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Double Mabuhay Miles for stays at the Dusit Thani Guam Resort. More... Until Dec 24, 15

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Now Live - IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks - 5,000 Points for Award NightRedemptions at 190 Hotels (4 in Canada) until Jan 31, 16


The latest set of IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks are now bookable for stays from today to January 31st (subject to availability).

Each Reward Night at these participating hotels will be only 5,000 IHG Rewards Club points during the above mentioned dates. Remember the new PointBreaks rules that a member can only book up to 2 reward reservations per hotel participating in the individual offer (ie 2 at Pointbreaks hotels and 2 at Last Minute Reward Night hotels).  My tip to get around this would be to book 2 reservations with one IHG Rewards Club account and then have your spouse book 2 more etc. Of course this is dependent on both accounts having enough points to redeem for these awards. Also be sure to book these ASAP as once the allotted nights are booked at certain locations those hotels will fall off the list.

Why are IHG Rewards Club Point Breaks such a great deal? Because they offer reward nights at participating IHG hotels Worldwide for only 5,000 Rewards Club points. For those of you not to familiar with IHG Rewards Club , normal redemption rates for Rewards Club reward nights run from as low as 10,000 points for some Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express locations to 50,000 points for ultra-luxurious InterContinental locations and even these locations can participate in PointBreaks. So as you can see you can receive a discount of 50 to 88% off the regular redemption rates. You may be thinking that the high end hotels won't participate but they do depending on the time of year! Please note that like most loyalty promotions these offers are capacity controlled so I advise to book sooner than later to ensure you get the PointBreaks rate. These offers will be bookable via the primary PointsBreaks page later today but right now you can book via the individual links below. (list pulled from the IHG blog)

Canada




Hotels in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East:

Hotels in Europe:

Belgium
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Germany
Italy
Lithuania
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Spain
Turkey
United Kingdom

Hotels in the Americas

Brazil
Canada
Columbia
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama

Points Break Hotels in the United States

Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Mississippi
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
Nevada
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin
West Virginia
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Saturday, October 24, 2015

IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks - Complete list of hotels that will be available as of Oct 26 (only 4 in Canada this time)

The new IHG® Rewards Club PointBreaks list will be live on Monday October 26 for booking and stays from Oct 26 - Jan 31, 2016 (subject to availability). Each Reward Night at these 180+ participating hotels will be only 5,000 IHG Rewards Club points during the above mentioned dates. (Source IHG Blog)


The number of Canadian hotels that participate are always low but this time it is even lower than the past few PointBreaks!


Canada




Hotels in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East:

InterContinental Cairo Book the InterContinental Cairo for only 5,000 IHG Rewards Club Points!

Hotels in Europe:

Visit Prague Prague, Czech Republic
Belgium
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Germany
Italy
Lithuania
Poland
Russia
Travel to St. Petersburg, Russia Travel to St. Petersburg, Russia
Slovakia
Spain
Turkey
United Kingdom

Hotels in the Americas

Brazil
Canada
Columbia
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Crowne Plaza Panama Crowne Plaza Panama

Points Break Hotels in the United States

Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Hotel Indigo Columbus Hotel Indigo Columbus Architectural Center
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Maryland
Washtington DC Head to Silver Spring, MD for only 5,000 points and visit Washington DC
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Mississippi
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
Nevada
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin
West Virginia
 
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