AIR MILES ups daily cap for in-store Cash redemption to 950 miles per day

You may have seen the email over the weekend from AIR MILES but if not the news came out officially today. This is good news for those of you using the Cash Rewards options from AIR MILES. The daily cap that was lowered earlier this year because of some fraud issues has now been raised so that you can redeem more of your miles in a day. Obviously AIR MILES has looked at the data and seen that their fraud prevention efforts seem to be working well enough that they could raise the cap.

Today the AIR MILES Reward Program is announcing it is adjusting the daily cap for in-store AIR MILES Cash redemptions to $100 (950 Cash Miles), effective immediately. The cap for in-store redemptions at Shell is $60 (570 Cash Miles) per transaction. Gift cards and near-cash products will continue to be excluded.

AIR MILES is also announcing several enhancements in their digital capabilities and dedicated fraud detection processes, including:

• The AIR MILES App has been updated with a mandatory PIN at sign-in and the ability to lock and unlock AIR MILES Cash balances directly from the App.

• The Program has made enhancements to www.airmiles.ca including the requirement for PIN as well as entering a captcha code to view Account balance.

• AIR MILES continues to have comprehensive fraud monitoring processes and procedures within their dedicated Anti-Fraud team.

 The biggest issue that we saw and raised concern about was the ability in the past that anyone could input any AIR MILES number in to the AIR MILES website and see the balance for that account. That in turn could have led to people using that particular number at in-store Cash Redemption partners fraudulently. Now with the PIN requirement AIR MILES account balances aren't open to any one but just yourself. Also by excluding gift cards and near-cash products you also deter fraud as most fraudsters aren't going to go out of their way to try to redeem someone's AIR MILES for their own groceries or gas.

Overall this is good news for AIR MILES collectors who utilize the cash rewards option as now you can save yourself more cash should you have the balance to do so.

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American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card
• New American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card Cardmembers, earn a bonus of 2,000 AIR MILES®* Reward Miles when you charge a total of $1,500 in purchases to your Card within your first three months of Cardmembership. That's enough for a select flight.
• 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 electronics to travel and more
• You can use Apple Pay on your eligible device to pay for goods and services at participating American Express contactless merchants
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link.
Apply now
Conditions apply

June 23 Update: Official statement from RBC about Esso partnership, Double Miles on TAP's Toronto-Lisbon route + more!

News, Tips & Tricks
RBC provided us an official statement regarding their partnership with ESSO:

"We recognize the long partnership we have shared with Esso. During this time, we will be working with our valued clients who use the RBC Esso Visa card to ensure a smooth transition. In the meantime, clients can continue to use their RBC Esso Visa co-branded products as they normally would."

We missed this promotion earlier this month but perhaps someone can still make use of it over the next week. TAP Portugal is offering Double Victoria Miles on their new Toronto-Lisbon route. The bonus started when the route started on June 10 and runs until the 30th. It doesn't appear you need to register so if you are already booked and have flown or will fly the route in the next week you should get the bonus. Find out more here.

Posts since our last update:

• Three cards you'll want to wait to apply for until July
  Many banks give us some sort of advance notice of changes and limited time offers coming to their various credit card products...
• Hilton Summer Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the U.K., Europe, the Middle East & Africa
  Hilton's annual summer sale for stays in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa is now on for everyone!…

Travel Deals
While we're on the TAP tip why not feature one of their travel deals! You can fly on TAP between Toronto and Lisbon for as little as $300 all in one way or go to Gran Canaria for as little as $331! Find out more here.

 

Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- Earn 1,500 Bonus Honors Points + 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles PER NIGHT when you stay  at participating hotels in Canada within the Hilton portfolio of hotels and resorts. More... Until Aug 31, 17


Other Bonus Offers
Iberia Plus
- 25% Bonus Avios when you fly on select Iberia Express flights in Europe. More... Jul 1 - Sep 17, 17
- 25% Avios Discount when you redeem for award tickets on select Iberia Express flights in Europe. More... Jul 1 - Sep 17, 17

Le Club AccorHotels
- Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at Accor Hotels in France More... Book by Aug 31 for stays Jul 7 - Sep 3, 17

United MileagePlus
- Up to 75% Bonus MileagePlus Miles when you buy or gift miles. More... Until Jul 3, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

Three cards you'll want to wait to apply for until July

Many banks give us some sort of advance notice of changes and limited time offers coming to their various credit card products. If you have read the blog portion of our site you'll know we try to pass along news or hints as what to do, whether apply right away since a card will lose a limited time offer or benefit or tell you to wait as the offer will get better. This post is for three cards that will be coming with better offers in July. While we can't disclose what the new offers will be, we do want our readers to get the best possible deal they can so if you have been considering any one of the following three cards try to hold off on applying for them until the new offers become live:

• BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard - New offer comes on July 5th
• BMO AIR MILES MasterCard (no fee version) - New offer comes on July 5th
• Scotiabank SCENE Visa  Card - New offer comes on July 1st

Stay tuned to our social media channels or right here on the blog as we'll provide all the details on the new offers when they go live!

Hilton Summer Sale - Save up to 25% on weekend stays in the U.K., Europe, the Middle East & Africa

 
Hilton's annual summer sale for stays in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa is now on for everyone! Last week we brought you the early bird offer for stays in the UK And Europe if you were a Hilton Honors member. The sale is now open to all and also now available for locations in the Middle East and Africa. You can save up to 25% on weekend stays until October 8, 2017.  Stays must be booked by September 4.  Remember that you should also be earning up to Triple Points on these stays with the current summer Hilton Honors promotion. Find that and all other Honors bonuses here.

Click here to take advantage of the Hilton Simmer sale for stays in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa! 

June 22 Update: Update on the RBC/Esso news, 5,000 miles for joining Mileage Plan and completing 1st flight + more!

News, Tips & Tricks
Yesterday we removed the post covering the RBC/Esso news that is making the rounds now. Apparently Esso was not supposed to have sent out an email to its members yet and there is some incorrect information in it. RBC told us they'll advise us when everything is nailed down so that we can pass along the info.

Japan Airlines is going to offer free Wi-Fi on most of their domestic flights within Japan. Would be nice if Air Canada and WestJet did the same? (Source Business Traveller)

Alaska Airlines has brought back or rather extended the offer of 5,000 Bonus Miles when you join Mileage Plan and complete your first flight. That 5,000 miles is enough for an award ticket between Alberta/B.C. and Seattle. See the bonus offers section below for details.

Posts since our last update:

• Celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday With An Epic Canadian Travel Experience With Marriott International
  The Canada 150 offers and contests keep coming! We post those relevant to our readership and know there are…
• Great AIR MILES Redemption Option - Delta Airlines Travel Vouchers for use on Delta, KLM, Alitalia or Air France
  For a limited time you can get in on a very good AIR MILES redemption offer to save you money…

Canadian Bonus Offers

AIR MILES
- Earn up to 75 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you redeem miles for an Alamo/National car rental in the U.S. or Canada. More... Book by Jun 30 for rentals Aug 22 - Nov 30, 17

Other Bonus Offers

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- 5,000 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you join Mileage Plan and complete your first flight. More... Join by Jul 31 for travel until Sep 30, 17

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at Ascott’s Serviced Residences. More... Until Aug 31, 17
- Triple Asia Miles for stays on the Linger Longer offer at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 17

Jumeirah Sirius
- Double Sirius Points for stays of 3 or more nights on the Jumeirah Flavours offer at Jumeirah Hotels in Dubai or the Maldives. More... Until Dec 20, 17

Kaligo
- 1,000 Bonus Miles or points in the program of your choice on your first hotel stay booked via Kaligo. More... Book by Jun 28 for stays until Dec 31, 18
- 20% Bonus Miles or points in the program of your choice on all your hotel stays booked via Kaligo.  More... Book by Jun 28 for stays until Dec 31, 18

Miles & More
- 4,000 Bonus Miles & More Miles for your next hotel booking made via Miles & More Hotels. More... Book by Jun 30, 17

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- 50% KrisFlyer Miles discount when you redeem your KrisFlyer miles online for a SilkAir flight. More... Book by Jul 11 for travel Jul 1 - Oct 31, 17


Follow Rewards Canada:

Celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday With An Epic Canadian Travel Experience With Marriott International

The Canada 150 offers and contests keep coming! We post those relevant to our readership and know there are way more than what pass along however the offers we do know those we pass along resonate well with our readership!

The latest is this contest from Marriott International (which also includes SPG) where you can win an Epic Trip within Canada thanks to Marriott. There are actually two contests you can enter, one for the Marriott family of hotels and one for the Starwood family of hotels. You can enter once daily and no purchase is required! You'll also earn additional entries for referring people to the contests.

Both contest prizes are very similar. They include three nights at a hotel, flights for two and C$1,000 in spending money!

The Marriott contest winners can choose from any one of 16 cities to stay at across Canada:

You can enter the Marriott Contest here.

The Marriott’s EPIC Canada Adventure Sweepstakes (the "Sweepstakes") is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia), and Canada (including Quebec) who, as of date of entry, are at least eighteen (18) years of age or the age of majority in their respective states/jurisdictions of permanent residence, whichever is greater. 

 The SPG contest winners can choose from any one of 6 cities to stay at across Canada:

You can enter the SPG Contest here.

SPG’s EPIC Canada Adventure Sweepstakes (the "Sweepstakes") is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia), and Canada (including Quebec) who, as of date of entry, are at least eighteen (18) years of age or the age of majority in their respective states/jurisdictions of permanent residence, whichever is greater.  

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Great AIR MILES Redemption Option - Delta Airlines Travel Vouchers for use on Delta, KLM, Alitalia or Air France

For a limited time you can get in on a very good AIR MILES redemption offer to save you money if you fly on Delta Airlines or some of their European partner airlines.

AIR MILES members can redeem 250 Reward Miles in exchange for a US$50 Delta Airlines eVoucher that can then be used towards tickets booked on www.Delta.com for flights originating from Canada and operated by Delta, KLM, Air France or Alitalia. That's right, its not just for Delta Airlines but Delta code share flights to Europe out of Canada on those three European airlines.

With the Travel Voucher having a value of US$50 or approximately C$66 and only having to redeem 250 AIR MILES Reward Miles for it means you are getting a return of about 26 cents per Reward Mile! We typically value AIR MILES Reward Miles at 11 to 15 cents each so you are pretty much getting double the value of your miles with this offer.

There are some limitations to the offer in that each AIR MILES member can only redeem for a maximum of 2 eVouchers and you can only use 2 eVouchers per Delta Booking. Really this means you can redeem 500 Reward Miles to get US$100 off a booking made on Delta.com. The vouchers expire on May 31, 2018 so you only want to order these if you know you are going to buy Delta, Air France, KLM or Alitalia tickets by then. When you do go to book the minimum ticket price has to be US$50 which seems to be a given. You can only order the vouchers online on airmiles.ca and you have until July 25th to do so or when supplies run out.

Here is an example of a KLM flight that you can book on Delta.com for travel between Toronto and Amsterdam. If you ordered two vouchers you could bring the price down to just over $700 from $845.

 This is one of the best AIR MILES redemption offers we have seen in a long time as you get great value per Reward Mile redeemed and since you buying revenue tickets via Delta you can earn your SkyMiles, Flying Blue Miles, or other SkyTeam frequent flyer miles on these flights!

Hurry though as there seems to be a limited amount of vouchers available so you'll want to redeem sooner than later for them!

Find out more and redeem your AIR MILES for these vouchers here.

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BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard

2,000 Bonus AIR MILES when you apply for and receive the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard. That's enough for a short haul flight!
· Earn 1 reward mile for every $10 in credit card purchases, everywhere you spend*
· BMO AIR MILES World Elite Travel and Medical Protection*
· Exclusive 25% Flight Discount*
· VIP Airport Lounge Access*
· BMO Concierge Service*
· Use your card at Costco
· *Terms and conditions apply

June 21 Update: Meridian Visa Infinite added to site, Ultimate British Airways portfolio

News, Tips & Tricks
We've added the Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards Card to our Credit Card Comparison charts. This credit union based card is a relative newcomer to the market and runs somewhere near the middle of the pack of travel rewards cards. From what we can tell it has an OK return for travel at about 1.5% on all purchases, 3% on Foreign Currency purchases (that also include a 2.5% foreign transaction fee) and really strong out of province medical insurance of up to 48 days! You have to redeem via Meridian Travel Rewards and they don't state the actual redemption rate for travel (it's always a scary proposition when a proprietary credit card program doesn't tell you that before you apply, or make it hard to find) We went to the Meridian Rewards site and you can start a travel booking but only get one step in where it gives you a 'from this many points' for booking a flight. That's where we came up with the ~1.5% but in fact it might be lower since because of that word they use 'from'. Anyways you can check out the card on the following two comparison charts of ours:

• Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: All Travel Rewards Credit Cards
• Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Travel Points Credit Cards

We will be adding several other Meridian cards to our site over the coming weeks

FYI this post has been updated as we removed the RBC/Esso news. Apparently Esso was not supposed to have sent out an email... yet and there is some incorrect information in it. RBC told us they'll advise us when everything is nailed down so that we can pass along the info.

Posts since our last update:

• The Ultimate British Airways Executive Club Credit Card portfolio!
  In this feature of Rewards Canada' Ultimate Credit Card Portfolios we look at the ultimate one for earning British…
• Aeroplan Star Partner Locator now available online
  Aeroplan reached out to us last night to pass along some great news for award bookings on their Star Alliance…

Travel Deals
Loews Hotels: Save 20% off the best available rate for stays of 2 or more nights this summer. Find out more here

Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Canada / Aeroplan
- 1,000 Aeroplan Miles and Save 50% on the ValetParc rates when you park for a minimum of 7 consecutive days at Aeroports De Montreal. More... Until Sep 5, 17

Other Bonus Offers

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Triple Asia Miles for stays at Marco Polo Hotels across 11 cities in China, Hong Kong and the Philippines. More... Until Aug 31, 17

IHG Rewards Club
- Up to 100% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy points online. Bonus varies by member from 50% to 100%. More... Until Jul 12, 17

Jet Airways JetPrivilege
- Double JPMiles when you stay on the Linger Longer offer for 2 or more days at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 17
- Earn up to Quadruple JPMiles for stays of 2 or more nights at Shangri-La hotels Worldwide. More... Until Aug 31, 17

Jumeirah Sirius
- 2,000 Bonus Sirius Points for stays of 2 or more nights on the Family Break offer at Jumeirah Hotels in Dubai, Maldives and Kuwait. More... Until Dec 31, 17

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Caribe Royale Orlando. More... Until Sep 30, 17
- Triple Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Lenox Hotel Boston. More... Until Sep 6, 17

Follow Rewards Canada: