Friday, December 13, 2019

2,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points for stays at the Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton Gateway


Making your way to YEG in the next few weeks for work or the holidays? Looking for a staycation that can net you more points? Here's an offer to check out that you can stack with Marriott's Unlock More promotion

Offer details:
Earn 2,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points for stays at the Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton Gateway. Full details and online booking Until Dec 31, 19


Here are some other Marriott Bonvoy bonus offers to check out:
  • Earn 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points on your second stay at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. Once complete you will unlock additional bonus offers for your stay(s) made after that second stay. Additional offers will be appear in your account and also be emailed to you by Marriott. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)
  • 2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points + $25 F&B credit for stays at the JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa. Full details & online booking.
  • 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy points per stay at the JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District. Full details and online booking..
Find our complete list of Marriott Bonvoy bonus offers here!

Fly from Toronto to the Azores for $398.30 round trip with TAP Air Portugal



TAP Air Portugal is currently showing some amazing economy class fares between Toronto and the Azores. There are select dates in March and April where the combined round trip price is just under C$399 all in!

The departure dates we found are March 12, 19 or 26 with return dates being March 31, April 2 or 7.

These book in their lowest economy fare class that come with the most restrictions - ie very expensive fees for checked baggage, reserving seats etc. So if you can get by with just a carry on bag  of up to 8kg and don't care where you sit until you check in for your flight - this deal is for you!

Click here for more details or to book this flight!

(Rewards Canada receives a small commission with all bookings made via this link)


December 13 Update: Delta adds 2nd Vancouver-JFK flight, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles will no longer expire, IHG introduces IHG Studio



Not only has Air Canada added a second daily flight between Vancouver and New York, Delta Airlines has also decided to increase their summer service between the two cities. As of April 2, 2020 the SkyTeam airline will offer a second flight 5 times per week between Vancouver and JFK and bumping it up to daily service as of June 16. (Source RoutesOnline)

Congratulations to Debbie W. who was selected as the winner in our 10,000 Aeroplan Miles contest that was run to celebrate Aeroplan's Black Friday Cyber Monday deals!


Cathay Pacific announced earlier this month that they are doing away with expiring miles! The program, like most based in Asia have a three year expiry rule on their miles regardless of account activity. That means you only had three years to use up miles from the month they were earned in. All new miles earned as of January 1st will not expire after three years as long as you have activity in your account every 18 months. This is similar to most North American loyalty programs (see our feature on expiry and inactivity rules here) Of course the key note here is new miles earned as January 1 - this means all miles in your Asia Miles account right now or that are earned until the end of this year will still expire after three years. Learn more here.


IHG Hotels let us know about a new entertainment solution they have launched. Called IHG Studio, it is an in-room digital experience that allows guests to stream TV, make service requests and more.
IHG Studio allows guests to:
  • Connect and stream content securely from guests’ personal devices to their guest room TV
  • Make service requests such as order extra pillows, arrange for a late checkout and review room charges
  • Access the TV remote from the IHG Rewards Club mobile app
  • Order room service and purchase on-property amenities
  • Pay with Points, a new pilot program that allows guests to use IHG Rewards Club points to make in-hotel purchases 

IHG Studio is currently available in nearly 40 hotels in the U.S. and will expand to other regions by the end of 2019, including the U.K., Greater China, Canada and Latin America. The system will become a standard across all brands globally over the coming years.
Accessing the TV remote from the app is cool as we all know the TV remote is one of the dirtiest items in a hotel room!


Today's Aeroplan eStore deal for the 12 days of gifting is 10x the miles for online purchases with Dyson. Find out more here.

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals

Save up to 25% at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge with the Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan residents rate! Find out more here.

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!


Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios for stays at select Melia Hotels in Europe. More... Until Dec 31, 19

IHG Rewards Club

- Double IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at the Staybridge Suites Denver South - Highlands Ranch More... Unknown end date

Marriott Bonvoy
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays when your stay includes a Friday or Saturday night at the Courtyard Salt Lake City Airport. More... Until Jan 16, 20
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stayson Thu-Sun nights at the Residence Inn Chicago Oak Brook More...   Until Jan 16, 20

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Up to a 20% discount when you buy, gift or transfer miles. Full details Mileage brackets More... Until Dec 31, 19

World of Hyatt
- 3,000 Bonus World of Hyatt Points per paid stay at over 300 destinations from Small Luxury Hotels of the World. More... Register by Jan 31 for stays until Mar 2, 20


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Thursday, December 12, 2019

WestJet to launch summer seasonal service between Calgary and Boston



Two days after Air Canada announces it - WestJet announces today that they will also offer seasonal summer service between Calgary and Boston! This one makes a lot of sense since WestJet is a partner with Delta and Boston is a hub for the latter! Anyways, me thinks someone spilled the beans, most likely from WestJet to Air Canada but that's just a guess!

Here's an excerpt from WestJet's press release:
"Fantastic routes need fantastic schedules and WestJet is offering guests convenient flight times between our extensive hub out of Calgary and the capital of Massachusetts," said Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet Chief Commercial Officer. "While other carriers may fly the route, WestJet continues to build our schedule for the region's business and leisure travellers. It's never been easier to explore and do business in Calgary, Boston and beyond."
They definitely take a stab at Air Canada here and rightfully so. Air Canada's flight times aren't very ideal for the traveller flying out of Calgary as they have a late arrival into Boston and a very early departure from Boston on the return. WestJet's times are definitely more friendly to those flying out of or connecting via Calgary:

Route
Frequency
Departing
Arriving
Effective
Calgary-Boston
Daily
9:45 a.m.
4:15 p.m.
May 14, 2020
Boston-Calgary
Daily
5 p.m.
8:15 p.m.
May 14, 2020

 I like the fact that by having both airlines flying the route we should see some great price wars especially for the premium cabin. As I've mentioned before on the blog we see this on YYC-California routes where AC typically sells their business class for less than WestJet's premium cabin. In fact many times we've flown YYC to Los Angeles or San Francisco with Air Canada in Business Class for not much more than it was for economy! Hopefully we'll see the same thing for Boston!

Remember as well that right now you can score 350 WestJet Dollars with the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard when you apply for and receive the card. The bonus is awarded on your first purchase with the card so it doesn't take long before you can use those towards your Boston or any other WestJet flight (and pay no first checked bag fee as well!)

Image via WestJet

OFFER EXPIRED - New welcome offer for the TD First Class Visa Infinite Card - Up to 80,000 welcome points + first year free


Playing catch up here on the latest card offers from TD that came out last week. We already let you know about the new offer on the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card (read that post here) As mentioned in that post we said we'd have posts for some of the other offers. We continue today with TD's flagship proprietary card the TD First Class Visa Infinite Card.

The new offer out on the TD First Class Visa Infinite Card is officially lower than the offer that wound down at the end of November. I say officially as the last offer was promoted as a 90,000 point offer, 10,000 of which was for getting a supplementary card.  Take that out of the equation and the sign up bonus is the same between this offer and the last at 80,000 points. This offer is better in the end as it is easier to achieve.  In the last iteration you got your initial 20,000 points on first purchase and then received double points on all spending up to 60,000 points. This time you get the same 20,000 points but now you get 5x the points on all spending up to 20,000 points per month in the first three months. This means you can actually achieve the full 80,000 point bonus with spending as little as $1,333.34 over three months. Compare this to $3334 with the previous offer. This lower spend amount shoots the card up our rankings to 6th place for What you actually have to spend to get some of the best credit card welcome bonus offers. That lower spend of $1,334,34 is based on making all that spending online with ExpediaForTD since you would earn 45 points per dollar instead of 9. Some of you may be able to do this however for some your spend may be slightly higher as maybe you  don't need to book anything with ExpediaForTD. In that case, all your spend will earn 15 points per dollar (normal 3 points per dollar times 5) which means you have to spend $1,333.33 per month for three months to get the full bonus.

Remember as well the card has a first year free limited time benefit attached to it so outside of the actual spend these points come you at no cost. 80,000 points translates to $310 worth of travel credits for any travel booking or $400 worth of travel for bookings made via Expedia For TD.

If you are wondering if this offer is right for you, you do have some time to consider it as it is open for new applications until March 2, 2020 Find out more and apply for the card here.

December 12 Update: 10x Aeroplan Miles with lululemon, 15x AIR MILES for online Apple store purchases & Royal Air Maroc seat sale out of Montreal



Today's Aeroplan eStore deal for the 12 days of gifting is 10x the miles for online purchases with lululemon. Find out more here.



Also if you are looking to earn a bonus on Apple store purchases airmilessshops.ca is offering 15x the AIR MILES Rewards Mile until tomorrow. Find out more here.


If you are a Petro-Points collector check your email for a targeted offer to earn bonus HBC Rewards points when they shop at Hudson's Bay. Earn 250 bonus points for purchases between $1 and $49.99, 500 bonus points for $50+.

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals


Royal Air Maroc has a seat sale on their flights out of Montreal. You can fly to Casablana, Algiers, Tunis and more for as little as C$806 all in. Book by Dec 20 for travel Dec 30 - May 20, 20. Find out more here.


Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!


Canadian Bonus Offers

Air Canada Aeroplan
- 25% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you convert Radisson Rewards points to Aeroplan Miles. More... Until Dec 18, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Up to 75% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy 4,000 or more miles online. More... Until Jan 14, 20

Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus
- Earn up to 2,500 FlyerBonus points when renting Avis cars (group C and above) in USA (excluding the state of Alaska), Canada, Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico), Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. More... Book by Feb 29 for rentals until Mar 31, 20

Hilton Honors
- 1,000 Bonus Honors Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. More... Until Feb 29, 20
- 1,000 Bonus Honors Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Higgins Hotel New Orleans, Curio Collection by Hilton. More... Until Apr 26, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points and 10% off stays at Atlantis, Paradise Island. More... Book by Jan 20 for stays until May 31, 20
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the SpringHill Suites West Palm Beach I-95. More... Until Jan 31, 20

SAS EuroBonus
- OFFER EXTENDED Earn 6,000 EuroBonus Points in total when you rent with Avis for 4 or more days in in the US (North America and Canada), Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. More... Book by Dec 31 for rentals until Mar 31, 20

TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- Triple Miles&Go miles  when you buy miles online. More... Until Dec 31, 19



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AIR MILES expands Redtag.ca partnership - you can now earn and redeem miles for cruise vacations


AIR MILES announced today that they have expanded their relationship with Redtag.ca. Collectors will now be able to earn and redeem miles for cruise vacations booked via the special vacations.airmiles.ca website that is powered by Redtag.
"Providing our Collectors across the country with value, choice and the flexibility to get and use Miles their way remains the foundation that the AIR MILES Reward Program was built on. The launch of cruises with our partners at redtag.ca illustrates this commitment, providing an unforgettable dream reward just a click away," said Blair Cameron, President, AIR MILES Reward Program. "With an amazing selection of cruises to destinations all over the world and the freedom to get or use Miles when booking, it has never been more rewarding to find and book your dream vacation."

"Whether it is a weeklong cruise in the Caribbean, a two-week sailing throughout Europe or even an Alaskan adventure, redtag.ca has so many unique cruise options for all types of Collectors," said Dianne Jackson, Vice President, redtag.ca. "Our goal has always been to connect travellers to their dream getaways while providing the best deals. Through our partnership with AIR MILES and the addition of cruise bookings, I believe we are achieving that goal."
If you have ever booked or redeemed for a vacation package in the past using this site you'll be familiar with cruises then as it works the exact same way. When you book a cruise vacation you can redeem 909 miles for a $100 credit towards to the booking. This means you don't even have to have the full amount of miles to be able to redeem. Have 2,000 miles and book a $2,000 cruise? You can redeem 1,818 mile and pay the remaining $1,800. You will also earn 1 AIR MILE Reward Mile for every $20 spent on cruises - so that same booking should net you 90 AIR MILES.



In addition to the above I would recommend reading our feature The Ultimate Guide to Credit Card & Loyalty Programs for the All Inclusive Vacationer as most of the tips can be utilized towards cruises as well!

Need to rack up some more AIR MILES Reward miles for that cruise? Check out the great welcome offers of up to 3,000 Reward Miles on the BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard or up to 3,500 Reward Miles with the American Express AIR MILES Platinum card!

All images via AIR MILES




Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Alaska Airlines' Ugly Sweater Campaign returns - get priority boarding on December 20 when you wear one!


Many airlines celebrate the holiday season in different ways - whether its the videos of WestJet or Air Canada to this campaign from Alaska Airlines, there is always lots of fun stuff to take in! And for the third year in row Alaska Airlines brings us the fun ugly sweater campaign. The airline will give priority boarding to passengers who are wearing a holiday sweater on December 20 and it doesn't have to be an ugly one, just holiday themed!
"We know holiday travel can be stressful for some, which is why we've made sure flying with the 'merrier carrier' this time of year is an experience that brings nonstop joy to all our guests. We love going above and beyond to make your trip memorable; celebrating Ugly Sweater Day is just another way we're making the holidays a priority," said Natalie Bowman, Alaska Airlines' managing director of marketing and advertising.

Alaska Airlines offers multiple daily flights out of Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Vancouver and Victoria - so if you find yourself booked on one of these flights on December 20 be sure to wear a holiday sweater to enjoy that priority boarding!

News and image source: Alaska Airlines

December 11 Update: Rewards Canada Podcast on iHeartRadio, targeted Air Canada AQM flight bonus, World of Hyatt adds more SLH hotels along with a bonus


 The Rewards Canada Podcast is now on iHeartRadio. If this your preferred app for listening to podcasts you can now search for us there! Or you can just click this link to go to our page on iHeartRadio.


There is a new targeted flight bonus offer for select Air Canada Altitude/Aeroplan members that offers up to 10,000 bonus Altitude Qualifying miles on flights in Canada and to the U.S.. If you got the email you know you're targeted. If you didn't or somehow missed the email you can try registering via this link and it will let you know if you qualify or not.


World of Hyatt added 56 more SLH Hotels to the program that you'll be able earn and burn points at. Both SLH locations in Canada are not participating yet. Out of over 500 SLH Hotels Worldwide more than 300 are now part of the World of Hyatt program. To celebrate this milestone Hyatt is offering a 3,000 point bonus for stays at SLH hotels when you register by January 31 and complete your stay by March 2. Find out more here.

Please don't forget about our Give A Mile 2019 Flight Hero Christmas Campaign where you can help raise 50,000 miles for flights of compassion. Learn more here.

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals

Expedia Escape Sale! Save Up to 40% Off. Find out more here.

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!


Canadian Bonus Offers

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Altitude Qualifying Aeroplan Miles when you travel on eligible flights within Canada, and between Canada and the U.S. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Register and book by Dec 31 for travel until Feb 29, 20

Other Bonus Offers

All Accor Limitless
- Quadruple Rewards points for stays at participating new Accor Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 20 for stays until Mar 8, 20

American AAdvantage
- 1,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for stays at participating Marriott Hotels in Chicago, Dallas, New York City, Los Angeles and Mexico City. More... Until Mar 31, 20
- Earn up to 70% Bonus Advantage miles when you buy or gift miles. More... Until Jan 5, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points and 10% off stays at Atlantis, Paradise Island. More... Book by Jan 20 for stays until May 31, 20

SATA Azore Airlines Imagine
- Double Imagine Miles when you rent with Sixt Worldwide. More... Until Feb 29, 20

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Earn up to Quadruple KrisFlyer Miles when you rent with Hertz or 3 or more days in Asia, USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Feb 29, 20

TAP Air Portugal Victoria
- 50% Miles&Go Miles Discount when you redeem for Miles&Go award tickets to or from Boston, Maceió or Montreal. More... Book by Dec 28, 19




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Use the new Air France KLM Flying Blue buy miles bonus to get 2 business class tickets from Edmonton to Europe for close to the price of 1

Air France KLM brought out a new buy miles bonus today for their Flying Blue program and it is amazing way to save yourself a lot of cash if you want to fly in style out of Edmonton! The reason why is that Air France KLM's monthly Promo Rewards (their discounted award flight offer) is offering 50% off business class on KLM out of Edmonton to Europe. With 50% off you can fly from YEG to a lot of cities in Europe for 58,000 to 60,500 miles round trip plus taxes and fees. For a lot of you, you don't have Flying Blue miles but could potentially transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Flying Blue but that transfer can take some time. So the other way to get the miles for these flights is by buying the miles. Buying miles is not normally a good deal unless there is a bonus attached and that is what started today. From now until January 14 you can earn up to a 75% bonus when you buy Flying Blue miles and the maximum you can buy is 75,000 miles in a purchase.

So how can you utilize this for some great savings? Let's look at flying Business Class from Edmonton to Milan, Italy in March for two people. You need 58,000 miles per person or 116,000 for two. This means you don't have to buy the full 75,000 miles. You can get away with buying 68,000 miles:

Total cost of the miles is 1870 EUR or about C$2737. Plus you'll have to add GST/HST since the transaction is processed by Points.com (a Canadian company) for a grand total of C$2,873 to buy the miles.

And here is a redemption example of a flight for two people between YEG and MXP (via AMS):



As you see you have to pay EUR898.28 in taxes and fees. That amounts to about C$1314. Add this to the cost of the miles and you are looking at C$4,187 all in for the two business class tickets. Now let's look to see how much it would cost to buy these flights outright:



The cost at time of posting is C$7,961! That means the buy miles route would save you $3,774.30 - that's almost the cost of one of the round trip business class tickets. It's pretty much a buy one get one free offer!

Offer details:
Up to 75% Bonus Flying Blue Miles when you buy 4,000 or more miles online. Buy Flying Blue Miles here. Until Jan 14, 20
Buy 4,000 -8,000 miles receive a 50% bonus
Buy 10,000 – 28,000 miles receive a  60% bonus
Buy 30,000 -75,000 miles receive a 75% bonus

Do you think you might take advantage of this great opportunity? Let us know in the comments below!