March 26 Update: BMO AIR MILES Mastercard review updated, Aer Lingus providing 10% extra on vouchers, British Airways suspends all Canadian flights until April 17

The Rewards Canada review of the BMO AIR MILES Mastercard has been updated! We haven't touched it since 2015 so it was in dire need of getting an update. This is the case with quite a few of our reviews and we hope to get to updating them all over the next little while. You can check out updated BMO AIR MILES Mastercard Review here.

When we were updating our COVID-19 resource page yesterday the change of ticket offer from Aer Lingus real stood out. Of course like most airlines they are offering vouchers for future travel instead of refunds but what makes theirs different is that they will give you 10% extra on what you paid, so if you booked a flight for C$1000 your voucher will be for C$1,100. And unlike other airlines whose vouchers are valid for 12 to 24 months, Aer Lingus' is valid for 5 years!

Image via Aer Lingus

British Airways updated their route schedules and have effectively cancelled flights to Canada until April 17. Here is a breakdown of the routes:
-  cancelled their flights between Calgary and London Heathrow until April 20 and look to be running 3x weekly service after that.
- cancelled their flights between Montreal and London Heathrow until April 17 and look to be running 3x weekly service after that
- cancelled their flights between Toronto and London Heathrow until April 17 and look to be running 1x daily service after that
- cancelled their flights between Vancouver and London Heathrow until April 17 -and look to be running 1x daily service after that
(Source RoutesOnline)

Image via British Airways

If you are doing some online shopping today you can earn 50,000 bonus PC Optimum points if you spend $150 or more with Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutique. Find out more here.

Image via Shoppers Drug Mart

PC Optimum has sent out an email to members warning them of a phishing scam that is being texted to some people. If you receive a text that is asking you to log in or for personal details do not click on the link - just delete it and block the sender.

Image via PC Optimum

*** Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel, lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.
Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card
• If you want to redeem your points and miles for gift cards you may want to do so sooner than later

Posts since our last update:

• If you want to redeem your points and miles for gift cards you may want to do so sooner than later
  Earlier today we brought you the news that Best Western Rewards removed the option to redeem their points for…
• Hilton Honors to offer elite status extensions for both 2019 and 2020 status members and pauses points expiry even further
  We just received the following message in our email from Hilton. They have come out with additional news for Hilton…
• March 25 Update: Earn 2x cash back at select retailers with Rakuten, Pacific Coastal suspends flights until May 2, Best Western Rewards stops gift card redemptions
  Right now you can earn 2x Cash Back for shopping at select 'Athleisure' stores via Rakuten - stores included…

Deals:

Doordash $5 Deals. Use Code: 5DEALS at checkout! Expires April 15. Find out more here

Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.

Canadian Bonus Offers

Marriott Bonvoy
- 1,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points when you stay stay 2+ nights Thursday-Sunday at the Delta Hotels Winnipeg. More... Until May 10, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 1,000 Bonus Asia Miles + free breakfast for stays on the “Bed and Breakfast” package at any one of 7 Marriott Hotels in Hong Kong. More... Until May 31, 20

JAL Mileage Bank
- Double Mileage Bank Miles for stays at participating Chatrium Hotels in Bangkok and Yangon. More... Until Jun 30, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 10,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points when you stay 2 nights or longer at the Vedema, a Luxury Collection Resort, Santorini. More... May 1 - Jul 24, 20
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stay at The Lytle Park Hotel, Autograph Collection Cincinnati. More... Jun 16 - Aug 31, 20

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to Triple Qmiles when you book hotels via Trip.com PointsPLUS. More... Book by Apr 30 for stays until May 31, 20

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Earn up to Triple ROP Miles + 600 bonus miles on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days in USA, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. More... Book by Apr 30 for rentals until May 31, 20

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 30% Bonus VHR Points for each stay at any participating VOILÀ hotel Worldwide. More... Until Jun 30, 20

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If you want to redeem your points and miles for gift cards you may want to do so sooner than later

Earlier today we brought you the news that Best Western Rewards removed the option to redeem their points for gift cards.  Now, we see Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards has done the same thing (Source Doctor of Credit) and that leads us to believe more programs may head down this route. Airlines, hotels and even non-travel loyalty programs are all seeing a significant drop in business right now and are making all efforts possible to conserve cash and this seems to be the case from the aforementioned programs.

Here in Canada my worries would mostly be from the larger programs like Aeroplan and AIR MILES and less so the credit card programs as to who may follow the lead of these other programs. Unfortunately the credit card companies will be benefiting from the financial crisis that Canadians face during this time so I don't see any reason for them to curtail cash and cash equivalent rewards.  Aeroplan and less so AIR MILES could run into a position where they will need to conserve cash sometime in the near future and if that happens it is possible to see them reduce or suspend these type of redemption options.

Right now the good news is that I haven't seen evidence of this happening just yet from any Canadian program.  However it is something you should take into consideration as the longer the pandemic drags on, the more Canadians will have to rely on their loyalty programs to help with their finances.

To learn more abot using points and miles for gift cards and other cash options I recommend reading  our feature Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times

Hilton Honors to offer elite status extensions for both 2019 and 2020 status members and pauses points expiry even further

We just received the following message in our email from Hilton. They have come out with additional news for Hilton Honors members. Previously they had announced the pausing of points expiry until May 31 and that has now been extended to December 31. More importantly they are now offering elite tier extension to for members who were due to lose status by next week and also for those already have 2020 status. The extensions last until March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022 respectively. They have also extended the date to which you can change or cancel stays with no fee from April 30 to June 30.

Your Hilton Honors Status and Points

We consider it our privilege to have you as a Hilton Honors member and we want to show our appreciation by extending your benefits: 

• 2019 Status Extension. All members whose 2019 status was scheduled to be downgraded on March 31, 2020—whether it’s Diamond, Gold or Silver—will automatically receive an extension through March 31, 2021.
• 2020 Status Extension. We are extending your 2020 member status through March 31, 2022. This means you will continue to enjoy all the Diamond, Gold or Silver benefits you have access to today for the next 24 months.
• Points Extension. We will pause the expiration of all Points scheduled to expire between now and December 31, 2020.
• Weekend Night Rewards Earned on Eligible Hilton Credit Cards. We have extended the expiration date of all unexpired Weekend Night Rewards as of March 11, 2020, and all new ones issued until August 30, 2020, through the end of next summer (August 31, 2021).

Your Travel Flexibility

We remain committed to offering you flexible booking options. Given these unique circumstances, we are making further adjustments to our individual booking policies:

• Existing Reservations. All reservations—even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”)—that are scheduled for arrival on or before June 30, 2020 can be changed or cancelled at no charge, up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival day.
• New Reservations. Any reservations you make—even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”)—that are booked between today and June 30, 2020 for any future arrival date can be changed or cancelled at no charge, up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival day.

You can visit Hilton's COVID-19 page here for all the latest updates from them.

These updates from Hilton will also be added to our COVID-19 resources page later today.

March 25 Update: Earn 2x cash back at select retailers with Rakuten, Pacific Coastal suspends flights until May 2, Best Western Rewards stops gift card redemptions

Right now you can earn 2x Cash Back for shopping at select 'Athleisure' stores via Rakuten - stores included as part of the promotion are Hudson's Bay, GNC, Sport Chek and more. Find out more here.

Today is the last day to take advantage of the Marriott Bonvoy and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan buy points and miles deals. You can check out the Marriott offer here and the Alaska offer here.

Over the past few days Emirates Airlines has stated they would suspend all flights but then backtracked on that and said they will operate some flights including Toronto but as of today they have officially suspended all flights. So much for the 20% bonus Tier Miles offer we posted yesterday, well that is for the time being as that offer is valid until June 30 so if EK starts flying before then you can take advantage of it. (Source Emirates)

 Closer to home, Vancouver based Pacific Coastal Airlines has suspended all flights from today to May 2. They hope to resume operations on May 3.This announcement does not appear to affect the flights that Pacific Coastal operates as WestJet Link. (Source Pacific Coastal)

If you have read our piece on Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times you'll have seen how you can use your various loyalty rewards points for gift cards. One loyalty program that we didn't mention in that post has decided to STOP allowing redemptions for gift cards. That program is Best Western Rewards and this comes as a bit of surprise that a program would go this route at a time when people need those redemption options the most - however from a financial standpoint it doesn't surprise me - Best Western has probably had a run on gift cards from their members and it could be affecting BW's cash resources. You can learn more here. (HT LoyaltyLobby)

*** Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel, lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.
Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• 100% Bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points until May 27
  Hilton Honors launched another  buy points promotion for their members today. Once again this one it is the flat…
• March 24 Update: New Amex Offers offer for William Ashley, Tokyo 2020 postponed - time to start planning for next year & five new bonus offers
  There is a new Amex Offers offer out for William Ashley. I received the offer for my American Express…
  

Deals:

Doordash $5 Deals. Use Code: 5DEALS at checkout! Expires April 15. Find out more here

Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

IHG Rewards Club
- 1,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points per stay on the Government Rate at the Staybridge Suites Washington-Greenbelt. More... Until Apr 30, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the Residence Inn Houston I-10 West/Park Row. More... Until May 15, 20

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- 10% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles with 50 retailers when you shop online via the KrisFlyer Spree portal. More... Until Apr 17, 20



Follow Rewards Canada:

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100% Bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points until May 27

Hilton Honors launched another  buy points promotion for their members today. Once again this one it is the flat rate bonus of 100% when you buy 10,000 or more points. This means you are paying US$ 0.5 cents per point which can be easily redeemed at values of 0.8 cents or more!

With Hilton reward nights start out at only 5,000 points so you could potentially get a lot of nights out of this offer.

Also with travel curtailed we don’t say you should buy points speculatively right now but some of you are still needing to travel and could very well make use of this bonus. Or if you do want to speculate…..

Offer details:
100% Bonus when you buy 10,000 or more Hilton Honors points online. Buy points here Until May 27, 20

Remember as well that Hilton has extended their Points Unlimited promotion of earning 2,000 bonus points per stay until May 31.

Find our complete list of Hilton Honors offers right here

March 24 Update: New Amex Offers offer for William Ashley, Tokyo 2020 postponed - time to start planning for next year & five new bonus offers

There is a new Amex Offers offer out for William Ashley. I received the offer for my American Express Gold Rewards Card and provides a $50 statement credit when spending $350 or more. See it on our Guide to Amex Offers
 

The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo have been officially postponed until no later than the Summer of 2021. If you were planning on attending and have been holding on to your existing travel reservations you'll want to start thinking about making those cancellations. No point in trying to change travel to next summer as no dates have been set yet and most airline schedules are even out yet for next summer. However you can start planning for it now by doing research on hotels, Olympic sites and more. (Source IOC)


** Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel, lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more. **

Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

• Shifting your loyalty program strategy to help during these trying and tough financial times
  
• In light of what's going on in the world should you shift to a cash back credit card instead of a travel card? Why not a card that has both?
  
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Posts since our last update:

• Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – March Edition
  Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available! One of the…
• Aeroplan soft launches using miles to bid for upgrades and a full time buy/gift miles option
  Air Canada's Aeroplan soft-launched two new features today for program members. The first is using Aeroplan Miles to bid…
• WestJet Rewards extending elite status and providing voucher extensions
  Last night an email went out to WestJet Rewards members detailing what they are planning for to those who…
• Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card
  Last week we had our reader TitaniumTux let us know that Instacart is finally coding properly as a eats…
• Amazon Canada temporarily unavailable via AIR MILES Shops
  When we were posting about the new bonus offer for shopping via airmilessshops.ca this morning there was a new pop…
• Great News - Scotiabank postpones planned increase to select non-travel point redemption options
  Last week we brought you the news that Scotiabank was raising the point requirements for select non-travel point redemption…
• 50 Bonus AIR MILES when you spend $100 or more via AIR MILES Shops
  Many stores across Canada are closing their doors to help stop the spread of the Corona Virus. From Bed,…
• Online shopping portals have eligible Amazon.ca purchases curtailed
  Thanks to Rewards Canada reader Todd W. for forwarding details about new limitations on Amazon.ca purchases made via the Aeroplan…
• Reminder: Opt-in to receive emails from Sobeys and get 25 free AIR MILES Reward Miles
  Earlier this week we posted about Shifting your loyalty strategy to help with these trying times and one of…
• March 20 Update: Choice Privileges & Emirates Skywards buy points/miles offers, Hilton extends 2,000 bonus points per night offer & Cathay Pacific will continue with 3x weekly Vancouver flights
  Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page where we are keeping you up to date with all the…

Canadian Bonus Offers

AIR MILES
- 50 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you spend $100 or more in single transaction at participating retailers via airmilesshops.ca. More... Until Apr 16, 20

Emirates Skywards
- 20% Bonus Skywards Tier Miles for all elite tier members when flying on Emirates and this includes their Toronto flights. More... Until Jun 30, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Hilton Honors
- OFFER EXTENDED Earn 2,000 Bonus Honors points per stay at Hilton Hotels worldwide plus 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights stayed. More... Until May 31, 20
- 100% Bonus when you buy 10,000 or more Hilton Honors points online. More... Until May 27, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- Earn up to 8,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the Delta Hotels Chicago Willowbrook. More... May 1 – Jun 30, 20



Follow Rewards Canada:

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Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – March Edition

Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available! One of the easiest ways to rack up lots of hotel points is to take advantage of these systemwide bonuses that come from many of the big chain programs and also from the lesser known programs. In fact, right now it should be rare for you NOT to earn a bonus. Unless you are staying at a boutique hotel or perhaps an independent hotel most other hotels out there have a bonus. So take advantage of it! These systemwide bonuses simply require you to register beforehand and they do not affect hotel pricing as long as you book a point eligible rate which are most rates out there. Of course booking through a third party site like Expedia or Rocketmiles does not count as most chains only award points on bookings that are made directly with them. Without further ado here are all the current promotions that are available to everyone:

Provider	Offer	Validity Date
ALL Accor Live Limitless	2,000 bonus Rewards points when you complete two stays at participating Accor Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)	Register and book by May 4 for stays until Sep 30, 20
	For a complete listing of all ALL Accor Live Limitlessbonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's ALL Accor Live Limitless page
Best Western Rewards	Earn a Free Night when you complete 2 eligible stays at a Best Western® branded hotel in the United States, Canada or Caribbean. Limit of 1 free night voucher per member and that voucher is valid for 70 days. Full details, online registration and booking. (Registration is required)	Register & book now for stays Feb 18 – Apr 20, 20
	For a complete listing of all Best Western Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Best Western page
Choice Hotels Privileges	Earn up to 8,000 Bonus Privileges Points after every two separate qualifying stays at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) For residents of the U.S. and Canada only Registered members will be awarded a minimum of 5,000 to a maximum of 8,000 bonus points after the second qualifying stay. The number of bonus points awarded depends on the number of base points earned from the two separate qualifying stays, with points varying by hotel. The total of base points plus bonus points awarded, however, will be at least 8,000 points, which is the number of points required for a future free night at over 1,000 Choice® hotels worldwide	Mar 7 - Apr 26, 20
	For a complete listing of all Choice Privileges bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Choice page
GHA Discovery	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all GHA Discovery bonus offers please visit Rewards Canada's GHA page
Hilton	Earn 2,000 Bonus Honors points per stay at Hilton Hotels worldwide plus 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights stayed. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required )	Until May 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Hilton HHonors bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hilton page
Hyatt	Double World of Hyatt Points with each stay starting with your second qualifying stay at over 1,000 participating Hyatt Hotels worldwide. Hyatt credit card holders will earn an extra 1,500 Bonus Points with each qualifying stay, starting with the second, that includes a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night. Full details, online registration and booking(Registration is required)	Register by Mar 31 for stays Feb 15 – May 15, 20
	For a complete listing of all Hyatt Gold Passport bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hyatt page
InterContinental Hotels Group	Earn up to 4x IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at participating IHG Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Earn 1,000 points on your 1st night Double Points for nights 2-5 Triple Points for nights 6-14 Quadruple points for night 15+	Register by Apr 15 for stays Feb 15 – May 15, 20
	For a complete listing of all IHG Priority Club bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's IHG page
Le Club AccorHotels	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Le Club AccorHotels bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Le Club AccorHotels page
Marriott	2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points on each stay starting with your second stay at over 7,200 Marriott Hotels worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)	Register by May 31 for stays Mar 17 – Jun 14, 20
	For a complete listing of all Marriott Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Marriott page
Millennium Hotels My Millennium	2,000 Bonus My Millennium Points + up to 20% off for stays of 2 or more night at participating Millennium Hotels Worldwide. Full details & online booking.	Until Mar 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Millennium Hotels My Millennium bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's My Millennium page
Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Preferred Hotel Group iPrefer bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's iPrefer page
Radisson Rewards	Earn up to 150,000 Bonus Rewards Points at all Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson hotels worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) Eligible nights include your typical paid stays but also include Award Night and Points + Cash redemption stays. • Complete two (2) Stays, earn 5,000 Bonus Points when the second Eligible Stay is completed. • Complete three (3) Stays, earn 10,000 additional Bonus Points (totaling 15,000 Bonus Points) when the third Eligible Stay is completed. • Complete five (5) Stays, earn 15,000 additional Bonus Points (totaling 30,000 Bonus Points) when the fifth Eligible Stay has been completed. • Complete (10) Stays, earn 45,000 additional Bonus Points (totaling 75,000 Bonus Points) when the tenth Eligible Stay has been completed. • Complete (15) Stays, earn 75,000 additional Bonus Points (totaling 150,000 Bonus Points) when the fifteenth Eligible Stay has been completed.	Until Mar 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Radisson Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Radisson Rewards page
Red Roof Inns RediRewards	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Red Roof bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's RediRewards page
Shangri-La Golden Circle	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Shangria-La bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Golden Circle page
Sonesta Hotels Travel Pass	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Sonesta Hotels bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Travel Pass page
Voila Hotel Rewards	5,000 Bponus VHR Points for each stay at any participating VOILÀ hotel Worldwide. Full details & online registration (Registration is required) Maximum of 100,000 bonus points awarded	Until Mar 31, 20
	For a complete listing of all Voila Hotel Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's VHR page
WorldHotels Rewards	Quadruple Rewards Points for stays at all participating WorldHotels locations Worldwide. Full details & online booking	Until Apr 30, 20
	For a complete listing of all Wyndham Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's WorldHotels page
Wyndham Rewards	Earn 5,500 Bonus Wyndham Rewards Points  when you complete 2 separate stays at Wyndham Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)	Register and book by Apr 26 for stays until May 21, 20
	For a complete listing of all Wyndham Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Wyndham page

Aeroplan soft launches using miles to bid for upgrades and a full time buy/gift miles option

Air Canada's Aeroplan soft-launched two new features today for program members. The first is using Aeroplan Miles to bid for upgrades on flights and the second is the full time availability to buying or gifting Aeroplan miles.

Here are the details as provided to us by Air Canada:

• Use Aeroplan Miles to submit offers for Bid Upgrades. Members now have the option to use Aeroplan Miles when bidding for an upgrade to a higher cabin. Previously, customers could only bid for a cabin upgrade using cash at https://upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/AirCanada?lang=en. This is the first of what will be many new ways for members to access popular extras and premium travel to make their trip more relaxing and rewarding
• Buy or Gift Aeroplan Miles at any time. Members can now purchase miles for themselves, and give the gift of miles to other Aeroplan Members, at any time, through https://www.aeroplan.com/buy-gift-miles.do#/. Previously, members could only purchase miles to top up their Aeroplan account when they were making a flight reward booking. This feature continues to be available. Members can also continue to transfer their miles to another member. 

It's nice to see the program pushing out more developments and features that members can utilize. Of course the using miles to bid for upgrades is something more of us will look at down the road since there isn't a lot of flying going on. That being said, if you do find yourself flying in the next few month it is definitely a feature you'll want to check out. In fact, if you do please let us know we'd love to have you detail it for us and/or write about it (and we do pay you for these articles). If you are interested please send me a note at info@rewardscanada.ca.

Learn more about the Bid Upgrades here

For the buying miles option, it is just like you have seen on our site from many other airline and hotel programs. You can now buy or gift miles at anytime and Aeroplan allows you to buy anywhere from 1,000 to 250,000 miles. The cost is 3 cents (C$) per mile. This rate is on the high side - but that is always the case when you buy miles from airline programs when you don't take any bonuses into account.

Hopefully Air Canada will be like all the others who sell miles and offer bonuses or discounts from time to time. That being said, there are many award flights in business or first class where you can easily get value way above 3 cents per mile so it can make sense to buy miles for those awards and as always it can make sense to buy miles to top off for an award. For example, if your only 2,000 miles shy of a business class ticket worth thousands of dollars paying $60 to get to that award is worth it.

Learn more about buying Aeroplan miles here.

All screenshots/images via Air Canada

WestJet Rewards extending elite status and providing voucher extensions

Last night an email went out to WestJet Rewards members detailing what they are planning for to those who have elite status expiring soon as well as vouchers that were set to expire shortly:

Tier Status Retention and upgrades
For elite status extensions and/or upgrades WestJet is focusing on those members whose elite status is set to expire in March, April or May:

You may have questions on how a reduction in travel may impact your ability to retain your status or move to the next tier. Since our program has a variable qualification period unique to each member, our actions to date have been focused on those who are impacted in the near term. We have proactively extended or upgraded members who were on track to achieve status in March, April or May. Rest assured; we will similarly look after those whose tier status may be impacted in the months ahead.

When I checked all of my family's accounts we are all still showing our Gold Elite status expiring on April 30 and May 31. With our April trip on WestJet cancelled our qualifying spend isn't near the re-qualification mark for Gold status for all four of us. Hopefully we'll see that extended but honestly there is no rush as WestJet and all the other airlines have more important issues to attend to.

Companion Voucher expiry
WestJet also provided details on what is going to happen to companion vouchers that come from the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and WestJet RBC Mastercard or issued as Milestone awards. The following vouchers will be extended at this time, although WestJet does not state until when:

• Unredeemed vouchers expiring in March, April or May
• Companion vouchers with an earlier expiry date that were redeemed for travel between March 1 and April 30, 2020 where travel was cancelled due to COVID-19

These extensions are set to be completed by March 31 or within 14 days of your travel being cancelled. WestJet advises that you check your account online for details. The flights we just had cancelled utilized our companion vouchers which have an expiry in September. They haven't shown back up in our account yet but based on the above I figure they should be back in our accounts by the first week of April. I also don't expect to see extensions on them until September closes in and only if the current situation we are in continues.

Lounge Access and vouchers
WestJet also provided the following in the email:

We have decided to temporarily close the Chinook Lounge, in partnership with the Calgary Airport Authority, effective immediately. In addition, all lounge access benefits for Platinum, Gold and Silver members will also be temporarily paused, effective Monday, March 23 at 11:59 p.m. MDT. Some airport lounges operated by our partners, including Plaza Premium, may still be open, however your lounge access benefits will remain temporarily paused in all airport lounges until further notice. Please know that we do not take the pausing of member benefits lightly. Safety has always been our top priority; the safety of you and our WestJetters is not something we are willing to compromise. We will provide an update on the re-opening of the Chinook Lounge and resumption of lounge benefits as soon as we can. 

I would also assume that this could potentially mean a delay in the opening of WestJet's new flagship lounge in Calgary. It was set to open early this summer and again I'm sure that will be dependent on how everything unfolds over the next few months.

What wasn't addressed in WestJet's email is what is happening to seat selection vouchers and guest lounge vouchers that are also awarded as a benefit to elite members. Chances are these will be treated the same as the Companion Vouchers but we'll check with WestJet for confirmation.

Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Last week we had our reader TitaniumTux let us know that Instacart is finally coding properly as a eats and drinks merchant with American Express. And do you know what that means? That means you can now earn your American Express Cobalt Card category multiplier for shopping at Loblaw''s family of stores:  Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore and T&T stores. Loblaw Companies Ltd. launched with Instacart in late 2017 in the Toronto region and expanded Canada wide after that. This provided a workaround for those wanting to use an American Express card at their stores. Since all Loblaw Companies stores do not accept Amex this method of getting your groceries delivered via Instacart was the way you could use your Amex as you actually bought the groceries from Instacart and not Loblaws.There was an issue however - Instacart didn't code as a eats & drinks merchant with Amex Canada so this meant you would not earn any category bonuses on the cards - you'd simply earn 1 point per dollar spent.

Fast forward to this month and that seems to have changed. As TitaniumTux pointed out he received 5x points on his latest Instacart order when he used his American Express Cobalt Card for the purchase. We did some searching on Google and other than his posts on Red Flag Deals and our post there really isn't any news around when this change with American Express happened. 

So whether is just happened in the past few weeks or a few months ago we wanted to pass this along again to our readers who shop at Loblaw's family of stores and even more so now that people are opting for delivery instead of going in to the store. Now is the time to rack up those points and miles with the American Express Cobalt Card as it has an excellent eats & drinks multiplier. If you don't have one of the cards I would recommend getting one of them as it provides a very liquid point redemption options which is so needed right now - that is, you can easily use the points for a statement credit without spending a ton of money.

The American Express Cobalt™ Card  earns 5x points with Instacart which translates to a 3.5% cash back return on those purchases.  The 5x points for eats & drinks is limited to $30,000 annually. Once you are at 1,000 points you can start redeeming and those 1,000 points will net you a $7 statement credit. You may ask though, what about a card that earn 4% cash back on groceries like the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite card and why should I give up that extra 0.5% in cash back? It's about access to that cash back. The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card only pays out your cash back reward once per year. So you have to ask yourself - can I wait to get that cash back in 3 months, 6 months, or even 12 months? Or would I prefer to have access to the cash when I need it or as Jesus Jones sand Right here, Right now? That's where the Cobalt Card has pretty much every other card in the market beat. No other card will give you instant access to a $7 statement credit that is potentially earned as a 3.5% return.

UPDATE:

Limited Time Offer: Increased value in American Express Use Points for Purchases (1,000 points = up to $20!)

Do note that when you shop via Instacart you will earn 10 PC Optimum points per dollar spent however you will not earn any bonuses that may be advertised directly from the stores. Also of note is that some sale prices that may be available in store may not be available via Instacart. This really is the trade off - if you are truly self isolating go the delivery route (and earn your 5x points) but if the savings are too big and you are willing to go shop in store or do grocery pick up do so but you won't be able to use your Amex.

I normally don't shop via Real Canadian Superstore (Loblaw's flagship store out west) but now have my first order with them set for delivery this Thursday via Instacart. and used my Cobalt card for it. I have also been ordering groceries via Save-On-Foods and using services like DoorDash both of whom also code as 5x points with the Cobalt Card.

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