Tuesday, September 29, 2020

September 29 Update: More Amex Cobalt Multipliers for Vancouver Island, Coast Hotels transfer bonus to Aeroplan ends tomorrow, earn bonus points at Canada's two newest Hyatt Hotels

 


Thanks to long time reader and fan of Rewards Canada - BenSenise we have more American Express Cobalt Card multiplier updates for you. Here's what Ben provided:

Market on Millstream
Red Barn Market (7 locations around Victoria, BC)
The Root Cellar (grocery store, Saanich, BC)
J & J Wonton Noodle House, (restaurant, Victoria BC)
Village Food Markets, (grocery store, Sooke, BC)
Stoked Pizzeria (Shirley, BC)
Sakura Sushi & Grocery (Victoria, BC)
All of the above are 5x point multiplier locations.
Be sure to check out our American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations feature to learn of these and many other locations in Canada and worldwide where you can earn those extra points!


 

Earlier this month we let you know about the awesome transfer bonus from Coast Hotels Coast Rewards to Air Canada Aeroplan but what we didn't know was when the offer was to end.. Coast has finally updated their website with an end date which happens to be tomorrow (Sep 30) Learn more here.


 

Two new Hyatt Hotels opened in the past few weeks here in Canada. The Hyatt Place Prince George (Hyatt's first modular hotel) opened on the 20th while Hyatt House Moncton opened to the public last week and as with all new Hyatt Hotels you can earn 500 bonus points per night to celebrate at either location. The offer for the bonus points is good for stays until Dec 30. Hyatt now has 11 hotels operating in Canada with the addition of these two hotels and there's quite a few more set to open over the next few years. Find out more here.

 


Airline Schedule Updates
A summary Canadian operations based on data from RoutesOnline and other sources. Remember that many of these route plans are subject to change and right now they are changing frequently!

United Airlines provided an update on their flights out of Canada for most of the fall and  winter season. They will only be flying six routes as outlined below. (Source RoutesOnline)
Chicago O’Hare – Toronto 2 daily CRJ550/E175
Denver – Calgary 1 daily E175
Denver – Vancouver 1 daily A319 (2 daily from 05JAN21)
San Francisco – Vancouver 2 daily A319/E175
Washington Dulles – Montreal  1 daily ERJ145
Washington Dulles – Toronto 1 daily CRJ700

Meanwhile Delta Airlines also updated their Canada flying schedule but for this fall only.  (Source RoutesOnline)
Detroit – Montreal 1 daily CRJ900
Detroit – Toronto 2 daily CRJ700 (CRJ900 from 20NOV20)
Minneapolis/St. Paul – Calgary 3 weekly CRJ900 (1 daily from 20NOV20)
Minneapolis/St. Paul – Winnipeg 3 weekly CRJ900 (6 weekly from 20NOV20)
Seattle – Vancouver 1 daily E175

China Southern will continue to operate two A380 flights per week between Vancouver and Guangzhou through the winter season  (Source RoutesOnline)

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.

 

Posts since our last update:

Deals:

Qatar Airways Autumn Seat Sale - Fly from Montreal or Toronto to the Middle East, Asia and Africa for as little as C$785. Book by Oct 1. Find out more here.

Fairmont Le Château Montebello 90th Anniversary Package - Stay for as a little as C$90 per night per person. Find out more here.

Earn $300 cash when you open a new Scotiabank Ultimate Package! Plus earn Scotia Rewards or SCENE Rewards points. Find out more here.

If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more here

SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. Find out more here

WealthSimple Trade:  Receive $5 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $5 when you receive $5)

Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.


Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Choice Privileges
- OFFER EXTENDED Earn 50,000 Choice Privileges Points plus a free night, plus a future free night, resort credit and more when you book a stay at Zoëtry® Wellness & Spa Resorts, and Secrets®, Breathless®, Dreams®, Now® and Sunscape® Resorts & Spas brands More... For residents of the U.S. and Canada only Book by Nov 10 for stays until Dec 22, 21
- 1,000 Bonus Privileges Points when you rent with Avis for 4 or more days in the U.S. or Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 20
- 1,000 Bonus Privileges Points when you rent with Budget for 4 or more days in the U.S. or Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 20

Emirates Skywards
- Earn 1 bonus tier miles for every 4 Skywards Miles you buy or gift. More... Until Oct 3, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- Double IHG Rewards Club Points for stays at the new Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok. More... Book now for stays Oct 1 – Dec 30, 20

Nordic Choice Club
- 7,500 Bonus Club Points for every fifth night you stay at Nordic Choice hotels. More... Until Dec 31, 20


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Today Only: 10x miles on all purchases made online via AIR MILES Shops


 

Want to get some early Christmas shopping done? You might want to do it today as AIR MILES has launched a flash deal offering 10x the AIR MILES Reward Miles on all purchases made via airmilesshops.ca! This offer is only valid today and is site wide so you'll earn the 10x miles on all the retailers offered via the shopping portal.

As always don't forget that you will also earn your loyalty points from the end retailer as well such as Indigo's Plum Rewards, Lego VIP and more on top of this bonus and your credit card points/miles/cashaback

Learn more about this offer here.


Monday, September 28, 2020

Fairmont Hotels CAA offer - Up to 25% off the daily rate and a $50 Dining Credit for CAA members



 

Another Fairmont Hotels offer to pass along! You'll want to compare this offer to their Take Your Time offer to see what provides a better deal. This offer is for those who are CAA members, I mean you can try to book it without being one as in the past sometimes they don't check your membership but I have found that many hotels are starting to ask for the membership number more often now.

Anyways this offer provides up to 25% off the daily rate for a minimum 2 night stay at most Fairmont locations in Canada and lots of locations in the Caribbean, US and Mexico. It also includes a $50 dining credit per stay which includes in-room dining if you are still wary of hitting up a restaurant.

The offer must be booked by December 15 for stays until December 31, 2020.

Here's a look at the rates for the CAA offer  versus the Take Your Time offer at the Fairmont Banff Springs:


 

The pricing is the same as the Take Your Time offer but the CAA rate includes the $50 dining credit so it is the better offer out of the two. 

You'll also want to note the Banff Spring Hotel is offering a concert series during weekends in October. The theme for October is country music and they have various artists performances planned. You can visit this site for more details on those concerts!



Don't forget that earn up to up to 6,000 Bonus ALL Accor Live Limitless Rewards Points for stays of 2 or more nights at these hotels as well! You must register and book by October 9 for stays until Dec 15, 21. (register via this link then book the CAA offer below)

Learn more about and book the CAA offer here

 

AIR MILES Bonus Boom returns October 1 - 14


 

We've seen AIR MILES' Bonus Boom promotion several times this year and it is set to return on Thursday. Just like the last version this one takes a little bit of Mega Miles twist to it by providing bonus miles for earning at multiple partners. Once again if you use three different Bonus Boom offers you'll get 95 bonus AIR MILES on top of whatever those offers are. All the offers will be revealed tomorrow so that you can prepare to shop to your heart's content from October 1 to 14


Learn more about Bonus Boom here.

 

Friday, September 25, 2020

RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card limited time bonus of extra Avios on purchases and lowered spend requirement for the companion voucher

 


Knowing that travel is curtailed RBC has revealed two new limited time offers/adjustments for those that hold their RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card. Those are a boost to the earn rate on the card and a lowering of the spend requirement to earn the annual companion voucher.

Extra Avios
All purchases made on the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card until November 30 will earn 50% more Avios. That means all purchases outside of those made with British Airways will earn 1.5 Avios per dollar spent and if you do buy flights on British Airways you'll earn 3 Avios per dollar instead of 2.

 Recommended reading: The Ultimate Flight Companion Pass Credit Card portfolio

Lowered spend requirement for the Companion Voucher
Normally you have to spend $30,000 per year on the card to receive the Companion Award eVoucher but they have lowered that to $25,000 until December 30. Now if you have already earned the voucher for this year they are offering the following:

Already earned a Companion Award eVoucher? We have some great news, you can use your Companion Award eVoucher with any British Airways fare, combining Avios and cash. You can travel with your loved ones on any fare, flight originating in and returning to Canada, in any cabin and at any time.

To redeem, please call our call centre on 1-800-452-1201. Bookings can only be made via this dedicated number to qualify for this limited time offer. Bookings made on ba.com, through a travel agent, or at the airport will not qualify.

These offers were a little unexpected but definitely welcome news for those of you who have the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card! Always good to see offers like this come about - we've seen on many different cards in Canada but primarily popular cards and not so much on niche cards like this one.

Learn more about these RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card offers here.

British Airways Executive Club Avios earning tip!
Right now one of the best welcome offers for earning British Airways Executive Club Avios is actually with the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. It is offering 100,000 bonus points and no annual fee in the first year when you spend $5,000 on the card in the first six months. Those points plus your spend will equate to no less than 46,000 Avios!

September 25 Update: More details on Amex Offers Amazon Prime deal, Hotels.com Stamps & Rewards extension details, 25,000 bonus Be Well points at Rexall this weekend

 

UPDATE: Thanks to Ben for pointing out my vagueness in the below update. On Monday when I first posted about the Amazon Prime offer I posed this as I questioned whether existing Prime members could avail of the offer as well:

"what about existing members who can renew in that time and I don't know the answer yet. I'll reach out to American Express to find out but if I don't hear back I'll be able to report if it works as my Amazon Prime membership renews on October 26"

Basically I wanted to see if the offer would only work for new Amazon Prime Members or if existing members could also earn the $20 credit. The way Amex explained it to me is that it would work for both new and existing members however for existing members you need to pay for the membership with a card that has never been used to pay an Amazon Prime membership before. So in my case as mentioned below my Platinum Card was targeted for this offer and I did register for it before it was closed due to reaching 5,000 members. My Platinum card has never been used to pay the for an Amazon Membership so it should qualify to receive the $20 credit. However if you received the offer on an Amex card that you have previously used to pay for a Prime membership you won't receive the $20 (technically speaking you probably shouldn't have been targeted for the offer in the first place). Hope this makes sense!

I reached out to American Express about the Amex Offers for Amazon Prime (the 5K limit has been reached) and they explained to me that the offer is for customers who have not purchased an Amazon Prime membership previously on their Amex Card. So if you have an existing account that you have never charged to your Amex card or have another card in your wallet you should be able to get the offer. In our house I'll be moving our Amazon Prime account to my Platinum Card as it hasn't been used for our Amazon memberships just yet. 

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Also on the Amex front - I also asked them about any possible extension on the increased offer for Use Points for Purchases of 1,000 points to $10. The reason why is that the same offer in the UK just received a one month extension but unfortunately that will not be the case here in Canada as the offer will still end as originally intended on September 30. As of October 1st you can anticipate 1,000 points to equal $7 for non-travel purchases.

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Hotels.com
has provided an additional update for their Hotels.com Rewards programs. The last time we did an update there didn't provide any published details of extensions of stamps and reward nights. They do have it published now that if you have stamps or reward nights expiring from Apr 1, 2020 to Mar 31, 2021, they’ll extend the expiry date until the end of March 2021. They do state that your account will still display the original expiry date for now. Find out more here.

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Rexall
is offering 25,000 bonus points when you spend $40 or more on most anything in their stores this weekend. Those points are worth $10. 

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Airline Schedule Updates
A summary Canadian operations based on data from RoutesOnline and other sources. Remember that many of these route plans are subject to change and right now they are changing frequently!

Central Mountain Air resumed three more routes this month from Edmonton to High Level and Prince George as well as Prince George to Fort Nelson. (Source RoutesOnline)

Central Mountain will also be resuming service between Vancouver and Castlegar as of October 1. (Source RoutesOnline)

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.

 

Posts since our last update:

Deals:

Qatar Airways Autumn Seat Sale - Fly from Montreal or Toronto to the Middle East, Asia and Africa for as little as C$785. Book by Oct 1. Find out more here.

Fairmont Le Château Montebello 90th Anniversary Package - Stay for as a little as C$90 per night per person. Find out more here.

Earn $300 cash when you open a new Scotiabank Ultimate Package! Plus earn Scotia Rewards or SCENE Rewards points. Find out more here.

If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more here

SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. Find out more here

WealthSimple Trade:  Receive $5 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $5 when you receive $5)

Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.


Canadian Bonus Offers

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Triple Aeroplan Miles on all Coast Hotels stays in Canada and the U.S. More... Book now for stays Oct 1 - Nov 30, 20

Emirates Skywards
- Double Elite Tier Miles when you fly on any Emirates or flydubai flight including Toronto flights. More... Book by Dec 10 for travel until Mar 31, 21

Other Bonus Offers

Finnair Plus
- Double Plus Points & Double Elite Tier Points when you book any new Finnair flight. More... Book by Oct 7 for travel until Dec 20, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- 75% Bonus IHG Rewards Club points when you buy 3,000 or more points. More... Until Oct 11, 20

SAS EuroBonus
- Double EuroBonus Points on all eligible SAS flights worldwide. More... Book by Oct 21 for travel until May 31, 21

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Double Virgin Points on all Virgin Atlantic flights that are booked on virginatlantic.com, virginholidays.co.uk or via their contact centre. More... Book by Oct 1, 20




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Podcast Episode 71 - The Fall Outlook Episode

 

Episode 71 - September 25, 2020
The Fall Outlook Episode

In this episode we take a look at what's going to happen in the points and miles world for the fall. From travel & cash back credit cards to hotel stay bonuses and airline flight bonses - we discuss what you can anticipate happening in the Canadian loyalty space over the next three months.

Click Here to download the podcast (mp3)

or download/subscribe via:

Listen on Google Play Music
Soundcloudacast

Links relating to this week's topics:

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Earn Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at Coast Hotels in October and November

 

Coast Hotels and Aeroplan have teamed up once again to offer triple Aeroplan miles for stays this fall. Last seen this past spring the bonus is perfect for many Western Canadians who are staying closer to home for their fall travels. If you happen to be traveling in Alberta or B.C. this is an offer to keep in mind for your stays. 

The base earn rate for Coast Hotels is 250 to 500 miles depending on the hotel so with this offer you'll end up earning 750 to 1,500 miles. As it is a flat rate earn the bonus is best for one night stays. Those longer stays may be a toss up as to whether to credit to Aeroplan or to Coast Rewards. The reason why is that on occasion Coast Hotels has transfer bonuses to Aeroplan. In fact one is going on right now which is offering 4x the miles when you convert Coast Rewards points to Aeroplan. Now this transfer bonus is pretty infrequent and in fact I feel like it will end prior to this Triple Miles offer kicking in and who knows when it will come back again as it has been a couple of years since we saw this big of bonus. Then you have to do the math - if you don't hold elite status with Coast Hotels you earn 1 Coast Rewards Point per dollar spent. So if you have $100 night stay for three nights you'll earn 300 points which with the current transfer bonus is 1,200 miles. Depending on the hotel that's less than the 1,500 miles you can earn with the Triple Miles bonus. Again it comes down to doing the math and also asking yourself how quickly do you want those Aeroplan Miles - with the triple miles on a stay you'll get them in a few weeks, with Coast Rewards points and waiting to convert with a bonus it could be months or years. In my mind I'd go with the Triple Miles on each stay.

Offer details
Triple Aeroplan Miles on all Coast Hotels stays in Canada and the U.S. Full details & online booking. Book now for stays Oct 1 - Nov 30, 20
Be sure to set your Coast Rewards earning preference to Aeroplan Miles to earn the miles

Be sure to also check out these other Aeroplan bonus offers:

New increased welcome bonus of 50,000 points for the Business Platinum Card® from American Express

 

It appears that American Express Canada is raring to get back in the game for acquiring new customers for their card products. After nearly half a year of moving marketing dollars away from customer acquisition to existing customer engagement due to the pandemic we have now seen two increased welcome bonus offers be released this month from Amex. At the start of the month it was the new 10% cash back welcome offer for the SimplyCash Preferred American Express card and today we see an increase to the welcome bonus for the Business Platinum Card® from American Express.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express gets a 15,000 point bonus for its welcome offer from the previous 35,000 points to 50,000 points. This bonus is awarded when you charge $7,000 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership.

The card earns a nice flat 1.25 Membership Rewards points per dollar spend on all eligible purchases and comes with many of the same benefits found on the personal Platinum Card such as the airline lounge program (Priority Pass, Centurion Lounges etc.), Fine Hotels & Resorts, special privileges at Toronto Pearson Airport and more. The main differences between the two cards are the earn rates and the personal card also gets the various hotel and car rental elite status offers.

Recommended Reading: Rewards Canada's Guide to Business Class Lounge Access

On the reward side as this card earns points into Membership Rewards it enjoys all the same redemption options you would find on the personal Platinum and Gold Rewards cards. From Amex's Fixed Points Travel program to Use Points for Purchases to converting points to Aeroplan, British Airways, Marriott and several other loyalty programs you'll find them all on the Business Platinum Card. 

Recommended Reading: Membership Rewards Use Points for Purchases explained / A closer look at the Membership Rewards Fixed Points Travel program

Learn more about the Business Platinum Card from American Express here.

Referral Offer:
Just like in pre-pandemic times we see the referral bonus for the Business Platinum Card from American Express boosted to an amazing 75,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $7,000 on the card within three months of being approved for the card. If you have friends or family with the card or the  they can refer you to it and they'll earn 20,000 points for that referral while you get to earn the 75,000 points.



Wednesday, September 23, 2020

September 23 Update: Spend $350 at William Ashley get $50 with Amex Offers, weekly beauty bonuses from Rexall & Shoppers plus WestJet adds Dreamliner to Vancouver-Toronto route

 


Earlier in the week I brought you the details of the new Amex Offers offer for Amazon Prime (looks like it met the 5,000 member limit quickly) but I forgot to mention on that same day that an offer for William Ashley returned. The offer provides a $50 statement credit when you spend at least $350 in qualifying purchases at participating William Ashley location(s) or at www.williamashley.com. I received this on my Platinum Card. You can find this offer and many more in our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

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Here are your weekly beauty bonus offers from Rexall and Shoppers:

 


Rexall
is offering 30,000 Be Well Points when you spend $60 or more on Thursday September 24. Learn more here. Those 30K points are worth $12 and I know I said this early on in the year but I have to say it again? Why Rexall? Why? Why did you have to make a confusing redemption schedule in your program?? I mean, I know exactly why - they didn't want to be exactly like PC Optimum plus many loyalty programs know consumers don't look at both ends of the equation (ie the earn and the burn, see my article link below) they only look at one and think ooooo 30,000 points that must be a lot points but such is not the case. And then to think Rexall has to add in "= $12 back in points" in their advertising - this is because most programs go with the easy to understand multiples of 10 rule - you know thinking 30,000 points may equal $30 but it doesn't and Rexall is probably hoping the consumer doesn't see that. It reality by having a convoluted earn-burn ratio for a shopping program you are just creating confusion for the consumer and making extra work for the marketers...

Recommend reading: Remember people it's all about the EARN and the BURN

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Shoppers on the other hand is offering 40,000 points when you spend $125 or more online today and tomorrow. Those points are worth $40 (there's that simple multiple of 10 but I'm still not a huge fan here that both companies have to use such big numbers as persuasion but I digress). Learn more about this offer here.

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Airline Schedule Updates

A summary Canadian operations based on data from RoutesOnline and other sources. Remember that many of these route plans are subject to change and right now they are changing frequently!

Heads up for those looking for lie flat business class seats between Vancouver and Toronto. WestJet will be flying a Boeing 787 Dreamliner five times per week on the route during October as follows:
WS711 YYZ1715 – 1855YVR 789 x26
WS706 YVR0900 – 1610YYZ 789 x26
(Source RoutesOnline)

 

Posts since our last update:

Deals:

Fairmont Le Château Montebello 90th Anniversary Package - Stay for as a little as C$90 per night per person. Find out more here.

Earn $300 cash when you open a new Scotiabank Ultimate Package! Plus earn Scotia Rewards or SCENE Rewards points. Find out more here.

If you aren't using the Ampli Cash Back app yet you can get $5 when you download the app and join today with promo code AMPLI5 Find out more here

Lauco: The Smallest&Powerful 100W USB-C Wireless Charging. 8-in-1/12-in-1 Hub | 100W USB-C Power Delivery | 4K@60Hz Dual HDMI | 10W Wireless Charger | USB 3.1 10Gbps| SD/TF Card | 1Gbps Ethernet Find out more here.

SkipTheDishes - Sign up with this link to get $5 off your first order over $15. Find out more here

WealthSimple Trade:  Receive $5 when you deposit and trade at least $100 worth of stock with WealthSimple Trade. Find out more here (We will also receive $5 when you receive $5)

Rewards Canada receives a small commission when you use any of the above offers. You don't have to chose to use our links but we thank you in advance if you do.


Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Aegean Miles+Bonus
- Double Miles+Bonus Miles and Double Tier Miles on all Aegean & Olympic flights. More... Book by Oct 14 for travel until Sep 30, 21

Marriott Bonvoy
- Double Bonvoy points for stays at The Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon. More... Unknown end date

TAP Air Portugal
- 10,000 Bonus Miles&Go Miles to Club TAP Miles&Go members who purchase Star Alliance’ and other partner air companies MilesOnly one way tickets. More... Book by Oct 13, 20 for travel until Mar 31, 21



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