Tuesday, March 3, 2020

March 3 Update: Complete list of new TD Credit Card offers, fly Air Canada's new A220 between Montreal & LAX and No AF KLM Promo Rewards for Canada this month


Earlier today (well late last night for us) we let you know about the new offer for TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card. This is the best offer of all the new TD offers that are out right now. Here are the others that also updated today:

THESE OFFERS HAVE ALL EXPIRED


Yesterday we let you know about the new round of Shop Small offers from American Express here on the blog. Those offers have now been added to our Amex offers page where you can see all the available offers at this time and also learn more about Amex offers.


If you are looking to try out Air Canada's new A220 aircraft they released details of another route it will fly. You can fly it between Montreal and Los Angeles between August 1 and September 7 as it will operate one of the three daily flights on this route. (Source RoutesOnline)


Finally if you are wondering about this month's Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards and why we haven't posted about it well its because they have no offers from Canada this month. There are several from the U.S. including Seattle which might work for those of you in Southwestern B.C.. Find out more here.
 

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals

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


Air France KLM Flying Blue
- March Promo Rewards – Save 20% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for an award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. More... Book by Mar 31 for travel May 1 – Jun 30, 20

Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Double Guest Rewards Points plus a free day when rent with Hertz for 6 or more days at participating locations in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, on all Car Classes and Collections. More... Mar 31, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- 2,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you stay on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday at the Holiday Inn Port Of Miami-Downtown More... Unknown end date

Marriott Bonvoy
- OFFER EXTENDED 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for weekend stays at the Renaissance Boulder Flatiron Hotel. More... Until May 12, 20

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Earn up to 14,000 QMiles when you fly Qatar Airways between Doha and Cebu. More... Until Jun 30, 20

Scandic Hotels Friends
- 50% discount when you redeem Scandic Friend points for award night stays at select hotels in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. More... Until Mar 31, 20

Voila Hotel Rewards
- 500 VHR Points when you complete a short member survey on VHR’s Facebook page. More... Until May 31, 20


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Last day to lock in awards before Marriott category changes take effect (we're looking at you Vancouver)


Early in February we provided you with details on Marriott's annual hotel category changes and those will take effect as of tomorrow. We also covered it in last week's podcast if you haven't given it a listen yet. This is just a friendly reminder that if you have been thinking of redeeming points or a free night certificate for a stay you may want to expedite it to today if the hotel you are looking at is moving up in the category list. If its moving down you can wait until tomorrow or later.

View the entire list of category changes here.

Just to recap the changes quickly - a total of 29% of Marriott's locations Worldwide will be changing categories and for the most part it's not pretty - 22% are moving up in categories with a lot of Category 5 hotels (Those that you can redeem for with your free night from the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card) moving to Category 6. Here in Canada the changes weren't as bad if you just look at the numbers with 42 hotels changing and 55% of them moving down. However, Vancouver was hit hard in the changes with many of their downtown hotels moving from that Category 5 sweet spot to Category 6.  There are seven hotels in downtown Vancouver that are moving to the category 6 and some of you have already voiced your displeasure as you enjoyed using that free night certificate for staycations in the heart of YVR. So if you have been thinking of using a cert for downtown Vancouver stay you best be trying to book today! Other notable hotels moving up to Category 6 are the Residence Inn Mont Tremblant Manoir Labelle, Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, Autograph Collection and the Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Falls Fallsview.
That will say Category 6 as of tomorrow!

For other hotels we wait - in fact the Rewards Canada family is, we have a couple older Category 1-4 certificates that will expire soon and will need to use them up. As of tomorrow there will be a couple of more options as the Calgary Airport Marriott In-terminal hotel and Westin Calgary drop to Category 4 so those are on our radar to use the certs at for a staycation.

Now even with the category changes don't let it detract you from the Marriott Bonvoy program - it still provides a lot of potential value with its points (both on earning and redeeming) and not to mention having such a large footprint of over 7,200 hotels worldwide - it is a program that most people should use, even if its not your primary hotel programs.



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Air Canada to launch new flights between Vancouver and Orange County


Great news for Air Canada and Star Alliance flyers who enjoy the LAX area beaches, are part of the tech industry and of course those who love Disneyland as Air Canada announced today a new daily year round flight between Vancouver and Orange County.
"We are very pleased to announce new daily, year-round flights from Vancouver to Orange County as we strategically expand our transborder network into the populous greater Los Angeles area," said Mark Galardo, Vice President, Network Planning and Alliances at Air Canada. "In addition to offering direct flights to the iconic tourism, sports and entertainment attractions that Orange County is known for, our new flights will also conveniently link the increasing start-up, tech and innovator businesses that both Vancouver and southern California are home to.  Air Canada's Orange County flights will also offer a wide array of connections across Canada and to Australia and India via our YVR hub."

The new flights will launch on June 15 and operate once daily with the following schedule:

Dep YVR 0900 Arr SNA 1159
Dep SNA 1240 Arr YVR 1527

The route will be operated with an Air Canada A319 featuring 14 business class seats and 106 economy class seats. Many times those business class seats don't price out much more than economy class so be sure to keep an eye out on that. Here at the Rewards Canada family we have flown to California with AC in Business Class as the fares were only about $100 more than economy and that doesn't even factor in seat selection fees and baggage fees for economy so you can see how it can be a good deal! Since WestJet already flies the route you can expect there to be some competitive pricing on the part of both airlines!

I have to say that I hope this works out for Air Canada and for selfish reasons pushes WestJet to fly Calgary to Orange County instead of out of YVR as our family does frequent Newport Beach and having direct flights to SNA would be awesome!

Source and image courtesy: Air Canada



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Marriott Bonvoy 2,000 bonus points on each stay starting with your second stay


Marriott has revealed the details of their next systemwide bonus points promotion called Elevated Earning. It was first hinted at last week on the Marriott Insiders forum and the gentleman there was indeed correct with the offer. This offer is a flat rate bonus of 2,000 bonus Bonvoy points on each stay starting with your second stay. There is no limit to the number of bonus points you can earn during the promotion and as we always state with flat rate bonuses – these are the good ones for the short (think 1 night) cheaper stays if you are looking to maximize your earning value. Think about it – you can have two $80 per night stays and earn 2,000  bonus points whereas someone who has two $800 5 night stays will also just earn 2,000 bonus points.  Simply register for the offer by May 31 for stays between March 17 and June 14.

Offer details:
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

Here are some more Marriott bonus offers to check out (and stack on top of this offer):
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New welcome offer for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles with first year annual fee rebate on Primary Card & 1st Additional card


A new offer for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card was released today and it is almost the same as the offer we have seen for the past three months. The only change for this iteration of the offer is the addition of a first year annual fee rebate offer for the first additional/supplementary cardholder. This is in addition to the primary card having a first year annual fee rebate. The bonus is the same at 30,000 Aeroplan Miles with $3,000 in spending however the earning of the 30,000 has changed slightly.

Now what you'll want to know is how do you earn the full 30,000 Aeroplan Mile welcome bonus. When you receive the card you will be awarded with 15,000 Aeroplan miles on the first purchase made. Then you will receive 5,000 additional Aeroplan miles when you spend $1,000 in each of the first three months you have the card. That is, if you spend $1,000 on the card in month one you'll earn 5,000 Aeroplan miles. This bonus is over and above the normal 1 to 1.5 Aeroplan Miles per dollar you would earn on the card for purchases.  All told, spend $1,000 in each of those three months ($3,000 in total) and you have the additional 15,000 Aeroplan Miles.  This is all with the first year annual fee rebate of $120 on the primary card and $50 fee rebate for the first additional cardholder. Of course if you have a TD All Inclusive Banking plan you don't ever pay annual fees on the primary or first additional card.

Just remember, the $1,000 is key - as the offer states you will earn 5,000 Aeroplan Miles for hitting that $1,000 mark each month.  So don't go out and blow $3,000 in the first month thinking you'll get 15,000 miles right away. Play it cool and make sure you can hit the $1,000 each month for those first three months.

I would also recommend that if you play the credit card sign up bonus game or are a credit card churner - you may want to take a break from other cards when you get this card.  The reason why is so you can focus your spend to reach that $1,000 spend per month without stretching your finances to meet the minimum spend requirements on other cards at the same time. We've heard too many stories of people scrambling because they signed up for and received too many cards in a short period of time and struggled to hit the minimums to earn the welcome bonuses.

That aside - once you do have this card and have earned the 30,000 Aeroplan miles you have a lot of travel reward value at your disposal. Looking at the Aeroplan Classic Flight reward chart there are lots of round trip options that run from 15,000 to 30,000 miles and even more one way options since they are exactly half of the rates listed on the chart:


 Here are some of the possible redemption options for the 30,000 mile level:

  • 2 Round Trip Economy Class Short Haul tickets 
  • 1 Round Trip Business Class Short Haul ticket 
  • 1 Round Trip Economy Class Long Haul ticket in Canada and the U.S. (with 5,000 miles left over)
  • 1 One Way Economy Class Ticket to South America or Europe
The value you get out of the sign up bonus will really vary based on what you redeem your miles on. In many of our past posts we see Aeroplan miles being worth as little as 1.2 cents for economy class flights to well over 6 cents per mile for business class flights. That means the 30,000 mile welcome bonus is worth anywhere from $360 to $1,800+ which makes it one of the most worthwhile sign up offers in the market seeing that it basically comes to you at no cost since the first year annual fee is waived.

This is a limited time offer and only valid until May 31 2020.

Find out more and apply for the card here.

This offer is not available for residents of Quebec. For Quebec residents, please click here.  
 
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Monday, March 2, 2020

Amex Shop Small promotion returns for March - earn $5 credits or 300 bonus Membership Rewards points

Amex's awesome Shop Small offer is back again for this month!  Last seen in November & December the offer once again does not have a dedicated landing and registration page for four cities in Canada. The offers are actually listed in the Amex Offers section on the Amex Canada app or online when you log in to your account. It is still limited to small business merchants in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver as well as having a cap on the number of cardmembers who can register for the offer.

As seen during the Christmas holiday season we once again have multiple offers depending on the cardholder. It looks like you can receive the $5 statement credit offer or 300 bonus Membership Rewards points.



The statement credit version is awarded for purchases of $10 or more from up to 5 different retailers for a total of $25. This one is limited to the first 13,000 members who register.



The bonus points offer awards 300 bonus Membership Rewards points on each $10 purchase at a participating Shop Small merchant up to 5 times. That means you can earn 1,500 bonus Membership Rewards points in total with this offer. This one is limited to the first 5,000 members who register.

If you aren't familiar with American Express' Shop Small program we have a feature to help you out:  A step by step guide to the American Express Shop Small Program

Also if you aren't that familiar with Amex Offers I recommend reading our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

Ideally, those looking to maximize the offer will only spend $10 at each location to come out with what is essentially a 50% discount (if you have the $5 offer) or a minimum savings of $3 if you have the points offer. The points can be worth more than $3 depending on what you redeem them on however.

For this incarnation, we received the $5 offers on the Platinum Card from American Express and Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and the 300 points offer on the Gold Rewards Card  and Cobalt Card.

This offer runs until March 31 and to find out what merchants are participating you just have to go to the American Express Shop Small website and look for the Shop Small icon beside the merchant:



You can also choose to filter for only the merchants that are participating in the offer by checking off the Shop Small Offer box:


Just a reminder that there aren't dedicated landing pages for the offers this time. You have to access them via Amex Offers on the app or Amex Canada website.

Happy shopping!
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March 2 Update: Best Western Rewards extending elite status for all members to 2022, 50% discount on transferring Aeroplan Miles and a lot of new bonus offers



Another hotel chain has come out with a great loyalty move in light of the Coronavirus scare. Best Western Rewards just announced that all of its members globally will maintain their current status through January 31, 2022 without needing to fulfill the necessary qualifications. In addition, BWR® members who suffered a downgrade at the end of 2019, as a result of restricted travel, will be leveled-up to their previous tier and will maintain that status through January 31, 2022 without needing the necessary qualification. We discuss this trend of extending status in our latest podcast, however at that time most chains were only extending status for residents of China or those who travelled to China or Asia frequently. Both Shangri-La Hotels and Best Western have gone beyond this offer with extensions to everyone globally. (Source Best Western)
"All BWR members worldwide are eligible for elite status protection and no action is required on the part of the member. Status will be maintained for all members regardless of their current tier, ensuring both new and veteran members are protected at this time."
Image via Best Western


Aeroplan is offering a special for transferring miles to other members. Normally it costs 2 cents per mile to transfer however until March 16 they have halved the cost to 1 cent per miles. Ideally you don't want to transfer miles however if a family member perhaps doesn't earn many miles and is sitting on a few thousand that can put you over the hump for an award ticket then it might make sense to pay for the transfer. Find out more here.
 Image via Aeroplan

Also on the Aeroplan news front. As of yesterday there was small change to mileage accumulation on Avianca. Basically you'll earn less miles in booking class S and no miles for booking class U. (Source Aeroplan)

All Destinations (Excluding domestic Colombia, Peru, Ecuador & Intra-Central America§)

  1. Earn 25% of the miles you fly in booking class S. For travel until February 29, 2020, earn 50%.
  2. Booking class U will no longer be eligible for accumulation. For travel until February 29, 2020, earn 50%
    Domestic Colombia, Peru, Ecuador & Intra-Central America §
  3. Booking class U will no longer be eligible for accumulation. For travel until February 29, 2020, earn 25%.

And one more update to our American Express Cobalt Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations listing. Pearl Hot Pot in Burnaby has been added thanks to Charly Y.

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals

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

Scotia Rewards
-30,000 Bonus Scotia Rewards Points when you apply for, receive and spend $1,000 in the first three months with the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card. More... Until Jul 1, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Choice Hotels Privileges
- Earn up to 8,000 Bonus Privileges Points after every two separate qualifying stays at participating Choice Hotels Worldwide. More... For residents of the U.S. and Canada only Mar 7 - Apr 26, 20

Eurowings Boomerang Club
- Double Boomerang Miles when you fly to or from any Greek Island. More... Book by Mar 31 for travel until May 31, 20
- Triple Boomerang Miles for stays at GHOTELS in Germany. More... Until Mar 31, 20

Hyatt World of Hyatt
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt House Frankfurt Eschborn More... Until May 30, 20
- 500 Bonus World of Hyatt points for stays at the Hyatt House Nashville / Downtown - SoBro More... Until May 30, 20
Marriott Bonvoy
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT at the TownePlace Suites Lafayette South. More... Until Apr 24, 20
- 500 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the AC Hotel Bridgewater. More... Until May 24, 20
- 500 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT on Friday-Sunday nights at the Courtyard Bucharest Floreasca More... Until Mar 22, 20
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the Delta Hotels Baltimore Hunt Valley. More... Until Mar 25, 20
- Earn 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT when you stay 2+ nights Thursday-Sunday at the Four Points by Sheraton Los Angeles Westside. More... Until May 2, 20
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays on Thursday-Sunday nights (Friday or Saturday required) at the Courtyard Madison West/Middleton More... Until Apr 30, 20
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Sheboygan, More... Until Mar 31, 20
- 3,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at the SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown. More... Until Mar 31, 20
- Earn up to 20,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the TownePlace Suites Milwaukee Brookfield More... Until Apr 22, 20
- 10,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points when you stay 2+ nights in a Standard or Resort View Room at the Playa Largo Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection Key Largo. More... Mar 2 - Apr 2, 20
- 2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at any one of 8 Marriott Hotels in Maryland. More... Until Apr 30, 20
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT at the Courtyard Toledo North More... Until Mar 28, 20
- 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy points for stays of 6+ nights at the Residence Inn Dallas by the Galleria. More... Until Mar 31, 20
- 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT at the Spartanburg Marriott More... Until Mar 31, 20
- Earn up to 200,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the The Jaffa, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Tel Aviv More... Until Mar 27, 20
- Earn up to 4,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the Grand Hotel River Park, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bratislava More... Until Mar 22, 20
- 4,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT at the Residence Inn Big Sky/The Wilson Hotel More... Until Mar 31, 20

Miles & More
- 2,500 Miles & More Miles when you rent with Sixt for 3 or more days Worldwide More... Until Mar 31, 20

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Earn up to 3x FlySmiles when you rent with Hertz for 1 or more days in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Apr 30, 20

Stash Hotel Rewards
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays Sunday - Thursday at The Cedar House Sport Hotel Truckee. More... Until Apr 16, 20
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays at the Knob Hill Inn Ketchum. More... Until May 31, 20
- Double Stash Rewards Points for stays at The Firebrand Hotel Whitefish. More... Until Apr 4, 20


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New Hyatt Hotel Openings in Canada for 2020 - 6 hotels confirmed + the reopening of the Park Hyatt Toronto


Continuing on with our new hotel openings in Canada series we now take a look at what Hyatt has planned for 2020.

Out of the major hotel chains, Hyatt Hotels are one of the smallest with less then 1,000 hotels globally and their presence in Canada reflects that with less than a dozen hotels operating here.  This number is changing relatively fast, it was only a couple of years ago when they only had four hotels across our country and they are really looking to expand that number.

The Hyatt family of hotels include the following brands of which you'll currently find Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Andaz and Hyatt Place in Canada. World of Hyatt members also have access to Trout Point Lodge in Nova Scotia via Hyatt's partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

 
For 2020 we have six more confirmed Hyatt openings including the first Hyatt House in Canada:
The slated opening dates are subject to change
Rendering of the new Hyatt House Winnipeg South Outlet Colletcion

Also being mentioned quite a bit and what is the most anticipated Hyatt news for Canada for 2020 will be the reopening of the Park Hyatt Toronto.  The iconic hotel that is over 80 years old is slated to re-open in October of this year.

Rendering of the renovated Park Hyatt Toronto - Image via the Globe & Mail

Earlier in the year Hyatt came out with the news that they are planning to open nearly 200 more hotels in North America by 2022 and Canada factors in to that number with some decent numbers. By that time we should have close to two dozen Hyatt hotels in Canada including a Hyatt Regency in Niagara Falls.
 
It is nice to see Hyatt continuing to expand their presence here in Canada by adding these hotels. It will give all us Canadian World Of Hyatt members more places to earn points that aren't off in far flung destinations!

Remember to take advantage of all the possible World Of Hyatt bonus points offers if you plan on staying at any of these new Hyatt hotels or any other Hyatt hotels for that matter! Right now at the time of posting World of Hyatt is running Bonus Journeys where you can earn Double World of Hyatt Points with each stay starting with your second qualifying stay. You can find all the promotions listed on our World Of Hyatt Bonus Points page. 

Are you excited about any of the new Hyatt hotels opening up this year? Are there any locations or brands you'd like to see in your neck of the woods? Let us know in the comments below.


Other posts in our 2020 series of new hotel openings in Canada:

All images courtesy of Hyatt unless otherwise noted

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Choice Hotels: Earn up to 8,000 bonus Privileges points when you complete 2 stays Worldwide from Mar 7 – Apr 26


Choice Hotels spring promotion is here and…… it is the same offer we always see from them! They word the promotions differently in terms of get a free night or get a $50 gift card. In the end the promos are the same, they will award you enough bonus points after you complete 2 separate stays to have 8,000 points after those stays. This time it is being promoted as the free night offer as those 8,000 points can be redeemed for a free night at select Choice Hotels around the world.

Offer details:
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) Mar 7 – Apr 26, 20
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
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New increased welcome bonus of 30,000 points for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card


The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card sees the return of its limited increased sign up bonus today. Right now when you apply for the card you'll earn 30,000 points when you spend $1,000 in the first three months of having the card.  This is 5,000 more points than the standard offer of 25,000 points that the card normally comes with.

The current offer is being promoted as up to 40,000 points in the first year but that includes the standard extra bonus of 10,000 points if you spend $40,000 or more on the card annually. So technically the sign up bonus is only 30,000 points but that alone is worth $300 towards any travel. No matter what, it is nice to see this small increase on the card that we ranked as the number 2 travel points credit card with annual fee in our 20 credit card rankings. This is a well rounded card whose main benefit that everyone likes on the card is the no foreign transaction fees! Here are the main highlights of this card:

  • No FX mark-up on foreign transactions made on purchases abroad. Only the exchange rate applies. Most cards charge 2.5% and currently, no other major financial institution in Canada offers a credit card with no FX Mark-Up.
  • 2x the points on grocery, dining, entertainment and daily transit (including buses, subways, taxis, Ubers and more) - we see this as taking quite a few cards in the first three categories but most notably American Express' Cobalt Card as it was the first card to have a multiplier on Transit
  • Priority Pass Annual Membership with 6 lounge visits
  • The card will earn 1 Scotia Rewards point per dollar spent outside of the categories listed above.
  • The card also provides an annual bonus of 10,000 points if you spend $40,000 or more on the card per year. 
  •  It comes with Comprehensive Travel Insurances: Travel Emergency Medical, Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption. 
  • Annual fee of $139 and no fees on the first additional card 
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