WestJet Rewards: Double WestJet Dollars on select flights in Canada

We come across this in the U.S. all the time, when an airline launches a bonus mile promotion others tend to follow and it is nice to see it happening here in Canada as well! A few weeks ago Aeroplan launched a double Aeroplan Miles offer for select Air Canada flights within Canada and now WestJet has followed suit with their own offering of double WestJet Dollars on select routes in Canada with the same booking and end dates as their competitor's offer.

Offer details:
Earn double WestJet Dollars each time you fly round-trip to select destinations within Canada. Full details and online booking. Book by August 29 for travel until Oct 31, 14
Here are the eligible routes:

July 18 Update: Major changes coming to LifeMiles award flight mileage requirements, Marriott updates its Plus Points promotion

A busier day to close off the week! Aeroplan contest winner, not so good news from Avianca and Marriott...

News, Tips & Tricks
Congrats to Jason S. of Newfoundland who is the winner of our Aeroplan Turns 30 contest! Thanks to all of you who participated.

A few months ago we let you know about the beta launch of Marriott Rewards Plus Points where you could earn points for completing social media activities. When this new Marriott initiative posted it was quite easy to earn 2,000 Rewards points in a month with only 8 or so social media actions however that has changed now and to earn the same amount of points will require ten times that! I know I won't be making the effort to complete 80 actions in a month as it a big time draw so this easy point earning strategy will dwindle for me as I'll get points each month for the Marriott follows I already have but not as much as before. You can find out more at www.marriottrewardspluspoints.com

Avianca LifeMiles sent out emails to their members over the past 24 hours or so giving advance notice of some upcoming award chart changes that take effect on October 15th. Kudos to them for giving a heads up this time as they are notorious for making changes without any advance notice but that is all they can get kudos for as it seems that award flights in general may get more expensive. We say 'may' as the email and corresponding page on the LifeMiles website is quite vague in what the changes will be. The page with the details shows what redemptions will be on Avianca flights which for us Canadians only affects their flights from Toronto which for example jump from 60,000 miles to 80,000 miles for flights to Barcelona all on Avianca metal. Here are the new award flight rates for Avianca flights out of Toronto:

However of more interest to all us and especially those who have taken advantage of the numerous 100% bonus on buying LifeMiles is the Star Alliance award chart changes. All they tell us is the following:

As for changes in air ticket redemption with Star Alliance member airlines, these include increases up to 13.000 miles in Economy Class and up to 26.000 miles in Business Class. Both cases apply for roundtrip flights from North America.

For roundtrip flights from Mexico, there will be reductions up to 15.000 miles and increases up to 14.000 miles in Economy Class, also reductions up to 20.000 miles and increases up to 28.000 miles in Business class.

We are led to believe this is for flights to/from Europe as that is where many of the 'buy miles' miles are being used but could be for their entire Star Alliance chart as we don't forsee them reducing rates on European awards. Complete (well not so complete) details on the changes can found here


Bonus Offers
Hilton HHonors
- 2,500 Bonus HHonors Points when you join HHonors and complete your first stay at a Hilton Hotel in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. More... Register and book by Aug 31 for stays until Dec 1, 14 Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone

Le Club accorhotels
- 500 Bonus Le Club Accorhotels Points and up to 40% off for stays at participating Accor Hotels in France More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Novotel Hotels in Poland More... Until Aug 29, 14
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Mercure & Novotel Hotels in Russia More... Until Sep 2, 14
- 2,000 Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Ibis hotels in the U.K. More... Book by Jul 27 for stays Jul 21 - Nov 2, 14

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles when you fly on Brussels Airlines between Brussels and Bari, Cagliari, Krakow, Montpellier and Seville. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- 1,000 Bonus QMiles for stays at Courtyard properties in United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. More... Until Sep 27, 14

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 35% Starpoints Discount on award night stays at 6 Starwood resorts Worldwide. More... Until Mar 3, 15

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights on the “Club and Suite Retreat” offer at participating Langham Hotels Worldwide More... Book by Sep 15 for stays until Sep 21, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at participating Mandarin Oriental Hotels Worldwide. More...Until Sep 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays of 3 or more nights at participating Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Up to Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at any selected Shangri-La Hotel, Traders Hotel or Kerry Hotel when booking at the Best Available Rate. More... Until Aug 31, 14


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July 17 Update: NH Hotels relaunches their loyalty program, Credit Card Travel Medical Insurance, Petro-Points bonus via iTravel2000

Thursday brings us another relaunched hotel program.

News, Tips & Tricks

Yesterday we brought you the details of Kimpton Hotels relaunched program and they are not the only ones to have a change. Spanish based NH Hotels who have hotels in Europe and Latin America have also relaunched their program as NH Rewards.  NH Rewards now awards 3% of your stays in points (essentially a 3% cash back program) which is higher return than some of the other cash back type hotel programs like World Hotels Peakpoints and Preferred Hotel Group's iPrefer. The new program also offers to option to use your points at anytime for redemption via their cash+points option. The interesting thing with the new NH Rewards is they will always reward you with the 3% back whether you pay for the stay with cash or points! Elite levels in the program are awarded even more points and more benefits. No matter what, if you have an NH Hotel stay you should join the program to make sure you get free Wi-Fi. Find out more about NH Rewards here.

In case your wondering, the winner for our Aeroplan Turns 30 contest has been picked, we are just waiting to hear back from them! Be sure to check your Twitter Direct Messages to see if you are the one!

Our tip of the day, Find out which cards offer Out of Province Medical Insurance Coverage, for how long and how old you are! See our post on Travel Reward Credit Card Medical Insurance Coverage

Travel Deals
Hotels.com Canada Rebate - Save between $20 and $100 on all hotel bookings now with Hotels.com!

Bonus Offers
airBaltic PINS (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 400 Bonus PINS on airBaltic flights to Athens. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- 500 Bonus PINS when you book a hotel via PointsHound. More... Until ?

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- Triple MilleMiglia Miles for stays of 4 or more nights at the Petriolo SPA Resort or 7 or more nights at the Golf Hotel Campiglio. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double MilleMiglia Miles for stays at participating UNA Hotels in Italy. More... Until Aug 31, 14

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles for stays at participating Raffles Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Sep 30 for stays until Oct 7, 14

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Double Asia Miles on all Sixt Car Rentals Worldwide. More... Until Nov 13, 14

Petro-Points
- 3x Petro Points when you book a pre-packaged vacation between July 15, 2014 and August 19, 2014 for travel by December 31, 2014. More...

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- 1,000 HawaiianMiles on Avis rentals of 5 consecutive days or more at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S. (including Hawaii) and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- 750 HawaiianMiles on qualifying Budget rentals of 5 or more days at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- 30% Bonus HawaiianMiles when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards Points to HawaiianMiles. More... Until Aug 7, 14 Valid for Residents of the U.S. and Canada only

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Quadruple Velocity Points for stays at any Shangri-La hotels, Kerry hotels or Traders hotels Worldwide. Not applicable to Shangri-La resorts (except Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa, Maldives). More... Until Aug 31, 14


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July 16 Update: Earn Etihad Guest Miles at Marriott, launch of Kimpton Karma Rewards, MileagePlus shopping bonus

What better way to start off the week than with a contest!

News, Tips & Tricks
Etihad Airways and Marriott Rewards have partnered up meaning that you will now be able to earn Etihad Guest miles for Marriott stays and also be able to convert Marriott Rewards points into the Guest program.

Kimpton Hotels has relaunched their Inner Circle program and re-branded it as Kimpton Karma Rewards. It moves from two levels to four levels of benefits but actually now has lower stay requirements to reach the top level. Find out more here. 

Travel Deals
Hotels.com Canada Rebate - Save between $20 and $100 on all hotel bookings now with Hotels.com!

Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Triple Club Premier Kilometers for stays at participating Accor hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Dec 31, 14
- Double Club Premier Kilometers for stays at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya. More... Until Dec 19, 14
- Quadruple Club Premier Kilometers for stays at La Quinta Inns and Suites in Mexico. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- Double Club Premier Kilometerss for stays at participating NH Hotels in Latin America and Mexico. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Air India Flying Returns
- Double Flying Returns Miles every time you fly on Air India between Delhi and Moscow. More... Jul 18 - Sep 30, 14

Marriott Rewards
- 25,000 Bonus Rewards Points when you stay five nights in a 2, 3 or 4 bedroom villa homes at the Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina, Autograph Collection. More... Until Sep 7, 14
- 2,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays of 2 or more nights + 1,000 bonus points per additional at Boscolo Hotels in the Czech Republic, Hungary or Italy. More... Jul 25 - Sep 8, 14

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Triple Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating Accor hotels in Thailand. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating Chatrium hotels in Bangkok and Yangon. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles when staying at Dusit International hotels and resorts. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles for stays at participating Global Hotel Alliance brands Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Triple Royal Orchid Plus Miles for Avis rentals of 5 or more days in Asia, Canada, Europe, the U.S. Middle East and Africa. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Triple Royal Orchid Plus Miles for Avis rentals of 5 or more days in Thailand. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus and a 50% discount when you rent any car from any Budget location in Thailand. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Earn up to Quadruple Royal Orchid Plus on Hertz rentals of 3 or more days at participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Oct 31, 14
- Double Royal Orchid Plus Miles when you rent from Hertz in Thailand for 3 or more days. More... Until Sep 30, 14

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 2,000 Bonus MileagePlus miles when you shop online through MileagePlus Shopping. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Earn up to Triple Velocity Points on Virgin Australia flights to or from Abu Dhabi and/or all eligible Etihad Airways Worldwide. More... Register by Aug 10 for flights Sep 1 - Dec 15, 14

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Hilton Summer Sale: Up to 33% off Weekend Stays in Europe, the Middle East & Africa

Make this summer sensational by saving up to 33% on your travel to Europe, the Middle East and Africa during Hilton's Summer Sale! With a variety of City, Beach, Golf, Spa, Resort and Romantic breaks, there's something everyone will enjoy.

Booking dates for the Summer Sale are for stays through September 30th, 2014 for UK and Europe hotels, and to October 5th for Middle East and Africa hotels.

Simply book online at hiltonweekends.co.uk by September 1st to take advantage of this sale offer. Of course this sale is eligible to earn HHonors points so you can take use it with promos like Earn Twice the Rewards or Triple your Trip, find out more about these promos on our HHonors page. Just make sure you know you can complete your stay as advance purchase rates are non-refundable.

 

July 15 Update: Amex AeroplanPlus cards Distinction eligible, PointsHound 1st Booking Bonus, Best Western AAA/CAA bonus

Lots of great deals to bring your way today!

News, Tips & Tricks
The AeroplanPlus suite of cards from American Express have had some slight sign up bonus changes that went into effect today. The public (non-referral) offers on the Platinum and Gold card have gone down to 30,000 and 20,000 respectively but are once again Aeroplan Distinction eligible for applications made by August 31st. Like the previuos time this should hold true for cards applied via the refer-a-friend program where the bonus still remains at 51,000 for the Platinum version and 30,000 with no annual fee in the first year for the Gold version. See here for those referral offers.

Over on our global site, FrequentFlyerBonuses.com we have an exclusive Flash Offer with PointsHound.com where you can earn 1,000 bonus points/miles on your first in the PointsHound partner program of your choice! Stays must be booked by July 17. Find out more here.

In the bonus offers section check out the new AAA/CAA offer from Best Western Rewards. Definitely a decent offer to take advantage of for your BW stays during the remainder of the summer.

Bonus Offers
Best Western Rewards
- 1,500 Bonus Rewards for AAA/CAA Best Western Rewards M embers who book the AAA/CAA qualified rate on bestwestern.com for stays at Best Western Hotels Worldwide. More...Until Sep 1, 14

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 5,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays in a Grand Executive Suite at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok More... Until Sep 30, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok More... Until Sep 30, 14

La Quinta Returms
- Earn up to Triple Returns Points for stays at participating La Quinta locations in the U.S. More... Until Aug 7, 14

Le Club accorhotels
- Double Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in the Asia Pacific region. More... Until Nov 1, 14
- Earn up to Quadruple Le Club Accorhotels Points for stays at participating Accor hotels in Austria. More... Until Aug 31, 14

Miles & More
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at Best Western hotels in Germany and Luxembourg. More... Until Aug 31, 14
- Double Miles & More Miles for stays at Leonardo Hotels in Europe.More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Double Miles & More Miles on all Wyndham Rewards Hotels stays Worldwide starting with your 2nd stay. Bonus also awarded on 3rd and 4th stays. More... Until Sep 5, 14
- Double Miles & More Miles on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Jul 31 for rentals until Sep 30, 14

Philippine Airlines Mabuhay
- Double Mabuhay Miles on all eligible Etihad Airways Worldwide. More... Sep 1 - Oct 31, 14

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 7,500 bonus Flying Club miles when you fly round trip on Virgin Atlantic in Upper Class between the U.K and the Caribbean. More... Register by Sep 1 for travel Sep 1 - Dec 31, 14

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July 14 Update: Foreign Currency Transaction fees, Pointshound adds Virgin Atlantic, up to 3x Aeroplan Miles for Coast Hotel stays

Welcome to another week here on Rewards Canada!
 
News, Tips & Tricks
If you missed it only a short time ago, we let you know via the blog that we have now completed the foreign currency transaction fee row on our primary credit card comparison chart. Find out more here.

It appears that Air Canada's new Toronto-Tokyo Haneda route is taking a bite out of the Toronto-Tokyo Narita route as the latter is going to be cancelled for the winter season between October and March. (Source Airlineroute.net)

You may also be one of the lucky ones if you are flying Air Canada between Toronto and Montreal over the next few weeks as they plan on flying their new 787 Dreamliner on the route between July 17 and August 5. (Source Airlineroute.net)

Pointshound, the third party hotel booking site that awards miles in various programs for booking hotels has now added Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to their roster. See more at Pointshound

Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to Triple Aeroplan Miles for stays at participating Coast Hotels in Canada and the U.S.. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you redeem Aeroplan miles for a Fairmont Hotel stay. More... Book by Jan 5 for stays until Jan 31, 15

Czech Airlines OK Plus
- Quadruple OK Plus miles for Sixt Car Rentals in the U.S.. More... Until Sep 30, 14
- Double OK Plus Miles for stays of 2 or more nights at paticipating World Hotels locations Worldwide that are booked at least 20 days in advance. More... Until Sep 30, 14

Emirates Skywards
- Double Skywards Miles when you fly round trip on Emirates from Chicago to Dubai (or any other Emirates city) More... Register and Book by Jul 31 for travel between Aug 5 and Nov 30, 14

Hilton HHonors
- Save 20% when you buy HHonors Points online. More... Until Sep 3, 14

Marriott Rewards
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points per stay at either the Courtyard and Residence Inn Los Angeles Downtown L.A. LIVE.. More... Until Aug 21, 14

Oman Air Sindbad (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Sindbad Miles for stays at the Salalah Rotana Resort. More... Until Dec 31, 14
- 25% bonus Sindbad miles when you Purchase Diamond and Masaaki Pearl Jewellery worth $500 at Joyalukkas outlets in Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia and United Kingdom. More... Until Jul 31, 14
- Double Sindbad Miles for every OMR spent at Muscat Duty Free. More... Until Jul 31, 14

Shangri-La Hotels Golden Circle
- Triple GC Award Points for stays at the Shangri-La Hotel, Qinhuangdao.More... Aug 15 - Dec 31, 14

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Double Miles&Smiles Miles for stays at Domotel Hotels & Resorts in Greece. More... Until Sep 30, 14

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Foreign Currency Exchange Fee now on the Rewards Canada Credit Card Comparison Charts

We are pleased to announce (finally) that the Foreign Currency Exchange Fee on Canadian Travel Rewards Cards has been added to our comparison chart that compares all of the cards in one chart. The fees will also be added soon to remainder of our charts that break down the cards into select categories.

You can find that chart here:
Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: All Travel Rewards Credit Cards 

We have discussed foreign transaction fees quite often on Rewards Canada and in the media so if you follow us you'll know that there are only a select few cards in Canada (all from Chase) that offer no foreign exchange fee such as the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa. In general however the going rate on most of the cards is 2.5% that is charged by the credit card company over and above the exchange rate. There are two banks that offer a slightly lower rate at 2%, Vancity and Citizens Bank while Alberta Treasury Branches (ATB) tops the list as the highest rate charger at 2.9%.

Related:
Why 'no foreign transaction fees' hasn't proliferated in the Canadian credit card market