November 16 Update: Papeete now bookable with WestJet dollars plus their Black Friday offers start today with flights as low as $99

Several people have asked us about using WestJet dollars
for the Air France’s flight Papeete out of Los Angeles as when we
posted yesterday it wasn’t showing up on WestJet’s site. As of today
Papeete is on the drop down list now and it is proving hard to find
availabilty and that is mainly due to Air France only flying the route
3x per week and being only one of two routes between mainland North
America and Tahiti you can gather why availability is sparce.

I did find availability between Calgary (any Canadian city should work) and Papeete on December 7th,
the price is 729WSD + 91.24 in taxes. The only other date we found was
March 8. Both said 4 seats available and that is only one way. We did
not check return flights but then again who would want to return!

If you are having difficulty finding availability on any routes for
Member Exclusive Fares we have had several tips have come in from
readers and WestJet alike to help out:

From Hyacinthe in the comments of our blog post yesterday:

Member exclusive fares options online are somehow limited but I’ve
been told that the rewards department over the phone can book any
origin-destination, including from outside Canada

From WestJet via email:

Here’s what you need to book:

  • Your WestJet Rewards ID and password. You’ll need to sign in to book.
  • Enough WestJet dollars to cover the entire base fare. If you don’t have enough, you can buy more.
  • The Member Exclusive checkbox. International destinations and fares
    are only displayed when booking a Member Exclusive fare so be sure to
    always check this option on the book a flight search tool before
    selecting your dates and destination.
  • Flexibility with your travel dates. These destinations are made
    available by our airline partners through a restricted supply of seats
    reserved for frequent flyer program redemption. For best availability
    try booking at least two months in advance and if you can’t immediately
    find the date you’re looking for, search for other dates. You’ll find
    best availability during non-peak days of week and travel periods. 
  • Flexibility with your destination. In many cases, multiple cities are
    offered within the same country. Can’t get to Frankfurt? Consider
    Berlin, Dusseldorf or Munich.

FYI Air France KLM Flying Blue is still not showing WestJet flights on their award booking engine. As soon as they do we’ll make sure to let you know about it!

Pacific Coastal Airlines is launching a new route
between Vancouver and Tofino in April of 2018. Pacific Coastal does not
have their own frequent flyer program which means it is an ideal airline
to use proprietary credit card points for flights with them! (Source Routes Online)

We’re going to keep this reminder going in each update until Christmas:

Check out the Give A Mile Flight Hero campaign! The
charity can really use donations of miles to help provide flights to
those who otherwise would be unable to travel to visit terminally ill or
critically sick family and friends. Rewards Canada has pledged to raise
100,000 miles and we are half way there! We are putting the call out to
all of our fans, readers and even new visitors, if you can give please
do so. It can be as little as 1,000 miles! You can find out more and donate here.

Posts since our last update:

Travel Deals

WestJet has launched a one day only Black Friday sale – Fares start as low as $99 one way between major Canadian cities however fares are limited at the lowest prices (some have already sold out at time of posting) Find out more here

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

Canadian Bonus Offers

British Airways Executive Club

– 30% Bonus Avios when you convert RBC Rewards Points (Avion Cardholders only) to British Airways Executive Club. More… For residents of Canada only. Until Dec 31, 17

Other Bonus Offers

Etihad Guest

– Triple Guest Miles for stays at Anantara Hotels in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. More… Until Dec 31, 17

Hyatt World of Hyatt


Double World of Hyatt Points on all Hyatt stays Worldwide More… Register by Nov 30 for stays until Dec 31, 17

Iberia Plus

– Double Avios for stays at Derby Hotels in Barcelona, Madrid, London and Paris. More… Until Dec 31, 17

Marriott Rewards

– 3,000 Bonus Rewards Points for stays Thursday to Sunday (Friday or
Saturday required) at the Nanki-Shirahama Marriott Hotel. More… Until Dec 26, 17

Miles & More

– 500 Bonus Miles & More Miles for stays at participating Novotel Hotels & Suites and Mercure hotels Worldwide. More… Until Dec 31, 17

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