November 20 Update: Scotia credit card updates, new Amex offer for mobile service providers, Aer Lingus cuts Montreal & 30% off Canadian North flights

Finally got around to updating the Scotiabank credit card offers as many were set to end on October 31. Most if not all offers have simply been extended as follows:

Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card
• Earn up to 35,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points in your first year (that’s up to $350 towards travel)* Offer ends March 1, 2020

Scotia Momentum® Mastercard
•7.99% introductory interest rate on purchases for the first 6 months (19.99% after that) Offer ends March 1, 2020

Scotia Momentum® VISA* Infinite card
• First year annual fee waived Offer ends December 30, 2019

You can see all the Scotia card offers on our Scotiabank page

Yet another Amex offer has been released. This offer awards bonus Membership Rewards points for paying for mobile service provider costs (cell phone bill etc.) with your targeted American Express card. Personally I received it for the American Express Gold Rewards card. The offer? 1,000 Bonus Membership Rewards points when I make three $30 or more payments. That's 333 bonus points per $30. Not a huge offer but better than nothing! You can check to see if you got the offer via the Amex app or when logging into your account online.

Aer Lingus has apparently decided not to proceed with their planned Montreal-Dublin flight. It was supposed to initially launch this past summer but that was delayed to the summer 2020 season and now according to Business Traveller the route will not materialize.

Looking to buy some miles or points? Over on our global site we released a summary of all the current buy miles and points bonus offers. Check it out here.

Posts since our last update:

• Tracking our spend on the American Express Cobalt Card to see how we fare with the $30K cap on 5x points - month 2
  Not only does Rewards Canada rank the American Express Cobalt Card as the number one travel rewards credit card…
• Save 20% on Ethiopian Airlines flights out of Toronto when you book by November 21 for travel January - May
  Ethiopian Airlines has released a promo code that provides a 20% discount across their entire network in any fare…
• TAP Air Portugal to launch 6x weekly Montreal to Lisbon flights in 2020
  Just as news came out the Aer Lingus is not going to go ahead with their flights between Montreal…
• The MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard is available again
  Back in June we let you know about the new MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard. At that time it was…
• Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – November Edition
  Here is your monthly update of all the global hotel bonus points promotions that are available! One of the…
• November 19 Update: Air Canada/Aeroplan systems back up and running, more confirmed American Express multipliers & save up to 20% at Delta Hotels in Canada
  Air Canada and Aeroplan's websites are back up and running after their reservation system migration that started yesterday and…
  

Travel Deals

Canadian North Christmas Seat Sale! Save 30% when you use promo code ELF30. Book by Nov 25 for travel Nov 22 - Dec 31. Find out more here.

Save up up to 20 percent when you book stays at Delta Hotels by Marriott™ locations across Canada. Valid for stays until Dec 30, 19. Find out more here.

IHG Cyber Sale – Save up to 30% on stays around the globe

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

AIR MILES
- 50 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you make an eligible purchase of $100 or more through airmilesshops.ca at participating online stores. More... Until Dec 27, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Alitalia MilleMiglia
- 50% Bonus MilleMiglia Miles + a 20% discount when you buy 8,000 or more miles. More... Until Dec 31, 19

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 800 Bonus Asia Miles when spending HKD1,500 or more per transaction on pre-flight orders. Alternatively, you can enjoy up to 20% Bonus Miles when you shop inflight. More... Until Dec 31, 19

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Earn up to Quadruple Infinity MileageLands Miles when you book hotels via Trip.com’s PointsPLUS. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Jan 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points when you stay 2 or more nights Thursday-Sunday at the Aloft Long Island City-Manhattan View. More... Until Dec 31, 19
- 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per night on Sunday-Thursday nights for stays at the Advenire, Autograph Collection St. George. More... Feb 1 - Apr 25, 20

Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Triple QMiles for stays at all participating Accor Hotels Worldwide More... Book by Dec 3 for stays until Jan 31, 20
- Earn up to Quadruple QMiles when you book hotels via Trip.com’s PointsPLUS. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Jan 31, 20

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Earn up to 4x FlySmiles when rent a car with HERTZ for 5 or more days at participating locations in USA, Canada, Europe*, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 19

Follow Rewards Canada:

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Tracking our spend on the American Express Cobalt Card to see how we fare with the $30K cap on 5x points - month 2

Not only does Rewards Canada rank the American Express Cobalt Card as the number one travel rewards credit card in Canada but it is also the number one card in our own wallets. Since it was introduced in late 2017 the card has been the one to match in terms of earning points. However since it is so good at earning points in the Eats & Drinks category American Express found themselves in a bit of a pickle.

Related: American Express Cobalt Card Resources on Rewards Canada

You see, by earning 5x points on Eat & Drinks it meant you could buy anything at a grocery store and earn 5x points on it. I even recommended going to the grocery store to buy gift cards for places you would shop at where you would only earn 1 point on this card or maybe 2 points on some other card.  The fact that you could do this didn't go unnoticed by some people in the miles and points community, namely manufactured spenders. Word is some people were putting through four figures on their card everyday at grocery stores buying prepaid cards that could be cashed out to pay down the balance on the card. Good for them, there are loopholes that can and will be taken advantage of whenever a good credit card or loyalty program earn or burn perk is available. It is the nature of this game and when it's out there, people will use it and then the programs or card issuers will do what they can to quell that loophole. That is exactly what American Express did earlier this year when they announced the 5x points category multiplier will be capped at $30,000 annually. Since August 20th that cap has been in effect. For the vast majority of Cobalt cardmembers this isn't a big deal at all - they fall under that amount and won't even have to worry about it. The manufactured spenders - well that's a different story, you know how they feel about it. But there is also a third category, those who legitimately spent a lot on food and drink. There are people who can easily spend more than $30,000 a year on food and drinks and they range from large families to affluent families to salespeople taking clients out to lunch or dinner on a daily basis and a whole slew of others.

Related: Are the American Express Cobalt Card category multipliers available globally?

So I decided to see where the Rewards Canada family will fall into, the first category of not even having to worry about hitting $30K or the third category of easily spending more than $30K per year. We don't do manufactured spending in our family as we only occasionally purchase gift cards at grocery stores, and by occasional I mean maybe 2-3 per year for ourselves and 3-4 for our kid's teachers and coaches. Ultimately, knowing our spending habits I know we'll fall into the third category of spending over $30K on the card in this category.

We covered our first month of spending in a post back in October, that first month saw us above $4,500 in spend. Now we look at month two - and we're pretty close to that number again at just over $4,200 in spend between September 21 and October 20. That puts us around $8,700 for 2 months or about $52,000 for the year. About $2,000 less for the year than anticipated after our first month of spending but still well above the $30,000 cap on the 5x Eats & Drinks category.

So what should we do, or you do, if you are in the same boat?

My plan is to utilize other cards once we are that $30,000 level on our main Cobalt card. The first card we will use once we hit that level will be our other Cobalt card! You see, my wife has her own Cobalt card account and I have mine. Her Cobalt card is the primary one in the family (my kids and I each have supplementary cards for it) but once we get to $30K on it we can start using my Cobalt Card. By having two separate Cobalt Cards we have effectively doubled our 5x points earning capability to $60,000 per year. Sure we have to pay two annual fees but the points earned are worth a heck of lot more than the fees paid. We also have the option of using The Platinum Card from American Express that are in our wallets for dining purchases since it earns 3x points on those purchases. I may actually go ahead with that last option for some of the spending since the 3x points on The Platinum Card equate to 3 Aeroplan Miles per dollar on dining, which in most cases is more than the Cobalt card if you convert Cobalt's Membership Rewards Select points to Marriott and then to Aeroplan.

Related: Membership Rewards Use Points for Purchases explained

I will continue to track the spending on a month to month basis to see where this will go over the course of the year. By tracking I'll be able to see when we get close to hitting $30K and start planning on pulling out the other cards for payments.

Do you have the American Express Cobalt card? Where do you sit with it and the new $30K cap? How are you doing after one month? Is it something you don't even have to worry about? Are you PO'd that your manufactured spending has been capped? Or are you just a big time spender and wondering what to do when you hit that $30K? Talk to us in the comments section below!

Save 20% on Ethiopian Airlines flights out of Toronto when you book by November 21 for travel January - May

Ethiopian Airlines has released a promo code that provides a 20% discount across their entire network in any fare class. This includes their Toronto – Addis Ababa route. You must be an Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles member (free to join) and book this offer by November 21 for travel January 10 – May 31, 2020. The promo code to use is SHM20.

Click here for more details and to book this offer!*

An example of the pricing with the promo code between Toronto and Addis Ababa:

Economy Class

 

Business Class

* This link supports Rewards Canada as it is an affiliate link that we earn commissions with if you book flights with Ethiopian Airlines. We thank you in advance if you choose to book via our link. Your booking is made directly with Ethiopian Airlines

TAP Air Portugal to launch 6x weekly Montreal to Lisbon flights in 2020

Just as news came out the Aer Lingus is not going to go ahead with their flights between Montreal and Dublin in 2020 we get word that TAP Air Portugal will launch 6x weekly flights between Montreal and Lisbon! The route will be flown with TAP's new A321LR aircraft that feature 16 business class seats and 155 economy class seats. This is the second Canadian city that TAP will serve after Toronto.We don't know the exact date the flights will start in 2020 but seeing that they will go on sale next week we should know then. TAP Air Portugal is a Rewards Canada affiliate partner which means you can book flights directly with them while supporting your favourite Canadian Miles + Points resource ;-)

The Airline will operate six weekly frequencies between Lisbon and Montreal. Flights depart to the new destination in North America from the Portuguese capital every day, except Wednesdays, at 2:55 pm and arrive in the Canadian city at 5:40 pm. And will be available for sale from November 25, with operations beginning next year.

For the frequent traveller, TAP Air Portugal's frequent flyer program underwent a revamp in 2018 as it was renamed Miles&Go from the the long used Victoria. If you this flight may be something you'll be taking frequently, not only will you want to join Miles&Go (you get 200 miles just for joining) you may also want to check out their paid subscription Club Miles&Go that awards you with bonus miles for subscribing, bonus miles monthly, bonus miles on flights and even elite status if you go for the top level of Club Miles+Go. Learn more about Club Miles+Go here.

TAP Air Portugal is also a member of Star Alliance which means you can earn and burn Aeroplan miles for these flights. We'll follow up next week once the flights go on sale to see what Aeroplan's availability is like for them!

Title image via TAP

The MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard is available again

Back in June we let you know about the new MBNA Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard. At that time it was only around for a few days and then disappeared due to some technical issues. It returned with no fan fare about a month ago (thanks to our reader Alan Trembley for alerting us to this!)

I've been meaning to bring this to light ever since Alan posted that comment back in October. Apologies to Alan and to our readers for forgetting about it!

Once again, here are the details of the card:

• For the first six months after your Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard account is opened, you will receive 5% back on eligible purchases at Amazon.ca, Whole Foods Market stores in Canada and at grocery stores or restaurants in Canada, until $3,000 in such purchases have been made.
• 2.5% back on eligible purchases at Amazon.ca, Whole Foods Market in Canada and on foreign currency purchases, with an eligible Prime membership
• Otherwise 1.5% back at Amazon.ca and Whole Foods Market in Canada
• 1% back on all other purchases
• No annual credit card fee
• No annual points caps and no expiration date for points
• Every 2,000 points earned are automatically redeemed as a $20 Amazon.ca Gift Card that can be applied on millions of items when shopping at Amazon.ca
• Protection benefits include 90-day purchase assurance coverage, extended warranty and trip interruption coverage
• Mastercard contactless-enabled for a frictionless checkout – simply tap your card at participating merchants in millions of locations across the globe to process payments securely 

Right off the bat you see the card has a pretty decent sign up bonus and and then you'll see it has a pretty good return - if you are an Amazon Prime member. The 5% back for the first $3,000 in spending ($150 return) is good sign up bonus for a no annual fee cash back card. The 5% is limited to Amazon, Whole Foods, and for Grocery Store and restaurant purchases in Canada so for most it should be no problem hitting $3,000 in 6 months to earn the full $150.

As you can see however Amazon have narrowed the focus of who they want using the card. The higher earn for Prime Members, the Amazon.ca gift card reward and elimination of the foreign transaction fee really limits this card's audience to heavy Amazon users. Not a heavy Amazon user? You have a lot of better options out there for you. 

Learn more about the Amazon.ca Rewards Mastercard here! 

Summary of global hotel systemwide bonus points promotions – November 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
Best Western Rewards	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Best Western Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Best Western page
Choice Hotels Privileges	No Offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Choice Privileges bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Choice page
GHA Discovery	Earn Double Tier Night Credits on all qualified stays at GHA Hotels Worldwide. Register online (Registration is required)	Until Dec 31, 19
	For a complete listing of all GHA Discovery bonus offers please visit Rewards Canada's GHA page
Hilton	Double Honors points on every stay at participating Hilton Hotels Worldwide.  If you have a Hilton Honors co-brand credit card (U.S., U.K., Japan or Germany) you will earn triple points on each stay.  Full details, online registration and booking (Registration is required)	Until Jan 5, 20
	For a complete listing of all Hilton HHonors bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Hilton page
Hyatt	Earn up to Triple World of Hyatt Points starting with your second qualifying stay at over 900 participating hotels and resorts worldwide. Registratoin is closed but this offers runs until Dec 15 for those who have registered Earn Triple Points at nearly 350 Hyatt Place hotels in cities like New York, London, Tokyo and more. Earn Double Points at over 550 other Hyatt hotels worldwide and participating M life Rewards destinations and Small Luxury Hotels of the World hotels.	Register by Oct 31 for stays Sep 15 - Dec 15, 19
	2,000 Bonus World of Hyatt Points for your first stay at each of Hyatt's new brands of Thompson Hotels (starting March 28), Joie de Vivre (starting May 15), Alila and Destination Hotels (both coming soon) Maximum bonus of 8,000 points. Plus earn a free night if you stay at all four brands. Full details and online booking	Until Dec 31, 19
	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 all IHG Hotels Worldwide. Full details, online registration and booking  (Registration is required) – Earn 1,000 Bonus Points on your 1st stay – Double Points on your 2nd stay – Triple Points on your 3rd stay – Quadruple Points on your 4th stay and beyond	Register by Dec 15 for stays until Jan 31, 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	Earn 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points on your second stay at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. Once complete you will unlock additional bonus offers for your stay(s) made after that second stay. Additional offers will be appear in your account and also be emailed to you by Marriott. Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)	Register by Dec 31 for stays between Oct 29 & Jan 14, 20
	For a complete listing of all Marriott Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Marriott page
Millennium Hotels My Millennium	Earn up to Triple My Millennium Points for stays of 2 or more night at participating Millennium Hotels Worldwide. You'll earn 2x points for stays of 2 nights or 3x points for stays of 3+ nights. Full details & online booking.	Book by Dec 31 for stays 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	No offers at this time	--
	For a complete listing of all Radisson Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Radisson Rewards page
Red Roof Inns RediRewards	Earn 7,000 Bonus RediPoints when you complete 2 separate stays at any Red Roof location, including The Red Collection and Hometowne Studios by Red Roof in the U.S., Japan, Brazil and Canada (if the Canadian location opens soon as it seems to be continually delayed) Full details, online registration and booking. (Registration is required)	Until Feb 29, 20
	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	Double Elite Status Credit for every stay of 3+ nights completed at a participating VOILÀ hotel Worldwide. Full details & online registration (Registration is required)	Until Nov 30, 19
	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 Dec 31, 19
	For a complete listing of all Wyndham Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's WorldHotels page
Wyndham Rewards	Earn 15,000 Bonus Wyndham Rewards  points when you stay twice at participating hotels in Canada. That’s enough points for up to two free nights at thousands of By Wyndham hotels. Be sure to register before you complete your first qualifying stay.  Full details, online registration and online booking	Register & book by Feb 17 for stays until Feb 18, 20
	For a complete listing of all Wyndham Rewards bonus point offers please visit Rewards Canada's Wyndham page

November 19 Update: Air Canada/Aeroplan systems back up and running, more confirmed American Express multipliers & save up to 20% at Delta Hotels in Canada

Air Canada and Aeroplan's websites are back up and running after their reservation system migration that started yesterday and ran into today. 

A couple more additions have been made to our Confirmed Cobalt Multipliers page. Of note, Bar Burrito which is growing quickly across Canada is now on the list under the 5x multiplier rate. Remember as well this list is perfect for those who have The Platinum Card from American Express or the American Express AIR MILES Platinum Card for their multipliers. Visit the page here.

Air North is adding a twice weekly peak winter seasonal service between Vancouver and Yellowknife. The flights run from late January to early March. Perfect for those wanting to view the northern lights! They don't have their own frequent flyer program so your best bet is a proprietary credit card program for earning and burning on these flights. (Source Routesonline)

Posts since our last update:

• Amex Offers: Spend $10 at McDonald's, receive a $5 statement credit!
  Yes you read that right - spend only $10 at McDonald's and you can get a $5 statement credit…
• WestJet Rewards status match is back - Match to Silver or Gold from Air Canada, Porter, Alaska, American, British Airways or United
  WestJet Rewards has become well known for offering various status match offers during the year and the latest one…
• What you actually have to spend to get some of the best credit card welcome bonus offers
  You may recall earlier in the month we had a blog post entitled "What you actually have to spend…
• November 18 Update: Reminder that Air Canada/Aeroplan will be unavailable starting at 8pm tonight, earn up 3x Aeroplan Miles at the UPS Store, new Amex offers for Esso & Wayfair
  Just a reminder that as of 8pm Eastern time tonight the Air Canada and Aeroplan websites and call centres…

Travel Deals

Save up up to 20 percent when you book stays at Delta Hotels by Marriott™ locations across Canada. Valid for stays until Dec 30, 19. Find out more here.

IHG Cyber Sale – Save up to 30% on stays around the globe

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

WestJet Rewards
- WestJet Rewards status match - Match to Silver or Gold with proof of status from Altitude, VIPorter, AAdvantage, United MileagePlus, Alaska Mileage Plan or British Airways Executive Club More... Submit details by Dec 15, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Receive up to 50% Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you buy miles online. More... Until Dec 23, 19

Finnair Plus
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Plus Points when you buy points 5,000 or more points. More... Until Dec 9, 19

JAL Mileage Bank
- Earn up to 500 Bonus Mileage Bank Miles for stays at participating Tokyu Hotels in Japan. More... Until Mar 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 4,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stay at the Leeds Marriott Hotel. More... Until Jan 12, 20
- 500 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT at Courtyard Camarillo More... Dec 1 - 31, 19



Follow Rewards Canada:

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Amex Offers: Spend $10 at McDonald's, receive a $5 statement credit!

Yes you read that right - spend only $10 at McDonald's and you can get a $5 statement credit if your American Express card is targeted for this latest Amex Offers offer. Maximizers of course will try to make their purchase as close to $10 as possible without going under so that they essentially get a 50% discount on that purchase. And the offer is valid twice per registered card!

In the Rewards Canada household we got this offer on two cards. For me I received it on the American Express Gold Rewards Card while my wife received it on her Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card. Yes we can go to McDonald's four times between now and December 15 and get $5 back each time. Will we? I hope not! As much as McDonald's is loved by everyone I'm not sure we could handle four times in just under four weeks :-)

Just like all other Amex offers you have to login to the Amex app or online at americanexpress.ca and navigate to Amex offers to see if your card(s) have been targeted with this offer. This offer is limited to the first 40,000 cardmembers who register for it so be sure to do so now rather than later.

WestJet Rewards status match is back - Match to Silver or Gold from Air Canada, Porter, Alaska, American, British Airways or United

WestJet Rewards has become well known for offering various status match offers during the year and the latest one just launched today. The difference with this one over the past few offers as they have expanded the list of airline frequent flyer programs they will match from. Still shy of the best ever offer a few years ago where they matched any program including hotel programs. Nonetheless, status match offers are always welcome and here is the gist of this one:

From now until December 15 you can submit the form on WestJet's Status Match Offer page with all your details like name, WestJet Rewards # and proof of status from Altitude, VIPorter, AAdvantage, United MileagePlus, Alaska Mileage Plan or British Airways Executive Club showing your name, current 2019 status valid through to a minimum December 31, 2019. Once approved, you will then receive WestJet Rewards Silver or Gold status until March 31, 2020 as follows:

To extend your status beyond March 31 you can take part in their challenges two challenges. Challenge one requires only one flight on WestJet by March 31 to extend your status to June 30 as follows:

• AC Altitude and Porter members must take minimum one WestJet flight anywhere
• US carriers: AA, Alaska and UA must take minimum one U.S.transborder flight
• British Airways members must take minimum one transatlantic flight

And if you want to extend your status even further (into June 2021) you must meet the following Challenge 3 spending requirement:

• Gold members with a minimum qualifying spend of $3,000 between the date of upgrade in Challenge 1 and June 30, 2020 will retain Gold status for another year, until June 30, 2021. Silver members that have a minimum qualifying spend of $1,500 between the date of upgrade in Challenge 1 and June 30, 2020 will retain Silver status for another year until June 30, 2021.

And that's all of it in a nutshell! So a quick recap, if you have status with any of the above listed airlines you can automatic status with WestJet for the next 4.5 months. If you want to have the status extended you must meet the Challenge 2 and 3 requirements as set out above. 

You can learn more about and register for this offer here.

Also remember that right now WestJet is offering an increased sign up bonus on their WestJet Rewards World Elite Mastercard. This offer provides 350 WestJet dollars after your first purchase on the card!  And it provides the best annual companion voucher in Canada!

Related: Why my wife and I each grabbed our own WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercards

What you actually have to spend to get some of the best credit card welcome bonus offers

You may recall earlier in the month we had a blog post entitled "What you actually have to spend to get some of the best credit card welcome bonus offers" Well that post turned out to be extremely popular so I decided to make it into a full time feature page on the main Rewards Canada website. By doing this it allowed me to expand it beyond the nine cards we had in that post and it will be easier to keep updated with new offers as they come along and when old offers end.

This feature does really put to light what the true requirements are to get the advertised bonus offers - it's not as easy as the issuers make it seem in some cases! It may make you think twice about an offer and maybe go for one that has a little less value but a lot less effort in terms of spending. All food for thought!

You can access the new feature here
(be sure to bookmark it!)

Here's a screenshot of the just the first few cards on the list:

November 18 Update: Reminder that Air Canada/Aeroplan will be unavailable starting at 8pm tonight, earn up 3x Aeroplan Miles at the UPS Store, new Amex offers for Esso & Wayfair

Just a reminder that as of 8pm Eastern time tonight the Air Canada and Aeroplan websites and call centres will be unavailable for their reservations system migration. This is expected to last until mid-day tomorrow. Learn more here.

We've added another bonus offer to our Top 6 tips for maximizing miles & points earning on your holiday shopping. It is an Aeroplan bonus for using the UPS Store - perfect for those who are needing to ship presents this holiday season. The offer provides 2x miles on supplies and triple miles for higher level shipping services until December 20. Find out more here

In the past week a couple more Amex offers became available outside of the Shop Small offer we let you know about. Log in to your American Express account online to see if these have appeared for you as well.

• Esso and Mobil Speedpass+: Spend $25 or more on fuel, 2 times, and earn a $10 credit (Received on The Platinum Card from American Express)
• Wayfair.ca: Spend at least $125 and Earn a $25 credit. (Received on the American Gold Rewards Card)
  

Posts since our last update:

• Save 30% when you buy Marriott Bonvoy points until Dec 22, 19
  Last seen in September we now have the third buy points discount from the Marriott Bonvoy program since taking…
• 40% bonus when you buy World of Hyatt Points
  Hyatt has come out with their own buy points bonus for the holiday season. When you buy 5,000 or…
• Air Canada & Aeroplan websites/call centres will be unavailable November 18-19 for their new reservation system migration
  The time has finally come where Air Canada will migrate its current reservation system over to Amadeus. This move…
• November 15 Update: Save up to 40% on Priority Pass Business Class lounge memberships, Canadian North Intercommunity Holiday seat sale & more!
  Priority Pass has launched their annual Black Friday sale that offers up to 40% off their annual lounge access…

Travel Deals

Expedia Canada has launched a flash sale offering 25% off or more at select hotels around the world. Book by November 21. Find out more here.

IHG Cyber Sale – Save up to 30% on stays around the globe

Enjoy up to 25% off for stays at Fairmont Hotels in North America with their Fairmont Moments offer. Book by Mar 31 for stays until Apr 30, 20 Full details & online booking

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

Air Canada Aeroplan
- Earn up to 3x Aeroplan Miles when shopping at the UPS store. More... Until Dec 20, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Finnair Plus
- Earn Triple Plus Points when you book hotels via Trip.com’s PointsPLUS. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Jan 31, 20

IHG Rewards Club
- 25% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you book a Bonus Points Package for stays at participating IHG Hotels Worldwide. More... Book by Dec 17 for stays until Mar 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- Receive a 30% discount when you buy 2,000 or more Marriott Bonvoy points. More... Until Dec 22, 19
- Earn 1,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points PER NIGHT for stays at any one of 6 participating Marriott Hotels in Barcelona More... Dec 12, 19 - Mar 5, 20

TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- Double Miles&Go Miles on Europcar entals of 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Nov 30 for rentals until Dec 15, 19

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- Earn Triple Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles when you book hotels via Trip.com’s PointsPLUS. More... Book by Nov 30 for stays until Jan 31, 20

World of Hyatt
- 40% Bonus World of Hyatt Points when you buy 5,000 or more points in one transaction. More... Until Dec 31, 19



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Save 30% when you buy Marriott Bonvoy points until Dec 22, 19

Last seen in September we now have the third buy points discount from the Marriott Bonvoy program since taking over SPG a few years back. The offer in September was a 30% discount and this time they keep it the same.  With this 30% discount you are buying Bonvoy points at US$ 0.875 cents each. This is getting closer to that old rate that SPG had discounted to but it is still over 10% more than what we were used to. That being said, there are many redemption options with Marriott where you can easily get well over US 1 cent per point value so buying points could make sense for an expensive stay or for topping off an account. For example, the Rewards Canada family just had a Marriott redemption that got us about C$ 1.4 cents per point or close to US$ 1.1 cents, so as you can see buying points for 0.875 cents US would be worth it in that case.

For this promotion Marriott has also doubled the amount of points you can buy annually from 50,000 to 100,000 points.

Offer details
Receive a 30% discount when you buy 2,000 or more Marriott Bonvoy points. Maximum of 100,000 points can be bought during this promotion only. Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points here Until Dec 22, 19

Find many more Marriott Bonvoy bonus points offers here!

Here’s an example of just some of the other offers you might find!

• Earn 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points on your second stay at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. Once complete you will unlock additional bonus offers for your stay(s) made after that second stay. Additional offers will be appear in your account and also be emailed to you by Marriott.Full details, online registration & booking. (Registration is required)
• Earn up to 3,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points for stays at 21 participating locations in 13 U.S. states. Full details & online booking.
• Earn up to 4,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points for stays of 2 or more nights at any one of 11 Marriott locations in Peru. Full details & online booking.
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40% bonus when you buy World of Hyatt Points

Hyatt has come out with their own buy points bonus for the holiday season. When you buy 5,000 or more points in one transaction they will give a you  40% bonus points. This works out to 1.714 cents per point (US$). Depending on how you redeem them it could be worthwhile to purchase them for rewards at high end hotels like Park Hyatt’s around the globe or even buying less if you just need a few thousand points to top off for an award. You can buy up to 55,000 points per calendar year plus any bonus amount so if you haven’t bought any points you could get yourself up to 77,000 points with this deal.

Offer details
40% Bonus World of Hyatt Points when you buy 5,000 or more points in one transaction.   Buy World of Hyatt Points here. Until Dec 31, 19

Can’t make use of this offer? Here are some other offers that might work for you!

• Double World of Hyatt Elite Qualifying Nights for stays at luxury hotels within The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. Register online (Registration is required)
• 2,000 Bonus World of Hyatt Points for your first stay at each of Hyatt’s new brands of Thompson Hotels,  Joie de Vivre, Alila and Destination Hotels. Maximum bonus of 8,000 points. Plus earn a free night if you stay at all four brands. Full details and online booking

Find our full list of other World of Hyatt bonuses here!

Air Canada & Aeroplan websites/call centres will be unavailable November 18-19 for their new reservation system migration

The time has finally come where Air Canada will migrate its current reservation system over to Amadeus. This move has been two years in the making since it was first announced that AC would move to Amadeus from a 25+ year old in-house RESIII system. That being said, the migration will force Air Canada and Aeroplan to move their websites to off-line status and close their call centres for 12 hours or more on November 18 through to the 19th. If all goes well the system along with the websites and call centres should be back online by mid day on the 19th. Both Air Canada and Aeroplan have posted notices on their websites about what you as a passenger or someone looking to buy a ticket need to do during this down time:

From Air Canada:

From November 18-19, 2019, we will be migrating to a new Reservation system to improve your travel experience. If you’re booking or travelling during this period, here is important information you need to know:

•  Starting at 20:00 ET on Nov. 18, the aircanada.com website as well as our phone Contact Centres will be off-line for making new bookings or changes until approximately mid-day Nov. 19.
• Any required bookings or changes to current bookings for travel during this period should be made prior to the start of migration on Nov. 18.
• Flights will be available for purchase and bookings will be available for modification as usual once our new system is live on Nov. 19.

 The following functions remain available as usual during the Nov. 18-19 migration period:

•  Check-in online, via App and at Kiosks
• Flight Status online and via App

You can visit the Air Canada webpage for the system update for more information and a detailed FAQ.  For our Air Canada Altitude readers you may want to take a closer look at this excerpt from the FAQ that will affect eUpgrades:

"Over the next few months while we update our airport systems, you will not be able to request upgrades at the airport, and upgrades which were not cleared prior to check-in will not be processed at the gate, even if a seat is available. In light of this, rest assured that we will work diligently to confirm more upgrades ahead of check-in."

From Aeroplan

Air Canada is in the process of migrating to a new reservation system, a project we're undertaking to improve your travel experience. Here's what this means for you as an Aeroplan member:

Aeroplan will be temporarily unavailable, both online and on the phone
Aeroplan.com and the Aeroplan App will be unavailable from November 18^th at 8pm EST until midday November 19^th. In addition, during this period while the migration to the new system takes place, the Aeroplan Contact Centre will not be able to assist you with any new or existing Flight Reward bookings. We encourage you to plan ahead and book any Aeroplan Rewards outside of this period.

We encourage you to self-serve at aeroplan.com
We understand your time is valuable and we anticipate an increase in Contact Centre wait times in the days that follow this transition period. Those looking to make or change a Flight Reward booking on or after November 19^th are encouraged to do so at aeroplan.com to save time and money. To change an existing reservation on aeroplan.com, simply cancel your booking to receive an immediate refund of your Aeroplan Miles, then book your new flight without incurring a booking fee.

We will temporarily reduce the aeroplan.com Refund Fee
To assist with this transition, from November 15^th, 2019 to January 31^st, 2020, the fee for refunding a booking online will be reduced to $75 – a savings of $75 versus requesting a refund via the Contact Centre.

November 15 Update: Save up to 40% on Priority Pass Business Class lounge memberships, Canadian North Intercommunity Holiday seat sale & more!

Priority Pass has launched their annual Black Friday sale that offers up to 40% off their annual lounge access memberships! Find out more here. 

Here are the Black Friday prices:

As an added benefit this year if you buy a membership during this sale you'll get the following:

A follow up email with three redemption codes of each brand below.

• MIDO Watches up 30% off on watches.
• Roam Luggage, fully customizable premium luggage receive up to $150 off
• Dufl stores receive a $200 Credit from Dufl. (*$200 value = can be used toward 2 standard U.S. DUFL trips OR $200 credit toward an international trip).

Learn more about Priority Pass in Rewards Canada's Guide to Business Class lounge access 

Receive $50 gift certificate PER NIGHT for Costco with your stay at the newly opened Courtyard Halifax Dartmouth.  This rate prices out at about $40 more than the best flexible rate so you would be saving only $10. Full details & online booking. Until Apr 4, 20

Posts since our last update:

• You can now earn Flying Blue Elite Status Experience Points when flying on WestJet to 60+ destinations
  Flying Blue, the program for Air France KLM sent out an email today letting members in Canada know that…
• Up to a 50% Bonus when you buy Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles until December 23!
  Alaska Airlines has brought back their best bonus for buying Mileage Plan miles! Right now you will get a…
• Hilton Honors: 100% bonus when you buy points until November 26 - this is one of the better buy points offers
  Hilton Honors has released another buy points promotion for their members! Once again this one is a nice flat…
• November 14 Update: Scotia will add Disney+ to streaming service category in the new year and 25% bonus Norwegian CashPoints for online shopping (yes Norwegian)
  As many of you will know, Disney officially launched their own streaming service, Disney+ earlier this week. As it…

Travel Deals

Canadian North has launched an Intercommunity holiday seat sale. One way fares in the sale run from $220 during the peak time from December 20 to January 8. Sale ends on January 4. Find out more here.

IHG Cyber Sale – Save up to 30% on stays around the globe

Enjoy up to 25% off for stays at Fairmont Hotels in North America with their Fairmont Moments offer. Book by Mar 31 for stays until Apr 30, 20 Full details & online booking

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

AIR MILES
- Earn up to 1,200 Bonus AIR MILES Reward Miles when you earn miles from multiple partners during the Shop the Block promotion. More...   Until Dec 27, 19

Other Bonus Offers

Hilton Honors
- 100% Bonus when you buy 10,000 or more Hilton Honors points online. More... Until Nov 26, 19

Le Club AccorHotels
- Double Le Club AccorHotels points for stays at participating Accor Hotels in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg or Sweden. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Book by Dec 16 for stays Dec 1- 31, 19

Miles & More
- Triple Miles & More Miles for stays at the Vienna House MQ Kronberg im Taunus or the Vienna House Zur Bleiche Schaffhausen. More... Book by Dec 31, 19 for stays until Jan 31, 20

Rocketmiles
- 300 Bonus Miles / Points with most Rocketmiles partners when you tag @rocketmiles in a photo, and add #promotion to the caption on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. More... Unknown End Date

SriLankan FlySmiles
- 25% FlySmiles Discount when you redeem miles for award tickets in Economy Class on SriLankan Airlines. More... Until Mar 31, 20

WorldHotels Rewards
- Quadruple Rewards Points for stays at all participating WorldHotels locations Worldwide. More... Until Dec 31, 19

Wyndham Rewards
- Double Wyndham Rewards Points on your next stay at a Wyndham Rewards Hotel worldwide. More... Targeted Offer - May not work for everyone Until Jan 7, 20


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