May 7 Update: Aeroplan buy miles sale craziness and have we seen the last of WestJet’s 767s?

Rewards Canada Team Uncategorized

The Aeroplan buy miles sale
that launched at 10am this morning was so successful that it created a
lot of issues. Some of our readers and ourselves couldn’t even log on to
the system and/or got errors and that seemed to be the case for a lot
of people as Points.com who facilitates the process saw some of the
highest traffic in their history. However there did seem to be some
lucky people who did get in on the biggest bonus of 115% but there did
seem to be some outstanding issues as well even for the 90% bonus offer.
Seeing that they had issues Aeroplan has provided the following
statement to share with our readers:

 We all believed that the two initial tranches of miles would sell
out very quickly-and indeed they did.  Unfortunately, the response was
so overwhelming that several members were unable to participate in the
promotion, despite our joint effort with Points to add systems capacity
in-advance of the sale. 


This was some of the highest traffic that our partner, Points.com has
ever seen (more details on that to come)!  We’re so grateful for the
response, but there are no excuses for the access issues, and we own
that.  We apologize for this and would like to make it right with our
members.  Specifically: 


1.     all miles purchased between 11-12pm at the 65% bonus rate will
automatically be increased to a 90% bonus. In other words, in case a
customer was trying to purchase at the 90% bonus and was unable to, we
are taking care of them and ensuring they get even more miles (note: the
issues ended within the first hour of the sale). It will take us some
time to reach-out and deposit the additional miles. 


2.     along with our partner Points, we will be donating an additional
1 million miles donation to our Aeroplan Member Donation program charity – The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation (CAMH).

Good news is that if you bought miles even at 65% between 11 and
12pm ET you’re in for a surprise – you will get the 90% bonus! And the
donation of 1 million more miles to CAMH is another great gesture from
Aeroplan. Yes I know some of you were frustrated with the process and
weren’t able to get in on the bonus – we knew it would sell out fast –
with most likely only somewhere between 20 to 40 people actually getting
the 115% bonus. And the next 100 million points at 90% were likely
taken by only a few hundred buyers excluding those who will get 90% for
buying between 11 and 12pm. Now, the bonus remains at the 65% for the
remainder of the promotional period which is until May 13. This is still
a good bonus. You are buying miles at 1.8 cents CAD each. There are
easily enough award options well north of 1.8 cents that it can be
worthwhile to buy miles right now – that’s even with no travel. You
would be buying miles speculatively for a future award flight.

Image via Air Canada

Are WestJet‘s Boeing 767 aircraft done? Last week WestJet donated
115 galley carts from their fleet of four Boeing 767 airplanes to
Alberta Health Services and aren’t asking for them back. This makes me
think that WestJet is planning on not having the planes return to
service once more travel resumes. With the airline now the proud owners
of five Boeing 787 planes and what will be several years of recovery
to reach to pre-Coronavirus travel levels – the 30+ year old 767s will most likely not be required by the airline.

WESTJET DONATES GALLEY CARTS TO ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES SPRUNG PANDEMIC RESPONSE FACILITY

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect communities across the
country, WestJet’s Catering Services team found a good use for 115
galley carts in time for the completion of Alberta Health Services’
(AHS) new Sprung Pandemic Response facility in Calgary.

The 767 galley carts will be used in isolation rooms to hold medical
supplies and will help keep areas fully contained, reducing the risk of
cross contamination between patients at the 8,250-square-foot facility
located at the Peter Lougheed Centre. The temporary structure will only
open if required to accommodate patients with confirmed, possible or
probable cases of COVID-19.

The first delivery of galley carts arrived at the Peter Lougheed
Centre on Thursday, April 23. Even if not used, WestJet has gifted the
carts to AHS permanently.

Image via WestJet 

Airline Schedule Updates

This is now be a standard feature for the foreseeable future in our
daily update posts as we summarize Canadian operations based on data
from RoutesOnline and other sources. Remember that many of these route
plans are subject to change and right now they are changing frequently!

British Airways latest schedule update shows them
operating 1 daily flight out of both Montreal and Toronto to London
Heathrow in the month of June. (Source RoutesOnline)

EVA Air appears to be pushing back the re-launch of their Vancouver to Taipei route to May 25 from May 20 (Source RoutesOnline)

Korean Air’s plans for June currently has them flying 4x weekly service between Vancouver and Seoul and 3x weekly service from Toronto. (Source RoutesOnline)

Remember to visit and bookmark our COVID-19 resource page
where we are keeping you up to date with all the latest airline, hotel,
lounges and loyalty program news, policies, closures and more.

Other resources on Rewards Canada to help you make the most of your points and miles right now:

Posts since our last update:

Deals:

Travelzoo and Cape Mudge Resort on
B.C.’s Quadra Island are selling discounted vouchers for future stays
that are 100% fully refundable. You can buy vouchers for 2 night stays
starting at $179 each for May 2021 or $229 each for summer stays in 2020
or 2021. Find out more here. 

Hello Fresh: save $65 in total, including free shipping on the first box! Find out more here.

Missfresh: Simplify your life with 45% off your first 2 consecutive orders with code SIMPLIFY45. Find out more here.

Enjoy up to 25% off for stays at Radisson Hotels in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Find out more here Book by May 10 for stays June 10 – August 31, 20

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

Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Alitalia MilleMiglia

– Up to 60% Bonus MilleMiglia Miles and up to 20% off when you buy or gift miles online. More… Until May 31, 20

British Airways Executive Club

– Up to 75% Bonus Avios when you buy or gift Avios. Buy Avios here. Bonus varies by member. More… Until May 18, 20

IHG Rewards Club

– 100% Bonus IHG Rewards Club Points when you buy 3,000 or more points. More… Until Jun 15, 20

Miles & More

– Earn up to 7,000 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with
Avis for 2 or more days Worldwide except for Latin America. More… Book by May 31 for rentals until Dec 15, 20

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