World Traveller 73 
Innovative: Canadian Red Cross Launches Promotion with Air Canada; Earn Aeroplan Points on Donations
This unique promotion which we saw last year has returned for September 2023. Along with all these recent forest fires, storms and natural disasters, if you happen to feel charitable, here is a great way of earning some Aeroplan points to go along with your donation to the Canadian Red Cross.
I have to hand it to to the Canadian Red Cross for an interesting promotion opportunity that also happens makes you feel good about yourself while participating.
Innovative: Canadian Red Cross Launches Promotion with Air Canada; Earn Aeroplan points on Donations
The Canadian Red Cross has announced an interesting promotion with Air Canada that allows for Air Canada Aeroplan points to be earned on donations to the Canadian Red Cross.
The Essentials of the Promotion:
Earn Points on Donations:
The Canadian Red Cross has come up with a promotion that partners with Air Canada’s Aeroplan.
The details of the promotion are as follows:
- The promotion is intended for Canadian Residents.
- Earn 100 Aeroplan® points per $5 given to the Canadian Red Cross.
- This offer is only valid for donations made online at www.redcross.ca/rewards from September 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023
- The promotion dates are between September 1 – September 30, 2022
- Points will post to the Aeroplan Account within 30 – 60 days from the date your donation was made
- Donors who elect to receive Aeroplan points for their donation are not eligible to receive a charitable tax receipt.
The donation page offers an interactive sliding scale that allows you to see how much your donation will potentially earn.
Double Your Impact:
Get Matched by Air Canada:
New this year is the ability to get your donation matched by Air Canada at 100%.
This means that a donation of $100 will be matched by Air Canada with an additional $100 for a total of a $200 donation.
On the matched donations, you do not receive Aeroplan miles.
These donations do happen to qualify for a tax receipt for the personally donated amounts.
The full terms and conditions of the promotion are also posted on the website.
Enter a Contest to Win 250,000 Aeroplan Points:
In addition to the earning promotion, there is also a contest to win two grand prizes of 250,000 Aeroplan points.
The ways to enter the contest are as follows:
- Make donation(s) of one hundred Canadian dollars (CAD$ 100.00) or more on www.redcross.ca/rewards (the “Contest Campaign Page”), during the Contest Period. Donations made online on pages other than the Contest Campaign Page are not eligible for entry.
- For no purchase entry, go to www.redcross.ca/rewards/no-purchase-entry, fill in the Contest form with all requested information, including without limitation, your name, address, email, phone number, and Aeroplan account number, and submit form by clicking on the Submit button during the Contest Period.
The promotion is marketed though both Canadian Red Cross websites and Air Canada direct email marketing campaigns.
What Can You Use Air Canada Aeroplan Points For:
Air Canada Aeroplan points can be redeemed for out right redemptions into a solid Premium Economy product. The Air Canada Premium Economy product is available on their wide body aircraft that include the Boeing 777 series, their Boeing 787 series and their Airbus 330 products.
Air Canada also offers an excellent Air Canada Signature Executive Business Class product that is offered on all their wide body aircraft, including on select domestic flagship routes within Canada.
The Air Canada Signature Business Class offers a fully lie flat seat in a reverse herringbone configuration that is exceptionally private. It is a great way to travel on a medium or long haul flight.
The seats offer a terrific combination of relaxing space and work space thanks to a side table. Overall, it remains among my favourite business class cabins out there.
My Thoughts on the Promotion:
Air Canada Aeroplan Points are incredible useful for Canadians. As the leading frequentt flier program in Canada, it makes sense to participate in the program.
Air Canada Aeroplan regularly sells miles for 3.5 cents per mile; at full price. This means that it would typically cost you $175 CAD for 5,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points. There are occasional bonuses that allow for discounted rates that would allow for earning at greater capacities.
Under this promotion, a donation of $250 CAD will earn you the same 5,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points. As a result, you’ll be paying an additional $75 CAD for the same amount of points.
The difference is that your donation will allow you to feel good about yourself knowing that your donation will be going to help disasters around the world.
It may also be the right opportunity for someone looking to keep their adult child’s Aeroplan account active from expiring, from an 18 month expiration rule. This is constantly a challenge for me, since I don’t live near an LCBO where I can add a couple of miles with a simple purchase.
Unfortunately, the donation with the earning of Aeroplan points doesn’t allow for a further tax deductible receipt under Canada Revenue Agency rules. Perhaps this is the only drawback of this promotion.
Initially, I was very much sold on this promotion and planned to donate several hundred dollars until I read the fine print which pointed out a tax deductible receipt is not offered.
Ultimately, you won’t come out further ahead on a value proposition by earning points through the Red Cross campaign, than by purchasing points directly through Air Canada. However, you’ll perhaps sleep better at night knowing that your money will be going towards a good cause on a humanitarian basis.
In Summary: The Canadian Red Cross Offers a Promotion Allowing to Earn Air Canada Aeroplan Points on Donations.
The Canadian Red Cross and Air Canada Aeroplan have announced a promotion that allows you to earn miles by donating through their portal between September 1 – September 30, 2023.
While you won’t be allowed to claim a tax receipt for your donation, this may be an opportunity for the right person that prefers to do something philanthropic with their money, while earning a fairly generous amount of Aeroplan miles at the same time.
Will you be taking part in the return of this innovative promotion ?
Air Canada has announced fall season cuts on many non stop routes from Calgary International Airport in the Province of Alberta, Canada. The city will be impacted by the service suspension of many domestic, transborder and international routes. Primarily, those most impacted will be Calgary’s business travellers who will now have to take a connecting flight in order to stay loyal to Air Canada, or switch to Westjet if they are insistent on a faster non stop flight.
Air Canada Cuts Several Domestic & International Flights from Calgary; Cites Pilot Shortage.
The effects of travel after the pandemic in an environment after the pandemic has caused pressures on airlines throughout North America. We are now learning of intended cuts to Air Canada’s domestic and international routes from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In a email to Calgary Aeroplan Elite members, and reported on by several national news outlets, Air Canada announced a reduction in services from and to the Calgary International Airport.
The Routes Impacted:
Air Canada has announced that the following routes will be suspended at the end of schedule (effective October 30, 2023):
- Air Canada Flights between Calgary and Halifax
- Air Canada Flights between Calgary and Ottawa
- Air Canada Flights between Calgary and Los Angeles
- Air Canada Flights between Calgary and Honolulu
- Air Canada Flights between Calgary and Cancun
- Air Canada Flights between Calgary and Frankfurt
Air Canada is offering connections for these destinations with multiple options serviced every day via hubs in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.
Air Canada also announced that their flights between Calgary and Frankfurt will now be serviced non‑stop by a Lufthansa Group airline. In essence, the flights will no longer be operated by Air Canada aircraft, and instead be operated by a Lufthansa Group aircraft such as Lufthansa Mainline or Eurowings.
Air Canada has assured travellers that they will proactively accommodate all customers impacted by these bookings and they will hear from Air Canada about alternative travel options, re-routing through other airports, or the choice of a full refund.
These cuts don’t impact accessing the comfortable Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Calgary.
Air Canada Cites Pilot Shortages:
While not reported in the email to Aeroplan Elite members, Air Canada has reported to broadcast news agencies that “pilot shortages” are the cause for many of these route cancellations.
As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, in a memo sent to staff, Air Canada Executive Vice President Mark Galardo stated: “I understand that it’s frustrating to see that we are adding new routes from our hubs while suspending services from Calgary, but in the current landscape these service suspensions are the right decision.”
The routes are operated by a variety of equipment including Airbus 220-300, Boeing 737 Max 8 and Airbus 330-300 aircraft. As a result, there isn’t one particular equipment type that you could link the shortages to.
What This Means to Air Canada In Calgary:
The city of Calgary is home to a large business travel community with a number of oil and gas energy offices located in Calgary and throughout Alberta. It’s no secret that Air Canada’s largest competitor “Westjet Airlines” is based in Calgary.
The cutting of these domestic, transborder and international routes will greatly impact the ability of Calgary based travellers to get to their destinations. While it may have been easy to cut a few routes, Air Canada hasn’t spared many routes and has arguably cut a wide swath through many access points out of Calgary that include both business, leisure and sun destinations.
Those that are on the road quite a bit as Air Canada Aeroplan Elite travellers will be the most impacted, as they will now need to take a connection in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal in order to get to their final destinations. Despite assurance language in the email to elite travellers the contrary, the natural question is how committed Air Canada actually is to Calgary when many of these routes will be lost to Westjet offering non stop service on the routes.
On a personal note, I used to regularly commute through Calgary International Airport on a domestic Canadian Vancouver – Ottawa route, taking Air Canada 343 Calgary – Ottawa on a regular basis. The price of the connecting flight always made more sense to my employer versus a non stop from Vancouver – Ottawa.
Connecting in Calgary International Airport was always more pleasant than connecting in Toronto Pearson International Airport. Gates were closer together, there were less delays and you generally got out much quicker.Now that this connection point will cease to exist after October 30, 2023, I’ll be relegated to the non stop flight or a connection in Toronto. This will certainly have a price point impact on the travel budget.
I will also particularly miss the suspension of service of Air Canada Calgary – Frankfurt. This route used to be among the easiest to get upgrades on, as it was much more elite light compared to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. I had benefitted from elite upgrades travelling this route over the years, thanks to a lighter business class demand. The cutting of this route means that Air Canada loyalists will have to fly well out of their way in order to get over to Europe.
My Thoughts on Air Canada’s Move To Cut Flights from Calgary.
Air Canada has announced the service suspension of several key route to and from the Calgary International Airport. These routes include both business routes, European Routes, and Routes serving leisure destinations.
Unfortunately, Air Canada has decided that they don’t have enough resources to go against Westjet Airlines which is based in Calgary; and are better off shifting their resources somewhere else.
The biggest impacts will be felt by Calgary’s Aeroplan Elite community, who will have to take connections in order to stay loyal to Air Canada. One has to question how far this community will go in order to stay loyal, or whether they will switch to Westjet Airlines and their less exciting loyalty program.
If you have been impacted by these Calgary based cuts, what do your future Air Canada loyalty plans look like?
Marriott typically offers a spring and fall promotion that aligns with the business travel season. While we saw a spring promotion earlier this year that was pretty reasonable with a double elite qualifying night credit, this one is pretty lack luster. It only takes a moment to register for a Marriott promotion, so read on to see what Marriott is offering it’s fall travellers when staying at Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
Marriott Bonvoy Launches Fall 2023 Promotion “Go Your Way + Earn Bonus Points”: Register Now
Marriott Bonvoy has announced their fall promotion for the year 2023. We typically see hotels announce a fall promotion across many competing hotel brands. Marriott Bonvoy is no exception to this rule, and we’ve learned of news of their planned Marriott Bonvoy’s Fall 2023 promotion.
Marriott Bonvoy has gone live with this promotion, as it’s showing up on the Marriott Bonvoy home page. Most members will be able to find it under the Promotion Central area of their Marriott Bonvoy profile on the webpage and mobile Marriott App versions on iOS or Android.
Without further ado, here are the details of this promotion…
Promotion Details:
Earn up to 1,500 Marriott Bonvoy Points per stay and 3,000 for every three hotel brands.
The details of the promotion are as follows:
- Register now, then earn from September 12 through December 6, 2023.
- Registration ends November 22, 2023.
- Earn 1,500 bonus points on each stay with no earning limits.
- Get an additional 3,000 bonus points for every three hotel brands you explore.
Additional Promotion Details:
- Only stays paid with cash qualify toward this promotion; award or cash and points stays don’t qualify
- The standard bonus points will post within seven business days of checking out of a hotel.
- The bonus points for staying in three additional brands will take up to 6 weeks to post after the promotion period ends. This means that bonus points will arrive as late as Wed January 17, 2024.
- There’s no limit to how many bonus points you can earn.
- Practically speaking, the promotion period is only eighty five days long, meaning that up to 127,500 base promotion points can be earned. With thirty hotel brands, up to 30,000 bonus promotion brand stay points can be earned.
- Most hotels globally are participating, although stays at the Ritz Carleton Yacht Collection, Homes and Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott Executive Apartments and owner occupied weeks at Marriott Vacation Club, Marriott Grand Residence Club, Sheraton Vacation Club, Westin Vacation Club, Ritz Carleton Club, St Regis Residence Club and Luxury Collection Residence Club are not eligible for bonus points for this promotion.
- And lastly, there’s no minimum length of stay or stay requirements required to unlock the bonus.
Registration:
Registration is required for this promotion. Registration can be completed through the Marriott Bonvoy App, from within your account on the Marriott Bonvoy website under Promotion Central, or through this registration link.
Registration needs to be completed by November 22, 2023 for stays for stays ending December 6, 2023.
As with the spring 2023 promotion, the Marriott webpage isn’t as stellar as it could be. When I attempted to register, I ended up back at the promotions page without any confirmation that I had actually successfully registered.
While it didn’t seem like I even registered at all, the ability to register disappeared from my Promotion Central. With no promotions listed or available, I’ll assume that I’m correctly registered.
What do I think about this promotion?
On the points side, if you value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.07 cents per point, this is like getting a potential return of $10.50 USD per 1,500 point promotion. While this won’t move the needle for anyone, it may replace the points for those that are taking the breakfast benefit on personal stays, in lieu of their Marriott Bonvoy Elite welcome bonus.
The additional brand bonus of three thousand points for every three brands is a little more lucrative; assuming you don’t have to go out of your way to earn it. If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.07 cents per point, this is like getting a potential return of $21, per 3000 point promotion.
While I’m valuing convenience and ease of travel these days instead of hopping between hotels on a business travel week, I doubt I would get a lot of mileage out of the brand bonus. With my travel patterns, I’m not likely to go out of my way over three days of stay for a return of $21 USD.
I suppose there are some road warriors that can do well as a result of trying out a new hotel brand every night, most of these people are likely already with Marriott anyway and are likely familiar with their brand portfolio.
I also find it entertaining that Mariott calls this promotion “Go Your Way” but it actually requires you to disrupt your travel patterns to stay in more and different hotels. I’d actually rather prefer to stay with what I know, instead of exploring a discount brand like a Moxy, when I could be staying in a business brand like Westin.
Unfortunately, this promotion isn’t anywhere near as lucrative of the double elite night credit plus 1,000 points that was featured earlier in the year in Spring 2023. While I wouldn’t say no to more points, this one does absolutely nothing in terms of keeping stays with Marriott, in my humble opinion.
As a reminder for those short on elite qualifying nights, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Credit Card offers 15 Elite Night Credits per calendar year. The fortunate customers in the United States are able to stack an additional 15 credits by also getting the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Business Credit Card.
This means that US customers can benefit from a total of 30 Elite Night Credits without even setting foot in a Marriott hotel. With the coveted Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status available at 50 Elite Qualifying Nights, it’s not a stretch to pick up an additional 20 nights for customers in the United States.
If you don’t happen to have a Marriott Bonvoy affiliated credit card, you can apply for one through these links posted below and earn the highest possible welcome bonus.
The Best offer is available below through a referral link.
American Express Marriott Bonvoy (CANADA)
55,000 Marriott Bonvoy Point Welcome Bonus with $3,000 minimum spend
American Express Marriott Bonvoy (CANADA)
55,000 Marriott Bonvoy Point Welcome Bonus with $3,000 minimum spend
The Bottom Line: Marriott’s Fall Promotion
We now know the details of Marriott Bonvoy’s spring promotion. It’s fair to say it’s not too glamorous or generous.
While this promotion isn’t so exciting on the points earning side at just 1,500 additional points per stay, it gets a little more interesting on the 3,000 points for every three brands.
There exists the potential for those who are willing to expend substantial effort to earn more under this promotion. However, it does seem that this would require a lot more work than I’d actually personally get out of moving around all the time. You’ll also have to wait until as late as January 2024 in order to receive this additional brand bonus points.
As always, it’s still worth taking the effort to register, as more points are always better than less points. This is assuming you can actually get the system to let you register properly.
What do you make of Marriott’s Fall Promotion ?
Porter Airlines Offers Air Canada Aeroplan Elites a Status Match & 2024 Status Challenge to VIPorter
Porter Airlines is looking to carve out it’s share of the business travel market by going up against heavy weight Air Canada. Through recent expansion, it has added flights to its’ network in regions that Air Canada has cut or reduced frequencies. Porter Airlines has offered a status match and status challenge offer directly targeting Air Canada Elites. You’ll have to act fact in order to get in on this offer. Read onto see additional details.
Porter Airlines Offers Air Canada Aeroplan Elites a Status Match & 2024 Status Challenge to VIPorter Passport, Venture, Ascent, or First Levels.
Competition in domestic Canada’s business travel market is heating up this fall. Porter Airlines has just announced a status match opportunity exclusively targeted to Air Canada Aeroplan Elite members.
Interestingly, this offer appears to directly exclude elite members from the Westjet Rewards program. Unusual for status match opportunities, the promotional marketing is specific to Air Canada status holders.
The Essentials of the Promotion:
The Status Match from Air Canada Aeroplan Elite to VIPorter for the rest of 2023:
Porter Airlines is offering Air Canada Aeroplan Elites the opportunity to status match to VIPorter Ascent, Venture, and First levels from the corresponding Air Canada Aeroplan Elite 25K, 35K and 50K levels.
The offer is also valid for those that do not have official status, but have flown a specific number of Air Canada Status Qualifying Segments (eight / sixteen or twenty eight SQS segments) this calendar year.
The details are as follows:
Provide verification of your Aeroplan status or the number of segments (SQS) you’ve flown so far this year, as shown in your Aeroplan account and Porter Airlines will match it as detailed in the table below.
Porter Airlines promises that they will review your application “within 3 weeks”.
If approved, you will have the equivalent VIPorter status until the end of the calendar year in December 31, 2023.
You’ll have to act quickly. Porter Airlines is only offering this status match until September 6, 2023.
I generally don’t advocate taking advantage of status match offers, unless you actually plan on using the benefits during the future. There is always the possibility that your travel plans can change into the future, and you might be prevented from accessing a similar status match or status challenge opportunity in the future, if you’ve already taken advantage of it in the past.
The 2024 Status Challenge:
Porter Airlines is also offering a 2024 Status challenge:
Porter Airliens is offering a reduced qualification level in order to maintain the elevated status until the end of December 31, 2024.
In order to maintain the following level,s you’ll have to spend the following amount(s) with Porter Airlines.
- VIPorter Passport — earn $500 in Qualifying Spend
- VIPorter Venture — earn $750 in Qualifying Spend
- VIPorter Ascent — earn $1500 in Qualifying Spend
- VIPorter First — earn $2500 in Qualifying Spend
The full terms and conditions of the promotion are also posted within the registration page.
Is Porter Airlines Useful to Your Travel Patterns?
Porter Airlines will be much more useful for Toronto, Ontario based travellers that travel on short haul segments. If you live in downtown Toronto, Porter Airlines operates an excellent facility at the Billy Bishop International Airport that is located just minutes from downtown Toronto.
The Billy Bishop International Airport is dominated by Porter Airlines and they offer Q400 service to many destinations with regular frequencies that no other carrier is able to match. Porter Airlines also offers it’s greatest destinations from Toronto, with flights across most of the East Coast and throughout destinations in Canada.
However, from my home base in Vancouver, British Columbia, the value proposition is a little different. There is currently only one route; Vancouver – Toronto which is serviced by less competitive Embraer 195 narrowbody aircraft. When flying with Air Canada, it is easy to get on wide body Boeing 777-200, Boeing 777-300 or Boeing 787-900 aircraft on this route. Porter Airlines typically flies an Embraer 195; a much smaller and cramped aircraft for the four and half hour flight. Generally, there is only one Porter flight per day which makes it even less convenient.
In addition, the Porter Airways experience in Vancouver is pretty bare bones. Relegated to the end of the Vancouver domestic check in area next to Flair Airways, Air North and Lynx Airways, the experience is pretty simple in nature.
What Can You Use Porter Airlines VIPorter for:
VIPorter offers a points earn rate based on a dollar spend amount. The earn rate is directly tied to your VIPorter elite status level. The earn rate varies from 5 points per dollar up to 7 points per dollar.
VIPorter elite status isn’t super exciting. Since they don’t offer a complimentary lounge network anymore, the most valuable part of VIPorter are the priority services found at the airport that include a small version of Priority Check in, a Complimentary Carry On and a Complimentary Checked Bag.
Unfortunately, VIPorter points can’t be used for rewards tickets on international business class cabins or redemptions against far away exotic places. The airline does fly to Florida, but that’s about it for exciting destinations for the moment.
In Summary: Porter Airlines is Offering a Status Match and Status Challenge for Air Canada Aeroplan Elites.
Porter Airlines is offering a time limited status match offer for Air Canada Aeroplan Elites into VIP Porter Passport, Venture, Ascent or First levels. This is a time limited offer and you need to sign up by September 6, 2023.
Furthermore, if you spend a set amount by December 31, 2023, Porter Airlines will award you status for the balance of the 2024 calendar year.
Those travellers based in Toronto, Ontario can really take advantage of this. Other Porter Airlines customers will have limited use for this offer as a result of a lack of flights at their outer destinations.
Will You Be Taking Advantage of Porter Airlines Status Match and Status Challenge Offer ?
Air Canada Aeroplan offers a birthday bonus offer that arrives on every frequent flier program members birthday. We have seen this offer arrive for the past several years, although the content of the offer can change somewhat, dependent on the local travel conditions and partnerships that exist with Air Canada at the time of the offer. As. an easy way to gain some savings or Aeroplan points, I thought that I would go over the usual options and considerations when redeeming the Aeroplan Birthday Bonus offer.
Air Canada Aeroplan Birthday Bonus Explained
For the last several years Air Canada’s Aeroplan has offered a birthday bonus to it’s Aeroplan frequent flier program members. The best part about this promotion, is that it’s not targeted towards elite members, and anyone can benefit provided they have subscribed to Air Canadas’ marketing emails and communications.
The Offer:
On an Aeroplan members birthday, you’ll receive an offer in your email account entitled “Happy Birthday, from Aeroplan”.
The offer sets out five choices of offers. The offers have to be redeemed before 30 days after your birthday.
I have an embarrassingly low Aeroplan mileage balance, thanks to my most recent redemption.
The promotional email sets out all the options of the offer, along with a button to directly access and select the offer.
The offers include:
25% off Base Fares and a Preferred Seat
Earn 5X on an Uber Birthday Ride
Up to 10% off Vacation Packages
Earn 500 Aeroplan Points via the Aeroplan E Store
Earn 100 Bonus Aeroplan Points
Overall, this is a pretty good selection of things to chose from, simply for being an Aeroplan member.
The Terms and Conditions:
For those into the fine print, the promotion offers the following for the fine print terms and conditions:
This Aeroplan Birthday Perk Promotion (the “Offer”) is sponsored by Aeroplan®. The Offer will allow an Aeroplan Member to select a birthday perk on the Member’s birthday.
During the Offer Period, Aeroplan will be reaching out by email to Aeroplan Members who are celebrating a birthday during each day of the Offer Period (each a “Selected Aeroplan Member”) and will give the Selected Aeroplan Member the option to choose between one (1) of five (5) perks (a “Birthday Perk”). Birthday Perks are non‑transferable, only the Selected Aeroplan Member to whom such email will have been sent will be eligible to benefit from a Birthday Perk.
To claim and receive the Birthday Perk, Selected Aeroplan Members must follow the instructions outlined in the email they will have received from Aeroplan and click the “Select” button under the perk of their choosing before [30 days after their birthday]. Selected Aeroplan Members who have made a selection as outlined above will receive a confirmation email in the 72 hours following their selection.
Selected Aeroplan Members may only choose and receive one Birthday Perk out of the five (5) Birthday Perks offered in the email. Available Birthday Perk options may vary. In the case where a Selected Aeroplan Member would click on multiple “Select” buttons in the email, Selected Aeroplan Member will be awarded with the perk associated with their first click. Once the Selected Aeroplan Member has clicked “Select”, the Selected Aeroplan Member will not be able to modify its first selection.
1 Valid on new bookings made by [30 days after their brithday] at 23:59 EST with a departure city located in Canada. Valid on any flight operated by Air Canada® (including Air Canada Express®and operated by Air Canada Rouge®) originating in Canada to destinations within Canada, to the United States (including Hawaii), to Mexico and to the Caribbean, and for travel completed by February 12, 2024. Codeshare and interline flights are excluded. Blackout dates apply to this Offer: March 1, 2023 until March 31, 2023.
Voucher code for this Birthday Perk will provide a one‑time discount of 25% off all Economy class undiscounted Air Canada published base fares only, which form part of the applicable air transportation charges, when booking on aircanada.com. Discounts will not be applied to: surcharges (which are included in the air transportation charges), taxes, fees and charges. On rare occasions, the additional discount may not be applicable on select markets as the fares are already heavily discounted on the Web. Surcharges, taxes, fees and charges apply in full to all bookings and must be paid by travelers, including children and infants occupying a seat. Maximum of five passengers per booking. One stopover en route to your final destination or one open jaw is permitted.
Voucher code will also provide a Preferred Seat to all passengers on the booking, up to 5 passengers. As inventory is limited, Preferred Seats may not be available at time of booking.
All flights are subject to Air Canada’s General Conditions of Carriage and Tariffs and can be found on aircanada.com.
Due to travel restrictions, government recommendations and passenger demand resulting from the impact of COVID 19, eligible scheduled flights available for booking during the Offer Period may vary and are subject to change at any time without notice.
25X Multiplier Offer: Earn 4 bonus Aeroplan points for every $1 CAD (based on spend before promotions and discounts, excluding taxes, fees, and tips) spent on your next Uber Premium (includes UberXL, Comfort, Premier, Premier SUV, Black and Black SUV) ride taken in Canada or in the United States through the Uber app, where available, by [30 days after your birthday] (the “Offer Period”). This offer is a bonus offer on top of the Always On Premium ride offer of earn 1 point for every $1 CAD (based on spend before promotions and discounts, excluding taxes, fees, and tips) spent on all Uber Premium (includes UberXL, Comfort, Premier, Premier SUV, Black and Black SUV) rides taken in Canada and the United States through the Uber app, where available Only Aeroplan Members targeted with this offer can qualify. This Offer can be combined with all other offers including the Always On Airport Ride offer, in which case, members who make their next Uber ride during the Offer Period that is a Premium Ride to an airport in Canada or the United States, will earn a total of 6 points for every $1 CAD spent (based on spend before promotions and discounts, excluding taxes, fees, and tips). The Uber Account and Aeroplan account must be linked at the time of the ride to qualify. Please allow up to 8 weeks after taking the ride to receive the points earned under this offer.
3 Valid on new bookings of select vacation packages made by [30 days after your birthday]. Offer expires at 11:59 p.m. EST on the date indicated. Subject to availability at time of booking.
This Offer is valid on new vacation package bookings made through aircanadavacations.com to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, Hawaii, Orlando & Las Vegas. Not applicable to group bookings. Not applicable to open jaws (flying into one city and returning from another city) and to one‑way flights.
Offer provides a 10% discount on the base fare before applicable taxes, fees and surcharges for travel until March 31, 2024, excluding travel from December 18, 2023 until January 5, 2024, and from March 1, 2024 until March 17, 2024 where the discount will be 5%. Promo code must be applied online at aircanadavacations.com during checkout for the discount to be applied. To redeem this offer, Aeroplan Members must be logged in on aircanadavacations.com. Cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion.
Offer can be withdrawn at any time and is subject to change without notice. Subject to availability at the time of booking. Prices on the Air Canada Vacations website reflect applicable reductions and are valid if you purchase services in a same session. If you log off the website, prices may be different the next time you log on. Final prices will be displayed before confirming your payment.
The Offer allows for Aeroplan Members travelling on the same booking to accumulate points on the eligible flight portion for their package. Aeroplan points will be awarded once travel has been completed. For terms and conditions of the Aeroplan program, visit aircanada.com/aeroplan-termsandconditions.
4 To receive the 500 bonus points associated with this Birthday Perk, Selected Aeroplan Member must spend a total of at least $50 (CAD) before applicable taxes in a single transaction at any partner retailer via the Aeroplan eStore by September 11, 2023. All purchases on the Aeroplan eStore remain subject to the standard eStore Terms and Conditions, which can be found at: aeroplan.rewardops.com/terms. Bonus points will be available in the Selected Aeroplan Member’s account within 6‑8 weeks.
Registration:
Registration is really easy, and is a one click process from the targeted email through the featured buttons.
There are cautions that once selected, the Aeroplan member is unable to go back to a different offer. As a result, you’ll have to chose your offer carefully.
I will admit that I’ve tended to leave selection of the gift towards the end of the promotion. When I’ve redeemed this offer close to the expiration, I’ve had some difficulty in actually getting the offer redeemed.
I’ve typically gotten a “you will receive a voucher / email within 72 hours“. Often, I have to follow up in order to get this fufilled. If you know what you want, make sure you redeem well in advance of the offer expiration date.
What I think of this promotion:
If you happen to have some upcoming travel plans that are around your birthday, this could represent an excellent deal.
The 25% off Base Fares and a Preferred Seat and Up to 10% off Vacation Packages represent the biggest value redemptions here. Depending on where you are headed, and if your timing is right, these can represent several hundred of dollars worth of savings off your ticket or package. The 25% off Base Fares will be the offer I intend to redeem under this promotion, once I have some travel plans lined up.
I am less excited about the Earn 5X on an Uber Birthday Ride. Uber really isn’t prevalent in my area, and there isn’t a whole lot of usage for it based on my travel patterns, in my humble opinion.
The Earn 500 Aeroplan Points via the Aeroplan E Store is handy in case you happen to be ordering yourself an after the fact birthday gift. By my calculations of Aeroplan points being worth approximately 1.5 cents a point, five hundred points represents $7.50 CAD of value.
Lastly, Earn 100 Bonus Aeroplan Points is probably the least value oriented of these redemptions. At the very least, you’ll be 100 Bonus Aeroplan points richer. This feature is even great for keeping your adult children’s accounts active to avoid expiration, if they don’t happen to be travelling as much. By my calculations of Aeroplan points being worth approximately 1.5 cents a point, one hundred points represents $1.50 CAD of value.
My Thoughts on the Aeroplan Birthday Bonus:
Air Canada Aeroplan offers its frequent flier program members a birthday bonus that arrives on your birthday. If you’re paying attention to your emails, you’ll be offered. anopportunity to seelct from five different birthday offers.
The offers represent different price points in terms of value. The high value redemptions are the 25% off promotional code and a preferred seat, in addition to gaining access to 10% off Air Canada Vacations bookings.
These offers are only valid for thirty days after your birthday, so if you have travel plans around your birthday, it might. bean idea to defer them to see if you can gain any further discounts with this promotion.
Have you had any successes in leveraging the Aeroplan Birthday Bonus Promotion into a Great Redemption?
The credit card space is a competitive one that is designed to attract consumers through lucrative sign up bonuses and retention offers. In a bit of a surprise move, MBNA has offered it’s MBNA Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan credit card holders a sign up bonus for sticking with their new MBNA Rewards Mastercard. The bonus is tiered, dependent on how much you had spent on the card in previous months ahead. Read on to see what the bonus offers, and how it might impact your decision making with respect to the future of this card.
MBNA Surprises Alaska Airlines Credit Card Holders with a Conversion Sign Up Bonus
MBNA announced earlier that they would be discontinuing the MBNA Alaska Airlines Mastercard. Existing card holders were told that they would be converted to an MNBA World Rewards Mastercard.
We’ve now learned that MBNA intends to offer a sign up bonus for existing MBNA Alaska Airlines Credit Card holders to remain with the new MBNA Rewards program.
This is in addition to the separate retention offer separately offered by Alaska Airlines.
MBNA Makes a Retention Offer:
In letters mailed directly to credit card holders this week, MBNA has offered a targeted sign up bonus to MBNA Alaska Airlines Credit Card Holders.
The outside of the envelope teased some hint that an offer was pending inside.
Much like the other notice, MBNA didn’t really dress up this offer to make it appear exciting. It has all the excitement of opening a utility bill. It’s fair to say that it was much different than my experiences with American Express, that make every feature seem like an exclusive invitation to the opera.
The Exclusive Welcome Offer:
Earn 35,000 MBNA Rewards Points when you make $2,000 worth of eligible purchases between September 1, 2023 and November 30, 2023 with your MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard.
Inside the letter, the content set out of the start of the MBNA Rewards program. The letter highlighted the fact that the MBNA Rewards program was starting on September 1, 2023.
Further on in the letter, MBNA set out the “Exclusive Welcome Offer”. The letter offered “Earn 35,000 MBNA Rewards Points when you make $2,000 worth of eligible purchases between September 1, 2023 and November 30, 2023 with your MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard.”
MBNA Rewards is marketing 35,000 MBNA Rewards Points as $350 in travel value.
The letter also reminded customers that they didn’t have to wait for their new MBNA Rewards Mastercard to be delivered; any purchases made after September 1, 2023 could earn MBNA Rewards points.
The letter elaborated on the additional benefits of the card. In particular, the letter outlined the annual birthday bonus, the 5X MBNA Rewards Points for every $1 spend on eligible restaurant, grocery, digital media, membership and household utility purchases.
Lastly, the letter was surprisingly silent about the ability to convert these points to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles. This wasn’t exactly comforting for those who’s primary reason for holding this card was to earn Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles.
Targeted and Tiered Offers:
What is interesting about this welcome bonus, is that there appear to be tiered offers floating around out there.
While MrsWT73 got an offer for 35,000 MBNA Reward Points for $2,000 in spend, I only got 20,000 MBNA Reward points for $2,000 in spend.
“Earn 20,000 MBNA Rewards Points when you make $2,000 worth of eligible purchases between September 1, 2023 and November 30, 2023 with your MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard.”
As a point of comparison, shortly before the letter, MrsWT73 was spending approximately $1,000 CAD a month in spend on this particular card, where as I was only spending about $500 a month in spend on this card.
Surpirisingly, I had actually been a card holder of this card for approximately 2 years longer than MrsWT73, so it doesn’t seem that customer length had any feature in the welcome bonus levels.
Ultimately, both offers are reasonably fair. While it’s a shame to miss out on earning miles, the three months is a pretty fair amount of time to meet this particular welcome offer.
My Take on This Offer:
The fact that MBNA offered a sign up bonus to its existing credit card holders was a smart way in order to buy some time on the part of MBNA to get it’s program together. By offering an easy sign up bonus, this locks in it’s existing card holders, and gives them a reason not to cancel their cards in favor of something else.
Earning 20,000 (or in some lucky cases 35,000) MBNA Rewards points with only $2,00 in spend over a three month period is a pretty easy sign up bonus to achieve for most people.
This also buys MBNA Rewards some time to get their conversion to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles lined up and finalize any agreements themy may have to completewith Alaska Airlines. The lack of information on this progress in the letter was telling. It is possible that this feature may never come to fruiition, or that the conversion rate isn’t 1:1 like many will expect and hope.
Ultimately, we will both be completing this easy sign up bonus, and taking a wait and see approach before we decide to “hold” or “cancel” this card.
In Summary: MBNA Surprises Alaska Airlines Mastercard Credit Card Holders with an MBNA Rewards Sign Up Bonus
MBNA Alaska Airlines Mastercard holders were surprised with a letter that set out the terms and conditions of an MBNA Rewards sign up bonus for its new program.
MBNA is offering between 20,000 MBNA Rewards points or up. to35,000 MBNA Rewards points for completing $2,000 in spend betwenn September 1, 2023 and November 30, 2023. This isn’t a hard amount of spend to complete over three months, amny many should be able to complete this without much difficultly.
I ma still taking a wait and see about with this card, but I intend to complete the requirements of the sign up bonus, before making any final decisions on keeping or cancelling this card. The conversion to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan will be the key decision point for our household.
If you had the MBNA Alaska Airlines Mastercard, were you surprised by the offer of an MBNA Rewards sign up bonus?
Every now and then, we get to see an act of generosity in the frequent flier program market place. The most recent example of this is Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan’s generous treatment of it’s elite members that were recently impacted by the MBNA Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Mastercard being cancelled. Alaska Airlines has offered a generous transition offer for it’s Alaska Mileage Plan elite members in order to retain their business in the foreseeable future. Read on to see what Alaska Airlines has offered it’s current elites impacted by the MBNA Alaska Mileage PlanWorld Elite Mastercard credit card cancellation..
Alaska Airlines Extends Elite Status for MBNA Alaska Airlines Mastercard Credit Card Holders
MBNA announced earlier that they would be discontinuing the MBNA Alaska Airlines Mastercard. Existing card holders were told that they would be converted to an MNBA World Rewards Mastercard. While we likely expected some retention efforts on the part of MBNA, we’ve learned that Alaska Arlines has made a retention offer of their own.
Alaska Airlines Reminds Mileage Plan Members miles can continue to be earned:
In a direct email to Alaska Mileage Plan Members, Alaska Airlines reminded Mileage Plan members that miles can continue to be earned through the credit card until August 31, 2023. They also remind customers that there is no change to mileage accumulation outside of the credit card.
There was no big surprise with this information. This type of message is pretty typical of programs as they change and evolve over time.
Alaska Airlines Extends Alaska Airlines Elite Status for one Year:
Alaska Mileage Plan MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75k members, that were also MBNA World Elite Mastercard holders get a status extension
Further on, the message indicated that for MBNA Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Mastercard credit card holders, your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Elite status was going to be extended for another year; or until the end of the qualification period on December 31, 2024.
This means that if you are an MBNA Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Credit Card Holder, and happened to have Alaska Mileage Plan Elite Status, you can likely expect your status to be extended to the end of the 2024 Milage Plan qualification period ending of December 31, 2024.
This was terrific news. It’s always a relief to be able to re-qualify on status, without having to actually fly. Although I was on track to renew my Alaska Airlines MVP Status anyway, it’s a really classy touch that Alaska Airlines offered a status extension for those that are going to be without the credit card moving forward.
On its own, this was exceptionally generous of Alaska Airlines to offer this status extension. It encourages people to continue flying with Alaska; which is exactly the intent.
Alaska Airlines Also Offers a 30% promotional code:
As if that wasn’t enough, Alaska Airlines also offered MBNA Alaska Mileage Plan Mastercard and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Elite members a 30% off promotional code for select travel.
The terms and Conditions of the Promotional Code were as follows:
Valid for one discount of 30% off coach base fare levels published at alaskaair.com. Fare basis code information can be found in the section entitled “View Fare and Baggage Rule” on the Itinerary and Price Summary page. Fare types that are ineligible for this discount may be lower than other fares with discount code applied. One discount allowed per reservation. Discount not valid on all fares, including but not limited to Mileage Plan Award Reservations, tour or contract fares, and many privately filed fares. Any Discount Code value remaining after purchase is forfeited.
Reservations & Ticketing: Valid for new ticket purchases only at alaskaair.com. Discount Code cannot be applied to tickets that have already been purchased and issued. Discount Code is relinquished at time of ticketing and void for future purchases. Credit card required for purchase.
Passengers: Up to six people per Discount Code, traveling together and booked and ticketed at the same time in the same reservation and at the same fare.
Routes: Discount is valid between Alaska Airlines Cities (excluding SCC airport) and Canada. Travel must originate and/or end in Canada. Discount is only valid on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Saturdays. Based on published fare routings and some cities may not be available.
Advance Purchase: Per applicable fare rules.
Purchase By: 11:59 p.m. PT on September 30, 2023.
It’s pretty rare to get such a steep promotional code discount, so I would imagine that there can be some value found in redeeming this code under the right circumstances.
Of course, if you have any remaining Alaska Airlines 2 for 1 Famous Companion fare codes left in your account, you’ll want to burn those off as they won’t be renewed with the new MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard now that there is no further credit card relationship in Canada with Alaska Mileage Plan.. Arguably, getting a 2 for 1 fare will be better value than 30% off a single flight. However, in the event you are needing to travel on your own, this might represent a good opportunity.
My Take on This Offer:
This was a pretty generous way of Alaska Airlines to recognize it’s Canadian Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan elite members. As both MrsWT73 and I are Alaska Mileage Plan Elite members, we’d both get notified that our status would be extended for another calendar year.
The addition of a promotional code offering 30% off for future travel on Alaska Airlines was the icing on the cake. Although the code is limited to departures from Canada, and can only be redeemed for travel on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, I would imagine that we will be able to find some use with this voucher before it expires to further increase our Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan balance at a reasonable cost.
I really value Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles, so this was a great move by Alaska Airlines in showing some good will towards it’s elite members by allowing travellers to earn even more Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles.
In Summary: Alaska Airlines rewards MBNA Mastercard Credit Card Holders that were also Mileage Plan Elite Members.
Alaska Airlines has rewarded it’s Mileage Plan Elite members that were holders of the MBNA Alaska Airlines Mastercard that is being discontinued. Alaska Airlines has generously offered a one year Elite Status extension, along with a 30% promotional code off future travel on select days.
This is a particularly generous move by Alaska Airlines and is an offer that is actually likely to increase engagement with the airlines. Typically, retention offers are on a “beg for it basis”, so it’s nice to see Alaska Airlines acting in a generous and classy way here.
Although I was already on track to earn Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Elite Status, I’ll be sure to use the promotional code for future travels.
If you had the MBNA Mastercard, were you surprised by the offer of an elite status extension for another year?
Air Canada has launched it’s latest Aeroplan promotion. Air Canada’s Aeroplan is offering additional miles for flights to New Zealand from Canada. Aeroplan is offering an additional ten thousand Aeroplan miles for flights booked in economy class and up to twenty five thousand miles for flights in Business Class. The promotion runs throughout the Southern Hemisphere summer season, although registration and purchase needs to happen by August 29, 2023.
Air Canada Offering up to 25,000 Extra Aeroplan Miles on Flights to New Zealand.
In an exclusive offer, Air Canada Aeroplan is offering up to 25,000 additional Aeroplan miles for flights from Canada to New Zealand.
The Flights:
Air Canada will soon be starting its Boeing 787-9 service from Vancouver, Canada to Auckland New Zealand.
Air Canada offers a terrific international business class service. We last flew their Air Canada Business Class Vancouver – Incheon and enjoyed the flight and the seat.
The flights are scheduled to depart as follows:
- AC 39 Vancouver – Auckland (Sun / Wed / Fri) departing 11:45 PM arriving 10:55 AM + 2 (Flight Time of 14hrs & 10 minutes)
- AC 40 Auckland – Vancouver (Sun / Tues / Fri) departing 2:00 PM arriving 6:10 AM (Flight Time of 13hrs and 10 minutes)
Flights are now available for sale on the Air Canada website and aren’t cheap. The flights generally appear to be going for around $3,100 Canadian Dollars round trip in a flex fare category that earns 100% Aeroplan miles.
The Offer:
The promotional offer was marketed through an Aeroplan Elite Member targeted email, but it appears anyone can sign up for the promotion, assuming they locate the information. and registration from within the airline’s banner web page.
The Deal:
This is an offer that is open to anyone.
Air Canada is offering:
- An additional 25,000 Bonus Aeroplan points when flying a qualifying round trip business class fare
- An additional 10,000 Bonus Aeroplan points when flying a qualifying round trip economy class faire
The Terms and Conditions listed are as follows:
- Valid only on new bookings of Eligible Scheduled Flights* from Canada to Auckland (AKL), New Zealand.
- Offer valid between August 7, 2023, starting at 00:01 Newfoundland Time through to August 29, 2023 inclusively, ending at 23:59 Pacific Time.
- Open only to Aeroplan Members in good standing.
- Business Offer: Earn 25,000 bonus Aeroplan points when flying an eligible round trip (or two eligible one‑way trips) from Canada to Auckland (AKL), New Zealand during the eligible travel period.
Eligible Business Class and Premium Economy fares for this Offer:
Business Class flexible, Business Class lowest, Premium Economy flexible, Premium Economy lowest, Premium Rouge flexible, Premium Rouge lowest. - Economy Offer: Earn 10,000 bonus Aeroplan points when flying an eligible round trip (or two eligible one‑way trips) from Canada to Auckland (AKL), New Zealand during the eligible travel period.
- Registration is required. To register, click on the “One‑click registration” tab or on the “Register and book now” tab in the Offer e‑mail received or you can also register by clicking on the Offer banner when it is displayed on aircanada.com and then follow the instructions for registration.
Air Canada requires a minimum of one round‑trip flight booking or two one‑way trip flight bookings are required. For clarity, a one‑way trip consists of one origin and one destination (one bound) between an airport in Canada and Auckland (AKL), New Zealand.
- The departure of the first outbound trip must commence in Canada to be eligible for this Offer.
- For two one‑way trips to be eligible, at least the first of the bounds must depart from Canada, although both one‑way trips may originate in Canada. For example, the first eligible one‑way trip can be from Vancouver (YVR) to Auckland (AKL), and the second eligible one‑way trip can be from Toronto (YYZ) via Vancouver (YVR) to Auckland (AKL).
- Travel must take place within the following travel period: October 29, 2023, starting at 00:01 Newfoundland Time through to March 27, 2024 inclusively, ending at 23:59 Pacific Time.
Overall this is a pretty broad time line period to complete flights. Although, the promotion is only open for registration and ticket purchase for the next few days.
Registration and booking needs to be completed by August 29, 2023
Registration:
Registration is really easy, and is a one click process from the targeted email.
It also appears that you can simply register from the Air Canada home banner webpage; meaning that this may not be completely targeted towards elite members. Under these circumstances, you’ll need to manually enter your aeroplan number.
If you’re successful, you’ll be taken to a screen that indicates that you’ve been successfully registered for the offer.
What I think of this deal:
This offer is well positioned to highlight Air Canada’s new route from Vancouver, Canada to Auckland to New Zealand.
If you are travelling on this route, you may find yourself in Air Canada Business Class seats. Air Canada features Collins Aerospace reverse herringbone seats, which are a pretty comfortable way to travel long haul.
For a sample trip on what travel to the South Pacific is like, please see our review of the sister flight to Air Canada’s New Zealand service: Air Canada Business Class Vancouver – Sydney.
People that are travelling to the South Pacific should definitely register and consider booking within the offer window. However, much like Alaska Airlines, Air Canada typically isn’t the cheapest way to travel. As a result, I wouldn’t expect to find a bargain discount on this particular route.
The Bottom Line: Up to 25,000 Aeroplan Points are available for flights to New Zealand.
Air Canada is offering up to 25,000 Aeroplan miles for flights to New Zealand.
Registration is required and tickets need to be purchased by August 29, 2023.
This is the perfect promotion for those intending to visit New Zealand or perhaps connecting onward to Australia through Auckland.
If you are planning on flying on this route to New Zealand, do you anticipate on earning miles with this promotion ?
The Toronto Dominion Visa Aeroplan credit card has been coming out with several offers this quarter in order to engage and entice its’s credit card holders to use the card. We’ve seen several points promotions lately which are encouraging TD Visa Aeroplan card holders to use their cards at specific merchants. This most recent offer covers the fall period when many kids and young adults are headed back to school.
Targeted Offer: Toronto Dominion Aeroplan Visa offering 50% More Aeroplan Points on Select Electronics and Retail Purchases.
In an exclusive offer to Toronto Dominion Air Canada Aeroplan Visa card holders, Air Canada Aeroplan is offering fifty percent (50%) more Aeroplan points on “select electronics and retail purchases”.
The offer appears to be target and registration is required through the link provided within the email.
The Deal:
This is a targeted offer to Toronto Dominion Aeroplan Visa Card Holders.
Toronto Dominion Aeroplan Visa Card Holders are being offered up to 50% more Air Canada Aeroplan points for select retail and electronics purchases.
The Terms and Conditions listed on the Email are as follows:
Limited Time Promotional Offer (this “Offer”): Applies to TD Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Credit Card Account (each, an “Eligible Account“). Offer starts August 11, 2023 and ends October 11, 2023 (the “Offer Period“). This Offer is intended for, and will only apply to, the primary cardholder of an Eligible Account who is the recipient of this email and who must register during the Offer Period to receive this Offer for the Eligible Account (“you”).
To participate in this Offer and before any purchase can be considered an Eligible Purchase (described below, you must activate this Offer during the Offer Period by selecting the digital “Register now” button included within the email. The Offer Period will apply regardless of when you register for the Offer. “Eligible Purchases” are only those Purchases using the Merchant Category Codes (“MCC“) in the Retail and Electronics categories stated in the attached. We do not monitor or determine whether merchants correctly identify and bill Transactions according to the MCC. MCCs are determined by the merchant and Visa and such MCCs may be changed from time to time by Visa.
This Offer will be in addition to any other offers available for your Eligible Account. Once you register for this Offer, during the Offer Period, you will earn the base earn rate of 1 Aeroplan point plus 0.5 bonus Aeroplan points (the “bonus points“) for a total of 1.5 Aeroplan points for each $1.00 in Eligible Purchases charged and posted to the Eligible Account, up to a maximum of 2,500 Aeroplan points (the “Offer Cap“). Bonus points are calculated at 50% of the base earn rate of 1 Aeroplan point for each $1.00 in Eligible Purchases charged and posted to the Eligible Account. Once you reach the Offer Cap, or if the Purchase is not an Eligible Purchase, the standard earn rate as set out in your Aeroplan Rewards Terms for your Eligible Account will apply for Eligible Purchases. This Offer will be in addition to any other offers available for your Eligible Account.
This Offer may be changed, withdrawn or extended at any time, without notice, and is non-transferable and is not redeemable for cash. Please allow up to 8-10 weeks after the Offer Period ends to receive the bonus points earned under this Offer. The promotional offer awarded will be determined by the active card type at the time of offer fulfillment. Your Eligible Account must be open and in Good Standing at the time the bonus points are awarded and transferred to your Aeroplan account. This Offer may be revoked if you appear to be manipulating or abusing it, or are engaged in any suspicious or fraudulent activity, as determined by The Toronto Dominion Bank in its sole discretion. Any returned items, refunds, rebates or other similar credits will reduce or cancel the Aeroplan points, including the bonus points, earned on the original Eligible Purchase. If you replace your registered card during the Offer Period, your participation in this Offer will end. For Aeroplan terms and conditions, please visit: aircanada.com/Aeroplan-termsandconditions
Registration:
Registration is really easy, and is a one click process from the targeted email.
If you’re successful, you’ll be taken to a screen that indicates that you’ve been successfully registered for the offer.
The offer lists a number of MCC categories on the website, although it’s sometimes a little difficult telling whether your merchant falls under these specific categories.
The list of the eligible categories are as follows:
As always, there are a number of terms and conditions that are in place with any Air Canada Aeroplan promotion. Probably the most limiting of the terms and conditions, are the purchasing categories that are able to earn under this particular promotion.
These terms include:
- Offer starts on August 11, 2023
- Offer ends on October 11, 2023
- Points will be credited between 8 – 10 weeks after the end of the offer period.
What I think of this deal:
This targeted offer is well positioned across the fall period when many kids and young adults are returning back to school. These people need electronics and retail items so in terms of being well timed, the offer is well positioned.
I wouldn’t normally go out of my way to spend under these categories, but if I had a major purchase coming up, I would certainly make sure to register and purchase within the period.
Unfortunately, like many other Aeroplan offers, it takes an unreasonable amount of time to actually get credited for the Aeroplan points. You’d have to be a points and mileage tracker in order to track and to follow up. This is one of my least favorite aspects of the Aeroplan program.
The Bottom Line: Aeroplan Points are Up for Grabs In the Fall for Electronics
There are a number of points available for qualifying purchases when using the TD Aeroplan Visa Credit Card. As long as you are purchasing select electronics and retail items within the categories set out in. theMCC codes, you might find yourself 50% richer. in Aeroplan points.
Happy Shopping!
If you are a TD Aeroplan Visa Card Holder, will you be taking advantage of this promotion ?
In order to cope with increasing costs associated with delivering an internationally recognized premium card, American Express has hit their Canadian Platinum Charge Card holders with a steep annual fee increase. They have off set this increase with a modest series of credits that will require some work and study in order to get your value out of them. Dependent on your perspective, the changes range from fair to outright bad. Let’s take a look at the differences between the two American Express Platinum personal and business charge cards, and their changes.
Changes to American Express Platinum Cardholders (Canada): A Steep Annual Fee Increase with Additional Credits & Benefits
With word on the internet spreading like summer’s wildfires and through unmarked envelopes received in the Canada Post mail this week, Canadian American Express Platinum Card holders were recently notified of a steep annual fee increase. These changes can range from really bad to moderately acceptable, depending on your perspective.
The changes are different dependent on which version of the card you hold as there are two different value propositions for the personal Platinum Card and the Business Platinum Card.
The American Express Platinum Cards offer a whole suite of benefits. While I won’t go over each benefit within this post, I encourage you to visit my post of the American Express Platinum Card (Review) to understand the inclusions and benefits currently offered on this suite of cards.
It’s worth specifically pointing out that these changes apply only to American Express Platinum Charge Cards that are issued in Canada.
American Express Platinum Card Changes (Personal card):
These changes take effect on September 26, 2023, unless otherwise specified. Again, this applies to the Canadian version of the American Express Platinum Charge Card.
Annual Fee increase from $699 to $799
The Annual Fee on the American Express Platinum Card is set to increase from $699 to $799 CAD.
This is a relatively minor $100 price increase that can easily be offset by the new additional credits.
Supplemental Card Fees increase from $175 to $250
The cost for carrying a supplemental American Express Platinum Card is set to increase from $175 to $250.
A supplemental Platinum Card includes American Express Centurion Lounge Access and a Priority Pass Select membership and their lounge guesting privileges, without the primary cardholder having to be present.
A $200 Annual Dining Credit is being added.
To offset these annual fee increases, American Express is adding an annual $200 Annual Dining Credit. This credit is valid on the American Express Platinum personal version of the card only.
The Annual Dining Credit requires dining at specific restaurants. The restaurants in my home city of Vancouver, Canada are located in hip, upscale locations. The dining credit requires registration through the Amex Offers portion of the American Express website or American Express App.
The Canadian version of the restaurant portal directory is not working, but you may be able to see eligible restaurants by visiting the Singapore version of the American Express Dining Directory, which offers a global restaurant directory for their version of the Platinum card that features the Annual Dining Credit. You will have to change the country to Canada (or the United States) in order to see the restaurants near you.
The Annual Dining Credit can be applied at globally qualifying restaurants. While you don’t have to be in Canada in order to redeem the credit, I was a little surprised to see how few restaurants are actually accessible for this offer.
There are only 109 restaurants available in the entire country of Canada. In New York, USA, where there are over 1,000 different restaurants within the city, there are only 30 that are available for Annual Dining Credit redemption.
Clearly, your location and enjoyment of specific restaurants will determine how much value you get out of this particular feature. If you happen to be in Edmonton, Canada the two restaurants listed in the directory aren’t likely to make this feature particularly valuable unless you visit them on a regular basis. You’ll have to be selective and careful in order to fully take advantage of this benefit.
Membership Rewards Earn Rate to Decrease from 3x to 2x on Restaurants.
The American Express Platinum personal card is decreasing on the earn rate for the restaurant category. The rate is reducing from 3x Membership Rewards per dollar to 2x Membership Rewards per Dollar, as of October 26, 2023.
American Express Platinum Charge Card holders will continue to earn 1x Membership Rewards point per Dollar on all other categories of purchases.
For those that earned a substantial amount of points under this category of spend, this represents a major cut in Membership Rewards earnings.
American Express Business Platinum Card Changes (Business card):
These changes take effect on September 26, 2023, unless otherwise specified. Again, this applies to the Canadian version of the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card.
This happens to be the card that I hold, so I’m most actuely impacted under this particular category.
Annual Fee increase from $499 to $799
The Annual Fee on the American Express Platinum Card is set to increase from $499 to $799 CAD. This is effective as of September 26, 2023.
All I can say to this is: “Ouch!”. This is a substantial $300 a year annual fee increase, although it does increase the overall dollar amount that can potentially be written off on your income taxes as a deductible business expense under Canada Revenue Agency at year end.
I would imagine businesses will have no concern writing this off as the cost of doing business. However, a steep annual fee increase always impacts sole proprietorships or limited partnerships like mine.
Supplemental Card Fees increase from $199 to $250
The cost for carrying a supplemental American Express Platinum Card is set to increase from $175 to $250. This is effective as of September 26, 2023
In my household, we have one additional business Platinum card. The fee to carry this extra card will be going up by $51.
A supplemental Platinum Card includes American Express Centurion Lounge Access and a Priority Pass Select membership and their lounge guesting privileges, without the primary cardholder having to be present.
A $200 Annual Travel Credit is being added.
To offset these annual fee increases, American Express is adding an annual $200 Annual Travel Credit. This feature is also currently found on the American Express Platinum Card personal edition. This is effective as of September 26, 2023.
The Annual Travel Credit requires a purchase of two hundred dollars or more through the American Express Travel on line travel agents on airfare, hotel, or a car rental. This includes reservations made under American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program.
While I find it pretty inconvenient to book travel through the American Express travel portal, I can’t imagine that it will be too hard to get value out of this addition at least once per year.
A $100 Canadian Nexus Application Fee Credit is being added.
The American Express Business Platinum charge card will add a $100 credit for applying for a Nexus Trusted Traveller Membership. This credit is valid once every 4 years. This is effective as of September 26, 2023.
This represents a pro-rated value of about $25 per year; spread over four years between renewals.
This feature is also offered on the Toronto Dominion TD Visa Aeroplan card. This is another card I happen to hold. As a result, I don’t get a lot of value from this feature by holding both credit cards. I would have to get creative and renew my wife’s membership with one card, and my membership with another.
A $120 Canadian Wireless Credit is being added
The American Express Business Platinum charge card will add a $120 credit for payment of Canadian wireless cellular invoices. This credit is applied on a monthly basis of $10 credit per month. This is effective as of October 1, 2023.
Enrolment is required through the Amex Offers tab, on a one time basis.
This will be fairly easy to redeem, providing a change my current cellular billing from the American Express Marriott Bonvoy card. This was a hold over from when I was charging everything to the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card when it was the best credit card in the game.
A $200 Dell Computer Credit is being added
The American Express Business Platinum charge card will add a $200 credit for purchases at Dell Canada. The credit is applied in $100 increments every six months. This is effective as of July 5, 2023
Enrolment is required through the Amex Offers tab, on a one time basis.
American Express has gotten smart on this offer. If you purchase a laptop computer, you’ll only get $100 as a credit. This credit can possibly be used up for accessories or other electronics needed around the house or office, along as you purchase them in six month apart intervals across the periods of the calendar year.
A $300 Indeed Credit is being added:
The American Express Business Platinum charge card will add a $300 credit for use of Indeed advertising space for employers.
This is effective as of July 5, 2023
Enrolment is required through the Amex Offers tab, on a one time basis.
As a limited partnership, I really have limited to no use for this credit, so it doesn’t add a lot of value in my circumstances.
Mobile Device Insurance is being added:
The American Express Business Platinum charge card will add complimentary Mobile Device Insurance to the card. This is effective as of September 26, 2023.
This is a great benefit to have, although per the terms and conditions, it will take card holders some time before they see the value in this. In order for coverage to be valid, it requires the device to be fully charged to the card; something that existing card members won’t likely see until they actually replace their smart phone mobile devices and charge it to the American Express Business Platinum card at some point in the future.
This isn’t a feature I have with any other card so there is some value to be had by adding this feature. Unfortunately, most won’t see the value in this until they actually replace their phones, which can occur every one to three years in the future; depending on how quickly you replace your smartphone devices.
No Change to Platinum Business Membership Rewards Earn Rate:
American Express Business Platinum Charge Card holders will continue to earn 1.25x Membership Rewards point per Dollar on all categories of purchases.
This is about the only good news about this particular revision. American Express Canada is allowing a similar earn rate which is pretty good, but overall consistent with other premium cards in the Canadian marketplace.
My Thoughts on the Changes:
Wow – the changes announced to the American Express Platinum personal and business cards in Canada are substantial. The changes are likely to impact many people’s interest in maintaining this particular card. The high annual fee tends to put a lot of people off over time, and I would imagine that these changes will have a number of American Express card holders calling to cancel their card membership with American Express Platinum.
For the personal card, the card now likely represents the better value of the two. Most people won’t be put off by a one hundred dollar annual fee increase that now comes with a two hundred dollar dining credit. In addition to the travel credit that currently exists on the card, the annual fee represents the best amount of inclusions for spend.
For the business card, the card has gotten substantially more expensive. While the generous earn rate of 1.25 Membership Rewards points per dollar hasn’t changed (and remains class leading within Canada), the additions of the two hundred dollar travel credit and one hundred and twenty dollar cellular credit offset some of the cost. The addition of the two hundred dollar Dell and Indeed credits do not really move the needle for me. I am doubtful to use these credits; especially as Apple users. The only possible advantage to the business card is that the annual fee represents a larger amount that can be written off against your business with Canada Revenue Agency.
The big point that American Express Canada doesn’t seem to recognize with these increases is that acceptance of the American Express card remains painfully bad within Canada. Many merchants refuse to take this card due to the exceptionally high merchant fees. Unlike in the United States, I frequently have difficulty getting this card to be accepted outside of urban Vancouver. I wish American Express would work on getting more merchants to accept the card in the first place, as this would make the card’s overall value proposition to be much stronger than it is today. They could then get away with higher annual fees, a lot more easily.
In Summary: American Express Increases Annual Fee & adds some questionable credits of select use.
American Express Canada has revised it’s Platinum Card benefits for its personal and business versions of their Platinum cards.
Dependent on whether you hold the personal or business versions of the card, you’ll be seeing an annual fee increase of between $100 to $300 in exchange for several hundred dollars of benefits yu’ll have to pay attention to in order to maximize your value from this card.
I think these annual fee increases will likely cause me to possibly switch from the business version of this card to the personal one, as the added benefits of the personal card seem to align more with my current interests (including those of my business).
Ultimately, I wish American Express cards in Canada would have greater market acceptance. This would allow card holders to get even more value out of these cards than they currently do.
If you’re looking to Sign Up for the American Express Platinum Card, please feel free to use the attached referral link for the highest possible sign up bonus. As always, I thank you for your support.
Are you Going to Keep or Cancel Your Card as a Result of the Increased American Express Platinum Cards Annual Fee?
By now, we’ve all seen the devastation that’s occurred in Maui, Hawaii, USA when weather patterns from Hurricane Dora to the south, combined with tradewinds from the north, caused a perfect storm of wildfires in Western Maui. The wildfires destroyed almost 80% of the historic town of Lahania in Western Maui.
Ironically, I am posting this from the nearby Big Island of Hawaii where I find myself on a short vacation. Having had some terrific travel memories walking through Lahania, Maui, I’m re-sharing my post of past travel to Lahaina, USA and my travel memories that I had. It’s simply hard to believe and accept that it’s all gone. I’m sending prayers for everyone impacted by the fires, and I will keep them in my thoughts over the coming days and weeks ahead.
If you wish to assist in rescue efforts, please consider making a donation to the Red Cross, whom is actively working to support disaster relief efforts in Maui, Hawaii, USA.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii, United States of America. This trip was redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan on a 2 for 1 Companion Fare and enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii, United States of America
- Alaska Airlines First Class Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Lounge, C Concourse, Seattle Tacoma International Airport, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Portland
- Alaska Airlines: Portland – Kahului
- The Sheraton Maui, Kaanapali, Maui
- Under the Banyan Free in Lahania, Maui, USA
- With the Turtles in Kapalua Bay, Maui, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Kahului – Seattle
Under the Banyan Tree on the Boardwalks of Old Town Lahania, Maui, Hawaii, United States of America
After several days on the beach at the Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa, it was time for a trip into nearby Lahania. Lahania is pretty much the gateway town for the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach area. Lahania was the original capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1820 to 1845 before the capital was moved to Honolulu, Hawaii.
Marvelling at the Banyan Tree:
We self drove down from the hotel and parked at the south end. We started at the fantastic and awesome Banyan Tree. The tree is reportedly the largest in the United States and was planted in 1873. WT73Jr had a great look into the tree, which takes up a whole city block.
Wandering down Lahania’s Main Street:
After the Banyan Tree, we wandered up the quaint but highly touristy street. Its full of souvenir shops and restaurants for visitors, but that’s what you came here for in the first place…
With window shopping on the mind, we wandered aimlessly through town.
It wasn’t long before we came up to the waterfront. You can see a little ways out towards the sea way between the islands here, making for a very picturesque Main Street Walk.
My son was particularly interested in the tiny crabs that decided to visit the sidewalk.
Picking up Fish Taco’s:
As our breakfast wore off, we had the opportunity to eat at the Paia Fish Market on Front Street It was on our way through town and the looked like best available option. This place was a little gem full of seemly visiting locals. We had fresh and tasty fish tacos, rice and coleslaw with lemon. Divine!
My Thoughts on Walking in Lahania:
Lahania is a beautiful tourist destination that actually has a little bit of history to it. In addition to a fabulous Banyan Tree, it has a wonderful and touristy Main Street walk that happens to over lap the ocean. While any tourist row can be enjoyable for a visit, this one has a Hawaiian ocean charm. It’s worth a visit on your way through Kaanapali, Maui, United States of America.
If you’ve visited Lahania, Maui, USA did you find it a charming tourist destination worthy of a visit ?
With every redemption, there comes a new strategy. In this case, the goal was to get my family overseas from Canada to Singapore. After several weeks of searching, I came up with a redemption that offers outsized value and comfort for the family. It also offers something that’s made my travel partners really excited about. Read on to see what we ended up redeeming.
Booked: My Latest Air Canada Aeroplan Redemption
I have been accumulating Air Canada Aeroplan miles through work travel on Air Canada, personal travel on Star Alliance, and through credit card spend through the Toronto Dominion Air Canada Aeroplan Visa Card and through the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card. After our last redemption several years back to Zanzibar and the Seychelles, it was time for our next redemption.
The Travel Objective:
North America to South East Asia in Style… for three people.
From my home in Vancouver, Canada, part of the family lives in Singapore. I’ve been fortunate to have visited Singapore several times throughout my life, and it’s always felt like a second home to me. With several aunts, uncles and cousins in the country, it would be great to re-visit them and reconnect.
With my last visit to South East Asia in the year 2015, the pandemic hastened my travel plans to return to visit Singapore. With my aging mother having not travelled back home in several years, I was looking for a way to get her overseas form Canada to Singapore in comfort. Given that she was in her eighties, I would plan on travelling with her “accompanied” so she wouldn’t get lost in the wide world of travel. I couldn’t leave MrsWT73 at home, so the objective became for the three of us to get to Singapore in Business Class.
Since Asia was among the last regions in the world to re-open after the pandemic, and with the limited travel to and from China, there haven’t been as many paid business class fares available for purchase. Cathay Pacific hadn’t really restarted travel, with a substantial cut in frequencies.
At the time of this post, paid fares were averaging around $4,800 CAD on Phillipines Airlines via Manila, with ANA typically offering fares for $5,500 CAD through Narita, Japan. While not impossible, this would make a large dent in the wallet for three persons.
On the redemption side, mileage redemption opportunities had almost completely dried up. The usual Star Alliance carriers of Asiana Airlines and Thai Airways offered almost no availability. MrsWT73 had put a hard “no” on flying internationally with Air India, despite there being a lot of reward space available throughout the calendar on the Vancouver – New Delhi Boeing 777-300LR route. I wasn’t even able to tempt her with an Air India First Class cabin, so I had to look for other options.
Air Canada introduced a new Vancouver – Singapore non stop route earlier this year. Unfortunately, they offered out outrageous redemption rates on their aircraft, with each ticket coming in at about 150,000 to 225,000 per direction in business class if the ticket required use of their aircraft. This seemed to be a bit greedy on their part, but an unfortunate reality of their new Aeroplan dynamic pricing award program.
Identifying the Redemption Strategy:
I was able to study the Star Alliance business reward availability release patterns, and I discovered that Lufthansa was typically releasing limited business class award space at about 14 days out, if capacity was soft. These combinations offered terrible nine hour layovers and came at a higher 115,000 Aeroplan miles each due to the longer distance. While not ideal, this offered an option to connect on the longer Vancouver – Munich – Singapore.
While I could typically find space going out to Singapore, I had some challenges finding space coming back. Given work commitments, I wasn’t all that comfortable taking an open ended approach to this by booking a one way ticket and chancing the return. Nor was I really into last minute travel, also as a result of work commitments and projects.
Redeeming Coveted Singapore Airlines:
As I was working this problem, it eventually struck me to search the business class saver award calendar in a different manner. Instead of searching for “in close” availability, I searched for availability at the opening of the award calendar at about 315 – 330 days out.
I happened to find a substantial amount of Singapore Airlines Business Class award availability. Typically, these were two or four seats on flights to and from the America’s on their non stop to Singapore from their San Francisco and Los Angeles portals.
Even better, these flights were available for 87,500 Aeroplan Miles and $130 CAD each, in their business saver award availability award bucket.
This was at a lower price point than Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer offered the same flight. As a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer member, the same flight would cost 107,000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles each way in their Saver Award inventory. Score!
Redeeming the Miles:
I ended up working the calendar and identifying a two week bank of dates that would allow the three of us to travel overseas on the same date in Singapore Airlines Business Class.
While I was not able to get all three of us on the same flight, I was able to get us all on the same travel days. I would aim on purchasing paid positioning tickets in the future to get to our departure cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
For the most part, I was only able to book the Singapore Airlines metal, but I was able to get MrsWT73 all the way back from Singapore to Vancouver in business class using a combination of Singapore Airlines and Air Canada metal.
In the end, I was able to book my mom and I on Singapore Airlines Business Class for both directions in the saver category for 350,000 Aeroplan miles round trip, and $337.40 in taxes and fees. I was able to ticket MrsWT73 on a similar routing for half the amount at 175,000 round trip.
I had to top off my Air Canada Aeroplan account with a small amount of points from American Express Membership Rewards in order to make this happen. The transfer took approximately fifteen minute and was seamless.
This redemption would allow us to travel in comfort and reasonable luxury on the fourteen hour flight from the America’s, to my adopted second home in South East Asia.
It would also mark the first time my mother, who has been travelling for sixty years throughout her adult life, would get to fly in International Business Class. Needless to say, she’s pretty curious and excited to get to travel with her son, all that way in comfort.
My Thoughts on My Latest Redemption: Singapore Airlines Business Class
I am pretty stoked to get a redemption in Singapore Airlines Business Class. The cherry on top is the fact I was able to get it for the saver award price of 87,500 Aeroplan miles for each ticket; an even better price than within the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer program which offers the same seat for 107,000 KrisFlyer miles each.
My mom is really looking forward to this trip and the opportunity to fly international business class on Singapore Airlines for the first time in her life, despite travelling for over sixty years.
World Traveller 73 
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