Aeroplan: Distinction Benefits changes

News Link: http://www3.aeroplan.com/whats_new/news_articles.do?dl=WhatsNew_webup1000986_2015_10_26

Starting in 2016, some of Distinction benefits will be modified. Here are the benefits affected next year:

The Air Canada Getaway Bonus is extended 
The Air Canada Getaway Bonus has been extended until December 31st, 2016. Details on some additional and exciting new destinations will be made available very soon. Ensure to travel by December 31st, 2015 to take advantage of 2015's eligible destinations.

The Fairmont preferential treatment offer is extended 
Aeroplan's Distinction members will continue to benefit from the Fairmont Preferential Treatment Offer until December 31st, 2016, when booking a stay directly at Fairmont.com using their exclusive Fairmont Distinction Promotional Code. Make sure to complete your stay by January 15th, 2017.

Earn bonus miles at Delta Hotels and Resorts 
Delta Hotels and Resorts® is now part of the Marriott family. Starting January 1st, 2016 dBlack and dDiamond members will be able to earn 250 Distinction bonus miles on eligible stays at Delta Hotels.

The following benefits will no longer be available as of 2016 
• Distinction Flights (Sad news)
• The redemption bonus on stays at Starwood Hotels & Resorts: To ensure that you receive your 2015 Distinction bonus, book by December 31st, 2015, and complete your stay at participating Hotels & Resorts through December 31st, 2016.

All other benefits remain unchanged, and are there for you to enjoy whenever you want. This includes your favorite and most appreciated benefits like up to 35% off Market Fare Flight Rewards and Distinction bonus miles on stays at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Marriott and Starwood Hotels & Resorts (?? confused).

Earn up to $20 when you fuel up at Esso with AmEx

Deal Link: https://offerenroll.americanexpress.com/enroll/EnrollmentSitePage?offer=essosupreme
Expiry: Nov 30, 2015

You can get up to $20 (with one AmEx credit card), when you use your registered card at participating Esso stations. Only the first 20,000 eligible Canadian American Express Consumer and Small Business Cardmembers to be successfully registered are eligible for this offer. Registered cards linked to active Speedpass accounts as the form of payment are eligible for this offer. Each registered Card is eligible for two (2) statement credits of $10 (CAD) during the offer period. American Express Corporate Cards and American Express Gift Cards are excluded from this offer.

To be eligible for this offer:
• Your account must be in good standing.
• You must register in the registered Card offer from October 7, 2015 at 12:01 a.m. (EST) ending November 30, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. (EST) or when 20,000 registrations have been reached.
• Use your registered Card at participating Esso stations to make qualifying purchases during the offer period between October 7, 2015 and November 30, 2015.
• Purchases made during the offer period prior to registration of your eligible Card in this program are not qualifying purchases.

Looks like this offer might now be open to all AMEX cards. I was able to register with my AMEX Gold Rewards, SPG and SimplyCash cards. YMMV and Good Luck!

After registration, I got a message: "Thank you for registering! You’ve successfully registered your Card. Next, make up to 2 separate eligible purchases of $50 or more, on your registered Card, between October 7, 2015 and November 30, 2015. For a full list of participating Esso locations, please visit esso.americanexpress.ca.", and a confirmation email.

Welcome Bonus coming to an end soon (by Oct 31, 2015)

Below is a list of welcome bonus coming to an end by end of this month. You better take advantage of it while you still can:

• CIBC Aerogold Visa Card for Business – $180 annual fee (FYF till October 31, 2015), earn 20,000 sign up bonus Aeroplan after your first purchase: https://www.cibc.com/ca/small-business/credit-cards/aergld-visa-card-for-bus.html
• TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card – $399 annual fee, earn 50,000 sign up bonus Aeroplan miles (25,000 after your first purchase and another 25,000 after spending $1,000 within the first 90 days if you apply before October 30, 2015): https://www.tdaeroplan.com/privilege/
• Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card – $99 annual fee (FYF if you apply before October 31, 2015): http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,86,00.html
• Scotiabank Scene Visa Card – No annual fee, earn 4,000 sign up bonus points (if you apply before October 31, 2015): http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,2985,00.html
• PC Financial: Earn 2.6% interest on all NEW deposits (Enrol before Oct 31, 2015): http://www.pcfinancial.ca/rate/
• PC Financial (World Elite) MasterCard: No annual fee, earn 75,000 FREE PC points ($75) upon approval when you apply through RateSupermarket.ca before Oct 31, 2015: https://www.ratesupermarket.ca/deals/pc_financial

BA will change the shorter reward flights in North America

News Link: http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/spending-avios/north-america-reward-flights

British Airways is going to be making a change to the Executive Club pricing structure for shorter reward flights originating or terminating within the United States of America (Basically all Zone 1 flights in North America). From 2 February 2016, reward flights will start from 7,500 Avios, instead of 4,500 Avios, plus taxes, fees and carrier charges (TFCs) from $5.60 USD.

Only those reward flights that currently cost 4,500 Avios for a one way flight in Economy, 9,000 Avios for Business Class and 18,000 Avios for First Class plus TFCs will increase; to 7,500 Avios, 15,000 Avios and 30,000 Avios plus TFCs respectively. All other Avios reward flight pricing will remain the same as it is today. The change will only affect shorter routes on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. The majority of North American reward flight prices will remain unchanged.

This is really a bad news for us. The 4,500 Avios rewards flights are my favorites. We still have three months to book those flights before the deadline.

Air Canada: Get up to $150 gift card when you book flights to Japan and beyond

Deal Link: http://www.aircanada.com/en/offers/air/giftcard/giftcard.html
Expiry: Dec 12, 2015

You can get one Air Canada Promotional Gift Card per passenger of up to $150 each when you book your next eligible flight to Japan or to Southeast Asia through Tokyo.

Air Canada offers a choice of flights to Tokyo-Haneda and Tokyo-Narita that can connect you beyond Tokyo to great destinations in Japan and Southeast Asia with our Star Alliance partner airlines.

The Air Canada Promotional Gift Card you’ll earn is valid until December 15, 2016 and is redeemable for future Air Canada travel anywhere in the world. To take advantage of this unique offer, register online and book your flight to or via Tokyo by December 12, 2015 for travel from November 21, 2015 to March 31, 2016.

Get up to 60,000 Aeroplan Miles with TD Small Business Banking

Deal Link: https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/products-services/small-business/smallbusiness-rewards.jsp
Expiry: Oct 30, 2015

You can earn up to 60,000 Aeroplan Miles with TD Small Business Banking with following steps:

1. Apply for the TD Aeroplan Visa Business Card and be approved by October 30, 2015, and you can get 20,000 welcome1 bonus miles
2. You can earn 10,000 bonus miles when you spend $1000 on the card in the first 90 days
3. You can get 10,000 miles when you open a Business Chequing Account with a TD Unlimited Business Plan or TD Every Day Business Plan.
4. You can get 10,000 miles when you open a Merchant Services Credit/Debit payment Processing Service
5. You can get 10,000 miles when you open a Loan or Line of Credit with a minimum limit/amount of $50,000

In addition to these, if you apply your credit card in branch, you may get extra 30,000 Aeroplan miles when you add an additional cardholder. 

Note: The annual fee for the TD Aeroplan Visa Business card is $149 ($49 for one additional cardholder). But it is still worth it, if you can get all those bonus miles.

IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks (released Oct 2015)

Deal Link: https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/global/redeem-rewards/pointbreaks?rateCode=IVANI
Expiry: Oct 31, 2015

IHG Rewards Club has released their latest IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks. I think the PointBreaks is one of the best hotel points deals around. With the PointBreaks promotion, you can take advantage of 5000 point Reward Nights! Each Reward Night at these participating hotels will be only 5,000 IHG Rewards Club points for bookings and stays from October 26, 2015 through January 31st 2016 (subject to availability). You need to book before Oct 31, 2015.

You can find the full list of hotels participating in the IHG PointBreaks promotion in the map as follows: http://blog.ihg.com/ihg-rewards-club-pointbreaks-preview#map

Air Canada Altitude Students Program

Deal Link: https://altitudestudents.aircanada.com/program-perks/

Air Canada is launching a new and exciting program designed to offer students the unique opportunity to enjoy special travel offers and exclusive perks:  Altitude Students.

Any student currently enrolled at an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution can join for free. Once signed up, those students can get offers from Air Canada, such as:

• A one-time discount of up to 15% on an eligible Air Canada booking
• Discounts on Air Canada Vacations packages
• A complimentary Inflight Wi-Fi session

As an added perk, students will also have the opportunity to go on an exclusive package vacation to Ixtapa, Mexico! This unique experience is offered during the February reading week with all seats on the flight reserved solely for Altitude Students. Best of all, this exclusive trip is available at a great price! In addition, students who enroll by November 6, 2015 will have the chance to win cool travel prizes.

Note: To sign up this program, you need a student ID and an Aeroplan Number.

Get $10 when you shop online (Scotiabank clients ONLY)

Expiry: Oct 31, 2015

Register your Scotiabank debit or credit card with Visa Checkout before Oct 31, 2015, and you can get a $10 credit when you shop at your favourite online retailers (Cineplex Entertainment, Indigo, Staples, Roots, or Pizza Pizza) using Visa Checkout.

Aeroplan: 5X Miles on purchase through eStore

Deal Link: https://www4.aeroplan.com/estore/
Expiry: Oct 26, 2015

Aeroplan is offering 5X Aeroplan Miles on purchases made through the Aeroplan online eStore before Oct 26, 2015. 100+ retailers are included. Please go to the website for more details.