Month: June 2022

The Air Canada Cafe Toronto North America has redefined what we traditionally imagine as an airport lounge.

Instead of wide buffet spreads and alcoholic options, Air Canada Caf focuses on specialty coffee, fresh cold-pressed juices, and light bites that can be taken with you when you leave.

Before the recent flight from Toronto to Vancouver, I visited the Air Canada Cafe. Let’s take a look at what Air Canada Cafe has to offer.

Air Canada Cafe Toronto – Access

This one-of-a-kind lounge is located in Terminal 1 of Toronto Pearson International Airport near the D20 Gate, just below the stairs and to the right after the domestic security.

Air Canada Caf operates daily from 5:15 to 12 p.m. Access is available for in-flight passengers from Business Class or Premium Rouge Toronto Pearson.

Also, those with Aeroplan 50K, 75K, and Super Elite status, as well as Star Alliance Gold members will be able to enter the lounge.

Also, you will have access to one of the following premium AirPlan credit cards:

After entering through the Air Canada Caf entrance and down the hall, you will arrive at an automatic gate, where you will be allowed to enter after scanning a qualified boarding pass.

Air Canada Cafe Toronto – Seats

While guests are encouraged to use the Air Canada Caf’s grab-and-go concept, 109 seats are dotted around the lounge for any passenger to stay longer.

Located in the middle of the cafe, a few clusters of banquet halls are partially surrounded by a marble enclave low wall. In addition, there are paired seats with small tables on the outside of the wall.

Going further into the cafe, you will arrive at a visually appealing bar with a handful of bar seats. Next to the bar is a prominent full-height mural created by a Canadian artist, which adds to the lounge’s eye-catching look.

In keeping with Cafe Spirit, there are no less than three workspaces in the lounge, near the window at the far end. There are two six-person workspaces and a long eight-person workspace, each equipped with multiple USB and power charging ports.

In fact, USB and power ports are plentifully placed around each seat in the cafe. Since I had to do quite a bit of work during my two-hour stay in the lounge, I certainly appreciated having the outlet so easily at my disposal.

The extra banquet seat is placed on the back wall and there are more pairs of seats on the left with a small table in the middle.

Lastly, there are high-top counters with separate stools along the windows.

I decided to take a quiet place in the corner of the lounge and wrapped up quite a bit of work.

I certainly appreciate the unique concept of Air Canada Caf in the airport ground experience. The interior design is chic, and the space provides an enjoyable environment.

The lounge is certainly much less crowded than the Maple Leaf Lounge above, and will probably help ease some of the traffic at Air Canada’s primary domestic airport lounge.

Air Canada Cafe Toronto – Dining

The back wall just behind the customer service desk, filled with a selection of refrigerated grab-and-go meals and drinks.

To the left of this station, you can find coffee and tea stations. Includes a Lavaja coffee maker, a drip coffee machine and lots of two-go cups.

If you have a few minutes, I would definitely recommend avoiding these for bar-made espresso drinks.

In the caf গ্র’s grab-and-go section, you’ll find a wide selection of pre-packaged foods, from sandwiches, soups and salads to Oka Fine Cheese, Pastries and Lindt’s Chocolate Truffle. You are given a paper bag to take your food with you.

Some snacks are also dotted outside the refrigerated grab-and-go area, such as fresh fruit, granola bars and chips.

For cold-and-go cold beverages, you’ll find a wonderful selection of soft drinks and cold-press juices from the refrigerated greenhouse.

Air Canada Cafe Toronto – Bar

In addition to the grab-and-go options, the bar has a team of dedicated baristas – the highlight of the lounge – who can make all kinds of special Lavaza coffee and non-alcoholic blends.

Specialty drinks include cappuccino, lettuce, cold brew, fresh juices, mocktails and tapigus and tetley tea. The cafe does not serve alcoholic beverages – you will need to go upstairs to the Maple Leaf Lounge.

With my cafe having such a wide selection and space for just one caffeinated drink in my system in the afternoon, I was definitely spoiled for choice.

I finally decided to try Piemonte – a perishable shot of espresso sprinkled with cocoa and then topped with frozen milk – as well as trillium iced tea from the bar.

I must say, as much as I enjoy a glass of wine or champagne in the lounge, the experience of sipping a fancy handmade coffee at the airport is a must.

Air Canada Cafe Toronto – Other facilities

Air Canada Caf shares individual lounges by gender, which are spacious, well maintained and match the design-forward aesthetics of the rest of the cafes.

The mirrors extend from the sink to the ceiling, its brass frames complement the gorgeous geometric walls.

Immediately near the entrance, you’ll find a customer service station, if you need any assistance with your reservations, itineraries, seat choices, etc. while you’re at the cafe.

Conclusion

The Air Canada Caf at Toronto Pearson International Airport offers a cozy bistro-style space with plenty of seating. The cafeteria follows a simple grab-and-go concept with fresh food and drinks, as well as a bar with a dedicated barista for special coffee.

Air Canada Caf is a great choice for those who want to work out in a secluded spot before their flight, avoid the crowds at the Maple Leaf Lounge upstairs, or just have a bite or a drink and go their way.

On the front, if I’m not hungry or in a drunken mood, I think when flying inward from Toronto I almost always go to Air Canada Cafe instead of Maple Leaf Lounge or Plaza Premium Lounge.

Big news from the US credit card market: Chase Chase Marriott returns one of its all-time welcome bonuses on the Boundless Visa: Five free night prizes worth up to 50,000 forest fear points, Evaluate the overall offer 250,000 forest fear points.

Chase Forest Fear Boundless Visa: Five Free Night Awards worth 50,000 Points

Most credit card signup bonuses are distributed in the form of reward points to a specific loyalty program, but Chase has adopted a different approach here.

After signing up for the Chase Forest Fearless Boundless Visa and spending US $ 5,000 in the first three months, you will earn a total. Five Free Night Awards, Each is priced up to 50,000 forest scare points. The annual fee for the card is US $ 95.

Free Night Awards will be credited to your account up to eight weeks after meeting the spending threshold. They will then be valid for one year from the date of issue, which means you will have the opportunity to redeem them for your travels throughout 2022 and between 2023.

On paper, up to the value of five free night certificates 250,000 Marriott Forest Fear Points Total, which is obviously a jaw-dropping bonus to get in a single credit card application.

Of course, you won’t actually have the full flexibility to have 250,000 Bonavoy Points in your account, because you’re limited to redeeming the Free Night Awards as they are – you can’t take advantage of Marriott Bonavoy Points to transfer to their airline partners, for example.

But if you initially collect Forest Fear Points for the purpose of staying in a high quality hotel, then this offer will be in your lane.

Not only can you redeem every Free Night Award for a hotel that would otherwise cost 50,000 Bonavoy points, but you can top-up the Free Night Award up to 15,000 points, thus using every possible certificate towards a hotel that might otherwise cost . At 65,000 points.

In addition, Chase Marriott Visa offers its own one-quarter-million Bonavoy Points with a signup bonus, an elite qualification boost of 15 elite nights, which can be stacked with the American Express US Marriott Bonavoy Business Card to give you. A total of 30 elite qualifying nights.

Remember, the only way to stack up two of these 15-night bonuses to reach 30 is to keep both a US-issued Personal Forest Fear card and a US-issued Business Fear card.

This will take you more than halfway to Marriott Platinum Elite Status, where you will begin to enjoy truly valuable benefits such as free breakfast, lounge access and suite upgrades.

Chase Forest Fear Boundless can also be worthwhile year after year, thanks to the annual bonus of a Free Night Award valued at up to 35,000 Marriott Forest Fear points, which can easily exceed the US $ 95 annual fee on the card.

After all, in terms of points earned, Chase Marriott earns boundless Costed 6 Marriott points per US dollar On the Marriott property, which is on par with its Amex US rival.

On all other purchases, earn it 2 Marriott points per US dollar, Which, of course, made the video an overnight sensation.

Who qualifies for the bonus?

As good as the offer is, there is a multi-layered set of eligibility rules that can limit the number of people interested in the offer to be able to get it.

First, Chase usually requires at least one year of established credit history established in the United States (and sometimes more) to approve you for a premium travel credit card. They will not process applications without the SSN or ITIN included in the application.

For Canadians, this means only those of us who have already embarked on our US credit card journey At least a year ago Potentially qualified at this point – if you haven’t started yet, there’s no better time than now, so you can get some skin in the game next time one of these stunning non-Amex offers arrives.

Chase also has the infamous “5/24 rule”, which means that if you have opened more than five credit cards in the last 24 months, they will not approve you for any credit card. So if you’ve recently gone to a US credit card application spray, you won’t be able to get approval for Chase Forest Fear Boundless until you return “below 5/24”.

The Chase Marriott Card, in particular, contains a very complex set of exclusion criteria for potential cardholders holding Marriott credit cards issued by American Express US. Here they are:

It’s actually some very granular fine print, and you’ll want to read through each of the criteria carefully to make sure No. Apply to you if you want to be eligible for the bonus.

Alas, I imagine that many Canadians who started with a US credit card may have applied for one of the Amex US Bonavoy Credit Cards: either US Bonavoy Brilliant or US Bonavoy Business.

If so, you may find yourself ineligible for the Chase Bonus because of the above eligibility criteria – Marriott obviously doesn’t want to give a big bonus to anyone who is willing to apply for their card from both issuers.

On the other hand, if you’ve already been fairly “deep in the game” with a US credit card but haven’t yet touched the Amex US Fear Cards, you’ll definitely be eligible for this rip-roaring bonus at Chase Fear. Unlimited, and you should absolutely jump onboard while it’s available.

Conclusion

Chase Bonavoy Boundless Visa brings back its widely celebrated welcome offer of five Free Night Awards, redeemable for a free night worth up to 50,000 Bonavoy points and valid for one year from the date of issue, when you apply and spend US $ 5,000 in the first three months. .

Unfortunately, Chase’s relatively strict approval criteria, as well as the specific eligibility criteria for this product, can disqualify many potential applicants (especially those from Canada) from receiving bonuses.

However, the offer has no published expiration date, so my guess is that it will be valid for at least a few months, to those of us who feel the opportunity to manage our US credit card portfolio with eligibility criteria.

Marriott Forest Fear is a favorite of many Canadians for its hotel loyalty program, hotel bookings and flexibility to transfer to various airline partners.

Since Starwood merged with the guest of choice, Marriott Forest Fear has joined the ranks of programs that run frequent promotions directly from the program to purchase points.

Marriott Forest Fear now launches their latest promotion for anyone looking to balance their points in preparation for summer travel and its outdoors.

Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points with up to 55% bonus

Marriott is offering a bonus on the purchase of up to 7 points July 15, 2022. Instead of their usual tiered bonus, members are being targeted 35%, 45%, or 55% bonus points When you buy at least 2,000 points.

Most members, including me, have been offered 45% bonus points.

Typically, Marriott charges 1.25 cents per point (USD) for purchases made directly from the program. With a 55%, 45%, or 35% bonus, the rate is improved 0.81, 0.86, or 0.93 cents per point (USD) Respectively

It is competitive, though not consistent with our current assessment Forest Fear Points (USD) 0.7 cents per.

We’ve seen Marriott go as high as 60% in these promotions before, but it can still be a compelling opportunity to buy points, especially if you qualify for the 55% bonus.

How Many Marriott Forest Fear Points Can You Buy?

Beginning in 2021, Marriott Forest Fear has set a limit of 100,000 points purchased per calendar year, up from the previous 50,000.

Points purchased for yourself within this range, as well as points you received were bought and gifted by others. Previously purchased points are calculated towards the limit.

If you make the most of this promotion, it will cost ৷ For US 1,250 135,000–155,000 Forest Fear Points.

Which credit card should you use to buy Marriott Forest Fear points?

Marriott sells points through an external retailer, Points.com. These are not counted as travel purchases and there is no added benefit of using the co-branded Amex Marriott Bonvoy Card issued in Canada or the United States.

Instead, I’d recommend any card with a high base earning rate, or one where you’re working to meet the minimum spending requirement.

Since the purchase is charged in USD, you may consider using a Canadian-issued card or a US credit card without any foreign exchange fees.

Who Should Buy Marriott Forest Fear Points?

If you’re looking for a quick redemption, buying points can be a great way to top-up your account.

Booking a high-priced aspiring hotel

The Marriott Forest Fear portfolio includes some of the world’s most exceptional hotel brands, including the Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis and Edition.

With the skyrocketing cash value, despite the death of the Marriott Forest Fear Award chart, point booking can bring these experiences within reach.

Go for the best of the best 80,000-120,000 points per night. Compare the luxury collection Al Maha Desert Resort in Dubai with cash, which can easily exceed $ 1,600 (CAD) per night!

At a cash price of US $ 875 for 108,500 points (with a maximum of 55% bonus), which will be enough for one night in Al Mahath on many dates, it is understandable to buy points instead of paying in cash if luxury booking is on. Your radar

Or if the desert is not your style, you can indulge in a downfall at the JW Marriott Maldives. Even with a “relatively” more reasonable price below $ 1,000 (CAD) per night, a point booking is still the way to go.

In these examples, you get a great value of over 1.5 cents per pointOn top of both the nominal valuation of a forest fear point and the cash cost of purchasing a point.

Of course, you’ll want to make sure that you line up the hotel’s availability of rewards before you pull the trigger to buy points, especially if you’re trying to maximize the fifth-night-free facility.

Quick top-up for any upcoming redemption

For travelers with more humble tastes, the top end of the Marriott Forest Fear chart is not the only place to find good prices.

At the end of the day, unless your redemption price is 0.81–0.93 cents per point (USD) above the acquisition cost, you will be ahead in any booking.

At the bottom end, for example, the courtyard bow pen gives better value on points including cash. You can find dates below 10,000 points per night at the PointSavers rate. An 8,000-point booking is a price, as opposed to the মূল্য 118 cash price per night 1.5 cents per point (CAD).

However, compared to the ambitious features, the price proposition of buying Forest Fear points for low-end redemption is less clear. It is much more dependent on finding a difference between cash value and point value and it can often be difficult to predict.

Therefore, since Forest Fear points are pretty easy to earn anyway, I would recommend finishing cheap sources before buying points directly.

Transfer to Exclusive Airline Partners

Marriott Forest has more than 40 airline partners. For most programs, Forest Fear points can be transferred to the airline miles at a rate of 3: 1, with a 5,000-mile bonus for increasing 60,000 Forest Fear points.

By buying Forest Fear points at 0.81–0.93 cents per point (USD) and frequently transferring to the Flyer program, you are effectively purchasing airline miles for it. 1.9–2.2 cents per mile (USD).

It is certainly quite expensive, but the real advantage is access to exclusive airlines.

For example, Singapore Airlines Partner programs like Aeroplan do not qualify for booking first-class prize space. Generally, you can only book a Singapore suite with their own KrisFlyer loyalty program.

And with some relocation partners in Canada (HSBC Rewards is the only other one), Marriott Forest Fear can provide a rare gateway to sample this luxurious experience.

Other niche transfer partners include Alaska Airlines’ mileage plan for unique partner-based sweet spots, ANA Mileage Club For its generous round-the-world award ticket, Korean Air Skypass For Korean Air First Class, or any other airline loyalty program with a weak footprint in the credit card industry.

Multi-player mode: Pool point within the family

One of the Marriott Forest Fear is the ability to transfer points freely between accounts. Every member can Send up to 100,000 points Per calendar year, and Get up to 500,000 points Per calendar year.

This is ideal if you have an elite status in your family’s primary account Pool your points To book on elite members’ accounts, especially for high-end properties where the benefits of hotel status are really bright.

Once you hit your point purchase cap on your main account, you can buy more points on another account to take advantage of the rest of the transfer room. Remember that members must be registered for 30 days and have some activity in their account before being eligible to purchase points.

Other ways to earn Marriott Forest Fear points

Marriott Forest Fear has moved to a dynamic price in 2022, so if you don’t plan to book immediately, paying their loyalty to the program can be a risky proposition.

If you are not in a hurry to earn Forest Fear Points but want to build your balance slowly for a big redemption down the road, I would recommend looking at credit card opportunities first.

Canadian credit card by American Express

American Express Canada issues two co-branded Marriott Bonavoy Cards:

A. 0.22-0.27 cents per point (CAD)The annual fees for both cards present a very favorable acquisition cost compared to today’s valuation 0.9 cents per point (CAD).

American Express Membership Awards can also be transferred to the Marriott Forest Fear 1: 1.2. All MR-earning cards are good options; However, the following provide the best return on annual fees:

• American Express Gold Rewards Card: Earn 45,000 MR points In the first year, with a net annual fee of $ 150.
  • Marriott transforms into a jungle, it becomes 54,000 forest fear points.
• American Express Business Gold Rewards Card: Earn 75,000 MR points In the first year, with an annual fee of $ 199.
  • Marriott transforms into a jungle, it becomes 90,000 forest fear points.
• American Express Business Age Card: Earn 55,000 MR select points After spending $ 5,000 in the first three months, with an annual fee of $ 99.
  • Marriott transforms into a jungle, it becomes 66,000 forest fear points.
• Card of choice by American Express: Earnings 10,000 MR select points After spending $ 1,000 in the first three months, without any annual fees.
  • Marriott transforms into a jungle, it becomes 12,000 forest fear points.

After transferring points to Forest Fear, the annual fee represents the cost of the acquisition 0.3 cents per point (CAD). In fact, all of the above cards offer good value for the Marriott Forest Fear program.

US credit card by American Express and Chase

South of the border, American Express issues two co-branded Marriott Bonvoy cards:

• American Express US Marriott Forest Fear Brilliant Card: Make money 75,000 Marriott Forest Fear Points If you spend US $ 3,000 in the first three months, with an annual fee of US $ 450 (Offset by a US $ 300 annual Marriott credit).
• American Express US Marriott Forest Fear Business Card: Make money 75,000 Marriott Forest Fear Points After spending US $ 3,000 in the first three months, with an annual fee of US $ 125.

Also, Chase has partnered with the hotel chain, offering two co-branded personal cards on the Visa network:

• Chase Marriott Fear Bold Card: Make money 30,000 Marriott Forest Fear Points Spend US $ 1,000 for the first three months, without any annual fees.
• Chase Marriott Forest Fear Unlimited Card: Make money Three 50,000-point Free Night Awards Spend US $ 3,000 in the first three months, with an annual fee of US $ 95.

All of the above cards are quite attractive once you consider the annual Free Night Awards you earn.

Also, keep in mind that if you have received a Welcome Bonus on Amex US Marriott Bonvoy Card in the last 24 months, you are not eligible for Chase offers and vice versa.

So while there are many ways to earn bona fide points from US credit cards, you need to choose the one that suits you best in the short term.

Previous promotion

Whether you’re deciding whether this promotion is a good opportunity to meet your travel goals, look back at the past bonuses at Marriott Forest Fear’s purchase points:

Conclusion

With so many more ways to collect Marriott Forest Fear points, I wouldn’t rush to buy points at 0.81-0.93 cents per point (USD).

But if you want to push your balance for a dream that has become more expensive with dynamic pricing, this promotion is a great way to make it happen.

COn top of loading with a 55% bonus – cash rates on top-level features are astronomical, and even point bookings are simply out of reach, so don’t miss the opportunity.

Be sure to buy the Marriott Forest Fear Point first July 15, 2022 Take advantage of this offer if you are interested.

The Air France / KLM Flying Blue The loyalty program is well known for its monthly rotation series Publicity award, Which offers 25-50% discount on short-haul and long-haul redemption on Air France and KLM flights.

The program has just announced its promotional awards for June 2022. Let’s take a look at the opportunities offered.

What is the Flying Blue Promotion Award?

The promotional award is a big advantage for being a member of Air France / KLM Flying Blue. Promotional prizes are published on a monthly basis and offers 25-50% discount on selected markets for Air France and KLM flights Among the different classes of services.

This month’s long-running promotional awards include:

• 25% discount Air France Economy Class Awards between Europe and Dallas
• 25% discount Air France Economy Class Awards between Europe and Denver
• 25% discount In the KLM Economy Class Awards between Europe and Austin
• 25% discount At the KLM Economy Class Awards between Europe and Salt Lake City
• 25% discount Air France and KLM Economy Class Awards between Europe and Mexico City

This month, all long-distance destinations are in North America, making it possible for Canadians (especially in central Canada) to reach Europe this summer.

Promotional prize tickets are available for one-way and round-trip flights, allowing flexibility in your travel plans. Promotional Rewards Discounts are available only when the lowest value applies to the prize price, and not to the dynamic price flight category.

Remember that the Flying Blue Promo Award comes with a booking deadline. You must Books 2022 Promotional Awards in June; However Travel The window extends to November 30, 2022. This is a more convenient timeline than the small booking window at Promo Rewards in the past.

It is important to remember that promo prize tickets are not usually modified, canceled or refunded; However, under Air France / KLM’s flexible COVID-19 rebooking policy, promo reward tickets can be changed for free until June 30, 2022.

Business class secret promotion award!

Over the past few months, I have noticed that Air France / KLM Flying Blue will apply discounts such as promo prizes for selecting business class markets. Although no such offer has been explicitly disclosed.

We seem to be seeing the same thing this month, although the availability of this “secret” business class promo reward seems to be more limited than the previous month.

For example, you can book for Mexico City-Paris 48750 miles 25% discount from normal rate of 65,000 miles.

However, I do not see any hidden business class discount fares in Salt Lake City or Austin this time around, as these were available in the last few months at Air France’s US destinations.

Taxes and fees are a bit higher in the business class, but the overall price point still offers great value compared to the rent in the paid business class.

While previous “Secret” Flying Blue Promo Awards have been running throughout the month, I can’t wait to see how long these deals will last, so I’d recommend snatching up the surprise discount rates as soon as you’re interested.

Mexico City, in particular, may still be effective for a very ambitious use.

The back door of Air France La PremiereIsAgain?

Taking Mexico City’s example one step further, there’s an interesting way to fly Air France’s first-class product, La Premier, by upgrading the payout on prize redemption. It requires some confidential work, but is worth the effort if you are able to connect the dots.

You need to find a route that has La Premier. For example, the route from Paris to Mexico City offers this, as shown in ExpertFlyer:

Once your reservation is made, you will need to inspect the first class cabin for availability. An easy way to do this would be to create alerts with ExpertFlyer.

There are only four seats in the cabin, so if you book them, you won’t be able to pay for the next step upgrade.

Within 30 hours of departure, check-in for an Air France flight opens when you log in to your booking on the Air France website. Here, you should pay a cash rental of around € 1,000 or so to upgrade to La Premier $ 1,390 (CAD).

So, if it works, you’ll be out 48,750 flying blue miles and about $ 1,770 (CAD) For 13 hours and 45 minutes of exclusive first class products in the world.

Also keep an eye out for the often-featured monthly promotional awards in Dubai, another sweet spot for upgrading to La Premier Paid from Business Class.

How To Earn Flying Blue Miles

You can earn Air France / KLM Flying Blue Mile by booking flight tickets from Air France, KLM and its SkyTeam partners.

In addition, in Canada, you can transfer Amex MR points in a 1: 0.75 ratio, which can be achieved through a complete suite of American Express Membership Rewards credit cards.

If you have US credit card access, you can transfer your Canadian- and US-derived Flying Blue Pool to Amex US MR Points, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Capital One Points Flying Blue in a 1: 1 ratio. Miles in the same account.

Finally, when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Forest Fear points to Flying Blue, you’ll receive a 5,000 mile bonus above the usual 3: 1 ratio for a total of 25,000 Flying Blue miles.

Overall, Flying Blue is a program that is growing rapidly for Canadian point collectors, especially with their regular promotional rewards and occasional confidential discount rates or two.

Previous promotion

Whether you decide this promotion is a good opportunity to meet your travel goals, look back at Air France / KLM’s past promotional awards here:

Conclusion

With a 25-50% discount on its route network, Air France / KLM Flying Blue’s monthly promotional awards can be a great way to save miles if you’re planning a trip to, from or through Europe.

If you’re looking for business class or even high-end redemption, you’ll want to keep your eyes open for some attractive discounted premium rentals as part of the promo rewards, whether they’re published or not.

And if you live in other Canadian cities that are served by Air France and KLM such as Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton or Quebec City, hopefully it won’t be long before we see some promotional awards for your city in the future. Months

I’m sure I’m not alone in this experience: you’re rushing to pay for something, and suddenly you’re wondering if you’ve used the right credit card. Many times I have made the mistake of using the wrong card.

By using the wrong card, I mean not using a card that will maximize my earnings at a certain cost. Many credit cards offer multipliers, or more points, in a specific category of costs, which means that one credit card may outperform another depending on what you are buying.

Not all of them are easy to remember, so in this series, let’s get started How To Increase Your Earnings By Using Credit Card Multiplier

In Part 1, we will focus on the cards issued by American Express, while in Part 2 we will look at the cards issued by other banks.

For simplicity, we will only focus on Canadian cards as opposed to cash back cards or other types of point currencies that earn airline point currencies or their equivalents.

Start with your goal

Before dealing with the cost multiplier, one has to consider what kind of point currency or coin you want to deposit. If you’re not sure, start by asking yourself a few questions:

• Where do I want to travel?
• Which airline do I want to travel with?
• What point currency can I use for my redemption?

If you don’t know where to start, a website like FlightConnections is a great place to start.

First, choose your destination or source to see which airlines fly in and out of each. Next, figure out which currency they can use as part of an alliance or for that particular airline.

Once you’ve figured it out, the next questions are:

• Which credit card do I want to earn point currency?
• Where will I spend my money?
• Is there a card that earns the point currency I want that offers multipliers for my expenses?

Demystifying cost section

Below is a list of the most common categories of costs that credit cards offer multipliers

1. Dining, beverages, Food delivery. This section will include your restaurant, coffee shop, Uber Eats and DoorDash.
2. Grocer. Who doesn’t spend money on groceries? Keep in mind that some cards include grocery stores as part of eating and drinking, others do not.
3. Travel. If you follow the Prince of Travel, you are bound to spend for it. This includes flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises and even tours.
4. Transport and gas. Some cards only offer multipliers on gas, others offer multipliers for use in rideshare services, buses, taxis and public transport.
5. Office supplies and electronics. This will include but not limited to stores like Apple, Best Buy and Staples.
6. Drugstore. This usually includes individual drug stores such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexal. It does not usually include pharmacies located within a large organization, such as a pharmacy located inside a grocery store or within Costco.
7. Streaming subscription. These are increasingly popular and include Netflix, Disney + and other such services.
8. Entertainment. This category usually includes movie, theater performances and sales of ticket agencies. I thought theme parks might be included in this category, but it doesn’t show up Maryland did not code as entertainment.

As you can see, many of the things we spend money on every day can earn you extra points – If you have the right card and use it.

Which card should I use?

An important factor in all of this is that credit cards are accepted by your merchant. In Canadian card games, it often becomes clear whether they take Amex.

If they do, it’s great news, because there are plenty of earning opportunities out there. If they don’t, stay tuned for the next post on other possible options.

Amex cards earn their own point currency, known as Membership Rewards (MR) points. The Canadian-issued Amex MR points can thus be transferred to six different airline loyalty programs, making it one of Canada’s most valuable point currencies.

Meanwhile, co-branded Amex cards will earn their authorized partner’s currency. In Canada, there is only one airline with an Amex co-branded card: Air Canada.

Now let’s take a look at which Amex cards offer multipliers in a specific category of cost If not indicated, sPend in all other categories can be assumed to earn one point per dollar otherwise.

Cobalt cards are a solid card for dining, drinks and groceries. No other card in this category earns you 5x points (up to বছরে 30,000 a year), and some people have reported earning 5x outside of Canada.

Depending on how much you spend on this segment, it can easily offset a monthly fee of less than $ 12.99. In addition, it is the only MR-earning card to provide a multiplier for streaming subscriptions.

The Business Platinum Card is great for everyday expenses because it earns 1.25x everything.

However, if your business can cost exactly $ 20,000 per quarter per year, then the Business Gold Card is a solid option as well as thanks to the quarterly bonuses of 10,000 MR points to reach the cost threshold, especially since its annual fee is lower than that. Business Platinum.

If you only want to collect Airplane points and initially fly with Air Canada, the Airplane Reserve Card will give you a minimum of 1.25x points per dollar for all non-category costs, among other factors. In terms of business, the Aeroplan Business Reserve Card shares the same 1.25x non-category cost factor.

If your business has a lot of electronic or office supply costs, consider the Business Edge Card, which is the only card to offer multipliers in this category and has an annual fee of less than 99.

If travel for work or leisure makes up a large proportion of your expenses, then Gold Rewards Card Used Must be a solid card for travel with a multiplier of 2x.

The Platinum Card is now earning 2x more on travel, but with better travel insurance and an annual 200 travel rebate, it’s a bit of a toss-up. – Which brings us to the next point.

Other considerations

The chart above assumes that you have all the Amex cards and have to choose between them based on multipliers only. However, the reality is that you may or may not have one, two or more Amex cards.

Before deciding which card is best to keep based on class expenses only, consider the rate of earnings, the annual fee you are paying for the card, and the additional cost of the additional benefits that come with it.

For example, the rate of return on food on a platinum card is only 3x compared to 5x on a cobalt card. However, the Platinum Card includes higher insurance policies, priority pass lounge access, elite status with several hotel chains and a $ 200 annual travel credit, where Cobalt does not.

For all these additional benefits, you pay an annual fee of $ 699 for a Platinum card, whereas you pay $ 155.88 (99 12.99 per month) annually for a Cobalt card. Which you invest in will depend on your personal expenses and travel habits.

I personally think it’s worth keeping both, but if cost is a factor, you may have to decide between one or the other.

Ultimately, the value of each card for each person must be determined by the advantage of its multipliers, which card they should have, keep, and use, and what is best for one may not be good for another. And don’t forget the value of your sign up bonus.

Merchant category code

I want to quickly explain the Merchant Category Code (MCC) and why they are important.

After a while, you can expect to get a multiplier on a purchase because you think a merchant falls into one of the above categories, but the multiplier does not come. This could be because the merchants have registered themselves under a different type of business than you expected.

All merchants are required to register their business under an MCC An MCC is a number that identifies the type of business a trader engages in and is used by credit card companies when issuing multipliers.

For example, the MCC of a restaurant is “5812” If you eat at a merchant who mainly caters but serves food side by side and does not get multipliers, it may be that the merchant has classified himself as a caterer with MCC “5811”, rather than a restaurant. In this case, you will not find the restaurant multiplier.

Conclusion

Hopefully after reading this you will grab the right Amex card to pay for your next purchase. Even though you know which card has the best class factor, you still have some work to do to see which card has the best cost-benefit ratio.

If you still can’t keep track of it all, feel free to bookmark this post for future reference.

However, we know that American Express is not always accepted by certain merchants, so stay tuned for a post in the near future about the multipliers of non-Amex cards and how they can play a role in this decision making process.

RBC has made positive changes Air travel redemption schedule, Which makes RBC avion points a bit more convenient when redeeming for direct flights instead of converting to airline partners.

RBC Avion Fixed-Price Chart: Now applicable for one-way flights

RBC’s Air Travel Redemption Schedule can be used by RBC Avion cardholders and reads as follows:

The chart specifies a certain number of avian points required to book any given flight from Canada to one of the six geographical regions. The required avion points will cover the base fare that you would otherwise pay when purchasing airfare, up to a certain maximum ticket price.

Any amount other than the maximum ticket price, as well as ticket tax and fees, will be payable separately from the Avian Points mentioned in the chart – either as a cash supplement, or redeeming the additional Avian Points in the ratio of 100 points. = 1.

Until now, this redemption option was only available for round-trip flights departing from Canada.

This meant that its overall usefulness was fairly limited, especially for avion point collectors who prefer to redeem points for business class whenever possible, instead of a full round-trip in economy class.

The good news is that RBC has now relaxed these requirements and is empowering to do so Redeem Avon Point for one-way flight at exactly half Avian Point, Exactly half the maximum ticket price including:

Note that both one-way and round-trip redemption methods are only available to RBC Avion cardholders, and not to low-level RBC Rewards cardholders.

Use RBC Avion one-way redemption for positioning flight

The flexibility of one-way flights is often much more practical, especially since it costs exactly half the price of a round-trip redemption.

In particular, Avion Points can now be redeemed rather interestingly “Positioning Flight”, This refers to short one-way flights that you take to tag a more expensive long-haul flight from a different city.

Generally speaking, there are many more premium cabin availability and routing opportunities for first class and business class flights outside major US gateway cities: New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Seattle.

Therefore, the ability to redeem only 7,500-17,500 avion points for one-way flights to one of these major U.S. gateways from Canada makes the avion points a little more valuable than before.

For example, if you live in Montreal or Toronto and would like to fly Japan Airlines first class using Alaska Miles, your best bet would be to look for a prize space outside of New York JFK.

You will then need a separate flight to land in New York, where for a short time you will probably be happy with economy class. It can be booked using Cash, Airplane Points, Air Miles – or can now be covered up to বেস 175 at Base Fair for one-way tickets with only 7,500 Avian Points.

The same idea applies to bookings, say, Qatar Airways Quetsuits outside of Seattle if you’re in Vancouver. If you don’t want to take the bus, you’ll need to take a short flight to Seattle to get started, and 7,500 Avian Points can help you take care of it.

Now, you don’t necessarily have to redeem Avion Points Per Instead of time, this is a useful option if you are sitting in a larger stash at Avion Point than other programs or prefer to save your Airplane points for future high-cost redemption.

Also, the short distance “Quick Gateways” redemption option under the RBC chart actually provides quite impressive redemption values. 2.33 cents (cpp) per point If done to the fullest, this is not a bad use of your avian points at all.

In addition to the “Quick Gateway” on the 7,500 Avon Point One-Way, the 17,500 Avon Point One-Way “Explore North America” ​​price also seems quite attractive to me, as it will take you anywhere in Canada or the continental United States.

If you’re happy to travel in economy class in North America (keeping in mind that major US airlines’ domestic “first class” products aren’t something to write about at home anyway), the maximum base fare at $ 375 is a respectable redemption of ,500 17,500 avian point result 2.14cpp The value.

When it comes to more expensive redemption options in places outside of North America, however, I will stay away from one-way redemption with Avian Points.

Because one-way flights outside of North America cost more than half of the round-trip price, you can exceed the maximum ticket price and pay extra cash for the redemption in the first place.

Conclusion

As competition between Canadian banks and the loyalty program heats up, RBC Avion is making a favorable change to its air travel redemption schedule, now allowing one-way redemption at half the cost (and the corresponding maximum ticket price) as a round-trip.

The 7,500 avion points needed to book a short-haul one-way flight can be earned fairly easily, several times over. RBC is offering welcome bonuses of up to 55,000 avion points on their three RBC Avion credit cards as of mid-September, and 15,000+ avion points are available even if you change credit card products.

With this change, RBC’s charts have now become more convenient for booking positioning flights using Avion Point, and you can pay less out of pocket if you are looking for an ambitious flight to depart from another city.

American Express has come up with another new Amex offer. This time, you can earn a $ 250 statement credit if you spend at least $ 1,000 on eligible flight purchases with Air France or KLM.

Air France and KLM: Spend $ 1,000, get $ 250

Spend $ 1,000 on a single eligible purchase or incremental purchase on your registered card August 31, 2022, You will receive a $ 250 statement credit.

Eligible purchases must be made online at airfrance.ca or klm.ca or the Air France / KLM mobile app. If you want to purchase one for just 1,000, you will effectively get one 25% discount Purchase your flight (s)

Keep in mind that the first 20,000 cardholders on offer have a limited registration cap, so it’s best to register as soon as possible to make sure you’re eligible.

We’ve seen this offer pop up on a wide range of American Express cards, including Platinum Cards, Business Platinum Cards, and Cobalt Cards. Be sure to check each of your cards to see if the offer is shown and register accordingly, especially if you’re playing two-player mode or more.

Save $ 250 on Air France and KLM flights

This offer can be a great incentive to book with Air France or KLM for any of your upcoming travel plans in Europe in 2022 and 2023.

Air France operates flights from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Recently, Quebec City Airlines has become the fourth Canadian destination. Meanwhile, KLM counts Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton among its Canadian destinations.

Take the new Quebec City-Paris route, for example. A round-trip economy flight from Quebec to Paris on an Air France flight will cost only $ 1,100. By booking this flight, you can unlock $ 250 statement in just one purchase.

If you often travel to Europe and prefer to fly in business class instead of economy, look for cheap round-trip business class fares from Europe to North America.

You will use the west leg as the return trip for your first trip and the east leg as the outbound for the next trip.

Historically, we have often seen transatlantic airlines (including Air France and KLM) offering very affordable business class flights from Europe, often between $ 1,500-2,000 (CAD) for round-trip.

By stacking up with the Amex offer, you will now be able to save another $ 250. (Agreements in this range are rarely seen outside of North America.)

Lastly, keep in mind that if you want to redeem points for your flight instead of paying cash, you can save a good portion with this Amex offer.

Because the Air France / KLM Flying Blue redemption tax and fio credit will be calculated. With Flying Blue, taxes and fees can be relatively high, sometimes in the region of $ 300 per person per route for more long-haul airlines.

In the example above, if you redeem two Flying Blue Miles for two passengers on a Bora Bora round-trip in Business Class, the tax and fees will reach the $ 1,000 threshold and unlock $ 250 savings through this Amex offer.

In addition to the Flying Blue program offering a rotating promo prize on a monthly basis, it’s always worth combining it with this Amex offer to save tax if you book for multiple trips or multiple passengers.

Scotiabank American Express cardholders can also register

As we often see with these Amex offers, the offer is also available for primary and supplementary cardholders of Scotiabank Gold American Express Card, Scotiabank American Express Card, and Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card.

For Scotiabank cardholders, you can register through this link.

Conclusion

A new Amex offer allows eligible cardholders to earn a $ 250 statement credit after spending a minimum of $ 1,000 to purchase a growing flight with Air France / KLM.

Be sure to check all your cards to see if the promotion pops up, as not every American Express card is targeted for this offer. Those who have Scotiabank American Express products can register through the dedicated portal link to multiply your savings.

Remember that the registration cap is limited to the first 20,000 cardholders, so it is best to register as soon as possible, and then book your flight. August 31, 2022.

Recently, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) took Visa and MasterCard to court.

Looks like their legal team had Phoenix Right: Ass Attorney onboard because they were able to make a significant settlement from the credit card giants.

Today, let’s review what happened and how you can claim if applicable.

Case

The lawsuit, filed by the CFIB, specifically questions the validity of Visa and MasterCard, which bar merchants from charging customers extra fees for credit cards, especially premium credit cards that carry higher transaction fees.

These transaction fees, commonly known as “interchange fees” or “swipe fees” in conversations, have hitherto been mandatory for merchants.

In addition, merchants cannot reject premium credit cards, such as high-fee Visa Infinite Privilege or MasterCard World Elite product lines, lest they draw the wrath of major payment networks.

It has now been ruled that the court system was damaged. Therefore, those businesses that spend the exchange fee Willpower Must now be entitled to compensation.

In addition, on October 6, 2022, many of the policies previously implemented by Visa and MasterCard will be discontinued and policies such as charging customers for credit card use will be approved.

Although I personally have an opinion on this, it is important to remember that the law says and we as Canadian consumers will now be bound for a detailed change in the settlement. This means that anyone reading this who has run a business in the past that has received a credit card may be eligible for some final compensation in a CFIB case.

How to make a claim

Before claiming for any amount of money determined by the settlement, consider your eligibility. Let’s have all your paperwork files by you September 30, 2022. The rest of the information is provided directly by CFIB:

To determine what type of business you are running, consider that you must be working between March 23, 2001 and September 2, 2021 to qualify for compensation. If you run your business completely outside of this timeline, you are out of luck.

Next, consider the amount of income your business earns in determining which class you will fall into and how much you might be entitled to.

If you run a business that earns over $ 5 million a year, my sincere congratulations and my sympathies. Your application is going to be rather complicated, requiring lots of documentation and supporting evidence.

On the other hand, if you become a small trader at any time within the considered date range, Your claim may be completely undocumented. Just apply at the link below, and your eligibility will be assessed by the internal review team of the case.

Keep in mind that as an unregistered claimant, your application may be rejected and there is no asylum or appeal process if this happens. Therefore, honesty is the best policy when entering your information. Don’t expect an auditor to believe you’re accepting Visa and MasterCard at your Middle School Lemonade stand!

Then just make your claim and wait for the review process to approve you. When this is finally expected, just transfer your direct deposit information or request a check (this next option requires a $ 2 fee, which will be deducted from your final settlement payment) and wait for the money to arrive. Just remember, you can only claim the maximum 600, Or 20 years of operation as a small business.

Whatever your personal circumstances, if you run a business in any of the years in question and accept Visa / MasterCard, you must apply and recover the cost before the opportunity is gone forever.

Each card has two sides

As I mentioned earlier, I have a personal opinion on this matter, but I recommend that you continue to be polite to members of the Canadian business community. After all, no Miles and Points enthusiast would be able to enjoy the benefits of a credit card if we did not have lively trade in this country.

That being said, some of the goal objectives of CFIB, although they undoubtedly benefit traders, can be potentially detrimental to customers. Let’s take a look:

Let’s break it down, because it can have a significant impact on customers, especially those with miles and points in space.

Reducing interchange fees, for example, could lead to a similar situation for British and Australian credit card reward enthusiasts: much lower rates of return and earnings on daily expenses. The same applies to GST / HST fee waivers, as that portion of the transaction will be disqualified for earning points – perhaps even for the minimum expense of a credit card welcome bonus.

When it comes to chargebacks, I agree that businesses should not be deceived by unscrupulous individuals. But even paying customers shouldn’t have their legitimate chargebacks – often the last line of defense in a commercial dispute – being rejected out of hand.

Think about how bad it would be if customers could recover the money they spent on cash flights instead of travel bank credits, in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic. Strict refusal of chargeback can seriously hurt the customers who need that money in a crisis situation!

To waive fees on prepaid cards, I think it would be unfairly hampered by highly lucrative and customer-friendly prepaid plans, such as Wise Card, which has done a commendable job of offering customers more payments and lower exchange rates.

In any case, after October 6, 2022, the location of the credit card must be different, when the surcharge on credit card usage will be allowed. Here it is expected that traders will not realize the overall loss of sales even if they recover some exchange fees. Fortunately, surcharges will not be mandatory, so let’s hope they don’t become universal.

Conclusion

CFIB’s lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard has a huge impact on the entire Canadian credit card space.

If you have been running a business in the past, there is no point in doing deli. Visit CFIB’s site now and apply for your compensation while you still can.

For the rest of us consumers, it remains to be seen whether these changes will benefit the market as a whole or only for certain merchants. Charging more from customers does not seem to be the best business practice because they want the protection of a credit card, but time will tell.

HSBC is offering an award 30% transfer bonus On British Airways Avios for the month of June 2022.

This is lower than the previous 35% and 40% transfer bonuses we saw in late 2020 and mid-2021, respectively, but it’s worth waiting to see if you plan to use HSBC Rewards Points for Avios in the coming months.

Avios 30% transfer bonus from HSBC

From June 1, 2022 Per June 30, 2022, You get 30% bonus if you convert HSBC Rewards Point to British Airways Avios.

The standard conversion ratio is 25,000 HSBC reward points = 10,000 Avios, so the ratio will be effectively bumped. 25,000 HSBC Reward Points = 13,000 Avios For the month of June 2022 – effectively, a shadow above 2: 1.

The terms of promotion are as follows:

Keep in mind that HSBC rewards follow a strange redemption structure when it comes to its trio of frequent flyer partners:

• A minimum of 25,000 HSBC prize points must be redeemed at once
• Above the minimum amount, HSBC reward points can be redeemed by an increase of 10,000 points

Therefore, you have the option to convert your HSBC reward points into 25,000, 35,000, 45,000, etc., you can earn 13,000, 18,200 avios, 23,400 avios and much more.

If you want to convert exactly 50,000 HSBC reward points to 26,000 Avios, you need to do so in two transactions of 25,000 points each.

Should you transfer the HSBC Prize to British Airways Avios?

If you have a large stash of HSBC Rewards Points from your previous signup offer or from regular charges on the card, it’s worth considering whether the 30% transfer bonus represents the best use-case for you.

The Baseline The redemption method for HSBC rewards is to offset a rate against travel purchases. 200 points = 1, Or effectively 0.5 cents per point (cpp). You simply charge any travel purchases on your card and then apply your points to the purchase and “delete” from the statement.

(And if you redeem your points this way against a refundable travel purchase and then go ahead and cancel it, the refund will be back to your credit card, basically leaving you with a statement of credit.)

Meanwhile, if you want to transfer HSBC reward points to Avios with a 30% transfer bonus, we can imagine how much you would have to pay to redeem your Avios as a result to “beat” the baseline redemption.

Let’s imagine that you have 50,000 HSBC award points In your balance, which can be redeemed as 250 Travel shopping.

By June 2022, these 50,000 points could also be converted 26,000 British Airways Avios – However keep in mind that you will need to make this transfer in two parts of each 25,000 points as described above.

In my opinion, 26,000 Avios is easily the most interesting option here – you need to at least redeem them 0.96cpp To come forward compared to the baseline cash option.

It should be very easy to extract 0.96cpp from your Avios, whether you want to convert Avios to Qatar Airways to book Qsuites, Toronto-Dublin in Aer Lingus, short-haul flights to Oneworld carriers in other parts of the world, or creatively avios multi-carrier bookings around the world. Has been merged.

Additionally, with a 30% bonus, the Avios transfer option easily outperforms the other two frequent flyer partners: the conversion of Singapore Airlines to a 25: 9 ratio of ChrisFlyer or a 25: 8 ratio to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles – unless, of course, you earn KrisFlyer Miles. Ready to do so that you can one day fly the Singapore suit.

Conclusion

As of June 2022, HSBC Rewards is offering a 30% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios, which offers a great opportunity to find out the maximum value from your HSBC Rewards Points.

If you have HSBC Rewards Points in your account and you are looking forward to an Avios conversion, now is the time to take action and maximize your earnings.

You may need to plan some of your expenses to top-up the required point threshold for a transfer, but I hope that effort will be worth it in terms of the final redemption value.

As we have seen in the past with 35-40% transfer bonus to 30% transfer bonus, it seems we can rely on this promotion year after year to make the best use of our HSBC rewards points.