Great offer on SPG Amex personal card
 

Just got this via email:

Earn a $50 statement credit when you spend $250 or more at SPG or Marriott properties.

Get away and enjoy an SPG or Marriott Rewards property and earn a $50 statement credit. All you need to do is register your eligible Starwood Preferred Guest®* Credit Card from American Express and spend $250 or more (after applicable taxes and fees) on eligible purchases before October 23, 2018.1

Same thing happened last time they had a similar offer. I called them and asked them for a sorted list which they gave me and I posted here (or maybe it was the Amex forum). I will call when I have a chance.

Anyone can send me the link for this SPG promo? Want to try to register it and see if I will be eligible as I didn't get any email from AMEX on this :(

It's targeted. The link from my email will take you to the registration for my credit card.

Called Amex regarding their list of participating properties. Agent said she couldn't send me a better list. She referred me to the Marriott website which leads me to believe that there are no non-participating properties. She said she would give my feedback to her manager regarding the list.

Anyhow, she did give me a tip on how to search the list. She said to press Ctrl+F and a search box comes up and you can enter the name of the property or city you are looking for.

Sorry, that's the best I could do this time.

But it's not sorted completely by country. For instance you have Germany on pages 1 and 2, then Spain on page 3 and more Germany on page 4. It's just dumb!

Does anyone know if Gift card purchases qualify for the AMEX SPG targetted offer of spend $250 and get a $50 credit? Apparently gift cards are available at full service Marriott properties and I don't see why this wouldn't qualify. Might be worth a try anyway.

Note that at least for now "The following Marriott Hotel Brands DO NOT accept Marriott or The Ritz-Carlton GiftCards: Protea Hotels by Marriott®, St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Tribute Portfolio™, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, Element®, Design Hotels"

So, you walk up to the front desk at a Marriott property and buy a $250 gift card?
I would guess that that should work, because it's a purchase through that Marriott hotel's Amex merchant account.

Hi. I've just ordered an Alaska Airlines WE MasterCard via GCR. I realize YMMV but generally how long does it take for the 30k bonus points to be deposited after the minimum spend is met?
TIA

My offer specifically says "Excludes gift card purchases".

It'll be interesting to see what happens.

I searched my offer terms for references to gift cards and it says "Purchases made with supplementary cards are not qualifying purchases. American Express Corporate cards and American Express Gift cards are excluded from the offer." and later on....
"We reserve the right to substitute an American Express Gift card or cheque in lieu of the statement credit. American Express is responsible for the fulfillment of this offer."

I got the card about a week ago and hit the minimum spend with a big purchase right away. I see the 30k points in my MBNA Rewards account on the MBNA site and expect them to be transferred to my Alaska Airlines account on my next statement date. I'm pretty sure that's the way it went last time around as well.

Visa Infinite Product Switch
 

I've had the RBC Avion Visa Infinite for several months and am ready to move onto something else. I got in during the FYF promo and transferred the points to my Avios account while the transfer promo was running.

Before cancelling I thought I'd explore product switch options. I think the only other RBC card I'd be interested in would be the B.A. Avios card, but the fee is steep and the minimum spend is high. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I'd still have to pay the fee with a product switch? If I could get it FYF I'd probably do that, but I don't think I'm interested enough to pay that fee for more Avios points, mostly because their long haul redemptions are too high. I'don't have much interest in the WestJet card either.

I remember reading things years ago about being able to go another bank with your Infinite Visa and getting them to give you their cards FYF even when they weren't normally doing that. I'm not sure if it was just a perk of holding an Infinite Visa or if they required you to cancel you're current card. I'd be ok cancelling mine. Does anyone if TD or CIBC are doing this for RBC Avion cardholders at the moment? I don't currently have any products with TD or CIBC so I have no leverage that way.

TIA

Try switching to a no-fee RBC card for a while, then see if later on you can move to a card you want.

As for TD and CIBC, it didn't matter (for me, 6-12 months ago) whether I had a bank account. They were competing to steal cardholders from the other banks with cards that compete with Aeroplan cards.

I think I'll pop into a CIBC branch in the next week or so and see if I can get that deal with them. If not, I'll try TD. If neither work I'll think about whether I want to downgrade the Avion. I have an account at RBC so I'll take a look at those benefits as well.

Thanks!

Yep me too!

May I ask which property? Having trouble finding a location in the burbs that has gift cards.

Did mine at Courtyard downtown. I've tried Marriotts in the past in the burbs, always ended up going to a courtyard. I'd call first.

I picked the Marriott Gift card up at the Marriott Downtown Toronto Eaton Centre

I ran a quick search for other full service Marriott properties and could only find the Toronto Airport Marriott and the Markham Marriott. There was also one in Niagara Falls. Good luck!

I'm guessing the offer doesn't give 12 passes every year right? We'll have to wait and see if the offer comes back for 2019? It would be very interesting if this works for international flights with different carriers.

There is a promo right now for CIBC Aventura® and CIBC Gold Visa* - FYF $100 travel credit and 15,000 Aventura points.

Do we have any data on if anyone has been able to apply more than once and not be charge the annual fee?

1 You are eligible for this annual fee rebate only if you apply and are approved for your first CIBC credit card. If you are a current or former CIBC cardholder, we may approve your application but you will not be eligible for the annual fee rebate

Does the AMEX rewards transfer 40% bonus to Avios apply to Canadians as well or just down south?

Just US

https://ihg.scene7.com/is/image/ihg/...?fmt=png-alpha
There's a new batch of PointBreaks hotel room specials from IHG / Holiday Inn hotels, for now till November 30, 2018.

PointBreaks are reward stays available starting at 5,000 points.
They also include offers for 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 points... I'd consider 10,000 or 15,000 as "not bad", but 5,000 can be a really fantastic deal.

If you don't have points, you can purchase points from the IHG website.
Better yet, (I believe) there is a way that IHG members who already have at least 5,000 points can buy 5,000 points for US $40, or buy 10,000 points (2 nights' worth) for US $70. This workaround is discussed in other threads. PM me if you have questions.
Other methods are discussed starting around post 3925 of this thread...
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mile...l#post28224184

Full list of PointBreaks hotels in Canada, US & overseas:
https://www.ihg.com/rewardsclub/content/us/en/redeem-rewards/pointbreaks ​​​​

Hotels in Canada available for
5,000 points:
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fort Saskatchewan

for 10,000:
Holiday Inn & Suites Grande Prairie-Conference Ctr
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Sherwood Park-Edmonton Area

for 15,000:
Holiday Inn Calgary-Macleod Trail South
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary South-Macleod Trail South

What's the best signup bonus for Canadians?

Signup bonus for what? AFAIK there's exactly 0 IHG credit cards.

For anything. I'm looking at airlines miles, but all I see is 15,000 miles, which simply doesn't compare. Is there a Canadian credit card worth churning with more than 15,000 airlines miles as a signup bonus?

Sorry if this is the wrong place, but just wondering what people think about the PointsU seminar this weekend?
I'm considering going as I'm still a bit of a points noob but just wondering if it's worth the admission for a casual flyer... (as in I generally only fly 3-4x/year) sadly I don't have a ton of time off.

Thanks!

PS - don't mean to bash it. I'm honestly just curious what the general idea is about it here.

If you're looking for lucrative bonii, Canada is not the place to look. Our banks simply do not give away nearly as much as the U.S. banks. Just read the thread and you'll find about the best there is.

Last year was my first first PointsU seminar.
If you don't travel a lot, and you don't collect a lot, then PointsU might not be for you.

For myself, I travel several times a year, and I also like collecting points and finding good offers.
Most of the points I have collected come from things I learned or things I shared on this forum and forums like this. I got a lot out of PointsU last year and I'm looking forward to this year.

I also have friends and family who I try to manage points for, and help them to get to their goals.

It's not that I don't like to travel a lot, but moreso that I only get about 3.5 weeks off/year.
I do collect points (when possible) and have no issue working to find a good deal.

Still on the fence...

Looks like milesopedia.com is reporting that we get 30% bonus Avios if transfer from Amex rewards to Avios. Anyone else can from this? Sept 24 to nov