Just because two banks use the same third-party vendor for IT doesn't mean they're the same. My card says Chase, my statements say Chase, and my T&C clearly say "Chase" refers to JPMorgan Chase Bank, not Scotia or any other bank.

In this case, the third party vendor is a company called Scotiabank

It also includes JPMorgan's related credit-card operations in Canada, including its bilingual call centre in Ottawa with expertise in customer service, fraud, collections and recovery

Chase only had the one call centre handling all Chase cards. And it's been sold to Scotia. Stay in denial all you want, there's a third party contractor handling Chase cards these days

I wonder when Scotia will rebrand the Marriott card under their umbrella of credit cards? Hopefully before my Scotia Amex card's annual fee is due in 11 months time.Be nice to do a product switch to save on a credit hit :D

crimsona is correct. I've had to deal with Scotiabank and its fraud back-end for dealing with foreign charges a few months ago. However, one time after I got someone from Chase? :confused:

Either way, writing's on the wall.

https://ihg.scene7.com/is/image/ihg/...?fmt=png-alpha
There's a new batch of PointBreak hotel room specials from IHG / Holiday Inns, for now till July 31, 2017.

PointBreaks are reward stays available for only 5,000 points.
If you don't have points, you can purchase 5,000 points for US $67.50 from the IHG website. (Higher quantities get slightly cheaper.)

Better yet, 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.
EDIT: Newer ways to get cheap IHG points are shown in the posts below.

Hotels in Canada:

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS & SUITES ST JOHN'S AIRPORT

NOVA SCOTIA
HOLIDAY INN TRURO

ONTARIO
HOLIDAY INN HOTEL & SUITES OAKVILLE @ BRONTE
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS & SUITES OSHAWA DOWNTOWN - TORONTO AREA

QUEBEC
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS & SUITES SAINT - HYACINTHE

SASKATCHEWAN
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS & SUITES REGINA-SOUTH


US & OVERSEAS:
See their website

It`s better than that. If you book for a stay before May 31st, you get 20% off the cash portion, e.g. 20,000 points for US$100.

Currently the (edit to add: SECOND) best way to buy IHG points is from the dailygetaways.com website. Canadians can purchase. These are leftover offers, so you don't have to be poised over the computer to get the deal.
$49 USD for 8,500 IHG points. After Canadian conversion, it's .797 cents for 1,000 points. Or essentially $40 Canadian for a PointBreaks hotels.

Here is the 8,500 IHG offer on dailygetaways https://dailygetaways.ustravel.org/O...2-011195e1fba5

You can buy up to FIVE of the 8,500 IHG point offers.

There are other offers (all in USD):
130,000 for $749
100,000 for $589
50,000 for $299
25,000 for $149
15,000 for $89
8,500 for $49

Only the two bolded will give the .576 cents USD (or .797 Canadian) per point. But they are all still available.

They do not get deposited immediately so be aware it will take a few days.

Damn, I didn't read all the way down.
This is the best offer....
.500 US cents per point!!

Excellent, thanks alot.

Or 0.46 US cents:

http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.co...eaks-23-night/

OMG, my brain hurts just reading these last few posts. I'm going to need to read them again tomorrow morning when I'm fresh, with coffee in hand! ;)

My Scotiabank Chase Canada Marriott card expires in a few months and a new one has not been sent yet. Has anyone recently got a new card, or are we in for a nasty surprise soon?

I received a replacement card last week. Expiry date in the next decade.

I noticed that the MBNA Alaska Airlines MasterCard is no longer available on their website for sign-up. I went through their chat service and I was told that the card hasn't been available for online applications for the last couple of days but you can apply over the phone.

https://www.mbna.ca/credit-cards/ove...ravel-rewards/

Anyone see the new rules for the MBNA Alaska card? $80,000 minumim income or $150,000 family and $1000 min spend in 90days.

I get too many Amex card pulls for their liking anyway.

Fantastic if its true

It should help get rid of some of the clowns that apply for cards and just put $2 spend on it. I hope Chase does the same thing instead of selling off their portfolio or pulling out completely.

The game got way too popular and overcrowded. Time to trim some fat.

I don't see it on MBNA, where are you getting this? Or just one of the blog posts from yesterday?

http://blog.rewardscanada.ca/2017/04...na-alaska.html

this part is hilarious

We have learned more about the reasoning behind the Quebec issue. It is due to Bill 791 which should be introduced shortly in Quebec that follows the legislation set in place by Ontario but goes even further than just banning expiry dates but is also including the provision that you cannot change redemption rates on consumers! So this is why you won't see this card in Quebec anymore because it would prevent Alaska Airlines from making changes to their award charts!

well, looks like some people will be "moving" to quebec. and some out. ;)

Interesting. I wonder how Aeroplan would respond to the same bill. It's very unlikely they will pull out from Quebec.

http://blog.rewardscanada.ca/2017/04...o-loyalty.html

We'll definitely pay for it one way or another imo.

I've started a thread for Bill 791.


Quebec Bill 791: Regulations for rewards programs
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1839615-quebec-bill-791-regulations-rewards-programs.html#post28244802


• Expiry dates would be prohibited, period.
• Retroactively changing the value of points would be prohibited.
• A government department would have the power to create a set of regulations.

I say "would be", because this appears to be a private members bill, introduced by an opposition member. Private members bills (les factures des membres privés?) don't have the force of the government, but a private members bill in Ontario helped force Air Miles to change its expiration policy.

a facture is a bill that must be paid, like an invoice.

i can't think of a proper translation in french but "projet de loi" comes up on google when i try to search.

Okay, fine.
I withdraw my lame attempt at translating into French.
So, back to the bill...

• Any credit card that promises "15,000 points; that's enough for a free flight!" will have a problem.
• Quebec's consumer protection department would get to decide what features can and cannot be in a rewards program. :mad:

This is how I interpret this...Aeroplan points do not expire because of time eg. they do not expire after 1 year. They expire because of "inactivity",meaning they have no expiry date.

The wording is...
Subject to any applicable regulations, any stipulation of or
amendment to the contract providing for an expiry date on the rewards points
obtained by the consumer is prohibited.

I interpret that to mean that miles cannot expire, ever, due to inactivity or anything else, unless the regulations:rolleyes: they make up allow for it.

The key words are "expiry date".If it had said something like "no expiration" than that would also include expiration from inactivity.

All the bank's have their own loyalty program....I can't see that the bill's would mean that,even if you closed a bank's credit card....eg.Royal Bank Avion,that the points can never expire.

I think the bill's do not include points expiring with inactivity only that points cannot expire after a fixed time(even if the points membership remained open).

GCR has the Alaska card back up.

URL:
https://www.greatcanadianrebates.ca/...aska-Airlines/

I tried a GCR application ($75 annual fee, $60 rebate) to see what would happen.
Went through the whole process.

"The credit card application you are requesting is currently unavailable. Please try again later. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you."

DP: Applied for another BW card and was declined as the agent told me the system automatically picked up I have a second card. I have had multiple BW cards in the past so this used to work. Anyone else seeing this problem?

RBC Avion to BA Avios conversion bonus is on May 2 - June 8 but it's back to 30%. :(

"Special British Airways Executive Club offer for RBC Avion cardholders ! Convert your RBC Rewards points into Avios and receive 30% more. Offer valid from May 2, 2017 to June 8, 2017. Convert your points today!"

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...7/GJHhrCp3.jpghttps://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ShmF6HXb3...320/am1250.jpg

Amazingly enough, this Air Miles offer seems pretty good.
And even if you won't admit that you still have an Air Miles card, you know you know someone who does.

During May 2017, use the special coupons and shop at 5 different Air Miles Partners to get an additional 1,250 Air Miles bonus miles. The offers vary by province. The offers I'll probably use are:
Staples, $45 spend
Rexall, $25 spend
RONA, $60 spend
Shell, 25L purchase
Texture magazine app: Free 1-month subscription... maybe buy a second month at $10/$15.

Even if you use Air Miles for Cash Miles :eek:, I calculate that value to be $131.
You also get the bonus miles for each particular offer, too.

Offer page: https://airmilesmegamiles.ca/en
T&C: https://airmilesmegamiles.ca/en/terms

Thanks for the info! I confess that I just received my Amex Plat Air Miles card (thru GCR for the $50 rebate) .I find the points useful for hotel stays.

I don't know why anyone wouldn't admit it... if you shop at these places anyway, why on earth wouldn't you collect the miles? If you're like me and don't have IKK privileges, then AM's North American seat availability absolutely crushes Aeroplan.

This is a pretty good promo... I'll definitely be hitting up the 5 partners.

For you skillful collectors out there, may I suggest going into each store / gas station with 2 different Air Miles numbers, and try to use them both. Seems doable for most folks' day-to-day shopping habits.

I check Staples coupon Term, Gift card excluded :mad: otherwise I might give a try

So i messed up my churn date and got dinged with the annual fee on the Chace marriott canada card... would they reverse or pro rate if I cancel or threaten to cancel or am I hooched?

most cards give you up to 30 days into the new year to have it refunded. doesn't hurt to call. I've had my AMEX annual charge reversed by just calling in.

We had a good chat about this back on page 244...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...l#post27498685

It's tricky, because the instruction for the free night has (I think) already been sent to Marriott.

They increased the sign up bonus for the TD Aeroplan... Interesting.

There are some changes it seems.

From GCR:

Cash Back Rebate will be paid by GCR upon credit card account approval by MBNA. Maximum one per individual.
• MBNA is not responsible or liable for any aspect of the cash back rebate offer.

From MBNA:
Get 25,000 bonus miles†† and Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ from $121 (USD) ($99 plus taxes and fees from $22)◊◊ after you make $1,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of your account opening.