Get 16,500 Aeroplan points for under $40 with the Aeroplan Star Challenge

Who doesn’t enjoy a good challenge? The Aeroplan Star Challenge is a new promotion where if you attain 70 stars they will reward you with 16,500 bonus Aeroplan miles. This is enough for a roundtrip short haul ticket.

To get stars you will have to purchase items from their partners who give out Aeroplan miles. There are 4 ways to earn these “stars”:

-You get two stars if you shop at Esso, Costco, Sobeys, Rexall and other partner stores. In my case I have a Sobeys and Rexall right next to each other close to home so when passing by I will make an effort to stop and buy something as close to $1 as possible. You are allowed to visit Sobeys 20 times to get 40 stars but you can only do it once a day.

-You get 3 stars if you stay at a partner hotel, rent a car or book a cruise or vacation

-You get 5 points for each segment you fly on Air Canada

-If you have an Aeroplan affiliated financial card you get 5 points. I know the American Express Aeroplan and CIBC Aero cards qualify

Since I already have 5 points thanks to my AMEX I need 65 more by the end off the month. I have no plans to travel or fly Air Canada so have to visit 33 stores to make up the difference. I told you this was a challenge at the beginning

Luckily for me the stores are right next to each other so I only have to park the car 17 times. But I will probably make a few stops at Esso for gas across the street where if I spend $3 I qualify.

If you have a few people in your family you can also multiply your transaction and both enjoy a trip in the future with the Aeroplan point bonus.

Click here for full details at the Aeroplan site

50% Bonus when you transfer your AMEX membership reward points to British Airways Avios points this month

If you need AVIOS points and have American Express membership reward points now is the time to transfer. Keep in mind it takes up to 5 days to show up in your BA Executive Club account. Avios points can be redeemed on BA flights, their partner airlines including American Airlines and for upgrades.

Link

This may only be offered in Canada right now.

Own a business? Get Air Canada lounge access, 15% off code, 2 eUpgrades. Also 100 Bonus Aeroplan points for anyone

Air Canada has a business frequent flyer program. It’s free to sign up and there are some nice benefits right from the start. Keep in mind you will still receive miles to your personal frequent flyer program while using these benefits.

Once you sign up you will receive a welcome email including a 15% off code. This is valid for up to 9 people so if you need to buy multiple tickets this could work out to significant savings right there. You will also receive one Maple Leaf Lounge invitation where you can enjoy complimentary drinks, snacks, Wifi and a nice quiet environment compared to the rest of the airport before your flight.

Another nice bonus is you will receive 5 onboard café vouchers. So while you’re stuck in economy at least you can enjoy a few free sandwiches. Lastly you will also receive two Air Canada upgrade credits (Known as eUpgrades) if you sign up before May 31, 2012. If you don’t have at least Silver status with Aeroplan these credits are rather limited since you need to have an expensive full fare ticket to apply them.

To finish if you go to http://aerovalue.homeserve.ca/ and sign up for a home evaluation you will receive 100 Aeroplan points. Takes about a minute in total so fairly worth it.

To sign up for Air Canada Rewards for Small Business click here

Fly anywhere in Canada or the Continental USA roundtrip for $198 excluding taxes and fees

American Express runs a website called “Daily getaways” where they offer daily deals. On Monday April 23rd at 10:00AM Pacific Time they are running an offer I urge you to look into. Wyndham hotels is selling nights at their different brands but what you are actually buying is Wyndham reward points.

These points are interchangeable into Aeroplan, American Airlines AAdvantage, United MileagePlus, US Airways and a few other airlines from around the world. The transfer ratio is 2.5 :1 so if you had 25,000 Wyndham points this would turn into 10,000 points to your mileage program.

Visit the site here: https://dailygetaways.ustravel.org/Calendar.aspx?week=2

If you were to buy each of the 5 different offers this would cost you $494.10 on your American Express (add 10% if you use a different credit card). In turn you would receive 174,000 Wyndham points which is 69,600 airline miles.

The "Math" behind this madness

If you were to transfer these to American airlines points this would be enough for a business class flight from Canada to Venezuela round trip and I found many dates available at this redemption level in May and June. This is also enough for a one way First Class trip from Canada to China and I even saw many dates available during July and August which is peek travel season. Excellent value for under $500.

Another more basic option would be to buy the Days Inn or the Wyndham hotels and resorts package (The 2nd and 4th options). This would cost you $181 if you pay with AMEX and net you 26,400 airline miles. This is enough for a ticket to anywhere in the Continental USA and Canada. Another benefit is since the Wyndham points are transferable to Aeroplan, American AAdvantage, United or US Airways your options for finding a flight are multiplied.

You are able to search and see availability before you have the points in your account. Go to either www.aa.com/aadvantage, http://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps/booking/flight/searchAward.aspx, https://www1.aeroplan.com/adr/AirBooking.do and enter the locations and dates you would like to travel. You can then see your options before you commit to spending any money.

If you are curious about flying to other locations and would like to find out how many miles it will take just google “redemption chart” of the respective airline frequent flyer program. If you are planning to travel with someone else make sure to search for 2 seats so you end up travelling together.

Lastly if you plan to pursue this offer make sure you open a free Wyndham reward account ahead of time. Be ready to buy right when this offer opens because it will sell out fast, last year it sold out in 6 minutes.

Avios & Airmiles Bonus Points along with Hertz Promo offers

Safeway grocery stores (Which are located West of Thunder Bay in Canada) is a partner with Airmiles. In case you haven’t signed up for Safeways email direct campaign I suggest you get on it since you receive 100 free Airmiles for doing so. Airmiles recently launched cash rewards where you can redeem points instantly at the register for cash. 95 Airmiles are worth $10.

I like to use Airmiles for short haul flights to Vancouver/Portland/Seattle from Calgary. At certain times of the year they have 40% off flight bookings so for just over 600 Airmiles you can fly roundtrip to any of these destinations.

http://cc.safeway.com/EmailDirect/signup.asp?type=

_________________________________________________________________________

Royal Bank recently announced their British Airways Visa Infinite card which has a 15,000 Avios point bonus. In addition if you spend $5,000 in your first 3 months you will receive an additional 35,000 points. Avios points can be used for flights on British Airways, American Airlines, LAN, Qantas and quite a few others.

From Calgary Canada roundtrip it requires 37,000 points to fly to Hawaii with no fees, 50,000 to most parts of Europe, or 9,000 to get to Seattle. So technically you could fly 11 people to Seattle with this bonus offer or 5 roundtrip. If you also sign up for the American Express Business card you could transfer your 25,000 welcome Amex Membership Rewards points to Avios points to receive 75,000 Avios points.

Apply online or at your local brunch

_________________________________________________________________________

If you are under 25 years old and need to rent a car Hertz is offering to waive the underage fee which can save you up to $25 daily.

http://www.hertz.com/rentacar/specialoffers/index.jsp?targetPage=under25feewaived.jsp