Hyatt Buy Miles 30% Bonus
Hyatt is currently selling points with a 30% bonus, which ends this Friday, February 22nd. Maxing out the promotion, you can buy 71,500 Hyatt points for $1,320, almost enough for three nights at a Category 6 hotel. There are some spectacular hotels in Category 6 and 7 that can run close to $1,000, so buying points can give you a huge discount on the retail price. Hyatt points are difficult to earn in Canada, which is why this is a good opportunity to gain some quickly.
Park Hyatt Sydney
As well, you can use Guest of Honor if you know someone with Globalist status to secure free breakfast, upgrades, and more. If you have a US credit profile, you can also earn Hyatt points with the Chase Hyatt Visa Signature or by transferring Ultimate Rewards from the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Some folks may be eligible for American Express Global Transfer, the easiest way to build your score if are already a Canadian AMEX cardholder. I currently have the American Express Platinum Card, which offers up to 60,000 Membership Rewards points after meeting the offer requirements.
You can purchase miles through this link:Â Buy Hyatt Miles
7x Miles on Apple
Until tomorrow, February 21st, the Aeroplan eStore is offering seven points per dollar on all purchases at Apple. Aeroplan Black and Silver status members earn an additional point per dollar, while Diamond members earn an additional two. Aeroplan points to me are worth around 1.6 cents. This translate into a 14.4% return.
Make sure you use a credit card with that extends the product warranty, such as the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite, which also has no foreign transaction fees. To take advantage of the deal, you need to login to the eStore using their Aeroplan number and last name. I would suggest clearing your cookies or using a new browser to make sure the order tracks properly. Excluding the distinction status bonuses, you can earn a lot of miles for the following:
- AirPods – retailing at $219 = 1,533 miles
- iPhone Xs – starting at $1,379 = 9,653 miles
- MacBook Pro – starting at $1,729 = 12,103 miles
Aeroplan Fuel Surcharges on Air China
Anshul over at Points, Miles, and Bling reported that Air China redemptions on Aeroplan now incur fuel surcharges. With the new Air Canada loyalty program coming, this seems like a last minute cash grab. I abhor fuel surcharges; sadly, the trend for non-American loyalty programs seem to be moving towards those ridiculous fees.
On most award tickets, the credit card you should use is the the BMO World Elite Mastercard, which currently offers a first year annual fee waiver and up to 35,000 BMO Rewards points. This is one of the only products in Canada that covers trip and baggage delays on award tickets, including Aeroplan.
At the moment, this only seems to apply on routes to/from Canada. Beijing to Vancouver via Los Angeles now requires $347 out of pocket.
Beijing to Los Angeles by itself is $40 in taxes and fees. This seems unlikely to remain indefinitely, so I would book soon if there are dates that work for you.
Aeroplan claims that these are collected on behalf of the ticketing carrier (Air Canada), but this to me is just semantics. If Air Canada suddenly is requesting more money for Air China awards, that does not bode well for the new program. I’m not entirely surprised as there is no competition at all domestically.
HT: BOOK NOW! AEROPLAN INTRODUCES FUEL SURCHARGES ON AIR CHINA AWARD BOOKINGS, BUT…A GLITCH!
Re: the Aeroplan fuel surcharges, this was the obvious first impact of Air Canada buying Aeroplan back. Remember that all fuel surcharges on Aeroplan reward tickets, irrespective of carrier flown, end up in Air Canada’s pocket.
As it was, members had a strong incentive to book airlines *other than Air Canada* for their rewards. So, unsurprisingly, Air Canada will now hurry to put fuel surcharges on all other airlines as well to level the playing field and grab more cash.
That’s absolutely right. It appears to me that Aeroplan chose to pass those on rather than have it cut into their margins. Unfortunate that their contract allowed for these hidden fee increases in the first place.
You mentioned BMO World Elite is the only one will cover travel insurance on redemption. Does that mean AMEX Plat does not even if you charge the whole surcharges and fee to the AMEX card?
If you are not using miles earned from the AMEX Plat, the flight will not be covered. If you are using miles earned from the AMEX Plat (the wording is vague here), it could go either way. The BMO World Elite is the only card that explicitly guarantees coverage on award tickets.