Saturday Updates (Aeroplan Bonus, Scotiabank-Sears, Starwood-Marriott)
It is Saturday again, so we’ve got another round of weekly updates for you. This week, we saw the Aeroplan conversion bonus back, Scotiabank officially taking over the Sears credit cards and a historic merger, pending final approval, between Marriott and Starwood.
Aeroplan Conversion Bonus
Aeroplan is once again offering a conversion bonus that is valid between November 16, 2015 and December 21, 2015. You can get up to 26.67% transfer bonus with this promotion.
The transfer reward partners include the usual:
Hotels: Starwood Preferred Guest, Wyndham Rewards, Best Western Rewards, Choice Privileges, Coast Rewards, Club Carlson, Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards, Le Club Accorhotels (Accor hotels), and Golden Circle Award (Shangri-La Hotels).
Car Rentals: Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
Other: Diner’s Club Rewards, Points.com
Once again, American Express’ Membership Rewards is missing from the promotion.
Scotiabank Sears Credit Cards
Scotiabank also officially took over the former Chase Canada credit cards on November 16, 2015. It still remains to be scene what will happen with the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card and the Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card. You may have already noticed the Chase Canada website updated. You can no longer apply for the Chase Sears cards any more.
Marriott Buys Out Starwood
This $12.2 billion dollar transaction will make Marriott Hotels the largest hotel chain in the world if the merger goes through. They are already talking about which brands will be on the chopping block.
Personally, I’m a big fan of Starwood, so I will be watching the details of this merger very closer. Until we get more details, I’ll probably hold off on any judgement. I just hope they find a way to take the best of both worlds as they combine their resources. I really hope that they do devalue the points too quickly.
Logic says that by combining resources, they can cut redundant expenses, and put more resources towards improving their product.
I am not happy with the merger, I am a big fan of Starwood, I doubt they will bring the best of the two program. Soon, I will have to transfer my starpoints to FFP, probably Alaska Airline
Yea, we’ll wait and see what the terms and conditions really are. Hopefully there will be a transition period where we can make our decision.
I wonder how starwood points and Marriott points will be compared. What will be the ratio?
I eagerly await that news too!
I had unused sears points on my Sears Mastercard, and now that I am getting Scotiabank Mastercard statements, I wondered where they are. So I called and was told I’d be getting a statement on my sears points, and then could use them, but I haven’t received anything yet. Do you know about this sort of situation?
Hi JJ, I haven’t heard anything about it. You’ll definitely want to follow up very closely with Scotiabank, along with Sears Club, to ensure that they properly linked your accounts. Usually transitions like this are a bit of a pain.