Author: Matt

Matt has been an avid points collector since 1992 (an elementary school student), when his dad signed up for the new (at the time) Air Miles program. Since then, Matt took a keen interest in learning how the miles and points world works. He quickly found out that there is a lot of value in leveraging miles and points to fund his passion for travelling.
| | | | |

Top Credit Card Higher than Normal Sign Up Bonuses for June 2020

ByMatt

Very minor changes to this month’s list as most offers are running well into the summer. But you may want to take a closer look at the TD offers as they will be expiring before our next month’s list.

Top Higher than Normal Sign Up Bonuses for May 2020

For the rest of the credit cards, I ranked the credit cards by the price of the annual fees (lowest to highest):

| |

Air Canada Teams up with Etihad Airways

ByMatt

Starting today, Aeroplan members (Air Canada’s frequent flyer program) can accumulate and redeem miles with Etihad Airways.

Etihad Airways is the National airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who currently operates flights to 76 destinations around the world, but expecting service to resume on other previous destinations.

|

[PROMOTIONS] Aeroplan Mega Event

ByMatt

The Aeroplan eStore is having a 2-Day Mega Event where you can earn 5x the miles site-wide from May 30, 2020 to May 31, 2020. 

Keep in mind that this is in addition to the 5x the miles per $1 spent promotion when using a co-branded Aeroplan card (American Express, CIBC or TD). So if you combine the two, you can top 10x the miles for online purchases. 

|

Last Chance to Fast Track Air Canada Elite Status

ByMatt

There are only a few days left to fast track to Air Canada elite status with the Travel at Home campaign. I say fast track because there is not a lot of work involved (i.e. no flying required) to earn Air Canada elite status.

Recap of Travel at Home

If you are looking for a quick suggestion, figured out how many eligible miles you earn between April 20, 2020 and today, then transfer whatever else you need from American Express Membership Rewards to top up your account. You will need to have earned the miles by May 31, 2020 to qualify.

| | | | | | | |

Best Current First Year Fee Waived Cards for May 2020

ByMatt

There were few changes to this month’s list, aside from offer extensions. For example, the Brim World Elite MasterCard extended its first year fee waiver off $199 annual fee till May 31, 2020, so if you missed your chance last month, this is your opportunity. I highlight this card because it is rare to see a credit card with such a high annual fee be waived. 

|

Air Canada Expands Goodwill Policy + Introducing Jetz

ByMatt

Air Canada has introduced new cancellation options retroactive to March 1, 2020, for flights until June 30, 2021. 

There are two main new polices added.

No changes fees for bookings made up to June 30, 2020 for original travel dates retroactive to March 1, 2020 until June 30, 2021.
In cases where Air Canada cancels flights due to COVID-19, refundable tickets will continue to have the option of refunds.

|

More Aeroplan Bonuses

ByMatt

Even though Air Canada is taking a beating in the news about layoffs, its frequent flyer program, Aeroplan, is offering some fairly competitive bonuses.

Shopping Portal eStore

First up, its shopping portal, eStore has been offering 5x to 7x promotions. This is in addition to the 5x miles per dollar that you can with any of its co-branded credit cards (American Express, CIBC, TD) until May 31, 2020.

Should the Government Bailout Air Canada?

ByMatt

I have been debating whether to write about this topic for a while now. At Pointshogger, we try to focus on positive topics rather than negative.

That being said, I think this is a very important topic to discuss, so I will try to be thorough. But more importantly, we would like to hear from our readers in the comment section below.

| | |

Top Cash Back Credit Card Offers for May 2020

ByMatt

I recently provided an aggressive cash back churning strategy. Today’s post is almost a continuation of that post. Basically, if you want to have a strong cash back strategy, you will want to continually keep track of new and ongoing offers that you can take advantage of.

Note that this post focuses on temporary offers. Our Top Cash Back Credit Cards page continues to list current offers that are not exclusive to limited time offers like this post.