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.
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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Air Canada / Aeroplan Safety Updates and Buy Miles Extension

ByMatt

Air Canada (Aeroplan) continue to stay as active as possible while travel has, for the most part, been grounded. There are different ways to earn and redeem your miles.

The Buy Miles promotion has been extended until Friday, May 15 at 11:59 pm ET.

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Positive Videos from Airlines and Hotels!

ByMatt

Keep in mind that we a frequently updated COVID-19 page. 

With so much negativity surrounding the news, I would like to share some positive airline and hotel company YouTube videos. We posted a list a few weeks ago, so you can see the previous videos on that list. Today’s list are more recent videos since then.

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Earn 5x Miles on Aeroplan eStore

ByMatt

Keep in mind that Aeroplan and Air Canada are still running their Travel at Home campaign, where you can fast track to Air Canada elite status. 

For example, Aeroplan members who earn 50,000 miles, between April 20, 2020 and May 31, 2020, will receive an Air Canada Altitude Prestige 25K status valid through 2021.

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Rundown of Canadian Airlines during COVID-19

ByMatt

Today we are updating the current status of all the major Canadian based airlines. I keep wondering if all of them will survive past this pandemic. 

Each airline have taken their own approach on how to handle the pandemic. Several airlines have completely halted all flights. Some airlines have minimal flights. 

Note that we have a COVID-19 Updates page that is continually updated. 

[BUS] Greyhound Suspending its Service

ByMatt

Greyhound is a bus service that runs across Canada. They continued their service for as long as they could during the COVID-19 pandemic. But due to a reduction in service, they will be suspending their service, effective May 13, 2020, indefinitely (i.e. until passenger travel demand recovers). 

So if you have any upcoming trips, be sure to make necessary alternative arrangements.