Starting tomorrow (April 20, 2020), Air Canada passengers will need to wear protective face-covering during various stages of their air travel journey as directed by Transport Canada.
I continued to closely follow hotels being put to use during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many stories about hotels being “major victims” due to the pandemic. There are reports about the Canadian hotel industry laying off 80% (approximately 250,000 employees). The idea is that some of these jobs can be saved.
I do not believe that the government should be forcing a hotel to help out with the pandemic, but if they voluntarily do so, why not? My thought is that if a hotel is willing to re-purpose (make all necessary safety adjustments) its venue temporarily, the benefits are endless (including saving jobs, alleviating the hospitals, etc.).
Looks like the airlines are loosening up on the travel vouchers. I wrote a post at the end of March hoping to see longer travel vouchers. There is an ongoing heated debate about whether airlines should be refunding cancelled flights or offering vouchers.
Arguments for Each Side
Here is a quick summary of arguments on both sides:
This list has really trimmed down over the past couple of months. We are down to a small handful of cards that have higher than normal cash back bonuses.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.
The most significant one to keep track of is the Laurentian Bank Visa Dollars one. It expires today.
This might be a weird topic for me to write about. But I am as huge fan of hotels in general, so I would like to see them stay afloat. So I have been following closely on stories about putting the hotels to use during the coronavirus lock-down.
I’ve already written two other posts about this topic:
Below is an update of temporary terms and conditions offered by loyalty companies relevant to Canadians, due to COVID-19. The updates focuses on companies (airlines, hotels, cinema, train).
We also have an ongoing updated page found on the menu bar. The reason I am writing this post is because I have been hoping for airlines to extend their vouchers by at least 18 months. Some airlines even took it to 24 months (Air Transat, United, WestJet). I hope to see more airlines follow suit!
Air Miles announced its commitment to support two leading Canadian charities, Kids Help Phone and Food Banks Canada, by providing a channel for its collectors to donate their miles.
Below are the highlights of the donation initiative:
I am a little late in the game for this post, but I thought I’d draw up a R.I.P. post anyway because there could be some confusion with the Scotiabank website. Even though Scotiabank still has an active page mentioning the More Rewards Visa Card, it specify that they are no longer accepting new application. So those of you still grandfathered with the card, I would suggest keeping it for as long as possible so you can still earn More points. Below were the highlights of the card:
It has been almost a year since I last updated this post. With so much “up in the air” for airlines, who knows who will survive the COVID-19 pandemic. So in the meantime, I would like to update the current list of members of each major airline alliance. I am hoping that we can avoid bankruptcies, and maybe see some mergers happen for survival. Mergers and acquisitions would probably save more jobs (not to mention salvage frequent flyer programs) than a flat out bankruptcies.
Another reason I triggered this update is the possibility of Alaska Airlines being added to Oneworld Alliance. Maybe WestJet should look into joining an alliance too?
You have probably read about different airlines and hotel chains extending their elite statuses. Now it is Air Canada’s turn. They are not only offering an elite status extension, but also the ability to gift your status to a family or friend. Below are the details of the initiatives.
Elite Status Extension
The 2020 Altitude status will automatically be extended through to the end of 2021.