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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Priority Pass in Canada (updated September 10, 2018)

ByMatt

In light of the one-time fee increase (from $27 to $32 for American Express cardholders), I thought it was an appropriate time to update this post. Priority Pass continues to increase their inventory, including many more restaurants added to the portfolio. There is also over 1,200 lounges worldwide (up from 1,000 last time). Furthermore, several credit cards needed an update regarding their lounge access. 

This post will list the Canadian credit cards that provide a free Priority Pass membership, along with lounge access specifics. 

AIR MILES Mass Giveaway of Over 7,000 Rewards and Experiences

ByMatt

For one day only, today (September 8, 2018), AIR MILES is having a “Happy Any Day” celebration by showing their appreciation to its 11 million members across Canada by giving away over 5,000 promotions. 

The theme is guerilla-style all—day giveaway events across major Canadian cities. Rewards include: 

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Priority Pass to Increase One-Time Visit Fee from American Express

ByMatt

Effective October 1, 2018, Priority Pass is increasing its one-time lounge visit fee of $27 to $32 for American Express credit card holders. Priority Pass explains that it has been over 10 years since there has been an increase. As far as increase in fees are concerned, this is a fair one in my opinion. It does not devalue the program is a very negative way and it maintains most of its value. 

Here are my two ways of looking at the fee:

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Top Credit Card Higher than Normal Sign Up Bonuses for September 2018

ByMatt

Quite a few cards came off the list from last month (e.g. TD, RBC), so it is currently very slim pickings. I was hoping that we would see some momentum this fall as we close out the year strong. Hopefully things will pick up next month.

Note that we also have two other types of monthly lists going on:

Top Cash Back Credit Card Offers
Best Current First Year Fee Waived Cards

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Comparing Canadian and U.S. SPG American Express (updated August 29, 2018)

ByMatt

There have been quite a few changes since my last post Comparing Canadian and U.S. SPG American Express; namely the merger between Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. As a result, this post is definitely due for a major update.

One major change is that 1 Starpoint (in my previous post) is now worth 3 Marriott points. So we need to factor in this correlation if comparing to the old versions of the cards. However, for today’s post, I will focus on comparing the Canadian and U.S. version as they are currently, rather than worrying about the past.

Are banks doing “Tied Selling”?

ByMatt

This may be my most controversial post yet. The concept of “Tied Selling”, as defined by Investopedia is:

Tied selling is the illegal practice of a company providing a product or service on the condition that a customer purchases some other product or service.
How close does that sound to “multi-product rebate”? Let’s look at what RBC promotes as “multiproduct rebate”:

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Best Current First Year Fee Waived Cards for August 2018

ByMatt

Most promotional offers are running until the end of October, so few changes from last month. 

Note that we also have two other types of monthly lists going on:

Top Cash Back Credit Card Offers
Top Higher than Normal Sign Up Bonus Offers

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[INTERVIEW] Reader Questions Answered – By Jeremy Rabe, CEO, Aimia

ByMatt

Today, we feature Jeremy Rabe, the CEO of Aimia (owner of Aeroplan) who has answered as many of the questions asked by our readers as they could. Thank you Jemery for taking the time to answer all the questions. We really appreciate it and look forward to all the new Aeroplan initiatives!

Pointshogger: So tell us more about this new Porter Airlines arrangement
JR: We’re very excited about this partnership and the other preferred arrangements we’ve announced to take effect in July 2020    These preferred relationships help us to further differentiate and strengthen our air offering come July 2020 by giving members increased flexibility and great value.