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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First Glimpse of New Marriott/SPG Reward Redemption Schedule

ByMatt

All the news seem to come out at once. We started this morning with the American Express Canada Press Release, which had a lot of confusion on whether the new earning ratios are in fact a devaluation. Now Marriott issued their own Press Release explaining some of the changes to their reward redemption schedule.

Below is a list of key changes.

Changes to the American Express Canada SPG Co-Brand Credit Cards

ByMatt

American Express Canada issued a Press Release informing the changes to its Starwood Preferred Guest Co-Brand Credit Cards that are set to come into effect in August 2018. Which should correspond with the full integration of Marriott and Starwood. 

Below are the key highlights of the changes to the business and personal versions of the credit cards. I put the expected changes in bold with a commentary in brackets:

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Updated MBNA Alaska Airlines Credit Card Links

ByMatt

Feels like I am writing about MBNA almost every day lately. Anyway, the glitch seems to have lasted less than 48 hours. Seems like we have a conclusion now. MBNA has decided to offer two versions of their credit cards.

Below are the highlights of the two cards, also highlighted the major differences between the two cards. 

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What’s going on with MBNA Alaska Airlines MasterCard?

ByMatt

There seems to be so much uncertainty surrounding the MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite MasterCard. A few day ago, there was an increase in the sign up bonus from 25,000 to 30,000 bonus miles. A few issues have surfaced since then: 

The MBNA website no longer lists this credit card on their website.
GreatCanadianRebates also de-listed the credit card for their website. 
Any existing application links are broken. 

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Best Current First Year Fee Waived Cards for June 2018

ByMatt

Quite a few expiry promotions going on. There is a chance that they can be extended or a new promotion may be offered instead. 

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
If you would like to see other lists as well, please let us know in the comment section below.

MBNA Alaska Airlines Sign Up Bonus Increased to 30,000 Miles

ByMatt

Looks like MBNA has increased its sign up bonus to its highly valuable MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite MasterCard Credit Card, going from 25,000 to 30,000. There does not appear to be any expiry date on the offer either. Note that MBNA is owned by TD Canada Trust. 

I am extremely impressed with this move, especially at a time when I had a feeling that they might shut this credit card down instead.

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Top Cash Back Credit Card Offers for June 2018

ByMatt

Just like last month, not much has changed this past month. Though keep in mind that we also have an going Top Cash Back Credit Cards page which consists of permanent and temporary offers, while this post focuses on temporary offers only….

WestJet Teams Up with RBC To Create Loyalty Program: Ampli

ByMatt

According to a few news reports (CBC, Huffington Post), RBC and WestJet have teamed up to offer a new loyalty program called Ampli. They say they have teamed up, but they are already teamed up as RBC is the only credit card company to offer a co-branded WestJet Rewards card. 

Anyway, seems like WestJet is looking to revamp its frequent flyer program to compete more directly with Aeroplan, as they are being phased out of Air Canada. 

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Top Credit Cards to Use on Road Trip (updated June 12, 2018)

ByMatt

As we approach the summer months, road trips become more popular. What you want to do is have a nice batch of credit cards to use to optimize spending during the trip. Depending on where you are going, you may want to consider a different grouping of cards.

As a Canadian, generally road trips will either be across Canada, into the United States and some even all the way to Mexico. So I will provide a sample of some of the combinations that can put together.