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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Current State of Co-branded Hotel Credit Cards in Canada

ByMatt

The situation continues to deteriorate with the recent closure of grandfathered Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa. Last year, I wrote a post about the Best Hotel Loyalty Program for Canadians to Collect, but with another shift in the industry, it looks like that post was due for an update. 

In the past few years, I have exclusively redeem hotels points for all my stays. Rarely have I had to pay for a hotel night. However, as hotel partnerships continue to terminate with credit card companies in Canada, this trend will be very difficult to continue in the near future. 

Below are the top ways to earn hotel points without actually staying at the hotels to accumulate points. 

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[DISCONTINUED] Grandfathered Chase Canada Credit Cards Being Shut Down

ByMatt

The news that the discontinued, but grandfathered, Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa and Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa cards will be terminated has been circulating for a few days now. I have been waiting for my letter in the mail for confirmation, but still have yet to receive it. But some of my family members already received it, so I thought I’d share what the letter looks like sooner rather than later.

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Top Cash Back Credit Card Offers for January 2018

ByMatt

Very little has changed over the last 2 months as the current cash back offers are still good for a while.

Though keep in mind that we also have a Top Cash Back Credit Cards page. The difference is that the main page focuses on any (permanent or temporary offers), while this post focuses on temporary offers only.

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

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Best Credit Cards for Foreign Purchases (updated January 8, 2018)

ByMatt

The United States have quite a few credit cards that offer no foreign transaction fees. Comparatively speaking, Canadians have the short end of the stick. Especially with the discontinuation of the two Chase Canada credit cards (Amazon and Marriott) that offer no foreign transaction fees.

2018 IHG Award Rate Changes

ByMatt

IHG Rewards is one of my favourite hotel chains. I feel that they offer decent value, especially during their Pointsbreak promotions where you can redeem 5,000 points for any of the hotel rooms on the list. I have personally taken advantage of these offers many times.

Unfortunately, it has been slim pickings for Canadians trying to earn IHG Rewards since the discontinuation of the amazing Capital One co-branded credit cards.

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

ByMatt

As per requested from last month, I included the normal sign up bonus information as well. Thanks for the suggestion Marja!

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

My 2018 Predictions for the Miles and Points World

ByMatt

Predictions has been a more recent (2017, 2016) tradition for me, but I am starting to get the hang of it. This idea started when I started getting more questions about what I think will happen. So I mine as well put all my ideas into one post, put myself to the test to see how I do by the end of the year.

Let’s start with a recap on how I did last year before we embark on the new year.