Best Reward Redemptions in Newfoundland and Labrador
There seems to be a demand for me to talk about some top air and hotel reward redemption using miles and points for specific places in Canada. I decided to start with Newfoundland and Labrador, as they seem to get very little attention when it comes to miles and points.
Airline
The main airport in Newfoundland and Labrador is the St. John’s International Airport (YYT). If you plan to get on frequent flyer miles, you are going to have very limit direct flight options. You will need to connect through some of the major airports in the surrounding area. Below are some of the reward options that you can consider:
- Star Alliance (all Air Canada flights): Halifax, London–Heathrow, Montréal–Trudeau, Ottawa, Toronto–Pearson
- VIPorter: Halifax
- WestJet Rewards: Calgary, Dublin, Halifax, London–Gatwick, Orlando, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Toronto–Pearson
As you can see, it is fairly slim pickings, as you can only get to Newfoundland and Labrador with rewards on Canadian based airlines. You can redeem your miles with another Star Alliance member on Air Canada flights, though watch out for those high taxes and fuel surcharges. It may even make more sense to purchase a ticket instead. I would love to see one of the 3 major U.S. airlines (American Airlines, Delta Air Lines or United Airlines) to operate out of YYT.
If I had to choose, I would actually say that WestJet Rewards is your best bet to fly into Newfoundland and Labrador using your hard earned rewards.
Hotel
Below are some of my top picks for hotel reward redemption options. However, if the points do not work out for you, then you can always pay for a hotel night, as they are generally reasonably priced during low season.
- Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland (SPG Category 4 – 10,000 Starpoints per night)
- Fairfield Inn and Suites St. John’s Newfoundland (Marriott Rewards Category 5 – 25,000 points per night)
- Holiday Inn St. John’s Conference Centre (IHG Rewards 15,000 points per night)
- Holiday Inn Express Deer Lake (IHG Rewards 25,000 points per night) watch for a Pointsbreak opportunity
Conclusion
Today was a sample of what I can potentially cover. As you know, Canada is a fairly large country, so it would probably make more sense to focus on a specific region of the country.
I will write my next post based on the comments that I receive in this post. So let’s hear your suggestions!
If booking with Aeroplan, I’d recommend adding a long “layover” in YDF on the way to or from St. John’s. We had 8 hours, which was enough for a quick tour of Gros Morne if it didn’t rain the entire time. Also we got to fly in a tiny Dash-8 from YYT to YDF, no cockpit door so you can see out the front window.
If you live in Quebec, Newfoundland is a short-haul at 15k roundtrip. We did YUL-YYT-YDF (8 hours)-YHZ-YUL for 15k total!
Awesome, thanks for the tip!
As a Newfoundlander pointshogger, I will monitor this thread in case questions come up.
Matthew, some of the American airlines have done routes in the past exactly as you suggested, Then Air Canada matches it until the competing run is eliminated.
Sheraton is a great choice in St. John’s as you can overlook the harbour and it’s pet friendly. They do charge for overnight parking now though (sorry this is a huge pet peeve for me…thanks for your hotel business and you have to pay to park your rental here…petty business practise…like charging for ketchup on fries to me…end rant)
Delta also has harbour views.
This is probably going to be a banner season for icebergs.
Thanks for this Rod, much appreciated!
Delta recently announced a relationship with WestJet allowing Delta frequent flyers to redeem Delta SkyMiles on WestJet flights. I just went on the Delta site and was able to book from the U.S. to YYT for 12,500 miles each way. There is generally a Delta flight from the U.S. into Montreal, Toronto or Ottawa which connects with WestJet to YYT.
Yes, they did team up. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
I would love to hear about Vancouver or Calgary, as I hope to head that way in the near future. These are great posts on localized rewards redeemptions. Thanks!
Awesome, thanks for the suggestion! Will look into those two cities! Though keep in mind that big cities have a lot of different options. If your trip is in the near future, you will probably have to optimize the rewards that you currently have.