Earlier this year rumors floating around on the web suggested that American Express was going to release a new card modeled after the popular CHASE Aeroplan Card in the US that offers richer benefits and higher status earning.

The benefits of the new American Express® Air Canada® are fantastic to say the least. Here’s the rundown:

| Access to Air Canada Ground Services

Before you’ve even left the airport this new American Express card is going to next-level spoil you with access to Air Canada Concierges and ALL Air Canada lounges worldwide.

Yup. ALL LOUNGES! That includes the Air Canada Signature Suite for you (the cardemember) and one guest when flying on an AC ticketed flight.

| Aeroplan Elite 50K Status

This benefit is free for the first year. After that you’ll have to meet the minimum $50k spend to maintain it. This shouldn’t be a problem for anyone who is focused on winning the points game.

What does Aeroplan Elite 50K Status get you?

Before you fly:

• Priority call centre access
• Priority watilist for full flights
• Priority seat selection: take a seat at the front of the Economy cabin on any flight

At the airport:

• Priority check-in
• Priority stand-by
• 3 free checked bags !
• Priority baggage handling…your bags get to the carousel first!
• Sports equipment handling fees waived
• Free Maple Leaf Lounge access in Canada, LAX, LGA and EWR
• 3 Maple Leaf Lounge one-time guest passes
• Access to Air Canada Cafe
• Complimentary access to Star Alliance Gold lounges
• Priority security clearance for you and up to 9 companions on the same reservation
• Priority boarding

During your flight:

• 20 eUpgrade Credits
• 20 additional eUpgrade Credits
• Free preferred seats on Flex fares in NA, 50% off in international markets

These are just some of the sweet perks that come with Elite 50K status. Head of to AirCanada.com to see all of the other rewards, offersnad status matching that Elite 50K status gives you.

| Exclusive Invite Only

The new American Express Air Canada card isn’t something you can apply for — it’s invite only.

No details are available yet on who will be targeted for this card. As soon as we know we’ll be sharing it right away so be sure to follow our facebook, twitter, instagram as well as sign up for our newsletter.

| Bottom Line

The new American Express Air Canada card offers amazing benefits for big spenders who don’t fly enough to earn Elite status.

If you love upgrades, lounges and free travel on points you’d be crazy to ignore this offer. But the devil is always in the details. We definitely want to see what’s “under the hood’ of this new American Express card.

The post American Express Releases ‘Invite Only’ Air Canada card with Elite 50K Status first appeared on PointsAndTravel.ca.

My squad does a guys trip like this every year that usually revolves around going to an NFL game, TopGolf and something cultural. We’ve done Las Vegas, Buffalo, and Miami and Nashville looked like a great option with lots of fun to be had.

We saw the Titans beat the Colts, played some golf and had the most fun ever doing the Broadway bar crawl. If you haven’t been to Nash-Vegas, you owe it to yourself to make the trip.

Nashville is the perfect getaway for every type group: we saw lots of bachelor and batchelorette parties, couples and groups having a great time. Whether you’re there for music, football, hockey or history, Nashville has something for everyone.

~ IN THIS ARTICLE ~

I booked my flight from Toronto to Nashville on Air Canada with Aeroplan points by doing a 1:1 transfer from my American Express Platinum account. My return flight to Toronto was on Delta with a connection throught Detroit that allowed me to burn up some very old Delta Skymiles I had sitting in my account for years.

| Aeroplan Points Booking

Transferring Amex Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan is fast and easy, taking just a couple of minutes to complete in real time. 

Flight taxes are higher in Canada which explains the $68.68 cost to book the flight with points, compared to the $5.60 cost of the Delta flight(below). The flight down was on a CRJ900 with a 2-3 seating plan. It’s a small plane so everyone needed to book quickly to make sure we would all fly together.

| Delta Skymiles Flight Reward Booking

I was about 2500 Skymiles shy of the total need for this flight so I transferred some more Amex MR over at a 1 to .75 transfer rate. Not ideal, but it was only couple thousand points.

I normally wouldn’t do a MR transfer to Delta unless I was a) desperate or b) the flight deal was epic.

The Delta flight left later in the day on our last day (Monday) leaving us time to do some additional exploring without being rushed.

My friends paid cash for their flights so we can see how my points redemption worked out. The AC flight was C$471.07 putting the value of my 23,000 Aeroplan points at 2 cents / point. Points redemptions below 2 cents are considered expensive or poor value, so I was just on the edge. Normally you can find AC flights to the US for as little as 12,000 points if you plan well.

The Delta flight cost C$238.50 putting that redemption at 1.76 cents. Not great but these two flights were my only options on the days and times that I needed them so I bit the bullet.

| NEXUS Experience

I’m the only traveler in our squad with a NEXUS card. Despite horrific wait times earlier this year I breezed through Security and Customs in about 5 minutes. My friends were only a minute or two behind me thanks to the new Mobile Passport Control app now being used by US Customs & Border Services.

NEXUS gets me TSA-PRE on my boarding pass that puts me in the fast track to clear security. This was a major benefit in Nashville as the regular security lines were quite long.

| YYZ Lounge Experience

Getting spoiled in airport lounges is a big part of why I love travel so much. But the only American Express Platinum Lounge available in Pearson Terminal 1 was the Plaza Premium Lounge. It’s a small-ish, older lounge that isn’t going to impress. It was also full when I arrived, so the squad sat down at Hearth Bar and Grill and enjoyed a quick meal with beers before getting on the plane.

| Nashville Muse AirBnb

There’s lots amounts of AirBnb options in downtown Nashville. But the secret is to book well in advance to have the best price and location.

Paul found a great condo with 3 king beds, 2 twins and a sofa bed that was perfect for our group of 6. With two full bathrooms, kitchen and a rooftop deck the Muse property is top-of-the-line. Self-check-in was easy with digital codes to enter the building and the condo.

Muse is a newly built property that is 100% AirBnB units, located in the South Downtown area.

Walking distance from our condo to places we visited:

• Pinewood Social 11 minutes
• Crema Coffee Roasters 8 minutes
• Nissan Stadium 24 minutes
• Luke’s 32 Bridge 19 minutes
• Jason Aldean’s 20 minutes

A few times we walked up to Broadway (19 minutes) and a few times we took Ubers.

Our flights arrived in Nashville around 2pm, leaving us with a couple of hours to kill before we could check in. So we had our Uber driver drop us and our luggage at Pinewood Social where we could grab some food and drink and plan our first evening.

Pinewood Social (see separate review) is fantastic. A hip, urban eatery with outdoor lounge pools, a bowling alley and a great bar makes it a top spot to visit while in Nashville. They even have a large room to tuck your luggage away while you enjoy your meal.

| What to do in Nashville

Our guys trip revolve around NFL Football and TopGolf. And we try to squeeze in something cultural as well.

We found our NFL tickets on StubHub that put us in Section 226 (Club Level) with a great view of the field.

Ticket tip: Book your seats in Row A and you’ll be front row in with a great view.

Hopping from bar to bar (Aldean’s, Lukes, etc) is an easy way to lose track of time. Every one of these places is 4 or 5 stories with a different band playing on each level. The music is beyond incredible and the people you meet will have you making new friends in no time.

We tried to get a morning tee off time at one of the local municipal courses, but they fill up early and we had to go about 30 minutes from downtown to play at Pebble Creek Golf Club. A decent public course with no frills that cost about $70 for a round and was good enough for us duffers.

It took us all of 5 hours to play our round, getting us back to Downtown Nashville in time for dinner. Food at the various Broadway bars is nothing to write home about, so we booked a table at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

The highlight of the trip (next to the NFL game) was riding electric scooters to the Parthenon.

Wait. You didn’t know there’s a full size replica of the Parthenon in Nashville? Indeed there is!

We rented Lime scooters (they’re lying around everywhere) and rode about 20 minutes to Centennial Park. Admission to the Parthenon Museum is $10 and worth every cent. Inside there’s a 40 foot tall replica of the statue of Athena that would have graced the original temple in Athens.

We learned all about Nashville’s history as “the Athens of the South” and it gave us another on this amazing city.

And the scooter rides were a blast.

| Nashville Luggage Storage

We had about six hours of free time after checking out of our AirBnB so we had to find somewhere to store our luggage.

We found the Stow Station just one block north of Broadway at 1st Ave and Church Street. Super convenient location and friendly service.

Stow Station isn’t fancy: it’s just a cube van parked on the side of the street but they are reliable, good value and efficient. They’ll even send you an automated text message to remind you it’s time to pick up.

For 3 bags I paid about $50 and I was happy to leave them a 5 star Google review. We highly recommend StowStation if you need luggage storage in Nashville.

| Smart Passport Tip

On the morning of our departure one of the guys couldn’t find his passport. A major headache for anyone flying international.

After turning the AirBnB upside down several times he has resigned himself to the fact that it was gone. Plan B was now in effect: see how far you can get on airplanes using “other ID”.

With many hours to spare before heading to the airport, he made a few phone calls hoping he may be able to locate it. Did he leave it in the Uber that picked us up at the airport? Did he leave it in a bin at Security in Toronto. Nope. Both were dead ends.

Since our first stop in Nashville once we arrived was Pinewood Social he decided to call them on a whim. Sure enough they had his passport tucked away securely in their safe. We hadn’t eaten breakfast yet so we headed over with our luggage to thank them profusely for saving the day.

It made us wonder: why doesn’t your passport have some sort of contact info in it? I’ve always had a little sticker with my first name on they outside of my passport so I don’t grab the wrong one by accident as I’m heading out the door.

So when I got back to Canada I used my label maker to print a little sticker with my name and cell phone number on it. If I lose my passport abroad and someone finds it, at least they’ll be able to call or text me to let me know. I made a sticker for my friend, too. Who knows? It may just save his next vacation!

| Nashville Trip Summary

Just 2 hours from Toronto, Nashville is a modern, exciting city with something for everyone. Whether you’re a sports fan, music lover, shopper or foodie you’ll find what you’re looking for here in the Athens of the South.

Southeners are a friendly, genteel lot and their amazing hospitality will be the icing on the cake for your trek to Tennessee.

We’re definitely planning another junket to Nashville! Go Titans!

The post Trip Review: Nashville Points Redemption first appeared on PointsAndTravel.ca.

The second rule of winning the points game is “double dip wherever and whenever possible”. In addition to earning Amex or Aeroplan points with our payment card, we also want to pick up whatever additional points are available as well. An example would be double dipping on Aeroplan at the LCBO since they also offer Aeroplan points at checkout.

But there’s one 3rd party points program in Canada that’s been around forever but has been profoundly useless for travel: the much maligned AirMiles program.

It’s morphed a few times over the years but has always suffered from a mis-pricing when it comes to using points for flights due to excessive taxes and fees. For many years we would price flights through the AirMiles program and after comparing to just paying for flights with cash it usually turned out that an AirMiles redemption was never worth doing. The cash price was close enough most of the time so why also burn up points.

A recent travel search to compare cash prices vs AirMiles redemptions illustrates this perfectly. Looking at the cash price to fly one-way from YYZ-FLL on Oct 21st, the first direct flight on the list at AirMiles is AirTransat for 809 points and $110.23 in taxes and fees. Is this a great deal? Nope.

The actual cash price, just buying the flight with cash from AirTransat is a mere $156.56, meaning the 809 AirMiles you almost used up were only good to offset $46.33 of your travel expense valuing the miles used at just over 5 cents each. Not a very worthwhile redemption.

While we have been critical of AirMiles for many years, it hasn’t stopped us from continuing to accumulate AirMiles points because of rule #2 above. If there’s points to be collected, you may as well collect them.

So just what value does AirMiles have as a points program?

We’ve found that discounted/clearance merchandise awards and some gift cards (now called e-vouchers) have been worthwhile redemptions in the past.

When our kids were younger we redeemed AirMiles for SportChek gift cards to purchase bikes and sporting equipment, and it was always a worthwhile redemption. For a short window of time we also claimed lots of Delta gift cards. WestJet is a Delta partner so booking at Delta.com out of Toronto would often find you on a WestJet codeshare. And while the Canadian dollar was hanging around par we flew regularly out of DTW and BUF to take advantage of lower airfares.

As a 3rd party points provider, AirMiles is just ok. The selection of rewards is lean, but something is still better than nothing.

But we draw the line at being a rewards member. We would never encourage anyone who wants to win the points game to sign up for an AirMiles co-branded credit card. Ever.

The post Best of the Worst: Why We Still Collect AirMiles first appeared on PointsAndTravel.ca.

In fact, we like the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege benefits so much we’re giving it a Top Card ranking right out of the gate despite it’s $599 annual fee.

Unlike other travel rewards cards that just get you points, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege card gets you some bonus Aeroplan benefits we know you’ll love.

Signup Bonus

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege sign up bonus has two components: initial spend and sustained spend. Right out of the gate you’ll receive 20,000 Aeroplan points when you make your first purchase with the card. You can earn another 85,000 points when you spend at least $1,000 each month for the first 10 months the account is open, or 8500 points per month on top of the points earned by spending.

This brings your initial points haul to at least 105,000 Aeroplan points.

Aeroplan Perks

When you use your card to purchase travel with Air Canada you earn 2 points for every dollar spent. As an affinity cardholder you also get preferred pricing on some flights (and flight rewards) at the aircanada.com website. We actually discovered this by accident when we were trying to book with a friend to Europe. They couldn’t see the prices I had access to in my Aeroplan account because they weren’t a TD Aeroplan Visa client.

The primary cardholder also earns 1000 Aeroplan Status Qualifying Miles (SQMs) and one Status Qualifying Segment (SQS) for each $5000 of net purchases. This can be especially helpful for travelers who are close to reaching the next level of status in the Aeroplan system.

VIP Lounge Access

This benefit is huge on our priority list. VIP Lounges are part of the reason we travel. With other cards in our wallet we get great lounge access from half a dozen providers. But for Canadians the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege gets you the best in Canada: Maple Leaf Lounge access for you and 2 additional guests.

We used it for the first time earlier this summer at the international departures Maple Leaf Lounge at YYZ, one of our favourite lounges in the world and the best way to begin your journey.

|Apply for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card|

Air Canada Bonuses

As a TD Aeroplan Visa cardholder you’re entitled to additional benefits when you book and fly on Air Canada. These benefits extend to your additional cardholders or up to 8 travel companions travelling on the same reservation.

• Free first checked bag
• Priority Check-In
• Priority Boarding
• Priority Baggage Handling
• Priority Airport Standby & Priority Airport Upgrades
• $99 Roundtrip Companion Passes when you spend $25K each year

NEXUS Fee Reimbursement

We jumped on the NEXUS bandwagon just over a decade ago. Being able to zip through security lines and fast-track through customs was life changing when our kids were younger. Today it makes our travel quick, effortless and leaves us with much more time in the VIP lounges. NEXUS costs just $50 for a 5 year membership and is worth 10x that in the convenience you receive.

With theTD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege you’ll receive a rebate up to $100 every for years for a NEXUS application/renewal charged to your card.

Card Benefits Far Outweigh the Fee

Canadians are a very fee averse crowd. We get it: from cell phones to internet to cable tv we’re among the most overcharged in the world. But when it comes to travel reward credit cards if you want to play the game you have to play it to win. The $599 annual fee might seem a bit steep but when you start adding up the benefits you get each year you’ll come out way ahead.

Income Threshold

Unlike American Express, which dropped it’s income thresholds a couple of years ago, TD qualifies applicants for this card based on individual or household income.

To apply for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege you’ll need either $150,000 of personal income or at least $200,000 of household income.

Bottom Line

We highly recommend the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege for your points journey even beyond the value of the signup bonus.

This is a card you can plan to keep in your wallet for years to come as you continue to win the points game.

If you’re an existing TD Aeroplan or regular Visa customer we recommend you upgrade to the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege just to take advantage of the sign up bonus and additional benefits. Once you’ve received your bonus points you can always downgrade to one of the less expensive Aeroplan cards if the annual fee is justified in your case.

Are you maximizing all of the benefits of your TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege? Or do you have an epic reward experience to share with the community? Tell us all about it in the comments below. We may even use your story in an upcoming report.

The post TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Review – August 2022 first appeared on PointsAndTravel.ca.

The long game for points junkies usually means churning through an issuers stable of cards to cash in on the sign up bonuses. But you either eventually run out of cards to churn or simply find one that packs the most bang for the buck.

For us, it’s The American Express Platinum Card.

(We may earn referal points when our readers sign up for credit cards through our partner links.)

But there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about signing up. If you go over to American Express Canada’s website you’ll see that the current signup bonus for the Platinum Card is 110,000 Membership Reward points. You’ll get 90,000 points for spending $6000 in the first 90 days of card ownership and up to 20,000 additional points at a 10x earn rate per dollar spent on food and drink. And that’s on top of the other points earned based on your spending.

But if you sign up for The Platinum Card with our exclusive referral link you’ll get 95,000 points instead of just 90,000 for your initial $6000 spend.

The current sign-up bonus offer is good til October 26, 2022.

The annual fee for The Platinum Card is $699, which might seem steep, but hear us out on the benefits first!

$200 Annual Travel Credit

Every year American Express gives you a $200 Travel Credit to use on the Amex Travel site. You can put it towards a hotel, flight or package. No strings attached. This travel credit alone brings the sting of the annual fee down to $499.

$100 NEXUS Statement Credit

If you haven’t joined NEXUS yet, you need to get on that grind right away. Breezing through security and fast-tracking through customs make this Trusted Traveler program a “must have” for anyone who travels. Good for 5 years at a time, a NEXUS membership might be the best money you spend on travel, and AMEX is going to reimburse you for the fee!

If you’re keeping track, that annual fee is now down to $399!

|Apply for The Platinum Card|

Global Lounge Access

Nothing makes travel more pleasant than access to VIP lounges. Once you start using them, you’ll never go back to hanging out with the human meat kettles at the gate.

The lounge access that’s built into The Platinum Card is really one-of-a-kind. Unlike TD’s Aeroplan Infinitie Visa Card that gets you into Maple Leaf Lounges, The Platinum Card gets you into 7 different lounge providers in more than 1300 airports.

• The Centurion Lounge
• Plaza Premium Lounges
• Delta Sky Club
  • accessible when traveling on a ticketed Delta flight
• Airspace Lounges
• Escape Lounges – The Centurion Studio Partner
• Priority Pass
• Executive Lounges by Swissport

We haven’t sampled them all, but we definitely do have favorite lounges and we’re add new ones to the list all the time. The Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas is fantastic, as is the WestJet Lounge in Calgary just to name a few.

Based on all of free food and beverages you and your guests receive each time you use a lounge, you can see very quickly how much value you’re getting for that annual fee. And we haven’t even scratched the surface yet!

No Income Thresholds

A few years ago American Express in Canada quietly dropped the income thresholds to qualify for it’s various cards, opening up a long runway of “card churning” to savvy points hounds.

Unlike TD’s Aeroplan Infinite Visa with it’s hefty $250,000 household income threshold, anyone with good credit can take advantage of the thick American Express sign-up bonuses.

Upgraded Hotel Status

If you’re into upgraded rooms, late check out, free breakfasts and more then you’ll love the status lift you get with Marriott, Hilton and Radisson hotels loyalty programs.

Platinum Cardholders get instant Gold status at these hotel programs.

Hilton Honors Gold

• 80% Bonus on Base Points with every stay
• Daily Food & Beverage Credit (US Hotels) or Continental Breakfast (Non-US Hotels)
• Space available room upgrades
• Earn 10,000 bonues points every 10 nights after you’ve stayed 30 nights in a calendar year
• No resort fees on reward stays
• Hilton Honors discount rates
• Digital check-in/out
• Free wifi
• Digital key
• Choose your room
• Free 5th night
• Elite rollover nights

Marriott Gold Elite

• 25% more points on your spend
• Priority late checkout
• Space available upgrades
• Free wifi
• Exclusive Gold Elite rates
• Mobile check-in/out
• Mobile key

Radisson Gold

• Save up to 10% on members only rates
• 25 points / $1 spent
• Complimentary bottle of water
• Space available room upgrades
• Free breakfast

American Express Membership Rewards – The King of Points

As a premium brand, American Express Membership Rewards points are respected across the industry and transfer to other hotel and airline programs.

You can use your Amex points for purchases or travel within the American Express ecosystem, or transfer them to your favorite travel partner like Aeroplan, Delta, Hilton, and more.

Once you join The Platinum Card club and start accumulating American Express points and enjoying the benefits you’ll wonder how you ever traveled before.

Do you have a favorite Amex Points Redemption experience or tip? Let us know in the comments and me may share your ideas in a future article!

The post Best Travel Card in Canada: American Express Platinum Card first appeared on PointsAndTravel.ca.

Until September 18th Hilton has a 100% bonus offer when you purchase up to 160,000 Honors points. So you can buy 160,000 points and get 160,000 more points as a bonus for no extra cost!

We don’t usually recommend purchasing points, but when there’s a bonus offer like this the math really changes in your favor. And we don’t usually recommend purchasing points just because you can. The best strategy is to find a property you want to book, check out the points cost vs cash cost and then buy the points you need.

Leaving points sitting around in your Hilton account puts them at risk of a devaluation, which can happen anytime.

Back to the deal:

Based on the current 100% bonus offer, you can purchase Honors points for $0.005 per point. That’s a really good deal!

At our recent stay at The Gabriel South Beach (you can read our report here) we were able to cut the price of our stay IN HALF by purchasing points instead of paying cash.

How to get the points bonus

First, log in to your Hilton Honors account. If you don’t have one you can sign up here.

Next, click on the POINTS tab at the top of the page:

Scroll down on the next page and select BUY POINTS:

All you need to do next is click the drop-down menu tab and select how many points you want to buy! It’s that easy!

Let us know in the comments what you think about the 100% Hilton Honors points bonus and what you did with it…we may use your comments in a future article!

The post Hilton Honors 2X Point Bonus is Back! first appeared on PointsAndTravel.ca.