Points and Miles: March

I didn't post anything on points and miles for February. The middle month of a quarter generally doesn't have much new happening and I had just returned from Florida and was posting about that. But things are beginning to heat up as we head into spring, so here are some offers you can use if you have a March break coming up.

Aeroplan

• Until April 30, when you link your Costco and Aeroplan numbers, you'll earn 50 bonus Aeroplan miles.
• Earn double Aeroplan miles at Esso stations. Until April 9.

Best Western Rewards: Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier.

• Stay three separate times before April 8 and earn a free night plus 1000 Aeroplan miles. Register here.

Club Carlson: Radisson, Country Inns & Suites, Park Inn, Park Plaza.

• Until March 16, earn triple Club Carlson points on every stay, including food and beverage charges.
• Save up to 25% and earn 1500 bonus Club Carlson points per day with this offer from National Car Rental. Until June 15.

Hilton HHonors: Hilton, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites.

• Register to earn a bonus of 1000 points per night or 5000 points per weekend. Valid until March 31.
• Hilton HHonors is unique in that you can set your earning preference to "double-dip": points plus points, or points plus miles in the airline program of your choice. Choose Delta SkyMiles and get 2012 bonus miles with any two-night stay. Choose American Airlines AAdvantage and earn double miles for any stay or US Airways and get triple Dividend Miles. All offers expire March 31.

Priority Club Rewards: Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites.

• See the lists of bonus codes at these sites: Priority Club Insider,Rewards Canada, and flyertalk.
• Get up to 35% off a Hertz rental and earn double Priority Club points with these codes. Valid until June 30.
• Until April 30, earn double points on every qualifying stay, beginning with the second one. See the tip at the bottom of this post for a strategy to maximize this offer.

Starwood Preferred Guest: Sheraton, Four Points, Westin, W, Le Meridien, Aloft, Element, St. Regis.

• Through April 8, register here to earn a bonus of twice the Starpoints for stays of two nights, triple points for stays of three nights and longer.

Tip: If you'll be staying several nights at an IHG property (Holiday Inn, etc.) on your vacation, you'll want to earn the double points for that. So make that first stay a one-nighter. If you're flying, book a "Stay and Park" package at an airport location. If you're driving, make Holiday Inn your choice for an overnight stop on the road south. The same strategy will work with the "Stay three times, get a free night" offer from Best Western, if your third stay is at a Best Western on your return drive north.

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Points 4: Double-dipping

A faithful blog reader asks, "What about double-dipping?"

A very good question. So, before we continue with the advanced course material on hotel loyalty programs in Points 301, I'll explain how "double-dipping" can earn you extra credit (pun intended).

Essentially what points hounds mean by double-dipping is getting two sets of points on the same transaction, and it's a powerful strategy for padding your point and mile balances. For example, if I use a credit card that earns points, at a retailer that offers points, I'm getting points twice for the same purchase. In fact, the banks that issue Aeroplan VISA cards encourage this and point to it (groan) as an added benefit of their cards. They further encourage double-dipping with frequent bonus point promotions. For example, CIBC is currently offering to double the points earned when purchasing tickets on Air Canada. Earning bonus points while you're double-dipping might even be considered "triple-dipping".

So say you buy gas at Esso, using your CIBC Aeroplan VISA card, and you present your Aeroplan card. You earn 1 point per dollar because you used your credit card, and another point for every $3 dollars in gas because Esso is an Aeroplan retail partner. In effect, you earn 1 and 1/3 points per dollar you put on your card at Esso. You can make this easier for yourself and earn an extra 200 Aeroplan miles if you sign up for a Speedpass and link you credit card to your Aeroplan account. It's actually not as complicated as it sounds and here's the website that explains it all.

But it works with any point-earning card. You can earn AirMiles at the LCBO, or Shell, or Metro grocery stores, as well as Aeroplan miles, if you use your Aeroplan-branded credit card and present your AirMiles card at these (and other) AirMiles retail partners.

The same goes for the Club Sobeys BMO MasterCard I told you about in Points 201, part 1. You not only earn ½ Aeroplan mile for every dollar spent, but when you present your Aeroplan card (at Esso, or Home Hardware, for example) or AirMiles card, you earn those points too.

That means using the no-fee Club Sobeys MasterCard at Sobeys earns 1 Aeroplan mile for every dollar: you receive 1 Club Sobeys point for every dollar in groceries, which transfers into ½ Aeroplan mile, plus ½ Aeroplan mile for every dollar you put on the card.

If I shop at Sobeys and I use the SPG Amex card I told you about in Points 201, Part 2, (which I always do) and then transfer to Aeroplan and receive the 25% bonus, I'm getting 1 and 3/4 Aeroplan miles per dollar spent. Yes, I dipped, and then I dipped again.

In Points 301, I'll explain why you should sign up for multiple hotel and airline loyalty programs.

Points 1: Canada's Favourite Points Programs

A couple of conversations with friends lately about my points and miles collecting hobby (obsession?) led to requests for me to post on the subject. So over the next few weeks, I'll try to cover the basics of how to get the most out of loyalty programs. Keep in mind, these are my preferences; they may not always be suitable for you, but I hope you'll find something of use here.

For starters, many points experts advise that you focus on one program so you can achieve rewards quickly. I take the opposite view. I believe in signing up for almost any program, focusing on several, and taking a patient, long-term approach. There are a number of reasons why, but one is that I collect with the goal of travel rewards (hotels stays and flights), rather than merchandise or cash-back rewards. That takes a lot of points and that takes time. I find the dream of travel to be more inspiring than cash-back, and the value of travel rewards greater than merchandise.

I'll begin by discussing three of the programs most popular with Canadians.

PC points are earned through a variety of activities with President's Choice Financial, chiefly through the use of its credit and debit cards. Points can also be earned through bonus offers at supermarkets that sell President's Choice products. Rewards come in the form of groceries and other products sold in the stores and are redeemed right at the checkout, using your credit or debit card. No separate membership card is required. Ease of earning and redeeming makes this program the right one for many people.

I do have a PC Financial chequing account, but not a credit card, so my point earning is minuscule. The reason I don't focus on this program is because $20 off groceries doesn't inspire me (see paragraph 2, above), and because I can use a different credit card at the supermarket to earn points in another program that has more value to me.

Air Miles can be earned through a variety of retailers and affiliated credit cards offered by the Bank of Montreal and American Express. It is perhaps the most popular loyalty card in Canada. It seems almost everyone has one. Except me.

The main reason Air Miles has little value to me is that few of their partners are located in my town, so I have little chance to earn. But if you're a BMO customer and can shop at Air Miles retail partners, this program can be valuable to you, especially if you like merchandise or grocery certificate rewards.

That brings me to Aeroplan. Though a separate company, Aeroplan is essentially Air Canada's frequent flier plan and offers reward flights not only on Air Canada, but also on its partners in the Star Alliance, such as United, US Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore, Air New Zealand, and many others. As well, points can be redeemed for hotel stays, car rentals, cruises, and merchandise.

Aeroplan miles can be earned through flights, retail and travel partners, and affiliated credit cards and other products at a range of financial institutions. Aeroplan's gas and grocery partners (Esso and Sobeys) are located in my town, and that's a big reason why I collect Aeroplan miles.

Next time, in Points 201, I'll take a look at points-earning credit cards, with the emphasis on earning points and miles without having to pay an annual fee.