Points and Miles: May

I don't know whether you've noticed or not, but it seems that over the last six months or so, points and miles offers, especially from hotel chains have become less lucrative.

One possible explanation for this is that the improving American economy (yes, it really is improving, at least for businesses) has resulted in lower hotel vacancy rates, and thus higher room rates, meaning less need for the chains to offer incentives to fill otherwise empty rooms.

As for airlines, competition has been reduced by mergers (Delta took over Northwest, United merged with Continental, Southwest bought AirTran), and the carriers have been cutting routes and retiring older, less fuel-efficient planes in response to high oil prices. This has meant fewer seats to fill, and combined with the improved business climate, less need to entice fliers.

On the credit card front, credit has gotten tighter, not just in the U.S., but in Canada as well; and reduced competition (BMO took over Citi's Canadian credit card portfolio and TD acquired MBNA's) has meant that rejections are more common, annual fees higher, and sign-up bonuses more meagre.

Throw in the fact that both Aeroplan and AirMiles, Canada's two most popular "loyalty" programs, recently devalued their programs and it looks like the glory days of point and mile travel bargains are behind us.

This may partly explain the current popularity of such "buy-a-deal" sites as WagJag and Groupon, but pitfalls abound with these deals, so buyer beware.

Anyway, points and miles programs aren't going away: they're hugely profitable for one thing. It just means we have to work harder and smarter to get the best value from them. So here are a few good offers for this month.

The Choice Privileges MasterCard usually offers a sign-up bonus of 8K points, but until June 13, you'll get 16K. That's enough for two free nights at many Choice Hotels. All the details are here.

Starwood Hotels (Sheraton, Westin, etc.) is offering CAA/AAA members a range of discounts and special offers at properties in the southern U.S. and Caribbean through the end of 2012. Check them out here.

And for Aeroplan members, earn either a 1500 mile or 16 500 mile bonus when you complete a range of partner activities during the month of May. You have a head start if you have an Aeroplan-branded credit card and/or are flying Air Canada during the month. This page will tell you what you need to know. I love this one, because it's a challenge to see how I can maximize my activities with a minimum of spending.

I'll let you know how I did when the points post.

Follow me on Twitter: @AeneasLane

Points and Miles: September

This is the first monthly summary of the best travel rewards points and miles offers that come my way. Look for it the first Thursday of each month. Now that the busy summer travel season is winding down, we're starting to see more lucrative offers from the airlines and hotel chains. The sputtering economy is also contributing to this.

Delta Airlines has a code, good through December 31, for up to 2,500 SkyMiles and 40% off a Hertz rental. And, also to December 31, beginning with your second stay, you'll receive thousands of bonus SkyMiles for stays at Marriott hotels. You must set your earnings preference to SkyMiles in your Marriott Rewards account.

Until September 18, you can earn as many as 5,000 bonus miles when you convert points from several hotel programs to Aeroplan. All the details are here. Purchases at Home Hardware earn double Aeroplan miles until September 10. And Air Canada will join the major U.S. carriers in charging $25 for the first checked bag, starting October 11.

The big news on the airline mile front is the annual "Grand Slam" promotion from U.S. Airways. Various activities earn hits. Hits earn Dividend Miles, as many as 110,000, if you earn the maximum 40 hits. Registration is open now. Play begins September 14 and continues until November 14. And until September 15, you can earn a 100% bonus on purchased or gifted Dividend Miles, up to 50,000 miles. This also counts as a "hit" if you do it on September 14 or 15.

Starwood Preferred Guest members can earn double the usual points (triple if the stay includes a Thursday or Sunday night) for stays through December 18 at Sheraton, Westin, and other hotels in the Starwood family. Registration is required via this link. And SPG members save 35% and get a free continental breakfast for city weekend getaways, until December 30.

Until November 3, register to get 4X ChoicePrivileges points for stays at Choice Hotels (Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, EconoLodge, etc.).

Here's a code for 15% off at budget chain Red Roof Inn, valid during September for those over 50.

It can sometimes make sense to purchase hotel points to redeem for a reward. For example, you may be only a few points shy of the number needed, or the room rate may be greater than the cost of the points. Until September 30, receive a 20% bonus when purchasing Hyatt Gold Passport points: 1,200 for US$24.

Points.com is not usually a good deal when swapping points among your programs, but until September 15, some swaps earn a 15% bonus, which softens the blow a little. Even with the poor exchange rates Points.com offers, there are times when it's worthwhile: you may have "orphan" points in a program that could provide some value somewhere else, or a swap into a program could count as activity to extend the life of your points in a program. And a swap into U.S. Airways counts as a "hit" for the Grand Slam promotion.

And finally, I don't think PETRO-POINTS have a lot of value (I buy gas at Esso to get Aeroplan miles), but until October 31, when you buy a coffee and swipe your PETRO-POINTS card, you could win free gas for a year.

You can now follow me on Twitter: @AeneasLane

Early Summer Points and Travel Deals

Given the cool, wet weather here in Southern Ontario this spring, it may seem premature to be thinking about summer getaways, but the airlines and hotel chains have sent some tempting offers my way recently than you might want to factor into your coming vacation planning.

Choice Hotels is offering enough bonus points after two stays to provide you with a free night at over 1,500 of their lower tier properties. Registration is required, and be sure to read the terms and conditions. Stays between May 19 and August 11, 2011 qualify. Click here for details.

Like most hotel points programs, Choice Privileges points can be traded for airline miles, generally at a rate of 5:1; that is, 5K Choice points for 1K airline miles. But until June 6, 2011, if you transfer Choice points to United Mileage Plus, you get twice the miles. Here's a link.

So if you signed up for that no-fee Choice Privileges MasterCard I told you about last month, you could not only be turning your credit card spending into free hotel nights, but faster free flights as well. And since United is a Star Alliance partner with Air Canada, you can credit flights on Air Canada to Mileage Plus (and vice-versa) and use Mileage Plus miles to fly on Air Canada or any other Star Alliance partner airline.

Country Inn and Suites has extended its Spring Getaway Offer until May 31. Stay twice and be rewarded with a $30 Amazon.com or Amazon.ca gift card as well as 3,000 bonus Club Carlson points. U.S. hotels also throw in a $5 T.G.I. Friday's coupon. Country Inn and Suites offer reasonably priced accommodation and include free wireless and buffet breakfast. Most locations are in the U.S. To book this offer, click here.

From May 16 through August 15, 2011, Priority Club (Holiday Inn and associated brands) lets you earn double points starting with your second stay. You can register for this offer here.

Priority Club Insider maintains an extensive list of other bonus codes here. Registering for multiple offers has sometimes meant that I have earned almost enough points for a free night with just one paid stay at a Holiday Inn. It's always worth the effort.

And Priority Club also offers some "Pointsbreaks" properties at only 5K points, one-third the usual 15K points required for a free night. You can find the list here. Bookmark the site, because the eligible properties change every month or so.

The excellent Rewards Canada website has made its "Choosing a Travel Rewards Credit Card" comparison chart more extensive and much easier to use by splitting it up into five separate charts based on the type of card. If you're a Canadian looking for the best travel reward credit card for you, you need to start your shopping here.

Finally, did you know that you can earn Aeroplan miles for subscribing to your favourite magazines? Rogers Magazine Service offers 250 Aeroplan miles for each subscription if you go through their portal. The prices seem to be in line with other offers, but for comparison purposes, I value Aeroplan miles at about 1.5 cents each.

More Spring 2011 Points Offers

Thought you might enjoy a break from all the election news, so here you are:

Until June 30, Hilton Hotels is offering 1,000 bonus Hilton HHonors points with each night's stay. That's in addition to the regular points and airline miles you earn. Hilton's plan is unique in that members "double dip", earning both for each stay. You must register for the promotion here.

If your plans include several nights in hotels over the next few months, Hyatt hotels is offering 10K bonus Hyatt Gold Passport points after you stay five nights, and an additional 5K bonus points for every two nights you stay beyond five. That's on top of the regular earning rate of five points per dollar spent. Free nights begin at 5K points, with most hotels being in the 8K and 12K point categories. So a week at a Hyatt property could get you two or three free nights. You must register here.

Goldpoints Plus is now Club Carlson and it's offering an excellent promotion until June 15: stay twice and earn a free night. This can be an economical way to stay in an expensive city. Two low cost Country Inn and Suites stays can get you that free night at a Radisson. You must be a Club Carlson member and register for the promotion. You have until December 31, 2011 to use your free nights.

Choice Hotels, in conjunction with MBNA Bank Canada, is offering a no-fee MasterCard that lets you earn Choice Privileges points for every dollar you spend on it. There's also an 8K point sign-up bonus. Details and application form are here.

And speaking of credit cards, back in the fall I told you about the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card. The card is still available with a 10K point sign-up bonus, but unlike last year, American Express is no longer waiving the annual fee of $120 for the first year (or for renewals).

So, as intended, I cancelled my SPG Amex card (I keep all my Starwood points). But when I called American Express, they offered me their new Gold Rewards card with 15K points as a sign-up bonus and no annual fee for the first year. So I accepted that offer. I earn one point per dollar spent on the card, two for spending on travel, gas, grocery, and drug store purchases. Amex Membership Reward points can be applied directly to your Amex bill for travel related spending, or converted to points with several hotel and airline partners (for example, one to one to Aeroplan). I'll keep you posted on what I see is the best way to "earn and burn" these points.

To conclude, Niagara Spring Flings is offering Ontario and New York residents a chance to win a getaway in the Niagara peninsula. There's also a downloadable "Perks Card" offering such things as free wine tastings (yum!). Check it out here.

Have a Happy Easter.

Spring 2011 Travel and Points Offers

Lately there has been a raft of offers as the spring travel season approaches. Here are some of them.

Until December 31, you'll earn 100 bonus Aeroplan miles when you join Park 'n Fly Rewards. You'll also earn 50% more Aeroplan miles each time you use Park 'n Fly.

Most airline miles expire unless you have activity in the account every 12-24 months. Delta Airlines recently announced that it has eliminated mileage expiration. Good news for the casual traveler. And remember, you can earn up to 2,000 Delta miles for a three-night stay at most Hilton hotels until March 31. All the details are in my January 6 post.

And while I don't usually recommend exchanging miles using Points.com because of the steep commission they extract, it can be worthwhile, if for example you need to keep points in a program alive, need only a few points to reach an award level, or have points in an "orphan" program. Until March 31, exchanges for Delta SkyMiles get you 50% bonus miles, which makes the pain a little less. Some of the programs you can exchange with are Esso Extra, Hbc Rewards, and Priority Club.

You do intend to participate in Earth Hour don't you? This year, it's between 8:30-9:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26. And you won't just turn off your lights, right? You'll put on a sweater (better yet, snuggle with a friend) and turn down the thermostat a degree or two? To reward you for your virtuous behaviour, Starwood Preferred Guest will give you 100 Starpoints.

Country inns and Suites by Carlson has a Spring Getaway offer good until April 30 at participating hotels in Canada and the U.S. Stay two or more nights and receive a certificate code provided via email post-stay to redeem online for a US$30 Amazon Gift Card* or a C$30 Amazon.ca gift certificate, a T.G.I. Friday's offer (US hotels only), and 3,000 bonus Gold Points.

Choice Hotels' offer to triple your points after the second stay continues until April 13. Find the details here.

Best Western has been on the move lately. Though the world’s largest hotel chain, it lacked a clear image in many travelers’ minds because, unlike all other major chains, there was no way to differentiate among different quality levels of its properties. That’s all changed. Best Western has now rebranded itself into three quality tiers: Best Western, Best Western Plus, and Best Western Premier.

Not a member of Best Western Rewards? Join by April 11 via this link and get 250 American Airline AAdvantage miles when you set your earnings preference to AA. Then earn up to 1,000 AA AAdvantage miles per stay. There’s a similar offer for Aeroplan members here. Or, register and stay three times by April 11 at any Best Western in Canada or the U.S. and earn a free night with this offer.

You can also earn Best Western Rewards with a no annual fee MasterCard from MBNA. You may need to quote the code CJ4A to get a 20,000 sign up bonus. You can apply here.

And finally, need a way to keep track of all your points and loyalty programs in one place? I use Award Wallet. The basic service is free, and it securely tracks all your program balances and will even warn you about point expiry for the first three programs. For a small fee, it will monitor the expiration dates of all your programs. It even creates a trip itinerary for you by linking the numbers of your airline, hotel, and car rental loyalty programs. Very neat.

Happy trails.

Points follow-up

Since the series of posts on points and miles wrapped up, a couple of items of interest have come my way.

A loyal blog follower informs me that there is an AirMiles app for your smart phone. Put in your location and it will show you the nearest AirMiles partners. Text "AirMiles App" to 26898 to go straight to the download page on your iPhone or BlackBerry.

Until November 4, CHOICEprivileges, the loyalty program of Choice Hotels (Comfort, Quality, Clarion, etc.), is offering a free night when you stay two nights. You can join the program here. Further down the page, you'll also see a link to apply for the affiliated MBNA MasterCard to earn points for all your credit card spending. If you do a lot of road trips and are looking to earn free nights at a budget hotel chain, this could be a good program for you.

Something I did not discuss in my series of posts about point programs, is that for the majority of airline and hotel programs, you may purchase points, either for yourself, or as a gift for others. The problem is that the cost is usually more that the points are worth (i.e.: you could book a flight or room directly for less money), but under certain conditions, buying points does make sense. And occasionally, points do go "on sale".

For example, until December 31, Starwood Preferred Guest is selling points for 20% less -- $14 for 500 instead of the usual $17.50. If you need only a few points to get to a reward level, or if you are close to the 20K threshold for earning the 5K bonus for converting to airline miles, this can make sense. SPG allows you to buy up to 20K points in a calendar year and the points appear in your account within 24 hours.

In some cases, you could even save money on a holiday. That's because when redeeming SPG points for a five-night stay, the fifth night is free, so five nights at a category 3 hotel requires 4x7K=28K points. If you purchase 20K points for $560 before December 31, and another 8K for $280 (at the regular rate of $17.50 per 500) in January, that works out to $168 per night for a five-night stay. For January 20-25, the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel is $190 per night. The Westin Fort Lauderdale is $229. I chose these hotels and dates at random. Depending on your choice of date and location, you, too, can find values like this. All you have to do is belong to the Starwood Preferred Guest program and buy points through this link. There's a fuller description of the program in the post dated October 4.

And finally, here's an update to the Aeroplan/BMO Club Sobeys MasterCard snafu (see post dated October 7). I received a letter on October 8, dated October 5, confirming what the Club Sobeys CSR had told me over the phone. But since the change did not take effect until October 15, the Club Sobeys points I received for keeping the credit card when Bank of Montreal took over from Citi were autoconverted. So, props to Sobeys, BMO, and Aeroplan for living up to their end of the (original) bargain. I still plan to cancel the card, since I don't have any need for another MasterCard if it doesn't earn me travel rewards.