air canada's "earn your wings" promotion's badge legend are now posted online

air canada's "earn your wings" promotion is now running. the badge legend is available online here. these are only for flights booked between now and november 17 (for flights until december 15, 2014), and only when used in conjunction with an aeroplan account. all flights must be on air canada metal.

what the badges are worth:

• 2,000 racewings = 1,000 aeroplan points
• for every 10,000 racewings, you receive an additional 5,000 aeroplan points
• therefore, for every 10,000 racewings, you get 10,000 aeroplan points
• for every 100,000 racewings, you get 100,000 aeroplan points.

here are the point values:

• general: 200 racewings for every take off and landing. the T&C suggest that you will only get 200 points per direction.
• badges that reward premium bookings:
• fast forward 1 badge: 500 racewings for taking off or landing in a pit stop city in premium economy or using a latitude fare. can be earned multiple times
• fast forward 2 badge: earn 1000 racewings for taking off or landing in a pit stop city in business class
• badges that seem rather difficult to get, or that seem like a lot of effort in order to achieve. some of the combinations simply don't make sense. who will make new bookings to all of those cities? who will make new bookings to both EWR and LGA, for example? or to LHR and HKG and NRT in the same promo period?
• time flies badge: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: LHR / GVA / ZRH
• the bridge badge: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: SFO / LGA / PIT
• the race leg badge: 5000 racewings for hitting all four of: YHZ / YTZ / YYT / YQR
• left is right: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: LHR / NRT / HKG
• east coast: 5000 racewings for hitting all four of: EWR / LGA / BOS /PHL
• out west: 5000 racewings for hitting all six of: LAX / SFO / DFW / SEA / PHX / DEN
• hometown: 5000 racewings for hitting all four of: YOW / YTZ / YWG / YEG
• tower badge: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: CPH / IST / ICN
• motor city: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: DTW / FRA / NRT
• great lakes: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: YTZ / YQT / CLE / MKE
• lion dance: 5000 racewings for hitting all four of: HKG / PEK / PVG / NRT
• salsa: 5000 racewings for hitting both of: DFW / MEX
• aerospace: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: LHR / CDG / SEA
• BC badge: 5000 racewings for hitting all six of: YXJ / YKA / YXS / YXT / YYJ / YCD
• sunscreen: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: MEX / GCM / PTP
• provincial hall of fame: 5000 racewings for hitting all six of: YTZ / YWG / YXE / YQR / YQF / YXS
• first nations: 5000 racewings for hitting all four of: YOW / YWG / YXE / YKA
• turboprop: 5000 racewings for hitting what i assume is all four of: YXE / YQG / YEG / YXJ / YYJ / YCD
• europa: 5000 racewings for hitting all five of LHR / CDG / FRA / BRU / CPH
• statue of liberty: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of EWR / CDG / NRT
• seafood: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of: YHZ / YYT / SFO / SEA
• pacific bridge: 5000 racewings for hitting all three of SEA / LAX / SFO (the most reasonable badge for me)
• trans-canada badge: 5000 racewings for hitting all ten of these: YOW/ YWG / YXE / YEG / YYT / YQT / YKA / YYJ / YCD (um, the transcanada highway does not pass through YEG)
• tea badge: 5000 racewings for hitting all four of LHR / PEK / PVG / HKG
• pit stop badges: 
• 500 racewing for taking off or landing at: YHZ, YOW, YTZ, YWG, YXE, YQR, YEG, YYT, YQT, YQF, YXJ, YKA, YXS, YXT, YYJ, YCD. 
• it's interesting and obvious why YVR and YYZ are not included. in a sign of who's winning the rivalry, YEG is heavily promoted yet YYC is not, suggesting that YYC has more than its fair share of traffic
• 1000 racewings for: LGA, EWR, LAX, SFO, BOS, DFW, SEA, PHX, PHL, DEN, CLE, DTW, MKE, PIT, MEX, GCM, PTP
• 1500 racewings for: CDG, LHR, FRA, BRU, GVA, ZRH, CPH, IST
• 1500 racewings for: NRT, PEK, PVG, HKG, ICN
• savvy traveler: 250 racewings for every combination of three bookings with avis and fairmont hotels

overall, the vast majority of 5,000 racewing badges are not useful to me. i doubt that it would be useful to most people as a) there are a lot of destinations that are required to hit, or b) they don't make geographical sense. they don't really seem to fit a regular business or leisure traveler's flight pattern. the pit stop badges are useful, and highly favors those living in non hub cities. it is much less useful for travelers who go between YVR and YYC, like myself.

i think this is a great opportunity to collect a few thousand bonus aeroplan points especially with the pit stop badges. that being said, it is for sure nowhere as lucrative as the last time that they held this promotion.

air canada expands its tango fare classes; united gives you 25% on air canada's domestic tango fares

in a move that i completely didn't see until i saw the flyertalk thread about this. beginning september 24, 2013, more booking classes have turned from flex (100% full earnings) to tango (25% or 50% earnings). it looks as though more of the cheaper fares seem to be transitioned downwards to tango.

this means that for those trying to use e-upgrades, it becomes harder and more expensive as it would force you to buy higher priced flex fares rather than tango fares. what used to be just on the cusp of a flex fare is now pushed down towards tango. this is on top of the recently introduced co-pays for international e-upgrades.

a quick look at asiana's earning chart has not revealed any of these changes (nor are they offering status miles on domestic tango fares). i expect that these changes to the expanded tango fares will be added shortly, but i doubt that the additional earning power of domestic tango fares will be updated. BUT a quick look at united shows that they have already updated their earnings table. effective october 1, 2014, their new table looks like this:

traditionally, they gave 100% for international tango fares and this has not changed. they used to give 0% for domestic tango, but this has now been updated to 25% status miles. this is now a reason to move to united's mileage plus if you are going to buy tango fares on air canada.

liquid rules and inflight electronic rules may be changing soon

the globe and mail reports this morning that change may be coming to security restrictions on liquids in canadian airports. in a working paper presently jointly by australia, canada, and the united states, recommendations are being made to gradually lift the aerosol/gel/liquid restrictions. this is because technology has advanced far enough to be able to detect explosives.

this is on top of what view from the wing reports yesterday that rules to inflight electronics usage may be changing in early 2014. a brief read of the article suggests that they will be removing the requirement to turn off all electronics during take-off and landing (or at less than 10,000 feet). it doesn't make any recommendations to inflight internet usage or the ability to make cell phone calls during the flight. i also suspect that it won't change anything for laptop usage as those would need to be stowed regardless during take-off and landing for safety reasons anyway.

it would be amazing changes to the way i travel, really. good-bye to travel sized toiletries, and good-bye to buying "travel sized" contact lens solution which is actually over-sized. and hello to doing important work during take off and landing ... like playing an extra few rounds of candy crush. yes, that's what's really important in life these days.

"we're not playing a deck of cards here," the yvr pre-clearance border agent snarls at me.

when i watched slice's border security, a television show all about the canadian border services agency, i have to admit that i was kind of impressed by the work that they did. they were professional, they served a purpose, and they did a really good job of it. the show actually made me feel more positively about all those border security officers. and for the most part, they're really not that bad.

and while not exactly the same thing, i have found that the american border people are of the same caliber. but then there are days like friday, when i crossed through the yvr pre-clearance station en route to america, that you realize that things aren't that great. and that sometimes, you wish that they'd show cases like that on border security. and while this post is about the american pre-clearance border officer, i know that similar things have happened on the canadian side too.

in this particular situation, i've passed through security at yvr. just past security, there's a small area to take your iris scan for the nexus. it shoots off a ticket for you to bring to the counter. it tells you to bring your blue declaration card along with the print out. it doesn't say passport, although for the seasoned airport travelers, the passport thing should be obvious. as a seasoned land crossing traveler, i have yet to ever be asked to produce my passport. so that part i had legitimately forgotten about.

i arrive at the counter and a couple is still at the counter cleaning up their stuff. the agent, who's name i still remember but have the decency to keep off the internet, waves for me to step forward. but there are still people there. he gets impatient, and asks "what are you waiting for?" uh, well, i'm waiting so that i don't have to share more of my personal details with other random travelers who are still at your counter. of course, inside thoughts only. i approach the counter.

i start to hand him my things. i have my asiana card in my hand, so i try to place the all the appropriate details onto the counter without giving my asiana card. nexus print out. blue declaration card, nexus card, boarding pass. and i do it one by one. while it wasn't slow, it was clearly not fast enough for him. "what are you doing?" he asks me. i have no idea what he means, because while i may have had some psychiatric training in my residency, mind reading was not one of those skills.

"why are you so slow?" he asks me again as i continue to put my items on the table in front of him. and then the clincher: "we're not playing a deck of cards here." i give him a bewildered whiskey-tango-foxtrot look because i honestly could not help it. and he waits, expecting me to mind read. oh, he wants my passport too. so i quickly fish it out. and then he asks me all of the regular intrusive and absurd questions. then, as if trying to backtrack, he asks me, "no really, i'm curious, why would you put your things down on the table one by one?"

i can understand the intrusive and absurd questions. i mean, this is their way of making sure i wasn't smuggling drugs, or taking illegal employment, or bringing fresh strawberries in my carry on. but i have no idea how putting my items down carefully on the table is a tip off for illegal immigration. nor do i understand how describing my actions as playing a deck of cards is meant to make me confess that i'm hiding something dangerous.

as a doctor, there are patients who are extremely psychomotorly slowed. or sometimes they just don't understand questions or directions. sometimes you tell them to increase their medication but they misunderstand and they don't. but you give them the benefit of the doubt first. and then, if they keep doing it, you remain professional. if a patient was slowly handing me their medication bottles one by one in a busy emergency room and i said, "hurry up, we're not playing a deck of cards here," i would be called out for unprofessional behaviour.

in fact, i can hardly think of any profession where this particular agent's response could be considered professional. and for someone who acts as a gateway to what they would like to think of as the best nation in the world, i have to admit that this act of unprofessionalism (which, according to spell check, is not a word) is kind of an embarrassment. although now that i write this, i suppose that there's a reason why they don't show these kinds of segments on television.

aeroplan maintains its relationship with cibc and td; aeroplan's new earn your wings promotion

1) aeroplan maintains its relationship with cibc and td
there's been a lot of talk recently about the recent contract talks between cibc and aeroplan. td offered a better deal when it came time to for cibc to renew its relationship with aeroplan, and cibc chose not to match. in today's press release found here (and greatly discussed on flyertalk here). in short, it appears that td has essentially paid to buy out 50% of the cibc-held accounts, and individual cardholders are free to move between cibc and td (which i don't see as something new). they promise new benefits and privileges, so we'll see how cibc and td's respective cards will compete with each other.

2) aeroplan's new "earn your wings"-like promotion
based off of the amazing race, you receive "racewings" for your air canada, air canada express, air canada rouge. you receive 500 racewings for registering before september 24 (250 racewings for registering afterwards). you receive 200 racewings for every take off or landing (i.e., 400 points per segment). there are opportunities to earn more points via various "pit stops", all of which will be revealed on september 24, 2013.

2,000 racewings = 1,000 aeroplan points, and for every 10,000 racewings earned, you receive an additional 5,000 aeroplan points. i took advantage of approximately zero "stars" from flying during their last promotion, but i thought i'd mention this here.

registration and details are located here.

flight centre's latest $50/$100 coupons + the death of topguest?

1) flight centre's $50 and $100 coupons
i received a promo in my inbox from flight centre. it's for $50 off domestic flights and $100 off flights between vancouver and toronto on air canada. unlike their other promotions, you don't have to actually go into a flight centre store -- you can do this over the phone. this is a change that i like. the discount is only for flights within the month of september. this limits the utility of the coupon as flights less than 7 days from departure are usually drawn from a more expensive fare bucket than flights greater than 7 days from departure. in any case, the coupon is here for those who do not subscribe to the ads. expiry date unlisted.

2) the death of topguest?
i also received another e-mail about yet another program that has dropped out of the topguest program. for those who don't remember, topguest is a program that rewards you with points for every check-in on facebook, foursquare, or twitter at various hotel/airport locations. after checking in at those hotels, you would receive a small amount of points for that particular hotel program (e.g., i received 50 priority club points for checking in to the holiday inn right beside my house every morning -- i would do this as a part of my morning wake-up ritual). i think i earned over 60,000 points in total over two years.

they used to be associated with big names: virgin elevate (for every check in at a virgin check-in counter, gate, baggage carrousel), best western rewards, priority club, hilton hhonors (only double tree locations), and united airlines (every check in at united-served airports). united left first. best western was the next to go. then i was devastated when priority club left. and now today, i learn that the last remaining partners are dropping out as well.

As of September 13, 2013 Topguest members will no longer earn points or rewards for checking into CLUBHOTEL or VOILA locations. Any points earned through the use of Topguest through this date will be transferred into your account. For questions regarding your VOILA account please visit http://www.vhr.com/contactus.aspx For questions regarding your CLUBHOTEL account please visit http://www.clubhotel.com/customer-service/ For questions regarding your Topguest account, you can reach us by emailing help@topguest.com

a similar e-mail was sent out for virgin america's elevate. i haven't been an active member since the priority club left the program, but it's kind of sad to see the end like that.

links from the web: preparing for cross check, singapore airlines ads, $5 mistake fares on united, new checkout51 deals

1. my friend points me to an article from air canada about what it means when they say "cabin crew, please prepare for departure and cross check." and in my romanticized view of singapore airlines, i imagine the graceful, perfectly groomed singapore girl whisking from one side of the aircraft to another, doing whatever it is they do when they cross check.
2. view from the wing posts a commentary on airline ads. more specifically, he posts the latest of the singapore airline collection, which actually makes you believe that there is a genuine service aboard their aircraft.
3. canadian kilometers posts about the $5 mistake fare on united airlines this morning, although after it was pulled. most of their base prices were set to $0, and so domestic flights with all fees included were roughly $5. whether they'll honor it or not is something to be seen. i honestly wished that i caught it earlier too -- i would have booked 10-20 different trips with the hopes of being able to make use of one.
4. checkout51's latest deals now include $1 to $2 rebates on grocery purchases over $20 when you pay by visa. i don't have a visa except for my new prepaid pivot visa card. oh, that's right ... the benefits keep rolling in. other goods this week include:
• $1 back on eggo waffles (8 count or more)
• $1 back on a loaf of wonder bread (wonder or wonder+)
• $2 back on any variety of opti-free contact lens solution. i'll be looking for the travel sized ones
• $1 back polident products -- which is great because i'm looking for polident toothpaste for my retainers
• $0.50 back on alcan aluminum foil wrap
• all of these are stackable with your other coupons or promotions in store

starwood: complimentary unlimited domestic upgrades on delta, aeroplan bonus

two things that i found floating around yesterday, both of which regarding the starwood brand.

starwood's crossover rewards: now with unlimited domestic upgrades on delta
according to the starwood lurker on flyertalk, starting yesterday, platinum elite members of the starwood preferred guest program will now get complimentary unlimited domestic upgrades on delta's domestic flights. as your spg number is linked with your delta skymiles number, these upgrades should be automatic, should you get one.

SPG Platinum members are eligible for day of departure upgrades on most published economy fares on Delta and certain Delta-designated codeshare flights in North America within or between the United States (excluding Hawaii) and Bermuda, Canada, Central and South America, The Caribbean, and Mexico. Unlimited Complimentary Upgrades are subject to availability, may not be available on all flights or in all markets, and are not valid for travel to/from Hawaii, Transatlantic and Transpacific destinations. Complimentary Upgrades are not available on flights to/from South American cities that are serviced with our BusinessElite® product (i.e., Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; Caracas, Venezuela).

this is an amazing step forward in the relationship, considering that recently top tier marriott rewards members would receive full premier silver status on united airlines. as a premier silver, technically, you get unlimited domestic upgrades. right behind all the last minute upgrades, the global service folks, the premier 1k, platinums, and golds. really, there aren't that many business class seats on board those planes.

and so likewise, with the starwood offer, platinums will get upgrades, although their priority level will be very low:

For eligible flights, you will be given priority behind Medallions, Medallion Companion, and KLM, Air France, and Alaska elite upgrades.

so almost not at all. but, there is always a chance, and that should be something worthy of mention.

aeroplan's fall promotion with starwood
SPG is offering 5,000 aeroplan points for 5 nights. for every two nights after that, you get an additional 2,000 points, for a total of 9,000 points for 9 nights (or 1,000 points a night). this is similar to the starwood promo where you get double points, and after every 5th stay, you get a bonus 2,500 points.

an important difference between the promo is that unlike the starwood main promo, i could not find a list of non-participating properties. so i feel like i can safely assume that all starwood properties qualify. this is important as my two go-to properties in seattle are both excluded from the main starwood promo.

also, if you're spending roughly $100 a night, you will get more points with the aeroplan version than the starwood version. if you get 2,500 spg points per every 5 nights, that works out to be roughly 500 points if you stay in multiples of 5 nights. so per night, your bonus is double points (in this case, $100 x 2 = 200 points) plus 500 points = 700 points. remember that 1 spg point = 1.25 aeroplan points (as you can convert 20,000 spg points into 25,000 aeroplan points. so per night, the spg promo will get you 875 points aeroplan points.


registration is required.

pivot reloadable pre-paid visa: a case for the $59.95 version. (it's a 3.2% return!)

i wrote about the pivot visa card from petro canada a while back. briefly, this was a pre-paid visa card that you could use with fees associated with it. however, if you had the right credit card (e.g., the scotia bank gold american express), it was possible to earn an even better return per dollar spent. it was also an opportunity to buy the reload vouchers, load it onto the card, and then go to an atm to withdraw the money for straight cash. the return on that would be up to $5.00 in free cash.

with the latter option, there were a few things that i found:

• td bank, the one with the bank machines closest to work and home, raised their withdrawal fees for non-td cards. instead of charging $1.50 per withdrawal, they increased it to $1.95.
• they changed the withdrawal time frame -- the maximum withdrawal amount from an atm is now $250 per week as opposed to per day. i think they were catching on to what i was doing.

as i was buying more vouchers and perusing the rules of the card, it occurred to me that their $59.95/year option may hold some benefit. for this fee, you get unlimited transactions for free, have an increased monthly load amount of $5,000. you also get two fuel savings cards, and so you can spread around the fuel savings to more family and friends.

here's the math:
my current no-fee mbna travel rewards mastercard gives me a straight 2% back on all purchases in cash. my scotia bank gold amex gives me 4% back in travel money for all gas, grocery, dining, and entertainment purchases. therefore, by buying the petro canada reload cards to use on my pivot visa, i can get up to 4% back on all purchases as well.

therefore, if we use the $59.95 annual fee version of the pivot visa card, the only expense per every $250 reload voucher is the $2.00 reload fee. therefore, for every $250 spent, you would lose $2, or 0.8%. if we use the pivot visa for all of my mastercard purchases, then i would lose the 2% return from my mastercard and the 0.8% in pivot reload fees. instead, i'll gain 4% in my scotia amex. the net gain is a 3.2% return per dollar spent.

this is 1.2% more compared to my current mbna travel rewards mastercard. therefore, to make up for the $59.95 annual fee of the pivot visa, i would need to spend $4,995.83 a year. that is nothing. if one includes the scotia amex fee of $99 a year, that means that i would need to spend $13,245.83. therefore, everything before the $13,245.83 will earn a 2% return, and everything after will earn a 3.2% return. most people didn't jump onto the 2% mbna card while it was still available. therefore, when comparing this to the next best cash back card with a 1.5% return, the numbers are even more favorable.

this does not include the savings to be had in the form of the fuel savings reward card. for every dollar loaded onto the card, you get 5c off of one liter of gas. if i use the card as how i think i will, i can expect a permanent 5c off per liter of gas at petro-canada.

thoughts? is this too much work for an extra 1.2% more?

an upgrade at the days inn edmonton (and giving second life to dying towels)

a random post while on the road. everytime i make a trip out to calgary longer than a weekend, i tend to spend a day or two in edmonton. it breaks up the long stretch of days without people to see during the day and i get to see a few friends up here as well.

i try to stay in the downtown region because it's close to my friends, a short walk down to the bar/restaurant scene (whyte ave, akin to calgary's 17th avenue), and because it's a reasonably safe place to be.

the last time i went up there, i posted about where i was thinking about staying, and ended up opting for the days inn via hotels.com. there's a starwood property in the heart of downtown, but at $200 + $26 parking a night + tax, i felt the better deal was just to stay at the days inn again for roughly $111 + tax. no points or anything other than a hotelrewards credit valued at 10% off.

i don't have high expectations for the days inn chain. i just know that they're usually clean, basic, and comfortable enough. and given the price of the hotels around the area, i was happy. i was even happier with the free parking as well. so when i checked in, i was surprised to have gotten an upgrade. and such events always require pictures:

regular bed. firm but comfortable.

a kitchenette with fridge and microwave -- not something that comes standard here

a semi enclosed work station. i didn't check if the couch was a pull-out for more people

the sink outside the bathroom -- it seems like the typical arrangement for the days inns that i've been in

a cute rag is included in the room -- a cut up cloth that is now branded as the cloth that can do anything. i think of blanky from the brave little toaster

 

 

 

 

i've decided that i'm going to push for spg platinum this year. so intsead of spending two nights at the convenient days inn, i'm going to venture east of the happening part of whyte avenue to stay at the four points edmonton south for another stay credit tonight.

"i have no idea where that is," my friend tells me last night as we walk along whyte avenue, between dinner at da-de-o's and drinks at oxygen. his arms are spread wide for emphasis: "it's far from here. it's like the badlands! i don't even know if there's anything out there there!" with that in mind, i'm looking forward to being pleasantly surprised.

taking advantage of sales tax differences between provinces

i was born and raised in alberta, the land of zero provincial sales tax. all we had was the gst, which started at 7% but had fallen to 5% under the conservative government. so when i moved to bc for the start of residency, the extra 7% in provincial sales tax was maddening. friends who moved from outside alberta to alberta all felt that it was like a free discount -- they never saw sales tax as an extra burden. my friends who moved the other direction, on the other hand, couldn't.

i typically go to calgary 3-4 times a year. when i first moved to vancouver, i used to go 8-9 times a year. one of my habits is to save on my provincial sales tax. this typically involves knowing how long the return period is and holding onto receipts. then whenever i go back to calgary, i go to the store, buy the product on a new receipt (no provincial sales tax) and return on the old receipt (provincial sales tax).

but sometimes, you run into snags. for clothing, often times there are sales when you buy the item but no sales when you want to do the exchange/return. so then it doesn't make sense to buy and return. sometimes, you need to buy a certain size in order to return the size that you bought but they're out. that's why i keep the bar code and bring them with me in my wallet. sometimes, they will relent and give you a price adjustment if the price is actually lower, but there is a chance that that adjustment will occur for the province of original sale. in other words, pst may still be there. always safer to do a full return.

an example today:
express men: i needed to grab a few pants last week because i don't stockpile a huge wardrobe. $59.90 regular price, but i bought them for $49.90 each, or $55.89 after sales tax (gst + pst). i was expecting to get $7 back in provincial sales tax.

bonus today: 40% off regular price, or $35.94 each, or $37.74 after sales tax (gst only).

the issue: i could only find one of the two pairs of pants. they were not willing to do a straight out price change, but offered to let me buy it. then, if, by chance, i found my original pair, i could return that on the old receipt. i haven't heard anything so ridiculous in a long time. so for that one pair of pants, i made a purchase. i asked about whether the other location would have the other one that was missing, and they said they would call. "don't worry, if i have to go to [insert location here], then i'll just return these there on the old receipt." i made it very clear that this was what was going to happen anyway. and luckily, another cashier came up, kind of gave a sigh, and said, "i might as well save you the trip." so she did the price adjustment and also returned my newly purchased pants on the old receipt.

i was nervous that the price adjustment would still include the provincial sales tax, but it didn't. the end result: i got a refund of $18.15 per pair, or a total of $36.30. not too bad! and i really do have to give kudos to sales agents who are empowered enough to bend company policy enough to let common sense prevail.

next stop:
costco to pick up higher priced regular goods. tide laundry pods, dishwasher pellets, razor blades.

"if i keep on doing this," i told my mom afterwards at home, "then this trip will basically pay for itself."