aeroplan likely to move from CIBC to TD ... with a few more details

a few weeks ago, i noted that aeroplan was going to partner with TD instead of CIBC. i didn't notice this but aeroplan had posted an FAQ on their website regarding this upcoming change. this can be found here. their official press release can be found here.

it's interesting to read through. some of the highlights:

• though cibc has first right of refusal, it is unlikely that they're going to match TD's offer. so it sounds like the affiliated bank will most likely change after all
• there will be multiple first-year free offerings throughout the year
• there will be three tiers of cards: mid-market (i.e., normal), premium, and enhanced premium (i.e., probable large annual fee). 
• there will be a higher earn rate with new benefits for the cards, although it's not fully described what that would involve. for the enhanced premium cards, there will be an enhanced earning rate as well.
• one wonders if these additional benefits will be like the mid-tier credit cards in america whereby cardholders can get pseudo-elite status. for example, the united mileage plus explorer card with its $95 annual fee gives the cardholder a free checked bag and priority boarding

TD offers the select service account, where if one can keep a minimum $5,000 minimum balance, they receive a whole range of free perks to the account. from their website:

• unlimited transactions (withdrawals, deposits, cheques, interac)
• free cheques
• free small safety deposit box
• free basic US account

what's probably the most relevant to this post is that their select service account offers a premium credit card product with the fee waived. some of their strongest offerings include their first class visa (1.5% return in travel money, excellent insurance offerings) and their gold elite credit card (1% return and complimentary TD deluxe auto club membership). one wonders if their new aeroplan co-branded credit card would be included in this. i will be waiting to find out ...

links from the web: $111 in playnow.com money; free accor top tier status; free la quinta points; cheap itunes cards

1) view from the wing posts two different promos recently offered.

• you can get free accor hotel top tier status. once you have this status, he suggests that you can easily get status matches at other hotel chains like best western, priority club, and marriott. i haven't taken advantage of this, and doubt that i will just yet.
• you can get 300 free la quinta points by following through his link and then watching a short video. it's yet another one that i didn't do ... although if i pick up pennies from the floor and collect them in a jar, i guess i should do the same with la quinta.

2) from smart canucks, residents of british columbia can get a free sign up bonus of $111 (+$10 in other promos for a total of $121 free) for signing up with playnow.com. this is an online casino that is run by the bc lottery corporation. you can play slots, poker, or even buy 6/49 and lotto-max tickets on there. anyway, if you sign up with the promo code STROMBONE1, then you can get the free money. you can't cash it out directly, but you can play the slots and then cash out the winnings.

• so i went ahead and signed up. i instantly picked up the $111 "luongo bonus" (i can only assume this has to do with the canucks' goaltender). i picked up another $10 in the new slot player bonus.
• i went to play the diamond queen game. i started with my free $121.00 in credits. i kept playing $2 per spin, and kept spinning and spinning. i came out with $201.85 that i can cash out with. all for a total initial investment of $0.00.
• this only works if you can control your spending. as the bc lottery corp says, know your limit, stay within it. 
• and no, i'll be waiting until another free promo before i play again ...

look at the promos that are free for the taking!

balance: $201.85 and the new token balance: $0.00

3) also from smart canucks, there is a reminder that future shop is selling their itune gift cards for 20% off ($50/$60/$100 denominations). before this, 7-11 was selling their $25 gift cards for $20 (that promo is now over, from what i see). this is a reminder that one should never, ever buy itunes gift cards at full price! this is in-store only.

update 7/12/2013: i have confirmation from my bank that $201.85 was deposited from playnow.com.

sheraton bellevue and the westin bellevue -- mattress run weekend july 5-7

so last weekend, we did another mattress run in seattle. i am aiming for spg gold status (10 stays per year). as a point of reference, spg platinum status is a bit more ambitious, requiring 25 stays per year.

2013 stay #8
we drove down to bellevue and checked in at the sheraton bellevue. it's an older hotel, nice amenities. we booked using the mobile app so as to capitalize on the 500 mobile app booking bonus and 2nd trimester double points promo. we booked the AAA rate, and they came up with two types of packages. both were fully refundable. one offered a room, the other offered a room and a free buffet breakfast. for the exact same price. so, obviously, i booked the free breakfast. and when i tipped the waiter at the hotel restaurant, i made sure to charge the tip to my room: you still get SPG points for that kind of thing.

2013 stay #9
for the next night, i opted to book at the westin just a kilometer down the road. the westin bellevue is a category 5 hotel which was having a hot rate AAA promotion. because it was specifically excluded from the 2nd trimester promotion, i ended up booking on points hound for their double dip -- earning extra pointshound points on american airlines plus earning my stay credit and starwood points. i can confirm now that this works as advertised.

the westin was actually a pretty nice hotel. a pristine lobby. the check-in agent was training someone else, and so she was very careful to do everything by the book. for instance, for the first time ever, i was asked for my AAA membership (luckily i actually am a member!). she made sure that she acknowledged my preferred plus status (which everyone can get by having their co-branded amex ... which i no longer have), and she made it a point to let me know that she upgraded my room to a higher level. very nice.

and then there's the room:

blanky and friends make an appearance by accident ...

a regular room, a nice view. and perhaps the most important qualifier: clean. i enjoyed the leaf-shaped bars of soap. there is one sitting in my bathroom at home now.

conclusion: another two successful stays and on track for gold status by the end of the month. i don't think i'll be able to make platinum. and the bf was only slightly (?) irritated by having to pack up and move halfway in between. but one day, i'll convince him that it was worth it.

another seattle mattress run weekend: the spg app needs some work ...

we're doing yet another seattle (bellevue) run this weekend. but, in typical mattress-run style, we're staying at two different hotels this weekend so as to get two different stay credits. this means achieving gold (hopefully platinum) status sooner. it also allowed me to take advantage of SPG's second trimester promo for one night (double points + 500 point booking bonus) and a points hound double dip booking for another night.

i recently started to really like the SPG iphone mobile app for booking. it offers the various rates for the hotels all in a nice, organized row. while it doesn't have some of the promos on there (second night = your birth year, for example, although in all honesty, i didn't try too hard to find them), it does have the most commonly used ones. auto association rates, for example, are my fave. it also makes it easy to enter your details and book.

what i find annoying, however, is how bookings disappear on the day of the reservation. not like physically disappear, but they just don't show up on the app. you can't access them. it's like the app just forgot they ever existed. you have to point the web browser to the actual site to find your booking. this is problematic if you were relying on the app to remind you which hotel you were staying at first, or what the hotel address was. and if there was a problem with your reservation (e.g., did they get the wrong room type?), it's just that much harder to pull up the real reservation.

and when you're actually staying, even the morning after, the reservation still isn't there. the whole "enter your room number" function on the app to help you remember what room you were in? yeah ... doesn't work out so well.

the app has great ideas, and has great features for booking. it's just that it really does need some work, and has needed work since at least march when i first noticed these problems. hopefully it'll be fixed in time for the next mattress run.

priority club turns into the IHG rewards club

everyone was given notice a few months ago that priority club, the loyalty program for the intercontinental hotel group (intercontinental, holiday inn, holiday inn express, crowne plaza etc), would be rebranded and relaunched on july 1, 2013.

today, they updated the website. most of the changes, it seems, affect the way one earns status. i am currently a gold member without having stayed at an IHG hotel last year. by checking in online last year on foursquare using the topguest program, i earned roughly 16,000 points. i earned an additional 4,000 points by answering surveys from e-rewards, for a grand total of 20,000 points. until they recently changed the program, points from any source counted towards status. 20,000 points = gold status.

qualifying for various levels is still based on the number of nights stayed or the number of elite qualifying points earned. elite qualifying points are earned from hotel stays (excluding the elite bonuses) and various partners. as far as i can tell, e-rewards counts as qualifying activity.

• 15-49 nights a year, or 20,000 elite qualifying points = gold elite
• 50+ nights a year, or 60,000 elite qualifying points = platinum elite

there are a few slight changes to the new program including:

• free internet for every IHG member (even base level)
• like the starwood group, reward nights now officially count towards status
• if you achieve more nights than needed for platinum status, those extra nights will rollover to your next year. no rollovers happen for gold.
• fast track to elite: by staying at 3 different property brands, you can earn gold status for only 10 nights. by staying at 4 different property brands, you can earn platinum status for only 40 nights.

of course, we should not forget that you can simply buy their top tier platinum elite status for just $120 a year by holding their capital one affiliated credit card. so when i put things like that, asides from the free internet benefit, the program hasn't really changed at all ...