American AAdvantage: Earn up to 115,000 Bonus Miles between Calgary and the U.K. or Europe

Just like the British Airways offer we posted yesteday, American Airlines has also put out a Transatlantic premium class bonus. This one awards miles exactly like the BA offer but since AA hasn't had a devaluation like BA did in April, the increased bonus when compared to last summers offer is just icing on the cake for AAdvantage members! For us Calgarians your direct non stop option is on  BA but you can always connect to BA in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal or Finnair out of Toronto or AA/US/BA/Finnair/Iberia/OpenSkies options if you want to connect via the U.S.

Offer Details
Earn up to 115,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles when you  fly round-trip between the U.S., Canada or Mexico and Europe on First Class, Business Class or select full-fare Economy Class fares* on American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, OpenSkies or US Airways.  Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) May 7 - Aug 7, 15

Can't make use of this offer? Be sure to visit Rewards Canada's AAdvantage Bonus Miles page for many more bonus opportunities!

British Airways: Earn up to 115,000 Bonus Avios on flights between Calgary and the U.K. or Europe

British Airways and American Airlines launched new Transatlantic premium class flights (the American offer will come later on the blog) More lucrative than last summer's offer that maxed out at 100,000 bonus after four flights (20,000 in Prem. Econ.) Then again last summer BA Avios hadn't  been devalued yet so perhaps this larger bonus is to appease those who may have become disenchanted with the changes that came in on April 28. Over all this offer will award up to 115,000 bonus Avios for First and Business Class or 30,000 bonus Avios for Premium Economy and Full Fare Economy.  You can earn this bonus on BA's direct flights out of Calgary but you also have options to fly BA out of Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal or Finnair out of Toronto. You can always earn the bonus if you connect via the U.S. with any of the airlines listed below.

Offer Details
Earn up to 115,000 Bonus Avios when you fly on qualifying British Airways, American Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, OpenSkies or US Airways operated and marketed non-stop flights to the UK or Europe from North America. Full details, online registration & booking (Registration is required) May 7 - Aug 7, 15

Can't make use of this offer? Be sure to visit Rewards Canada's Executive Club Bonus Avios page for many more bonus opportunities!

How to get a ~$5400 YYC-NRT busines class flight for ~$1600

This is a copy and paste of a post I put up on the Rewards Canada blog last week but it fits in perfectly here as I used a Calgary as an example of how this can be used to save some money on flights like this. Now you had to be an Avianca LifeMiles member prior to this promotion starting so if you aren't you can't take advantage of it this time. However I would recommend joining the program as their buy miles offer of up to a 100% does come around a few times per year. Granted not as good as the 120% offer being run now but still a very viable method to save you some money on future travel. Here is the post:

For a few years Avianca LifeMiles had been famous for selling their miles with a 100% bonus every few months. That recurring offer seem to dwindle towards the latter half of 2014 but now it is back with an extra bonus! If you live in countries outside of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, United States and Colombia  you'll actually get a 120% bonus! Hooray for us Canadians as we get the full 120%!

If you have followed us for sometime you'll know this is a decent option to get Star Alliance flights on the cheap especially in business class. However Avianca announced back on September 30th the price to buy miles will go up 10% and had changes to their award chart on October 15th which were a devaluation. So what should you do? If you know that you can make your travel work and get the LifeMiles redemption(s) of your choice go ahead and buy the miles however I wouldn't buy them if you don't think you'll use them over then 3-6 months just in case another award chart devaluation comes along.

For us, the miles cost US 1.5 cents a piece +GST. This brings the price down to levels prior to September 30th, 2014. It appears that those who are eligible for the extra 20% can only buy 68,000 miles (+81,600 bonus miles) for a total of 149,600 miles. However you don't have to buy that many miles. For 78,000 miles you can get a one-way business class ticket to North Asia (Japan, China, Korea etc) from Canada depending on availability. With the bonus this means you only have to buy 36,000 miles for US$1,188 (lets say $1500 Canadian)


Here is a great example of how this bonus can be utilized for some huge savings!

Air Canada Business Class One-way from Calgary to Tokyo costs $5494.41 all in

Same ticket using Avianca LifeMiles with this promotion and taxes costs around $1,600 (and its only 75,000 miles even though their reward chart shows 78,000 miles!)

 
That's a saving of over $3,800!

Another decent feature of LifeMiles is their Cash + Part Miles option but that was devalued over a year ago. This option only requires that you have 40% of the points for a reward (so buy 40% during this 100% bonus period) and then you can buy the rest of the miles (the other 60%) at about 1.56 cents per mile (used to be 1.25 cents!). So if you get the 20% bonus with the current promo you are better off buying all the miles but if you only qualify for the 100% bonus where the miles cost you 1.65 cents you may want to go with the Cash+miles options

Some things to consider with the buy miles option before you pull the trigger is that their call center tends to be on the less helpful side so you are better off booking award tickets online which also means you are limited to the powers of that source, mixed class awards are not allowed unless you book each award ticket as separate one way flights and they have devalued the program without notice in the past so only buy these miles if you think you will use them in the next short while

Offer details
Earn up to 120% Bonus LifeMiles when you buy LifeMiles online. You must be a LifeMiles member as of May 4 to purchase. Full details Until May 29, 15

Giving it another go!

You may have noticed that as of late last week I started posting again to IFlyCalgary! Its been nearly three years since the last post and lots has happened since then. IFlyCalgary was and is my hobby site, and I started it when Rewards Canada and FrequentFlyerBonuses.com were experiencing phenomenal growth which continues to this day. Those two sites coupled with work in the Oil & Gas Industry and a family meant limited time and resources could be put towards to IFlyCalgary.

Now, fast forward to 2015 where I have finished with Oil & Gas (in June 2014) and am now focused 100% on the loyalty industry in both B2C (Rewards Canada, FFB, FFB UK) and B2B roles (speaking at loyalty conferences, media work and loyalty promotion development). This loyalty work still takes up more time than I have however I figured there is a lot of content I curate on my other sites that could easily be placed on IFlyCalgary and I feel now is the right time to start updating again.  I'm not sure what direction it will take but as with any blog it will evolve over time and we'll see what happens.

Good news is that over the last few years I have established partnerships and relationships with many companies with whom I have done and will do future exclusive promotions that I think would be great to pass on to IFlyCalgary readers.  Some of these companies include WestJet, Emirates, Aeroplan, American Express and quite a few others. Heck even those not flying could benefit as we ran an exclusive promo with Canalta Hotels last year!  Emirates keeps telling me they are itching to grow their business out of Western Canada using their Alaska Airlines partnership (hence their current promo for Western Canada) so maybe I can work something out for IFlyCalgary readers!

If you read Rewards Canada you may find quite a bit of duplication as much of what goes onto Rewards Canada is relevant to us Calgarians as well but when I take those RC posts I'll usually modify them to be Calgary specific and may even add in a few more tips.

As always I love to hear feedback, suggestions, corrections and more. Heck if you feel like you can contribute I am even open to having guest contributors!

Edelweiss Returns to Calgary with New Non-stop Service

(Calgary, AB) - The Calgary Airport Authority is pleased to welcome Edelweiss Air, who will introduce new non-stop seasonal service from Calgary International Airport (YYC) to Zurich in 2016. The new service will operate twice-weekly from June to September with an Airbus 330 and will add nearly 600 seats a week into the Calgary market, which will bring in thousands of European visitors to Alberta, one of Canada’s most pristine tourism destinations. The new service comes as a result of close cooperation with YYC’s tourism partners such as the Government of Alberta, Travel Alberta, Tourism Calgary and Banff and Lake Louise Tourism, and aligns YYC’s strategic plan to grow passenger services, with our partners’ strategies to diversifying Alberta’s economy by growing tourism in the province.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Edelweiss Air back to Calgary with their new non-stop service to Zurich Airport, Switzerland’s largest hub,” said Stephan Poirier, Senior Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer for The Calgary Airport Authority. “We are committed to growing tourism in Alberta and this new link will bring millions of tourism dollars to our province. Today’s announcement is a reflection of our commitment to growing YYC as an airline hub, strengthening our position as an economic leader and adding to the already impressive list of contributions YYC has made to the economy."

Edelweiss Air is a Swiss leisure carrier; its sister operator is Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), the principal hub airline at Zurich Airport. Edelweiss formerly operated out of Calgary until 2012 and this is currently its second Canadian destination. In addition to being Switzerland’s leading leisure airline, Edelweiss offers customers a number of different offerings such as fully flat-bed business class seating, along with premium entertain options in its Economy Max and Economy Class. The announcement coincides with its 20 year anniversary as it celebrates with major expansion plans.

The twice-weekly summer schedule for Edelweiss will be as follows:

Thursdays
Arrival from Zurich to YYC at 3 p.m.
Departures from YYC to Zurich at 4:40 p.m. with an Airbus 330-200 (275 seats)

Sundays
Arrival from Zurich to YYC at 4 p.m.
Departures at 5:50 p.m. with an Airbus 330-300 (315 seats)



ABOUT THE CALGARY AIRPORT AUTHORITY

The Calgary Airport Authority is a not-for-profit organization incorporated under the Regional Airports Authorities Act of Alberta. The Calgary Airport Authority is responsible for the management, operation and development of Calgary International (YYC) and Springbank (YBW) Airports. YYC is an important economic engine for the city, region and province, generating over $8 billion per annum in economic activity.

For more information please contact:

Jody Moseley
Senior Director, Communications & Stakeholder Relations
The Calgary Airport Authority

KLM Pack&Go Fare Specials from Calgary

KLM Pack&GO super deals
Fares include all taxes and fees
Valid for bookings until September 18, 2012. Departure from October 16 to December 14, 2012 or from December 25, 2012 to May 6, 2013.

Calgary - Amsterdam from 999 $

Calgary - Dublin from 999 $

Calgary - Larnaca from 999 $

Calgary - Dubai from 1 199 $

Calgary - Johannesburg starting at 1 499 $

Book online at KLM.com

British Airways Fall Sale

British Airways is having a fall seat sale with fare as low $399 before taxes and fees to Amsterdam, London, Paris and Rome depending on your Canadian departure point.  These fares can found for travel between Oct 2012 and March 2013. For complete details or to book visit BritishAirways.com

Calgary Chinook Lounge to receive Priority Pass Highly Commended Award

Calgary, June 21, 2012 - Servisair was recognized today with a Priority Pass Highly Commended Award 2012 for its Chinook executive lounge located at Calgary International Airport (YYC) in Concourse D.

The Priority Pass Lounge of the Year Awards are designed to recognize service excellence amongst the lounges in the Priority Pass programme and are based on more than 40,000 ratings made by their members from around the world.

“We have a beautiful partnership with Servisair for lounges and VIP services around the world,” said Terry Evans, President, Priority Pass. “All Priority Pass members are frequent, discerning travellers with extensive experience of airport lounges so this is a fantastic reflection of the quality of service they feel they receive when they visit Servisair’s Chinook Lounge, Calgary.”

“We make it our priority to provide excellent customer service to passengers going through our executive lounges, and as such we are very proud of the recognition we received from our long standing partner, Priority Pass,” said Dale Flette, General Manager, Calgary, Servisair. “This award is the result of all the efforts made by our great and dedicated lounge team.”

“We are always thrilled when our partners receive accolades for providing a high level of service to the passengers at YYC, and we congratulate Servisair on this prestigious recognition,” said Don Kolsun, Director, Commercial & Retail Development for The Calgary Airport Authority. 

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Priority Pass is the world’s largest independent airport lounge access program and counts millions of members worldwide. The programme provides frequent travellers with airport lounge access, irrespective of their class of travel, airline flown or existing membership of an airline loyalty programme. Founded in 1992 with 55 lounges in 49 countries, Priority Pass today offers access to more than 600 airport lounges in over 300 cities in more than 100 countries.  

Servisair is a market leader in the provision of common use airport lounges throughout the UK and Continental Europe and Canada, serving more than one million travelling passengers per year in more than 20 well equipped and stylish facilities. In Servisair executive lounges, business and leisure passengers can relax or work in a quiet place before their flight irrespective of their airline or class of travel. For more information, please visit www.executivelounges.ca

Great KLM Business Class Deals between Calgary & Europe for the Summer

Three SkyTeam airlines recently launched sales for Business Class tickets from Canada to Europe. Of course, KLM is the only one that serves Calgary, so this post is about their offers (if you want to see the other airlines see this post on Rewards Canada) My parents actually got on a previous KLM offer like one of these, Calgary-Prague for $2,500 all in. This time the prices are slightly higher but that is because we are also closer to the summer travel season. All of the prices below include all taxes and fees.

KLM Offers (all must be booked by June 5 for travel June 19 - Sept 10)
Edinburgh from $ 2 999
Oslo from $ 2 999
Geneva from $ 2 999
Birmingham from $ 2 999
Munich from $ 2 999
Billund from $ 2 999
Dubai from $ 3 499

To view/book these or other offers visit KLM

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Earn Double WestJet Dollars between Calgary & Chicago

To help promote their new route between Calgary & Chicago, WestJet will be offering their Rewards members Double WestJet dollars on the route.  I don't have all the details yet but know that you will have to register for it (WestJet will send out an email with the invitation link) and you must register by July 15 for travel between June 3 and September 3, 2012

Korean Air to codeshare on select WestJet routes out of YYC

Starting on May 31 Korean Air will be codesharing on a handful of WestJet flights that connect to Korean Air gateways in North America. These include Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco flights out of Calgary. The complete list is as follows:

Honolulu – Vancouver
Las Vegas – Calgary
Las Vegas – Vancouver
Los Angeles – Calgary
Los Angeles – Edmonton
Los Angeles – Vancouver
San Francisco – Calgary
San Francisco – Vancouver
Toronto – Calgary
Toronto – Halifax
Toronto – Montreal
Toronto – Ottawa
Toronto – Quebec City
Toronto – St. John’s NL
Toronto – Vancouver
Toronto – Winnipeg
Vancouver – Calgary
Vancouver – Edmonton
Vancouver – Kelowna
Vancouver – Montreal
Vancouver – Ottawa
Vancouver – Prince George
Vancouver – Regina
Vancouver – Saskatoon
Vancouver – Winnipeg

Source: Airline Route Updates

British Airways Business Class Sale: Calgary - London $1952 ALL IN!

To celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, British Airways is having a sale on Business Class flights to the U.K. from Canada. The price believe it or not is the same as the year that the Queen was inaugurated, 1952. Yes C$1952 including all fees and taxes for a round trip Business Class flight from any Canadian city that British Airways flies from (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal) to London or Manchester.

The sale only runs until May 18 and is good for travel between May 26 and June 9, 2012

For complete details and/or to book please visit British Airways

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