Today’s post is inspired by an article on CBC that reported that Cineplex lost $98.9-million in the second quarter, which represents a 90% decrease in revenue. To further the woes, the previously announced Cineworld takeover is now scrapped.
You may notice that I put a lot of emphasis on Cineplex, as they control the largest percentage of movie goers in Canada, as well as offer a competitive loyalty program called Scene Rewards.
Air Miles has been trying to elevate its game this summer. To be fair, I think that this is their chance to shine, with the travel industry down. Air Miles is more diversified in its reward options. Today, they are launching two new initiatives.
Rewarding Canadians
Air Miles unveiled a new brand platform today called Rewarding Canadians, every day. Rewarding Canadians features Collectors experiencing moments of reward. At the very least, I think that this is a good reminder for everyone to redeem their miles for something that is worthwhile.
Here is the video to get the ball rolling:
Everyone has complimentary membership for the remainder of 2020. Criteria for 2021 will be announced this fall.
Air Miles has team up with All Purpose Realty (APR) to offer a referral bonus in the brokerage and real estate world.
APR is a Realtor referral service and national realty brokerage in Canada, working with all major real estate brands.
As part of the collaboration between APR and AIR MILES, Collectors can now:
If you have been looking for a way to give back but may not want to give away your hard earned cash, especially for anyone who is tight on money, there is an opportunity with Air Miles.
Earning rewards can be used on yourself, but they can also be a currency to use to donate to give back.
Air Miles announced that Air Miles Gold and Onyx members will receive an extension on their elite status. Furthermore, there is an extension the waiver period for travel change fees.
You may have received an email from Air Miles that looks like this:
Air Miles announced its commitment to support two leading Canadian charities, Kids Help Phone and Food Banks Canada, by providing a channel for its collectors to donate their miles.
Below are the highlights of the donation initiative:
I am a little late in the game for this post, but I thought I’d draw up a R.I.P. post anyway because there could be some confusion with the Scotiabank website. Even though Scotiabank still has an active page mentioning the More Rewards Visa Card, it specify that they are no longer accepting new application. So those of you still grandfathered with the card, I would suggest keeping it for as long as possible so you can still earn More points. Below were the highlights of the card:
Effective today, March 31, 2020, Air Miles collectors can use their Cash Miles to redeem for Uber Eats and Door Dash eVouchers. The redemption rate is 190 Cash Miles for a $20 eVoucher code. This is pretty much the benchmark rate of return I would suggest for Air Miles redemptions. You are getting 10.5 cents per miles ($20 / 190 points). In other words, you are ahead of the game if you can get more than 11 cents per mile in value, but you do not want to dip below 10 cents per mile if you want to optimize your miles.
There are probably a lot of topics that I will be introducing in this post that probably merit a more full blown post. If there is something that you would like me to elaborate on, please let us know in the comment section below.
Depending on which country you live in, seems like this COVID-19 lockdown may drag on longer than we might hope. So in the meantime, does it even more any sense to keep earning frequent flyer miles and hotels points? Should we really just switch to a more predictable cash back rewards option or other retail programs?