Author Topic: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread  (Read 254366 times)

daverobev

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #50 on: October 30, 2018, 12:30:23 PM »
I just signed up for the Blue Sky Amex card to get 10k bonus points (worth 100 bucks). No annual fee, no minimum income required, and they also have 5k bonuses for referring people (so if you want my code, let me know, and the next person can pass it down)
You earn 1.25 points per dollar and need to spend $500 in the first 3 months to get the bonus. It works as a statement credit against travel purchases.
https://www.ratehub.ca/credit-cards/card/american-express-blue-sky

Meh, better than nothing. No fee, so can keep the age of your cards up, 100$ is 100$ (5k for the referrer, or both?). Course there are lots and lots of 100$ options.
Also, AMEX is terrible for finding places that accept it.
From reading the conditions, I think the referee would get 10k bonus that any new member would get, and the referrer gets 5k. But I don't have the card in hand yet so I'm not sure if I'll get more details on the program.
I don't qualify for the higher minimum income cards, and I try to avoid annual fees, and I already have a lot of the cards that offer good bonuses, so for me this is a decent option for now. It is hard to spend a lot on amex, I ran into that issue when I got the Scotiabank gold amex, but only $500 in 3 months shouldn't be too hard.

Amex doesn't do minimum income requirements in Canada. There are few reasons to keep something like the Blue Sky card, when you could have a Cobalt, or Gold, or SPG... The return is much much better.

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #51 on: October 30, 2018, 12:38:30 PM »
I just signed up for the Blue Sky Amex card to get 10k bonus points (worth 100 bucks). No annual fee, no minimum income required, and they also have 5k bonuses for referring people (so if you want my code, let me know, and the next person can pass it down)
You earn 1.25 points per dollar and need to spend $500 in the first 3 months to get the bonus. It works as a statement credit against travel purchases.
https://www.ratehub.ca/credit-cards/card/american-express-blue-sky

Meh, better than nothing. No fee, so can keep the age of your cards up, 100$ is 100$ (5k for the referrer, or both?). Course there are lots and lots of 100$ options.
Also, AMEX is terrible for finding places that accept it.
From reading the conditions, I think the referee would get 10k bonus that any new member would get, and the referrer gets 5k. But I don't have the card in hand yet so I'm not sure if I'll get more details on the program.
I don't qualify for the higher minimum income cards, and I try to avoid annual fees, and I already have a lot of the cards that offer good bonuses, so for me this is a decent option for now. It is hard to spend a lot on amex, I ran into that issue when I got the Scotiabank gold amex, but only $500 in 3 months shouldn't be too hard.

Amex doesn't do minimum income requirements in Canada. There are few reasons to keep something like the Blue Sky card, when you could have a Cobalt, or Gold, or SPG... The return is much much better.

Allows for an extra card with no fee. Thus increasing the average age of all accounts.

PoutineLover

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #52 on: October 30, 2018, 12:40:52 PM »
I just signed up for the Blue Sky Amex card to get 10k bonus points (worth 100 bucks). No annual fee, no minimum income required, and they also have 5k bonuses for referring people (so if you want my code, let me know, and the next person can pass it down)
You earn 1.25 points per dollar and need to spend $500 in the first 3 months to get the bonus. It works as a statement credit against travel purchases.
https://www.ratehub.ca/credit-cards/card/american-express-blue-sky

Meh, better than nothing. No fee, so can keep the age of your cards up, 100$ is 100$ (5k for the referrer, or both?). Course there are lots and lots of 100$ options.
Also, AMEX is terrible for finding places that accept it.
From reading the conditions, I think the referee would get 10k bonus that any new member would get, and the referrer gets 5k. But I don't have the card in hand yet so I'm not sure if I'll get more details on the program.
I don't qualify for the higher minimum income cards, and I try to avoid annual fees, and I already have a lot of the cards that offer good bonuses, so for me this is a decent option for now. It is hard to spend a lot on amex, I ran into that issue when I got the Scotiabank gold amex, but only $500 in 3 months shouldn't be too hard.

Amex doesn't do minimum income requirements in Canada. There are few reasons to keep something like the Blue Sky card, when you could have a Cobalt, or Gold, or SPG... The return is much much better.
All of those cards have annual fees, and I don't spend all that much money each month, especially not at places that accept Amex, so it would be pretty hard to justify. I do have the gold, but I think a $100 bonus is better than spending enough to get $100 in points earned. Looks like for the cobalt I'd get $300 if I spent $500 per month all year, but I'd still be paying $120 in fees so net $180. If I spend the same amount on the Blue sky, I net $175. Plus I'll get a referral from my partner, so $225. Am I missing anything?

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #53 on: October 30, 2018, 12:54:38 PM »
Depending on the time of the year, they will often throw a FYF option (Not cobalt, cobalt is terrible for low spenders)

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #54 on: October 30, 2018, 01:02:35 PM »
Depending on the time of the year, they will often throw a FYF option (Not cobalt, cobalt is terrible for low spenders)
I got my first year free on the Scotiabank gold amex, then I downgraded to the regular free one. Would I still get a bonus if I get a regular gold amex?
On average I spend about $800/month outside of rent, but I think for at least half of that I'd have an Amex acceptance issue, and plus for me I think the psychological aspect of needing to spend $500 to get the bonus would cause me to spend more. I don't always shop at chain grocery stores, so gift cards have limited utility for me as well. I'm open to other options, and I'll definitely look into all suggestions, but based on my spending patterns I don't know if those cards would be more beneficial to me than the blue sky.

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #55 on: October 30, 2018, 01:43:15 PM »

I got my first year free on the Scotiabank gold amex, then I downgraded to the regular free one. Would I still get a bonus if I get a regular gold amex?
-As long as it`s not an upgrade, but a new card, you'd get the bonus.
On average I spend about $800/month outside of rent, but I think for at least half of that I'd have an Amex acceptance issue, and plus for me I think the psychological aspect of needing to spend $500 to get the bonus would cause me to spend more. I don't always shop at chain grocery stores, so gift cards have limited utility for me as well. I'm open to other options, and I'll definitely look into all suggestions, but based on my spending patterns I don't know if those cards would be more beneficial to me than the blue sky.
I wouldn`t do it then if you'll simply spend more.

daverobev

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #56 on: October 30, 2018, 03:04:20 PM »
I just signed up for the Blue Sky Amex card to get 10k bonus points (worth 100 bucks). No annual fee, no minimum income required, and they also have 5k bonuses for referring people (so if you want my code, let me know, and the next person can pass it down)
You earn 1.25 points per dollar and need to spend $500 in the first 3 months to get the bonus. It works as a statement credit against travel purchases.
https://www.ratehub.ca/credit-cards/card/american-express-blue-sky

Meh, better than nothing. No fee, so can keep the age of your cards up, 100$ is 100$ (5k for the referrer, or both?). Course there are lots and lots of 100$ options.
Also, AMEX is terrible for finding places that accept it.
From reading the conditions, I think the referee would get 10k bonus that any new member would get, and the referrer gets 5k. But I don't have the card in hand yet so I'm not sure if I'll get more details on the program.
I don't qualify for the higher minimum income cards, and I try to avoid annual fees, and I already have a lot of the cards that offer good bonuses, so for me this is a decent option for now. It is hard to spend a lot on amex, I ran into that issue when I got the Scotiabank gold amex, but only $500 in 3 months shouldn't be too hard.

Amex doesn't do minimum income requirements in Canada. There are few reasons to keep something like the Blue Sky card, when you could have a Cobalt, or Gold, or SPG... The return is much much better.
All of those cards have annual fees, and I don't spend all that much money each month, especially not at places that accept Amex, so it would be pretty hard to justify. I do have the gold, but I think a $100 bonus is better than spending enough to get $100 in points earned. Looks like for the cobalt I'd get $300 if I spent $500 per month all year, but I'd still be paying $120 in fees so net $180. If I spend the same amount on the Blue sky, I net $175. Plus I'll get a referral from my partner, so $225. Am I missing anything?

Cobalt sometimes has a 10k points sign up offer. Last year they did 10% on grocery spending in December - fingers crossed - and there are often extra offers floating around.

If you're not spending that much then yeah, it's tricky. Gift cards from the grocery store though - 5% off Amazon, Netflix... everything.

PoutineLover

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #57 on: November 02, 2018, 12:25:47 PM »
I got my TD bonus already! It only took 2.5 weeks! They won't care if I just take all my money out and close the account, right?

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #58 on: November 02, 2018, 01:46:04 PM »
Read the details of the offer, make sure there's no claw-back clause.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #59 on: November 10, 2018, 11:11:44 AM »
Shop the Block for 2,000AM is back 15 November - 27 December!

https://shoptheblock.ca/en/coming_soon

Also, if you have pets - you could potentially double dip with the Global Pet Foods scratch/win promotion 3-17 November, which overlaps with one of the shop the block partners
https://scratchandwinwin.com/
« Last Edit: November 10, 2018, 11:13:51 AM by Ottawa »

daverobev

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #60 on: November 10, 2018, 12:22:04 PM »
Shop the Block for 2,000AM is back 15 November - 27 December!

https://shoptheblock.ca/en/coming_soon

Also, if you have pets - you could potentially double dip with the Global Pet Foods scratch/win promotion 3-17 November, which overlaps with one of the shop the block partners
https://scratchandwinwin.com/

Yup, makes now a good time to apply for an AM credit card.

And also pick up another AM account or two, if you're into that kind of thing!

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #61 on: November 10, 2018, 04:54:33 PM »
There will be a list of different offers, and if you hit 3-5-7 of them, you get the bonus points.
Note: You usually have to show the code for the offer.
Take detailed notes (keep receipts) as AM is not always great at getting everything right.

You can only get 1 offer per company, so don't try hitting two from the same one, only one of the two counts.
You can also use offers from different provinces if you are in a province like ontario, and plan on going to Quebec at some point (Allowing you to hit Qc location to make your 7 total).

The 7 is the most profitable (200$).

FYI, you can also open AM cards for your kids, and then for example and then do 7 for each account, even though you are using the same credit card. (Just make sure that you hit 7 for each. It's a nice way to hit minimum spends for those low expenses people. so F@45, you could do 7 for you, 7 for your DD, 7 for DS and receive 6000pts (2k on each card).

thriftyc

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #62 on: November 11, 2018, 07:28:37 AM »
Posting to follow. 

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #63 on: November 11, 2018, 07:31:59 AM »
I'll do a write-up of how I plan on doing the Shop the Block, but BC`s offers will be different, so you'll get an idea.

daverobev

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #64 on: November 11, 2018, 08:03:10 AM »
Apparently new this year - you have to do 7 offers at 7 different shops in order to qualify, which is going to make things much harder (I think I got 4 at Sobey's last year...).

However, there are some easy ones, assuming you have the miles.

Rona, Shell, Metro - use x miles and get some bonus miles - that's three easy, and free (self sustaining really) ones in Ontario.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #65 on: November 11, 2018, 09:20:48 AM »
Where can you see the offers?

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #66 on: November 11, 2018, 09:42:01 AM »
Not out yet on the website, but places like Metro and Sobeys have paper copies (location dependant)

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/air-miles-shop-block-2018-nationwide-nov-15-dec-27-coming-soon-2234901/

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #67 on: November 13, 2018, 06:13:59 PM »
I got my TD bonus already! It only took 2.5 weeks! They won't care if I just take all my money out and close the account, right?

They didn't seem to mind when I did it ;)
Sorry for such a slow response, hope it worked out for you!

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #68 on: November 13, 2018, 06:16:06 PM »
Hmmm, I've never had an Air Miles card before.
Sounds like it might be worth getting one for this promotion?

The ones from BMO seem reasonable:
https://www.bmo.com/main/personal/credit-cards/2-airmiles-offers/loyaltyone/?ecid=da-us11138CC4-EYBMO16&Airmiles.ca&dclid=CNPSwPbY0t4CFVSuAQod6hcMKA#terms-overlay

Anyone have any experience? I like the higher sign-up bonus on the World Elite, but 3K spend in 3 months would be quite a stretch for me.

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #69 on: November 13, 2018, 06:20:24 PM »
Taxes, gift cards. Insurance?

The BMO air miles WE is an awesome offer, just go up and tead my description earlier in the thread. 2 flights for the price of one + 300$ of AM (atleast) with the 3k spend.

daverobev

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #70 on: November 14, 2018, 05:46:35 AM »
Hmmm, I've never had an Air Miles card before.
Sounds like it might be worth getting one for this promotion?

The ones from BMO seem reasonable:
https://www.bmo.com/main/personal/credit-cards/2-airmiles-offers/loyaltyone/?ecid=da-us11138CC4-EYBMO16&Airmiles.ca&dclid=CNPSwPbY0t4CFVSuAQod6hcMKA#terms-overlay

Anyone have any experience? I like the higher sign-up bonus on the World Elite, but 3K spend in 3 months would be quite a stretch for me.

PayTM is, AFAIK, still free (ie no cash advance/surcharges) with Mastercard. So you can do property tax, prepay utilities, things like that.

sieben

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #71 on: November 14, 2018, 06:10:01 PM »
Thanks for the tips daverobev + Lews Therin.
Looks like a good deal :)

I got the card, I'll just have to figure out a way to get the spend.  Maybe my insurance broker will let me pay the premium for my cabin insurance 6 months early, otherwise it looks like I'll be stocking up on gift cards ;)

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #72 on: November 14, 2018, 06:18:10 PM »
If you go with payTM, theres a referral system in place (5$) and you also get the current 10$ bonus, and possibly the 10$ university bonus. (Also detailed higher)

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #73 on: November 15, 2018, 08:48:05 AM »
Shop the Block is out! 2000 Air Miles for shopping at 7 different partners 15 Nov - 27 Dec
https://shoptheblock.ca/en/home

Here is an example of a ridiculous plan that will hit all the criteria, and cost almost nothing.
Note that my example only works for someone in Ontario, and can also go to Quebec (Since i`m using both provinces`s offers. Other provinces, other offers.

1- 25L at Shell (I'll have to gas up at some point, so I make sure to do it at shell and show the promotion offer) - No extra cost
2- Use 190 Air Miles for 20$ at Rexall + only buying things I need/would have bought anyways (I will be receiving more than 190 Air miles, so free money)
3- Jean Coutu - Spend 20$.. Probably harder to find 20$ worth of stuff I would have needed (I've got lots of hoarded toiletries, but still easy enough)
4- Spend 285 Air miles at Rona for 30$ - Easy enough to get things like light bulbs, tools, gifts.
5- Miss Fresh - Food delivery service, I will cancel after a single week, so it`s 6 meals for 66$, but they also offer 500 AM (50$) so 2$/Meal. Acceptable!
6- Connect my samsung pay to Air Miles (Don`t have it, but will create an account to get the bonus)
7- Use 95 Air Miles for 10$ at IGA.

After all this, I`ll have 120$ (ish) worth of stuff I would have bought anyways, and 250$ from Air Miles. Win-Win-lose (Air miles is losing)
My GF will be doing almost the exact same thing, so we are getting stuff we need, and lowering our expenses, since it`s not our money.

MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE DETAILS OF THE PROMO. There are different dates for the offers, some of which you have to show the bar code in order for it to count, and always keep receipts, and screenshots of offers. (Proving you have done them)

Even crazier, I don`t have to do it all immediately, I`m sure the 95 AM for 10$ at Metro will come out as well, so it`s easy to make sure you have a very profitable promotion! @Ottawa @oneyearfromnow @Novik
« Last Edit: November 15, 2018, 08:50:06 AM by Lews Therin »

daverobev

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #74 on: November 15, 2018, 09:43:41 AM »
Shop the Block is out! 2000 Air Miles for shopping at 7 different partners 15 Nov - 27 Dec
https://shoptheblock.ca/en/home

Here is an example of a ridiculous plan that will hit all the criteria, and cost almost nothing.
Note that my example only works for someone in Ontario, and can also go to Quebec (Since i`m using both provinces`s offers. Other provinces, other offers.

1- 25L at Shell (I'll have to gas up at some point, so I make sure to do it at shell and show the promotion offer) - No extra cost
2- Use 190 Air Miles for 20$ at Rexall + only buying things I need/would have bought anyways (I will be receiving more than 190 Air miles, so free money)
3- Jean Coutu - Spend 20$.. Probably harder to find 20$ worth of stuff I would have needed (I've got lots of hoarded toiletries, but still easy enough)
4- Spend 285 Air miles at Rona for 30$ - Easy enough to get things like light bulbs, tools, gifts.
5- Miss Fresh - Food delivery service, I will cancel after a single week, so it`s 6 meals for 66$, but they also offer 500 AM (50$) so 2$/Meal. Acceptable!
6- Connect my samsung pay to Air Miles (Don`t have it, but will create an account to get the bonus)
7- Use 95 Air Miles for 10$ at IGA.

After all this, I`ll have 120$ (ish) worth of stuff I would have bought anyways, and 250$ from Air Miles. Win-Win-lose (Air miles is losing)
My GF will be doing almost the exact same thing, so we are getting stuff we need, and lowering our expenses, since it`s not our money.

MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE DETAILS OF THE PROMO. There are different dates for the offers, some of which you have to show the bar code in order for it to count, and always keep receipts, and screenshots of offers. (Proving you have done them)

Even crazier, I don`t have to do it all immediately, I`m sure the 95 AM for 10$ at Metro will come out as well, so it`s easy to make sure you have a very profitable promotion! @Ottawa @oneyearfromnow @Novik

The Metro STB one is 20-24 December I believe.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #75 on: November 15, 2018, 11:21:54 AM »
As I fulfill the 7 shops I will add to this post...mostly as a memo for me!

1) Opt in on 25 transactions with my BMO Airmiles world elite MC.  Since I'm trying to hit the 3,000 spend this shouldn't be a problem.




Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #76 on: November 15, 2018, 11:28:49 AM »
There's also nothing stopping you from doing 25 separate 1$ amazon GC transactions. Just sayin.

elaine amj

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #77 on: November 15, 2018, 09:58:32 PM »
I was beginning to wonder if they were even going to run Shop the Block this year!!

I'm going to struggle a bit this time :( The 7 different partners is tough! Hoping additional offers come out in a few weeks that will be easier for me to do. I don't shop at Sobeys and Foodland regularly and spending $60/100 at each is going to be quite difficult. It's a bummer I'm not near a Sobeys UrbanFresh where I can buy a Sobeys $100 gift card then used that to shop at Sobeys.

And $50 each (so $100 total) in pet food is going to be many months of food for our little dog. We're still working through the last third of a giant bag from Costco.

On the positive side, I was able to use the Samsung offer even without a Samsung phone. It was simple to create an account on my laptop and then add my air miles number.

My goals are
For DH:
1. 25 purchases on BMO Air Miles MC (Nov 15 - Dec 27)
2. Link Air Miles to Samsung account, get 75 bonus Air Miles (Nov 15 - 26) - DONE
note: don't even need a Samsung phone for this :)
3. Fill up $25 at Shell, get 5 miles (Dec 15-27)
4. Spend $40, get 20 bonus AM at Rexall (Dec 3-13)
5. Use 95 cash miles for $10 off at Metro, get 50 bonus Air Miles (Dec 20-24)
6 and 7 from these possibilities:
a. use 285 cash miles for $30 off at Rona (Nov 15-30)
b. Spend $100 at Sobeys, get 100 Air Miles (Dec 6-12)
c. Spend $60 at Foodland, get 20 bonus Air Miles (Nov 16 - Dec 19)
d. spend $50 at Global Pet Foods, get 10 bonus Air Miles (Nov 15 - Dec 27)

For me:
1. use your American Express®* AIR MILES® Card to make 25 purchase transactions (Nov 15 - Dec 15)
2. Link Air Miles to Samsung account, get 75 bonus Air Miles (Nov 15 - 26)
3. Fill up 25L at Shell, get 5 miles (Dec 15-27)
4. Use 190 cash miles for $20 off, get 40 bonus AM at Rexall (Nov 19-22)
5. Use 95 cash miles for $10 off at Metro, get 50 bonus Air Miles (Dec 20-24)
6 and 7 from these possibilities:
a. use 285 cash miles for $30 off at Rona (Nov 15-30)
b. Spend $100 at Sobeys, get 100 Air Miles (Dec 6-12)
c. Spend $60 at Foodland, get 20 bonus Air Miles (Nov 16 - Dec 19)
d. spend $50 at Global Pet Foods, get 10 bonus Air Miles (Nov 15 - Dec 27)



Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #78 on: November 16, 2018, 02:40:39 AM »
Why not miss fresh? Only ends up being 2$ a meal.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #79 on: November 16, 2018, 06:45:47 AM »
Did Shell yesterday, just signed up for Samsung Pay. Will do LCBO later on, and Rexall tomorrow.

That's 4. 5 will be Metro in December. Then I'm a little stuck, but will probably do Sobey's/Foodland.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #80 on: November 16, 2018, 07:43:24 AM »
Why not miss fresh? Only ends up being 2$ a meal.

Thanks Ben for the tip on Miss Fresh. Hadn't thought of that one.  Any idea how simple the cancellation process is?

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #81 on: November 16, 2018, 09:20:48 AM »
Why not miss fresh? Only ends up being 2$ a meal.

Thanks Ben for the tip on Miss Fresh. Hadn't thought of that one.  Any idea how simple the cancellation process is?

No personal experience, but I saw a tip elsewhere - you can put your order into "vacation mode" for a week or two to ensure AM post and your order comes, and then cancel a little more leisurely.

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #82 on: November 16, 2018, 01:58:24 PM »
FYI for Miss Fresh, I've got confirmation from their customer service that their website is showing an error (250 instead of 500+25)

The 500+25 is the correct amount.

You can also ''Skip'' weeks, so I've already skipped the next month saying I am traveling, and will close the subscription in a couple of weeks to make sure I get my points, and Air Miles won`t be able to say anything :D !
« Last Edit: November 16, 2018, 02:10:06 PM by Lews Therin »

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #83 on: November 16, 2018, 02:12:17 PM »
Why not miss fresh? Only ends up being 2$ a meal.

Thanks Ben for the tip on Miss Fresh. Hadn't thought of that one.  Any idea how simple the cancellation process is?

Seems pretty cut and dry.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #84 on: November 16, 2018, 03:51:49 PM »
Why not miss fresh? Only ends up being 2$ a meal.

Thanks Ben for the tip on Miss Fresh. Hadn't thought of that one.  Any idea how simple the cancellation process is?

Seems pretty cut and dry.

Awesome

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #85 on: November 16, 2018, 08:44:51 PM »
Thanks, Lews Therin, for prompting me in this direction. Miss Fresh looks good (I hate cooking!). I'm about to sign up and I found a referral code that will result in $45 discount on my very first order... should I go ahead and use this code? Or will it void my Shop the Block offer? (If it does, I have to admit that I am tempted to use the code and keep the Miss Fresh subscription for an extra week...assuming I like it.)

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #86 on: November 16, 2018, 08:58:28 PM »
I wouldn't use other codes. It'll possibly block the air miles. Make sure to go through the ahop the block system. Try at your discretion.

I'll refer you :D. You might get a third one out of it. (I'll order the third one to your place.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #87 on: November 16, 2018, 09:32:12 PM »
Oh geez, I hadn't looked at Miss Fresh carefully enough -- does not help a "hate to cook" person like me. It's not pre-cooked meals, it's the ingredients to cook your own. Will see about this one. There is a possibility that this would prompt my spouse to cook. He doesn't do much cooking but having everything he needs right at his door step might be all he need to get started. This might be wishful thinking on my part.

Regardless, another good offer for those of us in the Ontario-Quebec border region is the Nickel's restaurant 3x the points on a spend of $20 or more. No cooking required for that one! (Doesn't take much to convince me to eat out!)

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #88 on: November 19, 2018, 08:49:22 AM »
Theoretically, I'm at 4/7:

Shell (did both, no 'real cost' because I bought an Amazon giftcard, and... petrol...)

Samsung Pay signup (free)

Rexall (Oh my god, why does anyone shop there? Anyway - spent $28, used a feedback coupon for $5 off, redeemed 190 AM. Of that, $25 was Pepsi Co stuff, so I uploaded a receipt to https://pepsiholidays.ca/ and should get a coupon book early next year - so 'real cost' $3.87)

LCBO (bottle of wine, the cheap stuff was out of stock so I got a Peller Shiraz for $18)

Now I just have to wait - get a Sobey's giftcard at Sobey's Urban Fresh, then use it at Foodland - so a cost of ~$75, but obviously I will get food for that - and then redeem 95 AM at Metro.

Not bad.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #89 on: November 19, 2018, 09:58:31 AM »
Ugh Foodland and Sobeys. They are so pricey for nothing.

Excellent stacking of freebies on freebies!

I still recommend Miss Fresh over LCBO, you get 6 meals for 6$ (vegetarian) or 12$ (Normal). Most people eat right? + It can be helpful for achieving welcome bonus spends for Credit cards.

Though now you've got me wondering if I should also get 25$ of pepsi things at rexall..... where did you get the coupon?

daverobev

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #90 on: November 19, 2018, 10:44:18 AM »
Ugh Foodland and Sobeys. They are so pricey for nothing.

Excellent stacking of freebies on freebies!

I still recommend Miss Fresh over LCBO, you get 6 meals for 6$ (vegetarian) or 12$ (Normal). Most people eat right? + It can be helpful for achieving welcome bonus spends for Credit cards.

Though now you've got me wondering if I should also get 25$ of pepsi things at rexall..... where did you get the coupon?

https://www.rexall.ca/assets/downloads/RexallSurvey2018.pdf

Edit: As to why not Miss Fresh, eh. I really don't like sign-up-to-cancel deals, makes me feel guilty. I'm not a good churner (good churners will be doing 12 cards a year I think; I generally manage 4 or so, maybe a couple more... but I'm also doing the occasional US one as well). They aren't a big company like Rona (Lowes), Shell... And honestly, fuck Rexall, their prices are incredible. Incredible. I forgot how bad they are, even vs Shoppers. I don't know how they are in business, honestly.

I might suggest it to my wife, though... she might get use out of them as I'll be away for a couple of weeks...

Edit2: Yeah she's up for it. Ok, signed up. We'll see.

Edit3: I just signed up for HBC Rewards with autoconvert which, with the Miss Fresh one, actually takes me to 6... just need to do Metro at the end of December and I'm, in theory, done.

1 - Shell (no 'real cost')
2 - Samsung Pay (free)
3 - Rexall ($4 out of pocket, '$28' in produce which is probably only 'worth' $10, $20 of Pepsi coupons on the way)
4 - LCBO ($18 out of pocket)
5 - Miss Fresh ($66 out of pocket)
6 - HBC (free)

(7 - Metro - redeem 95 AM 20-24 Dec)

So $88 out of pocket, but 2k AM from hitting 7 offers, less 190 + 95 = 285 AM spent, plus 5, 75, 40, 10, 500, 30 bonus miles.

Spend $88, get 2375 AM = $250 (plus chips & dip, coupons, wine, 6 meal portions...)

Damn I should've got another AM card :P If you were really on this you could do 3-4 sets - enough to live on for a month or more.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2018, 12:06:47 PM by daverobev »

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #91 on: November 19, 2018, 12:36:40 PM »
Does make you think though - a credit card signup bonus is a *hell* of a lot less work... Less 'fun' but much less work.

The nice thing with what I've set up now is that it doesn't involve driving the ~hour to Sobey's/Foodland...

Lews Therin

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #92 on: November 19, 2018, 01:08:55 PM »
It's the minimum spend that usually stops people from doing things like this.

Even for free AM, there's a limited amount of toothpaste and toilet paper I want to buy from Rexall.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #93 on: November 19, 2018, 01:58:09 PM »
It's the minimum spend that usually stops people from doing things like this.

Even for free AM, there's a limited amount of toothpaste and toilet paper I want to buy from Rexall.

Well, if it's free, you can just give it to a shelter.

Regarding min. spend... yeah, but you can get one of the awful Home Trust prepaid visa cards. I had one for a few months but they have a shitty verification system, Equifax IIRC, but handled poorly - so 'there has been a fraud warning put on this account' = 'fail'. In other words, I wasn't able to take the right amount of cash out of the card, making using it expensive (even more expensive than it already was).

Harder here than the US, no doubt. And also harder for us frugal people with limited real spending.

I'm looking forwards to seeing how well I can do in the UK... Apparently there are often Aldi/Lidl £10 off £40 coupons in the papers. Credit card wise, there is barely anything, unfortunately. And I doubt there is anything as lucrative as Shop the Block. There is, however, Matched Betting, which is awful, dirty, and... might be fun.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #94 on: November 20, 2018, 06:35:56 PM »
This thread could be fun :)

Not a CC, but I just did this too get $300.
https://www.td.com/ca/en/personal-banking/products/special-offers/300-offer/

Relatively painless, I did the following.
* Signed up online
* Transferred in $4000 so I wasn't getting dinged with a monthly fee
* Made a online payment to my Questrade account
* Setup a PAD from my Questrade account
* Waited a month
* Got my bonus
* Transferred everything out
* Cancelled the account online.

Took maybe an hour of messing around, more then I normally get paid anyway ;)

Going to try this one right now.  Deadline is to open the account is Oct. 31 for anyone else who might be interested.

I got this all set up, did my bill payment to Questrade, and set up a PAD from Questrade, now I wait for the $$$.

Update: I received the $300 in my account about a week ago.  That is some blazing fast cash and super easy churn.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #95 on: November 20, 2018, 06:52:37 PM »
I'll likely jump on board to get the AM shop the block offer...I'll also get the wife on board, and by that I mean I'll just take her card around and make separate transactions at the stores at the same time :)

At a qucik galance at the offers needed in my neck of the woods (New Brunswick) 5 seens easy, but the 7 is going to require a bit of work

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #96 on: November 23, 2018, 06:44:07 AM »
NB: IGA; Shell ; Jean Coutu ; Hudson Bay ; Samsung pay ; Miss fresh; Rona ; Air miles shop

Doesn`t seem too bad.

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #97 on: November 23, 2018, 08:02:58 AM »
I've enjoyed reading other people's update on Shop the block, so here's mine - should be at 5/7 by the end of the day.

Done:
lcbo - bought a schnapps that looked fun & tasty (~20$)
rexall - spent 190 AM on needed OTC drugs
samsung pay - done  (easy!)
miss fresh - ordered a box for the second week of Dec, then set the next 6 weeks to "skip" to give me time to cancel after it arrives (65$)

Planned:
shell - car needs gas so doing this today
metro - spend 10$ in AM  (waiting for this offer to be live)
BMO AM CC 25 transactions - will probably manufacture these with Amazon gift cards since I'm trying to hit minimum spend on a different card

Spending: 85$ unplanned spending (+ 30$ AM redemption, and 25$ in gift cards acquired)
Earnings: ~2600 AM aka 270$ in cash redemption value
Net profit: 155$ net AM earnings + value of necessaries acquired for "free" with AM (~30$) + value of unnecessary treats (call it 40$ vs. 85$ cost)
= 225$

Plus I enjoy the puzzle of doing this :)

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #98 on: November 23, 2018, 08:12:12 AM »
Surprised you didn`t do it twice Novik, you and the other.

I've been doing it with my S/O and it added up to a good chunk for our minimum spend (and we will easily hit the 25 transactions on that card due to stopping at lots of places).

Novik

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Re: Canadian Travel Hacking and CC Churning Thread
« Reply #99 on: November 23, 2018, 08:20:38 AM »
We definitely considered doing it twice, but we decided once was the sweet spot of effort vs. reward for us. Technically we could do a second 7 and profit, but the time/effort outlay would go up and/or we'd be spending more cash buying things we frankly don't need, so it made it not appealing. We both did Megamiles because the sweet spot fell the other way on that one, so maybe next year.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!