In This Issue: 

🛬 Up To 7X Aeroplan Points This Canada Day

​​🚨 2X American Express Cobalt Multiplier Slashed

🗺️ Chexy Deals: London, Paris, Lisbon

Maximize Your Aeroplan Points This Canada Day

For Canada Day, Aeroplan has launched another eStore promotion. It lets members earn up to 7x Aeroplan points per dollar spent on eligible products until June 30, 2024, so you might want to hurry! 

Plus, you can earn up to 5 Aeroplan points per dollar spent at other retailers until July 1, 2024. 👀

Canada Day Retailer Bonus

During the Canada Day promotion, you can earn up to 5x Aeroplan points on purchases at the retailers below via the Aeroplan eStore until July 1, 2024. 🇨🇦

Retailers include: 

• Amazon.ca: Up to 5x points

• LookFantastic, NordVPN, Mel Science, fuboTV, Noom, NordVPN: Up to 10x points

• HP and HP Small Business: Up to 7x points

• Other retailers like Bouclair, Fresh, Hello Fresh, Michael Kors, and more offers

Note: The larger the purchase, the more points you get so, if you’re planning on making large purchases, this might be your shot to tons of points. 🤝

Big Earnings with Apple

Now, the best deal you can get with this promotion is through Apple. The earning rate is 7 points per dollar on select Apple products until June 30, 2024, which is massive.

Real Life Example

Let’s say you’re in the market for a new iPhone 15 Pro, which retails for $1,449 CAD. With this current promotion, you would get 10,143 Aeroplan points! If you use these points on travel, which is the best use case for your points, it would be worth $203! ✅

Other Ways to Boost Your Aeroplan Points

To further increase your points, consider these options:

1. If you have Aeroplan Elite Status, you can earn an additional 2 points per dollar spent on all eStore purchases. 

    

2. And if you already have an Aeroplan Co-Branded credit card, you can further increase your earning rate. 

For example, with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card, you can earn up to 10.25 Aeroplan points for each dollar you spend:

• 7X from the promotional rate

• 2X Elite Status

• And, 1.25X base rate from the card

So, if you go ahead and buy the same iPhone 15 pro with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card, you would get 14,867 points, which again, if spent on travel would be around $298, with each point being valued at 2 cents. 👏

Final Thoughts

Whether you're eyeing new Apple products or shopping from other retailers, shopping during this promotion will maximize your points for future travel.

Big Changes to the American Express Cobalt Card

Attention all Amex Cobalt Cardholders, your favorite travel perk is about to see some changes. American Express is tweaking the earning rate structure on the American Express Cobalt Card, effective October 8, 2024. Here’s what is changing and what you need to consider if you're a travel junkie who loves earning points.

New Earning Rate for Travel

On October 8, 2024, the Amex Cobalt Card will cut the rate for earning points on travel. It will fall from 2 Membership Rewards (MR) points per dollar to 1 MR point per dollar. Yes, you read that right. Sad to hear, but the card is still one of the best overall credit cards in Canada.

The rest of the card's earning rates are unchanged for now. The card is still a great choice for those looking to earn points on everyday spending.

Here’s how the structure will look like after October 8th, 2024:

• 5 MR points per dollar on groceries and dining

• 3 MR points per dollar on streaming services

• 2 MR points per dollar on gas and transit

• 1 MR point per dollar on everything else, which now includes travel

Taking Your Travel Purchases Elsewhere

For years, the Amex Cobalt Card has been the go-to for everyday spending in Canada—just look at those earn rates. But if you’ve been using this card for major travel purchases, it might be time to consider other options.

What Do We Recommend?

If you travel once or twice a year, we don't see this making a massive change in your points accumulation. However, if you travel often, you might want a travel credit card. An example is the American Express Gold Card.

The Amex Gold is great for occasional travelers. It offers four free Plaza Premium lounge visits, a $100 yearly travel credit, and a better welcome bonus of 60,000 points. Plus, you can easily transfer MR points to other rewards programs. This makes finding a great deal super easy.

Both cards offer similar travel insurance coverages, but the Amex Gold has an advantage with its trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance, providing up to $1,500 per insured person per trip. This totals a maximum of $3,000 per trip, making it a valuable benefit given the frequent occurrence of trip delays and cancellations today.

Final Thoughts

American Express cutting the Cobalt Card's earning rates is a bummer. But, the card still has the top earning rates for everyday spending. It has 5x points on groceries, dining, and drinks. It also has multipliers for other categories.

If you were using this card to pay many of your travel expenses, it might be time to find a new card. A new card will help you to get the most points and better travel perks.

Unlock More When You Share

Want to get more out of the rundown? Now, you can! When you spread the word about The Rundown to your friends and family, you're not just sharing valuable content – you'll also be unlocking valuable rewards!

Here are the referral milestones:

Getting started is super easy:

1. Click the log-in button on the top right-hand corner.

2. You’ll be sent an email giving you access to log in to your account.

3. Once you’ve logged in, you can get access to your code and view the referral incentives by clicking your profile icon!

Join the referral fun today and let's make The Rundown community even bigger and better together. Happy referring! 🌟

Check out these awesome deals you definitely don't want to miss if you're thinking about traveling in the next few months!

Aeroplan:

1. Toronto (YYZ)  ➡️ London (LHR)

   • Cost: 27,800

     

   • Dates: July 06th, 2024

   • Book: Here

2. Toronto (YYZ)  ➡️ Lisbon (LIS) 

   • Cost: 28,900

     

   • Dates: July 06th, 2024

   • Book: Here

3. Montreal (YUL) ➡️ Barcelona (BCN) 

   • Cost: 27,800

   • 

   • Dates: July 15th, 2024

   • Book: Here