BIG-POINT HUNTERS
Couple redeem their points for two-week safari in Kenya and Tanzania and a week in Europe
Trip of a lifetime entirely on air miles,
To Susan Allan, loyalty points are as good as money in the bank.
For more than 10 years, she used her CIBC Aventura card whenever and wherever she could, racking up points at the grocery store, the gas station, and even when she paid her life insurance premiums.
She intended to cash in her points for a big trip once she retired.
But last November, after a very close friend died suddenly, Allan’s gaze shifted from the future to the present.
As a small-business owner, her retirement was nowhere in sight; and her husband Howard, who survived a bout with cancer seven years ago, was coming up to his 70th birthday.
“I realized, you can save a long time for something and then, maybe because of bad health or a sudden illness, it doesn’t happen,” says Allan, 59. “I decided that Howard turning 70 was a big deal, and I wanted to celebrate that while we’re both in good health.”
Over the years, Allan kept careful track of her points balance. When she spoke to travel agents at Aventura about using her 850,000 points, she was delighted to discover that a oncein-a-lifetime trip was within reach.
“I started to think about, where in the world would I like to go?” Allan says. “The idea of a safari came to mind.”
The agents helped her come up with the luxury destination and the itinerary. The two-week trip took the couple from luxury tents on the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya to Tanzania and the plains of the Serengeti.
There were up-close encounters with elephants, camping alongside a river full of hippos, listening to baboons call through the night, and watching firsthand as lions hunted (but failed to catch) a mother and baby wildebeest.
“It was the trip of a lifetime,” Allan says.
When it comes to travel rewards, Canadians’ aspirations are getting a little loftier.
A recent poll by CIBC found that 40 per cent of Canadians are saving their rewards points for travel plans. A whopping three-quarters of that group have their eye on a big-ticket vacation far from home.
“It’s about the big, thoughtful, oncein-a-lifetime kind of trip,” says Cheryl Longo, executive vice-president of card products at CIBC.
For some collectors, that meant the Olympic Games in London. Other popular destinations are wine trips to Tuscany, safaris, and trips to Peru’s Machu Picchu, according to Aventura.
The trend is not surprising, as Canadians, and their vacation spending, recover from the recession.
“It’s fair to say that, when the econom- ic crisis hit back in 2008 and 2009, the luxury travel market was hit as well,” says Rebecca Tascona, director of credit card product management at the Bank of Montreal. “We’ve seen a rebound in that.”
For collectors in BMO’s World Elite program, Europe still ranks as the most popular travel luxury destination, with France, Italy, and the U.K. leading the charge.
But other countries are emerging as new hotspots for opulent travel: Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Belize and the Galapagos Islands, along with safari specialists Kenya and Tanzania.
Sustainability trips or travel with an eco-focus are also popular. Tascona says. “Folks want quality but they also want value. They’ve worked hard to accumulate these points and they want to make sure they’re getting the most out of their points.”
The best way to do that is by using points to upgrade a flight to first-class or business class from economy, says Patrick Sojka, founder of Rewards Canada and an expert on collecting and redeeming points.
“Right there is the start of your luxury travel. It’s the best value,” he says.
For example, an economy ticket from Canada to Europe will typically cost about 60,000 Aeroplan miles. But a business class ticket is 90,000 — only 50 per cent more in points.
But the value of those tickets is quite different, Sojka explains. The economy ticket, before tax, can cost $700 to $1,200. But the business class ticket can cost as much as $3,000 to $6,000.
The Allans made the most of their points. Using Howard’s Aeroplan points to book the airfare to Africa (100,000 points each), they caught a seat-sale with Air Canada and ended up getting first-class tickets for economy prices. The couple also spent a week in Europe on the way home.
Susan owns a gift shop called the Rain Barrel in Little Current on Manitoulin Island. When it comes to collecting points, she advises discipline.
“The thing that people have to remember, when they’re trying to save points for a trip, is that it only works if you pay the card off every month. You can’t abuse your credit card,” she warns. “I put everything I can on my credit card and, when I get the statement, I pay it in full because I was planning on paying it anyway.”
Howard says it’s unlikely they would ever have taken the trip without points. He estimates the cash value at about $12,000, but they only paid about $2,000, mostly to cover the cost of airfare while in Africa.
“I’m sure that we never would have spent the money to do it any other way,” he said. “I’m a great believer in the points.”