Air Canada: Earn up to 15,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on flights between Canada and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. + MORE Jan 21st

Despite new protections, 1 in 5 consumers gets tripped up by a late fee. We explain the fine print you need to avoid them

Nothing boosts your bottom line quicker than getting a lower interest rate on your debt. There’s nothing stopping you from calling up your credit card provider to negotiate a better rate. “If you’re up to date on your payments you should have no trouble getting a better rate on the spot,” says Debbie Gillis, a credit counselling co-ordinator in Kingston, Ont. In fact, according to one study by CreditCard.com, 65% of those who asked for a better rate get one. While you’re at it, contact your phone and cable provider and ask what deals they’re offering to new customers. “If you’ve been a loyal customer for years, they should at least give you the latest promotion rate,” says Gillis. You might also consider cutting your landline. Smartphone plans are more robust than ever, and you could save up to $500 just by eliminating a phone you rarely use.

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Last week we brought you the deets about Air Canada’s North America flight promotion and now we bring you their global offer! This offer sees bonuses awarded on a single roundtrip versus the North America offer of three segments and also includes all fare classes versus the North America offer of Flex or higher.Offer DetailsEarn up to 15,000 Bonus Aeroplan® Miles on select flights between Canada and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Register Online (Registration is required) Register and book between Jan 21 and March 3, 2016 for travel by April 30, 2016Bonuses as follows:On select flights between Canada and South America, Europe and Middle East:5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles Per round-trip flown in Tango, Flex or Latitude.10,000  Bonus Aeroplan Miles Per round-trip flown in Business Class, Premium Economy or Premium rouge.On select flights between Canada and Asia:7,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles Per round-trip flown in Tango, Flex or Latitude.15,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles Per round-trip flown in Business Class, Premium Economy or Premium rouge…

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“Sell everything!” This  harrowing warning from the Royal Bank of Scotland, advising its clients to off-load all investments in the face of a “cataclysmic year,” recently grabbed international headlines. Andrew Roberts, the bank’s credit chief, cautioned that major stock markets could fall by 20% and oil may reach lows of US$16 a barrel—no doubt sending many investors reeling with fear and indecision about what to do with their portfolios. So, is 2016, in fact, the year you should abandon your investment strategy and cash out? In a word: no.
“Anytime you make a hugely dramatic move—everything to cash or one asset class—chances are you’re making a big mistake,” says MoneySense columnist and certified financial planner Dan Bortolotti. “A 20% decline is just a garden variety bear market, which happens about once every three years, on average…

Last update of the week (we’re off tomorrow, so see you next week!) News, Tips & Tricks Early, early this morning we posted the details of Air Canada’s new International flight bonus. At the time we had it up, Air Canada and Aeroplan still hadn’t made their registration page live. Well good news is that as of this post going up you can now register for the offer. See the details below in Posts since our last update!If you have ever taken advantage of the Avianca LifeMiles buy miles bonuses that we frequently post here on Rewards Canada and let you know that they are a great way to get Star Alliance flights for cheap you’ll be happy with the latest news from the program! One sticking point with the program up until now is that they did not allow mixed cabin awards. Now they do which means more flights open up for you to use your LifeMiles. You will, of course pay the higher amount of miles of the highest fare class that is on your itinerary but at least you now have the option of using your miles in this fashion without having to book separate awards…