January 13 Update: Use Aeroplan Miles for award travel to Cuba, Save up to 35% with Hilton in Asia Pacific & more! + MORE Jan 14th

News, Tips & Tricks Aeroplan reached out to us today to pass along the news that you can now use your Aeroplan Miles to book travel to Cuba on Air Canada and all their Star Alliance partners that fly to the Caribbean Island. It has been about 5 or so years since you have been to redeem miles for flights to Cuba with Aeroplan! The SPG Card from American Express is not the only card that had its spend requirement increased. The American Express AeroplanPlus Gold Card has also been increased to $1,500 from $500. Before the New Year we let you know about the proposed partnership between Air Canada & Cathay Pacific. Looks like it has received approval from the the government as the code share on each other’s flights are now open for reservation. You will be able to earn and redeem Aeroplan Miles or Asia Miles on these reciprocal flight offerings. (Source Routesonline) Air Canada operated by Cathay Pacific (including Cathay Dragon)Hong Kong – BangkokHong Kong – CebuHong Kong – Chiang MaiHong Kong – Hanoi Hong Kong – Ho Chi Minh CityHong Kong – Kuala LumpurHong Kong – Manila Hong Kong – Phuket Cathay Pacific operated by Air Canada (including Air Canada Express)Toronto – Halifax Toronto – Montreal Toronto – Ottawa Toronto – Quebec CityToronto – Regina Toronto – Saskatoon Toronto – St…

Q: I’m separating and my ex-wife and I agreed on an amount for child support. I’ve since learned that I will be paying her approximately $800/month. I’ve also learned that this amount is NOT tax deductible for me and she does NOT have to claim it as income. But she makes $12,000/year more than me. The way I see it, after deductions we both retain less but approximately $10,000 of my take home will be given to her as a loss for me but a gain for her tax-free. Please explain how it is that I cannot claim this as a deduction? It doesn’t seem fair? Are my two kids not considered my dependents for tax purposes? Will she be able to claim the kids as dependents and receive the child tax credit as well? I’d love an explanation of how this is fair from the CRA’s point of view.
–Ronald
A: Your explanation of the situation is correct. Amounts paid for child support are not deductible to the payor or taxable to the recipient. The logic behind the decision to make child support non-deductible and non-taxable was that there should be no direct tax advantages for supporting one’s own children whether living together or apart…

Yesterday we brought you the details of the revamped Petro-Points program. Part of the revamp is the set earn rate of 10 points per dollar spent on in-store purchases. This includes lottery purchases and for me there is a Petro-Canada on the way to my office so it makes it easy to stop in and get the tickets there. As you’ll see from the post on the revamp, the 10 points per dollar on the lotto purchases equates to a 1% return. Its not a lot but better than 0 for buying lottery tickets at most other places. You can earn ‘points’ or ‘miles’ on lottery purchases at Esso (Esso Extra Points or Aeroplan Miles) and Shell (AIR MILES) as well.The bonus of buying lottery tickets and/or convenience store items at gas stations is many credit cards have bonus multipliers for gas station purchases and any purchases made including lottery show up as gas purchases. I use the American Express Gold Rewards Card since it earn 2 Membership Rewards at gas stations, which equates to 2 Aeroplan Miles or British Airways Avios for me…