Unusual 30% Groupon "FLASH" Deal-HURRY!

Good 'til midnight tonight, get 30% off most local deals with Groupon!  Usually, it's 20%, sometimes 25%.
Good deals now include, with the promo code "FLASH":

Dave and Busters--$25CDN -30%=$17.50 for 2 for a full day pass to play their blue swipe games:

• One All-Day Power Card with Unlimited Video Game Play for all games that do not issue tickets or prizes (all games with “blue swipes”)
• 18 game chips (to be used for regular, non-blue swipe games)

Bunch of Fun Playland--a kosher indoor playground for 2 or for 4 for the day.  $13 for 2, $24 for 4 kids-30%= $9.10 for 2 $16.80 for 4:

• Valid for kids 12 or younger
• Free admission for children under six months with a paid sibling
• Free admission for adults
• Socks required while in play area

2020 Wonderland Season Pass SUPER SPECIAL DEAL ends today for $73.99--August 18!

Click on the pic above to be taken to the Wonderland Season's Pass page!

Wonderland has never offered new subscribers to the season pass a free Fast Pass Plus (good for all the big coasters) NOR anything more than a one time use pass, but this year, ending tomorrow, they're offering a free Fast Pass Plus (but ONLY to be used after the Labour Day weekend) AND a season's pass for the rest of 2019 along with the 2020 Season's Pass!
If you are a renewer, you get the Fast Pass Plus, which IS good to be used immediately, through the Labour Day weekend and beyond until they close October 27th.
You'll want to pick up a parking pass, but they don't seem to be offering that online for 2020 yet, only for the rest of 2019.
There are 3 type of season's passes as of this year.  The regular one won't let you into the park for their brand new WinterFest or the Halloween Haunt for 2020.  It's $73.99+ tax.
The Gold one will let you into the both WinterFest and Halloween Haunt for 2020, along with Halloween Haunt for 2019.  It's an evening event with some roller coasters open and lots of scary things going on at the park (not for my family--never gone). It's $99+ tax.
The Platinum pass will get you FREE parking and access to ALL Cedar Fair parks.  I've done this before and it's worth it if you plan to hit Cedar Point (the flagship amusement park) in Sandusky, Ohio, or Knotts Berry Farm (in Los Angeles)--it's fantastic.  The best is if you have the time and hit several of the Cedar Fair chain across America over the summer.  We've done this a couple of years back and it was totally worth it. It's $197+ tax, which is, BTW, the CHEAPEST platinum pass you'll find in the entire Cedar Fair chain.  Depending on which one you buy it at, you'll pay a different price.  The platinum one is great as at many in the Cedar Fair chain, the water park is a separate park than the amusement park--thank goodness not separated yet at Wonderland.  Expect this to happen in the next coming couple of years to encourage you to pay more than double for a pass to get access to both parks.
The all season drink pass is a great value if you're into the junky drinks, especially the option to make your own drinks at one of their Hundred Flavours of Coke machines.
The all season Funpix, which allows you to always take the pics that they take of you on the roller coasters is great.  You just show your pass and they'll upload the pics into your account, which you can access through the Wonderland app available on both the Apple store and Google Play Store.
The all season food option is also amazing IF you don't keep kosher.  If you do, your options are pretty much nil.  There is kosher food available at one restaurant that they will bring in, but last I checked, it's not eligible for the kosher food.
I would personally take the kids on weekday mornings between Monday to Thursday (not including holidays) for a couple of hours in the morning before the lines get nasty.

50% Off A DoorDash Order Works In Canada. ACT FAST!

If you use the link embedded into the pic above and are new to Doordash, use it to take you to the Doordash page, when signing up through my referral (thank you SOOO much!), you'll get 50% off your first order (maximum value $15 off)!  NOT your first order, keep reading!
If this isn't your first order, this limited time deal detailed below is also only good for up to $15 off but $15 off $30 (or more) is pretty good!
If you've never ordered from them, they're like UberEats. They charge about the same price for the food but they charge a delivery charge (unless you sign up for free deliveries but that's $9.99/month) and a fee for their service.
KNOW that apparently the "tip" does NOT go to the drivers, so when placing your order, change the tip to "0" if you can place the order that way.  If not, put in 50 cents.  You can always tip the driver when they show up.
When placing the order, on the checkout screen, add promo code "MISSYOU" to grab the deal!
Again, if you've never placed an order with doordash, or even if you have, please use the link embedded into the pic above so that I can get a referral and YOU can get apparently, 50% off your first order!  My thoughts, use your new member status to get the 50% off, and then place another order using the MISSYOU promo code to get ANOTHER 50% off up to $15!
Kosher Restaurants in Toronto include:

• Ba-Li Laffa
• Bistro Grande
• Cafe Sheli
• Dr. Laffa
• Ely's Fine Foodsd
• Grodzinski Bakery
• Marron Bistro
• Pizza Cafe
• 3SK Cafe

Fly From Buffalo From $34USD One Way, Taxes In!

Click on the pic to get taken to the Frontier website

Frontier is having another sale.  They have one crazy one today (sorry I didn't report it) if you're last name is Green/Greene, you fly free, but this one is still decent, prices quoted are one-way in USD starting from:
Buffalo to Orlando from $34
Buffalo to Raleigh/Durham from $44
Buffalo to Denver from $59

Buy by August 14th and fly between August 16th and October 10th.

As a charter airline, it does not include anything more in luggage than a personal item that you take with you on board.  It's cheaper to book luggage online, and checked in bags are cheaper rather carry-on ones, surprisingly.  Back in 2009, it looked like they might be absorbed by Southwest, but they managed to get out of bankruptcy protection, and it's been ten years since then, so they seem to not be going away anytime soon.

Their Buffalo to Miami route was unfortunately cancelled, and personally I wouldn't fly them for anything other than a direct flight, as their stopovers can be notoriously long.

I've flown to Orlando on Frontier, and other than them cancelling our flight 10 days before and "rescheduling" us after moving our flight time over drastically, months earlier, the $100 vouchers they give for inconveniences make up for it.  If you can't use these vouchers over the next 90 days to book another flight, ask for a supervisor who may be able to offer it to you for bookings in a YEAR into the future.  You can also use the vouchers towards added luggage allowances, including carry-on, with which you get a seat closer to the front if you choose to add a carry-on.

Air Canada Worldwide Seat Sale 15% off Economy, 10% off Premium/Biz

Air Canada is having a one day seat sale, 15% off worldwide on economy seats, 10% off on premium economy and business class seats.  Act today!
https://www.aircanada.com/en-ca/worldwide-seat-sale?acid=em%257c24371703%257c158222500

The AMEX Marriott Bonvoy is STILL Worth Getting

While Marriott WAS giving 3x the points for SPG points earned in any way (credit card transactions with the old SPG card or for paid stays at SPG properties), until August of last year, now they're only offering double the points under the newer "Bonvoy" banner.  Be it that it's the only way to directly earn Bonvoy (previously known as SPG/Marriott points, whether it's for business or personal needs, it still comes with a 51K welcome points bonus after spending $3K in 3 months. In Canada, this is the only way to get welcome bonus miles that are worth several free nights as Chase is long gone from Canada. 

While the card may not be worth for your everyday spending (I'd put it in my "sock drawer" after hitting the spending threshold) and holding onto it until you get the annual fee hit the next year, check to be sure you have the free night certificate posted to your Marriott account before you ask for a prorated refund as you will likely have to wait and pay for the annual fee the next year before cancelling. 

ANOTHER CHOICE: If you first get the business card and then the personal card, referring yourself to the personal card from your online account with AMEX to score yourself another 10K Bonvoy points, feel free to cancel the biz card after you've hit the spending threshold and the referral bonus both post, and get a prorated refund on the $150 annual fee after hitting the spending threshold.  Then, hold onto the personal card (only $120 annual fee) until the annual fee hits the next year and the free annual night certificate posts and then get the prorated refund on the annual fee.  Before that though, you may want to reapply for the biz version using a referral from your personal card, for another 10K Bonvoy points.  This means 51K + 10K + 51K for the business bonus, then the referral to the personal, then the personal bonus--that's 112K points plus the spending needed to achieve the spending thresholds--124K Marriott points!  If you have a partner, that's 224K Bonvoy points!

The good news is that tons of properties have gone down in category numbers for using points to stay there, while the number of points for a category have gone a little bit.  For example, the Residence Inn Amherst (NY) and the Residence Inn New Rochelle (just outside NYC) both used to be a category 5 (25K points per night) and are now a category 3 (which used to mean 15K, but now is 17.5K, still 7.5 points less per night!). I've found MANY hotels in southern Florida that used to be higher categories and have moved down as well.  With an AMEX Platinum Business card, you get Gold status that makes you eligible for upgrades, including to a 2 bedroom suite with 2 bathrooms, based on availability.

It comes every year with a free certificate for one night at any Marriott property, up to a 35K (around category 5).  That's a phenomenal certificate, and better than it used to be when the Chase Marriott Canada card would offer it.
While it does charge a forex fee when using it outside Canada, it does, in a sense, give you more points than even the US version of the card.  The US version gives 2 Bonvoy point per US dollar spent, while our card gives you the same for each CDN dollar spent, about 35% better.  This is noticeable if you use the card outside Canada.
If you need ideas on how to spend $3K on an AMEX card in 3 months, see below.

• hardware stores
• pharmacies
• Metro & Sobeys
• online purchases, that include Masterpass (A mastercard pay system that accepts AMEX)
• car rentals
• any type of travel expense
• groceries through (click here) Yesodei Hatorah (to credit the Lindo family towards how mich they need to spend on grocery card would be nice but YOU get them.  Either you can pick them up from the school or I've heard that for a minimum purchase, they deliver it to your home for free).

Flights out of Hamilton from $118 taxes in!

Click here to get to the Flyswoop website.
Fly Swoop, the Westjet owned discount airline that flies out of Hamilton airport has a sale on, with flights to different destinations on sale.  Sale fares begin, taxes in, from:
Hamilton to Halifax for $118 (two flights a day!)
Hamilton to Abbotsford (45 minutes from Vancouver) for $184
Hamilton To Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for $247
Hamilton to Edmonton for $147
Hamilton to Las Vegas return for $214, though it's an overnight flight on the return.
Hamilton to Fort Lauderdale for $205, though the return is quite limited to Friday late afternoons
Hamilton to Montego Bay for $292
Hamilton to Orlando for September travel ONLY for $205

Most of these sale destinations are for October to early December travel.

They did end up cancelling around 30 flights in July due to maintenance issues, but since then, I haven't heard of any problems.

See below to know what their baggage fee charges are, as only a personal item bag (NOT a carry-on) is free.

What are Swoop’s (WO) carry-on baggage fees?

• Online: $36.75-$40.25 CAD
• Airport Counter: $52.50-$57.50 CAD
• At the Gate: $89.25-$97.75 CAD

NOTE: Bulkhead seats do not have under seat storage, therefore, all carry-on baggage must be stowed in the overhead bin during take-off and landing.

What is Swoop’s (WO) checked baggage / hold luggage policy?

Swoop’s (WO) standard checked baggage / hold luggage policy details follow:

• 2 bags standard, up to 4 bags maximum
• Maximum dimensions: 62 inches or 157 centimeters (length + width + height)
• Maximum weight: 50 pounds or 23 kilograms

What are Swoop’s (WO) carry-on baggage fees?

Travel within North America

Online:

• Bag 1: $31.50-$34.50 CAD
• Bag 2: $42.00-$46.00 CAD
• Bag 3: $105.00-$115.00 CAD
• Bag 4: $105.00-$115.00 CAD

Airport Counter:

• Bag 1: $42.00-$46.00 CAD
• Bag 2: $52.50-$57.50 CAD
• Bag 3: $120.75-$132.25 CAD
• Bag 4: $120.75-$132.25 CAD

At the Gate:

• Bag 1: $73.50-$80.50 CAD
• Bag 2: NA
• Bag 3: NA
• Bag 4: NA

Travel for international destinations outside of North America

Online:

• Bag 1: $31.50-$34.50 CAD
• Bag 2: $42.00-$46.00 CAD
• Bag 3: $210.00-$230.00 CAD
• Bag 4: $210.00-$230.00 CAD

Airport Counter:

• Bag 1: $42.00-$46.00 CAD
• Bag 2: $52.50-$57.50 CAD
• Bag 3: $236.25-$258.75 CAD
• Bag 4: $236.25-$258.75 CAD

At the Gate:

• Bag 1: $73.50-$80.50 CAD
• Bag 2: NA
• Bag 3: NA
• Bag 4: NA

What is Swoop’s (WO) fee for overweight baggage?

Swoop (WO) will charge the following for bags that are greater than the standard 50 pounds or 23 kilograms:

• 51 to 100 pounds or 24 to 45 kilograms: $105.00-$115.00 CAD extra per bag
• Bags exceeding 100 pounds or 45 kilograms will not be accepted as checked baggage / hold luggage

What is Swoop’s (WO) fee for oversize baggage?

Swoop (WO) will charge $105.00-$115.00 CAD extra for bags that are from 63 to 80 linear inches or from 158 to 203 centimeters. Bags greater than 80 linear inches or 203 centimeters will not be accepted as checked baggage / hold luggage.

Are there fees for sports equipment on Swoop (WO)?

Yes. Sports equipment such as skis, golf bags, fishing equipment, hockey, and lacrosse equipment will be accepted up to Swoop’s (WO) size and weight limits and will count as one checked bag/hold bag. Applicable fees will apply. All others will be considered as oversize baggage and associated fees will be added.