$10 For $30 Of UberEats (kosher too!)

LOUSY DEAL!!! FORGET IT!  Turns out they massively inflate the cost of the food on their menu when you order through UberEats, not to mention the $5 delivery charge IF you're in the delivery area!!
Living Social is currently offering new customers to UberEats (you may already be with Uber, but must be new to UberEats) $30 worth of food for the cost of a $10 voucher through their website, though in the fine print you'll see that it's really $10 off 3 orders.  STILL, a good deal!
WARNING: You STILL have to pay for the Uber to your house with the food, so if you'd just go pick it up, you'll possibly save over this deal.  This deal is for those who'd appreciate food delivered to their house that's quite close by.
This includes hundreds of restaurants across Toronto.  Here's the link so that you can the deal and I also may get some credit for it (if enough people are referred).  It includes kosher options such as Milk & Honey, Umami Sushi and likely Ba-Li-Laffa North (as it's not TECHNICALLY Toronto, it MAY not work).  Your voucher will expire Nov. 20th.  You'll get a voucher code that you'll enter after downloading the UberEats app and signing in to UberEats using your Uber sign on or just creating a new one.  On the top left, touch your screen and your dropdown menu will open, including "Promotions"--that's where you'll enter the Living Social Voucher Code--it will immediately validate the promo, letting you know that you'll get $10 off your next 3 orders with UberEats!
Here's the fine print:

• New customers only
• Limit 1 per customer
• Customers must create an UberEATS account and provide valid credit card information to sign up for service and redeem voucher
• Credit Card required to hold reservation but will not be charged without consumer's permission
• Valid in Toronto, Toronto-Midtown, Edmonton, and Ottawa
• Valid for iPhone/Android App only
• $30 value will be applied to user's account in $10 increments across 3 separate orders; any unused portion of the voucher value will be forfeited
• Visit https://www.ubereats.com for any inquiries
• If order total exceeds $10, the remaining balance will be charged to the credit card associated with the account
• Once voucher is redeemed, credit is valid on the UberEATS app for 60 days
• All services must be redeemed by same person

FIGHT For A Deal!

This post was originally posted back in October 2015, but with my host change, I thought I'd repost some of the better posts from the old blog:

My trip last year to NYC with my wife on our 10th anniversary was memorable–the horse and carriage ride in Central Park, the swim on the 42nd floor of Le Parker Meridien were two highlights.  We’d never been in a fancy hotel (well it used to be fancy at one time–it’s in dire need of a reno but is still pretty cool) and we enjoyed it, but to me, the deal that I fought for was the best part.

It started with a hotel deal I found online and put on SD (Steve’s Deals) for $60 for a one night stay on limited dates thru Booking.com for Le Parker Meridien in NYC, including a breakfast.

Booking.com ended up cancelling it on me 9 days after I booked it, after I’d already made airline reservations using my points.  Cancellation fees on Avios tickets, which is next to nothing within the US, is more costly if the flight originates in Canada (YYZ-LGA return ticket cancellation was around $130CDN each).

I got on the phone with Booking.com.  Got me no where at first–then I had to wait for a call back for a supervisor within a couple of days.  I explained how unfair this was–a $60 deal cancelled on me, and how the email they sent me was adding salt to the wound–they would be so kind as to cancel and give a full refund for my reservation due to the accidental low price at no cost to me.  Wow.  Thanks for nothing.  I also explained I had bought the tickets to the flight and that I would have to pay for the cancelled tickets.  They got back to me eventually with an offer to cover the costs of other hotels in the area–but those hotels were not even close in amenities to Le Parker Meridien (LPM).  They also offered to cover the cost of my airline cancellation charges if I wasn’t satisfied.

I decided to play the hotel side of the story after some good advice from my friend, Brad.  Then I got in touch with the hotel.  I spoke to the revenue manager there, mentioned how it was our 10th anniversary getaway and she offered me the same suite at a “friends and family” discount price.  It did not include breakfast though.  I went back to Booking.com with the offer and they accepted not only paying for the room (other than $60 plus taxes and extras), but including a breakfast at a restaurant outside the hotel as the hotel’s breakfast was not kosher.  At first they only offered $10 per person, but when I explained to them how much a breakfast cost at LPM that would have been covered by the original deal, they agreed to pay up to $27USD each for a breakfast.  That became a late brunch for us that we enjoyed.

The hotel room’s shower area was built on a stall system that used gravity with a decline towards the drain to catch water–it didn’t work.  After I noticed my wife’s shower causing a total flood in the washroom, I called room service which took too long, and by then, I’d cleaned it up using a towel, acting as a mop, squeezing it out every time it got soppy wet.   I called off the room service but they came anyways eventually.  I told them it was dealt with (as I was afraid to leave it ’til they showed as it may have caused damage if it had found its way down to the level below us and we may have been held responsible).

When checking out, I mentioned the problem and they had not been made aware of it.  In compensation for the incident, I received 3K Starwood points and an email that followed that gave me an upgrade to a Jr. suite on my next stay with them.

So, at the end, I got:

• A Jr. suite at the original deal price of $60 (+taxes and extras)
• A free breakfast for 2 that I used for a kosher restaurant of our choice
• 3K SPG points for the incident
• I paid for the ticket on a credit card that it helped me to achieve meeting a spending threshold to receive welcome bonus points
• An upgrade the next time we come to LPM--to a Jr. Suite
• Credit for the airline cancellation was never needed as the flight got cancelled and I asked for a refund instead of a different flight.
• A date of my choice (any weekend in the summer) instead of the original date that would have meant a day of work’s pay lost

Fight, fight, fight!!!  Use kind words mixed with some understandable frustration and try to get them to empathize.  Much success to you!  Please email me when you have a story to share!

Tomorrow Only: $4.99 For A Dozen Glazed At Krispy Kreme

UPDATE: DEAD
The best donut chain around, Krispy Kreme, is having a sale tomorrow, Friday August 5, on a dozen original glazed (right out of the oven, they basically melt in your mouth-mmmm...donuts), for only $4.99!  They freeze well though the glazed crust sometimes comes off in the freezer if not protected.
More details here.  Yum! 3 Locations in the GTA, including 2 downtown and the corporate head office in Mississauga, as well as one in Greenfield Park and one in Quebec City.

Free CNE Passes For Up To 10 Kids + Discounts on All Day Ride Pass & Adult Entry

You can take up to 10 children to the CNE for free (adults pay) using this link.  It's only admission to the CNE, NOT the rides.  If you want a Ride All Day Pass for a child, buy it BEFORE the CNE begins to save 33%.  You can do that from their website by clicking here or save the $1.99 service fee by buying the Ride All Day Pass for children and adults at local grocery stores listed here.

IHG Point Breaks Are OUT AGAIN!

Just posted today on the IHG website, you can take advantage of $35USD/night per room, for an unlimited number of days in any of the IHG properties on sale through THIS link.  There are only 200 reservations per hotel on sale for 5K IHG points per night.  You're in great shape if you have a Capital One Canada IHG card (no longer available to apply for as of September 2016 or a US version by Chase.  Through Points.com, as a Canadian, you have the option of converting points from, for example, Aeroplan--not at a very good rate, but with IHG you either get your points through a credit card, stays at IHG properties or by converting your points--but you need to have 5K points first to do a trick to get more.  You book a room using the option of "points and cash."  It’s non-refundable, BUT they’ll give you points in lieu of the cancelled room.  That way, a room will cost you, with Point Breaks, about $35USD a night! Here's how.

Every 3 months, the IHG hotel chain releases its hotels around the world that they are giving point breaks on–for only 5K IHG points (instead of 10K +, sometimes as high as 40K+), you can stay at any of the properties on this list up until October 31st for up to 2 reservations per hotel for unlimited periods of time as the list will dry up as each hotel reaches its 200 reservations point.

The Best Options To Scoring Your Vacation Goals

Read the story below the pics that have the links embedded to apply.

The AMEX Gold Rewards personal card is the easiest way to achieving your vacation goals.  It comes with 25,000 Membership Rewards with the link above after hitting the spending threshold (only $1500 in 3 months). It used to be $500 but they upped it (grrrr).  Despite what AMEX Canada's policy is as of 2016, they ARE still giving the welcome bonus to those who've received it before. This is true for all the AMEX cards, but apparently, it was supposed to be changed on personal AMEX cards to one per lifetime per card type. You may have to wait 8-10 weeks to see it post after you hit the spending threshold.

AMEX points can be switched 1:1 with Aeroplan instantaneously or with British Airways Avios (part of the One World Alliance including American Airlines).  A conversion to Avios can score you a conversion bonus, lately around 25%, so for example, 10K AMEX points would be 12,500 Avios points, but be sure the deal is on--I'll let you know the next time it comes around!  Avios' cancellation policy is very generous compared to Aeroplan  (24 hours notice as opposed to 33 days) and lower charges in taxes.   You can also pool Avios points together in a household account (Aeroplan doesn't allow for that). AMEX cards offer you the option to diversify, so you can look for flights on both systems, not just with Aeroplan.  It can be used through TripFlex to pay for any travel expense at a cashback level of 1%, but it's not the best use of these points.

60,000 Membership Rewards with the link above after hitting the spending threshold (ONLY $1K in 3 months).  It has a steep $699 annual fee that is NOT waived but it comes with great benefits, including 1.25 points per every dollar spent, a $200 annual airline credit, that you can use this year and then in January to get $400 off of that annual fee (in a sense), Centurion (AMEX) unlimited lounge access for you and your family (at Pearson and other airports that have Centurion lounges, including LaGuardia), and so much more!

40,000 not 30,000 Membership Rewards with the link above after spending $5K in 3 months.  ANNUAL FEE WAIVED the first year ($250 savings). You get 2 points per dollar spent from 3 suppliers of your choice from a list that includes Petro Canada, 407ETR and Best Buy. Click here to see the list of suppliers.  You get 1 point otherwise.  Even officially, AMEX still allows applicants to get the welcome bonus more than once in a lifetime.  If you don't have an official business registered with Revenue Canada, no problem.  When applying, choose "self-proprietor" and that will suffice, so if you have some small business on the side (for example, selling things on EBay or Amazon), or any kind of business at all, you qualify!

75,000 not 40,000 Membership Rewards with the link above after spending $5K in 3 months.  This is the HIGHEST bonus AMEX Canada offers for any of their cards, and the beauty is that the annual fee is only $499 and you still get 1.25 AMEX points per dollar!  It also offers you lounge access but only for the primary card holder (unlike the personal platinum).

During a conversation with an AMEX rep, I learned some interesting inside information about changes coming to AMEX Canada.  Anyone who travels in the US or online to US websites can see that AMEX is accepted pretty much everywhere in the States, but everyone here in Canada knows it’s a washout.  After losing 8% of their profits when Costco divorced AMEX when Capital One offered them a better deal, not charging a per transaction fee, only the regular 2% (or so)  Mastercard charges.

Well, in the States, Costco will now be accepted at Sam’s Club Warehouses–not exclusively like they had with Costco, but nonetheless, it will help them stay competitive, but what about here in Canada?

Over the next few months apparently, AMEX will be changing how it offers the card to its merchants.  Somehow, they will offer merchants something that amounts to a lower percentage so that small businesses can afford to offer the AMEX card at about the same levels of charges as Mastercard and Visa, without compromising on its profit like it.  As it was explained to me, it will allow merchants to be non-official merchants, so that they can offer AMEX without the higher fees that AMEX normally charges merchants.  It’s confusing and unclear but these changes are coming over the next few months.  I heard this last year, and it still hasn't happened, but it's gotta be in the cards or they won't stay competitive with M/C and Visa.

What that means for us is a more competitive card!  Whether it’s the AMEX Gold or Platinum Rewards Personal or Business card, they will be accepted at a LOT more places–and with AMEX Membership Rewards points, you’re much better off at switching the points to Aeroplan (instantly) or to Avios (within about 2 days).  That way, you can decide, based on availability and where the routing will cost you the least in fuel surcharges, which point system you wish to switch your points into. 

Now just might be the time to get an AMEX card!  If you have a business card with AMEX, you can put pressure on AMEX to truly bring these changes to fruition.  By cancelling your AMEX Business Gold and telling them why (not accepted at Costco and too many other merchants), they may offer you 7K Membership Rewards (MR) points to stay and pay the annual fee when it comes up, but you’d be better off cancelling the card, and if the changes go through, reapplying using the link above, and getting the welcome bonus of 40K Membership Rewards points after spending $5K in 3 months. 

They’ll also waive the annual fee the first year for the gold cards (personal and business).    Remember, you can apply for the card if you have ANY business–self-proprietors without a tax number are accepted, even if you have a business that is on the side–you include ALL your income when answering the question about your business.

Go over the  benefits carefully.  Remember, the Platinum Business has a $399 annual fee while the personal version has a $699 fee, but the benefits, especially for the personal card, are what you’re paying for, especially if you travel a lot.  For example, access to lounges including free lounge access to the AMEX Centurion lounges, including the one at Pearson.

For more info, search through the search box on my website for more info on the different cards!

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Last Hours! 75% Off One Movie Rental From Google Play Thru PayPal

IF you have received (though YOU may have junked it before looking at it by accident) an email from PayPal Canada, they're currently offering a 75% discount on any video you rent through GooglePlay through your Android device.
Use this link to go to the page and sign in to see if you are eligible.  Good in the US and Canada.  Must sign up for the offer by August 31st and complete watching it by October 31st.