[Travel] VIA Rail eBoutique

As an alternative to airmilesshops.com:

https://eboutique.viapreference.com/?lang=en

Earn 1 preference point for each dollar spent at the retailers listed.

Why this is hot:
Spending $1125 @ Dell.ca on airmilesshops.com = 56 air miles
Spending $1125 @ Dell.ca on viapreference.com = 1 way comfort class ticket from Toronto to Montreal (or vice versa). ($137.55 regular fare, $72.45 special fare) Thus the reward is worth somewhere between 6.4 and 12.2 % vs ~1% on airmilesshops (or less depending on how much you value an airmile at).

nice find, espectially if you travel on short hauls (eg TO-Ottawa).

Originally Posted by brothernoble

As an alternative to airmilesshops.com:

https://eboutique.viapreference.com/?lang=en

Earn 1 preference point for each dollar spent at the retailers listed.

Why this is hot:
Spending $1125 @ Dell.ca on airmilesshops.com = 56 air miles
Spending $1125 @ Dell.ca on viapreference.com = 1 way comfort class ticket from Toronto to Montreal (or vice versa). ($137.55 regular fare, $72.45 special fare) Thus the reward is worth somewhere between 6.4 and 12.2 % vs ~1% on airmilesshops (or less depending on how much you value an airmile at).

It is especially hot now with 3x the points on select merchants.

Yeah, eboutique is one of the least known really hot loyalty programs in existence. It combines with your normal Via Preference points received through travel. Earlier this year I bought a Samsung 40 inch TV from sears at $780 - got an amazing 1560 points. Check out what you need for a free ride (no tax or fees)

https://www.viapreference.com/Content.aspx?NavID=7247

So basically the percentages are huge. Way beyond any other loyalty program.

Thank you for this one, really interesting!

I also just found out that I can use my RBC Rewards (Visa) points for ViaRail. 10.000 points = $100 on VIA. Not bad, considering you would need 12.000 RBC points for a $100 HBC voucher...

current deal: get 1000 eboutique points if you switch to Vonage home phone, and get the first month free. So I basically just got nearly enough for a one way trip Toronto to Ottawa just for that one transaction.