For a limited time you can book a hotel stay in Vancouver and potentially get $100s in American Express gift cards! Interested? Visit the BeVancouver booking portal here to see the offer.
The deal offers an Amex gift card of up to $125 for the stay, and then $50 per additional night past the first. The dates available stretch from now through the end of April. You have to book through the BeVancouver website to be eligible for the promotion. You will receive the gift cards upon check-in, and can even use them to cover the cost of the hotel.
Things to be aware of
Like with any deal, there is some fine print. Here are the most important things to keep in mind:
- Stays booked under the promotion are non-cancelable and non-transferable.
- All bookings are made in CAD, although they may display in other currencies
- The rates quoted when searching include the use of the Amex gift cards toward the hotel stay! They are competitive, but deceptively low at first glance.
- Separate consecutive nights at the same hotel will be ineligible for the higher denomination gift card (but you can still get $50 per night).
- Maximum of 3 bookings per person is enforced. Subsequent bookings will not receive gift cards.
What wasn’t clear to me at first is if the gift cards are in USD or CAD. They don’t explicitly say CAD (while the booking terms do). I initially assumed they would be in USD, but they are actually in CAD. I guess the goal is for you to spend them while visiting Vancouver
For a few sample bookings I tried, the rates actually seem fairly competitive. I was worried they wouldn’t be. I took a clip of my search for a stay at the Fairmont Vancouver over 2/8 through 2/12. The same non-refundable rate is $213 on Expedia. BUT the rate actually includes the use of the gift cards. The rate you’ll be paying is $220 USD per night, all said and done, while receiving $275 CAD back in gift cards. Better than Expedia? Yes.
When I clicked through to book, I got a summary page quoting the room rate, taxes and fees, total charge, “discount”, and final price. Note that the total charge is what you will be charged immediately, and the “discount” is the amount you will receive in Amex gift cards.
Is the promotion a good deal is you want to visit Vancouver? Probably, if you are willing to book a non-refundable rate. The rates for a few hotels I browsed are about the same as booking through an OTA without including the gift cards in the equation. Including the gift cards, you are usually coming out ahead.
Vancouver is a lovely city. It’s actually my favorite city I’ve ever visited, mainly because of it’s setting by both the ocean and beautiful mountains. It’s vibrant and eclectic. It has some amazing parks, great food, and plenty to do. Premier skiing at Whistler is only 90 minutes away. Climbing and cycling await in Squamish. Visit Vancouver. Canada is your oyster.
Header image from Flickr under CC 2.0 license.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
This promotion comes up fairly often when hotel occupancy is low. Usually in late October through mid December, early January.
I just booked using this promo, and you can pay for the room with the GC at the end of the stay. While I was charged for the booking immediately, they refunded me $75 CAD to my card. I ended up paying just $14 in tax plus $1.40 in remaining room charge.
Also, if you are collecting points, you earn them on this rate for the price paid – I’ve been able to get my Platinum benefits with Marriott and earned Wyndham rewards on my last booking
Thinking about going to Vancouver in April. Good info. Will report back with results if I go. Thanks for sharing…