Aeroplan members get Winterlicious deals at Toronto restaurants, plus win a $200 gift card!

Toronto’s favourite winter culinary celebration is back, and Aeroplan members can get to the front of the line.

Winterlicious runs in Toronto from Jan. 26 to Feb. 8, with fantastic three-course, prix fixe lunches and dinners at more than 200 restaurants. The general public doesn’t get to make reservations until Thursday, Jan. 11. But Aeroplan members can book their favourite dining spot starting Wednesday, Jan. 10 to be sure they get the meal they want at a great price. Top restaurants taking part include Canteen, Bar Buca, and Canoe.

On Jan. 10 only, Aeroplan members can make advance reservations by calling any of the participating restaurants and providing the first three digits of their Aeroplan number, along with access code “MOMENTS18.” Click here to view the list of the more than 200 restaurants taking part in this year’s Winterlicious event.

Canteen offers fabulus food at the TIFF Lightbox building in downtown Toronto.

Not only that, Aeroplan members can click on the “expand” button on this special web site and find a list of select restaurants offering special privileges for members who show the waiter their Aeroplan card or an Aeroplan-affiliated credit card upon arrival. Special advantages include such things as a free glass of house wine or a free amuse bouche with your meal.

Winterlicious is a great way to sample some of the best restaurants in Toronto, perhaps the best food city in the country, at fixed prices that are easy on your budget and with cuisine from around the world.

I was lucky enough to take part in Toronto’s Summerlicious last year, also sponsored by Aeroplan, and had a fantastic meal at Nota Bene on Queen St. West in Toronto.

In addition to earning miles with your Aeroplan-affiliated financial card when you’re dining out any time of year, you can also earn up to 3X the miles at participating restaurants and merchants if you are a TD Aeroplan cardholder or a CIBC Aeroplan cardholder.

Aeroplan proudly supports food sector charities, including the ITHQ Foundation, Community Food Centres Canada and British Columbia Hospitality Foundation.

Aeroplan members can choose to donate miles to help out these worthy causes.

I use my Aeroplan credit card to pay for meals, groceries, gasoline and many other things and redeem points every year for trips to see my Dad on the west coast. Aeroplan members also can go online and redeem points for everything from golf clubs to electronics and kitchen gear.

Canoe is a wonderful Oliver & Bonacini restaurant in Toronto that’s part of Winterlicious. PHOTO BY CINDY LA

This is the second year in a row that Aeroplan has been a Premier sponsor of the “Licious” properties in Toronto. Aeroplan also partners with similar events in Montreal (MTLaTABLE) and Vancouver (Dine Out. Through some of these sponsorships and other food and drink initiatives throughout the year, AeroplanmMembers have exclusive opportunities that include chef collaborations from around the world and unique dining experiences, priority access to culinary events and reservations and special privileges at select restaurants.

WIN A $200 DINNER!

So, here’s the big prize. One lucky reader of my blog will win a $200 gift card to use at any Oliver & Bonacini restaurant, including some of the city’s finest spots such as Canoe, Auberge du Pommier, Biff’s Bistro, Jump and others. They do a fantastic job at all of their restaurants.

To be eligible to win, all you have to do is drop me a line (jim@jimbyerstravel.com) and tell me the year that Canada will celebrate its 200th birthday. I’ll have someone pick a random name from out of the list of correct entry winners.

The contest closes on Sunday night, Jan. 21 at midnight EST, so enter now by sending me an email at the above address, along with the correct answer to my not-so-difficult trivia question.

Good luck, and bon appetit at Winterlicious.