Photo: saks_sherwaygdns on Instagram

As every Canuck fashionista knows, Saks Fifth Avenue is set to open its first Canadian store locations this month. The New York City-based  department store has officially ventured into the True North, with a Toronto Eaton Centre location opening on February 18 and a Sherway  Gardens store opening on February 25, 2016.

While we’re absolutely excited about Saks’ grand entrance into Canada  (finally!), RBC Rewards has also announced a new initiative which allows RBC Rewards customers to redeem their rewards points for Saks Fifth Avenue Canada gift cards.

For anyone waiting to splurge on that luxurious new accessory or get a head start on your spring shopping, this just might be great news. As part of this rewards program, RBC Rewards customers can also earn up to 500 bonus points with their gift cards. Clients are able to earn 50 bonus points with a $25 gift card, 100 points with a $50 gift card, 200 points with a $100 gift card and 500 points with a $250 gift card. So, if you’re looking to satisfy your inner savvy shopaholic, this new offer could be the best of both worlds.

Real Style spoke to Athena Varmazis, vice-president of Global Loyalty Programs and Rewards at Royal Bank of Canada, about the new RBC Rewards partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue Canada. Here’s what you should know about earning double points as you scoop up some fashion deals at Saks (without having to trek across the border, of course!)

Real Style: We’re all pretty excited about this new RBC rewards partnership with Saks. Can you tell our readers more about it?

Athena Varmazis: We have an exciting new partnership with Saks, and we’re absolutely thrilled. We launched a new initiative on February 3. RBC Rewards customers who earn RBC Rewards points can redeem points and get a Saks Fifth Avenue gift card. What’s exciting about that is they redeem their points for a gift card, and of course they can use that gift card when the stores open. In addition, shoppers earn bonus points for those gift card purchases also, so that’s really exciting. That’s the first part of our partnership that we launched February 3, before the stores even open. Once the stores open, then RBC Rewards clients will be able to earn double the rewards points when they shop in store with an RBC Rewards credit card. It’s for stores here in Canada.

Real Style: So with the Saks gift card, shoppers will be able to collect both RBC Rewards points and Saks rewards?

AV: When their doors open, any item that you purchase from Saks on your RBC Rewards credit card (Avion credit cards for example, and the other credit cards that you earn RBC rewards), you earn double the points. Depending on the card you have, it’s either double or more than that, if the card has Accelerator on it.  It’s a double point offer and we’re just thrilled about that, because it means that our RBC Rewards clients can earn points even faster and that they can turn into great new things that they can redeem for through our program.

That’s really all about the purchasing that our clients will be able to do. With respect to the gift card (and we like to think of it as double dipping again), because you get to earn even more RBC Rewards points. We have a whole host of gift cards that our clients can redeem points for, and Saks is one of them. In fact, you can get a Saks gift card today if you’re an RBC Rewards client, by redeeming your points. Depending on the denomination of the gift card you get, you’ll earn bonus points and make their purchases with that gift card and earn double points when they’re in the store shopping. Our clients love RBC Rewards, because they can redeem for merchandise and travel and a whole host of items.

Real Style: How do you select your merchant or reward partners?

AV: The way we think about it is, when we look across all of our RBC Rewards clients and we look at the types of clients we have, we want to make sure we are everywhere where they are shopping. We want to make sure we are delivering on what our clients want. Saks is one of those terrific partnerships in the retail area. It’s one of those retailers that whether you are wanting to update your wardrobe or you’re admiring a particular designer, or coveting that latest luxurious leather handbag, we’ve got that option for you. Or if you’re in an everyday spend category, we’ve got that retail option for you. Our approach is really being where our clients are.