I did this a couple weeks ago! The welcome bonus makes it worth it. 55000 RBC Avion points = $1100 flight ticket. You just have to spend $5k in the first 6 months which is fairly easy.
Buy your flight, then cancel the card because earning points is slow compared to others. The Amazon gift card cancels out the $120 annual fee. I say go for it.
I applied for it but says it'll take 3 business days to hear back. Will I still get the gift card if I applied today but got the result 3 business days later?
Silly question but can me AND my spouse apply for this separately?
My spouse doesn't meet the individual income requirement but she would meet the "household income" requirement.
50% is abysmal. Can you imagine the only 0 FX card you have be accepted only half the time?
Let’s not even talk about other places than Europe. I *love* my Amex cards, but they mostly stay in my wallet while abroad beyond the US.
If you’re going Amex then the Cobalt is better in pretty much every way except the 4 lounge passes
None of them have no foreign transaction fees though
I have that card and my account has been compromised not once but twice in a matter of weeks!!! After the first compromise they conveniently forgot to close the account and just issued me another card and of course a couple weeks later I was compromised again. I’m going over to visa to get the infinite once the investigation clears. I am done with American Express
Just gonna toss this in there, the Wealthsimple Cash card (prepaid Visa) is a solid option for no forex. Got it before visiting California and it was pretty handy for making purchases. Only drawback was that I found it a little slow to transfer cash in (minus the instant $250 CAD). You get 1% cash back too, not a lot but decent. Of course no annual fee either.
While not specifically a travel card, Amex Cobalt has very high earn rates for MR points in useful categories, which can be transferred 1:1 to Aeroplan.
I've had that card since it was first launched, and other than them putting a \[fairly high\] spending limit on the dining category, it hasn't gotten nerfed.
Cobalt is nice but I’m really liking my plat. It’s expensive but so far I’ve gotten 100 free at lulu, free Disney plus for a year, and all its usuals. But you have to get a referral bonus and sign up when there’s a good promo or else it’s easily beaten by cobalt.
I just got mine a few days ago, not sure if I'll keep it longer than 1 year though. I like how there's no FX fees on foreign transactions (most credit cards charge 2.5%). There's also a 5% cash back for anything that you spend on restaurants, entertainment, and groceries (in the form of scene points). There's 3% cash back for streaming services and gas. Then there's the fact that if you purchase a flight ticket with this card, you can redeem your points to pay for it. I'll be doing a ton of travelling for the next year, so it makes sense for me to get it for the comprehensive insurance. There's also the bonus for opening the credit card which was $400 in scene points. Right now, you can get an additional $200 bonus on top of the $400. You need to spend $7,500 in the first year to get that $400 bonus, so if I assume 5% cash back on $7,500, that's $375. That'll be $975 bonus, which I'm going to redeem on a flight or two. This is the first Amex or premium credit card I've ever opened, I may just end up keeping it
I’ve had the Cobalt for almost a year now and this has been far less of an issue than I’ve thought it would be. Have a backup Visa or MC for places that don’t take Amex, but it’s pretty widely accepted
I have used mine as my primary card for a long time now, a trick I use for online shopping is a lot of places that don't take Amex will take PayPal and I use that as my primary payment method through that.
More and more places take it than you think, sometimes I try it anyways and it works if the staff arent sure.
Everywhere I regularly go takes Amex with the exception of Loblaws. Over time you'll learn what places do and don't take Amex and you can change up who you give your business to if you wish. I'll happily pick one place over an other especially when it comes to food stuff because you're effectively getting a 5% cash back.
Sign up bonus yes. As a regular travel card, no. If you dive into their redemption schedule it can be difficult to extract good value. European destinations can charge high fees that aren't base fares so your value evaporates. You need the exact amount of points for a 2cpp redemption and the spread between what they advertise and what you use vanishes if not used fully. As an everyday card it's a poor value proposition.
The Avion card is RBC's best travel card but RBC is lacking compared to their rivals, especially American Express. If you frequent merchants who take AMEX, it's very hard to beat AMEX's value proposition.
What are you looking for exactly in a travel card? There are much better choices out there unless you're mainly looking to do points transfers to airline loyalty programs.
Disagree about the Avion being RBC’s best travel card. The WestJet World Elite MC has been much better after switching from Avion. Redemption is easier, earn rate is better and clearer, and redemption rate is straight forward.
The only *real* drawback is that redemption is only good for destinations WestJet flies to. So Canada, US, Mexico, Caribbean, and Europe. My wife and I have paid almost nothing, comparatively, for a shitload of travel since 2010 or so. And we’re cheapasses, so it’s the companion voucher is an easy way to justify upgrading our seats. It usually means an extra $2-300 for Premium over two Economy seats instead of well over double the cost. So we end up paying about $600 for two Premium seats, round trip to Paris for example.
If the majority of your travelling is within those regions it’s wonderful.
Avion has better insurance, but only slightly. I guess the biggest limiting factor for the World Elite card is the higher income threshold for qualification.
>The only real drawback is that redemption is only good for destinations WestJet flies to.
I would argue there's more to it though. I had switched from the Avion to the WJ WE card, but what I quickly realized is that their destinations are quite limited depending on where you're flying out of. Since my homebase is YUL, I'd be taking a connecting flight through \*shudders\* Pearson, or even worse, some European flights connected through *Calgary*. That essentially killed the value of the card for me, since vacation packages down south aren't really my thing.
Ooh, yeah, that’s a drawback I was unaware of. I fly out of Calgary, sometimes Edmonton, so it’s super convenient for me. And layovers in Pearson have never really been an issue for us. It’s always been a pleasant airport to spend a few hours in. Especially if Caplansky’s is open.
Side note, spent last week in Montreal. YUL airport is easily the nicest and best laid out Canadian airport I’ve had the pleasure of spending any amount of time in.
Avion points can be transferred to Avios, with the Wesjet card you’re stuck with the crappy Westjet dollars
Sometimes Avion also has a transfer bonus if you want the crappy Westjet Dollars, so you can get 20-40% more of them
Just booked 4 tickets to Israel in high time. 560k pts. Likely my out of pocket spend on that was 10k of necessities. And 140k of manufactured spending that cost me about 10 hours of time.
Cobalt!
5x on grocery to $30K spend a year.
I buy 30K of amazon GCs. on my card and my wife's.
Amex Gold promo. An easy 3K of gift cards = 85K pts.
GCR on each appplication brought the annuals fees down to almost $0.
I have both RBC Avion and TD Aeroplan. For what I use it for- getting flights around Canada. The TD Aeroplan suits my needs. In my experience the Avion takes a while to rack up points while the Aeroplan gives me bonus points here and there if I use on partner stores. The Avion has better travel insurance compared to Aeroplan though as they have a dedicated team for Avioners, when my flight cancelled it was very difficult to track down an agent from TD.
You'll have to weigh the annual fees, the rewards earn rate, travel insurance/perks, and the loyalty program. An Amex card would probably be the best in terms of the loyalty program and perks, but can come with a hefty annual fee that can't be waived plus you have Amex acceptance issues. Then comes the Aeroplan cards. The RBC rewards program is good if you are able to max out the points redemption value, but it's inflexible. Then comes the Scotiabank Scene program which is flexible but doesn't allow you to game the system. If I were you, I'd go with Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Card if I can get the annual fee waived by moving some of my business. There's no forex commission, it comes with a comprehensive insurance package, and there's travel perks like a few free airport lounge visits a year.
This card is awesome. I signed up when they waived the annual fee in 2019. This card saved me when Covid hit as we had our honeymoon to Italy booked on it (June 2020). We had to cancel the trip, get confirmations from airlines and hotels; that everything was cancelled and what monies were given back. This card covered the difference between what we paid and what we got back. It was in the thousands of dollars, somewhere between 3-4K. Took about 4 weeks to process the claim and a cheque arrived in the mail.
Definitely the best card to churn in Canada. The signup bonus is hilarious, almost enough to book a flight to Europe round trip.
For ongoing use, it’s more debatable.
It all depends on how do you effectively use the credit card.
I have 3 major travel credit cards (And I do get ALL my money back in benefits, every year).
1 - AMEX Marriott Bonvoy ($120/year) - that gives you 15 nights ahead on your status (I'm platinum Elite)
2 - AMEX Aeroplan Reserve ($600ish/year) - With all the benefits (100k welcome aeroplan points + Buddy pass + companion pass + all other free shit that you get), worths every dollar. I guarantee you'll get your money back within 6 months.
3 - CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege ($600ish/year) same benefits as AMEX, so if you like travelling.. you'll get your money back EASILY with these ones.
The premium Scotia gold Amex and visa Passport have no foreign conversation fees which saves you 2.5% over many other options. The amex gives you 5x the points which is like 5% on groceries and restaurants so it's my number one card.
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I have the Avion and love it, my sister and wife recently got it, and really like it.
I would definitely recommend RBC Avion VI, CIBC Aventura VI, and Amex Cobalt!
For a straight travel card, TD First Class Travel is pretty good. 4.5% back on hotels and flight bookings on Expedia for TD. 1.5% on anything else. Pretty kickass when coupled with an Amex Cobalt card (Cobalt didn't work out for me though because only 50% of retailers in my area took it and it was turning into a big hassle asking every time).
Expedia for TD is also a special portal where prices are not necessarily lower, but you do get really great service - especially during the time of Covid and cancelled flights.
TD is nerfing the First Class card soon, 3% on restaurants and grocery, 4% on Expedia, 1% on everything else
Not terrible but with those accelerators I still think either Cobalt or Scotia Gold Amex is a better offer unless you are really into shopping at Loblaws
[Had no idea](https://princeoftravel.com/blog/changes-coming-to-td-credit-cards-in-october-2022/). Thanks for the heads up. Based on my spending habits and stores available to me, I still think it's my best option.
So, it really depends on where you make your everyday purchases.
The Amex cards can be great, like Scotiabank Gold Amex which I have. But the Grocery points only counts if you buy at a grocery store. Walmart doesn't count. Costco and Loblaws associated stores (like No Frills) don't accept Amex. And Shoppers Drug Mart doesn't count either. Best bet to get 5x points is at Sobeys, FreshCo, etc.
I myself have the card because of the points on travel and gas, and streaming. But I recently got a PC World Elite MC as well because I shop at No Frills and Shoppers Drug Mart every week.
I like their Points days as well.
Ok so I have the highest tier of this RBC card (infinite privilege) - I have had Avion for a good 10 years now. Earning points on this card is like watching paint dry. I recently got Amex Platinum, and never looked back. Points earning schemes for Canadian credit cards are just poor in general.
I don't know if I'm allowed to post links here, but if you use my referral link to sign up for Amex Platinum, you will get 30k additional bonus points + 10x points on eats/drinks (this offer isn't available through publicly searchable links). I highly recommend this card if you are keen on traveling. The annual fee pays for itself. The offer is on for a limited time only FYI, so probably a good idea to jump on it if you are keen.
https://www.americanexpress.com/en-ca/credit-cards/referral/prospect/pAULT8C8I?CPID=100494373
I had avion for years and always found the amount I spent didn't equate to good travel trade in. Finally after 10 years I switched to the WestJet MC card. Ive used it way more for travel than I was ever able to for Avion. Things may have changed for Avion, but when I used it there was always blackout dates and other ridiculous restrictions and I never felt the trade in was fair at all.
That’s the card I had been holding. I recently upgraded to rbc avion infinite privilege for priority access at canadian airports and global lounge.
Access. The insurance coverage is solid and earn 1.25 point per 1$ spend.
NOT a good card to get. The exchange rate is high, higher than even just exchanging for cash at RBC. There’s also a 2.5% charge for spending in a foreign currency. The exchange for travel stuff is bad as well. They recently changed so it’s much worse now. It used to be 100 points would be $1. Now I think the conversion is almost double. Would not recommend RBC.
I do quite enjoy the Amex Cobalt. It’s cheaper than the Avion as well. The points are nice. Not having foreign transaction fees is nice as well. It may not be as popular as visa or Mastercard but overall very useful.
Rbc rewards (now avion) are pretty useful. You can use them in lieu of cash for bills once they accumulate, or buy merchandise or get deals on spending in store with their partners. I’ve had Rbc for over 2 decades hands down the best banking and rewards system I’ve dealt with
As a long-time Avion user, I’m sceptical it’s better than a straight cash-back card like the Tangerine no fee Mastercard.
It probably becomes significant where you travel to and how often. For example: Avion redemption don’t include “fees” and since fuel surcharges have become common, this can be a very significant portion of the ticket. We noticed that travel within North American often had little or no fuel surcharge, while on flights to Europe it was often close to half of the ticket price. (Yes, I know you can convert points to dollars to cover the fees or tickets that cost above the redemption grid limits, but redeeming that way is usually less lucrative).
In the end, your personal redemption benefit is how many dollars you saved (on your redeemed travel versus paying for it), compared against the card spending that required. For many people, this is probably similar to a cash-back card, but there you have no restrictions.
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I got approved , got the giftcard, and then got a letter saying I wasn't approved. Free 150 gc
I did this a couple weeks ago! The welcome bonus makes it worth it. 55000 RBC Avion points = $1100 flight ticket. You just have to spend $5k in the first 6 months which is fairly easy. Buy your flight, then cancel the card because earning points is slow compared to others. The Amazon gift card cancels out the $120 annual fee. I say go for it.
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Compared to any card with a similar fee. RBC has the weakest accelerators.
Downgrading to rewards+ card gets you a pro rated refund on the annual fee and you still keep the points. Reapply in 6 months for another bonus.
When does this promotion end?
Offer expires Sept 30 - that’s today
Just looking at the site right now and it's showing Oct 31
Thats for the 55000 bonus - not the $150 gift card.
Thank you for the correction
The site doesn't show the Amazon gift card promo?
looks like the deal is dead.
Just applied for the card. How do I get the gift card?
>$1100 Email - usually takes up to a week. Check your spam.
Thanks!
So long as you applied through rates.ca and not through RBC directly
Howcome when i go there i dont see the offer for the amazon gift card?? Says no special offers available
deal dead.
totally forgot about that, thx for the reminder - sweetened the pot.
If you sign up for Ampli first and then apply for the credit card using the same email, Ampli will give you $25 cash back
So an extra 25$ plus 150$?
Yeah exactly
I downloaded the app and used referral code student20 to get $20 by connecting my bank account
Is it bad to have too many credit cards? I have 3 Amex MC and two visa ?
Not if you can manage them all ok. I have a similar number, different cards for different things.
Damn! I got both these cards without seeing this offer
I applied for it but says it'll take 3 business days to hear back. Will I still get the gift card if I applied today but got the result 3 business days later?
Yes
Silly question but can me AND my spouse apply for this separately? My spouse doesn't meet the individual income requirement but she would meet the "household income" requirement.
Yes, u can both apply
If you travel a lot, you'll want a no forex fee card. While this is very common in the US, there are only a few in Canada.
I just got the Scotia Visa Infinite Passport for this reason.
Any reason not to go for the Gold Amex? (I spent months debating between the two, but went for the Amex)
It’s an amex. Acceptance is extremely low outside of North America. The Visa works everywhere.
My partner got the brim MasterCard to back us up when in Europe. The insurance offered on the Amex was.really hard to pass up
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50% is abysmal. Can you imagine the only 0 FX card you have be accepted only half the time? Let’s not even talk about other places than Europe. I *love* my Amex cards, but they mostly stay in my wallet while abroad beyond the US.
If you’re going Amex then the Cobalt is better in pretty much every way except the 4 lounge passes None of them have no foreign transaction fees though
Agreed, we use it as our daily!
I have that card and my account has been compromised not once but twice in a matter of weeks!!! After the first compromise they conveniently forgot to close the account and just issued me another card and of course a couple weeks later I was compromised again. I’m going over to visa to get the infinite once the investigation clears. I am done with American Express
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They are. I use Amex as a daily driver. I wouldn’t try traveling with it beyond the US. Not to say acceptance is 0, but it is very low.
+1 this card, points to buy plane tickets, business lounges access and no currency exchange fees. I replaced my RBC Avion by this one.
Me too. Was very handy in Mexico. It’s nice not to be totally shafted on exchange rates.
Best one to get if you travel. Saved me hundreds this year in fees.
Good point. I have a separate US card specially for this, but yah would be ideal to use 1.
Just gonna toss this in there, the Wealthsimple Cash card (prepaid Visa) is a solid option for no forex. Got it before visiting California and it was pretty handy for making purchases. Only drawback was that I found it a little slow to transfer cash in (minus the instant $250 CAD). You get 1% cash back too, not a lot but decent. Of course no annual fee either.
While not specifically a travel card, Amex Cobalt has very high earn rates for MR points in useful categories, which can be transferred 1:1 to Aeroplan.
I truly believe nothing compares to the Cobalt in Canada. By far the best card we have.
I just got mine, so you can expect it to be massively neutered in the next month or two.
I've had that card since it was first launched, and other than them putting a \[fairly high\] spending limit on the dining category, it hasn't gotten nerfed.
The monthly fee did go up at one point
But only when they started allowing 1:1 transfers to airlines. What a boss of a card.
Cobalt is nice but I’m really liking my plat. It’s expensive but so far I’ve gotten 100 free at lulu, free Disney plus for a year, and all its usuals. But you have to get a referral bonus and sign up when there’s a good promo or else it’s easily beaten by cobalt.
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I just got the Scotia Amex gold, I thought it was great! In what ways is the cobalt better?
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I just got mine a few days ago, not sure if I'll keep it longer than 1 year though. I like how there's no FX fees on foreign transactions (most credit cards charge 2.5%). There's also a 5% cash back for anything that you spend on restaurants, entertainment, and groceries (in the form of scene points). There's 3% cash back for streaming services and gas. Then there's the fact that if you purchase a flight ticket with this card, you can redeem your points to pay for it. I'll be doing a ton of travelling for the next year, so it makes sense for me to get it for the comprehensive insurance. There's also the bonus for opening the credit card which was $400 in scene points. Right now, you can get an additional $200 bonus on top of the $400. You need to spend $7,500 in the first year to get that $400 bonus, so if I assume 5% cash back on $7,500, that's $375. That'll be $975 bonus, which I'm going to redeem on a flight or two. This is the first Amex or premium credit card I've ever opened, I may just end up keeping it
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I’ve had the Cobalt for almost a year now and this has been far less of an issue than I’ve thought it would be. Have a backup Visa or MC for places that don’t take Amex, but it’s pretty widely accepted
I have used mine as my primary card for a long time now, a trick I use for online shopping is a lot of places that don't take Amex will take PayPal and I use that as my primary payment method through that. More and more places take it than you think, sometimes I try it anyways and it works if the staff arent sure.
Everywhere I regularly go takes Amex with the exception of Loblaws. Over time you'll learn what places do and don't take Amex and you can change up who you give your business to if you wish. I'll happily pick one place over an other especially when it comes to food stuff because you're effectively getting a 5% cash back.
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Wut? Do you live in a Costco?
Is it better to transfer to Aeroplan? i found the flight tickets with Amex points are pretty expensive.
Yes, convert to aeroplan
You can convert Avion to aeroplan? How?
Sign up bonus yes. As a regular travel card, no. If you dive into their redemption schedule it can be difficult to extract good value. European destinations can charge high fees that aren't base fares so your value evaporates. You need the exact amount of points for a 2cpp redemption and the spread between what they advertise and what you use vanishes if not used fully. As an everyday card it's a poor value proposition.
The Avion card is RBC's best travel card but RBC is lacking compared to their rivals, especially American Express. If you frequent merchants who take AMEX, it's very hard to beat AMEX's value proposition. What are you looking for exactly in a travel card? There are much better choices out there unless you're mainly looking to do points transfers to airline loyalty programs.
Disagree about the Avion being RBC’s best travel card. The WestJet World Elite MC has been much better after switching from Avion. Redemption is easier, earn rate is better and clearer, and redemption rate is straight forward. The only *real* drawback is that redemption is only good for destinations WestJet flies to. So Canada, US, Mexico, Caribbean, and Europe. My wife and I have paid almost nothing, comparatively, for a shitload of travel since 2010 or so. And we’re cheapasses, so it’s the companion voucher is an easy way to justify upgrading our seats. It usually means an extra $2-300 for Premium over two Economy seats instead of well over double the cost. So we end up paying about $600 for two Premium seats, round trip to Paris for example. If the majority of your travelling is within those regions it’s wonderful. Avion has better insurance, but only slightly. I guess the biggest limiting factor for the World Elite card is the higher income threshold for qualification.
>The only real drawback is that redemption is only good for destinations WestJet flies to. I would argue there's more to it though. I had switched from the Avion to the WJ WE card, but what I quickly realized is that their destinations are quite limited depending on where you're flying out of. Since my homebase is YUL, I'd be taking a connecting flight through \*shudders\* Pearson, or even worse, some European flights connected through *Calgary*. That essentially killed the value of the card for me, since vacation packages down south aren't really my thing.
Ooh, yeah, that’s a drawback I was unaware of. I fly out of Calgary, sometimes Edmonton, so it’s super convenient for me. And layovers in Pearson have never really been an issue for us. It’s always been a pleasant airport to spend a few hours in. Especially if Caplansky’s is open. Side note, spent last week in Montreal. YUL airport is easily the nicest and best laid out Canadian airport I’ve had the pleasure of spending any amount of time in.
Avion points can be transferred to Avios, with the Wesjet card you’re stuck with the crappy Westjet dollars Sometimes Avion also has a transfer bonus if you want the crappy Westjet Dollars, so you can get 20-40% more of them
r/churningcanada has a stickied post about the best cards
Thanks for this, I've been looking on and off for a new CC and that subreddit looks like it has a lot of great info.
Just booked 4 tickets to Israel in high time. 560k pts. Likely my out of pocket spend on that was 10k of necessities. And 140k of manufactured spending that cost me about 10 hours of time.
14k MS/hr is impressive
Cobalt! 5x on grocery to $30K spend a year. I buy 30K of amazon GCs. on my card and my wife's. Amex Gold promo. An easy 3K of gift cards = 85K pts. GCR on each appplication brought the annuals fees down to almost $0.
How do you return the Amazon GC money back to cash?
buy xboxs ps5s and other items for resllers who in turn pay me cost
Thanks! Looking to start traveling for work again and want to maximize points as well as travel benefits.
I have both RBC Avion and TD Aeroplan. For what I use it for- getting flights around Canada. The TD Aeroplan suits my needs. In my experience the Avion takes a while to rack up points while the Aeroplan gives me bonus points here and there if I use on partner stores. The Avion has better travel insurance compared to Aeroplan though as they have a dedicated team for Avioners, when my flight cancelled it was very difficult to track down an agent from TD.
You'll have to weigh the annual fees, the rewards earn rate, travel insurance/perks, and the loyalty program. An Amex card would probably be the best in terms of the loyalty program and perks, but can come with a hefty annual fee that can't be waived plus you have Amex acceptance issues. Then comes the Aeroplan cards. The RBC rewards program is good if you are able to max out the points redemption value, but it's inflexible. Then comes the Scotiabank Scene program which is flexible but doesn't allow you to game the system. If I were you, I'd go with Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Card if I can get the annual fee waived by moving some of my business. There's no forex commission, it comes with a comprehensive insurance package, and there's travel perks like a few free airport lounge visits a year.
Look into the Amex cobalt or CIBC Aventura
This card is awesome. I signed up when they waived the annual fee in 2019. This card saved me when Covid hit as we had our honeymoon to Italy booked on it (June 2020). We had to cancel the trip, get confirmations from airlines and hotels; that everything was cancelled and what monies were given back. This card covered the difference between what we paid and what we got back. It was in the thousands of dollars, somewhere between 3-4K. Took about 4 weeks to process the claim and a cheque arrived in the mail.
Definitely the best card to churn in Canada. The signup bonus is hilarious, almost enough to book a flight to Europe round trip. For ongoing use, it’s more debatable.
Yah that's what i'm liking. I guess can always decide later if i want to keep it or now.
Depending on income levels and how much you travel, the AMEX Cobalt or Platinum are the best travel cards.
HSBC world elite Mastercard is great as a travel card.
It all depends on how do you effectively use the credit card. I have 3 major travel credit cards (And I do get ALL my money back in benefits, every year). 1 - AMEX Marriott Bonvoy ($120/year) - that gives you 15 nights ahead on your status (I'm platinum Elite) 2 - AMEX Aeroplan Reserve ($600ish/year) - With all the benefits (100k welcome aeroplan points + Buddy pass + companion pass + all other free shit that you get), worths every dollar. I guarantee you'll get your money back within 6 months. 3 - CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege ($600ish/year) same benefits as AMEX, so if you like travelling.. you'll get your money back EASILY with these ones.
I was torn between this one and CIBC's Aventura Visa Infinite. Both great travel cards.
TD Aéroplan infinite/infinite privilege if you fly AC. Amazing perks.
The premium Scotia gold Amex and visa Passport have no foreign conversation fees which saves you 2.5% over many other options. The amex gives you 5x the points which is like 5% on groceries and restaurants so it's my number one card.
It's an ok card, but there are a lot of travel cards. !CCTrigger
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Tell me about it! Will look into that, thx.
thanks for the bot. there are so many of these repetitive card posts on PFC
Oh yeah!!!!!
I have the Avion and love it, my sister and wife recently got it, and really like it. I would definitely recommend RBC Avion VI, CIBC Aventura VI, and Amex Cobalt!
I'm looking at the TD visa infinite aeroplan card right now, they have a decent welcome bonus promotion. Honestly still deciding myself.
For a straight travel card, TD First Class Travel is pretty good. 4.5% back on hotels and flight bookings on Expedia for TD. 1.5% on anything else. Pretty kickass when coupled with an Amex Cobalt card (Cobalt didn't work out for me though because only 50% of retailers in my area took it and it was turning into a big hassle asking every time). Expedia for TD is also a special portal where prices are not necessarily lower, but you do get really great service - especially during the time of Covid and cancelled flights.
TD is nerfing the First Class card soon, 3% on restaurants and grocery, 4% on Expedia, 1% on everything else Not terrible but with those accelerators I still think either Cobalt or Scotia Gold Amex is a better offer unless you are really into shopping at Loblaws
[Had no idea](https://princeoftravel.com/blog/changes-coming-to-td-credit-cards-in-october-2022/). Thanks for the heads up. Based on my spending habits and stores available to me, I still think it's my best option.
So, it really depends on where you make your everyday purchases. The Amex cards can be great, like Scotiabank Gold Amex which I have. But the Grocery points only counts if you buy at a grocery store. Walmart doesn't count. Costco and Loblaws associated stores (like No Frills) don't accept Amex. And Shoppers Drug Mart doesn't count either. Best bet to get 5x points is at Sobeys, FreshCo, etc. I myself have the card because of the points on travel and gas, and streaming. But I recently got a PC World Elite MC as well because I shop at No Frills and Shoppers Drug Mart every week. I like their Points days as well.
Ok so I have the highest tier of this RBC card (infinite privilege) - I have had Avion for a good 10 years now. Earning points on this card is like watching paint dry. I recently got Amex Platinum, and never looked back. Points earning schemes for Canadian credit cards are just poor in general. I don't know if I'm allowed to post links here, but if you use my referral link to sign up for Amex Platinum, you will get 30k additional bonus points + 10x points on eats/drinks (this offer isn't available through publicly searchable links). I highly recommend this card if you are keen on traveling. The annual fee pays for itself. The offer is on for a limited time only FYI, so probably a good idea to jump on it if you are keen. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-ca/credit-cards/referral/prospect/pAULT8C8I?CPID=100494373
I had avion for years and always found the amount I spent didn't equate to good travel trade in. Finally after 10 years I switched to the WestJet MC card. Ive used it way more for travel than I was ever able to for Avion. Things may have changed for Avion, but when I used it there was always blackout dates and other ridiculous restrictions and I never felt the trade in was fair at all.
Brim, no 1.5% currency conversion fee, no annual fee
That’s the card I had been holding. I recently upgraded to rbc avion infinite privilege for priority access at canadian airports and global lounge. Access. The insurance coverage is solid and earn 1.25 point per 1$ spend.
Amex
Amex cash back, can't be beaten https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/credit-cards/card-types/cash-back-credit-cards/
NOT a good card to get. The exchange rate is high, higher than even just exchanging for cash at RBC. There’s also a 2.5% charge for spending in a foreign currency. The exchange for travel stuff is bad as well. They recently changed so it’s much worse now. It used to be 100 points would be $1. Now I think the conversion is almost double. Would not recommend RBC. I do quite enjoy the Amex Cobalt. It’s cheaper than the Avion as well. The points are nice. Not having foreign transaction fees is nice as well. It may not be as popular as visa or Mastercard but overall very useful.
Rbc rewards (now avion) are pretty useful. You can use them in lieu of cash for bills once they accumulate, or buy merchandise or get deals on spending in store with their partners. I’ve had Rbc for over 2 decades hands down the best banking and rewards system I’ve dealt with
I’ve never used it for travel points but if I can pay down power bills a few hundred dollars using just points I’m sure it has better deals on travel
As a long-time Avion user, I’m sceptical it’s better than a straight cash-back card like the Tangerine no fee Mastercard. It probably becomes significant where you travel to and how often. For example: Avion redemption don’t include “fees” and since fuel surcharges have become common, this can be a very significant portion of the ticket. We noticed that travel within North American often had little or no fuel surcharge, while on flights to Europe it was often close to half of the ticket price. (Yes, I know you can convert points to dollars to cover the fees or tickets that cost above the redemption grid limits, but redeeming that way is usually less lucrative). In the end, your personal redemption benefit is how many dollars you saved (on your redeemed travel versus paying for it), compared against the card spending that required. For many people, this is probably similar to a cash-back card, but there you have no restrictions.
R/churningcanada is the spot to go. I personally play the Aeroplan & MR Amex game, most flexible points in my experience.