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Canada's
Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards for 2009 |
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Welcome
to Rewards Canada's first annual take on picking Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit
Cards. With Travel Rewards Credit Cards being one of the most popular type of
credit cards, we have decided to continue our quest in helping the Canadian consumer
choose the right card by picking what we think are the best cards. While it is
practically impossible to give this question a perfect one card answer, we can
breakdown the market of Canadian Travel Rewards credit cards into five major categories
that these cards fall into.
How did we come up with these best cards? Simple, eight years of research, answers
to hundreds of email questions from readers plus the charts and articles that
we have written has given us insight into the pros and cons of each card. This
has allowed Rewards Canada to form an opinion as to which ones are the best. That's
right, it all boils down to opinion. The top cards listed here, are in our opinion,
after looking at all of their details, the best cards for travel rewards in Canada.
Will people agree? Some yes, some no. Will we make some credit card issuers mad?
Yes. Happy? You bet. However, like we stated above it is nearly impossible to
pick a single best card due to the vast majority of factors that can be considered
when choosing a card.
We don't believe this to be the end all and be
all of the best travel rewards cards in Canada. As we have stressed in the past,
choosing a card is a difficult decision based on many factors including but not
limited to rewards offered, benefits offered, cost and the issuing bank. We hope
that in this first attempt of picking some of the highlights in Canada's travel
rewards credit card industry, we will help those in the quest of finding the right
credit card for them. |
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At last count there were
over 35 travel rewards credit cards available to Canadians. Some are airline only
cards that put miles directly into your airline frequent flyer accounts. Some
are hybrid cards (a term coined by us, now used by many) where you collect points
that can be used to book travel through the credit card or put the points into
a frequent flyer/guest account. Some are travel points cards, where the points
are redeemed for travel through the credit card company while a small number are
hotel only cards that put the points directly into your frequent guest program
accounts.
It
is from these variations of cards that we have created the five main categories
of cards in Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards for 2009.
1. Top Airline
Credit Card
2. Top Hybrid Travel Credit Card
3. Top Travel Points Credit
Card (with annual fee)
4. Top Travel Points Credit Card (with no annual fee)
5. Top Hotel Points Credit Card |
| Rewards
Canada's tools to help you choose a
Travel Rewards Credit Card |
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Top
Card:
CIBC AeroGold
Visa / AeroGold Visa Infinite
As some of the
most popular cards in Canada, the AeroGold Visa's come out on top for the airline
category for the following reasons:
-
Ability to earn 1.5 Aeroplan miles on Grocery, Drug Store and Gas Station purchases
- Decent redemption rates, particularly on Business Class tickets (which afford
the greatest rate of return on any credit card spending)
- Despite Canada's
love-hate relationship with Air Canada, the airline still provides the most flight
coverage domestically and internationally out of Canada, which allows AeroGold
holders many redemption options
Honourable Mention:
American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum
Charge Card
A card with
a slew of benefits attached to it, the AeroplanPlus Platinum Charge Card is a
favorite with the really frequent flyers:
-
Ability to earn up to 1.5 Aeroplan miles on all purchases
- Free access to
Air Canada Maple Leaf business class lounges and priority check in
- A high
yearly fee along with lower merchant acceptance of American Express cards are
what keep this card from being on top
Click
here to view all the Airline Credit
Cards that were considered |
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Top
Hybrid Travel Credit Card |
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Top
Card:
Diners Club Club Rewards
MasterCard
The
oldest credit card name in the industry shot up the ranks when it became a MasterCard
a few years back and here is why it is the top hybrid card:
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Ability to book your travel with any provider you want and redeem your points
against the charge up to 9 months later at a 1.7% return
- Low yearly fees
with a nice suite of benefits including free access to over 115 business class
lounges in major cities worldwide.
- Option to transfer Club Rewards points
to 10 airline and 7 hotel reward programs
(July 16 update: At this time Diners Club is
temporarily not accepting new applications for this card)
Honourable
Mention:
RBC
Visa
Platinum Avion /
Visa Infinite
Avion
The Avion cards rank right up with the CIBC AeroGold
Cards in terms of popularity with Canadians and offers a good suite benefits with
a decent rate of return when redeeming points
-
Ability to book flights with any airline with no blackout periods, extremely useful
when there are no seat sales
- Option to transfer RBC Rewards Points to British
Airways Executive Club or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. Look for the twice yearly
50% BA bonus!
- Having to book travel via RBC and at least 14 days out to
get the best redemption rate makes this the second best card.
Click
here to view all the Hybrid Travel Credit
Cards that were considered |
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Top
Travel Points Credit Card (with annual fee) |
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Top
Card:
Capital One Miles Plus Platinum
MasterCard with No Hassle Rewards*
One
of the newest credit cards in Canada from a relatively new issuer in the Canadian
market, this card charged onto the market with the following features and benefits:
- A 2% return on all purchases can be used towards
travel that is booked with any travel provider
- Low yearly fee of $99 complete
with MasterCard platinum benefits
- No fee supplementary card
Honourable
Mention:
BMO
Air Miles Gold MasterCard
A
popular mainstay in Canada that recently went through changes after the termination
of their partnership with WestJet, this card is the best option for those who
love to collect Air Miles Reward Miles:
- This card offers the largest
double dipping opportunities in Canada due to the sheer volume of Air Miles sponsors
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20% discount on all Air Miles flights means you have to collect less before redeeming
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Double Air Miles for purchases made at Shell gas stations
Click
here to view all the Travel Points Credit
Cards (with annual fee) that were considered |
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Top
Travel Points Credit Card (with no annual fee) | |
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Top
Card:
American
Express Blue Sky Credit Card
Introduced
in mid-2008, the Blue Sky Credit Card makes a perfect alternative to the no fee
Air Miles card for those who do not want to be stuck earning points into one program
by offering the ability to book travel anywhere and then redeem your points for
that charge:
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Points can be redeemed against booked travel up to 12 months after the charge
is posted (book first then spend spend spend to pay it off!)
- Offers a 1.25%
return on purchases
- Can redeem as little as 10,000 points, which means you
only have to spend $8,000 if you don't include the sign up bonus
Honourable
Mention:
Capital
One Miles Platinum MasterCard with No Hassle Rewards*
Amusing
commercials are not all that Capital One has going for them, this card offers
benefits and insurance's usually reserved for cards with an annual fee:
- A 1%
return on all purchases can be used towards travel that is booked with any travel
provider
- One of only a few cards with no annual fee that offer MasterCard
platinum benefits
- Points can also be used towards Cash, Gift Cards or Merchandise
Click
here to view all the Travel Points Credit
Cards (with no annual fee) that were considered |
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Top
Hotel Points Credit Card |
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Top
Card:
MBNA
Starwood Preferred Guest MasterCard*
This
card took Canada by storm a few years back. The first true hotel earning card
for Canadians offers a suite of benefits with rewards tied to one the world's
best Frequent Guest Programs, all with no annual fee. Honestly if this card gave
out bonuses beyond the $30,000 mark, it would be the best card in Canada, period.
- Earn bonuses up to the first $30,000 of
spending to make the card earn 1 Starpoint per $1 spent, after it is 1 Starpoint
per $2
- Ability to transfer to 30+ airlines including a 5,000 mile bonus
when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints at a time.
- Complete suite of benefits
like most Platinum and Gold cards except this one has no fee
(Sep
1 update: This card has been discontinued as of Aug 31, 09, a new SPG card is
slated to be released in Canada by Mar 2010)
Honourable
Mention:
Chase
Marriott Rewards Platinum Visa
The second true hotel earning card for Canadians originally came on the market
with weak benefits and perks but the incentives have been increased making this
the next best hotel card in Canada.
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Receive 10 nights credit toward Elite status each year, which automatically gives
you Silver Elite status
- 10,000 bonus points on your first purchase, enough
for a free night in a Category 1 or 2 hotel.
- 3 Marriott Rewards points per
dollar spent at over 3,000 Marriott locations Worldwide.
Click
here to view all the Hotel Points Credit
Cards that were considered |
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What
will the next year hold in store? Well with WestJet launching their own frequent
flyer program with an associated credit card and hints of a major U.S. airline
launching a Canadian credit card, Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credits Cards may
look somewhat different for 2010. Stay tuned this time next year to see what transpires.
Care
to comment on our choices? Want to voice your opinion on the good and the bad
of all the Travel Rewards Credit Cards in Canada. Share you views and experiences
on our accompanying blog post for Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2009.
Go
to the Rewards
Canada blog.... |
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| *
- These links offer commissions to Rewards Canada for successful applications
that are completed after clicking the link. This affiliation has in no way influenced
our choices for the top travel rewards credit cards. | |
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