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Canadian Credit Cards - Best Perks

15K views 70 replies 20 participants last post by  kcowan 
#1 ·
Sorry if there's already a similar thread, but I couldn't find it, hence this one.

As mentioned elsewhere, both here and on other forums, Tangerine is making disappointing changes to its MasterCard. In addition, Chase's Amazon.ca Visa is no longer open to new applicants causing some to believe this card is going the way of the dodo.

Since these are currently my primary cards, I'm now looking at possible replacements--particularly for 0% forex. I came across the Home Trust Preferred Visa on RFD. No one seems to have it, though; just a bunch of talk on the forum of its existence. Also suggested was the Fido MasterCard, but I don't quite care for how they combine their cash back and '0%' forex fee, so I'm leaning towards the Home Trust card, should I qualify.

Does anyone have any experience with either card, or another to suggest with no annual fee?
 
#46 ·
Be weary of establishments who will charge your home currency by default.. hence scoring the 2.5% bonus for themselves.. ask for the local currency..

I should look at using amazon visa for foreign cash advances again. The fine print says 1% fee with a $5 min charge, so above $200 should beat a debit card

I believe the reason I chose to get foreign cash with the TD debit card is because it incurred fewer foreign ATM charges (but now it says only in NA..)
 
#50 ·
We used our Chase Marriott card for Visa and cash advances from Jan through to mid March in South and Central America and in a few US airports.

I check the FX rates every so often. They were all coming over at the XE website FX rate down to the the third decimal point.

Same for cash advances. Great deal for the bank. They give us 1/2 percent interest on our balance, then charge 2.5 percent to withdraw. No wonder their stock is such a solid investment.

If we use our bank ATM card outside Canada our bank rate was consistently 2.5 to 3 percent highter than the XE website rate. Plus they dinged me $5. Marriott Visa cash advance charges 1 percent, minimum $5. May not seem like a lot but when you use foreign ATM's frequently it adds it. Plus, we often either avoid and extra merchant charge for using a credit card or we get a discount for cash. Either way it is a win win.
 
#51 ·
I have Amazon Visa as my default PayPal card and I had it set it to something like "Bill me in the currency listed on the seller's invoice"

However I can't seem to find that setting in PayPal anymore, and I see people are reporting that PayPal no longer gives you the currency options on checkout..

It appears that PayPal is also now trying to score some more 2.5% fees. See recent discussion in this RFD thread
 
#53 ·
So apparenlty PayPal changed their website in Nov 2016 and now you have to dig really deep to set the default conversion:

From Settings/Payments/Manage preapproved payments/Set Available Funding Sources/Conversion Options/Bill me in the currency listed on the seller's invoice

It used to be easier to find.. sneaky PayPal
 
#57 ·
Okay, so I got my new Capone/Costco card in the mail today. All they offer is an $8K credit limit. So I call them and spend the better part of an hour talking to the CSR and then, her Supervisor. All I asked for was $15K and got a flat out, no!

I have zero debt and an excellent, unblemished credit history.

They said you need to be with them at least six months before they will even consider it....Caveat emptor folks.
 
#63 ·
Same thing here. I have excellent credit and had been using their card for some time (>6 months) and ran out of credit hence why I called in. Nope, not approved. Then stopped using save for Gas and Restaurant.

PS - no incentive to using @ Costco except for the Costco membership card being embedded in it.
 
#58 ·
Had the same problem with Tangerine. When I got the card they set the limit at $12K. It was tight; I asked for more but they refused. Another card just kept bumping the limit up until it went to $25K - without asking.

They all have their little algorithms that some bright spark developed. Certainly cheaper than old-fashioned small town face-to-face banking but sometimes I wonder what do they really know about your creditworthiness.
 
#59 · (Edited)
I applied for, and received a Chase Bank Canada Amazon card. It had a 4k limit which was odd.

Three months later I realized that I could get a fee based Chase Bank Marriott card. So I applied for that. Same data that I used for the Amazon card. The Marriott came with a 14K limit. Much better. Same bank. Same credit application. Same period in time. Go figure.

Costco Capital One has been 15K since we got it. No increase but we hardly need it. All the while, our CIBC Visa credit limit keeps going up and we are using it less and less. Now sitting at $31K. Never asked for an increase, don't need one, don't really want one.
 
#60 ·
Marriott Chase great for international travel and one free night per year offsets fee and then some.

CapOne Costco is great overall.

Aeroplan VISA is tempting but I dislike Aeroplan.

Amazon Chase is good for simple online stuff. Rogers has a similar credit card now as well.
https://www.rogersbank.com/en/25stndrd
 
#65 ·
With the recent changes announced by Tangerine on their card, it caused me to re-look at my setup. I ended up applying for a BMO World Elite travel card (flat 2% travel rewards). It's part of a bundle where you get a free chequing account, and the card ends up being free. I was looking for a new bank anyways, so it should work out well. I will keep using the Cap One Costco cashback card for spend at restaurants.
 
#69 ·
Here is a great thread > https://forums.redflagdeals.c om/best-credit-card-combinations-maximize-rewards-2092652/ (added a space between the .c om)

Everyday Purchases

1) Scotia American Express gold - $250 welcome bonus and annual $99 fee waived for first year. 4x points in gas, grocery, dining, and entertainment (that's 4% cash back when points used for travel and roughly 3% when used in Scotia rewards). 1% cash back on non-4% categories.

2) Tangerine Mastercard - gets me 2% cash back in three other categories and has no annual fee. I use it for recurring bills, drug store purchases, and furniture. I got the 4% bonus in 3 categories for 3 months promo, but this is currently over. As of the end of April, it's 0.5% cash back on non-2% categories instead of 1%.
 
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