# If you could pick on credit card?



## clovis8 (Dec 7, 2010)

I am looking for ways to leverage my credit which tops 800. I make about 85k/year and currently have the aerogold infinite from CIBC. 

Is there a better card? What is the best card in Canada I could reasonably get?

By "best" I mean lowest APR, lowest annual fee, highest rewards etc.


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

Isn't the "best" card the one with no annual fee and cashback rewards?

It depends what you're looking for, I guess.

Some people are big air miles fans...

The only time I ever collect air miles is when I'm at the LCBO making a purchase with my free cashback visa.


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## Abha (Jun 26, 2011)

I think MoneySense had an article on this not too long ago and the top two were the CIBC Aerogold and the TD Infinite First Class. Not too sure which one was #1 and which was #2

I like any American Express card because they've been fabulous and have always had first-rate service.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Airmiles are junk unless you take short Dash 8 flights. For dash 8 flight airmiles are worth more than a dollar - for rewards they're worth 5, 10 cents or less. I'd sell mine

I have MBNA SmartCash and TD Infinite First Class. TD bought MBNA Canada


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## dbw (Dec 8, 2011)

clovis8 said:


> I am looking for ways to leverage my credit which tops 800. I make about 85k/year and currently have the aerogold infinite from CIBC.
> 
> Is there a better card? What is the best card in Canada I could reasonably get?
> 
> By "best" I mean lowest APR, lowest annual fee, highest rewards etc.


There are a large variety of credit cards with many type of rewards. 
I suggest the first thing you need to do is to narrow down your options be deciding on what type of reward you want, i.e. cash back reward? travel reward? etc.

For travel reward, I used to have CIBC Aerogold for a long time, but changed to AMEX Aeroplan plus gold card a couple of years ago because they both have the same annual fee ($120) but AMEX's 2nd card (for my wife) is free whereas CIBC's 2nd card has a annual fee ($60 I think). These cards earn Aeroplan miles which can be redeemed with Star Alliance for travel reward, I have redeemed travel rewards many times with them with no issue, just remember that you would have to pay taxes and various airport fees for the reward tickets. 

For cash reward, it's a little more complicated to calculate. Most banks offer 1% cash back visa with $0 annual fee, there are higher % cash back visa cards with an annual fee. You would have to know your approximate annual spending to calculate the cash back reward amounts from each type to determine which one provides more $ after netting out the annual fee. 
Also note that not all charges are eligible for cash back, must read their terms and conditions.

Good luck


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

I use the MBNA cashback rewards card.

I can't understand why anyone would want one of those stupid air miles cards. What a scam they are, I have friends with them so I've seen how they work.

Here's how it should work: If I have say 1000 air miles I should be able to go to the airport, hop on a plane and step off in Florida (or somewhere 1000 miles away) without taking out my wallet.

But no. There's blackout dates. And peak-demand times so you spend 3000 airmiles to go 1000 actual miles. Then you have to pay all the taxes and airport fees. And those taxes are based on the ridiculously high retail rates that no one in their right mind would ever pay.

You can got much better deals on discount travel sites.

My MBNA card gives me cash back to spend on what I want.


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## yyzvoyageur (Apr 10, 2009)

Capital One Aspire World Travel MasterCard. Two points per dollar towards any travel, which basically works out to a 2% return if you do it right. They also have a great insurance package that covers trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, baggage delay and loss, price protection, extended warranty and purchase protection.

If you really are a frequent flyer and you're actually using those Aeroplan miles to their full extent (i.e., business- and first-class rewards to far-flung destinations) then keep the Aerogold. Otherwise, I'd steer clear of Aeroplan cards.


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

^^ this if you're looking for travel... they also have the option to exchange miles for cash which works out to a decent amount of cash.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

+smartcash. Just got upgraded to the world smartcash, back at 5% gas and grocery reward for 6 months. 1% on everything else.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

Agree that Aeroplan rewards and therefore the related cards can be frustrating and sometimes difficult to use. However, if you use business class air travel overseas they can't be beat. We have flown to Europe and Asia recently using our points. For about 120,000 points(spend of about $80,000) you get a ticket to Asia that might cost $8,000. This equates to a 10% reward rate !! Agree that flying economy class on points is not worth it as the tickets are so cheap anyway. Clearly not for most people but for those who value this type of travel and who spend enouh it's the best deal. Amex platinum aero cost about $750 / year for two cards but there are other perks as well such as access to lounges at airports and immediate boarding on Air Canada flights,etc.


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

+1 for smartcash

I use TD infinite **** only for travel insurance


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Same as larry81

If you read the fine print, all the other cash back cards have big catches such as tiers. With Smart Cash, you can easily verify what stores give the higher reward online. Even gas/grocery stores in other countries work as long as they have the correct merchant code


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## heyjude (May 16, 2009)

Square Root said:


> Agree that Aeroplan rewards and therefore the related cards can be frustrating and sometimes difficult to use. However, if you use business class air travel overseas they can't be beat. We have flown to Europe and Asia recently using our points. For about 120,000 points(spend of about $80,000) you get a ticket to Asia that might cost $8,000. This equates to a 10% reward rate !! Agree that flying economy class on points is not worth it as the tickets are so cheap anyway. Clearly not for most people but for those who value this type of travel and who spend enouh it's the best deal. Amex platinum aero cost about $750 / year for two cards but there are other perks as well such as access to lounges at airports and immediate boarding on Air Canada flights,etc.


Aeroplan points can also be used for cruises (Expedia cruise ship centers) and Air Canada vacations.


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## Echo (Apr 1, 2011)

clovis8 said:


> I am looking for ways to leverage my credit which tops 800. I make about 85k/year and currently have the aerogold infinite from CIBC.
> 
> Is there a better card? What is the best card in Canada I could reasonably get?
> 
> By "best" I mean lowest APR, lowest annual fee, highest rewards etc.


The MoneySense article that was referred to earlier rated the Scotia Momentum Visa as the best cash back card in Canada. It has a $99 annual fee and offers:

4% cash back on gas station and grocery store purchases
2% cash back on recurring payments and drug store purchases
1% cash back on all other eligible purchases

You didn't really define "best rewards", in terms of cash back, travel, or merchandise. RateSupermarket has a neat credit card tool that allows you to customize your search to find the credit card that works best for you.


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## Syph007 (May 2, 2011)

I suppose the 'best' card would have the highest bonus % back as long as that bonus is something you want.

I dont carry a balance ever so I didnt care about the interest rate. Im currently using a visa that gives me 1% in esso points. I buy gas weekly so it's something I can actually use the reward for. Currently I get about $250 worth of free gas a year, and it's a no fee card. Im satisfied with that and haven't looked for anything better.


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## Ihatetaxes (May 5, 2010)

Aeroplan sucks. Brutal blackout periods, can't book a trip within 2 weeks of travel, each flight only has a few seats that allow booking using points, terrible call centre waiting times, etc. My wife and I used Aerogold for years but grew weary of the plan. Better by far is Royal Bank Avion. You can book any flight, any airline, anytime. I have booked flights less than 24 hours from departure and have flown for free all over the US, Carribbean and Europe. 

The Avion Infinite has excellent travel insurance coverage, great call center for booking travel (never sit on hold unlike Aeroplan) and you are talking to a real Travel Agent who I find are always helpful. For example, recent flights I booked I was able to secure business class seats for economy points as there was a discount on the business class fares that brought them low enough to qualify under the economy price ceiling.

We still have about 150,000 Aeroplan points to use up but I accumlate Avion points faster than I use them so sitting around 400,000 right now waiting for the next trip to get booked!


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

Agree with what you say,Taxes. Only problem is that business class air costs too much in your scenario. If you are happy with economy then I think your suggestion works well. If you are looking for international business class air, I think Aeroplan is best.


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## Oilers82 (Jan 17, 2011)

With Avion another way to use is to convert to BA points, once a year you're allowed to convert at a rate of 1 Avion to 1.5 BA points.

BA has awesome customer service as well.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Oilers82 said:


> BA has awesome customer service as well.


In September, flying to Paris, BA was much worse than Lufthansa. So I would be cautious about counting on them in the future.


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## Ihatetaxes (May 5, 2010)

Oilers82 said:


> With Avion another way to use is to convert to BA points, once a year you're allowed to convert at a rate of 1 Avion to 1.5 BA points.
> 
> BA has awesome customer service as well.


Thanks for that tip, I wasnt aware of that. Just had a look at BA's website and to fly from Toronto to Heathrow would be 40,000 Avios points so with this exhange deal its pretty sweet.

Might have to take the Fam for a Britsh holiday next year! 

It does say that deal ends in January 31, 2012.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

But think of all those airport fees, surcharges and taxes you would have to pay!


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## Ihatetaxes (May 5, 2010)

the-royal-mail said:


> But think of all those airport fees, surcharges and taxes you would have to pay!


Generally true but if you avoid flying out of Pearson the fees and taxes are much lower. I just flew American Airlines from Miami to Toronto and the fees and taxes were zero, covered by the points.

Also have flown out of Niagara Falls airport on Direct Air with no fees or taxes.

Avion has also just partnered with Travelocity so you can now book all kinds of travel with points all online.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Oh okay. I didn't know those fees and taxes were covered by points.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

the-royal-mail said:


> Oh okay. I didn't know those fees and taxes were covered by points.


*grin* - It's the plus and minus of the variety of cards out there these days.

On one hand, if you find it - a lot more items can be covered using the points. On the other hand, there is some work to do to identify exactly what the differences are.

[ A good selling point to this thread .... IMHO. ]


Cheers


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## canadianbanks (Jun 5, 2009)

I like this AMEX card from Costco:

http://www.americanexpress.com/canada/costco-card


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

I just needed to ask you guys if your credit card company calls you to offer you payment protection. They say it is like a $1.15 per every $100 you spend. What kind of an idiot would sign up for something like that. It is meant as a disability or job loss thing so they will pay your monthly balance or the minimum payment I am sure.


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