MilesBuzz! - best canadian mileage-earning credit card

hey!

since the university is allowing me to charge my tuition to creditcard, i'm just wondering if anyone had an opinion as to what's the best canadian mileage-earning credit card?

unfortunately, i can't use amex. visa also charges 1.9% "currency conversion surcharge" on all foreign transactions. since my transactions will be in australian dollars, i'd rather not pay an extra 2%.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fireflyreaction:
hey!

since the university is allowing me to charge my tuition to creditcard, i'm just wondering if anyone had an opinion as to what's the best canadian mileage-earning credit card?

unfortunately, i can't use amex. visa also charges 1.9% "currency conversion surcharge" on all foreign transactions. since my transactions will be in australian dollars, i'd rather not pay an extra 2%.

</font>

This thread should not be posted here.

But anyway, these are the major Canadian bank-owned mileage program.

Royal Bank Avion Visa $120
TD Visa Travel $99
MBNA MasterCard Travel Rewards $89
National Bank MC Escapade $20 (www.nbc.ca)

For airline specific program, there are only CIBC Aerogold and RoyalBank AAdvantage Gold.

You know the situation in Canada... there are very few credit card issuers.

There is only one card that is worth having in my opinion. For maximum value and benefit, I would suggest The CIBC(Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) Aeroplan Visa. You will get one AC mile for each dollar charged with no limits whatsoever. I've tried them all and this is the way to go.

I use Royal Bank AA Advantage Visa - a good deal inasmuch as you get 1mile/Dollar CDN so it works out to 1 mile/USD 0.62 currently.

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I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous

I don't get the original question. If you're going to be charging AUD$ on the card and don't want to pay the "standard" conversion fees, why would you want a CAD$ card ?

My vote for the CAD$ card is the Royal Bank Avion. CAD$ 1 = 1 Avion point which can be transferred to either AA or BA at a minimum 10K points threshold.

the reason i need a CAD account is because i am a canadian citizen and it will be difficult to get an AUD card if i have 0 credit history there.

CIBC "Aerogold" VISA is the card to get.

i would get the CIBC card but they charge a 1.8% foreign currency fee.

so, combine their annual fee, with $360 per $20,000AUD, it's not worth it at all. (unless someone knows how to negotiate a waiver of that fee)

MC doesn't charge a foreign currency fee, so i may just go with a BMO MC with airmiles.

They might tell you there's a "fee" but it's not like they're going to give you the best conversion rate which means you're paying the "fee" anyway. Call up the CC bank and check what the exchange is. Then look it up in Yahoo. I bet you it will be at least 2% higher through the CC. Best way to save money is to go to a foreign exchange or use TD Waterhouse.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by canadaflyer:
They might tell you there's a "fee" but it's not like they're going to give you the best conversion rate which means you're paying the "fee" anyway.</font>

Absolutely, using the CIBC AeroGold around the world, I've never incurred a seperate "Fee" item on my charges, just that the conversion rate used is about 2% than what you can get via, say, an ATM withdrawl using your bank card on the same day.

Pretty certain they all charge this "fee", MC, Visa, DC, or Amex. It is just our American neighbours seems to be dinged for an additional 2% on top of this unfavourable exchange "fee" for some of their cards.

actually, i just got off the phone with cibc visa and they can't tell me what the exchange rate is (i couldn't even begin to understand why..it really made no sense) - but they did tell me that ALL visa's have a 1.8% fee for foreign currency exchange.

i've phoned MC before and they've told me that they do not charge a fee.

this is why i tried to get their exchange rates - maybe MC is building it into their rate??

Yeah for sure MC is building it into their rate. There's no way the CC company is going to give you a better rate than the Bank as they're going to lose money. Use a line of credit or something if you don't have the money and use TD Waterhouse to get the best exchange rate. Since they sell stocks, they give you the best exchange so that you can buy stocks.

canadaflyer: how would i use TD waterhouse? i've gone to their canadian website, and it seems as though you'd have to use it for buying stocks? i don't see how i'd be able to transfer a bunch of money from one currency into another?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rolyjp:
There is only one card that is worth having in my opinion. For maximum value and benefit, I would suggest The CIBC(Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) Aeroplan Visa. You will get one AC mile for each dollar charged with no limits whatsoever. I've tried them all and this is the way to go.</font>

I agree. I have been an Aeroplan member since it started -- I *used* to fly a lot (at least one trip per week), but not any more. Now I get my points by charging software that I resell to the card. Some months, I've had 20,000 (i.e. almost a reward ticket) charged this way.

One of the best bargins (gone now) was that travelling to the eastern NWT (now Nunavut) from Ontario was a short-haul reward. Back in 1997, we bagged 8 reward tickets to Pangnirtung (retail price $1600CAD each) for only 120,000 Aeroplan miles.

Next summer, we have 4 reward tickets to Fort Simpson -- we're going to do the Nahanni River.

What a great way to travel!!!

Just to demonstrate that this is the best card -- I have a number of friends who work for the BofM -- and they all have Aeroplan Gold cards. ;-)

Have you considered Citizens Bank of Canada?

www.citizensbank.ca (http://www.citizensbank.ca)

They may not offer a direct relationship with an airline but you cannot beat them for service. They are open 24 hours per day and the staff are excellent. You must be a Canadian Resident with a Canadian address. But they will send you deposit slips etc overseas (they have sent me corrspondence to China, US and UK). All banking is online. No fees for any withdrawal from any bank machine anywhere in the world.

They offer a gold card where every dollar contributes to a discount towards the purchase of travel. For every 100 points, you get a $1 credit for air travel. So 25,000 points = $250 credit. This is poor compared to CIBC Aerogold but I can only speak from experience - they are an excellent Bank with an ethical policy.


Dave - London, UK

firefly: You open an account, put some money in then call the stock line. They transfer your money to any currency with probably the best rates for &lt;$1million.

Actually Citibank Mastercard gives even better rates over the phone. They quote the exact yahoo rate while TD is usually .1c or something off. However, those guys ripped me off once because I bought a car in US$ on a driver's edge and they charged me 1.62 when it was supposed to be 1.59 (i.e. they gave me the quote on the phone on that day as 1.59). I called and after MUCH complaining, they credited me the difference. Not worth the hassle and you can't check your account online.

Bumping....

My folks in Toronto need a new mileage card - I am pretty clueless about the programs in Canada, so I'm not sure where to steer them, and after checking the various bank websites, I'm even more confused....

So - this is what I've figured out. They want a Visa (or MC) card, but they have an existing Amex card. After checking CIBC and Amex, it looks like they could apply for the CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite card and also convert their plain Amex to the Aeroplan Plus Gold.

Their bonus Aeroplan miles in the first year should be 15,000 (CIBC) + 25,000 (Amex), and they will earn 1/1 from Visa for everyday purchases, 2/1 at gas stations, and the Amex card will give them 1.25/1 on everything after they pass 10K in spend.

So my questions are thus:

1) Is this combination the best available program in Canada?

2) Can they have miles from the Visa card and Amex card go into the same Aeroplan account? Or will they need two different Aeroplan accounts?
Editing to add: they can get both credit cards in the same name as the Aeroplan account

1) Check out the MBNA Starwood. I think it's the best for me, spending about 30k/year on the card.

You get 1 point for every 2 dollars, plus you get 5000 points for every $10k up to $30k.

So if you spend exactly $10/20/30k in a year, you'll get 10/20/30k points. If I come up short and spend $29 000, I would get 24500 points, still pretty good. The Starwood points transfer into FF points 20k to 25k, so there's a 1.25 transfer if you do want FF points in the end.

But an even better deal is nights and flights. For 60k points, you get 5 nights in a Starwood class 3 property AND 50k in FF points. For 70k points, you get 5 nights in a class 4 property and 50k in FF points.

The best part is that it has NO ANNUAL FEE. But it still comes with a bunch of insurance.

2) Yes, both cards can put rewards into the same Aeroplan account.

1) Check out the MBNA Starwood. I think it's the best for me, spending about 30k/year on the card....

Thanks, I looked at the SPG card, but they need something more 1/1 to get miles. Here is how I broke down their spend for a year

1) General Merchandise/Services - $30K - 30K points
2) Gas/Grocery/Drug - 10K - $15K points
----------------------
Total - 45K pts before extra items/bonuses, Amex 1.25 bonus, etc.

The way I see it, they could earn 2 free tickets a year anywhere in NA, and with the sign-up bonuses for CIBC and Amex, they already start with almost enough for 2 tickets.

Your parents might wish to consider this card.

I just got a Canadian American Express Business Gold Rewards card which is new and is presently extensively advertised in Canada on T.V. and in newspapers. A notice about it may now be on Gary Steiger's website because I told him about it but here's a link giving out the news about it:

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1902969/

Free year one, then $180; this card pays 25000 bonus Membership Rewards points if spend in first three months is $1000.

I happened to need to spend $1600 immediately at the dentist "to improve my smile at business meetings" and put it on the card. The 25000 bonus Amex Membership Rewards points posted within days of the charge as well as the point per dollar earned on the charge of $1600. I called Amex and arranged immediate transfer of 26600 to my existing Aeroplan account. All 26600 additional Aeroplan points were posted immediately and actually showed up in my Aeroplan account while I was still on the phone with the Amex CSR.

Perhaps each of them could qualify as they each have or could start a small business. Voila! Fifty thousand points between them in no time.

I use the Royal Bank Platinum Avion Visa.

It's 1 RBC point per $1 spent. They have their own "reward structure" for redeeming RBC points for travel, but I never use their services. RBC points can be converted at 1:1 for British Airways Executive Club Miles (which is what I usually do), because BA Miles can also be used on their partner airlines (AA, Cathay, etc).

The best part is, about twice a year, British Airways offers a special promotion for those converting RBC points into BA Miles. They offer a 50% bonus on the conversion. So 10,000 RBC points now becomes 15,000 BA Miles.

Another bonus would be the 15,000 RBC points you get automatically upon enrollment.

Potential downsides would be:
- $120 annual fee
- Limited BA availability (See the BA subforum). But if you know where you're traveling 6-10 months in advance, you shouldn't have any problems.

Thanks, I looked at the SPG card, but they need something more 1/1 to get miles. Here is how I broke down their spend for a year

1) General Merchandise/Services - $30K - 30K points
2) Gas/Grocery/Drug - 10K - $15K points
----------------------
Total - 45K pts before extra items/bonuses, Amex 1.25 bonus, etc.

The way I see it, they could earn 2 free tickets a year anywhere in NA, and with the sign-up bonuses for CIBC and Amex, they already start with almost enough for 2 tickets.

Not sure I understand this post. It looks like:
item (1) + (2) = 40K spending
With the SPG card you would earn 35K starwood points (plus the sign up bonus of 5k starwood points) which would translate into 50K airline miles if you wish. Yes enough for two free North America tickets in coach (pesuming the airline releases seats).

I believe the SPG Canada Mastercard is one of the best, because you can transfer those starwood points into airline points of your choice and there is no anual fee or a $35 fee, I don't remember.

Another credit card that is pretty amazing is the Alaska Airlines credit card MBNA where you get a virually no strings attached $50 companion ticket. With the companion ticket you purchase any Alaska operated flight, and your companion can purchase a ticket on the same flights for $50 plus tax. So if your ticket is $550 say BOS-YVR, your companion's ticket is only $50. All earn regular frequent flyer miles. (AS also gives you a sign up bonus of 20,000 miles too)

Not sure I understand this post. It looks like:
item (1) + (2) = 40K spending
With the SPG card you would earn 35K starwood points (plus the sign up bonus of 5k starwood points) which would translate into 50K airline miles if you wish. Yes enough for two free North America tickets in coach (presuming the airline releases seats)....

Amex offers a points bonus of 25% once you hit 10K in spend. Coupled with the 50% bonus at gas/grocery/drug, the points could add up pretty quickly. If I know they will exceed 25K in spend for a good portion of the year, I could make an argument to bump them to the Amex Plat version, which offers 1/1 up to 10K, 1.25/1 10k-25K and 1.50/1 for every dollar spent above 25K - and I believe you still get the 50% bonus for gas/grocery/drug on top of the above bases. The Plat cards also offers a free 15K 'short haul' companion reward each year, so they could both fly to NYC for free (not sure what taxes/fees go with AP rewards) every year - a value likely to equal the membership cost.

Maybe the Aeroplan and SPG cards are tied for best options? I'm still leaning towards AP because their travel is likely to be on AC, UA or *cough* US, and next year they can also fly CO as well. Right now they only fly once a year to Florida, but with a stack of miles, I can send them to NYC a couple times and even Vegas.

1) Check out the MBNA Starwood. I think it's the best for me, spending about 30k/year on the card.

You get 1 point for every 2 dollars, plus you get 5000 points for every $10k up to $30k.

So if you spend exactly $10/20/30k in a year, you'll get 10/20/30k points. If I come up short and spend $29 000, I would get 24500 points, still pretty good. The Starwood points transfer into FF points 20k to 25k, so there's a 1.25 transfer if you do want FF points in the end.

But an even better deal is nights and flights. For 60k points, you get 5 nights in a Starwood class 3 property AND 50k in FF points. For 70k points, you get 5 nights in a class 4 property and 50k in FF points.

The best part is that it has NO ANNUAL FEE. But it still comes with a bunch of insurance.

2) Yes, both cards can put rewards into the same Aeroplan account.

To my knowledge , the bonuses of $10/20/30K and $5K for 1st SPG stay apply only to
the first year of the use of the card. From the 2nd year it is only 1 point per $2 spend.
I hardly ever use the card anymore ( after having received all the bonuses during the
1st year )
My preffered CC is the TD Aadvantage card where you also get double miles for any
charges to AA.
Cheers
Michael

To my knowledge , the bonuses of $10/20/30K and $5K for 1st SPG stay apply only to
the first year of the use of the card. From the 2nd year it is only 1 point per $2 spend.
I hardly ever use the card anymore ( after having received all the bonuses during the
1st year )
My preffered CC is the TD Aadvantage card where you also get double miles for any
charges to AA.
Cheers
Michael

The $10/20/30k bonuses are each year. This is straight from the T+C:


"(3) for each CDN$10,000, $20,000 and $30,000 in Net Purchase (as defined in the terms and conditions for the MBNA Starpoints Program) transactions that are charged to the Card in each consecutive twelve (12) month period following the first retail purchase on the Card (each, a ("Contract Year") up to a maximum of 15,000 "bonus" Starpoints per Contract Year. Cardholders cannot combine multiple accounts in order to reach the above "bonus" thresholds."

The 5k points for first purchase and 5k points for first stay are only for the first purchase and first stay, they don't repeat after that.

Thanks, I looked at the SPG card, but they need something more 1/1 to get miles. Here is how I broke down their spend for a year

1) General Merchandise/Services - $30K - 30K points
2) Gas/Grocery/Drug - 10K - $15K points
----------------------
Total - 45K pts before extra items/bonuses, Amex 1.25 bonus, etc.

The way I see it, they could earn 2 free tickets a year anywhere in NA, and with the sign-up bonuses for CIBC and Amex, they already start with almost enough for 2 tickets.

With the Starwood, let's say they each get an account and they each spend $20k/year. They'd get a total of 40k points. Those 40k points become 50k points when they change them to FF points. The bonus points make Starwood almost 1/1, and then there's the 1.25 multiplier if you convert in 20k blocks. Since tickets are usually 25k, it makes sense to only do 20k -> 25k transfers.

But they wouldn't have to pay the fees. How much are the total fees for the two cards plus the two supplemental cards?

Starwood will give roughly the same number of points, but will save a few hundred in fees. If they don't get all the points they need, they can use the money saved in fees to buy a ticket.

Starwood is a little more complex though. The best way to do it would be to get 2 separate accounts, and supplimental card on each account. Then use one account until spending hits $30k, then switch to the other card. Using the AMEX and Visa is more straightforward, so it depends on whether the extra work is worth the hundreds in fees.

You can always check out some of the charts I have built for choosing a card in Canada:

http://www.rewardscanada.ca/cccompare.html

http://www.rewardscanada.ca/ccrewardcompare.html

http://www.rewardscanada.ca/airlinecc.html

You can always check out some of the charts I have built for choosing a card in Canada:

http://www.rewardscanada.ca/cccompare.html

http://www.rewardscanada.ca/ccrewardcompare.html

http://www.rewardscanada.ca/airlinecc.html

Thank you! Excellent resource!

My folks went with one Aeroplan Visa Infinite card - but now I see the Amex BlueSky is also a good card, assuming there are no 'gotchas' and small print when redeeming for rewards. It's certainly competitive with the AirMiles program.

I gave them a supplementary Amex SPG card on my account to use while they're in Florida, and I will transfer their total spend on that Amex to Aeroplan points after their 'snowbird' season (I'm such a good son :) ).

I started to think about something last nite... Do you suppose one could meet up with trustworthy people in here whereas the Canadian friend could add a US person's name to their mailbox and allow them to order a Starwood VISA and then in return the US person would be allowing the Canadian to get stuff that's only available to US 'residents?'

This could be a great thing if it worked.

:)MM

I started to think about something last nite... Do you suppose one could meet up with trustworthy people in here whereas the Canadian friend could add a US person's name to their mailbox and allow them to order a Starwood VISA and then in return the US person would be allowing the Canadian to get stuff that's only available to US 'residents?'

This could be a great thing if it worked.

:)MM

I did that. I ordered a NW Visa by using my brother's Texas address. I only got it for the sign up bonus (and the Miles to Go promo) and plan to cancel it before I get charged the fee for the 2nd yr (first year fee was waived). Downside is paying the monthly bills. Cannot pay online from a Cdn bank, so had to get my brother to pay my bill for me, and then reimburse him.

Have you consider diners club mastercard? I had this card for the past 2 years. The reward ratio is 1%, or 2% for plane tickets. You can redeem for travel as well as other rewards (I used them towards petro gas cards).

I did that. I ordered a NW Visa by using my brother's Texas address. I only got it for the sign up bonus (and the Miles to Go promo) and plan to cancel it before I get charged the fee for the 2nd yr (first year fee was waived). Downside is paying the monthly bills. Cannot pay online from a Cdn bank, so had to get my brother to pay my bill for me, and then reimburse him.

I think with citi you can in some countries! Although I dunno if they have offers that help in both lands.