Originally Posted by
mlord
I'm not sure if this is widely known or not, but there's a relatively easy way to bypass the $150-$200K annual income requirement for the TD VIP card, if one is already holding the lower tier TD VI card. I was happy to discover this, as I'm now retired with a near-zero taxable income despite having decent tax-sheltered investments and other assets.
I simply asked my branch representative what was possible. He said.. "Hey, no problem, I can just do a Product Transfer of the existing TD VI card into a TD VIP card, and it is then also eligible for the various welcome bonuses!"
And true to his word, it worked instantly. My TD VI card then behaved as a VIP card for most purposes over the next 14-days while awaiting the ever-so-slow issuance of the new metal replacement cards.
Now a few months on, and hundreds of thousands of Aeroplan Points later.. nice!
Mrs W did a similar upgrade by phone. A little more painful than your experience (think booking a flight by phone) and had to verbally attest to the income level. Also no mention of any welcome bonuses, but will monitor that.
I'm wondering how long it took Aeroplan to recognize the premium card (TD website is instant, as you noted)?