CIBC Aerogold vs. CIBC Aerogold Infinite
 

I was just wondering what the differences are between the CIBC Aerogold Card and the CIBC Aerogold Infinite Card?
(I realize there are better cards out there, but I´m still curious)

Both cards cost $120/year.

The Infinite Card:

- offers some additional insurances (trip interruption insurance sounds good)
- requires a higher household income
- offers some travel concierge service (sounds quite useless to me)

So my questions are:

1) Am I missing any major differences?
2) Does the regular CIBC Aerogold card have any advantages over the Infinite Card?
3) Is the foreign exchange fee 2.5% for both cards?

Thanks in advance!

Out-of-Province Travel Medical Insurance for the first 15 days of a trip for primary cardholders age 64 and under

That is the most significant benefit. If you apply for the regular but you qualify for the infinite, they will give you the infinite.

I also believe, though could be wrong, that the infinite allows you to go over your credit limit without receiving any fees for doing so. At least when I called up to ask (Have the CIBC Aerogold visa infinite) the person on the phone said that since it was a visa infinite, there was no charges/fees for going over your credit limit.

Again, not a huge factor but something to keep in mind.

The Infinite was launched so CIBC Visa can charge a higher % merchant fee for the premium cards, and the initial marketing rollout implied that this was an exclusive product.

Prediction: the AG Infinite will replace all Aerogold cards in short order and the ‘eliteness’ of Infinite will be nothing more than what Aerogold is now, albeit at a higher cost to the merchant. Visa Canada tried to emulate the cachet of the Amex Centurion but dropped the ball by issuing an Infinite card to anyone who asked, and even to some who didn’t.

I've used Visa Infinite Concierge to book my upcoming trip to the Mayan Riviera.. and they have a luxury hotel collection with some upgrades, incentives, breakfasts, etc..

But I'm strongly considering going back to my CIBC Aerogold Visa.. There were point bonuses on recurring spend and getting a half point bonus on the dollar spent.. I'm also considering this because my Gold Amex is double points with all the insurance needed.. Plus my wife has the platinum aeroplan plus Amex.. so I don't need the extra stuff the Infinite offers if I can get extra points..

Still considering.. good thread.. I'll be following closely the comments.^

The only real difference is that, as noted above, the infinite card costs the merchants more to accept (additional 0.2% of spend for Canadian merchants, up to 0.97% more for international merchants):
http://www.visa.ca/en/aboutcan/media...ange-Rates.pdf

Any marketing pap about cachet and exclusivity is strictly aimed at merchants (the argument being that higher-quality customers charge more, justifying the higher rates). Banks have no intention of actually making the infinite cards more exclusive - the more cards they issue the more money they make.

Thanks for the comments so far. Can anyone comment on the usefulness of the trip interruption insurance? Does anyone have the link to the T&C / exact terms when the insurance kicks in?

As far as I know, every single Canadian credit card out there charges a forex fee (no difference on rate between CIBC between Gold + Platinum). AMEX recently dropped this charge for their Platinum and Centurion cards, but in the States only.

Going off memory here, so someone can correct me but I believe it was applicable with the ash fiasco last year.

Yukonprince used it after an unfortunate fall on his Mini-RTW, I believe it covered his prepaid hotels and other expenses.

And perhaps the most important difference is one card is yellow and the other card is black.

From Google:

https://www.cibc.com/ca/pdf/visa/tri...ruption-en.pdf

CIBC Aerogold for Business and the CIBC Infinite card is 2.5% for foreign transactions..

tried cancelling my Aerogold Infinite today...... (renewal due end of month) and all they would give me is 2,500 Aeroplan Miles

So did you cancel the card?

CIBC has Visa AE points cornered..

And now they've got Master Card too..

What is one supposed to do?

I spend about $80k/year on my card (CIBC Aerogold Infinite). Called today to try to reduce the fee, and they wouldn't budge. I asked for Aeroplan points and got nothing. Heck, I would have been happy with a $5 gift card!

I do my other banking with BMO and asked about their BMO World Elite card. They don't officially waive/reduce the fee either.

Looks like I'll be getting the Capital One Aspire card. No supplementary card fee, and it effectively works out to $20/year for a primary card after their annual automatic retention bonus. Only card I've seen that has price protection as well.

For the 15 years that I've held the Aerogold.. I've never received a break neither.. and getting extra points in the interim was like pulling teeth..

They tell me I have one their strongest accounts.. but the fee is standard, never waived.. and I've never received the bonus miles in the interim that new customers to Aerogold/Infinite get..