Last edit by: jerry305
CANADIAN REFERENCE ON FLYERTALK
Canadian Credit Card Master List - Curated for Best Offer A complete listing of all the major credit cards in Canada along with their sign-up bonus, annual fee, CPM, and other pertinent information.
AMEX recent discussion American Express Canada application and reward strategies (2018) • Which credit card should I get? • Cards with good bonuses • List of Credit Cards with Great Welcome bonuses (RFD version)
BLOGS
Canadian Kilometers • PointsNerd • Rewards Canada • Don't Call the Airline! • Pointshogger • Canadian Travel Hacking
CONFERENCE
• PointsU conference (2018 & 2019 website)
Canadian Credit Card Master List - Curated for Best Offer A complete listing of all the major credit cards in Canada along with their sign-up bonus, annual fee, CPM, and other pertinent information.
AMEX recent discussion American Express Canada application and reward strategies (2018) • Which credit card should I get? • Cards with good bonuses • List of Credit Cards with Great Welcome bonuses (RFD version)
BLOGS
Canadian Kilometers • PointsNerd • Rewards Canada • Don't Call the Airline! • Pointshogger • Canadian Travel Hacking
CONFERENCE
• PointsU conference (2018 & 2019 website)
MilesBuzz: Canada
#2253
Join Date: May 2013
Location: west coast best coast
Programs: TINDER GOLD, STARBUCKS GOLD, COSTCO EXECUTIVE!!
Posts: 3,989
Capital One in Canada is ridiculous. I haven't even bothered applying given how they required like 6-12 months of no credit application or check at all
#2254
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Pretty sure I have 5+ apps in the last few months, latest one being July 1st AMEX Gold, and I own Cap1 Aspire Travel already (the discontinued one)
Didn't know Cap1 was this picky
#2256
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: YVR
Programs: Accor Platinum,Aeroplan,BA,Marriot Rewards, Alaska Airlines, Amex Platinum, SPG
Posts: 190
I was instantly approved and have also had at least 5 apps in the past three months. My transunion score only says 640, but I really don't get why its so always so low. Maybe because I have so much open credit? I also wonder how accurate the score is compared to what the bank sees. I never miss or have late payments, don't carry balances, high income. Oh well, I always get approved
#2257
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: YUL
Programs: Marriott Plat Premier, HHonors Gold
Posts: 122
SPG Card: USA vs Canada
As someone with both the US and Canadian SPG Amex, I'm trying to calculate if it's worth it to pay for something in the US with the Canadian card?
Example: Widget costs $100 US (~130 CAD). Assume USD/CAD=1.3
Pay with US SPG Amex: 100 *points
Pay with Cdn SPG Amex: 133 *points
But these 33 additional *points cost something.
1) Assume Amex Canada adds a 2.5% fee to the exchange rate.
2) Assume that converting from CAD to USD would cost at least 1.6% over the rate you find on xe.com.
3) Therefore, those 33 *points cost [($2.5-$1.6)/(133-100)] = 0.027
Therefore, it wouldn't be worth it. Correct?
Last edited by neos; Aug 3, 2015 at 11:36 pm
#2259
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,140
Credit scores don't seem to mean much in Canada. My wife's score is 40 points higher than mine and hasn't had much luck with pretty much anyone, whereas I'm batting 1.000.
#2260
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: various
Programs: whatever gets me where i want
Posts: 107
This is an interesting aspect that I hadn't given much thought to.
As someone with both the US and Canadian SPG Amex, I'm trying to calculate if it's worth it to pay for something in the US with the Canadian card?
Example: Widget costs $100 US (~130 CAD). Assume USD/CAD=1.3
Pay with US SPG Amex: 100 *points
Pay with Cdn SPG Amex: 133 *points
But these 33 additional *points cost something.
1) Assume Amex Canada adds a 2.5% fee to the exchange rate.
2) Assume that converting from CAD to USD would cost at least 1.6% over the rate you find on xe.com.
3) Therefore, those 33 *points cost [($2.5-$1.6)/(133-100)] = 0.027
Therefore, it wouldn't be worth it. Correct?
As someone with both the US and Canadian SPG Amex, I'm trying to calculate if it's worth it to pay for something in the US with the Canadian card?
Example: Widget costs $100 US (~130 CAD). Assume USD/CAD=1.3
Pay with US SPG Amex: 100 *points
Pay with Cdn SPG Amex: 133 *points
But these 33 additional *points cost something.
1) Assume Amex Canada adds a 2.5% fee to the exchange rate.
2) Assume that converting from CAD to USD would cost at least 1.6% over the rate you find on xe.com.
3) Therefore, those 33 *points cost [($2.5-$1.6)/(133-100)] = 0.027
Therefore, it wouldn't be worth it. Correct?
So yes, not worth it in my opinion unless you have no USD and would need to buy USD - so therefore it essentially cuts down the cost to about 1% (you can easily exchange USD/CAD at 1.5 from interbank)
It is worth it if, e.g., you are paying for a flight - where you can price it out using an OTA or the airline's website in either USD or CAD (e.g., you can use the expedia .ca or .com version to quote you a fare in the currency of your choosing).
#2261
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: YUL
Programs: Marriott Plat Premier, HHonors Gold
Posts: 122
I should have clarified: the 1.6% assumption was the approximate fee you would have to pay if you were converting CAD to USD yourself and transferring funds to a US bank account.
#2262
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: YYC
Programs: No
Posts: 70
Aventura lost all appeal after they stopped allowing Aeroplan transfers.
14k gets you a $100 GC (costco being most useful)
https://rewards.cibcrewards.com/Rewa.../0/680100/None
14k gets you a $100 GC (costco being most useful)
https://rewards.cibcrewards.com/Rewa.../0/680100/None
#2264
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YYZ, YUL, PEK
Posts: 429
#2265
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 114
If you guys plan to travel, Aventura gives 1% on hotels and prices are often similar to booking.com and others, so 14k points would be worth $140 instead of a $100 GC. It's a bit of a PITA to search/book on the CIBC rewards website however.