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
#856
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SEA, YVR
Programs: Alaska MVPG, Flying Blue Gold, BA Silver, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 568
With regards to MBNA going to TD in October. I already have the Alaska Air card but was thinking of applying for another one as some people here have had success holding two and getting the two bonuses. Should I apply while it is still MBNA or hold off when it is under the TD program? Obviously I am just looking for opinions here as nobody will really know.
#857
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: Avios, AMEX, AeroPlan, BMO, AS, WestJet
Posts: 104
they killed their 9.99% plat flat card if anyone else has noticed, and made it identical and presumably "easier" to transition into td's emerald which gives you an interest rate of their choosing, usually 12.99 or 14.99 or something, in rare case they might give you 9.99 or less likely 7.99, but i feel like MBNA is about to come to end, and just like discover in canada when bmo bought it, MBNA will be ruined
#858
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
I got my letters from MBNA today.
One was for my Choice MC which I was earlier notified would be converting to the MBNA Rewards MC on Sep 27th, since MBNA is dropping their affiliation with Choice.
The other letter was for all of my other 5 MBNA cards collectively together (eg, SmartCash, Best Western, Sony, Alaska Air, Choice.).
The two packages are identical, otherwise, with contents such as: the same 3 page letter, Privacy and Personal Info Protection Notice, Disclosure Statement Changes, and MBNA Account Agreement.
I did not see anywhere in the the letter stating that my Alaska Air, nor any of my other cards, would be transitioning over to TD. True, it says "TD Bank Group purchased your MBNA credit card account in Dec 2011". But it didn't say it would transmogrify into a TD card.
It did say that "your account(s) will transition to a new credit card system...", with instructions to enroll or re-enroll for online banking at mbna.ca.
Did I miss something? Who pulled the "Chicken Little" on the MBNA Alaska Air?
</widespread-panic>
One was for my Choice MC which I was earlier notified would be converting to the MBNA Rewards MC on Sep 27th, since MBNA is dropping their affiliation with Choice.
The other letter was for all of my other 5 MBNA cards collectively together (eg, SmartCash, Best Western, Sony, Alaska Air, Choice.).
The two packages are identical, otherwise, with contents such as: the same 3 page letter, Privacy and Personal Info Protection Notice, Disclosure Statement Changes, and MBNA Account Agreement.
I did not see anywhere in the the letter stating that my Alaska Air, nor any of my other cards, would be transitioning over to TD. True, it says "TD Bank Group purchased your MBNA credit card account in Dec 2011". But it didn't say it would transmogrify into a TD card.
It did say that "your account(s) will transition to a new credit card system...", with instructions to enroll or re-enroll for online banking at mbna.ca.
Did I miss something? Who pulled the "Chicken Little" on the MBNA Alaska Air?
</widespread-panic>
#859
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7
what to do with Amex MR points?
Hi all,
I'd value some quick feedback from the other frequent travelers here.
I'm an east coast coast Canadian who travels quite a bit, often chaining smaller one-way flights to make longer trips. I visit both Asia and Europe frequently, and will soon be doing lots of intra-continent travel (intra-Asia, intra-Europe, and intra-South America). I mainly travel domestic and my priority is minimizing taxes and fuel surcharges.
I currently have about 300,000 Aeroplan points and 200,000 BA Avios points. I also have about 250,000 Amex MR points.
My Amex gold is coming up for renewal, so I either need to pay the annual fee or transfer the points. My question is about where you think I'll find the best value.
I've found great value with Aeroplan in the past (e.g. North America to Africa for $30, Middle East to Canada for $40, Canada to SE Asia for $60). I've had a really tough time finding value on BA, even with all the helpful websites out there showing the best routes (which almost never seem to be available). The only good use I've had out of the BA program is Montreal - New York, which has been a steal on a regular basis.
As it stands, I'm tempted to just dump them all the MR points into Aeroplan, but I wanted to check with you savvy folks first as a sanity check.
Many thanks!
I'd value some quick feedback from the other frequent travelers here.
I'm an east coast coast Canadian who travels quite a bit, often chaining smaller one-way flights to make longer trips. I visit both Asia and Europe frequently, and will soon be doing lots of intra-continent travel (intra-Asia, intra-Europe, and intra-South America). I mainly travel domestic and my priority is minimizing taxes and fuel surcharges.
I currently have about 300,000 Aeroplan points and 200,000 BA Avios points. I also have about 250,000 Amex MR points.
My Amex gold is coming up for renewal, so I either need to pay the annual fee or transfer the points. My question is about where you think I'll find the best value.
I've found great value with Aeroplan in the past (e.g. North America to Africa for $30, Middle East to Canada for $40, Canada to SE Asia for $60). I've had a really tough time finding value on BA, even with all the helpful websites out there showing the best routes (which almost never seem to be available). The only good use I've had out of the BA program is Montreal - New York, which has been a steal on a regular basis.
As it stands, I'm tempted to just dump them all the MR points into Aeroplan, but I wanted to check with you savvy folks first as a sanity check.
Many thanks!
#860
Hi all,
I'd value some quick feedback from the other frequent travelers here.
I'm an east coast coast Canadian who travels quite a bit, often chaining smaller one-way flights to make longer trips. I visit both Asia and Europe frequently, and will soon be doing lots of intra-continent travel (intra-Asia, intra-Europe, and intra-South America). I mainly travel domestic and my priority is minimizing taxes and fuel surcharges.
I currently have about 300,000 Aeroplan points and 200,000 BA Avios points. I also have about 250,000 Amex MR points.
My Amex gold is coming up for renewal, so I either need to pay the annual fee or transfer the points. My question is about where you think I'll find the best value.
I've found great value with Aeroplan in the past (e.g. North America to Africa for $30, Middle East to Canada for $40, Canada to SE Asia for $60). I've had a really tough time finding value on BA, even with all the helpful websites out there showing the best routes (which almost never seem to be available). The only good use I've had out of the BA program is Montreal - New York, which has been a steal on a regular basis.
As it stands, I'm tempted to just dump them all the MR points into Aeroplan, but I wanted to check with you savvy folks first as a sanity check.
Many thanks!
I'd value some quick feedback from the other frequent travelers here.
I'm an east coast coast Canadian who travels quite a bit, often chaining smaller one-way flights to make longer trips. I visit both Asia and Europe frequently, and will soon be doing lots of intra-continent travel (intra-Asia, intra-Europe, and intra-South America). I mainly travel domestic and my priority is minimizing taxes and fuel surcharges.
I currently have about 300,000 Aeroplan points and 200,000 BA Avios points. I also have about 250,000 Amex MR points.
My Amex gold is coming up for renewal, so I either need to pay the annual fee or transfer the points. My question is about where you think I'll find the best value.
I've found great value with Aeroplan in the past (e.g. North America to Africa for $30, Middle East to Canada for $40, Canada to SE Asia for $60). I've had a really tough time finding value on BA, even with all the helpful websites out there showing the best routes (which almost never seem to be available). The only good use I've had out of the BA program is Montreal - New York, which has been a steal on a regular basis.
As it stands, I'm tempted to just dump them all the MR points into Aeroplan, but I wanted to check with you savvy folks first as a sanity check.
Many thanks!
You've pretty much hit the nail on the head, though. With that many points, you're not likely to find any additional value in Avios unless you can make use of some of the more niche redemptions (ie BOS-DUB on Aer Lingus, or HKG-NRT/KIX on CX F). So I'd probably just convert to Aeroplan - that's fraught with disaster too as they keep devaluing the points, but at least that's a useful program. Ideally though, I'd just blow as many as I could ASAP. I do not recommend keeping more than one or two trip's worth in an account at any time, as past experience indicates this is NOT an appreciating currency.
Another thing you could look into is trading some points with someone. Maybe you can find someone who has a stash of USDM points but really wants to go somewhere only Star Alliance flies. That could be a very worthwhile trade.
#861
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 1,098
I think it depends as well if you have any plans with those Aeroplan points within the near future. I would be careful in transferring them if you do not plan on travelling for the next few years since with devaluations always around the corner you never know what might happen.
#862
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Avios is nice, in SOME scenarios only and not for long-haul usually
#863
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Canadia
Programs: A loyal Amerisuites customer... oh wait
Posts: 2,033
Also consider transferring a small number of points to any other programs you use infrequently. You might save some points expiring on you.
#864
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
Hi all,
I'd value some quick feedback from the other frequent travelers here.
I'm an east coast coast Canadian who travels quite a bit, often chaining smaller one-way flights to make longer trips. I visit both Asia and Europe frequently, and will soon be doing lots of intra-continent travel (intra-Asia, intra-Europe, and intra-South America). I mainly travel domestic and my priority is minimizing taxes and fuel surcharges.
I currently have about 300,000 Aeroplan points and 200,000 BA Avios points. I also have about 250,000 Amex MR points.
My Amex gold is coming up for renewal, so I either need to pay the annual fee or transfer the points. My question is about where you think I'll find the best value.
I've found great value with Aeroplan in the past (e.g. North America to Africa for $30, Middle East to Canada for $40, Canada to SE Asia for $60). I've had a really tough time finding value on BA, even with all the helpful websites out there showing the best routes (which almost never seem to be available). The only good use I've had out of the BA program is Montreal - New York, which has been a steal on a regular basis.
As it stands, I'm tempted to just dump them all the MR points into Aeroplan, but I wanted to check with you savvy folks first as a sanity check.
Many thanks!
I'd value some quick feedback from the other frequent travelers here.
I'm an east coast coast Canadian who travels quite a bit, often chaining smaller one-way flights to make longer trips. I visit both Asia and Europe frequently, and will soon be doing lots of intra-continent travel (intra-Asia, intra-Europe, and intra-South America). I mainly travel domestic and my priority is minimizing taxes and fuel surcharges.
I currently have about 300,000 Aeroplan points and 200,000 BA Avios points. I also have about 250,000 Amex MR points.
My Amex gold is coming up for renewal, so I either need to pay the annual fee or transfer the points. My question is about where you think I'll find the best value.
I've found great value with Aeroplan in the past (e.g. North America to Africa for $30, Middle East to Canada for $40, Canada to SE Asia for $60). I've had a really tough time finding value on BA, even with all the helpful websites out there showing the best routes (which almost never seem to be available). The only good use I've had out of the BA program is Montreal - New York, which has been a steal on a regular basis.
As it stands, I'm tempted to just dump them all the MR points into Aeroplan, but I wanted to check with you savvy folks first as a sanity check.
Many thanks!
I thiknk aeroplan is the default option if you're going to close the card, but i like mr for topping up accounts. But I'd think probably a 225k/75k aeroplan/avios split is quite good.
#865
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy, Aeroplan, Best Western, IHG Rewards, AAdvantage, Executive Club
Posts: 166
May not be a top option, but you can also look into transferring into SPG for some hotel points. I wouldn't transfer to SPG so that you can transfer to an airline, but I would use the hotel points if you can make use of them.
#866
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
#867
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: NB, Canada
Programs: Fairmont, Amex MR, Marriott
Posts: 2,531
I recommend the RBC Avios card. Not the Avion one.
Seems like you have pretty good spend, and with 30k spend you get a 2-4-1 ticket on points on BA. Yes, the fuel surcharges are high, but for 150,000 points you can fly BA first to Europe (plus the $1000 per ticker in fees).
It does stretch BA points quite a bit.
Seems like you have pretty good spend, and with 30k spend you get a 2-4-1 ticket on points on BA. Yes, the fuel surcharges are high, but for 150,000 points you can fly BA first to Europe (plus the $1000 per ticker in fees).
It does stretch BA points quite a bit.
#868
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
I recommend the RBC Avios card. Not the Avion one.
Seems like you have pretty good spend, and with 30k spend you get a 2-4-1 ticket on points on BA. Yes, the fuel surcharges are high, but for 150,000 points you can fly BA first to Europe (plus the $1000 per ticker in fees).
It does stretch BA points quite a bit.
Seems like you have pretty good spend, and with 30k spend you get a 2-4-1 ticket on points on BA. Yes, the fuel surcharges are high, but for 150,000 points you can fly BA first to Europe (plus the $1000 per ticker in fees).
It does stretch BA points quite a bit.
#870
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: NB, Canada
Programs: Fairmont, Amex MR, Marriott
Posts: 2,531