Buzz Lightyear

Hi there!

I had the BMO World Elite MC last year (got the 40,000 point bonus!).

Redeemed for a flight through the BMO rewards website. Easy process. It showed the total cost of the flight all-in, with a corresponding points value. (E.g. Flight was $562.50, points required 56, 250).

No booking fees, no hassle.

Didn't use the 4 PP lounge access since I have Plat AMEX.

Planning on churning this card again with the new FYF offer.

jhartley15

Do you need to have the full number of points for the travel item or can you apply the points you have if less and pay for the difference on the card?

coleworld

Reading through the terms for the BMO offer, looks like hey are strict on churning but maybe the system is flawed... Worth a try at least, should still get first year free, maybe just no 30k points

1 BMO Rewards points that are awarded as a welcome bonus are only available to first time new BMO World Elite MasterCard cardholders and will not be awarded to current or former BMO World Elite MasterCard/BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard cardholders who reinstate a closed account or subsequently open a new account. If a cardholder cancels their BMO World Elite MasterCard within 30 days of opening the account and the annual fee is refunded to the cardholder, the welcome bonus will also be cancelled. The BMO Rewards points which are awarded as a welcome bonus will be reflected on the first statement following the cardholder’s first purchase on the BMO World Elite MasterCard.

pointshogger

I gave Capital One a call as they said anyone who still has the credit card will continue to keep it so long as we do not cancel it.

TheSinister

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Which credit card is best to collect American Airlines aaadvantage miles? I know the RBC Infinite Avion can transfer to aaadvantage miles, any other cards that may be better?

Reason being is because I am a member if aaadvantage and a business owner. Today I just realized that I can pay Canada Revenue Agency using credit card which I had no idea! This can mean 500000 miles annually from just taxes alone!

sunnyzip

You pay $500000 in taxes anually....and that too as a business owner....??..

Bonaventure

Paying the CRA with a CC incurs a 2% fee IIRC.

mikeycanuk

HST can add up. add source deductions and 100 employee's and it will add up fast!

I just took a look, it's better than you think, for you personally, business wise 2% could add up but it's an expense. The points...it's up to you...

The better part is Plastiq is the provider. I just started paying Enbridge this way. If you have a Gold Biz card guess who is on the list of 2X suppliers? PLASTIQ!!!!!!!

[edit] It's only T2 Corp. tax returns. So much for THAT. Why no RC158 love?

Buzz Lightyear

If u don't have the full points, you can pay the difference. Same cash value on the difference, so you're not losing out on anything.

TheSinister

Hi sorry, total taxes I pay to CRA (including HST, payroll) is around 100-120K, not 500K. I also acknowledge the 2% surcharge when paying by credit card.

Nevertheless, back to my original question: Which card is best in Canada to collect AA Advantage miles besides the RBC Avion?

grandgourmand

#1 is RBC Avion. I believe you get once a year 20% conversion bonuses to Amex.
#2 some people convert Aeroplan to AA via Esso Points to RBC Avion (not sure how it works, someone else can pipe in)
#3 Sign-up bonuses for SPG Amex card. Get 20k currently for both personal and biz version. Can be converted to AA at 1.25:1 when converting in 20k lots. Then for daily spend it's equivalent to 1.25AA miles per $ spend if you stick to converting in 20k lots only (i.e. SPG to AA).
#4 Get sign up bonuses for Amex cards. Convert to SPG at 0.5:1 and then to AA...works out to 0.625:1. Not a great ratio, but if you target first-year-fee cards such as the personal and business gold it's not bad. Biz gold 40k points for 5k of spending in three months = 20k SPG points = 25k AA points for "free".

For everyday spend it's either RBC Avion or the SPG Amex card. If you don't mind the $399 annual fee, the RBC Avion Prestige collects Avion points at 1.25x/$.

The other suggestions I made are mainly to take advantage of sign-up bonuses and to ultimately convert to AA points. They are not great conversion ratios, but if you really want to focus on AA then go that route.

I'm thinking along the same lines but...waiting to see if AA devalues the program. Seems they are about due. But since I'm mainly collecting flexible points currencies (MR, SPG)...I don't have all my eggs in one basket.

jerryhung

Another option, for 2015 only, is to transfer Aeroplan to US Airways Dividend Miles (USDM) for 100:84 ratio, and hope that USDM get "merged" into AA at 1:1 ratio

Max. yearly limit of transfer of 100K Aeroplan (=84K USDM), via points.com

pointshogger

What you can try to do is sign up for multiple credit cards and pay for your tax bills with each respective one to earn a bunch of sign up bonus points.

For example, you can sign up for the AMEX SPG. Pay some taxes with that, get the 20,000 sign up bonus. Then get one of the Avion RBC credit cards and get another slew of sign up bonuses (especially if you can get more than one of the Avion cards). I assume that you pay your taxes throughout the year, so you can change around the cards to take advantage of different sign up bonuses too.

loun80

Just curious. Anyone else sitting around on 100,000+ AMEX MR points just waiting for a transfer bonus?

Preacher7

Yup.