Welcome to Rewards
Canada's second annual take on picking Canada's Top Travel Rewards
Credit Cards. Travel Rewards Credit Cards are one of the most
popular type of credit cards in Canada, and with last years success
of our first ever ranking of these cards we have decided to do it
once again! Since this time last year some cards have left the Canadian
market and others have emerged, most notably the MBNA Starwood Preferred
Guest MasterCard left the scene only to be replaced by the Starwood
Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. WestJet finally
got their frequent flyer program off the ground and with it came the
WestJet RBC MasterCards which play the biggest and best role in the
airline's young program.
This year's rankings have changed with the addition of these new cards
and we have also expanded our ranking to the top 5 cards in each category
compared to only the top 2 last year.What
is the best card? Well it is practically impossible to give that
question a perfect answer, however we can breakdown the market of
Canadian Travel Rewards credit cards into five major categories and
pick the best in each one.
How do we come
up with our picks for the best cards? Simple, nine years of research,
answers to hundreds of email questions from readers plus the charts
and articles that we have written have given us insight into the pros
and cons of each card. This has allowed Rewards Canada to form an
opinion as to which ones are the best. That's right, it all boils
down to opinion. The top cards listed here, are in our opinion, after
looking at all of their details, the best cards for travel rewards
in Canada. Will people agree? Some yes, some no. Will we make some
credit card issuers mad? Yes. Happy? You bet. However, like we stated
above it is nearly impossible to pick a single best card due to the
vast majority of factors that can be considered when choosing one.
We don't believe this to be the end all
and be all of the best travel rewards cards in Canada. As we have
stressed in the past, choosing a card is a difficult decision based
on many factors including but not limited to rewards offered, benefits
offered, cost and the issuing bank. We hope that with this second
annual ranking, we will help guide consumers to find the right credit
card for them .
At last count
there were over 60 travel reward credit cards available to Canadians.
Some are airline only cards that put miles directly into your airline
frequent flyer accounts. Some are hybrid cards (a term coined by us,
now used by many) where you collect points that can be used to book
travel through the credit card or put the points into a frequent flyer/guest
account. Some are travel points cards, where the points are redeemed
for travel through the credit card company while a small number are
hotel only cards that put the points directly into your frequent guest
program accounts.
It is from these
variations of cards that we have created the five main categories of
cards in Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards for 2010.
1. Top Airline Credit Card
2. Top Hybrid Travel Credit Card
3. Top Travel Points Credit Card (with annual fee)
4. Top Travel Points Credit Card (with no annual fee)
5. Top Hotel Points Credit Card
You can find each individual card's ranking from 2009 in parentheses.
ADVERTISEMENT
Top
Airline Credit Card
1:
CIBC
AeroGold Visa / AeroGold Visa Infinite (1)
Holding top spot in the Airline category, the CIBC
AeroGold Visa's continue to be some of Canada's most popular travel
cards and here's why: - Ability
to earn 1.5 Aeroplan miles on Grocery, Drug Store and Gas Station
purchases
- Decent redemption rates, particularly on Business Class tickets
(which afford the greatest rate of return on any credit card spending)
- Air Canada still provides the most flight coverage domestically
and internationally out of Canada, which allows AeroGold holders
many redemption options
2: WestJet RBC World
MasterCard (New) Playing a major part in WestJet's Frequent
Guest Program, this card takes over the second spot in the airline
category for the following reasons - Ability to redeem WestJet
dollars in any amount at any time towards any WestJet flight or
WestJet Vacations package
- A low annual fee of $79 with all comprehensive suite of benefits
makes this an affordable premium card
- WestJet's flight
network makes this card attractive for those looking for reward
flights within Canada or to Sun Destinations
Rounding out the top five are the : 3: American
Express AeroplanPlus Platinum Charge Card (2)
4:RBC
British Airways Visa Platinum(Out
of top 2) 5:Bank
of America (MBNA) Alaska Airlines Platinum MasterCard(Out of top 2)
Click here
to view all the Airline Credit Cards that were considered
Top
Hybrid Travel Credit Card
1:
RBC
Visa
Platinum Avion /
Visa Infinite
Avion (2) Taking the top spot away from Diners
Club, the Avion cards continue to be a mainstay in the Canadian
market for the following reasons - Ability to book flights
with any airline with no blackout periods, extremely useful when
there are no seat sales
- Option to transfer RBC Rewards Points to British Airways Executive
Club, American AAdvantage or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. Look for
the twice yearly 50% BA bonus!
- A complete suite of insurance coverage and benefits
2:CIBC
Aventura Visa Infinite / Aventura Gold(Out
of top 2) A good alternative to the AeroGold cardsfor those consumers who do not want to be tied
into Air Canada but have the option of gaining more miles in their
Aeroplan account should they choose to do so. Here are some highlights
of this card -
Ability to earn 1.5 Aventura points on Grocery, Drug Store and
Gas Station purchases with the Infinite card. -
Transfer Aventura Points to Aeroplan or have the flexibility to
use the points to book travel on over 100 airlines with no black
out dates -
Like most premium cards, the Aventura Visa's come with excellent
insurance coverage and benefits
1:Capital One® Aspire Travel™ World MasterCard®* (New)
The newest travel rewards
credit card in Canada, the Aspire World MasterCards replaces last
years top card that also came from Capital One®. Here are just
a few of the features that make this card number one in this category: - Up to a 2% return on all
purchases that can be used towards travel that is booked with
any travel provider
- A large sign up bonus of 35,000 points
and a yearly renewal bonus of 10,000 points make this card nearly
fee free -
An excellent suite of insurance and benefits including Travel
Emergency medical coverage
2:CUETS
Platinum Class MasterCard(New) This
card we knew nothing about until one of our readers advised us
of it and after looking at it, the Platinum Class MasterCard quickly
jumped to second place with some of these features: - a 2% return on
all purchases that can be used towards any travel that is booked
through the Platinum Class Rewards website or travel agency -
An excellent suite of insurance and benefits including out of
province medical coverage
Top
Travel Points Credit Card (with no annual fee)
1: American
Express Blue Sky Credit Card(1) The
Blue Sky Credit Card takes the top spot in the no annual fee category
for the second year in a row as its benefits have yet to be challenged
by other no fee credit cards: - Points can be
redeemed against booked travel up to 12 months after the charge
is posted (book first then spend spend spend to pay it off!)
- Offers a 1.25% return on purchases
- Can redeem as little as 10,000 points, which means you only
have to spend $8,000 if you don't include the sign up bonus
2:Capital
One Aspire Travel™ Platinum MasterCard®(New)
Released
at the same time as the Aspire World Card, this card retains second
place in the no annual fee category for Capital One® with the following
features: - A 1% return
on all purchases can be used towards travel that is booked with
any travel provider
- One of only a few cards with no annual fee that has insurance
coverage and other benefits
- Points can also be used towards Cash, Gift Cards or Merchandise
Click here
to view all the Travel Points Credit Cards (with no annual fee)
that were considered
Top
Hotel Points Credit Card
1:Starwood
Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express*
(New)
This is Starwood's new offering in Canada after
ending their partnership with MBNA last year. Once again they
as a reward program take the top spot. - Redeem Starpoints
for hotel stays around the world with a potential rate of return
of over 5% depending on the hotel and season
- Ability to transfer to 30+ airlines including a 5,000 mile bonus
when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints at a time. -
Receive SPG Gold Status after $30,000 in spending within a year
and free weekend night after $40,000.
2: Chase
Marriott Rewards Platinum Visa (2) The
Marriott Rewards Platinum Visa retains second spot in our rankings
based on the following benefits - Receive 10 nights
credit toward Elite status each year, which automatically gives
you Silver Elite status
- 10,000 bonus points on your first purchase, enough for a free
night in a Category 1 or 2 hotel.
- 3 Marriott Rewards points per dollar spent at over 3,000 Marriott
locations Worldwide.
What
will the next year hold in store? We believe the rankings will stay
relatively the same as most banks and frequent travel programs have just
released or changed their offerings. However, rumours have it that there
will be changes to one of the credit cards from one of Canada's largest
loyalty programs and there have been rumours for over a year now that
another large hotel chain will launch a credit card. If these rumours
come true, then perhaps we will see some big changes for the 2011 rankings,
but until then expect them to stay similar to what we have above.
Care to comment on our choices? Want to voice
your opinion on the good and the bad of all the Travel Rewards Credit
Cards in Canada. Share you views and experiences on our accompanying blog
post for Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards 2010.
Go to the Rewards
Canada blog....
* - These
links offer commissions to Rewards Canada for successful applications
that are completed after clicking the link. This affiliation has in no
way influenced our choices for the top travel rewards credit cards.
Subscribe
in a reader
