TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card Review

The TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card is a veteran in the Canadian credit card scene and is TD's flagship proprietary travel rewards credit card. The card, which has been in the market for quite a long time has actually never had a complete review here on Rewards Canada, just a lot of separate articles about it! So here it is, our review of the mainstay card from TD.

The review of the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card is broken down into the following sections:

Overview

The TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card was revamped in 2022 and with those changes it regained a spot in our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings. Here at Rewards Canada we rank it as the fifth best Travel Points Card with an annual fee and consider it the 14th best card overall in Canada.

It is a relatively strong travel rewards card thanks to its accelerated earn rate categories and good to really good redemption value in those points that are earned. It also features a very valuable welcome bonus with no annual fee in the first year so you can test drive it for the first 12 months to see if the card meets your needs.

Costs & Sign up Features

The TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card has an annual fee of $139 which is now considered the standard for premium cards like this one. Many competing cards also charge $139 annually however others in this same category range from $120 to $150. Additional or supplementary cards are $50 annually per card. You can have the annual fee waived every year if you have a TD All Inclusive Account or Unlimited Chequing Account.

The standard welcome bonus on the card offers 40,000 TD Rewards Points however the card frequently has limited time increased welcome bonus offers.

Right now the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card has an increased limited time welcome bonus offer of up to 100,000 TD Rewards points! The bonus is awarded as 20,000 points when you make your first purchase with the card and then you can earn 80,000 TD Rewards Points when you spend $5,000 or more dollars in the first 180 days of account opening. You can also earn up to a 10,000 points more as a birthday bonus. On top of the bonus points their is a first year annual fee rebate for the primary cardholder and the first authorized users. The 100,000 points is worth $500 when you redeem them for travel via Expedia for TD. This offer is available until June 3, 24 (This offer is not available for residents of Quebec. For Quebec residents, please click here.)

The interest rate on the card is 20.99% and annual income requirements are $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household.

Earning

The card earns TD Rewards Points as follows:

• 8 Points per dollar spent when you book travel through Expedia® For TD.
• 6 Points per dollar spent on Groceries and Restaurants
• 4 Points per dollar spent on regularly recurring bill payments set up on your Account
• 2 Points per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases
  

Plus earn an annual Birthday Bonus of up to 10,000 TD Rewards Points. This bonus is equal to 10% of the total number of TD Rewards Points earned over the 12 months preceding the Primary Cardholder’s birthday, to a maximum Birthday Bonus of 10,000 TD Rewards Points.

 

Point Valuation Chart

Spending Category	Points earned per dollar spent	Rate of return when booking via Expedia for TD	Rate of return when booking any travel on your own	Rate of return Cash Back
Expedia for TD	8	4%	3.2%	2%
Groceries & Restaurants	6	3%	2.4%	1.5%
Recurring Bills	4	2%	1.6%	1%
All other spending	2	1%	0.8%	0.5%

 

With the birthday bonus:

Spending Category	Points earned per dollar spent	Rate of return when booking via Expedia for TD	Rate of return when booking any travel on your own	Rate of return Cash Back
Expedia for TD	8.8	4.4%	3.52%	2.2%
Groceries & Restaurants	6.6	3.3%	2.64%	1.65%
Recurring Bills	4.4	2.2%	1.76%	1.1%
All other spending	2.2	1.1%	0.88%	0.55%

Redeeming

The TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card participates in the TD Rewards program which provides numerous rewards options for your points. The primary and most valuable is redeeming your points for travel that is booked via Expedia for TD. You can also redeem points for any travel you book on your own or for that matter, any purchase you make on the card. Other redemption options include educational payments, merchandise and gift cards.

We'll start off by looking at the Expedia for TD redemption option. This redemption option is pretty simple. Simply login to Expedia for TD and search for the travel you would like to book or call in to Expedia for TD to book your travel. After you are done searching for Flights, hotels, vacation packages and so on and have selected what you would like to book you'll be given the option to redeem points against that booking. You can redeem points for a partial payment or cover the whole amount - it is up to you and how many points you have in your account. The redemption is 200 points for $1 so if you have 2,000 points you can use them to get $10 of your booking or if you have 200,000 points you can use them to take $1,000 off the cost of your booking.

The next travel redemption option is being able to redeem points for any travel you book on your own. What this means is that you can book a flight directly with Air Canada, WestJet or any other airline, book any hotel, car rental etc. and when that charge shows up on your account you can redeem your points against that charge. This redemption option starts is 250 points for a $1 credit for the first $1,200 of a travel booking and 200 points for $1 for any portion above $1,200. So if you purchase $1,500 of flights and you have enough points to cover it all, the first $1,200 will be covered as 250 to $1 (300,000 points) and the remaining $300 would be 60,000 points. Just like the Expedia option you can choose to do a partial or complete redemption for these purchases. With this option you have up to 90 days after the charge posts to your account to redeem against it. This is a perfect option for those booking travel on the fly (ie buying a train ticket right at the train station)

After travel you have several other redemption options via TD Rewards. You can choose to pay your credit card with points (Basically a cash back option) which requires 400 points for a $1 statement credit. Points can also be redeemed for education credits with HigherEdPoints at a rate of 62,500 points for $250 to pay tuition or student loans. You can also redeem points for merchandise via TD Rewards' merchandise catalog, Amazon Pay with Points or you can redeem them for dozens of different gift card options.

Features and Benefits

The card comes with some additional features and benefits but does lack in this department compared to some other Visa Infinite Cards. The primary benefit is an annual travel credit for select Expedia for TD bookings. On top of that benefit the card has a decent insurance package and your standard Visa Infinite card benefits. There are also partner benefits that are exclusive to TD which are outlined below.

Annual $100 Travel Credit

Each year you will receive a $100 travel credit that can be used on an eligible purchase made with Expedia For TD

An Eligible Travel Credit Purchase means:
• A Hotel, Motel, Lodging, or Vacation Rental Purchase of $500.00 CAD or more made with Expedia For TD; or
• A Vacation Package Purchase of $500.00 CAD or more made with Expedia For TD, that includes a Hotel, Motel, Lodging or Vacation Rental booking packaged with a transportation booking.

Visa Infinite benefits

• Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection provides benefits like room upgrades, complimentary Wi-Fi and breakfast, late checkout, and so much more at over 900 Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection properties around the world.
• Visa Infinite Dining Series - Each event includes multi-course meals, drink pairings and an interactive experience. You'll get to taste dishes from some of the country's top chefs and restaurants as they guide you through each course.
  
• Wine country benefit from wineries across Ontario and British Columbia including complimentary tastings and tours. You can also get access to online offers like complimentary shipping and savings on wine purchases.
• Get golf perks with Troon Rewards® through your Visa Infinite card and automatically receive Silver Status. You’ll save 10% on golf fees, merchandise, and lessons at over 150 courses around the world.
• Access to private movie events and at-home offers as part of the Visa Infinite Screening Series. In the fall, get special perks at the Toronto International Film Festival®.
  
• Visa Infinite card includes a Complimentary Concierge service that can offer help with anything like the perfect travel itinerary, restaurant recommendations, finding the perfect birthday gift, and more

Partner Benefits

Starbucks Rewards

Earn 50% more TD Rewards Points and 50% more Stars at participating Starbucks stores when you link your TD First Class Travel Visa Card to your Starbucks Rewards account.

Insurance

The TD First Class Visa Infinite Card comes with a very strong insurance package that includes the following:

• Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance (21 days under age 65, 4 days for 65+)
• Trip Cancellation Insurance
• Trip Interruption Insurance
• Flight Delay Insurance
• Baggage Delay Insurance
• Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance
• Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance
• Hotel Burglary Insurance
• $500,000 Travel Accident Insurance
• Purchase Security Insurance
• Extended Warranty Insurance
• Mobile Device Insurance

What is good about this card

The accelerated earn rates when coupled with the birthday bonus are great. They provide up to a 4.4% return when you do use your points via Expedia for TD and that makes this card very competitive in that regard.

The range of flexible rewards options are good with this card. Your best value is to book via Expedia For TD but the fact you have the other options for any travel bookings, education payments, and more make the card's points quite versatile. And compared to this card's two biggest competitors, the CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Cards and RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, the any travel any time rewards options and value are great.

The welcome bonus is one of the better ones you'll find in the market for proprietary credit card reward programs. To be able to earn up to 135,000 points in the first year and pay no annual fee is a great deal.

What is not so good about this card

If you take Expedia For TD redemptions out of the equation, the base earn rate is not good. We've stated in the past that no premium cards should have a base earn rate below 1% and this card kind of falls into that category. The Expedia option keeps the base earn rate at 1% but for those who love to book travel on their own you don't get that rate. For example, some people like to book directly with a hotel so they can earn points and receive status benefits, then that base earn rate of 0.8 to 0.88% isn't good if you redeem those points towards that hotel charge.

There is no lounge access benefit with this card. You would think with the name "First Class Travel" the card would at the very least have an annual lounge membership benefit where you still pay to enter the lounge. That isn't the case however with this card which is too bad as many of its competitors do offer lounge access programs.

No conversion options. I really wouldn't call this a 'not so good thing' about the card but it is more of wish on Rewards Canada's part. Before TD revamped this card in 2022 we called for it to be overhauled the year prior and one of the items we had suggested was a conversion option to Aeroplan. Seeing that TD is the primary issuer of Aeroplan co-brand cards it should be able to add a TD Rewards points to Aeroplan conversion. If they did this it would make this card even more appealing and definitely move it into the top 10 cards in Canada.

Who should get this card

• Consumers who bank at TD and want to keep all financial products with one bank (especially if your account gives you a discount or rebate on your annual fee)
• Consumers who like having multiple redemption options with their points
• Consumers who can or do have significant spending with Expedia For TD, on groceries, restaurants and/or on recurring bills.
  

Conclusion

The TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card is a popular travel rewards credit card that is popular with TD and non-TD customers alike. Its overhaul in 2022 help the card regain some traction as a strong option in our very competitive credit card market. By having accelerated earn rates coupled with a variety of redemption options, the card ranks in the top 15 of all travel cards in Canada. The biggest drawback to the card is the lack of additional benefits that are seen on other similar cards in Canada. If you don't need lounge access, travel enhancement credits or something like No Foreign Transaction Fees this card is definitely one to consider.

Latest card details:

Other cards to consider if you are looking at this card:

• American Express Cobalt® Card
• CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Card
• Desjardins Odyssey World Elite Mastercard
  
• HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®
  
• MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard®
  
• National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard
  
• RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card
• Scotia Gold American Express Card
• Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card
  
  
  

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