Life on Credit

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Best Rewards Credit Cards in Canada for 2020

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Rewards credit cards offer frequent flyer points and merchandise discounts to encourage frequent use. By maximizing points, users benefit from affordable airfare, hotel room benefits, and exclusive dining and shopping experiences.

Overview of Rewards Credit Cards

Customers who use rewards cards are offered miles or points for each purchase they charge to the card. Points can be redeemed for hotel or motel stays, free flights, entertainment, brand and select product purchases, and gift cards and vouchers.  Points can also be exchanged for specialized services, charity donations, classes and training, and recurring bill payments. Some banks feature a catalogue with a range of products to choose from, including movie tickets, spa and wellness, travel merchandise, accessories, and clothing. Sign-up bonuses are also offered to encourage spending.

Best Rewards Cards Overall

The best cards offer customers the choice to exchange points or miles for a number of options. These include catalogue merchandise, discounts on hotel bookings, cruises, and vacation packages, and statement credits. Cardholders also benefit from transferable points that can be transferred to hotel loyalty programs, airlines, and other partners.

Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

One of the top cards to earn extra points is the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card, featuring access to exclusive events and special offers, supplementary cards, and comprehensive insurance coverage. Holders earn 1 point for each dollar spent on daily purchases, 3x points on select streaming services, transit, and gas, and 5x points on dining, groceries, and entertainment. Extra points are offered for theatre and movie tickets, food subscription and delivery, fast food, and restaurant purchases. The card also comes with comprehensive insurance package, including travel accident, lost and delayed baggage, and flight delay insurance. The first $1,000 spent on everyday purchases earn 20,000 points. Added perks include no foreign transaction fees, front of the line tickets, and airport lounge access.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Minimum personal income required: $12,000
  • Interest Rate: 19.99%
  • Have not filed for bankruptcy: 7 years
  • Annual fee: $120

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Best No Fee Rewards Card

No fee cards are great in that they combine two perks – no annual fees and frequent flyer or rewards points. This helps customers save on fees while earning money in the form of points. Common benefits also include travel and return protection, complimentary memberships, travel assistance services, and low introductory interest rates.

Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card

A great card to save on annual fees, the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card also features unlimited money-back rewards that are paid on a monthly basis. Customers earn unlimited rewards and can either redeem them into their savings accounts or add them to their card balance. Holders earn 2 percent cash back across different categories such as entertainment, home improvement, drug store purchases, and parking and public transportation. While everyday purchases earn 0.5 cash back, recurring bill payments and gas, restaurant, and furniture purchases earn 2 percent money back. Additional perks include free supplementary cards, promotional balance transfer rate.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Annual income: $12,000 or higher
  • Interest Rate: 19.95%
  • Have not declared bankruptcy: 7 years
  • Annual fee: none

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Best Cashback Card

Cashback cards offer money back on everyday spending and feature shopping perks, entertainment benefits, and sign-up bonuses. The main types are rotating bonus category, tiered cashback, and flat-rate cashback. Rotating bonus category cards offer extra rewards for spending in select categories that change quarterly. Examples of bonus categories include dining, groceries, and gas. Keeping track of the cashback calendar helps maximize rewards.

Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite

This Scotiabank rewards credit card with extra cash back, the Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite has the most awards in 2019. Customers earn 1 percent back on daily purchases, 2 percent on transit and gas, and 4 percent on subscription services, recurring bill payments, and grocery store purchases. Two percent back is offered on rideshare, trains, taxis, and buses. Customers earn 4 percent back on subscription payments such as lifestyle boxes, music and video streaming, and meal kit delivery. They also earn 4 percent back on bill payments such as gym memberships, utility bills, and insurance premiums. Supplementary cards are also available.

Added benefits include hotel room upgrades, guaranteed best available rates, complimentary concierge service, and car rental discounts. The card also comes with comprehensive insurance coverage, including flight delay, travel emergency and new mobile device insurance.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Household income: $100,000 or higher
  • Annual income: $60,000 or higher
  • Interest Rate: 20.99%
  • Annual fee: $120

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Best Travel Rewards Card

The best cards that come with rewards allow holders to redeem points for travel, shopping, and cash and often feature rotating cashback categories. Added incentives include extra points, annual travel credit, sign-up bonuses, and no earning caps or redemption limitations.

Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card

As one of the best rewards credit cards to earn bonus points, the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card offers generous complimentary bonuses. Customers earn 10,000 rewards points when they spend $40,000 or more on an annual basis. Cardholders earn double points for entertainment, dining, grocery purchases, and daily transit. Transit purchases include taxis, subways, and buses. There is an option to add supplementary cards to maximize rewards. Added benefits for users include airport lounge access, no foreign transaction fees, and Avis Preferred Plus Membership. The card also comes with comprehensive insurance package, featuring travel accident, flight delay, travel emergency medical, and other types of insurance.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Annual fee: $139
  • Minimum personal income: $60,000
  • Minimum household income: $100,000
  • Interest Rate: 19.99%
  • Have not declared bankruptcy: 7 years

Best Store Card

A store card is a good choice for customers with little or no credit exposure and those who need to rebuild their credit history. This enables borrowers to access more affordable credit solutions. Store cards come with additional benefits such as free shipping, discounts at stores, cafes, and restaurants, and free item returns.

PC Financial World Elite MasterCard

The PC Financial World Elite MasterCard is one such store card that comes with no annual fee and features standard and optional benefits. Customers earn 45 points per $1 when shopping at Shoppers Drug Mart and 30 points at PC Travel, Esso, and Mobil. All other purchases earn 10 points per $1. PC Financial also offers an easy to use rewards calculator to help cardholders calculate points across different categories. Spending categories include groceries, travel, gas, and health expenses. Holders who spend $500 on travel, for example, earn 180,000 PC Optimum points worth $180. Optional extras that come with this card include victim assistance, credit education, and daily surveillance and monitoring. Customers are also offered concierge service, identity theft assistance, travel emergency medical insurance, and more.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Minimum household income: $150,000
  • Minimum personal income: $80,000
  • Interest Rate: 19.97%
  • Annual fee: None

Best Card for Groceries

Grocery credit cards offer generous cash back on grocery store purchases and are thus ideal for big and frequent shoppers. Many cards also feature cash back on gas purchases, utility bills, and other expenses. Some cards come with rotating categories while others offer multiple rewards rates or flat rates. Co-branded cards are also available as to allow customers to earn extra points or cash back at select stores.

Triangle World Elite MasterCard by Canadian Tire

One of the best cards offering rewards, the Triangle World Elite MasterCard by Canadian Tire offers customers access to personalized offers and member-only events. Holders earn 4 percent back at participating retailers, including SportChek, Hockey Experts, Sports Rousseau, Atmosphere, and Canadian Tire. Spend and collect bonuses are also available at select retailers such as L’Entrepôt du Hockey, Sports Rousseau, Canadian Tire, and others. Cardholders also earn 7 cents per litre in CT Money at Husky and Canadian Tire Gas+. In addition, they are offered perks and incentives such as no interest financing, concierge service, and roadside assistance. The Triangle App helps cardholders to organize their finances and keep track of purchases and weekly exclusive offers. The card also comes with car rental loss damage/collision waiver and priority queuing.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Minimum income: $80,000
  • Annual Fee: None
  • Interest Rate: 19.99%

The best rewards credit cards offer multiple benefits such as points and cash, annual fee waivers, comprehensive insurance, and access to exclusive events and loyalty programs. Customers also benefit from one-time bonuses, unlimited cashback or points on grocery store, dining, and other purchases, and VIP status. Bonus points are also offered after the card member anniversary. The best cards with rewards also come with no category restrictions, seat restrictions, and blackout dates when promotions or discounts are no longer available.

Most issuers have minimum income requirements to ensure that customers have sufficient income to make regular payments. Persons with higher incomes are also more likely to be big shoppers who regularly charge purchases on points cards.

Top 5 Canadian Travel Credit Cards

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Credit cards with travel perks are truly the best. You can benefit from these if you enjoy traveling, are a frequent flyer, love getting a bargain on something, bonus hunter, or all of the above. Subscribing to one of the best credit cards in Canada will save you a lot of money on airplane tickets, travel insurance, luggage claims, and many other similar things.

Consumers often evaluate credit cards rewards programs based on value offered per point. A good way to measure is to check how may air miles or associated perks each dollar you spend on the card gets you. While value points are important, it’s also important to consider other factors. For example, the annual fee should not cancel out the rewards you earn per point.

The cost per reward should also match the rewards on offer. Once all the fees have been considered, the credit card should offer a number of perks such as insurance coverage, low foreign transaction fees, travel opportunities, and so on. Travel credit cards that combine the best cost per reward with an increased number of perks are the best to subscribe to.

Here is a list of five of travel credit cards in Canada that offer the best value as described above:

1.     American Express® Gold Rewards Card    amex-goldrewards

Amex Gold is really the gold standard for travel credit cards in Canada. Points earned can be used for any travel-related purchase either online or offline. In some cases, you can convert points to frequent flyer programs. The welcome bonus is 25,000. For purchases made for $1,500 or above during the first three months, members get rewards points that can convert to close to $550. The annual fee for the first year is automatically waived, which will save you $150.

The biggest advantage with this card is that you can double your points easily by spending money at gas stations, grocery stores, and pharmacies. Plus, travel-related expenses incurred for road, air, rail, or water transport also counts. In some cases, lodging and tour operator charges paid with the card can earn you points.

An Amex point is equivalent to one cent. That makes the base rewards rate 1% and the bonus rate 2%. These rates can be increased by transferring points to Aeroplan. You will earn points for booking a flight, renting a hotel room, or hiring a rental car. Then, these earned points can be redeemed at full value to pay off any travel expense that shows up on the statement plus taxes and service charges. No extra charges incur when you transfer points for Aeroplan or British Airways AVIOS program.

2.     TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Card

This is an excellent card to start collecting Air Miles with. You don’t have to pay any annual fees for the first year of use and you will receive a welcome bonus of 30,000 miles. You will earn 15,000 miles with the first purchase you make using the card. If you keep the card active for 90 days following approval, you receive 10,000 miles more. You can receive 5,000 miles per authorized card user you add. For the first year, the primary cardholder can get an annual rebate of $120. This is a lot of incentive just for signing up.

Stack up 25,000 points on the TD card and that will be enough to fly from Canada to any city in the United States or Mexico. Each air mile you receive using this card will amount to roughly 1.28 cents per mile for economy tickets. For business class, it would amount to about 2.2 cents per mile. This is definitely a bargain. Earning mile points is not that difficult. The card offers an extra 1.5 points per dollar spent buying gas, groceries, or pharmaceutical items. At this amount, your earn rate will be at about 3.3%.

There are many other cherries on top of this cake, including coverage for travel insurance, trip cancellations, baggage rental, car rental, and flight interruptions, among others.

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3.     MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard®mbna-elite_en

There are many incentives offered for signing up, including a sign in bonus of up to $100 and a waiver for first year annual fee. This card does not have a minimum spending requirement. Everything earns a 2% reward rate. This card allows users to redeem cash credit points for anything, which includes your travel-related expenses.

MBNA offers 2 points per dollar spend on all purchases, which is a solid advantage this card has over the others. There are no cap limits on how many points you can earn either. If you are a frequent flyer, you can redeem points for anything travel related. Keep in mind that points can be redeemed against any purchase regardless of whether it’s travel related. So, if you only fly periodically or once every two or three years, this is the best travel credit card to have.

4.     Rogers™ Platinum MasterCard®rogershome-credit-card

Most travel credit cards have a downside: hefty foreign transaction fees. Rogers is actually one of the few travel credit cards to subsidize transaction fees incurred overseas. You can earn a whopping 4% cash back on any foreign purchase. The rewards rate for all other purchases is 1.75%. Points can be redeemed regardless of the type of expense.

There’s no annual fee during the first year, and you will receive a $25 welcoming bonus. Cash rewards can be redeemed once annually, which will include travel expenses. It’s possible to not pay any annual fee at all by pre-authorizing payments. Also keep in mind that Rogers offers one of the best travel insurance policies in Canada with this card.

5.     Desjardins Visa Odyssey Golddesj-odyssee

The travel credit cards mentioned above on this list require hefty monthly income levels. Desjardins travel credit card is one of the most egalitarian offered in Canada. You can get approval without earning a six-figure salary.

This card comes with a solid travel medical insurance policy that will cover you and your family for 60 days straight when out of your province. This is a significantly longer coverage period than the industry average. Also, the policy covers up to $5 million in claims in comparison to others that offer only one or two million. In addition to insurance, there’s car rental, lost baggage, baggage rental, trip delay, flight cancellation, purchase protection, and accident coverage as well.

So, if you are on the hunt for a really good travel credit card, choose one from the above list for the best perks and consumer options.