Rewards Canada Publishes Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards

What You Need to Know About Affiliated Credit Card Rankings

Rewards Canada just published its top travel credit cards listings and like every year, American Express cards shine in most of the categories. I will only give you the top 5 credit cards as per Rewards Canada and will discuss in brief what’s wrong with these ratings.

- Amex Cobalt Card

- Amex Gold Rewards Card

- WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard

- RBC Visa Infinite Avion

The problem with these top-rated cards is that none of them provide (except RBC Avion) full insurance coverage and concierge service. These are the most important features you should look for when shopping for a travel rewards credit card.

Another thing these sites that provide top rankings never disclose is that all these cards are affiliated cards and they are promoting these cards, meaning they make money off you by recommending these cards and it’s in their best interest to only recommend cards that will make them the most money.

American Express even issued a press release making this (being in Rewards Canada’s top cards) a big deal. You can visit this press release Here.

This is called cross promotion. Rewards Canada is promoting American Express and American Express is promoting Rewards Canada. There is nothing wrong with promoting affiliated credit cards as the best credit cards. What is wrong is not disclosing properly to the readers that these are not honest and unbiased ratings.

Consider this scenario: based on these recommendations, a reader purchased a trip costing $3,000 and that trip had to be canceled. But then the reader found out that the top credit card he or she picked did not provide Trip Cancellation insurance and now he or she is at loss for $3,000. Will Rewards Canada pay for this loss? I don’t think so.

Watch the video link provided here to find out how to detect these affiliated links and how to protect yourself. I will also show some USA sites where these types of links and recommendations always come with disclosure. But in Canada they never disclose anything to the public to pump up their credit card sign ups. The more good things you will hear about these cards (and hiding the bad things), the more you will sign up and the more money they make.

What's Wrong with Rewards Canada Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards

There are no best credit cards, as each card comes with different perks and features. Choose the one that best matches your needs. Subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/adawn to get regular unbiased and honest updates and reviews on credit cards and rewards points. And yes, my channel and this website (AhmedDawn.com) are not affiliated or paid by any credit cards companies.

RBC Visa Infinite Avion Travel Rewards Credit Card Review

RBC Visa Infinite Avion Travel Rewards Card Review

Disclosure: Information provided here may not be accurate and no longer valid. The mentioned card provider is not related to AhmedDawn.com and neither monitor this site nor responsible for any inaccurate information. Contact the card company directly for accurate and updated information. AhmedDawn.com or my YouTube Channel are not compensated by or affiliated with any credit card companies. All credit card articles are 100% unbiased and honest.

The RBC Visa Infinite Avion Travel Rewards Card is a travel rewards credit card that lets you earn hybrid rewards points for everyday purchases that can be used for travel, transfer to airline points, merchandise, gift cards, etc.

The Cost

Annual Fee = $120. Additional cards = $50

Minimum annual income required = $60,000 (personal) or $100,000 (household)

Rewards Points Snapshot

– Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all credit card purchases

- Earn 1.25 for every $1 spent on eligible travel purchases

First Time Bonus

15,000 RBC Rewards Points

Anniversary Bonus

None

Features & Benefits

– Complimentary 24/7 Visa Infinite Concierge.

– Emergency Medical Insurance (15 days<65, 3 days>65, Amount: Possibly unlimited as RBC website has no limit mention. Please check with RBC to to make sure).

– Travel Accident Insurance (up to $500,000 CAD).

– Auto Rental Theft and Collision/Loss Damage Insurance (Up to 48 days)

– Trip Cancellation Insurance ($1,500 each/$5,000 trip).

– Trip Interruption Insurance ($5,000 each/$25,000 trip).

– Flight Delay Insurance ($250 each/$500 trip, 4+ Hr Delay).

– Lost and Delayed Luggage ($550 each/$2,500 trip, 4+ Hr Delay).

– Extended Warranty Insurance (1 additional year, $50,000 lifetime limit).

– Purchase Security (90 days, $50,000 lifetime limit).

– Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance ($2,500 per occurrence)

What’s Missing

– Price Protection Insurance

My Take

The main two things I like about the RBC Visa Infinite Avion are its insurance provider and flexible points options that provide hybrid points.

Unlike some other cards where the 3rd party insurance providers (see my Scotia Amex Gold Review) make it almost impossible to approve claims, here you are dealing with RBC Insurance directly and have a better chance of getting your claims filled when you need it.

Also, redeeming RBC Avion points offer more flexibility because they are hybrid points. You can convert to airline + other transfer partners (British Airways, American Airlines, Asia Miles, WestJet, etc.) or redeem directly from RBC as proprietary points. Keep in mind that you get the most value out of your points when you wait for a promotional transfer bonus (usually 30% to 50% more) and transfer to British Airways Avios and use them for business class flight redemption. However, you need to be knowledgeable about Avios to get the maximum value out of your points.

For those who do not want to convert to airline points, you will lose value redeeming points for merchandise, gift cards, direct flight redemptions, etc. But if you are redeeming for direct flights from RBC, doing it during the high season will give you more value for your points.

RBC waives the annual fee on this card if you hold certain types of accounts with RBC or spend a lot of money on the card. I don’t hold any other RBC products, but I was able to get my annual fee waived based on my spending patterns.

RBC Visa Infinite shines when it comes to insurance, as its backbone is a giant, reputable Canadian insurer. In terms of earning rewards, it’s not the top earner, but not bad either. This card makes more sense for those who know the ins and outs of Avios and AAdvantage (they are part of the same Oneworld alliance) and can take advantage of that.

Watch This on YouTube: RBC Visa Infinite Avion Travel Rewards Credit Card

BMO World Elite MasterCard Devalues Its Rewards Points

BMO World Elite MasterCard

I just received a piece of mail from BMO mentioning some changes that will be made to the BMO World Elite travel credit card. This type of notice translates into negative news 99 percent of the time, so I was expecting bad news.

On the surface, to make it look like a good news, BMO says you will earn 50 percent more points. This card used to give 2 points for each dollar spent on all purchases. That was a flat 2 percent return on everything, as each point was worth 1 cent. However, starting January 15, 2018, each point will be worth 0.714 cents. That’s a drastic devaluation. This only applies to the “everything else” category, as BMO is giving 3 points on 3 specific categories: travel, dining, and entertainment. The rate of return on these categories will be 2.14 percent, which is slightly better than what they had before on all categories.

Once these changes kick in, it would not make sense to use this card to purchase items in the “everything else” category. For the 3 accelerated categories it will provide a good rate of return even better than the 2 percent offered before.

These changes do not affect me personally because I do not use this card to make any purchases. My sole purpose to keep this card is to have lounge access. BMO World Elite provides Priority Pass annual membership ($99 US) and 4 passes ($27 US x 4) every year, which I value at a total Canadian $265. So even after paying the $150 annual fee per year, I am on the plus side for $115 Cad.

Whichever credit card you use, do the math to see if it make sense for you to keep it. I have a video on the above explaining further which can be viewed here:

| BMO World Elite MasterCard Devaluation | Analysis & Insights |

RateSupermarket Published Canada’s Best Credit Cards

Best Travel Credit Cards

Various websites publish Canada’s best credit card lists every year and today I will look at some of the best credit cards according to Internet rate comparison website RateSupermarket. Keep in mind that your own scenarios can be very different than any best credit card lists and always pick your credit cards based on your lifestyle, needs, and what you value most.

Best Rewards Credit Card With Fee

Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite

Best Rewards Credit Card With No Fee

SimplyCash from American Express

Best Credit Card for Carrying a Balance

MBNA True Line MasterCard

Best Credit Card Balance Transfers

MBNA Platinum Plus MasterCard

Fan Favourite for Best Credit Card

Tangerine Money Back Credit Card

Best Credit Card for Students

BMO SPC Cashback MasterCard

Best Credit Card with Travel Perks

Scotiabank Gold Amex

Best Credit Card for Groceries

PC MasterCard

Best Gas Rewards Credit Card

Shell BMO Air Miles MasterCard

My own suggestion for picking best credit cards is to not choose your credit cards based on any best credit card lists or anything of that nature. Always do your research and make an informed decision. I have a video on the above on my channel, which can be found here:

Canada's Best Credit Cards by RateSupermarket

Also, I have various other videos available on credit cards and rewards points on my YouTube channel that will provide you unbiased and non-affiliated information to help you research credit cards that suit your needs.

This Visa Prepaid Card Has Zero Foreign Transactions Fees

Mogo Prepaid Card With $3 Foreign ATM Fee

Don’t let the word “prepaid” scare you away from the Mogo Platinum Prepaid Visa card. There are some features I found in this card that make it a perfect travel companion if you are looking to avoid a foreign transactions fee and reduce ATM fees when you need to take out cash.

Most Canadian credit cards charge 2.5 percent foreign fees when you buy something outside Canada or online where merchants are not located in Canada. The Mogo card has zero foreign transactions fees and $3 foreign ATM fees, which seem to be reasonable ATM fees compared to bank or credit cards.

You only load what you need to spend. This feature is a safe way to travel with a card having not too much availability on it, especially if you lose your card a due to pickpocket, theft, or robbery; you are risking very little amount and saving a lot of hassle.

Some other features this card has:

- No minimum balance

-Unlimited transactions

- Zero monthly fees

You can view more details on the Mogo.ca website. You can also watch my video on the Mogo card on YouTube and the link is right here:

New Mogo No Foreign Transactions Fee Platinum Prepaid Visa Card

Keep in mind that there are a few other credit cards on the Canadian market that offer zero foreign transactions fees as well. I also have a video on them and I provided the link in the description box of the above video.

Credit cards can help you save money and travel across the globe. You will find tips and tricks to achieve that on my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/adawn