What Are Some of the Best Cash-Back Credit Cards?

Top Cash-Back Credit Cards

First Published Date: August 7, 2016

ou are familiar with A Dawn Journal, you already know my take on cash-back credit cards. I prefer travel rewards credit cards over cash-back cards, as travel cards provide the maximum returns for your dollars. However, for ease and simplicity some of you may want to go with cash-back rewards credit cards.

Today, I will go through briefly some cash-back rewards credit cards that you can consider, so you can pick the one that suits your needs.

MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard – Although marketed as a travel rewards credit card, this card provides 2 percent cash back across the board with no strings, no limits, no caps, no tiers, no problems. Annual fee = $89.

Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite – With 4 percent cash back on groceries and gas, 2 percent on recurring bills, and 1 percent on everything else, a perfect card for those who want maximum return on selected categories. Annual fee = $99.

BMO World Elite Cash Back MasterCard – A flat 1.75 percent cash back across the board without any limits. Provides the best insurance benefits among all cash back cards.

Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card – Options to choose up to 3 categories where you can earn 2 percent unlimited cash back. Annual fee = free.

The SimplyCash Card from American Express – A flat 1.25 percent cash back on everything without limits. Annual fee = free.

In the future, I will review some of these cards on A Dawn Journal and on my YouTube channel. There are many other cash-back cards available on the market. However, I believe these I mentioned above offer most value for your dollars spent. Do your thorough research before picking any cards and stay with the one that most suits your needs.

Price Protection Not Covered by Travel Insurance

My Grand Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Jamaica Trip and Do You Need Price Protection Guarantee?

First Published Date: August 21, 2016

Today, I am presenting a video of my recent Grand Bahia Principe Runaway Bay trip to Jamaica. I will not talk about the details of my trip, because you will have a good idea of the full trip after watching the video. However, I will talk about a price protection guarantee customers can buy in all-inclusive vacation packages – which might come in handy if vacation prices drop.

All-inclusive vacation packages are popular among North American vacationers going to Caribbean countries. Flight, hotel, unlimited food, drink – basically everything is included in this type of package. Travellers who are looking to relax without worrying about anything else usually choose this type of all-inclusive package.

Price protection guarantee is a separate add-on that you can purchase for all-inclusive vacations. It can run from $50 to $100 or even more. Price drop protection is actually not covered by premium credit card insurances that cover all sorts of travel insurances such trip cancellation, trip interruption, medical emergency, flight delay, and so on.

When I bought my vacation package in November from a 3rd party travel agent, the original vacation provider was offering a price protection guarantee as a promotion free of charge, so I did not mind accepting it – just in case. At the same time, I setup a price drop alert on the travel website that would alert me when the price drops below what I paid previously.

In April, I received an email alert stating my vacation price has dropped roughly $200. I contacted the claim call centre to find out the procedure. I was told that I could claim only once, so if the price even drops further I won’t be able to claim if I decide to claim it right then. My options were to claim at that time or wait for a further drop to claim later, so I decided to claim right away.

The process was simple. You just need to give the agent all your related info and mention you would like to claim. I received the difference on what I paid versus what it had dropped to within three business days in my bank account.

All-inclusive vacation packages tend to drop significantly before two months or just before the departure date, as vacation providers try to empty their unsold inventories. So it may make sense to have this feature added if you would like to minimize your risks. However, you need to decide on whether you would like to pay extra to buy this protection. There is also the possibility that the price won’t drop at all. Based on your risk tolerance and lifestyle, make an educated decision before paying for anything extra and always do your research

What Is A Good Credit Score?

Understanding Credit Score Range

First Published Date: March 13, 2016

Your credit score is a three digit number that reflects the well being of your credit worthiness or how efficiently you are managing money or debts. Various credit reporting agencies such as Equifax and TransUnion provide this information and Fair Isaac Corp. produces the most commonly used credit scoring algorithm known as FICO, although various other credit scoring models exist.

The credit score ranges are very similar for most of the credit scoring models and they can run from the upper 200 to upper 900 range. I will use the FICO score to illustrate what a good credit score is in this article, as FICO is the most widely used credit scoring model.

What is considered a good score or a bad score varies according to the lender and what type of loan is being sought because lenders have their own set standards to approve or deny you credit.

Here is a very general guideline for FICO score range (300 – 850):

350 – 629 = Bad

630- 689 = Fair

690 – 719 = Good

720 + = Excellent

The highest FICO score possible is 850 and not many are able to achieve that. However, anything above 720 in general is considered an excellent credit score and those who achieve it most likely will get approved for whatever they apply.

Although having a score above 800 is kind of like having an elite status in score, lenders usually treat those within the range from 750 to 850 the same way. In other words, if your score is 750 you will most likely get the same rate as someone at 820.

What Is A Hybrid Travel Rewards Credit Card?

Proprietary and Hybrid Travel Credit Cards

First Published Date: March 27, 2016

Travel rewards credit cards can help you travel faster and possibly also earn you free or partially free trips due to the generous returns they offer on daily spending. In general there are usually two ways these credit cards accumulate travel rewards points. These are proprietary rewards points and hotel or airline rewards points. However, there is another type of credit card that offers the best of both by providing more options called a hybrid travel credit card. Today I will talk about this new breed of increasingly popular credit cards called hybrid cards.

Proprietary rewards creit cards are tied to credit card companies’ own rewards points. For each dollar you spend, you usually collect one or two rewards points that offer usually a 1-cent value per point. For example, if you spend $100, you will get 100 points (if one point is being offered for each dollar) or $1 (100 cents). These accumulated points can be used against your credit card travel purchases and that’s how these proprietary points work. So what you see is what you get when it comes to proprietary points. For example, your return on your credit card purchases will be based on how many points the cards offer and you cannot exceed that rate of return. If you get 1 point per dollar, your return is 1 percent. If you get 4 points per dollar, your return will be 4 percent (if 1 point is valued at 1 cent).

The Airline or Hotel credit cards offer hotel or airline points, instead of proprietary points. The beauty of these points is that since there is no fixed amount attached, the rate of return can be an astounding 5-7 percent, if you are knowledgeable about the hotel or airline rewards programs and know how to redeem to maximize return.

Now, what if you want neither proprietary points nor airline/hotel points, but want it all? That’s where the hybrid credit cards come in. Hybrid travel credit cards give you the option and flexibility to redeem points as proprietary points or you can transfer them to other hotel or airline rewards points. So hybrid cards work for both consumers who want straightforward proprietary points with fixed return or for those who are knowledgeable about the ins and outs of hotel/airline rewards programs and want to maximize returns by converting points to hotel/airline rewards programs.

Two popular hybrid cards in Canada are American Express Gold Rewards Card and RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card. As consumers are looking for more options, expect more entrances of hybrid travel credit cards on the market in the future.

Is The American Express Gold Rewards Credit Card A Good Hybrid Card? .

How Good Are Hybrid Cards?

First Published Date: May 28, 2016

A common question everyone asks is how the American Express Gold Rewards Card holds up when compared to other hybrid credit cards. Today, I will look at a few points you should consider before pledging your allegiance to any hybrid credit cards.

Because of many big rewards sites and TV ads promoting the Amex Gold Rewards Card (I wrote more on this here: What Rewards Canada Is Not Telling You About Its Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards), many of us think that it’s the best hybrid credit card out there because it offers 2 points on maximum categories, such as gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores, flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and more. However, the problem with this is that you should not purchase big-ticket travel items such as flights, hotels, cruises, etc. with your Amex Gold Rewards Card because it does not offer Trip Cancellation Insurance. Keep in mind it charges a hefty $150 annual fee.

Also, Amex rewards transfer partners are very limited. For example, 6 frequent flyer programs (British Airways Executive Club, Aeroplan, Asia Miles, Delta SkyMiles, Alitalia, Etihad Airways) and 2 hotel programs (Hilton HHonors and Starwood Preferred Guest).

A better option can be the Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card, which lets you transfer Starpoints to frequent flyer miles with more than 30 airlines or redeem Starpoints for free nights at over 1200 Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 100 countries. However, keep in mind that this card does not offer Trip Cancellation Insurance either.

Another hybrid card, the RBC Visa Infinite Avion ($120 annual fee), offers full suite insurance coverage and offers transfer partners such as WestJet, Asia Miles, Avios points, AMERICAN AIRLINES AADVANTAGE miles, Esso Extra points or Shoppers Optimum points, etc. So for many, the appeal of this card may be higher due to its insurance coverage.

So picking the best hybrid card depends on what you are looking for from your credit cards, whether it’s the most points, the most transfer partners, or the most insurance coverage.