Amazon Canada Rewards MasterCard Fails to Attract Customers

Amazon Canada Rewards Credit Card Review

If you find this review or any other review on AhmedDawn.com or YouTube.com/ADawn different than 99% of other sites online, you got that right. The reason being, those other sites are working for the credit card companies, selling credit cards, and making money off you by providing affiliated links and dishonest, sugarcoated information.

My reviews are non-affiliated, unbiased and honest and I do not accept money or work for credit companies.

Amazon Canada recently launched a credit card issued by MBNA TD bank. There were lots of expectations, but this card failed to meet them. If you remember the old Amazon Chase Canada Visa Credit Card that was discontinued in early 2018, it was everyone’s favourite because of its zero foreign transaction fee feature.

The new Amazon Canada Rewards MasterCard offers 2 different rewards structures. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you get:

- 2.5% return on Amazon online and physical stores, such as Whole Food Markets, and 2.5% on foreign transactions.

- 1.5% return on everything else.

If you are a non-Prime member, you get:

- 1.5% return on Amazon online and physical stores and

- 1% return on everything else.

There are some other benefits, such as 90-day purchase assurance coverage, extended warranty, and trip interruption coverage.

It does not have any annual fee, points caps or expiration for points earned. Every 2,000 points earned will automatically give you a credit on your Amazon account for a $20 Amazon.ca gift card.

As you can see, the Amazon Canada Rewards Credit Card is a mediocre credit card that offers no value and there is no keep to make this card your daily card for any reason.

You can easily get a 4-5% return on Amazon purchases by purchasing gift cards (and using it on Amazon) from grocery stores with one of those cards that offer 4-5% return on groceries.

Although the Amazon Canada Rewards Credit gives 2.5% return on foreign transactions to offset foreign transaction fees for Prime Members, you will end up earning no additional returns on them. There are other credit cards that offer zero foreign transaction fee plus some returns. You can find these cards on my channel in the credit card section. 

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this card to anyone, even if you are an Amazon Prime Member. Your best option to earn a higher rate on Amazon purchases would be to use a high-earning 4% to 5% card to buy Amazon gift cards from grocery stores and use them on Amazon.

You can watch my video on Amazon Canada Rewards Credit by visiting the link.

Inside The Waitomo Glowworm Caves | New Zealand Travel

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 9

Once I reached the waiting area before the entrance to the Glowworm caves in Waitomo, I lined up and waited with my group to enter the caves. There was a slight delay because the group before us had to finish before we entered.

The tour guides, all of them, looked like students but they all knew their stuff and were very well organised. After waiting about 20 minutes, it was our turn to enter the caves. What made me unhappy was that no sort of photo or video was allowed inside the caves. Not even without flash or with a video camera. They were selling their own high-priced photos inside, which I decided to not take advantage of.

The caves were cold and dark. There were lights to see the whole place and it was divided into sections. The ceilings were wet and the walls had water or moisture dripping. The limestone pillars and columns were wet too and their weird straight, bent, or twisted shapes felt like miracles of nature.

It felt unreal to see something that nature created in 30 million years, but could be broken by humans in seconds. And in many parts in the world, sites like these are not well preserved and humans are always destroying them.

To see the glowing of the caves, all lights had to be turned off and then another miracle unfolded. It felt like thousands of tiny lamps placed inside these rocks making them glow. The luminescent light these worms radiate is really fascinating.

We moved further underground where there was a jetty-like platform and there were cables and boats to ride and watch the glow from an even closer angle. While riding the boat on the underground Waitomo River, it felt like I was looking at a sky of living lights created by these tiny glowworms.

Tour guides used cables to hold and push the boat forward very slowly. The boat ride was not too long, but the experience was full of excitement and it felt like everyone forgot to breathe while trying to grasp the beauty of nature.

Once we made it to the meeting point outside, we went back to our tour bus. There was still about 15 minutes before the bus left for Auckland, so I took this opportunity to shoot some videos and pictures in front of the reception area.

This was the last item on the itinerary for that day. I will be heading back to Auckland from here, which will be approximately 2.5 to 3 hours on the tour coach.

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 1

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 2

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 3

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 4

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 5

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 6

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 7

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 8

A Dawn Journal - A Top American Financial Blog

Reach Extends Beyond Canada And Gains Pan-American Recognition

First Published: August 24, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

Despite being based in Canada, A Dawn Journal has won the approval of one of America’s most widely recognised blogs. It is quite an achievement to be able to say that Efinancialblog.com, a widely respected and admired blog recognising the best financial writing in the US, has respectfully invited A Dawn Journal to take part in its “America’s Top Financial Bloggers” campaign of recognition, highlighting posts and blogs with accurate and well-written financial content. Efinancial Blog itself states that it is looking to spotlight the web’s best financial writers, so to gain their recognition feels like no small achievement.

Although Canadian finance is the specific remit of A Dawn Journal, it is true to say that good content is recognised as such wherever it comes from. The problems currently faced by families and businesses on the North side of the border differ very little from those which the United States currently faces. However, anyone will tell you that it is harder for a Canadian to gain recognition in the United States than vice versa, and for this reason it is very gratifying to be recognised in this way. Why has this happened? Well, it would be presumptuous to assume that one knows the minds of experts, but the simplicity and truth of the financial advice posted here means it can make an impact on anyone who shares our concerns about the financial climate of the day.

Although this is a Canadian blog (and very pleased to be able to say so) it has recently been noticeable that the number of global visitors has risen recently. There can only be one reason for this: readers understand and agree with the content written here. It is timeless and transcends national borders. Although there are always going to be differences from one country to the next, our differences are not what define us – our similarities are. An interest in finance is all the more relevant and essential at the present time, as we will all have financial questions to deal with the longer the financial turmoil continues. Being able to read simple yet intelligent financial advice and information helps us all deal with the important issues and questions we face.

So it seems quite reasonable and self-explanatory that this blog is becoming a regular read for an increasing number of people not only in Canada (which is still the essential focus of the site and a hugely valued readership) but also further afield. It is not only in America that this blog is read and followed, and it is hoped that this recognition from the US financial blogging community will not be the last. Financial information and news has now become a major priority even for a number of people who would not previously have paused on the financial pages for long before turning to seemingly more interesting information. For as long as people want to read important financial stories and get a no-nonsense, measured response to the issues, A Dawn Journal will be here to fulfil a need.

How To Be Confident

Where Can You Get Confidence?

In your tool chest of items that will allow you to develop yourself personally, confidence is one of the most important tools. With confidence, you will be able to tackle the challenges that come your way, but the thing is, you can’t just get confidence. You need to work for confidence and it is not always easy. Sometimes you may not think confidence is coming, but any doubt you feel is hurting your confidence. You need to get rid of doubt because it is what is going to hold you back. Confidence cannot exist if you have doubt, and these are the ways you not only get rid of doubt, but increase your confidence.

1. Make sure the people around you give you confidence. By having people who believe in you, you will begin to believe in yourself. They will tell you the things you are doing right, things you need to improve on, but most of all they will tell you exactly what you need to hear. That is why having a good group around you can give you confidence.

2. Confidence comes from pushing yourself to try new things. One of the ways you can do that is to get out of your typical comfort zone. If you don’t usually go out at night, start going out at night and pushing yourself to talk to people. If you are shy, be outgoing, if you are outgoing, be shy. Whatever you have to do to make things different, and to push yourself, will give you confidence when you need it.

3. Get inspiration from others. There are many people who have gone through bettering themselves, and they have a story to tell. Go to your local library and get biographies on individuals that you admire. Read about their challenges and how they overcame them. This will help give you confidence because you will see that others have gone through the exact same thing and achieved great success.

4. Talk to yourself whenever you begin to have doubts. Go to a mirror and talk to yourself, have conversations with yourself and compliment who you are. This may seem like an odd thing to do but you know yourself, you trust yourself and you will be able to push up your confidence just by talking to yourself. It is a very good technique that is used by actors, politicians, generals and more because you are speaking directly to yourself and making yourself confident. It works, trust us.

Being confident is very important in anything you do. When you are confident, you will not doubt your decisions and your confidence will help others believe in you. That then allows you to build up your confidence even more. Confidence is your best friend when you are bettering yourself, and it will keep you pushing yourself to become a better person. All you have to do to be confident is to use these tips and begin to change your life today.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on April 10, 2011

Avoid Making Your Mortgage A Wasteful Borrowing

Do Not Take Out The First Decent Loan You Are Offered

First Published Date : August 26, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

The fact that it is nigh-on impossible for most people to buy a house without borrowing at least some of the cost these days has hardened some of us to the question of debt. It would not be wrong to say that a large amount of the consumer debt which is strangling companies and individuals right now is a result of people saying “Well, we are all in debt these days anyway – what harm will it do to add a little bit more?”. We have become hardened to debt – and even those of us who seek to avoid debt altogether are conscious that this has happened. Just for clarification, becoming hardened to debt does not mean ignoring it altogether. Rather, it means that we accept it will exist and we try to live the best way we can while recognising the fact.

One consequence of becoming hardened to debt as a society is that there has been a certain amount of slippage where wastefulness is concerned. Being ready to accept debt – as we all must be, eventually – should not mean being wasteful. If we are debt conscious, we can minimise the damage done to our finances by debt. If we are wasteful, we run the risk of doing something which is essentially the equivalent of accepting that there will always be a little bit of mess in our house, and inviting a family of horses to live in our kitchen in recognition of the fact. Yes, you can live with debt. No, you cannot live indefinitely with several debts getting in the way of everything you do and making a mess of things.

It doesn’t even need to be the case that you regularly miss loan payments for you to qualify as wasteful – although the amount of extra cash you will need to pay to make up for that certainly qualifies. Another wasteful thing to do as regards credit accounts is to take out the first decent loan you are offered without doing a little bit of shopping around first. There are so many banks out there who offer mortgages, and other institutions besides who will loan money for the purpose of buying a house. Even when people take into account that the bank will own a stake in the house for the duration of the loan account, they are often still all too happy to settle for a “decent” mortgage, when a little bit of time spent researching would have freed them up to the tune of hundreds of dollars per month.

Being wasteful costs us a lot of money when we are young, and some people never really learn the lesson. Sure, it’s fun to let go every so often, but that’s what ball games, clubs and friends are for. A mortgage shouldn’t be a case of “yeah, this will do!”. It needs to be a matter of “yes, this is the right one”. You’ll be paying it off for a quarter of a century or more, most likely, so it requires some attention.