Credit Card Bonus Rewards Points Shrinking

Several Credit Cards Change Bonus Rewards Points

First Published Date: December 5, 2016

In the past few weeks, I found out that several credit cards are changing their rewards points options. In my last article, I talked about Scotia Amex Gold Rewards. Today I will talk about two other credit cards that have instituted negative changes, unlike Scotia.

MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus MasterCard

This is a free rewards credit card that used to give 1000 bonus points every year on the anniversary date. However, MBNA recently sent a notification mentioning it will no longer provide any anniversary points starting January 1, 2017.

This does not come as a surprise to me, as I was expecting various cutbacks on points and features since TD Bank Group purchased MBNA. MBNA used to offer several cash back and rewards points credit cards with generous rewards and features. However, TD is terrible with its own rewards credits cards and it’s no wonder they will make all MBNA credit cards like their own (with reduced rewards and features). MBNA is no longer the choice for low-annual fee and no-fee credit cards since TD starting axing its benefits. There are other credit card companies that offer better deals for low annual fee and no-fee credit cards.

MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard

This card is no longer providing first year free. Before the $89 annual fee was waived for the first year.

BMO World Elite MasterCard

BMO was one of the few banks in Canada that allowed you to receive introductory bonus points on credit cards when you switch one account to another. For example, the BMO World Elite MasterCard gives 30,000 points (see below) if you apply and get approved. However, if you are already an existing different cardholder at BMO and switched to this card, you would still get 30,000 intro points. A couple of days ago I switched my BMO Air Miles World Elite MasterCard and as such I will receive 30,000 points. However, a BMO rep mentioned that starting January 1, 2017 these intro bonus points on switching one card to another will be discontinued. So if you are an existing cardholder and plan to get the BMO World Elite MasterCard, this is the time to do it.

BMO World Elite MasterCard is also reducing its 30,000 intro bonus points to 20,000 and increased minimum income requirement from $70,000 to $80,000.

When one door closes, another door opens. Always keep an eye open for new opportunities for credit card rewards and A Dawn Journal is here to provide you unbiased information because unlike most other sites, I do not promote any credit cards and I do not receive commissions from credit card companies.

The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Credit Card: Should You Keep It?

Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card Review

First Published Date: September 13, 2016

Disclosure: Information provided here may not be accurate and no longer valid. The mentioned card provider is not related to A Dawn Journal and neither monitor this site nor responsible for any inaccurate information. Contact the card company directly for accurate and updated information. A Dawn Journal 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 Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite card is a cash back rewards credit card that lets you earn cash rewards for everyday purchases, which can be credited to your account balance at the end of each 12-month period once a year in November.

The Cost

Annual Fee = $99. Additional cards = $30

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

Rewards Points Snapshot

– Earn 4 percent at eligible gas stations and grocery stores Canada.

– Earn 2 percent on eligible drug store purchases and recurring bill payments.

– Earn 1 percent on everything else.

Author/Copyright: Ahmed Dawn www.adawnjournal.com

First Time Bonus

From time to time, Scotia runs a promotional $100 bonus. Also, the annual fee is waived for the first year.

Anniversary Bonus

None.

Features & Benefits

– Visa Infinite benefits, including Concierge Services.

– Emergency Medical Insurance (15 days <65, none if 65 or older, Amount: $1 million).

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

– Auto Rental Theft and Collision/Loss Damage Insurance.

– Trip Interruption Insurance ($2,000 each, maximum $10,000)

– Flight Delay Insurance (After 4 hrs, $500 per trip).

– Lost and Delayed Luggage ($500 maximum)

– Purchase Security (For 90 days, up to $60,000 lifetime)

– Extended Warranty Insurance (1 additional year)

What’s Missing

Because this is not a travel rewards credit card, I can’t mention anything here like I do for a travel credit cards review.

My Take

It’s almost impossible to beat the high cash back return the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite card provides. These days, investors are having a hard time generating 4 percent return from investments, so a credit card that provides 4 percent rewards on groceries is a big deal. However, if your grocery spending is not that high, but spending on another category (that provides 1 percent return) is high, this card won’t make sense and you should probably look for another card.

Although this is not a travel rewards credit card, it offers many travel insurances and provides the option to add Trip Cancellation Insurance, which is a good thing. But don’t forget that travel spending will attract a low 1 percent return.

The $99 annual fee is very reasonable, although Scotiabank could have charged a $120 annual fee – which is standard for Visa Infinite cards.

The only thing I can complain about is that the cash back rewards are awarded only once a year. I have seen other cash back cards that have done a better job at this. For example, some award cash back every month or when you reach a certain amount.

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.

MoneySense Publishes Its Flawed 2015 Canada's Best Credit Cards Rankings

How Accurate Are MoneySense’s Credit Card Rankings?

First Published Date: September 13, 2015

Canada’s popular personal finance magazine MoneySense recently releases its annual credit card rankings for 2015. The five best credit cards were chosen for these six categories: cash-back cards, low-rate cards, retail rewards cards, travel rewards cards, student cards, and business cards.

However, the factors that MoneySense used to determine the best cards for Canadians are inaccurate and out of touch from reality. I will discuss only a few important points to show you why these rankings are flawed and also will give you links to some other rankings that I believe did a better job ranking Canada’s best credit cards.

Why These Rankings Are Flawed

– The biggest problem is that the assumption was made that you will be spending $2000 per month on credit cards. To spend $24,000 on credit cards annually, you will need to have at least $100,000 annual income, but even it’s hard on a 100K salary to spend that much. So it is safe to say that an average $150,000 salary is required to make sense of these rankings and if MoneySense thinks that is what most Canadians make they are out of touch.

– Even if we say everyone is Canada is spending $2,000 monthly on credit cards, the MoneySense ratings are wrong in terms of getting the best value back on your rewards. If you use this credit card tool to plug in $2,000 monthly spending, you will get very different results.

– The wrong information was provided for some credit cards. For example, if you look at insurance benefits for cards like WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard or American Express Gold Rewards Cards, according to MoneySense these cards have trip cancellation, but in reality these cards do not have trip cancellation; they have trip interruption insurance, which is a totally different thing.

– The 1st and 2nd cards in the travel category are the WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard and the American Express Gold Rewards Card. Neither of these cards should be first and second, as they are missing major elements that you need to have in a travel card, such as trip cancellation insurance and concierge services. Also, the big problem with the WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard is that you are limited to fly only WestJet on limited destinations that WestJet covers.

– The worst picks are in the retail rewards category. Here you will find credit cards that are not even considered to compete by other best credit cards ratings sites. For example, if you use the credit card tools I mentioned in the article below, you will see that these top credit cards stay on the bottom of the list. So that makes you wonder why Rogers credit card is # 1 in this category. Rogers credit card is #1 retail rewards card is Canada – really?

How to Pick Your Best Credit Cards

Research and gather information from various sources, including the credit card providers’ own sites and make decisions based on your own circumstances. There are tools, calculators, and articles you can use to help you and I mentioned some of these in the Credit Cards/Rewards Cards Section on A Dawn Journal to help you with your research.

Also, you can check other sites’ best credit cards ratings. For example, the Greedy Rates ratings below is a good one and more aligned to reality.

Meet Canada’s First No-Fee World Elite Master Card

President Choice Launches World Elite Master Card

First Published Date: September 20, 2015

World Elite is the Elite series of credit cards from MasterCard that usually have a $100 to $150 annual fee. So when you see no-frills financial institution President Choice (owned by Loblaw) launching a world elite MasterCard without any annual fee, it’s bound to peak everyone’s interest.

The card has no annual fee, but it’s missing lots of features you would expect from world elite series cards as well. There is no sign-up bonus and it does not offer insurances such as Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption insurance. However, it does have Travel Emergency Medical Insurance and Car Rental Collision/Loss Damage Waiver Insurance.

This is the only credit card that lets you earn 30 PC points for every $1 spent at PC stores (such as Loblaw, No Frills) and Shoppers Drug Mart. The earning rate is also 30 points per dollar at Pharmaprix, PC travel, PC mobile (excluding PC mobile prepaid services), per litre of Esso Supreme (Octane 91) and Esso SUPREME+ (Octane 93).

An interesting twist is that the PC Financial World Elite MasterCard offers 24/7 concierge service and this is unexpected from a no-fee card. Unlike Visa’s elite series Visa Infinite cards, which provide concierge service by VISA itself, World Elite MasterCard does not provide its own concierge service in Canada. So if you see World Elite MasterCard in Canada has concierge service, it’s provided either by a 3rd party or the issuer’s own concierge service team. For example, WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard does not have concierge service, but BMO World Elite MasterCard comes with concierge service provided by BMO.

When I called PC MasterCard customer service and asked who is providing the concierge service for PC Financial World Elite MasterCard, it was obvious the rep had no idea what a concierge service is and how it works. He gave me hilariously wrong info to make me get off the phone. His idea of concierge service is when you go to a hotel; there will be a concierge service there to help you – which is totally wrong info.

It’s obvious that either President Choice Financial has not trained their reps well or I unfortunately came across a rep who had not done his home work. That’s another thing you need to keep in mind when you are getting something for free that usually comes with a price: You may not get top-notch customer service like other elite series credit cards that come with a price tag.

If you hold the PC World MasterCard, PC will upgrade you to World Elite without hard credit inquiries as long as you meet their World Elite MasterCard income requirement (70k Min Income or $120k household).