Best travel points plastic for a Canuck?

September 16, 2008 5:05 AM

What's the best Canadian credit card to earn travel miles?

I have lots of credit but am looking for a credit card to earn travel rewards. It will be paid off in full each month. Will probably have an average of $50-60,000 going through it each year. I had Aeroplan for a while, which was fine, but can I do better?

posted by unSane to work & money (9 comments total)

Where do you travel mostly? I fly YYZ and YVR to LHR all the damn time so ditched the Aeroplan went and got the RBC Platinum Visa British Airways card and have found it to be brilliant. A point for every dollar I spend, two points for every dollar I spend on BA and I have also taken advantage of their "Buy a World Traveler Plus full fare seat and someone can come with you for free" deal. The points have racked up and I've had little trouble booking with them with some decent advance notice.
posted by meerkatty at 5:31 AM on September 16, 2008

I would recommend any of the following:
CIBC Aerogold VISA
RBC Platinum Avion VISA
TD First Class Travel VISA


Full disclosure: I'm an employee of one of the above institutions, and am involved in the sale of their VISA cards, so I won't go too far on this issue, but if you want to ask any direct questions through MeFiMail I'll answer them without bias (or with as little as I can).
posted by smitt at 6:43 AM on September 16, 2008

If you mostly fly Air canada, you want an aeroplan credit card. You got 2 option here :

CIBC Aero and Aerogold VISA
AMEX Aeroplan plus/gold/platinum

You are a big spender so I would recommend either Amex gold or platinum because these cards offer bonus miles for purchases over $10,000. Keep in mind the Amex cards are not as generally accepted as Visa cards.

If you want more flexibility with you choice of airlines, you might want to check out those new Visa infinite in addition to those recommended by Smitt.
posted by racingjs at 8:43 AM on September 16, 2008

It depends on where you want to fly. If you like Air Canada I've always been happy with my Aerogold VISA. If you want to fly domestic on WestJet there's a BMO card that gives AirMiles and offers discounted reward purchases on WestJet. If you want to fly BA or some US airline there may be a Canadian version of their card that would suit you better. I think the RBC Avion card offers more flexibility but I doubt it gives you more bang for your buck. If you're a frequent flier and have status on any airline I would stick with that as that's where you'll get the best reward deals. Back when I was AC Elite they had periods where certain flights were 25% to 50% off for reward redemptions.
posted by GuyZero at 9:24 AM on September 16, 2008

I'm just going to add some info about the VISA Infinite program. It's not actually a different travel rewards program, mostly it just adds features to existing travel cards. Those features are: Increased limits (& ability to spend beyond your limit so long as you pay it off that month, similar to a charge card), travel insurance covering short trips, and a travel concierge service.

I believe it is offered on all 3 cards I mentioned.

The usual requirement for this feature is a personal annual income of $60k+ or household income of $100k+.

See:
CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite
RBC Visa Infinite Avion
TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite
posted by smitt at 9:39 AM on September 16, 2008

Assuming you are willing to fly Air Canada, either the CIBC or Amex Aeroplan cards are the best deal. None of the other programs will get you a flight with as little spending.
posted by ssg at 12:06 PM on September 16, 2008

Check out this page for comparisons: Red Flag Deals
posted by birdsquared at 7:14 PM on September 16, 2008

CIBC Aerogold. Aeroplan miles have the highest earn-to-redemption value.

Disclaimer: I used to work for a company involved with Aeroplan. I no longer work for that company, and that particular piece of information was provided by someone who had worked for Air Miles.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:23 AM on September 17, 2008

Oh, or the AmEx Aeroplan, of course.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:24 AM on September 17, 2008