The factors that I take into considerations regarding this ranking include:
1. Pay back ratio (points payback will be estimated based on the points value)
2. Insurance coverage.
All cards requires you put all the relevant purchase on this card if you want to claim insurance.
3. Annual fee.
From 0 to more than 500 dollars, you have a great range here...
4. Additional privileges.
Lounge access, priority check-in, free checked baggage
1. American Express Gold Rewards Card
The best card in my mind, without doubt, falls onto this Amex Gold Rewards Card. The unbeatable advantage for this card is that you can have it free for the first year.
To make it even more appealing, you can earn double membership rewards points (MR) on every dollar you spend travel purchases (including Airfare, of course), to make this even appealing, you will earn 3x points when booking through Amex Travel website. The MR values at 1.8 cents/point, so that means you have at least 3.6% pay back from your spending amount.
Insurance that comes with this card related to the Airfare purchases is also strong enough: the flight/baggage delay insurance will cover a maximum of $500 towards reasonable expenses if you or your checked baggage are delayed by no less than 4 hours. You will also be covered for if the flight is cancelled due to mechanical issues by trip cancellation insurance.
This card neither offers you any free entry to the airport lounges nor chances of priority check-in. If you are looking for a card that does come with those benefits, just for the Amex cards at the platinum level.
You have very good chance of being approved for this card if you have more than 6 months of good credit history in Canada. And it only requires 20 K annual income for an eligible application, which is the lowest among all the cards in this article.
You can use our referral link here:click here.
2. TD/CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite
I recommend this card to those who take the flights within Star Alliance (especially Air Canada) frequently and have lots of aeroplan miles to redeem for reward flights. Basically, you will collect 1.5x aeroplan miles on your flight purchases on Air Canada website, and one mile per dollar with other airlines. The value of aeroplan miles is optimistically estimated at 1.6 cents/mile if you only redeem economy class ticket, so that your pay back on this card ranges from 1.6% to 2.4% depending on who you are flying with.
In terms of insurance, this card has everything Amex Gold card has, but the highlight is that you can also have insurance coverage if you are flying with a reward ticket (remember to pay the tax with this card as well). Also be aware that the amount to be covered differs a bit from Amex Gold Rewards card,and the delay time is defined as at least 6 hours.
If you are travelling with aeroplan reward ticket, you will have free access to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge once per year, the priority check-in (zone 2), and the first checked baggage free. Sorry, but you don't have anything special in your plate if you fly with a cash ticket.
The annual fee of this card is 120 dollars, but you can have it waived if you possess an all-inclusive chequing account with TD bank.
You can apply for this card using this link: click here.
3. RBC WestJet World Elite Master Card
If you are sick of Air Canada's slow service, arrogant attitude, and high prices, the only other choice you have for the domestic flights is WestJet. This card is the best card for those who fly with WestJet a lot: you will earn 2% in WestJet dollars on tickets with WestJet only, and 1.5% on everything else. This is probably the only thing that I dob't like about this card: to be a decent credit card in Canada, the average pay back should be at least 2%.
But this card has quite a few benefits that you can never resist, provided that you taking a flight with WestJet: you can waive the fee for the first checked bag for yourself and a max of 8 companion travelers with you, this is perfect for the people who never travel alone. Additionally, you can have a companion voucher each year at fixed rate ($99, $299, or $399) depending on the destination. Again, those features are really designed for lovers/family/friends trip.
This card also has necessary insurance coverage, but notice that the compensation is $250 per day, or $500 per occurrence. And RBC does have a strict rule to restrict your cost to hotel and dining.
The annual fee is just 99 dollars, and considering the application is open for those with annual personal income of 70,000 dollars or more, it is quite a cheap card to keep.
You can apply for this card using this link: click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment