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Note: you can trust that my recommendations are genuine—I do not earn affiliate commissions or referral fees for any of the credit cards mentioned in this post.
A little help for my fellow Canucks
One of my goals for this blog is to help Canadians on the FI path. As I’ve written about before, we love our American FI friends, but we need more Canadian content!
One area where the landscape’s vastly different for Canadians is the credit card scene. We have far fewer and less-lucrative sign-up offers. However, all hope isn’t lost for us! Canadians can still benefit from credit card rewards—it just takes a little time and know-how.
Why I’m writing this article
- I like learning what other Canadian FI-seekers have in their wallets. It alerts me to new cards and offers, and helps me confirm if I’m using the best cards. I hope to do the same for you.
- While I’m no expert, I’ve been doing this for a while and have knowledge to share.
- I have a unique take on credit card rewards: I’m neither passive nor hardcore. That is, I care about and try to optimize our rewards, but I don’t maximize things at all times.
- There’s not enough being written about credit card rewards from this middle-of-the-road perspective, so I’d like to help fill that gap!
Note: This post is simply a listing of my favourite cards, with details and a short review for each. In last week’s post, I outlined our overall credit card rewards strategy in more detail. It’s a step-by-step guide on how we easily earn over $1,000 per year in credit card rewards.
My middle-of-the-road approach to credit card rewards
- We keep one long-term, everyday card in our wallets, and supplement it with 2–3 short-term cards each year.
- I only apply for new short-term cards when I have the time and energy to do so. (Sometimes this means I let good sign-up offers pass me by—and that’s totally fine by me!)
- I feel this approach is the best of both worlds: we always earn a good cashback rate with our long-term card, and when I feel like building our travel miles, I apply for short-term cards to get the sign-up bonuses.
- It’s also a very simple, low-maintenance way to access generous rewards with a minimum of time and hassle.
Disclaimers
For your financial safety
Card hacking is only suitable for responsible credit card users. That means you pay your balance in full every month, only spend on what you can afford and actually need, and have a good credit rating.
Do your own due diligence
As with all things financial, never blindly accept anyone’s recommendations. When applying for credit cards, take the time to do your own calculations and research. It’s the only way to know if you’re actually getting the best value from your credit card rewards.
My favourite long-term card
This is the one long-term card we keep in our wallets year after year:
- We earn 1.75% cashback on everything with this card.
- There’s no other free card with such a high earn rate and no category restrictions.
- We should net 1.5% cashback on our foreign currency spending—unlike most credit cards which charge a 2.5% foreign currency transaction fee. (But see Why I use a USD Visa at the end of the article for some nit-picky details about this).
- The card’s FREE!
- Since it’s a Mastercard, it’s free to use for bill pays through PayTM.
- None—it’s free!
- We spend $28,000 annually on this card.
- NET ANNUAL REWARD: $490
Note: Links to the Rogers World Elite Mastercard are NOT referral links—I receive no commission for referring new customers.
My favourite short-term cards
In addition to the long-term card I’ve listed above, I also apply for 2–3 short-term cards each year. These short-term cards are almost always travel rewards cards (whereas my long-term card is a cashback card).
For me, none of these short-term cards have been worth holding onto past the first year. The regular earn rates tend to be pretty low, so I always cancel them before the annual fee is due.
BUT, the sign-up bonuses are so huge, it’s worth the hassle to sign up for them. (See How to Easily Earn $1K/Year in Credit Card Rewards to learn how I manage these sign-ups.)
The Marriott Bonvoy American Express—my favourite way to earn Bonvoy points
- Bonvoy points are one of the best due to their flexibility (wide range of hotels to redeem at; many points transfer partners.)
- The sign-up bonus for this card is always excellent.
- $120 (No ‘first year free’ offer that I’m aware of)
- The current sign-up bonus is for 50,000 Bonvoy points—which are worth about $0.01 CAD for flight or hotel redemptions. That’s a $500 value!
- You earn 2 points per dollar spent on non-Marriott purchases, so your $1,500 minimum spend would earn you an additional $30 in points.
- There’s no first year free offer for this card. The annual fee is $120.
- NET REWARD: $410
Note: Links to the Marriott Bonvoy American Express are NOT referral links—I receive no commission for recommending this card.
The BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard—my favourite way to earn Air Miles
- While the Air Miles program has its problems, it’s made changes for the better in recent years. I feel the points are still worth earning.
- This card also offers free airport lounge passes as a sign-up bonus. We’d never splurge on lounges, so this is a nice way to enjoy a bit of luxury for free!
- In my experience, this card is churnable—that means you can re-apply for the card in the future and receive the sign-up bonus again. (However, it’s not supposed to be churnable, so your mileage may vary.)
- First year free, $120 thereafter
- The current sign-up bonus is for 3,000 Air Miles—which are worth about $0.12 CAD each for flight redemptions. That’s a $360 value.
- There’s currently no annual fee for the first year—so you net $360 if you meet the minimum spend of $3,000.
- You earn 1 point per $10 dollars spent, so your $3,000 minimum spend would earn you an additional $36 in points.
- You also receive two free airport lounge passes as a sign-up bonus. Each pass is worth $27 US ($36 CAD) for a total reward value of $72.
- NET REWARD: $468
Note: Links to the BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard are NOT referral links—I receive no commission for recommending this card.
- Aeroplan miles are relatively flexible since they can be used for any airline in the Star Alliance network.
- This card is a Visa—which is more widely accepted than the American Express (one of the other Aeroplan credit cards).
- It offers a much bigger sign-up bonus than CIBC (the other Aeroplan Visa offering).
- This card is churnable—that means you can re-apply for the card and receive the sign-up bonus again.
- First year free, $120 thereafter
- The current sign-up bonus is for 25,000 Aeroplan miles—which are worth about $0.012 CAD per mile for flight redemptions. That’s a $300 value.
- There’s currently no annual fee for the first year—so you net $300 if you meet the minimum spend of $1,000.
- You earn 1 mile per dollar spent, so your $1,000 minimum spend would earn you an additional $12 in points.
- NET REWARD: $312
Note: Links to the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite are NOT referral links—I receive no commission for recommending this card.
The MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard—my favourite way to earn Alaska Airlines miles
- We live on the West Coast, and have a good selection of flight options with Alaska Airlines.
- You not only earn sign-up bonus miles, but also a discounted companion flight.
- This card is churnable—that means you can re-apply for the card and receive the sign-up bonus again.
- $99 (no first year free offer)
- The current sign-up bonus is for 30,000 miles—which are worth about $0.01 CAD. That’s a $300 value.
- There’s a $99 annual fee—so you net $201 if you meet the minimum spend of $1,000.
- You earn 1 mile per dollar spent, so your $1,000 minimum spend would earn you an additional $10 in points.
- You also receive a discounted companion fare, which at minimum saves you $50.
- NET ANNUAL REWARD: $261
Note: Links to the MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard are NOT referral links—I receive no commission for recommending this card.
Summary
We keep one long-term, everyday card in our wallets, and supplement it with 2–3 short-term cards each year.
Using this simple system, we earn over $1,000 in credit card rewards per year! (With no hacking or time-consuming tactics required!) Read my step-by-step guide to learn how we do this.
My favourite long-term card:
- Rogers World Elite Mastercard
My favourite short-term cards:
- Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express
- BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard
- TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite
- MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard
Any questions?
For those new to the credit card rewards game, I know it can be overwhelming! If you’re not sure where to start or have questions, feel free to ask in the comments below or via my contact page.
For more on travel hacking…
If you’d like to go deeper and up your travel hacking game, check out:
Visit my How to Easily Earn $1K/Year in Credit Card Rewards article and scroll to Appendix C for a list of my favourite Canadian credit card rewards resources.
Want to travel the world for free or cheap? You can with travel hacking! Learn how to get started with this lucrative hobby.
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12 Comments
Money Mechanic
June 17, 2019 at 11:15 amI definitely need to get the Rogers MC to pair it with PayTM! Good review of the cards.
Chrissy
June 19, 2019 at 8:36 amYeah you do! Totally worth doing.
GYM
June 17, 2019 at 12:59 pmI’m surprised you don’t have the World Elite PC Financial! It’s such a good card for points.
The TD Aeroplan is actually free if you have a minimum balance.
I have yet to apply for the Marriott Bonvoy, I loathe to pay for annual fees, but we might do it to get Marriott points.
Chrissy
June 19, 2019 at 8:35 amHey GYM, thanks for taking the time to stop by (even though life’s become a whole lot busier for you!) Congrats again on the new addition!
I’ve actually held the PC card forever and still have it in my desk drawer. We used to use it all the time, especially since we shop at Superstore a lot.
But the Scotia Momentum Visa earns us 4% at Superstore vs. the 3% the PC card earned us. (Even after subtracting the annual fee of the Momentum Visa, it’s still worth it). Still, I keep the PC card because it’s an excellent card, it’s free, and it’s an old card for me—which helps my credit score!
I know you loathe annual fees, but Marriott points are great since they’re so flexible! For us, it was worth it. 🙂
GYM
June 20, 2019 at 11:31 am@Chrissy- ahh that makes sense 4% vs 3% 🙂
GYM
June 17, 2019 at 12:59 pmMinimum balance for banking with TD, not for the credit card, I should clarify!
Chrissy
June 19, 2019 at 8:36 amYou’d mentioned this before in one of your posts. I’m considering moving my banking to TD for various reasons, and this is just another one!
Tristan Elliott
June 19, 2019 at 8:17 amGood one Chrissy. Always love reading your blog – both because it is good and because you are a fellow Vancouverite.
What do you think of making it so links auto open in a new browser (especially for the CC ones). I am going to get the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite.
Keep up the great work!
Tristan Elliott
June 19, 2019 at 8:19 amNevermind the second part of my comment – they started auto opening in separate window now! 😐 🙂
Chrissy
June 19, 2019 at 8:30 amAw, thanks for the kind words Tristan. Comments like yours make it all worth it (blogging is A LOT of work!) I’m glad the separate windows are working as I consciously try to make sure all external links do that! Thanks for your support. 🙂
Shaidah
June 21, 2019 at 8:05 amGreat post! We have been trying to find a way to bring down foreign transaction fees when shopping in the US. Well laid out, thank you for sharing your findings!
Chrissy
June 24, 2019 at 12:33 pmThanks for the comment Shaidah. Many people aren’t aware of foreign transaction fees, so I’m just doin’ my part to help spread awareness!