Credit Cards with Travel Rewards

[Brandilovesdisney]

Could you recommend a good credit card with travel benefits and tell me why you recommend that particular card? Thanks so much!!!!

 

[minnie56]

I have CIBC Aerogold-Infinite and RBC Avion-Infinite
As much as I rant about Aeroplan..I still like my Aerogold best.
As long as you plan fairly far out or are flexible with dates usually you can luck out with flights. I like that I can get extra miles at Esso, Grcoery shopping and other affiliates and the mileage redemption is lower than with Avion. At least it was, I need to check now that Aeroplan have made some changes..hmm..

Works for me...

 

[MikeyNS]

We have the same.. RBC Avion Infinite and CIBC Aerogold Infinite. We use the CIBC for groceries and gas (for 1.5x the points) and RBC for everything else. We have been able to book flight with either Aeroplan or Avion for the past 7? years, so needless to say they've been great cards for us. I might try out the AmEx gold that gives 2x points on groceries, gas, travel, etc just to pad my aeroplan account a bit (the CIBC goes into my wife's).

 

[corster]

I'll make four suggestions and one honourable mention:

If you like flexibility and don't want to be restricted to a program like Aeroplan, Capital One Aspire World MasterCard is a great card. It's got a $120 annual fee but they give you the equivalent of $100 in rewards each year you keep the card. Lots of insurance coverage too (above and beyond Aeroplan and Avion). If you sign up through the bonus link on RedFlagDeals.com you get a higher sign-up bonus than applying direct with Capital One.

If you don't want to pay an annual fee, the Amex Blue Sky gives you 1.25% cashback to be used for any travel expenditure. I have this card and it's as no-frills and simple as you can get.

If you want to earn Aeroplan Miles, I suggest the Amex Gold Rewards Card - annual fee is waived for the first year, included insurance is better than the CIBC card (and actually better than the Amex Aeroplan Card too), can be converted 1 to 1 to Aeroplan, yet the rewards can be used for things other than Aeroplan miles (also, a couple times a year, Amex offers a 1.5x bonus to convert Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan)

Runner up for Aeroplan miles is the Amex SPG Card - slightly less insurance coverage than the Gold Rewards card, but you can use your points for Starwood Hotels (which has some fantastic properties and is often a great value for points on its own) or convert 1 to 1 for Aeroplan. Again, more flexible than the Aeroplan-only cards.

Honourable mention for Aeroplan Miles - If you don't want an AMEX for some reason, the CIBC Aventura World MasterCard is the card to go with. Still converts to Aeroplan 1 to 1, but has much more included insurance than either the CIBC Aerogold or the CIBC Aventura Visa, and again, offers additional flexibility beyond locking all your miles up in Aeroplan.

 

[minnie56]

Access premium benefits and rewards with the CIBC Aerogold VISA INFINITE Card:

Enjoy the flexibility to spend over your credit limit7 without having to pay an overlimit fee
Out-of-Province Travel Medical Insurance13 for the first 15 days of a trip for primary cardholders age 64 and under
Trip Interruption Insurance13 to protect you from some of the costs that may arise while travelling, when sickness, injury or another covered event disrupts your trip charged to your card
Enjoy the CIBC VISA INFINITE Travel Concierge Service, a full-service travel planning and booking agency - whatever your travel needs are, simply call 1-866-748-5205 or visit the CIBC VISA INFINITE website and they'll take care of everything!
Earn 1.5 Aeroplan Miles for every dollar you at gas stations, grocery and drug stores (available on your first $80,000 in total annual account spending2). Find out more.
Earn 1.5 Aeroplan miles for every dollar you spend at any Fairmont Hotels & Resorts worldwide (available on your first $80,000 in total annual account spending2). Find out more about this time limited offer
Earn 1 Aeroplan Mile for every dollar charged to the card at other locations3
Earn additional Aeroplan Miles when you use the card at participating Aeroplan partners
Earn Bonus Aeroplan Miles at participating Advantex®3 Benefit restaurants, resorts and golf courses10




The value of your CIBC Aventura VISA INFINITE Card goes far beyond unforgettable travel rewards and lifestyle experiences

You will also receive these premium credit card advantages:

Flight Delay and Baggage Insurance for lost, stolen, damaged or delayed checked baggage8
VISA Auto Rental Collision/Loss Damage Insurance8
$500,000 Common Carrier Accident Insurance8
AVIS car rental discounts up to 20% at participating locations17
Free personalized CIBC Convenience Cheques18
Guaranteed hotel reservations
Cash advances of up to $1,000 a day19
Emergency card replacement
Worldwide VISA acceptance at over 24 million locations

CIBC Aventura Mastercard
You will also receive these travel insurances:

Out-of-Province Emergency Travel Medical Insurance (for the first 15 days of a trip for primary cardholders age 64 and under)5
Auto Rental Collision/Loss Damage Insurance5

I am missing the much more included insurance with the Mastercard? Is it someplace else on the site?

 

[MikeyNS]

At least it was, I need to check now that Aeroplan have made some changes..hmm..

Still only 25,000 for North America, but Business class jumped from 40,000 to 50,000 points and I think Hawaii and other destinations went up a smidge too.

Those 25,000pt flights are still awesome.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

As nice as the CIBC Aeroplan card is, you only get 15,000 points for signing up. I got the American Express Aeroplan card with 20,000 points a couple months ago. Both have the same $125 annual fee.

For folks out on the West Coast, I highly recommend Alaska Airlines Platinum card. The fee is $75/year, and they have lots of direct flights from Seattle to Orlando, Los Angeles and Hawaii. Connections through Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Calgary are reasonable time-wise, but cost more points than driving to Seattle.

 

[corster]

I am missing the much more included insurance with the Mastercard? Is it someplace else on the site?

Make that the Aventura World Mastercard, my mistake. I didn't realize they offered a non world version too.

https://www.cibc.com/ca/credit-cards/aventura-world/aventura-world-ftrs.html

You will also receive these comprehensive insurances:

Out-of-Province Emergency Travel Medical Insurance for the first 15 days of a trip for the primary cardholder age 64 and under
Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance
Auto Rental Collision/Loss Damage Insurance
$500,000 Common Carrier Accident Insurance
Flight Delay and Baggage Insurance
Purchase Security & Extended Warranty Insurance

The Out-of-Province Medical, Extended Warranty/Purchase Protection, and Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance being the BIG advantage to the World Mastercard over their VISA products (The Aventura VISA doesn't have any of them, the Aerogold VISA does not have Trip Cancellation or Extended Warranty/Purchase Protection)

 

[corster]

For folks out on the West Coast, I highly recommend Alaska Airlines Platinum card. The fee is $75/year, and they have lots of direct flights from Seattle to Orlando, Los Angeles and Hawaii. Connections through Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Calgary are reasonable time-wise, but cost more points than driving to Seattle.

Can you still redeem Alaska miles on American and Delta? Always seemed like a good program to me since they have lots of partners.

 

[grantclaire]

I use a visa Infinite First Class Travel card.

120.00 annual fee
medical insurance trips of 8 days or less
Trip cancellation insurance
can use for any travel costs, car,hotel, flights even park tickets
esay to redeem by call centre or online
no blackout periods

 

[weewuvvdisney]

We only have AirMiles. So far, we have had four trips with them (3 people). We have a MC with airmiles as well. We put everything on there so we get double airmiles.

We have been collecting them since '92.

When we go to Florida, we usually do have a change of plans but we have survived.... Usually costs about $400.00 for the taxes, insurance and all that jazz. Definitely cheaper than paying for the tickets.

I guess you just have to shop around and see what best fits your purpose/lifestyle.

 

[Brandilovesdisney]

Thanks so much everyone!!! I love this board!!!!

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Can you still redeem Alaska miles on American and Delta? Always seemed like a good program to me since they have lots of partners.

Yes, you can use Alaska miles on other airlines. However, there is more availability on Alaska Airlines flights than on partner flights. (Partner flights may also cost more points, but I'm not certain.)

Note about accumulating points:
I've used my Aeroplan number when booking international flights on Continental and United. While Air Canada has competitive fares, but only when you take the Tango fare which gives only 25% of the Aeroplan miles. I will get 100% of my miles by flying on an Aeroplan partner airline rather than Air Canada.

 

[stefanospops]

I'm an Aeroplan guy and have both the AMEX and CIBC Aero cards. If you apply for both that's 35,000 free miles. You would need to spend at least $30,000 to get that many miles, so worth the annual fee for the first year even if you cancel one later.

I actually use my miles for car rentals instead of flights. I find it is less expensive to fly out of Buffalo and a one week rental for a minivan costs anywhere from $500-$800 for a minivan.

 

[minnie56]

I used to have the Amex-Platinum Aeroplan card. It gave good rewards..had it for about 5 yrs then they really hiked the annual fee (over $400!) so I cancelled. They bugged me and bugged me to 'come back' ...finally offering me $25,000 Aeroplan miles to do so..so I did. For one more year...
Then I got rid of it again! Waiting to see if they send me letters to come back again LOL...

 

[dopeyluvsgrumpy]

We have the capital One rewards card and would recommend that. Its super easy to cash in your rewards and theres two options- one with an annual fee and one without. We have the one with no fee and still manage to get around $300 in rewards a year. We're planning to upgrade this year to the annual fee card so we can double our points.

 

[minnie56]

I forgot ..I have an Amex (Costco) too...doesn't get me travel rewards but I get a cheque back periodically, last one a few weeks ago for $152 and that more than covers my Costco membership!

 

[thehowells]

i used to work for capital one, and would caution you to make sure what your signing up for, it would be great if each and every person who has a credit card could pay the balance off every month, but it isn't realistic for every person, i watched new customers have a late payment by hours, and have their intrest rate go up 10 or 15 %

 

[surfer_ed]

I really like Avion, used it to pay for flights for both of our cruises. I put everything over $3 on it to rack up my points.

I also have AMEX with Areoplan. I collect Areoplan when travel on work and find it hard to get flights our east to get home to Nova Scotia. Maybe flight elsewhere are better than Atlantic Canada. I never have any issues with Avion.

 

[corster]

i used to work for capital one, and would caution you to make sure what your signing up for, it would be great if each and every person who has a credit card could pay the balance off every month, but it isn't realistic for every person, i watched new customers have a late payment by hours, and have their intrest rate go up 10 or 15 %

Yes - if you're not going to pay your balance off, then don't bother with a rewards card. Your one and only concern should be to find the card with the lowest interest rate. The rewards you earn WILL NEVER compensate for the higher interest.