Anyone have advice on rewards credit cards?

[kuzco-like]

I have a CIBC Aeroplan card, and I've been okay with it. But the last couple of times that I've tried booking flights using rewards, I've been annoyed with the lack of availability. So now I'm wondering if I should look into another card. Someone at work talks highly of the RBC Avion card, saying how convenient and easy it is. One mitigating factor is that I have just under 150,000 Aeroplan miles. Am I correct to assume that those couldn't be transferred to another card/points system (I know this is unlikely, but it doesn't hurt to ask)?

 

[mshanson3121]

I use the PC+ Mastercard (Superstore/Loblaws). It's been great. Load your weekly offers, get your bonus points, and earn 10-30 pts (depending on the card) per dollar you spend on the card. You also earn points at Esso. 20,000 pts = $20. You can redeem the points on Visa or Mastercard gift cards. In only a few months we've already racked up $300. It's nothing for us to be able to earn 10,000 points ($10) in one week on our regular grocery run (spending an average of $120ish). One week if you spent $150 you got 15,000 bonus points. Another great way to rack them up, is join PC Mobile. If you watch the promos, you get 200,000 to 400,000 bonus points on a new 2 year contract. 2 phones (DH and you) could get you $400-800 in rewards just for a cell plan.

 

[ottawamom]

When I used to book flights using DH Aeroplan points we found you had to book early to get decent availability. It's not unheard of to book they open the window. If you want to book two or three months before you travel you'll pay for it with extra miles. By comparison I just booked flight for the first week of August with Airmiles. I was able to get direct flights to my destination at decent times of the day. Don't know if I could have done that with Aeroplan at this late date.

Sorry I can't answer your transfer question directly. I would just plan on using up the existing Aeroplan miles and start up saving on a new card.

 

[xlxo]

if anyone asks me about getting a new card... I would be looking at rebate cards. Much simpler.

 

[Aladora]

We have a cash back MasterCard and it works well for all Canadian purchases,
We generally get at least $1000
back each year. All purchases made in American funds are on our Amazon.ca card so we don't pay the extra 2.5% ForEx fee.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Our main card is a Capital One Aspire Travel World Card. Great travel medical, rewards can be used for any travel related expense so easily!

We also have an Amazon.ca and Marriott we use in the US or for USD purchases, and a Westjet World Elite for the yearly companion pass...

 

[hcortesis]

All depends what you want from the card. Groceries? Flights? General travel?

Aeroplan is generally the best wait to get flights. Although actually getting the flights takes planning.

Capital One is very easy to use, can be used on past travel or future travel and generally offers the highest return at 2 points for each dollar spent. BMO offers 2 to one also but cannot be used on past travel.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

We currently use BMO Air Miles Gold card, but will be upgrading to the World Elite card. We do 90% of our grocery shopping at Sobeys/Lawtons Drugs so I can earn enough air miles in one year for three flights to Florida. Plus, if you are a Gold or World Elite cardholder, you get a 25% discount on the number of air miles needed for flights. Makes a big difference when purchase 2 or more flights. I only ever cash out my air miles for flights.

Except this time, I will be using them for 5-day passes to start. Then possible flights or US passes.

 

[starvenger]

OK so transferring points, you can use points.com to do that but you will lose some points in the process.

As for booking itself, I've not had an issue. Last year I booked a flight YYZ-SFO near-last minute for a funeral. And just last week I booked a flight Labour Day weekend for my wife and I YYZ-YVR as we have a wedding to attend. But my ease of booking may be a result of having multiple flights per day to each destination.

For choosing a new card, it really does depend on what you want to get out of your rewards/points/cash back. I'd suggest looking at a site like Rewards Canada which do comparisons between cards. For me, I like using my points to book travel, so I have a no-fee MBNA Rewards MC that for some reason gives me points at the World Elite level (2pts/$ instead of 1pt/$) - I think I was grandfathered into this as this used to be a MBNA Starwood MC (which honestly was the Best. Card. Ever.) before they discontinued it. Booking flights is easy (or at least, no more difficult than normal) as they use real-time prices on their redemption website, and if you don't have enough points you can buy points.

I also have an Amex Blue Sky no fee which I don't really use - basically it's so I can get Front of the Line and as an emergency if a place doesn't take MC and Visa. I did use it more before Costco switched over to MC, but not so much anymore. And I have a TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite, for when they don't take MC, business expenses and so I can use the Air Canada lounge if I book on points. I get the fee waived as part of my TD account perks.

The only other advice I can give for getting a new card is that if there is a no fee and an annual fee version, always go for the annual fee as the point-to-dollar ratio is more favourable. And similar to my TD card you may be able to get the fee waived if you combine a bank account with the CC.

 

[gilsan]

I have had good luck with booking flights through Aeroplan points. I booked a trip to to Disneyland in May for September with a Saturday departure. It cost 53400 points (17800 points per ticket) + $208 (69.33 per person) for fees and taxes for 3 return from Halifax, at good flight times. Last year we were able to get last minute 1 way flights for 3 to Barcelona for a transatlantic cruise.

I do find that checking regularly for flights and having some flexibility on dates helps with Aeroplan.

 

[JennyT1]

I love my TD First Class Travel Infinte card. They have changed to #points per dollar spent but I still love it because you can use it for anything travel related. Plus it has great insurance etc as well. Once a vacation expense that I want to cover shows on my visa bill, I simply go online and redeem the $ I want. In 2 business days it shows as a credit on my bill. Super easy. I don't use a PC visa or account but I do use just the PC points so when I do groceries I get PC points plus visa points. For visa I generally have $1000 per year in travel $'s and right now I'm close to $200 in PC $ which I plan to use to buy Starbucks gift cards to use in Disney this summer.

 

[Tam&Sam]

We have the RBC Travel or Avion, can't quite remember which one and we have now booked 2 trips with it. My best advice would be to book early and to look up the flights on the internet prior either on the carrier's website or on google flights. Mark down the flight code and call in to book it and give them the code, most of the time the flights are not listed on the miles website but you request for them with the codes you'll be able to get it 95% of the time.
Another tip; look for american carriers like Delta or United, they have lower taxes and fees on their flight so the residual you have to pay after using your points. If you're with Aeroplan the United flight will most likely be serviced by Air Canada! I personally prefer a card that isn't stuck to Aeroplan because the other programs have better availabilities in general since you can book on any company not just Star Alliance!

 

[mab2012]

The RBC WestJet card has been good to me, between the companion fare and the free checked luggage. Also WestJet's reward program uses straightforward "dollars" accumulated and redeemed rather than points, so there are no blackouts or availability issues, and you don't have to save enough for a whole flight to get some value. The only problem is that it does tend to push you towards WestJet, which isn't always cheapest, but I prefer them to most other carriers anyway.

Chase Amazon.ca card for *any* forex transaction (not just USD purchases).

OP, if you stop regularly collecting Aeroplan points, just make sure you keep the account active (I believe it's at least one transaction a year), or they will expire all your points. Aeroplan lost me when this happened several years back, without even so much as a "your miles will expire soon" warning.

 

[kuzco-like]

I use the PC+ Mastercard (Superstore/Loblaws). It's been great. Load your weekly offers, get your bonus points, and earn 10-30 pts (depending on the card) per dollar you spend on the card. You also earn points at Esso. 20,000 pts = $20. You can redeem the points on Visa or Mastercard gift cards. In only a few months we've already racked up $300. It's nothing for us to be able to earn 10,000 points ($10) in one week on our regular grocery run (spending an average of $120ish). One week if you spent $150 you got 15,000 bonus points. Another great way to rack them up, is join PC Mobile. If you watch the promos, you get 200,000 to 400,000 bonus points on a new 2 year contract. 2 phones (DH and you) could get you $400-800 in rewards just for a cell plan.

Hi, mshanson. Thanks for your reply. I have a few follow up questions. Does PC = President's Choice? Also, are you in Ontario? I forgot to mention in my original post that I'm in BC. Quite often, our stores/offers are different. I'll have to do some more research. One thing I don't do currently is earn gas points. I usually do just what's convenient. But I should, at least, be taking advantage of these high gas prices (at least in BC they're high). And that's great news about Visa or MC gift cards. I know that friends in the US are able to make the most of gift cards. Nice to know that's an option for us. Thanks again.

 

[kuzco-like]

When I used to book flights using DH Aeroplan points we found you had to book early to get decent availability. It's not unheard of to book they open the window. If you want to book two or three months before you travel you'll pay for it with extra miles. By comparison I just booked flight for the first week of August with Airmiles. I was able to get direct flights to my destination at decent times of the day. Don't know if I could have done that with Aeroplan at this late date.

Sorry I can't answer your transfer question directly. I would just plan on using up the existing Aeroplan miles and start up saving on a new card.

ottawamom...you are so right about booking early. Lesson learned this time. I ended up booking somewhat last minute, for July, and had to spend extra miles to get a reasonable flight. That's what I get for being spontaneous, I guess. I'll plan better in the future. Have fun in August!

 

[kuzco-like]

if anyone asks me about getting a new card... I would be looking at rebate cards. Much simpler.

I kind of see the appeal, xlxo. Really, the points plans are just a scheme and a way to fool yourself into thinking that you're getting a deal. Perhaps rebate is the way to go. I might look into that after I've used up all my current miles.

 

[kuzco-like]

We have a cash back MasterCard and it works well for all Canadian purchases,
We generally get at least $1000
back each year. All purchases made in American funds are on our Amazon.ca card so we don't pay the extra 2.5% ForEx fee.

Aladora...you kind of lost me. Can you explain more about making US funds purchases on your amazon.ca card. I'm not familiar with the amazon.ca card. I usually just purchase through the amazon.ca website and use my Visa card. Am I missing out on something?

 

[kuzco-like]

Our main card is a Capital One Aspire Travel World Card. Great travel medical, rewards can be used for any travel related expense so easily!

We also have an Amazon.ca and Marriott we use in the US or for USD purchases, and a Westjet World Elite for the yearly companion pass...

Ah, kuhltiffany, you've mentioned the amazon.ca card for USD purchases. I'm intrigued. I know nothing about it. I'll look into the Capital One Aspire Travel World Card. Do you use Marriott hotels and WestJet exclusively? What do you think of WestJet compared to Air Canada (if you've had experience with AC)?

 

[kuzco-like]

All depends what you want from the card. Groceries? Flights? General travel?

Aeroplan is generally the best wait to get flights. Although actually getting the flights takes planning.

Capital One is very easy to use, can be used on past travel or future travel and generally offers the highest return at 2 points for each dollar spent. BMO offers 2 to one also but cannot be used on past travel.

Great questions, hcortesis. I think that I'm looking for flights only, perhaps general travel. I'm single, so my grocery expenses are so little that I can't imagine that I'd rack up points quickly that way. Interesting that Capital One offers the highest return. I assume that you're talking about the Aspire Travel World Elite card. Just had a quick look at that. Nice benefits, especially all the travel insurance. I hate paying extra for that. Hmmm...curious about what you said about not being able to use it on past travel. Not sure what that means. Thanks for the reply!

 

[kuzco-like]

We currently use BMO Air Miles Gold card, but will be upgrading to the World Elite card. We do 90% of our grocery shopping at Sobeys/Lawtons Drugs so I can earn enough air miles in one year for three flights to Florida. Plus, if you are a Gold or World Elite cardholder, you get a 25% discount on the number of air miles needed for flights. Makes a big difference when purchase 2 or more flights. I only ever cash out my air miles for flights.

Except this time, I will be using them for 5-day passes to start. Then possible flights or US passes.

As I've never heard of Lawtons Drugs, I have to assume that you're not in BC. I forgot to mention that in my original post. I also see with World Elite that there are no blackout periods. That's a bonus. Have you found any sort of restrictions on availability (not necessarily blackouts)? I sometimes see limited or no availability on my desired dates, which is very annoying. Curious...how many miles for 5-day passes? Thanks for your response!