OT: Best Credit Card?

[ChisJo]

My annual fee is coming up on my credit card, and every year I wonder why I'm with a company that charges me a yearly fee to get points (which I do use, but I pay $120/year to get those points!). Curious to wonder what you think the best credit card is in Canada, and why? Good customer service? What is the annual fee? Is there anything above and beyond included with the card (Ie: travel insurance, etc)?

 

[Sue M]

I pay the fee and get the points My card includes Travel insurance- trip interruption/cancellation, medical, & car rental. I don't use the car rental because it doesn't include 3rd party liability. Most CC don't. I have a cheap policy attached to my autoplan that covers rentals.
I also get my medical insurance with BCAA but would use the Credit card Trip cancellation/interruption, lost luggage, etc.

 

[Disney Daniel]

I have a Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card and I am quite pleased with it so far. It is $120 per year, although you can often get the first year free. Anytime I have needed to contact customer service (which has not been often) their response time has been excellent and they are quite easy to deal with. SPG does not have blackout dates and Starwood have a vast array of properties to choose from at varying point rates. You also have the ability to transfer SPG points to many frequent flyer programs.

The card has a wealth of perks available when traveling including Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance, Baggage Delay Insurance, Flight Delay Insurance etc. It also automatically increases the manufacturer’s original warranty for one additional year (basically doubling it in most cases) when you charge an item to the card. Amex also has pre-sale privileges and reserved seats for some concert events.

This really has sort of turned into an advertisement I suppose, but I really am pleased with it. Some complain that Amex is not accepted at a number of locations, however the only place that I would normally go that does not take it is Super Store, so I just go to Sobey's when possible. Just about every other business I deal with takes it (although I do seem to get a lot of odd looks when I use it, as I don't think Amex is terribly popular in Atlantic Canada).

 

[Ted in Halifax]

I never knew that Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card existed. Looks very interesting ... I have a 2% cash back Momentum Card, but it doesn't have insurance coverage ... looking for a new card too.

Thanks
Ted

 

[tgropp]

The SPG rewards used to be with M/C until last year when they went to AMEX and an annual $120.00 fee. The first year is free if you apply before March 31. If you spend $1,000.00 in the first three months, you get 11,000 points.

I have been a SPG member for 9 years and the option of having a CC with SPG points is great. The greatest way to use reward points for a stay is by using the cash and points option. When we were at Florida at Christmas time , we stayed at the Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel for $60.00 a night and 4000 SPG points. The same as when we went to San Juan in Feb....$60/night and 4000 points. These rooms were regularly $300.00 plus a night. They also have no blackout dates which works great. We always go to watch a Michigan Wolverines football Game in Ann Arbor, Michigan every fall and on game weekends, the rooms are $300.00 plus tax, but you can reserve that room, if available for just 3000 points. We use the SPG/Amex CC on all purchases as we find it the best......with the BMO airmiles card a close second

 

[aristocat65]

I have a Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card and I am quite pleased with it so far. It is $120 per year, although you can often get the first year free. Anytime I have needed to contact customer service (which has not been often) their response time has been excellent and they are quite easy to deal with. SPG does not have blackout dates and Starwood have a vast array of properties to choose from at varying point rates. You also have the ability to transfer SPG points to many frequent flyer programs.

The card has a wealth of perks available when traveling including Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance, Baggage Delay Insurance, Flight Delay Insurance etc. It also automatically increases the manufacturer’s original warranty for one additional year (basically doubling it in most cases) when you charge an item to the card. Amex also has pre-sale privileges and reserved seats for some concert events.

This really has sort of turned into an advertisement I suppose, but I really am pleased with it. Some complain that Amex is not accepted at a number of locations, however the only place that I would normally go that does not take it is Super Store, so I just go to Sobey's when possible. Just about every other business I deal with takes it (although I do seem to get a lot of odd looks when I use it, as I don't think Amex is terribly popular in Atlantic Canada).

I also like the SPG card. I just got one to replace my aeroplan Amex. I like the fact that miles can be transferred 1:1 to most airline programs. I also like that you can transfer SPG points between family member accounts. For example I want more miles in my DH's airline account instead of mine, I can create an SPG account for him, and transfer some of mine into it and from there into his airline account. It lessens the chance of family members who are not earning miles on a CC, but have some accrued from flights having orphan miles. I can add to those accounts enough to get a flight.

I also have an Alaska Airlines Mastercard which I think is the best program overall as they have great award availability, BUT really only works if you are on the west coast and can fly Alaska. The miles can be used on AA and other partners, but a lot of the benefits of the card such as the $99 companion card can only be used on Alaska.

The SPG also allows me to transfer to Aeroplan or Alaska depending on my needs so that's great I really wish I had known about SPG when it was a MC and had a lower fee (or was it free?)

 

[4orm]

My SPG Amex is coming up on the 1 year anniversary and thus the fee (first year free). SInce there is no annual bonus I'm going to cancel and get the new AMEX gold (free for the first year and 15000MR points). Their new points system is great and can be transfered to SPG or aeroplan (and many other) points. The AMEX gold is a charge card and not a credit card so it's only good if you pay it off in full each month.

Just over a year ago MBNA canceled their free SPG card - it was a sad time for many card holders. lol

 

[4orm]

Just adding that if you transfer 20000 spg points to an airline they add an extra 5k. And right now aeroplan has a promo if you transfer 25k points you get an extra 5k from them so 20k SPG=30k aeroplan right now ;D

 

[squirrel]

I never had a CC with an annual fee until a month ago when I got the Alaska Airmiles CC.

I use Canadian Tire CC the most and then President's Choice. I think I will stop using the President's Choice one as it seams to take a long time to get the $25 off of groceries, but I only use that card when buying groceries at Real Canadian Superstore.

 

[TheBig2na]

I have a capital One Mastercard. 5.99% interest....for those of us who carry a balance. hahahah

 

[HugTheMouse]

MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard

3% cash back (5% first 6 months) on first $600 spent on gas/groceries, then 1%. 1% on all other expenditures.

no fee

If you sign up via greatcanadianrebates.ca before end of March. you get $60 rebate.

 

[elainesj]

I carried the BMO MC for years and used it for pretty much everything. we even paid the fee to get the better points. Earned pretty much miserable rewards - maybe about $100 a year. We collected it for 7 years and cashed out with $700 of gift cards to redo our living room.

We then switched to PC because it seemed better and everyone was talking about it. It's OK - we've cashed out a bunch of times. It's wayyyy better than BMO. But really...it's about a 1% return, which is rather crappy.

So I started CC hunting again.

Last year, we got the Capital One World Aspire. You have a choice of 1.5% cashback or up to 2% in travel rewards. The rules surrounding travel rewards is rather cumbersome and takes planning. It CAN be flexible and used for a number of things....but definitely takes some planning. Just for signing up, I got 35,000 points which gave me $300 off my Disney bill. (I did have to jump through some hoops and get Disney to charge me $300 in a separate bill from the rest of my $2000 payment to do this). So I try to look at it as a 1.5% cashback card with possible 2% travel rewards. Travel and purchase insurance on the card is amazing though. There is a $120 annual fee, but you get $100 worth of points each year you stay on.

The other really good card is the SPG Amex. The deal to sign up right now as a PP did is awesome. (We just signed up - hubby and I separately for 2 cards). That said, i chose not to make it my primary card. You can get up to 3+% return on the card...but I just don't value Starwood rooms that highly. Yes rack rate is $200-$300. But to me, I can priceline the same type of room for $60 so that's all the room is worth to me. Therefore FOR ME, SPG returns are around 1% or so. YMMV. Transferring to airline miles is good - but everyone agrees if you're looking at rack rates, using it for hotel rooms is the best return. for me, even looking at say $60 a room, it's still worth more to keep it for hotel rooms.

The other card I carry is the MBNA smartcash. 3% cashback on groceries and gas and 1% on everything else. I use it for groceries and gas only.

When I did the research, those were the top cards that were highly recommended for rewards.

 

[aristocat65]

A good site to check out is: http://www.rewardscanada.ca/. They do a breakdown of all the Canadian rewards cards and rank them. I don't always agree with their rankings as it really depends on your particular travel habits I think. It is a helpful site though.

 

[Da2154]

A good site to check out is: rewardscanada.ca. They do a breakdown of all the Canadian rewards cards and rank them. I don't always agree with their rankings as it really depends on your particular travel habits I think. It is a helpful site though.

What if you don't care about rewards? What's the best rate out there right now?

 

[aristocat65]

What if you don't care about rewards? What's the best rate out there right now?

The best rate out there is pay off your balance in full each month. . Then your rate is 0%. I feel VERY strongly about that. Aside from that, the Capital one that a PP recommended @5.99 might be one to look at.

 

[ChisJo]

What if you don't care about rewards? What's the best rate out there right now?

If you carry a balance, like many do, RBC has a visa that is low interest with no annual fee 11.9% (with an intro rate of no interest for 6 months).

Capital one also has a low interest card for 5.99%, but the customer service there is rated the poorest of all credit cards (I don't know if thats important to you or not).

I transfered a balance to an MBNA MC last year that had a 0% transfer fee and 0% interest on that transfer for 15 months. I then just paid a little bit bi-weekly, and had it paid off without paying a cent on that balance that would've otherwise been on my visa accumulating interest. Many cards actually offer this, and I learned to do this "Credit card game" with a budgeting book that I read last year. Most companies want your business, especially if you carry a balance, because then your interest helps to keep them afloat. I ensured, though, that I paid off the amount before my deadline.

 

[blizzard]

MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard

3% cash back (5% first 6 months) on first $600 spent on gas/groceries, then 1%. 1% on all other expenditures.

no fee

If you sign up via greatcanadianrebates.ca before end of March. you get $60 rebate.

This. Best deal around. You can also get the gas/groceries bonus shopping at Walmart Supercenters, and Real Canadian Superstore. You can also buy gift cards at grocery stores (for non-grocery places like ToysRUs, Home Depot or restaurants) and get the grocery bonus. (until you hit your $600 maximum per month)