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No-fee Reward Credit Cards on RFD
No-Fee Reward Credit Cards in Canada - Why Not?
What are you Reviewing?
I set out to review all the credit cards available in Canada. Then I got to thinking - "There are so many credit cards out there that charge annual fees. Why should we pay for something that's available for free?" So it was decided, Credit Cards with fees would be excluded from this review. Then I thought some more. "There are even cards that pay you for using it!" So I decided that cards that didn't have any sort of reward would not be included. So to recap,
I'm including every card that:
Is available to anyone in Canada over the age of majority with good credit
Does not charge an Annual Fee
Will return you money or points for doing regular shopping, anywhere.
A NOTE about interest rates: I'm only reviewing these cards as a form of payment; NOT as a way to borrow money. There are many many far better ways to borrow than on a credit card. As a result, I will not take interest rates into account (but I will show them).
Why use a credit card if you aren't going to carry a balance?
Why not? You aren't paying any extra for the things you're buying, and you're getting something in return! Why use anything else?
Tips
This may seem like a no-brainer, but use your card absolutely everywhere you can. As well as benefitting from the points, you'll get the extended warranty on the things you buy. Paying your monthly bills (where possible) by credit card is a must.
Keep a second card in case your first choice isn't accepted where you want to shop. Anywhere that accepts credit cards will accept Visa; Mastercard to a lesser degree. Amex is the rarest, but 95% of merchants have all three.
Some points programs allow you to transfer between them, offering a little more choice.
If you're about to make a decision, make sure you know what kind of rewards the card is offering. If it's something you won't use, or it has a terrible percent value (ahem. . . HBC) you might want to think twice.
This table is really big!
I've put together a javascript dealy to get rid of columns and rows. See Below. If you want them all back at once, just click refresh. Also, if you really do trust me, click here to get rid of the stuff that I deem useless. Also, it's easier to see if you press "F11" on your keyboard.
Which cards have made it into your review?
These are they. If you're narrowing down your list, use the checkboxes to add or remove cards from the review. Please note that removing cards will work fine in Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox, but replacing them will completely mess up. I would just click refresh.
American Express Costco Platinum Cash Rebate Card
American Express AIR MILES Credit Card
American Express Holt Renfrew Card
Bank of Montreal Mosaik MasterCard
Canadian Tire Options MasterCard
CIBC Dividend Card
CIBC Hbc Rewards VISA Card
CIBC Shoppers Optimum VISA Card
Citibank KidsFutures Mastercard
Citibank Platinum Sony Mastercard
Citibank Sony Mastercard
Citibank Driver's Edge Mastercard
Citibank Driver's Edge Gold Mastercard
Citibank Driver's Edge Platinum Mastercard
Citibank Enrich Mastercard
Citibank Petro-Points Mastercard
Citizens Bank Charity VISAs
CUETS No-fee Choice Rewards Mastercard
Desjardins Elegance Gold VISA
MBNA CAA Mastercard
MBNA Ebay Anything Points Mastercard
MBNA Last Minute Club Mastercard
MBNA Starwood Preferred Guest Mastercard
MBNA Stay in School Mastercard
National Bank of Canada Husky/Mohawk Mastercard
President's Choice Financial MasterCard
Royal Bank Esso Visa
Royal Bank Rewards Visa Classic
Scotiabank Moneyback Visa
TD GM Visa Card
Which criteria are you using in your review?
These are they. If specific ones don't matter to you, un-check them. It's highly suggested because this table is huge and hard to read. Please note that removing criteria will work fine in Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox, but replacing them will completely mess up. I would just click refresh.
Name of Card
Sign-up Bonus
Interest Rate
Type of Card
Type of Rewards (amount per dollar spent)
Percent Equivalent
Minimum Personal Income (I don't know if this really matters)
Minimum Credit Limit
Foreign Currency Commission
Types of Insurance
Additional Card Cost
Extended Warranty
Other Info
Conclusions
Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty 2
Must be a member of Costco
Impressions:This card has all the usual extra features, but it's return isn't especially high unless you spend lots of money. There are better choices out there.
This credit card is perfect for people who spend a lot and only spend at Costco.
Impressions: Definitely not the worst of the bunch, it isn't the best either. The biggest benefit of the card is the healthy 100 Air Mile bonus. Another great benefit is that you can double up at some stores (up to 3%). If you do get the card, some great things to redeem it on are Maclean's subscriptions and train travel. This credit card is perfect for no one in particular.
Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty 2
Exclusive HR mailings complimentary basic hem and cuff alterations at Holt Renfrew
Impressions: If you shop at Holt Renfrew, you probably already have this card. If you don't shop at Holt Renfrew, ignore this card. This credit card is perfect for people who shop at Holt Renfrew.
Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty
Impressions: If you're doing it for the cash, go for Citibank Enrich. If you're going for Air Miles, get the AMEX Air Miles card. The only reason why I would ever get this card is because it has a pretty good deal on Travel Medical insurance. This credit card is perfect for people who might need Travel Medical Insurance, for a fee.
Canadian Tire Money ($0.01 /$1, $0.10 /5.41$ spent at CT)
1 anywhere or 1.85 @ Canadian Tire
14000
300
None
2.5%
Free
None
None
Impressions:Everybody loves Canadian Tire money! And 1% cash isn't bad considering some of the other cards around. It's very light on the extras, though. This credit card is perfect for people who love Canadian Tire!
Impressions: AVOID Go for Citi's Enrich, *please*. Save yourself the trouble. This credit card is perfect for those who don't have the income to get Citi's Enrich.
Impressions: Not too shabby. CIBC, you may have a winner yet. If you spend a lot of money at SDM, this is definetly for you.This credit card is perfect for people who spend a lot of money at Shoppers Drug Mart.
2 to a max. of $500 per year ($25000 spent), $2500 per car. Rebates expire in 5 years.
N/A
1000
None
2.0%
Free
Price Protection
Photo & signature on card
Impressions: PICK 2% return, lots of freedom, a few extra features; this is a great choice if you're in the market for a car, new or used. This credit card is perfect for those wanting to buy a car within 5 years.
2 to a max. of $1000 per year ($50000 spent), $2500 per car. Rebates expire in 5 years.
N/A
2500
None
2.0%
Free
Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty, Price Protection 3
Photo & signature on card
Impressions: PICK Same as above, just with more benefits. This credit card is perfect for those wanting to buy a car within 5 years and who have a better credit rating.
2 to a max. of $1000 per year ($50000 spent), $5000 per car. Rebates expire in 5 years.
N/A
5000
$500,000 Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance Car Rental Collision/Loss Damage Insurance
2.0%
Free
Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty, Price Protection 3
Photo & signature on card
Impressions: PICK The benefits that only come with Platinum.This credit card is perfect for those wanting to buy a car within 5 years and who have a perfect credit rating.
Gov't will add 20% to a max of $400 a year Photo & signature on card
Impressions: Great idea for people with kids. This could really add up after 18 years. Unfortunately, it's tiered, meaning your first 3000$ will not make much at all. This credit card is perfect for people with kids that spend $5000+ on their credit card every year.
$0.02 off every litre of gas at Petro Canada. Photo & signature on card
Impressions: PICK The points earned on this credit card are equivalent and exchangeable with PC Points, making it almost the same as the PC Financial card. This card has an edge because it offers a 2 cent discount on every litre of gas at Petro-Canada and 2000 bonus points on your first purchase. It's disadvantaged because it doesn't have any warranties or insurance. With a lot of other ways to earn points, this card and PC are great, but be careful what you redeem because you can really get ripped off, or you can get great deals. This credit card is perfect for those who buy gas at Petro-Canada.
10 cents per transaction towards Amnesty, Oxfam, or others
10 cents per transaction
15000
500
$200,000 Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance
1.8
Free
Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty, Price Protection
None
Impressions: PICKIf you don't really care about bothering with points or rebates, why not do something charitable instead of getting a run of the mill credit card? This credit card is perfect for people who would rather give than receive.
Impressions: AVOID There really isn't anything this card offers that's makes it worth it. If you do get this card, know that the travel redemption options are the best value. Everything in the catalogue is really not worth it. This credit card is perfect for. . . ?
$125,000 Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance Vehicle Rental Collision/Damage Coverage for up to 48 days Travel Insurance for up to 3 days
1.8%
Free
Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty
None
Impressions:There ain't much special about the rewards, giving a meagre 0.5%. The site being under construction, it's hard to tell what you can redeem for. The extras are where this card shines. Low exchange rate, Car Rental insurance, and even travel health insurance for 3 days. This credit card is perfect for Those who rent cars or who make short trips out of the country.
Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance with gold & platinum: Lost luggage, Car Rental insurance
2.5%
Free
with gold & platinum: Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty
Must be a member of CAA
Impressions:It's not exciting, but it helps pay off your CAA membership. It's a great deal if you get gas at Sunoco or UPI. This credit card is perfect for CAA members that buy gas at Sunoco or UPI.
Wireless Mouse or 2500 points, depending on the offer
19.99%
MC
Ebay Anything Points (0.70 /1 point, pegged to $0.01USD)
0.91 depending on the exchange rate
35000
500
Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance with gold & platinum: Lost luggage, Car Rental insurance
2.5%
Free
with gold & platinum: Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty
None
Impressions:I, personally, would love this card. Why don't I? Because you can't use your points on one of the biggest deal-breakers on Ebay: shipping. This credit card is perfect for those addicted to Ebay.
Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance with gold & platinum: Lost luggage, Car Rental insurance
2.5%
Free
with gold & platinum: Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty
5000 point bonus for every $10,000 you spend yearly, up to a max of 15000 points.
Impressions: 1% isn't bad and, depending on your credit rating, the benefits aren't bad either. You can redeem the points on travel bought from the Last Minute Club. Beware, club membership is $40 or $55 for the family, but it's worth it for package deals to the Carribean. Note that the points will all expire in 2008. This credit card is perfect for people who travel a lot.
Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance with gold & platinum: Lost luggage, Car Rental insurance
2.5%
Free
with gold & platinum: Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty
5000 point bonus for every $10,000 you spend yearly, up to a max of 15000 points.
Impressions: PICK This has BY FAR the best signup bonuses I've ever seen. You could stay for up to five free nights without spending more than 100$ on the card, or have half the points needed for a flight. I'll discuss the card more in the appendix because it's very complicated. This credit card is perfect for people who travel a lot.
cash towards tuition, textbooks, or debt ($0.01/ $1)
1
35000
500
Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance with gold & platinum: Lost luggage, Car Rental insurance
2.5%
Free
with gold & platinum: Doubled for up to one year, and 90 days on purchases without warranty
Impressions: For students, this card is hard to beat. 1% on things that you need to pay, like tuition or debt. To be frank, the website looks like it was made by a three year old. But, then again, so does my site. This credit card is perfect for people who are in university or college.
Doubled for up to one year (excluding computer hardware), and 90 days on purchases without warranty
None
Impressions: PICKGreat card. Go for either this one or Petro-Points (very similar) depending on your priorities. Be careful what you redeem because you can really get ripped off, or you can get great deals. Things of note: no extended warranty on computer hardware??? and no service charge on cash advances from CIBC ATMs.
This credit card is perfect for those looking for a great card and an extended warranty
Impressions: AVOID RBC seems to give everyone an extended warranty. A complete waste of time otherwise. This credit card is perfect for no one, really.
0.25 up to $1500/yr 0.5 up to $3000/yr 1 above $3000/yr
N/A
1000
None
1.8%
Free
None
Discount at Avis, Up to 10% rebates at certain retailers through the ScotiaStar program
Impressions: AVOIDThis is a card that looks like it was made to compete with CIBC's Dividend card. Unfortunately for both of them, they've been beat by Citibank for a while. It has a nice design on the front though. This credit card is perfect for people who won't sign up for Citi's Enrich because it's an American bank.
3 to a maximum of around 10% of the price of the car
12000
500
$150,000 Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance
2.0%
Free
None
Discount at Budget Rent a car
Impressions: AVOID 3%, you say? How can that be bad? Well, it's because of the insane restrictions. you can only use it on new GM vehicles, and there are limits on how much you can redeem, around 10%. This credit card is perfect for people buying brand new GM cars on a regular basis.
Percentage (percentage if you spend $10k, 20k, or 30k in a year)
Flight from Toronto to LA on American Airlines. (purchased well in advance, transferred to the LAN Chile program)
20000 (you get an extra 10000 points in the Lan Chile program to do as you wish)
341.33 (exchanged from USD at 0.75)
0.85 (1.7)
Flight from Toronto to Vancouver on Air Canada. (purchased well in advance, transferred to the Lufthansa program)
25000
$209
0.418 (0.836)
One weekend night at Sheraton Four Points in Mississauga
2000
$84
2.1 (4.2)
One night at the Westin Harbour Castle
7000
$116
.82 (1.7)
Five nights at the Westin Harbour Castle
28000
$580
1.0 (2.1)
Like I said, I will discuss this card a bit more because it is a huge mosaic of rewards, points, exchanges, and exceptions.
Earning: At the base, you get pretty much half a point per dollar. Starwood gives you an extra 5000 points if you reach $10,000, 10000 points for $20,000 and 15000 points for $30,000, meaning you're getting one point per dollar. So, to maximize your return, make your goal one of those increments. If you spent $30,000 the first year you have the card, and some of those dollars were spent at a Starwood hotel (Westin, Sheraton, W), you could get 40,000 points! That's two return flights within the continent (excluding fees) or 13 hotel nights. Wow.
Redeeming: There are an unbelievable array of options. I'll discuss airlines first. You can transfer points pretty much one-for-one with a lot of major airlines' miles programs. Plus, for every 20,000 you transfer, you get 5,000 extra. Aeroplan? It's listed, but there's an exception that says that you can't use points earned on this credit card (my guess is because of a contract between Aeroplan and its several credit cards), so you're out of luck. Don't worry, though, there are tonnes of other options. If you really must fly Air Canada, you can transfer your points to Lufthansa and use them on Air Canada flights, but redemption starts at 30,000 points, as opposed to 15,000. Never fear, there are better deals! If you're willing to brush up on your spanish, you can transfer the points to LanChile's program one-for-two! That means that you can get a flight on American within North America starting at 20,000 Starpoints. You want to spend your points at a hotel? Well, there are six different categories, the first and second being the cheapest. For a category 1 hotel on the weekend, it costs 2000 points, or 3000 during the week. Category 2 is 3000 on the weekend or 4000 during the week. There are only a few Canadian hotels in category one (Mississauga, Kitchener, Gatineau, Canmore) but a lot more in category two. You can also redeem 1000 points for half off the rack rate. Beware. You can end up losing money. For a room that costs $75 on the website, the rack rate is $249, meaning a net loss of $50. Yuck. There are more deals on the SPG.com website that I didn't mention. Unfortunately, there are
Exceptions:
I already mentioned it, you can't transfer points to Aeroplan. But, there are a lot of other great options, the best being Alaska Airlines or LanChile. I know, you don't want to go to Chile or Alaska, but both of those programs offer flights on American Airlines.
There's a term in the Terms and Conditions that says that you can't use points earned with a credit card on certain things, but I called them (twice) and they said that it didn't apply to this. I'll show it here, and you can decide. If you've successfully done it, please e-mail me (canrocks(a )yahoo, C a). Here's the exerpt:
Certain awards may only be redeemed for Starpoints earned for eligible hotel stays, within the Program from Starwood or its earning partners, and not for those Starpoints transferred by conversion from other programs or earned from the use of credit cards. Currently, these include Weekend Preferred Award Nights at Category 1 and 2 hotels, the fifth night free Preferred Award Night, the and 5,000 bonus when transferring 20,000 Starpoints to participating airlines. Such awards may vary from time to time. Starpoints accrued in a member's account in conjunction with a transfer of currency from other Preferred Guest partners may be used for all other awards.
Your account loses the title "active" after a year if you haven't earned or redeemed any points. They will contact you after that year. If you don't do anything within 6 months after they contact you, you will lose all your points.
Other Good References:
Surprisingly, the government has a great website on all things credit card and compares them without bias. Check out the FCAC's website for all sorts of juicy info.
