Official Credit Card Info/Sign Up Thread

[Oldcat]

Annual fee waived for the first year. 20k bonus points (instead of the normal 15k) if you spend $500 in the first 3 months when you apply through the link in my signature. Earn double points for travel, gas, grocery and drugstore purchases. It provides free issurances such as emergency medical (for under 65), trip interruption, car rental insurance. The points can be transferred to Aeroplan 1:1 without transfer fee.

[FLA]

The card is not accepted by some smaller grocery stores in my local aera, which is a bit frustrating.

[FLA]

Do I get points for paying bills with this card? I have been using a MBNA card paying bills but I don't get any cashback.

[mulock]

I used to have this card but cancelled it after the first year. A lot of places don't accept AMEX due to the high fee they charge retailers.

[RobinMonks]

Scotiabank also offers the "same" card under their banner; has the same insurances, comes with the 20,000 bonus points and gets 4x points on groceries, restaurants, fast food, gas & entertainment. With scotiabank you buy your travel from any vendor (airline, bus company, hotel, there's a list on their website) and apply your points to your monthly statement (points also never expire, they have a web tool to do it all yourself). 1 point = $0.01 for travel. $1 = 1 point = $0.01, except for the bonus categories, then $1 = 4 points = $0.04.

Annual fee is $99, and isn't waived for the first year. It would take $2,475 worth of groceries, gas, food and entertainment dollars to pay for the annual fee (half of the bonus points from the AmEx offer tho). Or $9900 of normal spending.

AmEx is accepted at pretty much every gas station under the sun, through PayPal, Amazon.ca, Chapters.ca, Starbucks.ca (and most Starbucks stores), most Subway restaurants Canada Post, Sobeys, Costco... Big names that don't accept it include anything Loblaws (except their fuel stations), Tim Horton's, Home Hardware, etc.

Since I'm a Scotiabank customer I got a no-fee rewards card (1 reward for $2) to use at places that don't accept AmEx, and set the points to automatically transfer.

Anyways, just wanted to share the alternative option.

PS: The reason I have a AmEx gold card is for the travel insurance and the warranty extension (doubles any warranty for up to an additional year). If you bought your own travel insurance and always bought extended warranties, the card end up being a MUCH cheaper option.

[CanadianDaniel]

U.S. big box retailer Target is launching it first Canadian store in mid-March.

Part of its offering is the Target RBC MasterCard with a 5% price discount on most Target buys and a 0.5% Gift reward points for purchases elsewhere.

Do you plan on signing up for the new store card?

[CouponLover618]

Hmmmm ... Not sure. The 5% discount may be good if you can price match all of your items there, but 0.5% for purchases elsewhere doesn't sound like a good deal. PC offers 1% so if you spend $1000, you'd get $10 instead of the $5 you'd receive with this new Target Mastercard.

[FLA]

Scotiabank also offers the "same" card under their banner; has the same insurances, comes with the 20,000 bonus points and gets 4x points on groceries, restaurants, fast food, gas & entertainment. With scotiabank you buy your travel from any vendor (airline, bus company, hotel, there's a list on their website) and apply your points to your monthly statement (points also never expire, they have a web tool to do it all yourself). 1 point = $0.01 for travel. $1 = 1 point = $0.01, except for the bonus categories, then $1 = 4 points = $0.04.

Annual fee is $99, and isn't waived for the first year. It would take $2,475 worth of groceries, gas, food and entertainment dollars to pay for the annual fee (half of the bonus points from the AmEx offer tho). Or $9900 of normal spending.

AmEx is accepted at pretty much every gas station under the sun, through PayPal, Amazon.ca, Chapters.ca, Starbucks.ca (and most Starbucks stores), most Subway restaurants Canada Post, Sobeys, Costco... Big names that don't accept it include anything Loblaws (except their fuel stations), Tim Horton's, Home Hardware, etc.

Since I'm a Scotiabank customer I got a no-fee rewards card (1 reward for $2) to use at places that don't accept AmEx, and set the points to automatically transfer.

Anyways, just wanted to share the alternative option.

PS: The reason I have a AmEx gold card is for the travel insurance and the warranty extension (doubles any warranty for up to an additional year). If you bought your own travel insurance and always bought extended warranties, the card end up being a MUCH cheaper option.

Can the Scotiabank Amex card points be transferred to Aeroplan miles? I am accumulating Aeroplan miles for a ticket to Sydney so need more offers for Aeroplan miles.

[Michelle_B]

Thanks Op!

[suziehenderson]

Nah, I think I will probably pass.

[Farmlady]

Can the Scotiabank Amex card points be transferred to Aeroplan miles? I am accumulating Aeroplan miles for a ticket to Sydney so need more offers for Aeroplan miles.

I think the scotiabank Amex points can not be transferred but I am not 100% sure because I do not have that card.

[FLA]

I think the scotiabank Amex points can not be transferred but I am not 100% sure because I do not have that card.

Then I probably will not apply for the Scotiabank card.

[RobinMonks]

No, they can't be transferred, but they are usually worth significantly more (see below) and can be applied to travel purchases from any carrier... so, you could pay for your trip partly with areoplan miles if that's allowed and then use the scotiabank rewards on the remainder. You don't need to cover the entire cost in points, and you retain any additional points.

One Scotiabank point is worth $0.01 toward any travel purchase, and I'm using the chart from Aeroplan's website for their reward values. Since the base points for both cards is 1 point/mile per $1, we'll consider them even.

So, let's take a flight out of Moncton, Aug 23-Aug 27. Areoplan gives the flight costs 25,000 miles, but, that covers only the flight and not the taxes/fees which you pay out of pocket. So that flight on Air Canada & Partners costs 25,000 miles and $161.88.

That actual flight with Air Canada costs $298, taxes & fees included, so using a scotiabank card if you applied the same number of points your flight would cost 25,000 points and $48. If you got it via WestJet and a seat sale (which I did for those same date earlier) the cost is $220, or 22,000 points and $0.

Granted, they are close; but with Scotiabank at least you don't have to save up for your entire flight first (minimum points used is $50), you can book through anyone, use any carrier, and it works for more than airfare:

airlines & air carriers – 4511;airports, flying fields, and airport terminals – 4582;lodgings, hotels, motels and resorts – 7011;trailer parks and campgrounds – 7033;passenger railways - 4112, bus lines – 4113;steamship and cruise lines – 4411;travel agencies and tour operators – 4722;automobile rental agency – 7512;motor home and recreational vehicle rentals – 7519;and include related taxes, booking fees, airport fees and travel insurance premiums.

So, which program you use ends up being a matter of preference, but, for me Areoplan miles are an exercise in futility.

[FLA]

No, they can't be transferred, but they are usually worth significantly more (see below) and can be applied to travel purchases from any carrier... so, you could pay for your trip partly with areoplan miles if that's allowed and then use the scotiabank rewards on the remainder. You don't need to cover the entire cost in points, and you retain any additional points.

One Scotiabank point is worth $0.01 toward any travel purchase, and I'm using the chart from Aeroplan's website for their reward values. Since the base points for both cards is 1 point/mile per $1, we'll consider them even.

So, let's take a flight out of Moncton, Aug 23-Aug 27. Areoplan gives the flight costs 25,000 miles, but, that covers only the flight and not the taxes/fees which you pay out of pocket. So that flight on Air Canada & Partners costs 25,000 miles and $161.88.

That actual flight with Air Canada costs $298, taxes & fees included, so using a scotiabank card if you applied the same number of points your flight would cost 25,000 points and $48. If you got it via WestJet and a seat sale (which I did for those same date earlier) the cost is $220, or 22,000 points and $0.

Granted, they are close; but with Scotiabank at least you don't have to save up for your entire flight first (minimum points used is $50), you can book through anyone, use any carrier, and it works for more than airfare:



So, which program you use ends up being a matter of preference, but, for me Areoplan miles are an exercise in futility.

Thanks for the detailed answer!

I usually save my Aeroplan miles for long haul flight such as from Ottawa to San Diego, which costs $750 to $850 for a round trip ticket during busy time. If I use Aeroplan miles, it only costs 25000 miles + $150. so in my situation, I get 2 to 3 cents per mile. That is way I always transfer my points to Aeroplan.

[Andrew Langevin]

It sounds like a good deal!