Travel rewards card vs Cashback card

[redforever]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

aah i see. yeah, i for sure book that ahead of time. its the only way i think id ever travel... but even if i waited to book when i got there... i cant imagine finding a place cheaper than 45 bucks a night right?

Yes, but if you book accomodation ahead of time, you lose some flexibility in your travel. We are willing to sacrifice some cost at times for more flexibility. We also do not enjoy large resorts, large hotels, or buffet lines.

...and then, at this point in our lives, and depending on where we are going, it is easier for us to avoid some travelling during peak times. Of course, if we take our children and their family on a group family holiday, we can't avoid that. When travelling outside of peak times, it is easier to find last minute accomodation at good prices. For instance, we are going to the Maritimes for a couple of weeks this coming October. Outside of the day we arrive and the day we return, I am not booking any other accomodation ahead of time. I know we will be able to find places to stay in small towns, and quite often we look for bed and breakfasts when we do that kind of travel.

And, if we are going to be staying for at least one week in a place, I usually try to book a home or condo privately using a site something like www.vrbo.com. I have used that site for Mexico, USA, Europe...

Sometimes when you book privately, you get a car included as well, that was the case when we were recently in Kauai. If a car is not included, I always ask the owner for a recommendation regarding car rental, shuttles etc and have saved money using their recommendations. A couple of times, I saved big money doing that when we vacationed in Mexico. Private owners give you all kinds of hints for what to do and where to go that you might not have found otherwise.

We use our Avion points for long haul or overseas flights. I have found it too hard to redeem Aeroplan points for those type of flights. We have ailing parents in Saskatchewan, and you never get good prices, let alone great prices to fly there..so as we accumulate Aeroplan points, we just use them up on short haul flights to Saskatchewan. We basically just use them up that way because Aeroplan keeps changing the rules as to how you can redeem their points anyhow.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

the only draw back as i see with this card is since it's not linked to my bank or any bank i could sign with, i wouldnt be able to instantl transfer funds to it

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

You can set up MBNA as a payment recipient through online banking from your account (I've banked with RBC, TD, and Scotia and never had a problem).

As long as you don't carry an interest-bearing balance on your account, you have a 3 week grace period from the time your account closes each month to pay it off before interest is charged. Any online payments are going to be processed in 2 or 3 business days, so you should never have to pay interest unless you completely forget to make a payment.

Otherwise, it's a short-term interest-free loan.

[MacGruber]

Originally Posted by getbak

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

You can set up MBNA as a payment recipient through online banking from your account (I've banked with RBC, TD, and Scotia and never had a problem).

As long as you don't carry an interest-bearing balance on your account, you have a 3 week grace period from the time your account closes each month to pay it off before interest is charged. Any online payments are going to be processed in 2 or 3 business days, so you should never have to pay interest unless you completely forget to make a payment.

Otherwise, it's a short-term interest-free loan.

See above option with my BMO mastercard I can see my balance, and transer funds instantly.

What sucks about BMO is they've decided that they dont need to make an app for androir or iphones. asses. every other canadian bank has both.

[getbak]

I still don't see the issue.

You can access your MBNA account online to check your balance and make a payment to it through your BMO account. The payment doesn't go through instantly, but it will be there within a couple of days (the money will be out of your bank account immediately). Since you have the 24 day grace period without paying interest, it's not going to cost you anything extra.

The only difference is that you have to go to more than one place to check all your balances.

[MacGruber]

yeah thats about it i guess, it is convenient tho to have it all in one place. i think ill be switching banks just because of no app frankly

[calgon]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

actually after having a closer look at the TD card... when you add in the annual fee it's not a very good deal. the scotiabank momentum card gives you cashback at the same rate with a lower fee and you can cash back.

i think the fact that i only spend 800 bucks a month on my card is likely good reason to stay away from annual fees

Depending on what kind of bank account you have, the annual fee can be waived.

[calgon]

Originally Posted by calgon

Depending on what kind of bank account you have, the annual fee can be waived.

Also thought I would add the other benefits of the card are great. When my girlfriend and I went to Spain over christmas our bags were delayed for 24 hours but we still got to spend $1000 each for delayed baggage insurance.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

Woah woah woah woah. Maybe you should forget this credit card talk for a while. All your accounts are in the red!

Back on topic, I'm not sure why having the card at your bank is a huge issue. [almost] all credit cards allow you to access your balance online or over the phone (I think I'm dating myself there). You can pay them all from your bank's online banking. A wait time of about 3 days and it's all said and done. You just can't leave it for the due date, that's all. I don't think I've ever had a card with the bank I was at. Didn't even know they'd link them like that.

As for the phone app, I'm still leery about banking like that. Seems like an unnecessary security risk.

[OldDutch]

I like the Avion card too. It will cover up to a limit depending on location which has worked out well for me.

The secret is to get the flights you want off Expedia first, then call and ask to book by flight number. Also, you can do two stop overs in each direction. So you could do Calgary to Kelowna to Vancouver to Victoria and back to Calgary all for 15,000 points. If you want to do a huge BC trip one summer, that is a great deal.

The one thing I admit I hate is the 2 week min required to book a flight. That sucks for sure.

[MacGruber]

It's a convenience thing, kunk. I agree it's minor but it's the small things that make up life. Being able to manage all my finances on one site is nice. Doing so from my iphone would be even better.

Also don't fret over iphone and android apps.. they have the same security as online banking, or so I'm told.

[Buzzard]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

yeah thats about it i guess, it is convenient tho to have it all in one place. i think ill be switching banks just because of no app frankly

You must of missed the memo

Finally.

Nothing special though of course....can't pay bills, but at least you can transfer between accounts, view balances, recent transactions, etc.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

It's a convenience thing, kunk.

Also don't fret over iphone and android apps.. they have the same security as online banking, or so I'm told.

Fair enough. As for the security, I've got some major issues logging into my bank in some place with 5000 other people on electronics near by. Looking at how easy it is to scam RFID signals, cell phone signals, and anything else wireless, while they can claim it's secure, I've got some serious paranoia.

There's also the issue of android pulling all their banking apps

[MacGruber]

Originally Posted by Buzzard

You must of missed the memo

Finally.

Nothing special though of course....can't pay bills, but at least you can transfer between accounts, view balances, recent transactions, etc.

O ffs it's about time!

edit: leave it to BMO to do it half asses. god.

edit 2: Called BMO and they are giving me their 3% card, 1% all else like MBNA and waiving the fee for a year. Ill be calling back in a year of course

[MacGruber]

Sorry to bump...

I'm in the midst of switching out to either RBC or TD. With the consideration that I like to fly to the States at least twice a year, I was looking at the TD AAdvantage card, and the RBC Avion card. Avion lets you exchange 1:1 for AAdvantage miles again, and in the past year or two have had a couple promos where you could transfer at an even higher rate. Also there's the flexibility of it being a good rewards card (better than airmiles for pure flying).

The AA card for TD has a 2500 annual bonus, which is really nice, but it's very restricting in terms that it's definitely only for my AAdvantage miles.

Thoughts? Prayers? Jokes?

[billybob123]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

Thoughts? Prayers? Jokes?

One thing to consider is the signup bonus you get. Remember that any miles you earn cost you money (granted, you'd be spending it anyway, yadda yadda) -- but bonuses you get on signup are FREE.

[MacGruber]

Can anyone comment on Avion vs TD rewards for flights to the States?

[IliketoPuck]

I have been happy with my TD rewards card.

I booked a flight to Jamaica for my honeymoon with the points, and the deal we got was equivalent to any of the lowest offers out there (redtag, expedia, etc.). They also do a price match guarantee, so if you can find a cheaper flight than what is listed on the TD travel center, they will match it.

It is very straight forward to book and redeeming your points is no hassle at all.

[MacGruber]

the td travel center will match a deal from expedia? that's huge.

[IliketoPuck]

Yea, I read it in the fine print. Any deal you can find and prove, they will match.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

the td travel center will match a deal from expedia? that's huge.

uhhh as far as i can recall, you can book any travel related item and as long as you pay for it on that card, all you need to do is call the travel centre and they'll redeem the points for you after.