Credit card recommendations?

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by MJM

TD Infinite Visa Card. I don't ever pay interest so I couldn't tell you about the rate, but it's reward system is awesome. Essentially, you get 3 points for every dollar spent. For ever 10,000 points you get a 50 dollar credit which can be applied against travel purchases on your visa card (hotel, flight, car rentals, etc.). You also get 20,000 points for signing up for it. They also have the regular rewards which you can redeem points for like aerogold if having money taken off your visa doesn't suit your fancy. I just booked a trip to Vegas, called them and told them to credit my Visa for $250 bucks (the cost of the flight - 25000 points). Westjet charge has been removed. Simply and easy and I got to pick when, where, and how I flew.

Can you explain your Vegas example a little more clearly please? This sounds intriguing.

[MJM]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Can you explain your Vegas example a little more clearly please? This sounds intriguing.

Essentially this card allows to pick your own travel. I saw a seat sale on Vegas for the long weekend in May ($79 bucks each way on Westjet). Myself and a couple of buddies booked it on Westjet ($225 for the flight return with taxes). A couple days later, the $225 appeared on my Visa Statement. I called TD Visa rewards and said please credit the $225 dollar Westjet charge on my visa card with 25000 of my points. They say certainly sir, and 2 business days later the 225 was credited to my Visa statement. Quick and easy. Call took me 5 minutes and I had the freedom to book with whatever airline I wanted and on whatever flight I wanted (wasn't pigeon hold into some red eye flight with ten stop overs like I was with airmiles). You even get credit for the money you spent on the flight (so I got 675 points for purchasing that flight on my Visa card).

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by MJM

Essentially this card allows to pick your own travel. I saw a seat sale on Vegas for the long weekend in May ($79 bucks each way on Westjet). Myself and a couple of buddies booked it on Westjet ($225 for the flight return with taxes). A couple days later, the $225 appeared on my Visa Statement. I called TD Visa rewards and said please credit the $225 dollar Westjet charge on my visa card with 25000 of my points. They say certainly sir, and 2 business days later the 225 was credited to my Visa statement. Quick and easy. Call took me 5 minutes and I had the freedom to book with whatever airline I wanted and on whatever flight I wanted (wasn't pigeon hold into some red eye flight with ten stop overs like I was with airmiles). You even get credit for the money you spent on the flight (so I got 675 points for purchasing that flight on my Visa card).

I thought you got a $50 credit for ever 10,000 points. How did 25,000 points get you $225 in credit?

[onetwo_threefour]

Just for airmiles discussion as well. airmilesshops.ca allows you to collect airmiles from non-tradtional vendors. You can buy from an auction on ebay and earn airmiles, although it's not based on dollar values but is one per transaction, you can get emails from online stores for places like sears, chapters, and others that don't give them to you in their regular stores. There are dozens of online vendors that give airmiles, and I use that site regularly to rack up airmiles. Many of them offer double or triple from time to time to shop online. So if you have a collector number and use a card that gives airmiles independently, you can double up, just like using your Airmiles AMEX at Safeway.

[MJM]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I thought you got a $50 credit for ever 10,000 points. How did 25,000 points get you $225 in credit?

Sorry, it's $50 for every 10,000 points, so I used 50,000 points. You receive 3 TD points for every dollar spent on the card. (If you book your travel through them, you get 9 points for every dollar spent). You also get 20,000 starter points. Any travel booked on this card also comes with complimentary travel insurance.

[MJM]

http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdvisa/...lasstravel.jsp

Take a read of this. It explains it pretty good.

[Top Shelf]

Originally Posted by fotze

I moved to the MBNA Starwood Preferred Guest MasterCard. Got it less than a year ago and already have 20,000 points and I haven't used it much. I think they gave me 5000 just to sign up, and another 5000 after three months or something like that. The starwood points can be converted to Aeroplan on a 1:1 basis and a bunch of other carriers.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...tner_list.html

Can also be used for hotels and whatnot. 50% off the hotel rate at a Sheraton/Hyatt costs 1000 points. There is car rental insurance on the card AND purchase insurance.

On top of all that there is NO fee for you or the wife's card.

We just got this card as well, it came highly recommended from a few different comparisons on the web. Here is the one from Red Flag Deals and here is the one from Million Dollar Journey

I guess the thing to remember with this one is you have to pay off the balance at the end of every month as the interest rate is pretty high, almost 20% I think.

[onetwo_threefour]

Not necessarily...

http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/eng/publi...Tables-eng.asp

By using this a couple of years ago I went to the Visa Desjardins Modulo Gold, for $50.00 a year it has a fixed 9.90 rate and a rewards program (although it's not aeroplan or airmiles)

[GreenTeaFrapp]

If you're looking for a rewards program for something other then flights i.e. rebate on a car purchase, I highly recommend the Citibank Driver's Edge Mastercard. No annual fee and 2% from every purchase you make can be used as a rebate when you buy a car.

[Frequitude]

I'm mostly interested in travel rewards. I also don't care about interest rates because I pay it off every month.

[Eric Vail]

Originally Posted by MJM

Sorry, it's $50 for every 10,000 points, so I used 50,000 points. You receive 3 TD points for every dollar spent on the card. (If you book your travel through them, you get 9 points for every dollar spent). You also get 20,000 starter points. Any travel booked on this card also comes with complimentary travel insurance.

With Aeroplan, I need to spend about $20,000 to get 25,000 aeroplan miles which gives me a flight anywhere in continental USA/Canada. That can be a $1000 value, depending where you are flying.

If you spend $20,000 with the TD card, you get 60,000 TD points. This gives you $300 travel dollars.

I used to have a TD travel card until I did this math. I'd rather have a free trip anywhere in continental USA/Canada than $300 in travel dollars.

[Julio]

I have the TD Gold Elite Visa that has some pretty good benefits, as well as giving 1% back in cash...because I have a few thousand in accounts there, I don't pay for the card, and get a nice cheque every year from them. As for Air Miles, used to use my Amex more from them, and still do a bit. I have a few thousand air miles and ewatch for the specials @ Safeway, however all else being = I go to Co-op for both gas and groceries because I also get cash back from them every year.