Credit Card Recommendations

[JohnnyNipshank]

I have a RBC Platinum Avion and have accumulated 100,000+ points. I plan on redeeming them towards flights at a later date. On my Statement this month i saw a note saying I could receive 1.5 Avios for every 1 rbc reward point. Has anyone done this yet or should i just stick with the RBC points?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by JohnnyNipshank

I have a RBC Platinum Avion and have accumulated 100,000+ points. I plan on redeeming them towards flights at a later date. On my Statement this month i saw a note saying I could receive 1.5 Avios for every 1 rbc reward point. Has anyone done this yet or should i just stick with the RBC points?

It depends what you're going to use them for. If you want a Business/First class ticket to europe and are willing to pay the high fuel surcharges BA charges, then switching to avios can be a great deal at the 1.5x multiplier. If you're planning to use them for economy class flights I wouldn't do it.

[caff]

Originally Posted by Daliwan

The american express gold card is a very good one. Now it offers 20k bonus points and first year free.

https://www.americanexpress.com/cana...IeDQ0bCQ%3D%3D

another one is the Amex SPG card. It offers 21k bonus points for signing up now:

https://www.americanexpress.com/cana...IWHxcJDw%3D%3D

I have both cards, and I love the insurances come with the card.

Amex has a points to travel credit promotion: AMEX MR Promo 1000pts = 12,50$ in credit (25% bonus) (end august 31st). If anyone has Amex points, it is good time to change it to credit. It can be applied to any purchases, not only for travel.

[Daliwan]

Originally Posted by caff

Amex has a points to travel credit promotion: AMEX MR Promo 1000pts = 12,50$ in credit (25% bonus) (end august 31st). If anyone has Amex points, it is good time to change it to credit. It can be applied to any purchases, not only for travel.

I did not notice this. I always transfer my points to other programs but this is a very good deal. I will try to redeem some points for credit.

[TorqueDog]

The Aeroplan change is awesome for me. All my AMEX corporate reward points get changed to Aeroplan when I accrue enough to do the swap, and I already have ~60,000 Aeroplan points from my CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite.

When I get enough, I'll definitely be taking a nice vacation somewhere tropical.

[caff]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

The Aeroplan change is awesome for me. All my AMEX corporate reward points get changed to Aeroplan when I accrue enough to do the swap, and I already have ~60,000 Aeroplan points from my CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite.

When I get enough, I'll definitely be taking a nice vacation somewhere tropical.

Good for you. This is a smart and easy way to get free trips.

[caff]

Originally Posted by Daliwan

I did not notice this. I always transfer my points to other programs but this is a very good deal. I will try to redeem some points for credit.

Yeah, that is the best way to use your points. You can also transfer to SPG points if you need hotels.

[MissAvery16]

What's the difference between the Platinum Avion and Infinite Avion with RBC? They look the same..am I missing something here..

Platinum:

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-c...num-avion.html

Infinite:

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-c...ite-avion.html

[Hi-Psi]

Originally Posted by JohnnyNipshank

I have a RBC Platinum Avion and have accumulated 100,000+ points. I plan on redeeming them towards flights at a later date. On my Statement this month i saw a note saying I could receive 1.5 Avios for every 1 rbc reward point. Has anyone done this yet or should i just stick with the RBC points?

Avios are actually a great program for short-haul North American flights as you can use them with Alaska Air, American Airlines and a few other of their partner airlines. I get short-haul flights for as low as 9000 points each way and taxes are WAAAAAAAAAAY cheaper than Avion and Aaeroplan.

I switched about 100,000 Avion points to BA Avios for that very reason. They usually do this promo 2-3 times a year.

Jason

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by MissAvery16

What's the difference between the Platinum Avion and Infinite Avion with RBC? They look the same..am I missing something here..

Platinum:

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-c...num-avion.html

Infinite:

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-c...ite-avion.html

Haven't you heard? Black is the new platinum.

[TurdFerguson]

Originally Posted by MissAvery16

What's the difference between the Platinum Avion and Infinite Avion with RBC? They look the same..am I missing something here..

Platinum:

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-c...num-avion.html

Infinite:

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-c...ite-avion.html

Using the handy card comparison tool it would look like the only difference is the infinite card has a minimum household income of 60k associated with it.

If you get the platinum card then clearly you will be judged by those in the know...

seriously though, the pamphlet the branch game me a while back had a much more complete comparison chart...has to be something meaningful different. go to a branch and ask.

[Maccalus]

Originally Posted by TurdFerguson

Using the handy card comparison tool it would look like the only difference is the infinite card has a minimum household income of 60k associated with it.

If you get the platinum card then clearly you will be judged by those in the know...

seriously though, the pamphlet the branch game me a while back had a much more complete comparison chart...has to be something meaningful different. go to a branch and ask.

Well 2 differences I can see right of the bat are the 25% more points when booking travel and the premium insurance package(more extensive) on the infinite card.

[caff]

Good to know we can use BA Avois for short haul flight to the US. I transferred lots of Amex points to BA Avois when they have 1:1.5 transfer promotion in March.

[caff]

Originally Posted by Hi-Psi

Avios are actually a great program for short-haul North American flights as you can use them with Alaska Air, American Airlines and a few other of their partner airlines. I get short-haul flights for as low as 9000 points each way and taxes are WAAAAAAAAAAY cheaper than Avion and Aaeroplan.

I switched about 100,000 Avion points to BA Avios for that very reason. They usually do this promo 2-3 times a year.

Jason

I tried to book a flight YYC to LAX using Avios but could't find any available flight for the next 6 months. So how do you book the short haul flights using BA Avios? Thanks.

[Hi-Psi]

Originally Posted by caff

I tried to book a flight YYC to LAX using Avios but could't find any available flight for the next 6 months. So how do you book the short haul flights using BA Avios? Thanks.

I find the best way to find short haul flights with BA is to go to the American Airlines website and search the American Advantage(points) flights. They are worth the same as BA points and you can book their flights through BA.

That should give you options for pretty much all of the US

Jason

[CarlW]

I just saw this while on Amazon.ca, they have a card that says if you use it abroad it won't charge foreign currency transaction fees. Was wondering if this would actually be worth it or not? i'm unsure how much this transaction fee is?

Details on their page here.

Thoughts?

[Hi-Psi]

Usually you get charged 2.5% just for the conversion plus roughly a couple percent off the actual conversion rate. Usually it's about 5% more converting from US to Canadian on most major CC's.

Personally I wouldn't go with it as there are a ton of great CC's out there that provide way better incentives and decent rewards points.

[CarlW]

Originally Posted by Hi-Psi

Usually you get charged 2.5% just for the conversion plus roughly a couple percent off the actual conversion rate. Usually it's about 5% more converting from US to Canadian on most major CC's.

Personally I wouldn't go with it as there are a ton of great CC's out there that provide way better incentives and decent rewards points.

I was thinking of getting it just for the express purpose of usage when abroad in Asia, USA, etc. so that I wouldn't get dinged that conversion fee.

[Hi-Psi]

You get dinged the conversion fee when you pay the credit card off with your CAD funds anyway...

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Hi-Psi

You get dinged the conversion fee when you pay the credit card off with your CAD funds anyway...

It's a Canadian card. All transactions are charged to it in Canadian funds.