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Old 07-22-2020, 04:47 PM   #581
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For anyone who has the Capital One Aspire card that recently devalued their points and took away the anniversary bonus, I was able to get this fee waived as well by chatting with their customer service about this issue.

The key to my point was that per the terms and conditions, the annual bonus is paid on last year's spend, so I paid the annual fee on the assumption I would be getting the anniversary bonus (no longer the case). It took about 45 min to talk to the initial CS rep and then a manager but worth the call to get the $120 credit

I'm still on the fence about keeping the card but at least this gives me some time to find an alternative as I didn't want to pay $120/yr for a devalued points system with no anniversary bonus
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Old 03-31-2021, 02:14 PM   #582
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Looks like CIBC did a roll out of upgrade offers from Infinite Visa to Infinite Visa Privilege cards. Basically the annual fee remains the same given you account for $200 annual flight credit and maintain certain balance in your smart account or holdings over $100k in your investors edge account.
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Old 10-08-2021, 03:25 PM   #583
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Have a question about my BMO Airmiles Mastercard, been using this card for 15 years at 19.99%

It expires this month so I called in to ask them to lower the interest rate, they flat out said no, this is a standard rate.

I asked to talk to a manager or someone in retention then the call magically disconnected while I was on hold again.

Any truth to this? Do they simply not budge on the interest rate of some cards?
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Old 10-08-2021, 04:02 PM   #584
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Have a question about my BMO Airmiles Mastercard, been using this card for 15 years at 19.99%

It expires this month so I called in to ask them to lower the interest rate, they flat out said no, this is a standard rate.

I asked to talk to a manager or someone in retention then the call magically disconnected while I was on hold again.

Any truth to this? Do they simply not budge on the interest rate of some cards?
I could see it being true, but I cannot understand why you'd try to get a reduction in interest rates on a card.

You're better off asking if you can get other complementary credit perks/upgrades and also calling the bank to increase your LOC/HELOC limit rather than reducing the interest rate on a CC.
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Old 10-08-2021, 04:04 PM   #585
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I can’t imagine why they’d lower their interest rate on request.
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Old 10-08-2021, 06:34 PM   #586
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Just thought I would look into it and ask since it's expiring, I pay down to zero every month so it's not a big deal.

I had a family member mention they got the interest rate reduced on a credit card, might have been a company card or maybe they switched cards altogether.

Thanks for the replies, I won't bother calling them back.
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Old 10-10-2021, 09:12 PM   #587
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Just thought I would look into it and ask since it's expiring, I pay down to zero every month so it's not a big deal.

I had a family member mention they got the interest rate reduced on a credit card, might have been a company card or maybe they switched cards altogether.

Thanks for the replies, I won't bother calling them back.
If you pay down to zero every month, then the interest rate is irrelevant - it could be 1000%.
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Old 10-10-2021, 11:41 PM   #588
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Yeah, I know. I think everyone knows that 19% of zero is zero.

It was for the odd month when I forget to pay and carry a balance, I would rather pay less because that's better. : )

Going to look into a different card and see what's available.
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Old 10-11-2021, 08:29 AM   #589
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Yeah, I know. I think everyone knows that 19% of zero is zero.

It was for the odd month when I forget to pay and carry a balance, I would rather pay less because that's better. : )

Going to look into a different card and see what's available.
Is this your regular card for day to day purchases? How about an American Express Platinum card? The benefits with the Platinum card are great but the downside is that it is not as widely accepted as Visa/MC. The annual fee is high but the various offers and promos they provide throughout the year offset the fee easily. They just introduced the option to carry a balance although I honestly don't know what the interest rate is as I wasn't paying attention to the communications.

If you want to consider it I can send you a referral code. They have a good bonus offer right now which is worth $800 see that covers the $600 annual fee.
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Old 10-11-2021, 08:43 AM   #590
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Is this your regular card for day to day purchases? How about an American Express Platinum card? The benefits with the Platinum card are great but the downside is that it is not as widely accepted as Visa/MC. The annual fee is high but the various offers and promos they provide throughout the year offset the fee easily. They just introduced the option to carry a balance although I honestly don't know what the interest rate is as I wasn't paying attention to the communications.

If you want to consider it I can send you a referral code. They have a good bonus offer right now which is worth $800 see that covers the $600 annual fee.
I love my Amex, but it’s definitely not zero interest or low interest. I don’t know if it’s the same, but mine is a charge card where you have to pay it off or the interest rate is insane. I would have to look and see what that rate is, because you have to be diligent (I want to say it’s north of 30%?).

I think they just made it so you can carry a balance of some sort, but there are some rules around it. I don’t know exactly what those rules are, but carrying a balance isn’t something that people should be interested in, if it’s at all avoidable. I can’t recommend people look at that in good conscience though. Even if that rate is like 10%, you should be avoiding this, and knowing Amex it’s probably still something outrageous.
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Old 10-11-2021, 09:43 AM   #591
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I love my Amex, but it’s definitely not zero interest or low interest. I don’t know if it’s the same, but mine is a charge card where you have to pay it off or the interest rate is insane. I would have to look and see what that rate is, because you have to be diligent (I want to say it’s north of 30%?).

I think they just made it so you can carry a balance of some sort, but there are some rules around it. I don’t know exactly what those rules are, but carrying a balance isn’t something that people should be interested in, if it’s at all avoidable. I can’t recommend people look at that in good conscience though. Even if that rate is like 10%, you should be avoiding this, and knowing Amex it’s probably still something outrageous.
Yeah the Platinum is a charge card and something that is paid off every month but for his stated need where sometimes he forgets to pay off his card in full the new feature with Amex might be useful. It looks like new feature which I think they call "pay down over time" is 15% to 22% vs the 30% standard rate on the card. I'm not entirely sure how it works though as I didn't really pay attention because my balance is always paid.

Edit: disregard what I said here. I decided to look at some of details with that new Amex feature and apparently it is only for "new purchases" and not balances which are carried over. I guess you have to apply for a pre planned purchase to be able to use this installment payment feature. Balances are still charged at 30%.

Last edited by calgarygeologist; 10-11-2021 at 09:55 AM.
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Old 10-11-2021, 12:01 PM   #592
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I think investing in a system to make sure you don't forget to make a payment might be the optimal use of your time here. I put it in my calendar as a recurring appointment to make sure I pay it, or you could set up auto-pay.

If this is a reoccurring thing I do agree that getting a lower rate is probably better than any rewards. MBNA true line has a 12.99% rate, which is obviously a lot lower, and would be one choice to switch.
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Old 03-17-2022, 02:35 PM   #593
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Hey folks, I have a bunch of travel plans for this summer and I'm exploring the options for a new credit card that will maximize my returns for hotel stays. I'm looking for recommendations on what might be the best option. I don't see many co-branded hotel cards in Canada and the only one I see is the Marriott Bonvoy Amex. I don't mind getting the Bonvoy card and booking my stays with Marriott. Should I consider a general travel card like the Visa Infinite Travel cards or Aventura travel cards?
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Old 03-17-2022, 03:01 PM   #594
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We have the MC Aspire World Elite and I want to find another since they reduced their benefits. My wife wants the TD points card and we’ll check it out. We travel a lot so any recommendations are appreciated.
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Old 03-17-2022, 03:27 PM   #595
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Hey folks, I have a bunch of travel plans for this summer and I'm exploring the options for a new credit card that will maximize my returns for hotel stays. I'm looking for recommendations on what might be the best option. I don't see many co-branded hotel cards in Canada and the only one I see is the Marriott Bonvoy Amex. I don't mind getting the Bonvoy card and booking my stays with Marriott. Should I consider a general travel card like the Visa Infinite Travel cards or Aventura travel cards?
Bonvoy just completely removed the awards chart for their hotels, so the points are now worth whatever they feel like giving you.

The card still isn't bad because the annual free night covers the fee, but it isn't the no brainer it was back in the SPG days.

There isn't anything better in Canada though, so if you want hotel nights that's the one to pick.
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Old 03-17-2022, 03:46 PM   #596
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Bonvoy just completely removed the awards chart for their hotels, so the points are now worth whatever they feel like giving you.

The card still isn't bad because the annual free night covers the fee, but it isn't the no brainer it was back in the SPG days.

There isn't anything better in Canada though, so if you want hotel nights that's the one to pick.
Yeah I pretty aware of the Bonvoy program already. When I started looking for cards I was surprised that there are no Hilton or Hyatt cards in Canada.

The only other options are the point program cards and using systems like Expedia For TD to redeem points. I'm just not sure if there is a noticable difference in value between using Bonvoy points for rooms vs TD points on Expedia.
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Old 03-17-2022, 04:19 PM   #597
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Yeah I pretty aware of the Bonvoy program already. When I started looking for cards I was surprised that there are no Hilton or Hyatt cards in Canada.

The only other options are the point program cards and using systems like Expedia For TD to redeem points. I'm just not sure if there is a noticable difference in value between using Bonvoy points for rooms vs TD points on Expedia.
There's no one-size-fits-all answer to that question. If you're a bonvoy elite you get perks on bonvoy stays but not through Expedia, and some aspirational redemptions are probably good value (over water bungalows). But for the average person who just wants "a decent hotel in city X" flexible points are probably the better option.

I'd pick your next few trips and fake book them. Compare what you would do with bonvoy and see how much cc spending that would take to get, and then look at Expedia and see how much cc spending that would take to get.
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Old 03-18-2022, 08:34 AM   #598
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It looks like I have come to the conclusion that the Bonvoy card will be added. Does anyone currently have a card and is interested in sending me a referral link? I'm assuming that the Amex Bonvoy would be similar to other Amex cards and a referral could be worth a few thousand points.
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Old 03-18-2022, 08:45 AM   #599
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We have the MC Aspire World Elite and I want to find another since they reduced their benefits. My wife wants the TD points card and we’ll check it out. We travel a lot so any recommendations are appreciated.
I was faced with a similar decision, and after reviewing the options - couldn't find anything better. It still return 1.5% (which is now the norm) but it has no cap on the rebated amount. It's easy to redeem too, and it's nice that it's not an AMEX.

A couple of other options out there had a terrible point redemption process.
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Old 03-18-2022, 08:49 AM   #600
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It looks like I have come to the conclusion that the Bonvoy card will be added. Does anyone currently have a card and is interested in sending me a referral link? I'm assuming that the Amex Bonvoy would be similar to other Amex cards and a referral could be worth a few thousand points.
You'll get extra bonvoy points on your bonus (5000 extra) but the minimum spend to get the bonus goes up by $1500 if you apply through a referral link right now.
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