Here at Prince of Travel, we maintain lists of the best credit cards – best overall credit cards, best travel credit cards, best Aeroplan credit cards, and so on.
However, while we think there are lots of great credit cards in the Canadian market, we also concede that there’s no one perfect credit card.
After all, we and the rest of the Miles & Points community have different wants and needs for this perfect card. Some people might put a premium on having no foreign transaction fees, while others might be most enthusiastic about collecting Aeroplan points.
But what if we had a say on what we’d like to improve about our favourite cards? What would we at Prince of Travel do to create the perfect credit card? Let’s find out.
Welcome Bonus
When it comes to credit card welcome bonuses, Canadian credit cards are somewhat lagging, especially when compared to the US, where credit cards come with more substantial offers.
TJ, our Editor-in-Chief, wants these higher offers for the Canadian market as well, saying:
We write about both Canadian and American Amex cards. In particular, I’ve noticed how the best welcome bonuses for the US Amex Gold card, which tops out at 90,000 Membership Rewards points, are better than its Canadian counterpart, which maxes out at 70,000 Membership Rewards points.
I wish the American Express Gold Rewards Card, as well as other Canadian Amex offerings, would provide welcome bonuses that match their US counterparts.
TJ’s sentiment was echoed across the Prince of Travel team, who can’t help but be envious of the welcome bonuses being offered by the likes of Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One Miles.
While some of us dabble in US credit cards, we still want these juicy welcome bonuses for the local market, so our fellow Canadian Miles & Points enthusiasts would enjoy them easily as well.
Earning and Redeeming Rewards
The Prince of Travel team also has some suggestions for ways we’d like to improve how our credit cards earn and redeem rewards.
As someone who travels nine months out of each year, I personally like the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card and the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card for their valuable no foreign transaction fee feature, which saves me 2.5% on all my foreign currency purchases.
Not only that, but both cards also give me at least a 1% return on my purchases in Scene+ points.
However, while I appreciate that you can redeem Scene+ points against any travel expense, I believe that points earned through the program would be more valuable if they could be converted to airline and hotel loyalty program points as well.
This is, after all, why people are drawn to the RBC Avion program through which you can transfer points to valuable airline loyalty programs at reasonable transfer rates.
For example, RBC Avion points can be transferred to British Airways Executive Club at a rate of 1:1, with the occasional offer of a 30% transfer bonus.
Another way we’d like to see reward programs improved is through better earning rates with certain credit cards.
For the RBC Avion suite of cards, Steve, one Prince of Travel’s Community Managers, would like to see more competitive category multipliers.
Specifically, looking back to when the HSBC World Elite Mastercard was transitioned into the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite†, we can see that while the no foreign transaction fee feature was retained on these transitioned cards, some of the category multipliers that existed on the HSBC card were lost in the changeover.
Historically, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard earned 6 points per dollar (all figures in CAD) spent on travel and 4 points per dollar spent on gas, grocery, and drugstore purchases. Following the transition, the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite† card only offers 1.25 points per dollar spent on travel purchases and 1 point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
For the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite† to be more compelling than its predecessor from HSBC, we’d like to see it invest in more attractive earning rates on top of the no-foreign transaction fee feature.
Another card our team would like to improve is the American Express Cobalt Card.
Shane, our Concierge Account Manager, wants the Cobalt to “return to its former glory,” wherein there was no monthly cap on the 5x Eats & Drinks earning rate.
In August 2023, Amex Canada placed a $2,500 monthly cap on the Cobalt Card’s 5x Eats & Drinks earning when previously the cap was $30,000 annually.
Ostensibly, this change was designed to curb inorganic spending strategies, such as buying gift cards for other retailers at grocery stores to effectively get 5x the points on expenses at other merchants.
However, the monthly cap doesn’t account for people’s varying spending habits. For example, someone might spend more at restaurants in the summer or when travelling and could therefore easily use up the monthly limit. Big families, who could spend $2,500 on groceries alone, are negatively impacted by this change as well.
Features and Benefits
As a team of people who travel frequently, we find the no foreign transaction fee feature on credit cards very valuable.
While some members of the Miles & Points community find this feature to be “overrated,” a number of people on the Prince of Travel team still put stock in saving the 2.5% on foreign exchange fees since this can certainly add up over time.
For instance, by paying for a $2,000 foreign currency expense using a credit card that has a no foreign transaction fee feature, you’ll save $50 in fees.
Amy, my fellow writer and our go-to source for all things related to family travel, thinks that the American Express Cobalt Card should add this feature so she and her family can benefit from the 2.5% savings and the 5x Eats & Drinks earning rate at the same time.
Chris, one of our Community Managers, also wants the no foreign transaction fee feature on the flagship American Express Platinum Card, especially since the card’s US counterpart already offers it.
In fact, most US American Express cards don’t charge foreign transaction fees, so we’d love to see the Canadian American Express cards eventually follow suit.
Speaking of US cards, some Prince of Travel team members feel like they’re missing out on the variety and quality of benefits that US cards offer.
Rashaad, our Growth Marketing Specialist, thinks the Marriott Bonvoy cards in Canada should offer benefits more in line with Bonvoy cards in the US.
For instance, the US-based Marriott Bonvoy American Express Brilliant Card offers cardholders automatic Platinum Elite status, a Free Night Award worth 85,000 points, and a $300 dining statement credit.
Comparatively, the Canada-based Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card only offers cardholders Silver Elite status, a Free Night Award worth 35,000 points, and 15 Elite Nights towards the next elite status level.
On a related note, our team would also love to see improvement to the travel credits provided by American Express on certain cards in Canada.
Currently, the American Express Platinum Card (both personal and business) offer a $200 travel credit, while the American Express Gold Rewards Card comes with a $100 travel credit.
Jay, our Copywriter, wants the travel credit on his American Express Gold Rewards Card to have more flexibility and to be applicable to any travel purchase made on the card, rather than just bookings made with American Express’ in-house travel agency.
Conclusion
While we’re lucky to have access to a wide range of credit cards in Canada, there’s simply no one perfect credit card.
Across the Canadian credit card landscape, there’s plenty of room for improvement in terms of welcome bonuses, features, benefits, and earning and redeeming rewards. This is especially noticeable since we have the US credit card market and their offerings as a point of comparison.
Hopefully, financial institutions in Canada take heed of our recommendations above so that they can offer one kick-ass credit card that we and the rest of the Miles & Points community will love.
