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Credit Card Rewards: Head to Head

First Posted: December 15, 2004
Last Updated: November 9, 2009

By Denis Agar

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What are you Reviewing?

This article is a comparison of every no-fee credit card that offers rewards in Canada. I thought long and hard about how extensive to make the review, and decided not to include credit cards with annual fees. Considering how much you can get for free, I have yet to find a card with annual fees that justifies its cost for the average user. So to recap,

I'm including every card that:

Is available to anyone in Canada over the age of majority with good credit
Does not charge an Annual Fee
[Interested in cards that have annual fees? CalgaryBen has a great calculator for all cards with cash rewards (not points) here. It's perfect for figuring out whether the fees will be worth it.]
Will return you money or points for doing regular shopping, anywhere.

A NOTE about interest rates: I'm only reviewing these cards as a form of payment; NOT as a way to borrow money. There are many, many far better ways to borrow than on a credit card. As a result, I will not take interest rates into account (but I will show them). If you're interested in borrowing money with credit cards, check out the FCAC's website. It's a government agency that has put together a great credit card finder wizard.

Why use a credit card if you aren't going to carry a balance?

Why not? You aren't paying any extra for the things you're buying, and you're getting something in return! Why use anything else?

. . . Well, yeah - why use anything else?

Because you want to support the owner of wherever you're shopping. Those rewards do have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is partly out of the retailer's pocket. Be mindful of the fact that Tim Hortons can probably swallow the credit card fees, but your local independent coffee shop might have a harder time with that. If you want to help them out, forgo the rewards and use cash.

Tips

This may seem like a no-brainer, but use your card everywhere you can. As well as benefitting from the points, you'll have access to extras like extended warranties. Paying your monthly bills (where possible) by credit card is a must.
Keep a second card in case your first choice isn't accepted where you want to shop. Visa is the most widely accepted; Mastercard to a lesser degree. Amex is the rarest, but a large majority of merchants who accept one accept all three.
Some points programs allow you to transfer between them, offering a little more choice.
If you're about to make a decision, make sure you know what kind of rewards the card is offering. If it's something you won't use, or it has a terrible return, you might want to think twice.
The most important advice with points: CONSOLIDATE! 200 points in one program is worth more than 100 points in two programs. If you stick to one program and earn a lot of points, you'll generally get better value on the bigger things.

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