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First Posted: December 15, 2004 Credit Card Evaluations Part 2:MBNA CAA Mastercard If you have a CAA membership, here's one way to pay it off. You earn 1% on all purchases towards the cost of your membership. If you qualify for platinum, you get all the ensuing extras. Their deal with Sunoco is over, so you won't get any preferential gas prices, so this card isn't really special in any way. Go for the Smart Cash MC instead and get 3% on gas and grocery purchases, without being restricted in where you spend your rewards. MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard Hot Deal! Step aside PremierRewards, MBNA has launched a new cash rewards card and it one-ups their old one quite definitively. As well as offering 1% cash back on all purchases with no cap, they're throwing in a whopping 3% on grocery store and gas station purchases; purchases that probably make up a great deal of most peoples' monthly spending. For the first six months, you even get 5% cash back, which is absolutely unheard of. National Bank of Canada Ultramar Card Although National Bank has made this deal considerably less hot than it used to be by lowering the returns, it still is the best choice for those who insist on receiving cash, and will spend between $9,000 and $20,000 per year. President's Choice Financial MasterCard Since having severed ties with Petro Points and Sears Club, the PC Mastercard returns have dropped off considerably. Almost every reward PC offers works out to be 1%. They still do offer an extended warranty on purchases, but otherwise you're better off with one of the 1% cards. There is, however one exception: if you drive, and you live near a Superstore with a gas station, you might want to check if they offer any discounts for PC Financial credit card users. Some do, some don't. But the discounts can be substantial, up to 11.5 cents off per litre. Reward Zone Visa by Chase (Best Buy) Hot Deal! This card rises above the usual retail loyalty credit card for two reasons. The first is that it offers 1.25% back on all purchases, which is nothing to be scoffed at (as well as 2.50% on in-store purchases!). The second reason is that it is a Visa. As you might have noticed from this article, it's difficult to find a Visa with rewards even coming close to 1%. There are some stores still out there that will only accept Visa, and some keep a backup Visa in case that happens. If you're thinking about doing that, this would be a strong choice. Royal Bank Esso Visa Another of the few Visas on the list, this card offers the promise of instant redemption. You should be able to step into any Esso and just get something for free. You can also do that with Petro-Points, so this card would only ever be worth it for those that use an Esso often, to take advantage of the 2 points per dollar on purchases at an Esso station. Even then, though, a card like MBNA Smart Cash is probably a better choice. Esso Extra Redemption Examples
Royal Bank Starbucks Duetto Visa Aside from the 1% reward, this card offers an interesting gimmick: you can use it like a debit card at Starbucks, charging it up and depleting it at your leisure. For the money that you add to this ancillary account, you get a whopping 3%, making this card worthwhile for any regular Starbucks patron. Scotiabank Scene Visa Card With an industry standard 1% return, the Scene Visa is worth a look. What puts it over the top is the 5% you earn whenever you spend money at a Cineplex theatre and a $20 opening bonus. TD GM Visa Card 3% seems nice at first, but that 3% is very very limited. You can only use it on a new model GM Car off the dealer's lot, and you can only use it for up to around 6% of the sticker price of the car. If you are one of the few that fits that profile, get the card until you've earned that 6% and then ditch it. 6% of a $20,000 car is $1200, so you have to spend $40,000 to earn that much. |
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