best CC if spending $300K+ a year

[kuhdlie]

saw a post for $20k a year, but i spend over $300k for my business purchases and was wondering what's the credit card with the best value. currently have the rbc avion card. thx

[Drew_W]

Use the search function coupled with your brain. Seriously. I'm sure everyone on this forum is getting SICK of these "best cc" threads. Why is it you can't look at the cards, put in some numbers, see how many points they get you, what you can redeem said points for and then do YOUR OWN comparison based on what rewards YOU want to reap? Sheesh. RFD members do not have all the answers to your life.

[miss_swan]

:) Drew got pushed over the edge this time lol.

Anyways, if you're spending 300k a year why don't you look into the Mastercard Centurion?

Or maybe do a search like Drew suggested ....

[Drew_W]

:) Drew got pushed over the edge this time lol.

Anyways, if you're spending 300k a year why don't you look into the Mastercard Centurion?

Or maybe do a search like Drew suggested ....

Seriously, I write long posts on all things credit card...they're all on this forum already. It should be abundantly clear what the front running cards are, then it's just matter of looking at which is best for your OWN situation. If you don't travel, what good is a travel rewards card? We don't KNOW what you want to get out of your card. Some people just want straight cashback. Others are good playing the points game. Because everyone is so DIFFERENT, there is no way for us to give you an answer. Please read the forum....we'll all be happy to answer specific questions about specific cards. But asking a broad question like this without having the appearance of even having read a few pages deep into this forum is rather ignorant.

[Drew_W]

Sorry to be so blunt...but really.

[lofidelity]

I think miss_swan means AMERICAN EXPRESS Centurion. As far as I know you cannot apply for the card directly, but can only get one by invitation. If you can get one, it would certainly impress your clients at business functions.

Otherwise, a Amex Platinum, or a Business Gold card would be appropriate. The Business cards would allow you to track your business expenses more easily.

[f00kie]

I think miss_swan means AMERICAN EXPRESS Centurion. As far as I know you cannot apply for the card directly, but can only get one by invitation. If you can get one, it would certainly impress your clients at business functions.

Otherwise, a Amex Platinum, or a Business Gold card would be appropriate. The Business cards would allow you to track your business expenses more easily.

Quickly looked this up, as I was curious, and it's not by invitation only anymore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_Card).

$5,000 USD to join and $2,500/year membership fee. Joining requires meeting very tough guidelines, whatever those are, but the perks seem amazing. I want.

[kuhdlie]

wow, nice rant drew hehe, excuse a newbie for not reading all your posts but i didn't really find a clear answer on here yet. I did ask for the card with the best "value" i.e. cashback or travel or gifts, whichever ends up with the most cash value on the open market.

the perks on the centurian are tempting :-P but a lot of places don't take american express, so probably can't even find enough stores to spend the $250k minimum required.

so basically only visa or mastercard, preferably visa, and was just wondering if anyone have better choices than rbc or cibc right now. thanks.

[miss_swan]

I think miss_swan means AMERICAN EXPRESS Centurion. As far as I know you cannot apply for the card directly, but can only get one by invitation. If you can get one, it would certainly impress your clients at business functions.

Otherwise, a Amex Platinum, or a Business Gold card would be appropriate. The Business cards would allow you to track your business expenses more easily.

Yes, AMEX ... not MC. I stand corrected.

[Drew_W]

wow, nice rant drew hehe, excuse a newbie for not reading all your posts but i didn't really find a clear answer on here yet. I did ask for the card with the best "value" i.e. cashback or travel or gifts, whichever ends up with the most cash value on the open market.

the perks on the centurian are tempting :-P but a lot of places don't take american express, so probably can't even find enough stores to spend the $250k minimum required.

so basically only visa or mastercard, preferably visa, and was just wondering if anyone have better choices than rbc or cibc right now. thanks.

I've posted an example previously showing the Avion getting over 10% return (cash value) on a business flight to Asia. There is no CLEAR answer for reasons I previously mentioned, but in MY OPINION the Avion is the best high spender card in Canada, esp if you can take advantage of the BA transfer bonus.

[kuhdlie]

i'm kinda looking for a card with good cash back instead of air miles, cos i've been piling up these air miles points and reselling them. would be easier to just collect the cash back.

[Drew_W]

i'm kinda looking for a card with good cash back instead of air miles, cos i've been piling up these air miles points and reselling them. would be easier to just collect the cash back.

Then if you want cashback, why do you want us to compare the value of points for you?

All credit cards that give more than 1% cashback are capped.

[max88]

Spending $300k+ should give some negotiating power to demand higher rebate. Call up your bank and say you spend $200k+ (start low) and ask for a deal.

[BadDrafter]

Spending 300K? I had a conversation with a guy in the purchasing dept. at work about this very thing two weeks ago.

I doubt the vendors you deal with (if they even accept it) would like the extra charge that AMEX puts on transactions that large so a VISA or MASTERCARD would be in order.

http://www3.telusnet/CalgaryBen/ (http://www3.telus.net/CalgaryBen/)

From this chart you can see that some of the no fee cash back cards top out. The capital one card does not exist anymore so pay no attention to it.

Edit:

The black card is for people who spend all of that stuff on pleasure anyways and most pleasure is high margin so the AMEX fee is negligible for those types of businesses. Also you would be spending 3000 dollars on serviced based rewards that are questionable at best. It's just a status symbol. A real red flag dealer would never get such a card because you have to waste too much money on it. Pass.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d7/Titaniumcenturion.jpg/200px-Titaniumcenturion.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_card

[Drew_W]

Spending $300k+ should give some negotiating power to demand higher rebate. Call up your bank and say you spend $200k+ (start low) and ask for a deal.

What is the rationale for starting LOW in this negotiation?

[Drew_W]

http://www3.telusnet/CalgaryBen/ (http://www3.telus.net/CalgaryBen/)


Those are your only cashback options. If that's what you're looking for, those are your options. That link has been posted tons of times on this forum....a little searching and independent research could help.

In any case......

End thread.

[max88]

What is the rationale for starting LOW in this negotiation?

If OP's spending is certainly over $300k then no need to start low. Otherwise OP should leave a bit more room should a deal require minimum spending. Managing spending with due diligence is more important than pushing spending to meet required minimum.

[jayk]

saw a post for $20k a year, but i spend over $300k for my business purchases and was wondering what's the credit card with the best value. currently have the rbc avion card. thx

what kind of business are you in?

[drowsy]

I think a person spending 300k annually can negotiate with the bank to get something better than 1.25-2%

[Prospero]

If you're spending that much per year on business expenses, you should consider getting a business card.

If you're filtering those expenses through a personal card (I used to do that too) you really only have two options, in my opinion:

1. Avion if you want points
2. TD Gold Elite if you want cash

In both cases get the annual fee waived. Easy to do.

Avion gets you best bang for your buck at high levels of spending, and utilising British Airways (and their promos) to get your tickets. That's been mentioned before here and in other threads.

The TD Gold Elite gets you 1% cash back with no cap or tiers, gets you the TD Deluxe Auto Club, and gets you some pretty solid travel and purchase insurance. In the CalgaryBen calculator, ignore the $99 fee, since you can get this easily waived, and you can clearly see that it gets you the highest cash back reward of any card except for the mythical Amex Gold.

I used to use an Amex Platinum charge card earning 1.5% and transferring the Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan. Amex has since devalued their various programmes, and raised their membership fees, so I moved on. I recommend not even bothering with Amex anymore.

Probably add an SPG Mastercard for the first $30k too. Transfer the points to BA. Move on to Avion, transfer the points to BA during their 50% bonus promo period each year. You can end up with more than 450k points each year.

Oh, and that Centurion card is not avaialbale to Canadian residents anyway.

[kuhdlie]

just read something about the American Express gold cash rebate credit card, seems very interesting. no fee card that gives 2% cash rebate with no rebate limit, sounds very good. anyone have this? seems even better than the avion card.

[jefguth]

just read something about the American Express gold cash rebate credit card, seems very interesting. no fee card that gives 2% cash rebate with no rebate limit, sounds very good. anyone have this? seems even better than the avion card.

I'm not aware of an Amex gold cash card. To the best of my knowledge, all Amex cash rewards are tiered (but that's of little consequence to someone charging $300,000/yr), with the maximum rebate being 1.5% on spending over $5000/yr, with a 0.5% bonus (bringing you to 2%) if you carry a balance!!!:evil:

Not exactly a good deal...

[kuhdlie]

i call amex and they said it's an invite only credit card, but then the guy said i can apply for it over the phone. didn't mention anything about carrying a balance. it's not listed on their website so only got some info from the guy on the phone.

[m4gician]

He's right. The centurion card is basically a pleasure card, it has nothing to do with bettering your business or making you better off, just makes sure you can live that posh lifestyle you want with other posh people, to say it quite literally.

The avion card you have is fine, but if you don't want vacations, then get points for something that you do enjoy.

Spending 300K? I had a conversation with a guy in the purchasing dept. at work about this very thing two weeks ago.

I doubt the vendors you deal with (if they even accept it) would like the extra charge that AMEX puts on transactions that large so a VISA or MASTERCARD would be in order.

http://www3.telusnet/CalgaryBen/ (http://www3.telus.net/CalgaryBen/)

From this chart you can see that some of the no fee cash back cards top out. The capital one card does not exist anymore so pay no attention to it.

Edit:

The black card is for people who spend all of that stuff on pleasure anyways and most pleasure is high margin so the AMEX fee is negligible for those types of businesses. Also you would be spending 3000 dollars on serviced based rewards that are questionable at best. It's just a status symbol. A real red flag dealer would never get such a card because you have to waste too much money on it. Pass.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d7/Titaniumcenturion.jpg/200px-Titaniumcenturion.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_card

[baz5]

I use avion, it's pretty good.
Do about $30,000 a year.
I'm sure $300,000 a year can get you something good. Go see your bank.

[rb]

Hey Drew , what kind of card shoud I get if ........umm on 2nd thoughts

[Drew_W]

Hey Drew , what kind of card shoud I get if ........umm on 2nd thoughts

There should be a card that gives me cashback when other people use it. :D