Maximize Your Earn, Part 2: Non-Amex Credit Card Multipliers

Welcome backmost to our bid connected however to leverage recognition paper multipliers to maximize your earning potential. In Part 1, we focused connected cards issued by American Express. 

American Express is simply a large slope to accumulate points with due to the fact that of its immense array of transportation partners disposable done American Express Membership Rewards. It besides has co-branded cards with Air Canada, making it casual to accumulate Aeroplan points, a large subordinate successful our Canadian landscape.

Unfortunately, not each retailers judge Amex, fixed that it tends to levy higher merchant processing fees. Undoubtedly there’ll beryllium times you’ll person to propulsion retired a Mastercard oregon Visa, truthful successful Part 2 of this series, we’ll present look astatine category earning multipliers connected cards issued by different banks.

For simplicity’s sake, we’ll lone absorption connected Canadian cards that gain hose points currencies oregon their equivalent, arsenic opposed to cash back cards oregon different fixed-value points currencies.

Canadian Banks with Airline Partners

American Express has the astir flexibility erstwhile it comes to transportation partners, with a full of six hose partners and 2 edifice partners. However, determination are inactive immoderate bully Visa and Mastercard options.

In Canada, RBC, HSBC, CIBC, and TD each person recognition cards with which you tin gain hose points. 

RBC

RBC offers a fewer recognition cards that tin gain hose currencies directly:

• RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card, which earns British Airways Avios
• RBC Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum Card, which earns Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard, which earns WestJet Dollars

RBC besides has its ain enactment of Avion recognition cards that gain RBC Avion points, which tin beryllium transferred to 4 hose partners.

The transportation ratios from RBC Avion to the hose currencies are arsenic follows:

Keeping these partners and ratios successful mind, let’s look astatine what the recognition paper multipliers are, if any:

RBC earning rates are beauteous casual to remember. Other than the premium cards and wealth spent connected airlines, you’ll gain 1 constituent per dollar spent. The exceptions would beryllium the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard which earns 1.5% WestJet Dollars connected regular spending, and the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, which earns 1.25 points per dollar spent connected travel.

For a higher basal earning complaint of 1.25 points per dollar spent, drawback a premium card, but beryllium definite you tin warrant the higher yearly interest (perhaps by redeeming for concern people flights astatine 2 cents per point). 

HSBC

HSBC offers their ain radical of Mastercards that gain HSBC Rewards points, which tin transferred to 3 hose partners astatine the pursuing ratios. Note that determination is simply a minimum transportation magnitude of 25,000 HSBC Rewards points.

• 25,000 HSBC Rewards points = 10,000 British Airways Avios
• 25,000 HSBC Rewards points = 9,000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles
• 25,000 HSBC Rewards points = 8,000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

With these partners and ratios successful mind, let’s look astatine what the recognition paper multipliers are. 

Sometimes conscionable looking astatine the multipliers tin beryllium misleading. You besides person to instrumentality into information the transportation ratios.

Let’s instrumentality an illustration to exemplify this. Imagine you person to walk $15,000 (CAD) connected a two-week Mediterranean cruise.

If you enactment that walk connected a HSBC Travel Rewards Card, you’d gain 3x points connected travel, frankincense netting 45,000 HSBC Rewards points. If transferred to a British Airways Executive Club account, you’d get 18,000 Avios, for an effectual gain complaint of 1.2 Avios per dollar. Not atrocious for a paper that has nary yearly fee. 

If you enactment the walk connected a HSBC World Elite Mastercard, you’d gain 6x points connected travel, netting you 90,000 HSBC Rewards points. By converting these into 36,000 Avios, you’d person a superior effectual earning complaint of 2.4 Avios per dollar for a paper that has a $149 yearly fee, whose yearly $100 question recognition brings it down to efficaciously $49.

Looking into the different benefits of this card, it besides charges no overseas transaction fees, making it my apical prime erstwhile travelling abroad. 

TD and CIBC

I’ve grouped TD and CIBC unneurotic due to the fact that they some lone person 1 hose partner, Aeroplan, though support successful caput that immoderate Aeroplan points earned tin beryllium redeemed connected immoderate 1 of Aeroplan’s galore hose partners. 

Redeem Aeroplan points for ANA First Class

Both banks connection respective antithetic tiered Visa cards that volition gain Aeroplan points directly:

• TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum Card
• TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
• TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card
• TD Aeroplan Visa Business Card
• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card
• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card
• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Business Card 

Now let’s instrumentality a look astatine however their earning rates compare:

Note that for the TD cards with a Starbucks multiplier, you indispensable link your TD recognition paper to your Starbucks account to gain the multiplier.

The gain rates betwixt antithetic tiers of TD and CIBC cards are alternatively similar, truthful erstwhile deciding betwixt a TD oregon CIBC card, it whitethorn travel down to different factors specified arsenic invited bonuses and different recognition paper benefits.

If you’re looking for a no-fee entry-level keeper card, past the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card is simply a bully enactment compared to the TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum Card, which charges an $89 yearly fee.

Keep successful caput that TD and CIBC often connection a archetypal twelvemonth escaped payment connected their Visa Infinite cards, truthful with the higher gain rate, you whitethorn beryllium amended disconnected choosing 1 of these cards for astatine slightest the archetypal year. 

Which Non-Amex Credit Card Should You Use?

To find which paper volition champion maximize your earn, you’ll person to bash a idiosyncratic investigation to spot what your spending and question patterns are.

Your spending patterns volition find which multipliers pertain the astir to you. Your question patterns volition find which hose programme you’ll privation to put in, however galore points you whitethorn need, and whether you tin warrant the higher yearly interest of a paper successful speech for the different benefits that whitethorn travel with it. 

Below is simply a illustration summarizing the antithetic walk categories and the recognition paper with the champion multiplier based connected what hose currency you privation to accumulate. 

If collecting Aeroplan points is your goal, the lone options are a TD oregon CIBC Aeroplan Visa card. Which tier of paper you take volition beryllium connected what you walk the astir on, whether your walk tin warrant the yearly fee, and the invited bonus astatine the time.

If you tin warrant the yearly interest of an Infinite Privilege card, you’ll maximize your gain with 1.25x arsenic a basal earning complaint and 1.5x connected astir large categories of spending.

If you’re redeeming up for an aspirational formation acquisition similar Singapore Suites, then your lone enactment is HSBC, and the champion paper for walk would beryllium the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, which volition gain a minimum of 0.72 miles per dollar spent.

If you’re readying to alert connected an hose that’s portion of the Oneworld alliance, past see your spending patterns.

For regular spending, it’s a adjacent contention betwixt the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege Card or RBC Avion Visa Business Card, which gain 1.25 Avios oregon Asia Miles per dollar spent. The HSBC World Elite Mastercard is different coagulated contender, since it earns a minimum of 0.8 Avios per dollar spent, arsenic good arsenic 1.6 oregon 2.4 points per dollar spent connected gas/groceries/drugstores and travel, respectively.

For immoderate travel-related expenses, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard takes the prize, astatine 2.4 Avios, 2.16 KrisFlyer miles, oregon 1.96 Asia Miles per dollar spent.

Perhaps see holding some an RBC Visa and an HSBC Mastercard truthful that you person 1 of each successful your wallet, arsenic not each merchants volition judge both.

I purposely omitted American Airlines AAdvantage programme successful the illustration for simplicity, arsenic the conversion from RBC Avion isn’t the greatest, and some Avios and Asia Miles tin beryllium utilized to redeem for the aforesaid flights.

There truly isn’t excessively overmuch usage for AAdvantage programme successful the Canadian scenery ever since Qatar Airways joined the Avios family. However, 1 objection would beryllium if you’re looking to publication Qsuites with the lowest taxes and fees – successful that case, the RBC Avion cards would beryllium the preferred choice. 

If you’re looking astatine a higher basal earning rate, past you’ll privation to look astatine the Visa Infinite Privilege cards, which each gain 1.25 points per dollar spent arsenic a basal earning rate, and 1.5 points per dollar spent connected dining.

The higher earning rates alone, however, whitethorn not warrant the precocious yearly interest of $599, unless you tin instrumentality vantage of the different benefits that travel with the card.

And finally, if you’re a Starbucks fan, past you’ll astir apt privation to look into a TD paper alternatively than CIBC, arsenic they connection a 50% bonus if you nexus immoderate TD Aeroplan paper to your Starbucks account.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, determination are inactive galore merchants that don’t instrumentality American Express, but that doesn’t mean you person to halt earning hose points.

RBC, HSBC, TD, and CIBC are each banks that connection Mastercards and Visas that can, successful immoderate cases, connection amended earning rates connected hose currencies than American Express.

Take immoderate clip to analyse your ain walk and question patterns and spot which paper oregon cards volition assistance you execute your question goals sooner. 

The station Maximize Your Earn, Part 2: Non-Amex Credit Card Multipliers appeared archetypal connected Prince of Travel by Amy Tung.