^^^does anyone know if fast food and coffee shops count as restaurants?

Fast food -- definitely. At least McD, A&W, KFC / Taco Bell, Wendy's, Subway, etc. all count as restaurants.

I have a Triangle World Elite Mastercard and it gives me 3% back in Canadian Tire Money for groceries. However, it doesn't work at Walmart and Costco. I also get 4% at any of the Canadian Tire family of stores. 1% everywhere else. The 24 month no interest or fees on purchases over $200 at CT stores comes in handy.

For restaurants, I use the Costco Mastercard. It gets me 3% back at restaurants. That's the only time I use it. I use my PC World Elite at Costco. I get 1% back, which is better than the 0.8 I get from using Costco's own Mastercard, gulolol. For any place that takes it, which is few and far between, I use the American Express Card.

I also have a More Rewards Visa card, a Bay Mastercard and a few others. The More Visa card is pretty much useless. The points you earn are pretty much useless. It's there in case I ever go to Price Smart or Save-On Foods to get 7 times the points.

I would like to get the Simplii Cashback Visa, but I think I've got enough credit cards. 10% for for months of restaurants and bars, and 1.5 % in groceries sounds really good. Argh........

Oh, the Home Trust Visa is my go to card when shopping in the US.

Has anyone tried calling them prior to going on a vacation to the US? I used to call Amazon/Chase Visa each time I went on a long trip to the US to avoid any declined transactions. I tell them where, when, and how long.

If they know that information, they may increase or even waive the limit???

I haven't been gone for long enough in the US since getting the HT Visa to go over that ten transaction limit.

Can’t speak for each company, but phoning in pre-trip has not done much for me before... sometimes they still cut it sometimes they didn’t.

TD never cuts my First Class card no matter what, no idea what their algorithms are, but travelling flags is definitely not one of them lol... CapitalOne or Alaska? Not so much, they don’t even like me buying from foreign websites Alaska (MBNA parent company) cuts m my card every single time I buy from amiami (Japan hobby site) and I have to call in every time, no matter how many notes they put on my account that I frequently buy from there. Gave up and do it through PayPal now, ironically onto the same credit card lol

I didn't call when I used my HT card multiple times on vacation, did not have any issues. I did not have a problem with the apparent 10 transactions a day limit or low spending limit.

I didn't before I went to Vegas for a weekend. Used the card a few times without issue. I did however get an email citing possible fraudulent activity on my card once I got home for the period I was in Vegas.

There used to be an option online (Capital One) where I can indicate that I'm travelling and about a year ago I noticed it was gone so called them and they said there is no need to anymore.

off topic question. does anyone know if i can pay using my td debit/access card and charge to my us chequing account while i'm in the states or do i need a separate us visa/us debit? thanks!

a lot of pages to scroll through

looking for a cash back card on groceries / restaurants as that's where majority of my spendings go towards

can anyone sum up maybe top 3-5

much appreciated

No annual fee:

1) Simplii Cash Back VISA -- 4% on restaurants, 1.5% on gas / groceries / drug store, 0.5% on others

2) Tangerine Mastercard -- 2% rebate on up to 3 categories, 0.5% on others . Many of us would appreciate an offer to send you a referral, since both parties would benefit.

Annual Fee:
1) Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite - 4% on gas / groceries, 2% on drug store / recurring bills, 1% on everything else

Any updates from this card use? I was thinking of getting it since I go to US frequently and UBER is included in usage.

Also unlimited use unlike the Home Trust Visa which caps at 10 transactions a day.

The Rogers WE MC has 4% cashback but charges the FX fee (usually around 2.5-3%) so 1-1.5% cashback.

The $139 dollar AF is a bit steep but 6 free PP a year is a nice catch. You could do better with other cards or a mix of cards but I just want 1 card (for now..)

Get the Rogers WE with no annual fee for foreign spending. No fx card can beat that one.

The Scotia Passport is a shit card. Who pay $139 a year for terrible rewards? Lounge passes are gimmicks.

My current combo is Rogers WE + Amex SCP. Retired the MBNA WE because of the nerf (what a great card that was). Would go with the Rogers WE as a single card but the credit limit is so pathetic I'd have 100% utilization every month.

If it was a VISA I would jump on it.

I'm going to cancel my current MNBA Platinum Plus MC since the balance transfers are at a higher rate now and get the ROGERS WE MC.

Hey guys,

Any AMEX card to recommend? I was looking at the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

what's a good replacement for MBNA World Elite? they raised the fee

i called in and was concious about the limit, was able to go over it in LA

I usually carry a backup card on the road anyways

HT is nice in that if they suspect susp activity, they'll e-mail you for verification

There is no good VISA rewards card that can match Mastercard's and Amex's products. Visa cards have annual high fee, shit rewards or have lame ass restrictions like Home Trust Preferred. Just look at card portfolio of banks that have strictly VISA like RBC. What a joke.

Amex SPG Starwood used to be a great card but I think that got devalued a few months ago? Anyways most people use AirBnB nowadays... Amex Cobalt and Simply Cash Preferred would my choices.

What do you want it for? Travel, cash back, rewards/exclusivity?

I'm a big fan of the Amex Membership Rewards Gold Card, it's a really good card for travel with great insurance policies. Otherwise the Simply Cash Preferred is a great every day CB card.

The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite is a pretty good cash back card IMO, especially with the current 10% bonus CB.

Amex SPG got devalued simply because SPG merged with Marriott. What a loss of a great hotel program.

I wanted the AMEX for the rewards/exclusivity. Another card I was looking at was the American Express AIR MILES Credit Card with no annual fee.

Air Miles is trash skip that card. Exclusivity/rewards... Amex Platinum is actually very good if you can get past the costs. The business version costs less but has the same perks. Again, recommend the Membership Rewards Gold or Simply Cash Preferred depending on whether you want travel miles (convertible to airline miles which can be great value depending on usage) or cash back. Can usually find FYF deals on those.

Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts is great for hotel perks/benefits, and Amex Travel is very very good. Competitive prices and their call centre agents are 99% competent. I love Amex CS - they really treat you well and go above and beyond.

I have simply cash preferred. It helped offset our crappy exchange rate when I was in the promo period - I maxed out on cash back before the time period ended.

5% cb, no complaints here. I used it as the card to buy car parts.

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I got that new canadian tire card. Free road assistance on the black card, and great benefits/rewards with ct money, and sportschek, marks.

I shop at those stores and figure its' a solid card to have.

I alternate from that and the PC World Elite

Just got the PC World Elite since I shop at Super a lot but what a brutal card to deal with online. Over 2 weeks now and still can't register an account online and reading online there are hundreds of complaints since they swapped to the new site. Some people even reporting it's been months and still can't get back online to view their activity. Call them and all they say is i'm not in the system yet that's why I can't verify? Like wtf really not in the system? I've been using the damn card for over 2 weeks now.

I agree with you. I'm a long time member and when the new site came, it's been a pain in the ass.

Sometimes it keeps asking me to verify.

The card is great though, with the points and occasional shoppers drug mart bonus days i.e/ 300 points to 450 redemption. Since signing up, I've probably got about 600? bucks back in points. Since over a year ish.

If you have a family, the PC Insider program at 50% often is great. A friend saved a bunch during a diaper deal they had.

SimplyCashTM Preferred Card from American Express

Earn 5% cashback in your first 6 months

2% back thereafter.

its the new cash back card since mastercard lowered their 2% to 1.67%.