The 'BEST' credit card....

[Hondaracer]

What’s the annual fee

Also that’s presuming you can spend enough to realize the points required. Do places like Home Depot etc. ecen take Amex?

[bcrdukes]

Most major retailers take AMEX. I am mindful of smaller businesses and proactively try not to use my AMEX there unless they have a Small Shops promo which I can take advantage of. I believe the Platinum annual fee is $699/year but you make it back quickly if you travel a lot. Keep in mind, the Platinum AMEX is a charge cards, and not credit card. (Edited - Thanks roastpuff)

Points I've accumulated on my Cobalt Card have helped me with covering a lot of costs of my wedding back in September. I like that you can cover the cost of your bill using points or to redeem them for travel or merchandise (which I don't really care for.) My only beef with the Cobalt Card is that you earn the most points for food/dining, which I don't do a lot of.

Re: Costco Mastercard - Do they still have an annual cap on cash back? I recall they did which is what I didn't like about them which is why I stuck around with my Rogers Bank Mastercard which has no limits on cash back and is quite generous.

[MG1]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

What’s the annual fee

Also that’s presuming you can spend enough to realize the points required. Do places like Home Depot etc. ecen take Amex?

Yes. Also collect Pro Xtra points (up to 5% cash back) on top of Amex.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/pro/proxtra.html

[Hondaracer]

Didn’t think there was a cap on the Costco MC? I’ve frequently gotten 1200-1500 back a year on it. One time when I redeemed for my cash the guy said the most he’s given back was 10k? Lol so that’s somthing absurd like 500k spent on it

[Badhobz]

my amex reserve annual fee is 599. seems steep, but like i said the perks cover that fee easily. they just upped the check bag fee at air canada recently. 2nd bag is now 100 bucks and first bag is 50. just having free bag saves you 150 per trip if you carry 2 checked bags.

so i spend roughly around 80-90k a year on my cc. at 1.25% base rate (not including gas/restaurants which are more) thats already 100,000 aeroplan points. good enough for a round trip fair to Asia on economy. plus with this card you can roll over your mileage/eupgrades to the next year.

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Didn’t think there was a cap on the Costco MC? I’ve frequently gotten 1200-1500 back a year on it. One time when I redeemed for my cash the guy said the most he’s given back was 10k? Lol so that’s somthing absurd like 500k spent on it

must be small business shopping. ive seen these guys buy like 20+ bags of flower, 20+ jugs of oil, etc etc. Makes sense.

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by donk.

Cashback cards > all other cards

It really depends on what you do and how much you spend.

If you travel frequently, I think many point programs yield better value if you can rack up that much expense on the card.

Even the absolute best cashback card gets you about 2% overall if you really work your way around it. But that's not all that great because many of them have limits on how much CB you can get. So, high-spenders would likely get less than 2%.

I know people who between personal and business expenses put 7 figures on their cards annually. Considering a first-class air ticket can easily reach 5 figures, they are much better off with points that they can redeem for travel.

[roastpuff]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Keep in mind, the Platinum and Gold AMEX are charge cards, and not credit cards.

FYI the new Gold card is a CC now.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by roastpuff

FYI the new Gold card is a CC now.

Did not know this. (Thanks for that!)

When did this come into effect?

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Re: Costco Mastercard - Do they still have an annual cap on cash back? I recall they did which is what I didn't like about them which is why I stuck around with my Rogers Bank Mastercard which has no limits on cash back and is quite generous.

Rogers WE Mastercard

Just wish they kept the 4x bonus for non-US forex

[roastpuff]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Did not know this. (Thanks for that!)

When did this come into effect?

Couple of years ago I believe. It also resets the "lifetime" bonus as it counts as a new product so you can get the sign up bonuses again.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by roastpuff

Couple of years ago I believe. It also resets the "lifetime" bonus as it counts as a new product so you can get the sign up bonuses again.

Good to know and thanks for that. I had no idea it became a credit card. My spend was huge this year primarily due to expenses for our wedding. Where vendors didn't accept AMEX, we used the Rogers Bank Mastercard or our TD Aeroplan Visa.

The AMEX Gold is something for us to truly consider in the near future.

[HonestTea]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Good to know and thanks for that. I had no idea it became a credit card. My spend was huge this year primarily due to expenses for our wedding. Where vendors didn't accept AMEX, we used the Rogers Bank Mastercard or our TD Aeroplan Visa.

The AMEX Gold is something for us to truly consider in the near future.

It's a good option if there's a good sign-up bonus for the Gold but I wouldn't keep it past the first year (my opinion) since it doesn't pull its weight with the new annual fee ($250). You get much more value with the Cobalt IMO especially when you get get 5X from grocery stores.

[roastpuff]

I got the Gold for the 60 + 15 sign up bonus, will likely cancel it next year once I get the Cobalt spun up to keep the MR points.

[Badhobz]

I think you can just keep bouncing around the different credit cards for their bonuses. The key is to not cancel it and just downgrade it to a no annual fee one and then upgrade when they have a bonus again. Some cc companies like Amex is lifetime (only get one bonus) but others like TD you can reUp every 1-2 years I think.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by HonestTea

It's a good option if there's a good sign-up bonus for the Gold but I wouldn't keep it past the first year (my opinion) since it doesn't pull its weight with the new annual fee ($250). You get much more value with the Cobalt IMO especially when you get get 5X from grocery stores.

Originally Posted by roastpuff

I got the Gold for the 60 + 15 sign up bonus, will likely cancel it next year once I get the Cobalt spun up to keep the MR points.

Bulk of my AMEX spend is on groceries but I wished they were more generous on other categories.

No more mileage runs for me, at least for work any way. We've cut down significantly on work-related travel for many years and it's getting even more restrictive. Last MR and work-related long haul flight I did was to Amsterdam and India back in 2018. Other than that, just a few trips to Montreal and Vancouver if I'm lucky.

On a personal level, I'd love to do more mileage runs again but travel is just really expensive these days in comparison to the good ol' days. 2019 was the last time I achieved any kind of airline status with United and Delta but haven't been able to take advantage of it. I may need to divorce Marriot for my hotel program seeing as their prices are often very expensive in comparison to Hilton and other related chains. Their corporate discounts are dismal.

[winson604]

I've always been tempted to get a travel specific card with mileages but the thing is I'm not an avid traveler like some are and while the return might be higher (not sure) I may not see the benefit for years.

After my grand fathered capital one card went to the shits I've been using the CIBC Dividend Infinite card for 1.5 years now. $120 annual fee, 4% on gas and groceries (auto 3 cents off if used at chevron), 2% on transportation, dining, and recurring payments, 1% on everything else. Overall not bad it's the main card I use for 99% of my stuff and in my first full year I'm at $1300 cashback right now might finish the year close to $1400 so value wise it has been good. Would it have been better elsewhere, maybe but I'm not unhappy with the results so far.

[Eff-1]

Is the AMEX 85k welcome bonus typical? Or is that a limited time promotion they are running right now?

[Badhobz]

during the pandemic i think they were up to 105k bonus promo (i read that online somewhere) but the 85k is only good till jan next year. then they might shrink it or make it bigger, its hard to say.

i only got it this month because i needed the card to rollover my extra mileage and eupgrades into next year.

If you guys do any traveling with your significant other that companion pass they give you really makes back all the money. literally a second fair to asia or oz/new zealand for 599. plus the free checked bags, plus the lounge access, plus plus plus everything. totally worth it in my opinion.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

during the pandemic i think they were up to 105k bonus promo (i read that online somewhere) but the 85k is only good till jan next year. then they might shrink it or make it bigger, its hard to say.

i only got it this month because i needed the card to rollover my extra mileage and eupgrades into next year.

If you guys do any traveling with your significant other that companion pass they give you really makes back all the money. literally a second fair to asia or oz/new zealand for 599. plus the free checked bags, plus the lounge access, plus plus plus everything. totally worth it in my opinion.

Can I get two companion fares? We are going to need 4 airfares when we travel soon. Just traveling once a year would make getting the card worth it.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

during the pandemic i think they were up to 105k bonus promo (i read that online somewhere) but the 85k is only good till jan next year. then they might shrink it or make it bigger, its hard to say.

i only got it this month because i needed the card to rollover my extra mileage and eupgrades into next year.

If you guys do any traveling with your significant other that companion pass they give you really makes back all the money. literally a second fair to asia or oz/new zealand for 599. plus the free checked bags, plus the lounge access, plus plus plus everything. totally worth it in my opinion.

Round trip companion for 599?

[Badhobz]

Yeah it’s round trip. 599 for companion fare (economy only).

If you need 2 companion passes then you gotta get another credit card for the spouse (ideally a different one than Amex reserve, so you can get different perks, but also has companion pass perk like the TD aeroplan privilege).

[BaoTurbo]

I kept my AMEX Gold personal cuz they changed it to the metal rose gold card.

Maybe I'm retarded lol

[sonick]

Originally Posted by BaoTurbo

I kept my AMEX Gold personal cuz they changed it to the metal rose gold card.

Maybe I'm retarded lol

On the pleb end of the amex spectrum, I just got a replacement Amex Cobalt card, looks like cheap sh*t compared to my original one.

Shiny flat plastic with printed numbers (like a shitty gift card) vs matte embossed of my old one.

[Badhobz]

ever since the pandemic, and even a few years before that, ive realized that almost nobody handles your credit card other than you.

You tap small purchases, you insert for larger purchases. nobody besides maybe the occasional restaurant will take your card and insert it for you.

Only the in the states, you give them the CC and they walk away / come back with the bill. For some reason most restaurants in the states dont have a mobile CC machine and they have to run it at the till.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by sonick

On the pleb end of the amex spectrum, I just got a replacement Amex Cobalt card, looks like cheap sh*t compared to my original one.

Shiny flat plastic with printed numbers (like a shitty gift card) vs matte embossed of my old one.

Ouch, that sucks. I am pending to receive my new Cobalt card due to upcoming expiry.

I've been asking around who manufactures the Cobalt card and so far, nobody has been open to admitting it. I work very closely with the companies who make/manufacture credit cards, and there are only a small handful of them in the industry.

I would liken that the requirements for the Cobalt card came from AMEX themselves, and not so much a manufacturing problem or quality issue with the vendor who makes them. I am not looking forward to the update as my current one, while is showing wear and tear, is not in the greatest shape.

Originally Posted by Badhobz

ever since the pandemic, and even a few years before that, ive realized that almost nobody handles your credit card other than you.

You tap small purchases, you insert for larger purchases. nobody besides maybe the occasional restaurant will take your card and insert it for you.

Only the in the states, you give them the CC and they walk away / come back with the bill. For some reason most restaurants in the states dont have a mobile CC machine and they have to run it at the till.

I hate using credit cards in the US, especially restaurants. They always try to swipe for you or bypass the PIN portion because that process is foreign to them and they screw things up and lock the card. I try to tap whenever I can. And the tipping portion for restaurants is still manual where you write it on a the receipt.

On my recent trip to Los Angeles, I recently came across the mobile machines at some restaurants but very few of them will bring it up to you. They still prefer to take your card to swipe on their machines. Adoption of this practice is slow in the US.