The 'BEST' credit card....

[sebTeggy]

Hey guys,

So I have been with RBC for a while now and have had the same credit card for years. I am wondering, from a benefit standpoint, what is the BEST credit card you can have in terms of savings or money back in your pocket.

I have seen lots of rewards, points, gas and cash back credit cards. The way that I see it, is that you can take any of these cards and convert them into a universal '% savings' to compare apples to apples.

I never miss a payment and I never pay interest, all of my payments are on time and in full, I have no use for a 'low interest' card. I also am scared shitless of planes so I don't really care about air miles (which are ridiculous anyways) or avion perks.



RBC Cash Back - 1% cash back works out to being a 1% savings (at the end of the year)

RBC Mastercarad - 2% discount BUT 0.5% for the first x thousand dollars, 1% for the next x thousand dollars, and 2% at select locations, works out to being about 0.7% total discount depending on where you shop

RBC Esso Gas Card, Shoppers Card, ANY points card - If you cash ONLY the highest valued item, you are getting about 6 pennies for every 10$ spent, working out to about 0.6% savings. 0.3% for the low-point rewards and if there is a massive promotion, you are getting close to 0.9%. The downside is you are narrowed down to your choices of savings. Keep in mind, although you get a '150$ coffee machine', most of us wouldn't buy this, or we would wait until boxing day, or buy online for half the price, thus reducing the value of your reward

RBC Rewards Cards - very similar structure to the above cards. Usually forces you to spend your money at selected retails to earn points (Orbitz, BestBuy, Joe's Car Rental) with the benefits of gaining some savings. This one is a bit more tricky as you might be paying MORE to gain your rewards which yield you less.

Shoppers Optimum and Air Miles have been fooling people for EONS. Get 10,000 points when you buy a 6$ jug of milk. Well, those 10,000 points, when converted, are worth a few pennies. Sure, if you break it down, free points are free points and when redeemed, is a nice little treat. Here is the problem, some people go OUT of their way to find a shoppers and buy things that are either more expensive, or they don't need, for a sense of 'reward'.

Anyways, wondering what your guys thoughts are. I have had the 1% Cash Back card for about 5 years now. The way I see it, is that I get a 1% discount on ANY purchase (technically) when I use my credit card and I see it at the end of the year. So far I think it is the best bang for my buck and would like to hear what others think? Can this be beaten?

[meme405]

http://www.revscene.net/forums/66557...ard-apply.html

[yray]

fuck RBC

called to activate my credit card, operator talked nonstop for 5 mins about credit protection plan

[Akinari]

Same with pretty much every bank I've dealt with they want you to buy the protection plan real bad

[sam0m0]

I'm using RBC cashback mastercard, thought it was 2% for groceries and 1% for everything else.

[yray]

Originally Posted by Akinari

Same with pretty much every bank I've dealt with they want you to buy the protection plan real bad

American Express

innout within 3 mins

[VR6GTI]

I use the RBC Avion card for the past ten years
Ive been on over 7+ trips and never paid for a flight, only the taxes. One trip was to Europe where we flew all over and still didn't pay anything.
Cost $150 a year for me and my wife and have never paid interest.
So far i think its worked in our favor to use this card.

[sdubfid]

Originally Posted by VR6GTI

I use the RBC Avion card for the past ten years
Ive been on over 7+ trips and never paid for a flight, only the taxes. One trip was to Europe where we flew all over and still didn't pay anything.
Cost $150 a year for me and my wife and have never paid interest.
So far i think its worked in our favor to use this card.

Do you have a breakdown on cost vs returns? Flights in Europe could be $50 and you could spend 20g a month on your avion for all we know.

[sebTeggy]

Originally Posted by VR6GTI

I use the RBC Avion card for the past ten years
Ive been on over 7+ trips and never paid for a flight, only the taxes. One trip was to Europe where we flew all over and still didn't pay anything.
Cost $150 a year for me and my wife and have never paid interest.
So far i think its worked in our favor to use this card.

Why the hell do you fly for free????? Please elaborate?

[kr4l]

Used to be Amex and TD aeroplan for me. I've flown business class overseas a few times with those.

But since Costco doesn't accept Amex anymore (I have a small business), I switched to capitalone.

Any card with cash back is probably better than a points card if your just the average user

[123654123]

Originally Posted by yray

fuck RBC

called to activate my credit card, operator talked nonstop for 5 mins about credit protection plan

meh they're just doing their job. I get that with TD too. all i do is let them read the script for 5 mins while i put them on speaker and afterwards i just say "no" . you can hear sigh and the defeat in their voice knowing they just wasted 5 mins.

I have the TD cashback(1%) everything with the auto protection service for free tows/keys locked etc. i haven't use the perks yet but that's a good thing.

[Mike Oxbig]

MBNA smart cash

/thread

[Godzira]

I use BMO airmiles mastercard, It was my first and only.

[winson604]

Originally Posted by sebTeggy

Why the hell do you fly for free????? Please elaborate?

Because that's a Travel Credit Card and he accumulated enough points/miles to fly for free?

[hotjoint]

Originally Posted by Big Earl

MBNA smart cash

/thread

This is what I use as well.

[VR6GTI]

Originally Posted by sdubfid

Do you have a breakdown on cost vs returns? Flights in Europe could be $50 and you could spend 20g a month on your avion for all we know.

I spend between $3-$9000 a month. I put everything on it, car insurance, house insurance, cable, phone, property tax every bill possible even if its a $1.
The trip to europe was a bonus because british airways had a special that if you transfered avion points to british airway miles you get 2-3.5x or something cant remember exactly.
If i think about it its got me 3 tickets to and from vegas and 5 trips to Hawaii.
But don't forget ive also paid $1500 for the card over 10 years.

[Hondaracer]

Imo the infinite avion isn't worth it unless your spending $$$$

For me, I had to essentially spend $80,000 to get one $1350 Round trip to Europe plus about half the cost of the second ticket. 122,000 points plus $760 got us two Round trip tickets to paris.

Imo the new costco MasterCard seems realy good, probably going to sign up for it

[quasi]

Originally Posted by VR6GTI

I use the RBC Avion card for the past ten years
Ive been on over 7+ trips and never paid for a flight, only the taxes. One trip was to Europe where we flew all over and still didn't pay anything.
Cost $150 a year for me and my wife and have never paid interest.
So far i think its worked in our favor to use this card.

I use the same card and I'm happy with it. It also gives you insurance on anything you buy, basically an extra 1 year warranty. I've never used it but my brother law has used it on a bunch of stuff, shirt doesn't fit warranty claim, break new toilet when installing it warranty claim.

[Hondaracer]

Good to know, also their customer service Is excellent

[v_tec]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Imo the new costco MasterCard seems realy good, probably going to sign up for it

In one sense? Besides it being 2-in-1 with your Costco membership attached.
Only advantage is the 3% restaurant. Or else you're better off with just the MBNA smartcash.

[nabs]

Originally Posted by yray

American Express

innout within 3 mins

AMEX Gold has got to be one of the better ones. I've never had an easier time using a card and not being hassled. Weekly balance updates and such. Friendly non pushy people on customer service that actually act like they give a shit.

[meme405]

Okay. I almost exclusively use a BMO World Elite Mastercard. I collect BMO reward points on it. The card costs $150 a year, although I had the first year waived, and they gave me 40,000 bonus reward points when I signed up. You collect 2 reward points for every $1 you spend on the card.

I load absolutely everything onto the card, like literally everything from my Timmies in the morning to my car insurance, and travel expenses.

It costs 11,000 points to get a $100 gift card to a few of their supported retailers, like home depot, or best buy. So I don't know where this fits in on the scale of rewards, but its not bad for me.

I keep the card more so because their concierge service is actually really good, and because of the card you get a priority pass membership, and 4 free visits a year (which cost $25 each), priority pass for those that don't know is all those airport lounges, where you can eat, drink, shower, sleep all you want while you wait for your flight.

I've used the concierge service to book flights, hotels, etc. And believe it or not they actually do a decent job at getting good rates, and also they are magic at getting into sold out flights, or booked restaurants.

Obviously you pay for the service, but it becomes worth it if you are using it, as I do.

[InvisibleSoul]

Realistically, should just find the equivalent threads on RedFlagDeals. There would be way more details and experienced people there for this kind of stuff.

There's a Capital One card that is effectively 1.5% cash back on everything.

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by Big Earl

MBNA smart cash

/thread

Nope, not so fast. It used to be the best card, but it's gotten worse because there are now limits on the 2% cash back for gas and groceries.

As mentioned, there's a Capital One card that's 1.5% across the board, so depending on how much you spend and on what, you might get more back from that one.

[Marioo1991]

costco mc for eating out and gas
mbna smart cash for groceries

gonna start using mbna alaska airlines for everything else