Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for December - nearly $1,500 in travel rewards with these cards

Here are the Rewards Canada Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers for the month of December! This is not a 'best' credit card list like our Top Travel Rewards Credit Card rankings but instead a look at cards that have very good acquisition (sign up) offers. As always when choosing a card you should always take other factors into account other than the just sign up bonus, but when most or all of these cards are first year free, they can and do pay off even when you grab them strictly for the sign up rewards.  This month all five cards have no annual fee in the first year so you can try them out at no cost and decide later on if the card is right for you.

This month sees the return of the TD First Class Visa Infinite card first year free offers so it is back on our list. This knocked the CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card off the list even though the sign up offer may be worth less (all depends on what your redeem for) but TD points are much more flexible than CIBC Aventura points so we chose that card to feature.

Here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for December  (in alphabetical order)

BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard - 3,000 Miles  (Apply here)
The best ever sign up bonus for an AIR MILES co-branded card makes it back to our Top 5 sign up list thanks to its 3,000 miles sign up bonus (worth ~$300 or more) and no annual fee in the first year! Add in a free companion fare when you redeem for flights and the value jumps even higher. Even if you aren't a fan of AIR MILES the fact you can get 3,000 miles and them use them as cash rewards for no cost to you should be enough to go out and get this card. Please note: new Collectors have Miles automatically deposited into their Dream Account, not their Cash account. Minimum Income: $80,000 Personal or $150,000 Household

BMO Rewards World Elite Mastercard - 35,000 Points  (Apply here)

Revamped on January 15th with a reward program that is less rewarding on your day to day spend the card still returns to this list thanks to its sign bonus and first year free offer. The card offers a 35,000 point sign up bonus that is worth $250 in travel and since the card is first year free right now (they bill you $150 and then rebate after several months) that means your $250 in travel is free and yes you even get the LoungeKey access and 4 lounge passes included in that first year free. Minimum Income: $80,000 Personal or $150,000 Household

HSBC World Elite Mastercard - 75,000 points (Apply here)
Only gone of our list for one month this card returns with an even better sign up offer than before. Up to 75,000 points can be had as long as you can meet to somewhat steep spending requirement. That being said there's no annual fee in the first year and the card has a lot of other good benefits like no foreign transaction fees!  Those 75,000 points are worth $375 in travel rewards but those points can also be converted to British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.  Minimum Income: $80,000 personal or $150,000 household or $400,000 in assets at any Canadian Financial Institution

RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card - 20,000 Points (Apply here)
Back on the list after the last offer ended in July.  Sure before it was 25,000 points but this new offer is still very good. Now it's 15,000 points + 5,000 more when you spend $1,000 in three months with no annual fee in the first year. Still a great offer even with the spend requirement and it still means you can get 20,000 RBC Rewards points at literally no cost to use towards flights via the RBC airline redemption program or convert to other programs like WestJet (it's 200 WestJet dollars!), British Airways or Cathay Pacific.  Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

TD First Class Visa Infinite Card - 40,000 Points (Apply here)
Last time this card was being featured with no annual fee in the first year was back in August! It's nice to see it return albeit with a slightly lower sign up bonus of 40,000 points versus 50,000 earlier this fall You get the standard sign up bonus of 20,000 points upon approval and another 20,000 if you spend $1,000 on the card in first 90 days having it. Those 40,000 points translate to $160 worth of travel credits for any travel booking or $200 worth of travel for bookings made via Expedia For TD. Minimum Income: $60,000 Personal or $100,000 Household

If you went for all these cards you ultimately could end up with nearly $1,500 in travel credits but even if you only take on one or two you are helping your travel budget significantly at no cost other than regular credit card spend