The least rewarding travel rewards credit cards in Canada

Here on Rewards Canada we spend a lot of time discussing the best credit card options and offers for the Canadian market. While we do discuss all types of rewards cards you can tell our focus is primarily on travel. Travel is the reward coveted by most Canadians hence the huge popularity in these type of credit cards. With over 70 different travel card options the rewards offered really vary by card and by issuer. We thought it would be fun to look at the opposite end of the spectrum with this post. Instead of the top cards or offers we thought we’d take a look at the least rewarding travel rewards cards in Canada.

Let me start off by saying that the worst or least rewarding credit cards out there are those that don’t  earn any rewards. With this piece we’re not gonna touch up on those but are going to look at the ones that you can actually earn rewards with but are the weakest in terms of redeeming those rewards for travel.

Recommend reading: The True Value in Reward Redemptions


Now, we have always stated that as long as you earning rewards on your credit card spending - and are financially responsible in that you pay off your balance every month - you are ahead of the game whether you are earning 0.5% or 5%. And there can be reasons why you are earning only 0.5% instead of 5%. You may have a poor to average credit rating, you may be a student with little to no credit rating or any one of many other reasons including being new to Canada. However you may also not be aware of what is in the market as you just have stayed put with a card for years or just took the one your bank gave you. Chances are you are fully capable of handling and using a better and much more rewarding card. And that’s where this post comes in - if you have one of the cards listed below and have a good to premium credit rating, pay off your bills every month and have income levels north of $40,000 there are better options for you.

The four least rewarding travel cards in Canada are as follows:

RBC Rewards+ Visa Card
The RBC Rewards+ Visa Card is RBC's entry level rewards card that rewards holders of the card with 1 RBC Rewards Point for every $2 spent on the card but bumps that up to 1 points for every $1 spent on gas, grocery and drug store purchases. When you go to redeem your RBC Rewards points for travel with this card you'll receive a $1 credit towards any travel for 100 points. This means you are receiving a 0.5% to 1% return on your spending. Thus you're average return will be below 1% unless you only use the card for gas, grocery or drug store purchases.

Scotiabank Rewards Visa Card 
Also an entry level card, the Scotiabank Rewards Visa Card rewards 1 Scotia Rewards point for every $2 spent on the card. There are no category bonuses with this card. When you redeem those points for travel you redeem at a rate of 100 points for $1 just like the RBC program above however you have to redeem a minimum of 5,000 points for a $50 credit. This means you are only receiving a 0.5% return on your card spending.

Vancity Enviro Classic Visa
The Vancity Enviro Classic Visa is a card that is only available to BC residents that rewards 1 Vancity Rewards point for every $2 spent on the card. It does have one category bonus, where you earn double the points for booking travel via Vancity Rewards. So for the most part when it comes to day to day spending this card is giving you only a 0.5% return as you redeem 100 points for $1 credit towards travel. You'll get 1% back on those Vancity Rewards travel purchases however.

HSBC +Rewards Mastercard
This relatively new card to our market is HSBC's new entry level card that is marketed more so towards being a low interest rate card with rewards so take this into account if you have this card or are considering it. It also has an annual that at time of posting is being waived for the first year. The card earns 1 HSBC Rewards point for every $1 spent on the card except for dining and entertainment where it earns 2 points per $1 spent. HSBC Rewards points are worth 0.5 cents each when redeeming towards travel which means this card gives a 0.5% return on all spending outside of the 1% for dining and entertainment.

As I already mentioned - just because you have one of the above cards it may not mean this is a bad thing. There could be very good reasons you have one of the above cards and by having one you are ahead of the game when compared to cards that have no rewards at all. However I want to make you aware that perhaps you should review what you have in your wallet to see if you can do even better with your rewards. There are plenty of no fee cards in our market where you will earn no less than 1% which means you could be doubling your rewards if you have one of the above cards.

I recommend checking out our Travel Rewards Credit Card comparison chart to see what options are out there for you!

October 10 Update: AIR MILES Bonus Boom offers tons of bonus miles until Oct 13, new Vancity cards added to our comparison charts, 14 new miles & points bonuses

AIR MILES Bonus Boom has returned for the next four days. There are tons of offers from various AIR MILES partners like Shell, Sobeys, Rexall, Hudson Bay and more. This offer runs from today to October 13. Check out your Bonus Boom offers here.

A few weeks ago we brought you the details of the new Visa Infinite and Visa Infinite Privilege Cards from Vancity. We wanted to let you know that both cards have now been added to our credit card comparison charts. You'll find the cards on the following charts:

• Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: All Travel Rewards Credit Cards 
• Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison: Travel Points Credit Cards
  

Posts since our last update:

• You can now book Singapore Airlines award tickets with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
  This is an update to news that goes back over two years where we detailed the news of a…
• Podcast Episode 58 - The revamped American Express AIR MILES Platinum Card and a Marriott Bonvoy redemption story that saves over ten grand in cash
  In this episode we look at the changes that will be coming to the American Express AIR MILES Platinum…
• Aeroplan Availability Alert: Lie flat business class seats between Toronto and Halifax for the Christmas season
  For the Christmas season Air Canada is flying an internationally configured Boeing 777 once a day between Toronto and…
• Hotel Review: Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa
  Earlier this year the Rewards Canada family spent an awesome 5 days at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort…
• October 8 Update: 20% Bonus for converting hotel points to Etihad Guest, Double Avios on all Accor Hotel stays Worldwide including Fairmont & more bonus offers
  Today was primarily a bonus offer day on our websites! There are definitely a couple you may want to check…

Travel Deals

Fairmont Hotels - Save up to 25% and earn up to 5x points for stays at Fairmont Hotels in Canada and around North America Find out more here.

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers

N/A

Other Bonus Offers

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 30% Bonus Asia Miles + additional bonus miles when you convert points from select hotel loyalty programs to Asia Miles. More... Until Oct 31, 19

Hilton Honors
- 1,000 Bonus Honors Points PER NIGHT for stays at the C. Baldwin, Curio Collection by Hilton Houston. More... Until Dec 12, 19
- 5,000 Bonus Honors Points for stays of 3+ nights at the DoubleTree by Hilton Phuket Banthai Resort. More... Until Dec 15, 19

Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays of 2+ nights Thu-Sun at the Marriott Atlanta Perimeter Center. More... Until Nov 18, 19
- 2,500 Bonus Bonvoy Points for stays at the Delta Hotels Woodbridge Islen. More... Until Dec 5, 19
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy points PER NIGHT for stays between Thursday-Sunday at The Westin Austin at The Domain. More... Until Nov 27, 19

Miles & More
- 1,000 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with Alamo for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for rentals until Nov 30, 19
- 2,500 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with Enterprise for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for rentals until Nov 30, 19
- 5,500 Bonus Miles & More Miles when you rent with National for 3 or more days Worldwide. More... Book by Oct 31 for rentals until Nov 30, 19

South African Airways Voyager
- 1,000 Bonus Voyager Miles + Up to 15% off stays at  50+ Marriott hotels in 13 countries across Africa & the Indian Ocean. More... Book now for stays Nov 1 – Jan 31, 20

Turkish Miles&Smiles
- 30% Bonus Miles&Smiles Miles when you fly on Turkish Airlines between Istanbul and Almaty, Bishkek, Graz, Isfahan, Casablanca, Constantine, Prague, Strasbourg, Shiraz, Vienna or Yekaterinburg. More... Nov 1 - 30, 19
- 30% Miles&Smiles Discount when you redeem for award travel on Turkish Airlines between Istanbul and various cities in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. Moreo... Nov 1 - 30, 19

United MileagePlus
- 500 Bonus MileagePlus miles when you spend $200 or more for shopping online via the MileagePlus Shopping portal. More... Until Oct 20, 19

World of Hyatt
- 10 Bonus World of Hyatt Points for for every eligible $1 USD spent on Fitness classes, Spa experiences, Boutique purchases or Exhale On Demand at Exhale Spas. More... Until Jan 10, 20



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Vancity introduces new Visa Infinite and Visa Infinite Privilege Cards with decent earn rates, lounge access and more

Vancity, the British Columbia based credit union has added two new cards to their portfolio of card products. Previously offering a base Visa card and Gold Visa they have now moved into the premium and ultra premium market with the Vancity enviro Visa Infinite Card and Vancity enviro Visa Infinite Privilege Card.

A quick look at the cards shows they are some strong offerings and we'll be sure to provide more in-depth coverage here on Rewards Canada in the near future. But for now here is a quick overview of what each card looks like and what you can expect from them:

Vancity enviro Visa Infinite Card

• $120 Annual Fee - $0 for first additional card, $50 for each card after
• No welcome bonus points
• 2.5 points for every $1 spent on groceries
• 5 points for every $1 spent on public transit and ferries
• 10 points for every $1 spent at select local businesses
• 1.25 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• Earn double the points when you use your enviro Visa card to book travel through the Vancity Rewards program
• Priority Pass membership (a US$99 value)
• Decent Insurance package including price protection and mobile device insurance but no out of province medial insurance, trip cancellation or interruption insurance
• 100 points = $1 towards travel and other redemption options

Vancity enviro Visa Infinite Privilege Card

• $245 for Vancity members ($395 for non‑members) $0 for first additional card, $50 for each card after
• No welcome bonus points
• 3 points for every $1 spent on groceries
• 5 points for every $1 spent on public transit and ferries
• 10 points for every $1 spent at select local businesses
• 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• Priority Pass membership (a US$99 value) with six complimentary airport lounge visits (US$192 value)
• Extensive Insurance package including 22 day out of province travel medical coverage, price protection and mobile device insurance
• 100 points = $1 towards travel and other redemption options

Seeing that the cards offer a nice and easy 100 points to $1 redemption ratio it quickly tells us that the Visa Infinite card earns a base rate of return of 1.25% (1.25 points per dollar) up to 10% for the 10 points per dollar at local businesses. It also appears the multipliers of 3, 5, and 10 points are not capped at a set dollar value like we see on many other cards. TheVisa Infinite Privilege card is similar however the base earn rate is 1.5 points (a 1.5% return) and also has 3 points on groceries for a 3% return in that category.

The 10 points per dollar on both cards is currently limited to these three local businesses in B.C.: Modo Co‑operative carshare, JJ Bean Coffee Roasters and Fresh Prep meal kit delivery

The Vancity Rewards site looks easy to use and I did a quick flight booking search between Vancouver and Calgary to see how the results come up:

As you can see it works to the 100 points to $1 redemption ratio as mentioned above and it allows you to easily redeem points for the flights. As with many other proprietary credit card programs you can also do partial redemptions. Say you only have 30,000 points, you could redeem them for $300 towards one of the flights above and pay the rest with your credit card (and earn double points while you're at it since it is a Vancity Rewards booking)

You can also use points towards cash back (Pay with points or a statement credit) or convert points to be cash deposited in savings accounts, TFSA accounts and more. Finally you can also redeem points for gift cards and the great news is the redemption rates for gift cards aren't devalued like lots of other programs - it still works out to 100 points to $1.

The insurance package on the Visa Infinite card is weaker than many other Visa Infinite cards in the market place, to get a really good insurance and benefits package you have to go to the Infinite Privilege card which also costs more. The latter though, if you are a Vancity member has a lower annual fee than other Privilege cards in the market and this one includes Priority Pass with 6 lounge visits, worth nearly US$300. 

Some things you need to be aware of to get a Vancity card - you must be 19 years and you must also be a B.C. resident which is too bad as it really limits the possibility of these cards making in roads in the Canadian market. That being said, if you are 19 and live in B.C. then these new offerings from Vancity are something you may really want to take into consideration when picking a new credit card.