Welcome to a new monthly feature here on the Rewards Canada blog, the Top 5 Credit Card Sign Up offers. Now, 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 offers. As always when
choosing a card you should always take other factors into account other than the sign up bonus, but when most of these cards are first year free, they can and do pay off even when not taking into account insurance packages and other non-reward benefits. In fact 4 of 5 cards on this list for February are first year free so you can try them out at no cost and decide later on if the card is right for you. All the while earning the sign up bonus which can be used to subsidize your travels! The only card that isn't first year free is the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. It has an annual of $120 but the new sign up bonus of 20,000 Starpoints is worth no less than $400 depending on what you value Starpoints at.
So here are our top 5 credit card sign up offers for February (in alphabetical order)
American Express Gold Rewards Card - 25,000 Points (
Apply here)
A mainstay offer here on Rewards Canada, the American Express Gold Rewards card has its first year fee of $150 waived and will award you 25,000 Membership Rewards points when you complete $500 in spending in the first three months. That 25,000 points is worth a $250 travel credit via Amex's TripFlex feature or can be converted to 25,000 Aeroplan Miles (1 Round trip Economy Award ticket within North America) or 25,000 British Airways Executive Club Avios (as much a 5 one way Economy Award tickets in North America,
see this post for details.)
BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard - 30,000 Points (
Apply here)
Quite possibly the best Travel Points card now available in the market, the BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard also has a $150 annual fee but that is waived in the first year too! The sign up bonus is 30,000 BMO Rewards Points which is worth $300 toward travel booked via BMO Rewards. There is no minimum spend so as soon as you are approved you should have access to that travel credit!
Scotiabank Gold American Express Card - 20,000 Points (
Apply here)
A very strong card in the earn category for Gas, Grocery and Dining/Entertainment purchases, the current sign up bonus for the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is 20,000 points when you reach $1,000 in spending in the first three months. That 20,000 points is equal to a $200 travel credit and since this card is a book anywhere card you can book the travel how you want when you want and when the charge shows up on your account you can redeem the points against the charge. The card normally has a $99 annual fee but of course that is waived in the first year!
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express - 20,000 Starpoints (
Apply here)
Recently the sign up bonus for this card was increased from 10,000 Starpoints to 20,000 Starpoints and this is the only card in this list that doesn't have the first year fee waived. That doesn't matter. This is by far the best hotel points card in Canada and Starpoints have huge value. The 20,000 Starpoint bonus when you spend $500 on the card is worth at least $400 when redeeming them for Starwood Hotel stays or you can convert them to airline miles in over 30+ programs and Starwood will kick in an additional 5,000 miles when you transfer 20,000 Starpoints at a time.
TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card - 25,000 Miles (
Apply here)
Also seeing an increased sign up bonus and the first year fee waived, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card had a tough start trying to break into a market saturated with so many cards and competing against its CIBC equivalent. The card now seems to be gaining some traction and with offers like the current 25,000 Aeroplan Miles sign up bonus (15,000 upon approval, 10,000 when you spend $1,000) and the first years $120 fee waived, I'm sure you can see you why.
Other than the Starwood card, you ultimately could end up with at least $1,000 in travel credits with these cards 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.
