Credit Cards in My Wallet - American Express, VISA, Master Card

I decided to review and clean up my wallet of Credit Cards. I only applied for some of them due to the signup bonuses and some turned out to be much better than I expected

My favorite card - AMEX Platinum charge card, due to the 15K referral bonus

Cards to Keep

AMEX Gold Rewards Card

• 20,000 Bonus Points after $500 spending within 3 months
• No annual fee for the first year. $150/year after (I may cancel after 1st year)
• 2 points per dollar for travel/grocery/drugstore/gas purchases
• BEST USE - Gas, Grocery, Travel - including some gift card purchases. e.g. I buy GC at SDM/Sobeys to double dip

The AMEX Platinum Card

• 60,000 AMEX Membership Rewards Points after $1,000 spending within 3 months. This is 10000 points more than the regular 50K MR after $1000 spending offer, and can be worth more during transfer bonus like 20-25% for Aeroplan, or 50% to British Airways Avios
• $699 Annual Fee ($499 effectively if you deduct the $200 credit) << Luckily I still only pay $399/year, for now
• 2 x $200 Annual Travel Credit (for first year only). Use $200 credit before end of this year and then again starting Jan 1, 2014. It's $200/year after the first year
• Access to AMEX lounges in Canadian airports, and Priority pass VIP for unlimited access to 600+ lounges when traveling
• Hotel: Starwood Gold, Club Carlson Gold
• Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Gold membership = OneWorld Sapphire elite
• 15000 AMEX MR Points PER REFERRAL <- I've earned way more than I could ever spend
• BEST USE - I use it where AMEX Personal Gold don't earn 2X points, as I get 1.25X point on this card

Capital One Aspire Travel World Master Card

• 2% return on Travel and 1.5% on cash back. I signed up with $350 worth of points.
• $120/year fee, effectively $20/year with 10000 anniversary points
• I use it where AMEX is not accepted

TD First Class Travel Infinite VISA

• $120/year fee, waived due to holding TD Select Service account
• I keep it only for the Expedia For TD service, where I can earn 4.5% return on bookings

TD Gold Elite VISA

• $99/year fee, waived due to holding TD Select Service account
• I keep it only for the free Deluxe TD Auto Club. I used it in 2011 to tow my car (200 km allowance) and several battery boosts!

Cards I plan to cancel upon renewal

I would cancel below cards, wait 3~6 months and re-apply for the welcome bonuses (churning)

AMEX Gold Rewards Card - Oct 2013

• Even earning 2X the points is not enough to justify the $150 fee.

Chase Marriott Premier VISA - Nov 2013

• I applied for the limited promotion of 50K Marriott points + 1 free night at Cat 1-4 hotels, 1st year fee waived.
• Anniversary bonus of 1 free night at a Cat 1 - 4 hotel <- this has lost its value since Marriott increased categories 5/16/2013
• You become Marriott Silver, but it doesn't have much benefits
• $120/year, waived for first year
• I redeemed the free night at $150/night hotel and used 30K points for NYC Manhattan hotel ($360/night)
• This card has NO Forex fee, so it does save you ~2.5% which is only significant if you spend a lot to recover the $120 fee
• BEST USE - 5X at Marriott hotels, 2X at Restaurants, and USA/International due to no Forex fee

CIBC Aerogold Infinite VISA - Cancelled

• I only got it for the 15000 Aeroplan bonus with no 1st year fee in Dec 2012
• $120/year

MBNA Smart Cash Master Card - Cancelled

• I only got it for the $100 gift card bonus
• No annual fee

Travel Rewards Credit Card Comparison

Since I have owned several Travel Rewards Credit Cards over the last few years (owned and actually used), I figure I will do a summary recap here for my own, and for my readers (if any, look at my RSS count)

		Travel Infinite	TD Gold Elite	AMEX Aeroplan Plus	CIBC Aerogold Infinite
	Jerry's summary	Good for travel expenses or redemption	Good for auto club	Annual fee makes it harder to break even	Annual fee makes it harder to break even
		1.5% return is good
		VISA accepted almost everywhere
	Type	VISA	VISA	AMEX, Charge card	VISA
	Annual Fee	$120 (waived with Select Service)	$99 (waived with Select Service)	$120, not waivable	$120, not waivable ($75 credit may be given)
	Rewards	$1 charged = 3 points, $1 via TD Travel = 9 points 10000 pts = $50.	1% Cashback	1 Aeroplan for $1 1.25 for $1 after $10000	1 Aeroplan for $1 1.5 for $1 for Gas/Grocery/Pharmacy
	Return %	1.5%~4.5%	1%
	Signup Bonus	20000 points = $100	None	10000 Aeroplan miles	15000 Aeroplan miles
	Extended Warranty	Yes	Yes		No
	Price Protection	Yes	Yes		No
	Travel Accidental Insurance	up to $500000	up to $500000	up to $500000	up to $500000
	Trip Cancellation Insurance	$1000/person, automatically included		No	optional
	Trip Interruption Insurance	$5000/person, automatically included	$5000/person, automatically included	No	Yes
	Travel Medical Insurance	8-day trips for under 65		No	15 days
	Delayed/Lost Baggage	up to $1000/person	up to $1000/person	up to $500	Yes
	Car Rental Insurance	Collision/Loss Damage Insurance	Collision/Loss Damage Insurance	Yes
	Auto Club	No	Yes	No	optional
	Rental discount	Budget	Budget	No	Avis
	Supplmentary Card	$50, can be waived	$39, can be waived	2 FREE ($50 each)	$50

Canadian Tire Triple Dipping

I have come to fall in love with the truly Canadian retailer, Canadian Tire, over the years. It always has decent sales if you are patient enough. I have bought BBQ, Mowers, Detergents, Tires, Wipers, Keys, Camping equipments, etc.... almost everything you need to find for a home.

This is a tip to MAXIMIZE your spending and getting the highest return, something I learned.
Since nobody reads my blog I figure it doesn't hurt to blog about it ^_^

Prerequisites

• You have Canadian Tire nearby (store locator), especially Gas Stations (to collect and spend Canadian Tire Money)
• You SHOP at Canadian Tire
• You use Credit Card as habit (you don't get as much if you use Debit only)
• You want to go through the process which involves some work, little, but some

FIRST DIP - Cashback

You sign up for Cashback websites, which gives you certain % of your purchases back to you

• Great Canadian Rebates (GCR) has 3.5% cashback for Canadian Tire. If you spend $100 in purchases after you enter via GCR, you will get a credit of $3.5 back

You login to GCR, and select "Canadian Tire" from the "-- Select Merchant --" dropdown
You click the "Shop: CanadianTire.ca. Shopping made easy 24-7!!" link, which opens a new tab/window to Canadian Tire

You purchase $1000 worth of Canadian Tire Gift Cards online with free delivery. A few business days later you should receive an email from GCR notifying that you have received $35 in rebates.

Notes:
Occasionally (about twice a year) GCR will have Canadian Tire promotions that raised the cashback rebate from 3.5% to 5%. I have stock up $1000 each time during these promotions.

SECOND DIP - Credit Card Rewards

You accumulate the rewards on your Credit Card from the Canadian Tire Gift Card purchase above.

For example

• AMEX 2% Cashback - discontinued
• CIBC Aerogold VISA Infinite - $120 annual fee. Great if you do collect Aeroplan

• TD First Class Travel VISA Infinite - $120 annual fee (waived with Select Service which requires $5000 minimum balance). 1.5% to 5% if you book travel with them

THIRD DIP - Gas coupons for Canadian Tire Money

Assume you have a Canadian Tire store nearby and a gas station, your weekly Canadian Tire flyer will have a multiplier gas coupon, which ranges from 5X to 10X multiplier (see picture)

You go to the Canadian Tire Gas Station, fill up, and pay with your Canadian Tire Gift Card purchased in 1st dip, along with the coupon. You will get back Canadian Tire Money.

Notes:

Due to weird structure, you actually get more from 4 x 10L fill-up with coupon instead of 1 40L fill-up with coupon. But I am too lazy to literally maximize to that extent

FOURTH DIP (optional) - Convert CT Money to Gift Card

You could simply spend the Canadian Tire Money inside the Canadian Tire store

OR

You have collected enough Canadian Tire Money from either Gas fill-up or Canadian Tire store purchases. Then you take these Canadian Tire Money to the store Customer Service and ask them nicely to put them onto a Canadian Tire Gift Card instead (minimum $25). Then you repeat the cycle above

  

My Example

I didn't really keep track to the penny, but it is accurate enough

I bought $1000 Canadian Tire Gift Card in Nov 2008

• 1st dip = $50 cashback from GCR, paid out in Feburary 2009
• 2nd dip = $20 from 2% AMEX Cashback
• 3rd dip = $30 Canadian Tire Money, more or less from the gift cards

My return on investment is
($50+$20+$30) / $1000 = 10%, beats any savings account

As I have run out of the gift cards, my next goal is to sign up for the AMEX Small Business Gold Card and dip it even more. More to follow tomorrow!