Reward Credit Card Review: TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
Reward Credit Card Review: TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
We’re now the second year of TD officially taking over (from CIBC) as the official issuer of Aeroplan credit cards, and overall it’s not a bad card. I recently signed up for the card, and got myself roughly $450+ in miles and rebates!
Sign-Up Bonus
As with most rewards credit cards, the real draw is the sign-up bonus. Currently, they are offering a sign-up bonus of 15,000 Aeroplan miles after your first purchase. Frankly though, that’s not a great deal. Until recently they sweetened the deal with an extra 10,000 miles (after $1000 in purchases within 90 days) and waived the $120 annual fee. Officially this offer ended on May 8, 2015, but can find some 3rd party referral links that still have the offer (see below). Also if you missed it his time around, these offers tend to be cyclical and will probably come around again later this year.
TD Offer:
- 15,000 Aeroplan miles after first purchase
Third Party offer through Red Flag Deals or Great Canadian Rebates (offer until August 31, 2015):
- 15,000 Aeroplane miles after first purchase
- Additional 10,000 Aeroplan miles after spending $1000 within 90 days of card activation
- $120 Annual fee waived for first year
I value Aeroplan miles (conservatively) around $0.015 = 1 mile. So, 25,000 miles = $375+.
Rebates
- $60 if you sign up through Great Canadian Rebates (offer until June 30, 2015)
- $70 if you sign up through Red Flag Deals
I’m not sure how long the Red Flag Deal will last, but I imagine they will try to stay competitive with Great Canadian Rebates. Either way it’s a generous rebate! Combined with the sign-up bonus, that gets me just under $450 in value! Depending on how you redeem the miles, you could get even more out of it.
Other Benefits
- Complimentary Concierge Service
- Complimentary First Checked Bag on Aeroplan Award Flights*
- Priority Check-In and Boarding on Aeroplan Award Flights*
- Access to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge on Aeroplan Award Flights*
- Avis Rent-A-Car And Budget Rent-A-Car preferred rates
- Travel Medical Insurance (covered even without charging the travel to the card)
- Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance
- Delayed and Lost Baggage Insurance
- Flight/Trip Delay Insurance
- Auto Rental Collision / Loss Damage Insurance
- Emergency Travel Assistance Services
*(only on Air Canada (Rouge/Express) flights)
Most of these benefits are fairly standard with the exception of the extra perks when booking award flights on Air Canada flights, which could certainly save you some cash if you’re interested in checking baggage (rather than doing carry-on) or the Maple Leaf Lounge.
Fees
- $120 Annual fee
- 2.5% Foreign transaction fee
Eligibility
- $60,000 Annual gross personal income OR
- $100,000 Annual gross household income
Earning
- 1.5 miles for every dollar spent at gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores, and on AirCanada.com (excluding Air Canada Vacations)
- 1 mile per dollar for all other purchases
The earning on this card it fairly mediocre, and you can do better on other cards, such as the AMEX Gold Rewards card, which earns you 2 points (which you can cover to 2 miles) on gas, grocery, and travel. Of course, many places don’t accept AMEX so the TD Visa can be a good fall back if you’re trying to spend in those categories (e.g., gas, grocery). It’s also a bit of a slap in the face to only earn 1 mile per dollar spent on Air Canada Vacations. Even 1.5 miles/dollar on AirCanada.com is lacklustre. I can get 2 miles/dollar using my AMEX, so it’s a bit of a disappointment that they can’t even be competitive with other cards on their own co-branded product. For non-cateogory spending, it’s equivalent to the AMEX (1 mile/dollar). Of course, you can also double-dip and earn additional miles by shopping at Aeroplan partners showing/using your Aeroplan card.
Redeeming
There’s not much to say in terms of redeeming rewards, as it is independent of the credit card. Redemption is done through the Aeroplan program and is no different than if you earned Aeroplan miles through some other method. Check out my other posts on how to redeem Aeroplan miles:
Conclusion
If you can manage to get the better sign-up bonus and rebate, it’s certainly a worthwhile card to get! For everyday non-category spending, it’s decent, but for category spending you can do better with other cards (e.g., AMEX Gold Rewards).