[ANALYSIS] Capital One Aspire Travel World vs. TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card

TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite

• • $120 annual fee
  • Earn 20,000 points sign up bonus
  • Earn 9 points for every $1 spent on travel online through Expedia
  • Earn 6 points for every $1 spent over the phone through either Expedia or the TD Travel Rewards Centre
  • Earn 3 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases

The competition is the Capital One Aspire Travel World MasterCard which is the most comparable to this credit card. The highlights of the credit card are as follows:

• • $120 annual fee
  • Earn 35,000 sign up bonus points after your first purchase
  • Earn 10,000 anniversary bonus points
  • Earn 2 points per $1 spend on anything
  • Points can be redeem for a variety of rewards
  • Tiering system when redeeming travel rewards
  • Points do not expire as long as the account remains open

Both credit cards have extensive travel insurance coverage, so that is a tie for this factor.

I really dislike the Capital One tier-ing system to redeem for travel rewards. The tier-ing system is probably the most unattractive aspect of the credit card and is known to be a deal breaker for many potential cardholders. I am quite certain that if they made the tier-ing system disappear, they will have an abundance of new clients. But hey, maybe they don’t want more business, so that’s a clear WIN for TD on this factor.

The best bang for your buck on both credit cards is on travel rewards. I would not redeem your points on merchandise, if you prefer to redeem for merchandises, you might want to consider another credit card instead because the rate of return for merchandises are dismal. In terms of the TD credit card, 20,000 points gets you $100 of travel credit. In two years of having the TD credit card, you get $100 and spend $240 on annual fees (negative $140). Comparatively speaking, 35,000 points can net you $350, and you get an anniversary bonus of 10,000 points, which is another $100. In two years of having the Capital One credit card, you get $450 and spend $240 on annual fees (positive $210). Big time WIN for Capital One.

In terms of the spend-to-earn ratio factor, keep in mind that 2 TD points equals to 1 cent, while 2 Capital One points equals 2 cents. Let us do a basic calculation. In one year, let’s say you spend: $15,000 on your credit card and for arguments sake, let’s say you maximize the 9 points per $1 on the Expedia website, instead of earning only 6 points per $1 on all your travel expenses.

• $12,000 (non travel expenses) = 24,000 Capital One points = 36,000 TD points
• $3,000 (travel expenses) = 6,000 Capital One points = 27,000 TD points

After spending $15,000 on the year, but let us multiple by 2 years, so that we can factor in the annual fee calculation above

• Capital One earns you 30,000 x 2 = 60,000 points, which equals $600
• TD earns you 63,000 x 2 = 126,000 points, which equals $630

Now we include the annual fee into the calculation:

• Capital One $600 (in points) + $240 (net earnings on annual fee) = $840
• TD $630 (in points) – $140 (net loss on annual fee) = $490

Big WIN for Capital One in the first two years of having both credit cards.

This last factor that was discussed is pretty much the deal breaking factor on deciding which is the better card. I suggest that you replace my $15,000 annual spending with what you actually spend and see which credit card works out better for you.