American Express (AMEX)

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Top Credit Card Higher than Normal Sign Up Bonuses for December 2019

ByMatt

Most offers this month started in November, since many promotions ended in October. So the majority of this list is carry-over from last month and end sometime in 2020 (GASP! Already almost the new year). For the most part, it was TD that ended their offers and created some new ones that run for the next few months. 

Top Higher than Normal Sign Up Bonuses for December 2019

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Comparison of the AMEX Air Miles Reserve, Platinum and BMO Air Miles World Elite Cards

ByMatt

Quite a few changes were made to the American Express Air Miles Reserve Card and BMO Air Miles World Elite MasterCard since I wrote the comparison post, so I thought I’d give a proper update to both cards at the same time. But this time, I added the American Express Platinum Credit Card into the mix as improvements to the card made it a more viable option. 

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Top Credit Card Higher than Normal Sign Up Bonuses for November 2019

ByMatt

Quite a few promotions ended at the end of October, but most promotions either got extended or repurposed. 

Top Higher than Normal Sign Up Bonuses for November 2019

For the rest of the credit cards, I ranked the credit cards by the price of the annual fees (lowest to highest):

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Ranking the Credit Card Portfolios of Each Canadian Financial Institutions (updated May 1, 2019)

ByMatt

I have been debating how often I should update this post. I decided on 6 months, and it has been the latest trend anyway. There has been several changes (though mostly in the bottom half of the rankings) to the industry in that period of time to warrant an update anyway. Most significantly, it was time to include Brim Financial and Cuets.Every time I write up an update, I generally try to have a theme throughout the post. This time around, I am going to emphasis more on the gap between the rankings.Below are my personal rankings of each company, along with a commentary and a list of some of my top credit card picks for each financial institution.

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Top Retention Bonus Credit Cards in Canada

ByMatt

Every year, when I write about my wish lists, you may notice that I include retention bonuses as one of them. Sure enough, Canada has starting picking up in this segment of the industry. With the introduction of the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Business Card, I thought it was time for me to write a post up on this topic. Basically, churning has been frowned upon. However, a compromise to this is to offer incentives for big spenders. The bonus rewards that we would receive, should in theory, reduce the amount of churning that happens. Ideally the spending bonus would cover the need to churn to generate more bonus points.

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Top Credit Cards to Use on Road Trips (updated April 1, 2019)

ByMatt

See Also: Top Reasons to go on Road Trips

I usually try to update this post once a year, as we get into spring. Historically, I have updated this post in June, but it may be more useful to update it sooner. The Canadian credit card landscape has changed quite a bit over the past year, so this post was definitely due for an update.

For Canadians, road trips generally consist of cross country or cross boarder to the United States. Perhaps some people venture further into Mexico, but probably not much further south. So this post will focus on two portfolios to put together, for travel within Canada and for travel to the United States / Mexico.

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Credit Cards which offer Free Airport Lounge Access (updated March 9, 2019)

ByMatt

Due to the popularity of this post, I think it was due for an update. Along with several changes to the industry since the last time. The most significant addition is the CIBC Aventura cards. The most significant change is that BMO left Priority Pass in favour of MasterCard Airport Experiences.

Just to avoid confusion, this post refers to only cards that give at least 1 free lounge pass. It does not refer to cards that give you Priority Pass membership, but a fee to access the lounge.

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Air Canada Renews Partnership with American Express

ByMatt

Air Canada and American Express Canada have come to a new agreement to renew and expand their partnership. The plan is for American Express to continue beyond 2020 when Air Canada launches their new loyalty program, as this is a new 10-year deal. 

If you read the news release closely there are some hints to some positive news.

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Top Credit Cards to use at Restaurants (updated January 27, 2019)

ByMatt

As we approach Valentine’s Day, restaurants usually expect a little more business. There is still time to apply for the right card for that day. Below are the top picks.

I have classified the credit cards in different categories and ranked them by their annual fees.

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Highest Current Cash Back Promotions (at least 5% and up)

ByMatt

As you already know, we publish a monthly Top Cash Back Credit Card Offers. That mostly lists higher than normal bonus promotions. However, with several significant cash back offers, I thought I’d give another type of list a try. The reason is because the industry seems to be putting a lot more emphasis on cash back offers. 

Since Pointshogger is about maximing rewards for Canadians, I’ve always told myself that if the industry were to ever shift towards cash back, miles and points would have to take a back set. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you see it) in Canada, there were many co-branded airline and hotel credit cards that have discontinued over the past few years.