Credit Cards

List of credit cards friendly to people who don't qualify for Visa Infinite/MC World/MC World Elite; only good cards

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  • Mar 4th, 2023 12:55 pm
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[OP]
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List of credit cards friendly to people who don't qualify for Visa Infinite/MC World/MC World Elite; only good cards

I've been meaning to do this for a long while. RFDers here with six figure income simply tend to forget that the vast majority of people do not qualify for these types of cards. So, I would like to make a list of good cards to which average people people can apply. Please post suggestions here and I will make a list and update it. Only good cards with great returns. You know, the type of cards we recommend to friends and family members, so they get as much back as possible for their money.

Visa
CIBC Aventura Gold: 2 points for every $ spent through the CIBC Travel Centre; 1.5 points for every $1 spent at gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores; 1 point for ever $ spend on all other purchases; $120 annual fee (includes emergency travel medical insurance, 15 days coverage if 64 or under, up to $5 000 000)

MasterCard
BMO CashBack MasterCard: earn 3% cashback on all grocery purchases for up to $600 a month; 1% on recurring purchases and 0.5% on all other purchases.
Brim Financial MasterCard: earn 2% on Amazon purchases to to $10000/year (note: this does not include Audible); 2% on select streaming services (such as Netflix and Spotify); 1% on every purchases; no foreign FX transaction fees.
Canadian Tire Cash Advantage: earn 1% up to $24000 (tiered); earn 1.5% above $24000; pay for bills only payable with a bank account and earn cashback for it
Capital One Costco MasterCard: earn 3% on restaurant purchases and 2% on gas purchases; for all other purchases, 0.5% for the first $3000 in a year, 1% afterwards.
PC MasterCard: earn 10 PC points for all regular purchases; earn 25 points for every $1 of purchase at Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix; bonus of 2 cents per litre in PC Optimum points for Esso purchases
Rogers MasterCard: earn 3% on all USD purchases; 1% on everything else
Tangerine MasterCard: earn 2% on various purchases categories (2 without a Tangerine savings account; 3 with one); earn 0.5% on all other purchases

American Express
Cobalt Card: Earn 5 points for every $1 in purchases for restaurant/food purchases in Canada; earn 2 points for every $1 in purchases for travel and transit in Canada; earn 1 point for every $1 in everything else. ($10 monthly fee) (includes emergency medical travel insurance, 15 consecutive days if under 65, up to $5 000 000)
Gold Rewards: earn 2 MR points for every 1$ of purchase in travel, grocery, drugstore and gas station purchases. Earn 1 MR points for everything else. MR points can be exchanged for Aeroplan points (and other frequent flyer programs) for a better earn rate. ($150 annual fee (includes emergency medical travel insurance, 15 consecutive days if under 65, up to $5 000 000)
Scotiabank American Express Gold: 5% in Scotiabank points (redeemable on travel) for all grocery, dining and entertainment purchases; 3% for all gas, daily transit and select Internet streaming services; 1% on everything else; $120 annual fee (includes travel medical insurance; 25 days for under 65; 3 days for 65 and up; $1 000 000 coverage)
SimplyCash Card: earn 1.25% on all purchases; earn 2.5% in your first 3 months (up to $150)
SimplyCash Preferred: earn 2% on all purchases ($99 annual fee); earn 5% cashback in your first 6 months (up to $300) (includes emergency medical travel insurance, 15 consecutive days if under 65, up to $5 000 000)
Last edited by Poutinesauce on Aug 30th, 2021 10:07 am, edited 22 times in total.
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Rogers/Fido MC: 1.25% on everything in CAD, 3% on everything in foreign currencies.
Amex Cobalt - MBNA RWE - Brim WE
Amex Platinum - Amex Bonvoy Brilliant
[OP]
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ddot98 wrote: There's a few "World" cards kicking around. They tend to fall somewhere in the middle between the baseline cards and the World Elite. Not sure what your cut off is.

https://www.pcfinancial.ca/m/english/cr ... ard-world/
https://www.bmo.com/main/personal/credi ... astercard/
I know there's a few World cards, but I would rather not include them. I would like this to be a list where even middle to low income earners could apply for anything.
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My wife had a CIBC Dividend Platinum for 2+ years and it was by far our main card. Only $15k minimum annual income. Earlier this year they upgraded her to the Infinite version even though her income has never been near $60k.
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lefroset wrote: My wife had a CIBC Dividend Platinum for 2+ years and it was by far our main card. Only $15k minimum annual income. Earlier this year they upgraded her to the Infinite version even though her income has never been near $60k.
Oh yes, I definitely wanted to include that.
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Poutinesauce wrote: Oh yes, I definitely wanted to include that.
Ok great. It's also 4% on gas, by the way.
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Jun 29, 2015
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Canada Eh?
What's considered a good card?
RBC Cashback MC has 2% on groceries, 1% on all others, $0 AF. On top of that you get the RBC-Petro discount plus Purchase Security and Extended Warranty Insurance
lefroset wrote: I considered that card a while ago, but thought the % return formula was bogus:
- The 2% on groceries is only on the first $6k spend per year, then it drops to 1%
- The % on "all others" is 0.5% until $6k spend within the year is achieved, then it becomes 1%

Basically after $6k spend in the year, everything is 1%. I had a similar thing on the CIBC Dividend (basic) years ago, and it took forever for one's earn rate to accelerate, and then sure enough, your biggest spending category takes a dive to 1%.
Last edited by pseudosammich on Jul 13th, 2018 8:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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pseudosammich wrote: What's considered a good card?
RBC Cashback MC has 2% on groceries, 1% on all others, $0 AF. On top of that you get the RBC-Petro discount plus Purchase Security and Extended Warranty Insurance
I considered that card a while ago, but thought the % return formula was bogus:
- The 2% on groceries is only on the first $6k spend per year, then it drops to 1%
- The % on "all others" is 0.5% until $6k spend within the year is achieved, then it becomes 1%

Basically after $6k spend in the year, everything is 1%. I had a similar thing on the CIBC Dividend (basic) years ago, and it took forever for one's earn rate to accelerate, and then sure enough, your biggest spending category takes a dive to 1%.
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Poutinesauce wrote: I know there's a few World cards, but I would rather not include them. I would like this to be a list where even middle to low income earners could apply for anything.
+1

Afaik MC World has same income requirement as Visa Infinite ($60k).

+1 for a thread on cards that don't have income requirements above $15k

I'll make some suggestions
  1. CTFS MC Cash Advantage, no-AF tiered CB MC. CTFS approves almost everyone. Pay bills via PayTM since it's MC, or though CTFS bill pay portal, and get CB on bill pay to nearly any payee. Suspecting this card will get grandfathered soon, since the Options card is already grandfathered (many migrated to ∆ already).
  2. Mortgage Alliance MC (link) 1% CB, 2% groceries, WB 5% home renovations, no-AF
  3. RBC RateAdvantage visa, no-AF low interest card, ideal for international cash advances for those who can't get HomeTrust Preferred ($5 fee for cash advances internationally, 2.5% FTF, decent backup option)
  4. TD Platinum Travel, $89 AF (often FYF), 20-25k pts WB
  5. US domiciled credit card that's relatively easy for Canadians to get: TD Cash visa (link), see RFD thread
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[OP]
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Well, here is how I personally view it. To me, I am mainly interested in cards that give you as big a % of return as possible, and in features like emergency travel insurance. I'm not really big on churning. I want many good cards I can rely on that fill specific niches.

I usually don't like tiered cards, but it is true that CTFS cards have some unique and worthwhile features, so I will include the Cash Advantage. So far I hadn't seen a Collabria card that led you to an actual application link (instead of a message to contact your bank), but seemingly the Mortgage Alliance MC does, so I will include is as well.
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You could probably put an inclusion on Rogers and PC mastercard if they meet the minimum spending where they could get the World Elite version. They might not get it with income requirements but they can with minimum spending.
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Altera wrote: RBC Rewards Visa Preferred card has many good insurances for a $110 annual fee and about 1% back in points. Not that great for cb/rewards but the insurance suite is pretty comprehensive. Insurance documentation PDF
-1

It might be an option for those who don't qualify for premium cards based on income or spend, but WB (2.5k RBC pts, a tenth of Avion Infinite WB) and the high AF ($110) makes one more inclined to pay for trip cancellation with their travel agent rather than jump on this card. Afaik there are some no-AF cards with some travel medical coverage, so even low income frequent travellers probably would not opt for this.
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Altera wrote: RBC Rewards Visa Preferred card has many good insurances for a $110 annual fee and about 1% back in points. Not that great for cb/rewards but the insurance suite is pretty comprehensive. Insurance documentation PDF
I think this is a better deal for the same AF, 1% CB, 60 days travel medical and mobile device coverage,

https://www.desjardins.com/ca/personal/ ... /index.jsp

Desjardins also has a no fee card with 1% CB, 3 day travel medical and mobile device coverage,

https://www.desjardins.com/ca/personal/ ... /index.jsp

I have the Desjardins WE for $130 and the only difference is the CB rate is 1.5-2%
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Poutinesauce wrote: I removed the MBNA RTP, it became completely useless. Do not apply for it anymore.
What do you mean?

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