Van Life and Reward Points

Van Life : Posts

Van Life is a unique way to travel, to discover the world around us.

Within the milesopedia member community, there are many vanlifers who have successfully combined the art of van travel with the savings from reward points and benefits that credit cards can provide them:

for the grocery store
for gas
for activities
for stopover hotels
for cash back
for travel insurance
to avoid paying any foreign currency conversion fees on their expenses

Discover below our series of articles dedicated to the Van Life, and below the different credit cards appreciated by vanlifers.

Van Life : Credit Cards

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers.

Click on the type of card that best suits your needs. If you would like to search for a card by yourself among all our criteria, click here to check out our credit card search tool.

Grocery

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers for groceries:

5 points per dollar with the American Express Cobalt™ Card
5 points per dollar with the Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card
5% cash back with the BMO CashBack^® World Elite^®* Mastercard^®*
3% cash back with the no-annual-fee BMO^® CashBack^® Mastercard^®*.

Gas

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers for gas:

3 points per dollar with the Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card
2 points per dollar with the American Express^® Gold Rewards Card
2% cash back with Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card no annual fee

Restaurants and Bars

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers for restaurants and bars:

5 points per dollar with the American Express Cobalt™ Card
5 points per dollar with the Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card
3 points per dollar with the BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard

Cash Back

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers for cash back:

Up to 4% with Scotia Momentum^® VISA Infinite* card
2% everywhere with the American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card
Between 1% and 5% with the BMO CashBack^® World Elite^®* Mastercard^®*

Travel insurance

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers for insurance:

Up to 60 days of out-of-province medical coverage with the National Bank World Elite Mastercard^®.
Up to 60 days of out-of-province medical coverage with the National Bank World Mastercard^®.

Stopover hotels

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers for hotels:

5 points per dollar with the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express^® Card for bookings at Marriott’s hotels, with a nice welcome bonus
5 points per dollar with the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express^MD Card for bookings at Marriott’s hotels, with a nice welcome bonus

Airbnb

Some vanlifers rent out homes on Airbnb, or even just lots so they can park! You can save money on Airbnb with several credit cards outlined in this strategy.

No conversion fees

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers to avoid paying any foreign currency conversion fees on purchases made in foreign currencies (a savings of 2.5% on each transaction)!

Activities

Here are the different credit cards milesopedia recommends for vanlifers to save on activities such as theme parks:

The Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card is the only card that lets you earn 5 points per dollar on activities
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card allows you to apply points to park admissions or other entertainment activities