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TD Rewards and Scotiabank’s Scene+ are two notable bank rewards programs that offer members the chance to earn valuable points and redeem them for travel, free groceries, and more.
In this head-to-head, we’ll compare these two programs to see how they stack up in key categories, and to see which one is best suited to your earning and redeeming preferences.
The TD Rewards program and the Scotiabank Scene+ program both offer members a number of great ways to earn points and redeem them for valuable things like travel, free groceries, statement credits, and more.
To help us figure out which of these program is the best, let’s compare the following 3 key program areas:
Both TD Rewards and Scotiabank’s Scene+ give its members a diversity of ways to earn points through their programs.
In the sections below, we’ll compare the different earning options to see which program makes it easiest to stack up a bunch of points.
With the TD Rewards program, you can earn TD Rewards Points with the following personal credit cards:
With these cards, you can earn between 1 and 8 TD Rewards Points for each $1 you spend across all purchase categories, giving you lots of opportunity to pile up these valuable rewards.
Comparatively, you can earn Scene+ points with these Scotiabank credit cards:
With the Scene+ credit cards, there’s a good mix of both Visa and American Express options, and depending on which card you choose, you can earn from 1 to 6 Scene+ points per $1 spent.
From the lists above, we can see that both TD Rewards and Scene+ offer a range of cards, making the programs accessible to all types of rewards collectors.
It’s nice to see that each program offers no-annual-fee options alongside premium options so that there’s something for everyone.
Additionally, all of the above cards from both programs typically come with a welcome offer to help jump start your new points journey.
In addition to earning points with the credit cards listed above, fans of Scene+ are able to also earn points just by holding a program membership card and scanning it any time they make an eligible purchase.
Scene+ stands out in this way since it’s free to join via the program’s website, and it lets you earn at participating merchants like Sobeys, IGA, Cineplex, Home Hardware, and more — all without having to get a new credit card (though the credit cards are definitely worthwhile too!). As a member of Scene+ and/or a Scene+ credit card holder, you can earn additional points in the following ways:
On the other side of our comparison, earning TD Rewards Points is limited exclusively to spending on the associated credit cards.
We all know that the really satisfying part of rewards programs is when we finally get to start redeeming points and saving money across our purchases.
Conveniently, both TD Rewards and Scotiabank Scene+ give you multiple different ways to redeem your points:
Regardless of whether you’re earning TD Rewards Points or Scene+ points, one of the best ways to redeem your stash is for travel.
With TD Rewards, the most valuable way you can redeem your points is for travel booked through Expedia for TD. When you use this option, you get 0.5 cents per TD Rewards Point to help cover flights, hotels, and more.
TD Rewards also lets you save on travel through their Pay Off Purchases option.
With this payment feature, you can cover eligible travel expenses made on your credit card at a rate of 225 TD Rewards Points = $1 (or 0.44 cents per point).
It’s worth noting that this redemption option can also be used to cover non-travel purchases, but when you go this route, you’ll only get a value of 400 TD Rewards Points = $1 (or 0.25 cents per point).
Comparatively, Scene+ also offers two different ways to redeem your points for travel.
First, you can use your accumulated points to help cover the cost of travel booked through Scene+ by Expedia. This option is basically identical to the TD Rewards one mentioned above, but you’ll get higher value since you can redeem your Scene+ points for 1 cent each.
For travel that isn’t booked the Scene+ by Expedia, you can use the Points for Travel feature. This option helps you save on travel with Scene+ points by giving you a value of 1 cent per point when you redeem for eligible travel purchases made on your credit card within the last 12 months.
This is a great option to help cover expenses incurred at Airbnbs and smaller boutique hotels, as well as for other travel costs that aren’t redeemable through airline and hotel loyalty programs.
Probably one of the Scene+ program’s most familiar redemption options is the ability to instantly redeem points at eligible grocery stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
Through this option, Scene+ members can redeem 1,000 points for $10 off at the IGA, Sobeys, Swiss Chalet, Cineplex, and more.
TD Rewards, comparatively, doesn’t offer this type of instant in-store redemption.
For fans of online shopping, you can redeem your TD Rewards Points through Shop with Points at a rate 0.33 cents per point for purchases made on Amazon.ca.
Another redemption avenue that’s available through these programs is the option to use your points for gift cards and merchandise.
Within the gift card category, the available value for your points can fluctuate depending on which gift card you choose, but generally speaking, you can get a value of around 0.75 cents per Scene+ point or 0.25 cents per TD Rewards Point.
With TD Rewards, you can also redeem your points for merchandise through your account and the rewards portal, accessing value of 0.25–0.33 cents per TD Rewards Point.
Both TD Rewards and Scotiabank Scene+ let you redeem your points for statement credits that help pay down your credit card bill, as follows:
Beyond the ability to earn points and redeem them a number of different ways, both the TD Rewards program and the Scotiabank Scene+ program give their credit card holders a nice offering of additional benefits.
The exact selection of perks that you can enjoy will depend on the credit card that you hold, but generally speaking, you can find the following within the different card families:
With the TD Rewards family of cards, you can enjoy the following benefits:
Depending on which Scotiabank credit card you have, you can potentially have the following perks:
So, after comparing the programs across the above three key categories, which do we think should take the top prize: TD Rewards or Scotiabank Scene+?
In each of the categories (i.e., earning, redeeming, and benefits), we gave the advantage to the Scene+ program since it tends to offer just a little bit more across the board.
That said, the TD Rewards program was such a close second in each category that it’s hardly fair to choose a favourite, especially considering that ultimately, the best rewards program is the one that you’ll use to its fullest potential.
Both TD Rewards and Scotiabank Scene+ offer excellent value and diverse redemption opportunities, so we think that the best program is whichever one feels the most accessible to you.
Since both programs are easy to join, you may want to watch for a lucrative welcome offer from either TD Rewards or Scene+ to help tilt the scale one way or the other.
You can also read our head-to-head between the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card and the Scotiabank Visa Infinite Passport Card to further compare these two programs and help you choose.
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