All-Inclusive Travel: The Best Credit Cards for Vacations to Sunny Destinations

When you get the chance to spend a week in an all-inclusive in the South, it’s already pretty hot. What would be even better?

• to eat and relax in a lounge before taking off
• to be insured in case of loss of luggage
• to be taken care of in case of a medical emergency
• to have paid for your vacation with Reward Points from daily purchases
• to earn as many reward points as possible on this trip to help fund the next one!

Credit card rewards points can make your all-inclusive trip nearly free!

It’s easy to earn $1,500 in travel rewards to pay for an all-inclusive trip every year. How?

In the world of travel hacking, there is no such thing as the best credit card: you have to build your credit card wallet to optimize each item purchased (groceries, restaurants, gas, travel, etc.).

For example, the Desjardins Odyssey World Elite Mastercard defines reward categories as follows:

As a result, it’s possible to accumulate between $900 and $1,500 in BONUSDOLLARS by spending between $50,000 and $100,000 a year.

• $ 50,000 in the grocery category (3% and 1.5%, following changes as of January 1, 2024)
• $100,000 in the other category (1.5%)

What to do when you don’t have a large purchase volume? You should look into credit card subscription bonuses to afford a vacation in the South.

In fact, it’s possible to collect the equivalent of $1,500 in rewards for our all-inclusive trip.

Travel point strategies that can be applied to the travel package and cash back are preferred for all-inclusive vacations.

Here is an example of a strategy

*by maximizing the minimum monthly spending requirement in the 5 points per dollar category.

This strategy accumulates $1,788 in net worth ($1,944 – $156) on $17,000 in expenses.

This all-inclusive travel credit card strategy uses three types of rewards points to help cover the costs of a vacation in the South!

Sure, this requires credit card management, but you’ll be on the beach much faster than if you waited to spend $50,000 in order to get enough points. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it!

Finally, if you actually do have $50,000+ in annual spending, why not pick up a lot more points for multiple all-inclusive trips every year?

There are many ways to pay for an all-inclusive trip with credit card travel points.

In fact, with a travel points credit card , you can use your reward points to pay for all or part of the cost of your vacation on the beach.

Here are some examples of how travel points can be used for sunny destination packages.

With a limited-time promotion, you can redeem 50% fewer Aventura points when you book any trip with your credit card, such as an all-inclusive trip.

If you’ve signed up for our exclusive offer on the CIBC Aventura^® Visa Infinite* Card or CIBC Aventura^® Gold Visa* Card, and earned the welcome bonus of 40,000 points, that’s $500 towards any travel purchase! Like an all-inclusive trip.

And if you get both credit cards during the promotion (and via our exclusive offer), that’s over $1,000 toward any travel purchase. Like an all-inclusive trip. If there are several people in your household, apply for this card to lighten your travel bill with points!

Not bad for a credit card with no annual fee for the first year (and that offers four complimentary visits to the airport lounge)!

With the National Bank’s À la carte Rewards program, travel points can be used in two ways.

You can book an all-inclusive package with your travel points through Voyage À la Carte: 10,000 points per $100 and top up with cash if you don’t have enough points. This is the best way to use National Bank Rewards points. Plus, your purchase will also earn you extra points!

In this example, we can see a $200 discount when using 20,000 points on the price of the all-inclusive trip for two people.

However, if you have found a cheaper all-inclusive trip on another platform, it is also possible to use your points as credit on your account.

It is also possible to use these rewards points when using a travel agency (Voyage à Rabais, Voyages Bergeron, independent agency, etc.) for the all-inclusive package!

At TD, TD Rewards points are used in a similar way as National Bank on the TD platform: Expedia for TD.

Currently, the TD First Class Travel^® Visa Infinite* Card has a sign-up bonus of up to 135,000 TD Rewards points, the best deal of the year! This equals $675 in travel discount on all-inclusive Southern vacations booked via Expedia for TD.

TD Rewards points can also be applied as an account credit however you choose to book your all-inclusive stay; for example if you book with a travel agency. The value will be slightly less.

The American Express Cobalt^® Card is one of the best credit cards in Canada for earning lots of points fast.

Its main highlight is that it earns you 5X points on everything categorized as restaurants, food deliveries and groceries. These membership points have a cash back equivalent to 5% at the grocery store.

It’s not mentioned, but grocery stores are businesses that give 5X the points. Think of the gift card display in grocery stores!

It’s a great way to earn lots of points on other types of spending (Walmart, gas, clothing, SAQ, Amazon, etc.).

When used, Reward Points appear as a credit to the account on the credit card statement. The credit is applied in the same manner as a payment from you towards the account balance: 30,000 Membership Rewards points = $300.

Reward points can be used to cover the cost of all-inclusive trips or on everyday purchases! By saving money every day, a part of your budget is freed up for vacations!

Aeroplan points can be used for a vacation package under the sun with Air Canada Vacations only. Its a travel discount that will be deducted from the final amount when booking your all-inclusive.

In this example, the number of points to be redeemed is 200,000 Aeroplan points for a discount of $2,000.

Milesopedia gives a current valuation of 2.0¢ to an Aeroplan point. This is a benchmark figure when considering whether to book a flight with cash or with Aeroplan points. So according to the formula for valuation the calculation is as follows:

2,000/200,000 = 1¢ per Aeroplan point

So using 1¢ per Aeroplan point is lower than its estimated value of 2¢ per Aeroplan point.

So, while it’s less worthwhile to use Aeroplan points for an all-inclusive than we aim for at Milesopedia, money saved is money saved on the all-inclusive trip to be used elsewhere!

All cash back credit cards are also great for saving on an all-inclusive trip to the South.

Cash back is best for those who don’t want to juggle different booking platforms.

There are also some great welcome offers going on!

At Montreal airport, four VIP lounges are available to passengers departing from the international zone.

• National Bank Lounge
• Salon Odyssée Desjardins
• Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
• Air France KLM Lounge

For an all-inclusive trip to the South, the National Bank and Odyssey Desjardins lounges will be the easiest to access.

Simply being a National Bank World Elite Mastercard^® credit card holder means unlimited free access for the primary cardholder, one guest and two children under 12!

As for the Desjardins Odyssée lounge, the Odyssey cards provide up to 12 accesses per year.

The Air Canada Maple Leaf and Air France KLM Lounges are also open for people travelling south!

For the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, you can access the lounge with the American Express^® Aeroplan^®* Reserve Card or the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card.

For the Air France lounge, you can access it with the American Express Platinum Card^®. Or one of the credit cards offering access to the Visa Airport Companion Program lounges, such as the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite Card or the CIBC Aventura^® Visa Infinite* Card.

At the Quebec City airport, which also serves several sunny destinations, the only lounge is the V.I.P lounge by Club Med. There are several ways to access it, including status, business class tickets, credit cards, etc.

In short, many credit cards offer complimentary or paid access to airport lounges to start your all-inclusive trip more comfortably. You can also access these lounges in the South before returning home.

Many credit cards offer comprehensive travel insurance. In most cases there is no need to get another one.

In fact, in case of delay or lost baggage, you can go shopping for a new bathing suit immediately and start your vacation while waiting for your luggage.

This luggage insurance protects you if you have paid for your trip using your credit card.

Then, in case of a sudden health problem, emergency medical insurance will help you feel better! In most cases, simply being a credit card holder makes the whole family eligible for insurance.

Finally, credit card trip cancellation and interruption insurance offers peace of mind in the event of a problem. For example, if a segment of the flight is cancelled or delayed during your trip South, many additional charges incurred may be claimed from your credit card insurance. Conditions vary according to each card’s insurance policy.

When you arm yourself with the best credit cards for your spending habits, it’s easy to earn points toward an all-inclusive trip to some fabulous Sunny destinations.

Credit cards and travel points allow us to travel better and more, even if it’s not always budget travel based on a low cost of living!

Read on for our guides to all-inclusives: