I spoke with journalist Stéphanie Grammond who published an article in La Presse+ on the Ten hidden treasures of your credit cards. Let’s take a look at the details of each treasure featured in The Press!
La Presse+ – Ten hidden treasures on your credit cards
Many people think that these treasures are reserved exclusively for cards with annual dues of several hundred dollars!
Yet, you will see, many treasures are hidden… even in the no-fee cards, year after year! You just have to know them!
Optimization of points: at the airport
La Presse talks about National Bank’s World Elite Mastercard. This card, available to people with an annual income of $80,000+, gives you 3 benefits per year:
The maximum reimbursement of $250 can be claimed from January 1 to December 31 of each year. A request for refund must be made within 60 days of the date of purchase and must be accompanied by supporting documentation. Travel expenses must be charged to the National Bank World Elite credit card account.
This card therefore caters to a certain category of travelers: but beware! If you do not use the maximum refund allowed in each category, the unused portion cannot be carried over to the next year! However, it is the only card in Canada that offers reimbursement for airport parking.
For the rest, other cards affiliated with airlines allow for example to have a first checked baggage: this is the case of TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card (when purchased with Aeroplan miles) or WestJet World Elite Mastercard for flights operated by WestJet.
Access to airport lounges is a broad topic that we have covered in detail in this article. There are 2 main programs in Canada:
And two Montreal exceptions:
Priority Pass offers access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. And many credit cards offer Priority Pass (a $99 value) and several annual lounge passes such as the National Bank World Mastercard Lounge in Montreal.
Here are the main cards offering Priority Pass:
American Express offers complimentary access to select Canadian and U.S. lounges for Platinum Cardmembers accompanied by a spouse (or travel companion) AND two children under 21!
In Canada, here is the list of the salons concerned:
In the U.S. and abroad, you will have access to the high-end “Centurion” lounges which are present in two airports: New York (LGA), Philadelphia (PHL), Miami (MIA), Houston (IAH), Las Vegas (LAS), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), Hong Kong (HKG).
You will also have access to other American Express lounges. In Mexico: Mexico City (MEX), Toluca (TLC), Monterrey (MTY); in Argentina: Buenos Aires (EZE); in India: Mumbai (BOM) and Delhi (DEL); in Australia: Sydney (SYD).
Here are the two cards concerned:
At the Montreal airport – international terminal – you can access 2 lounges:
Everyone hates exchange/conversion fees on foreign purchases. We see it very frequently in the facebook group Travel for free (or almost…!) with your points & miles – milesopedia.
The vast majority of cards charge 2.5% for all foreign currency transactions. Fortunately, a new credit card charges no fees for these transactions: it’s the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card! What’s more, it comes with Priority Pass and 6 annual lounge passes! You can read its detailed presentation here.
Alternatively, there is also the prepaid debit card provided by CIBC, the CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Prepaid Visa Card, which has the great advantage of being free of charge, and offering 10 different currencies. See the detailed article here.
Some credit cards will provide you with benefits for your stays at the hotel. There are 2 main programs:
You will have access to rates that are often identical to public rates… but with a whole series of advantages attached to your reservation: upgrade, free internet access, free lunch for 2, credit applicable in the hotel,…
See for example the details in this article for the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program.
There are many loyalty programs affiliated with hotel groups (Marriott, Hilton,…). Some credit cards will offer you high status within these hotel loyalty programs, which will entitle you to a series of benefits such as: upgrade, free internet access, free lunch for 2 (depending on status),…
The American Express Platinum Card, for example, offers the following statuses:
For example, during our stay at the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa (Vietnam), our Marriott Gold status allowed us to have breakfast every day, for the duration of our 7-night stay! A value of about 80-100$ per day for 2 people… for a pantagruelic breakfast(the pictures are there to prove it!)!
JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa – Breakfast
You don’t often think about it, but apart from insurance, credit cards offer advantages for your car rentals.
Holders of certain BMO credit cards earn additional points when booking at Alamo / National:
Most banks have partnerships with car rental agencies. Check the terms and conditions of your card, you could get 20-25% off with a special code!
For example, BMO is partnering with Alamo / National, while American Express will offer discounts at Hertz and Scotia will do the same at Review!
The BMO World Elite Discount MasterCard offers complimentary BMO Roadside Assistance (basic coverage):
A great replacement for CAA!
Of course, we know about credit card insurance for travel. But did you know that some credit cards offer much more protection?
Purchase Protection Insurance applies to most items purchased new with your credit card for a period of 30 to 90 days depending on the card. It usually provides compensation in the event of loss, theft, damage or fire.
If the item has been lost, stolen or damaged, it will be replaced or repaired.
Many cards offer this type of protection, and often “basic” or no-fee cards will offer it, for example:
We don’t often think about it, but like purchase insurance, many credit cards offer an additional year’s extended warranty on most purchases charged to the card.
However, be careful: to take advantage of the extended warranty, the card used must still be active (and not cancelled!). That’s why we recommend that you look into a no-fee year-to-year card for purchases you’d like to protect (like appliances for example!).
Our favorite? Tangerine Mastercard Discounts. This one has no annual fee and offers you great cash back in 2 to 3 categories of businesses that YOU choose.
Finally, price protection / price protection service: if the item you purchase drops in price within 60 days of purchase, you can ask your card issuer for a refund of the difference!
This is a really unknown but very practical guarantee… especially during the end of year shopping (often at high prices)… sold out in January! Read the terms and conditions of your credit card carefully: there are significant differences between issuers. For example, for the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card, the difference must be at least $10, but the maximum payment will be $100 per item (with a maximum of $500 per calendar year), whereas for other cards it will be a smaller amount.
As you can see, you will benefit from knowing the hidden advantages of the different credit cards so that you don ‘t pay twice for an option that your card(s) already offers!
Savings are here:
