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Credit cards: The best welcome bonuses with a small minimum spending requirement

To the point Find the best welcome offers from credit cards with a minimum spending requirement of less than $1,500.

The best welcome offers with a small minimum spending requirement

You don’t have to spend a fortune to unlock an attractive welcome bonus! Here’s a selection of offers that require less than $1,500 in spending to earn plenty of points for your next trip.

Credit card Minimum spending requirement Welcome bonus Approximate bonus value
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card $1 35,000 RBC Avion points $525
RBC Avion Visa Platinum $1 35,000 RBC Avion points $525
MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® $1 Up to 20,000 MBNA Rewards points $200
RBC ION+ Visa Card $1 12,000 RBC Avion points $80
RBC ION Visa Card $1 6,000 RBC Avion points $40
TD® Aeroplan® Visa Platinum* Card $1,000 Up to 20,000 Aeroplan points $400
Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card $1,000 30,000 Scene+ points $300
TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card $1,000 Up to 50,000 TD Rewards points $250
BMO® AIR MILES® Mastercard®* $1,000 1 500 AIR MILES $173
American Express® Green Card $1,000 10,000 Membership Rewards points $170
Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card $1,500 Up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points $450

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card

With this offer for the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, you can earn 35,000 Avion points upon approval. No purchase necessary!

You can use your Avion Rewards points for travel or redeem them with other loyalty programs such as :

  • American Airlines AAdvantage
  • British Airways Executive Club (and Qatar Airways Privilege Club)
  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
  • WestJet Rewards

The current welcome offer, for example, gives you the equivalent of 35,000 British Airways Avios or 350 WestJet Dollars.

With the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, you earn 1 point per dollar and 1.25 points for travel purchases.

What’s more, you’ll benefit from a wide range of insurances: trip cancellation and interruption insurance, out-of-province or out-of-country emergency medical care insurance, collision and damage insurance for rental vehicles, and mobile device insurance.

RBC Avion Visa Platinum

With this offer for the RBC Avion Visa Platinum card, you can earn 35,000 Avion points on card approval.

You can use your Avion Rewards points for travel or redeem them with other loyalty programs such as :

  • American Airlines AAdvantage
  • British Airways Executive Club (and Qatar Airways Privilege Club)
  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
  • WestJet Rewards

For example, with the current welcome offer, you can get the equivalent of 35,000 British Airways Avios Points or 350 WestJet Dollars.

With the RBC Avion Visa Platinum Card, you earn 1 point per dollar.

MBNA World Elite Rewards Mastercard

With the MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard®, you can earn 5 points per dollar of purchases for:

  • Dining purchases
  • Grocery purchases
  • Digital media purchases (Netflix, Spotify, etc.)
  • Memberships
  • Household utility purchases (electricity, etc.)

Everywhere else, you will get 1 point per dollar.

Enough to make the MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® the best MBNA credit card for restaurants, groceries, digital media, subscriptions and household utilities.

Knowing that Mastercard recognizes Walmart Supercenters as grocery stores, this is the best credit card for Walmart customers!

Plus, depending on your province of residence, you’ll get a welcome bonus of between 20,000 and 30,000 points, a value of $200 to $300!

And each year, you will receive Birthday Bonus Points equal to 10% of the total number of Points the Account earned in the 12 months before the month of your birthday, to a maximum Birthday Bonus each year of 15,000 Points.

RBC ION+ Visa Card

With the RBC ION+ Visa card, you can earn 12,000 Avion points as a welcome bonus.

With this RBC credit card, you can earn 3 Avion points per dollar for :

  • Grocery, Dining & Food Delivery
  • Rides, Gas & EV Charging
  • Streaming, Digital Gaming & Subscriptions

And 1 Avion point per dollar for all other purchases. Plus, save 3¢/L on gas at Petro-Canada and earn 20% more points when you pay with a linked RBC card

Finally, you get two years of Mobile Device Insurance up to $1,000 if your mobile device, such as your cell phone, is lost, stolen, accidentally damaged or experiences mechanical failure when you purchase your mobile device with the RBC ION+ Visa card.

RBC ION Card

With the RBC ION Visa card, you can get a welcome bonus of 6,000 Avion points on approval.

With this no-annual-fee RBC credit card, you can earn 1.5 Avion points per dollar for :

  • Groceries
  • Travel, fuel and recharging for electric vehicles
  • Streaming, Digital Gaming & Subscriptions

And 1 Avion point per dollar for all other purchases. Plus, save 3¢/L on gas at Petro-Canada and earn 20% more points when you pay with a linked RBC card.

TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum Card

With the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Platinum* Credit Card, you can earn up to 20,000 Aeroplan points and a first-year annual fee rebate:

  • A welcome bonus of 10,000 Aeroplan points when you make your first purchase with your new card
  • an additional 10,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $1,000 within 90 days of Account opening
  • An annual fee rebate for the primary cardholder (instead of $89)

With the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Platinum* Card, you earn 1 point per dollar for:

There is no minimum income requirement for this TD Aeroplan credit card.

Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card

With this welcome offer for the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card, you earn up to 35,000 Scene+ points as a welcome bonus (a $350 value) :

  • 25,000 points after just $1,000 in purchases
  • 10,000 points after $40,000 in purchases in the first year

Then, each year, if you make at least $40,000 in purchases on the card, you’ll earn an annual bonus of 10,000 points, a $100 value.

With the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card, you earn 3 points per dollar spent at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland, FreshCo, Voilà by Sobeys, Voilà by IGA, Voilà by Safeway, Chalo! FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, IGA West, Les Marchés Tradition, Rachelle Béry and Co-Op.

You’ll also earn 2 points for every dollar you spend, including on foreign transactions, in the following categories:

  • Grocery shopping
  • Restaurants
  • Entertainment centers
  • Transit

The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card is an excellent Visa credit card for this type of purchase.

You can redeem your points for any travel purchase at the rate of 1,000 points = $10 (flights, hotels, all-inclusive properties and even Airbnb). You can also use your points as cash back with Scene+, such as at your grocery store checkout at the same rate of 1,000 points = $10.

The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card also offers:

  • No fees for foreign currency transactions
  • 6 complimentary passes to airport VIP lounges
  • Excellent insurance for your travels and purchases
  • Concierge service

We voted this credit card the Best No-FX Fee Credit Card of 2024.

TD Platinum Travel Visa Card

With this new welcome offer for the TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card, you can get up to 50,000 TD points and a first-year annual fee rebate:

  • Welcome Bonus of 15,000 TD Rewards Points when you make your first Purchase with your Card.
  • 35,000 TD Rewards Points when you spend $1,000 within 90 days of Account opening.

Get an Annual Fee Rebate for the first year.

There is no minimum income requirement for this TD credit card.

BMO® AIR MILES® Mastercard®*

With this exclusive offer for the BMO® AIR MILES® Mastercard®*, you earn 1,500 AIR MILES Bonus Miles after $1,000 in Card purchases, a $150 cash value. Besides, it’s a no-annual-fee credit card.

With the BMO® AIR MILES® Mastercard®*, you get 3x the Miles for every $25 spent at participating AIR MILES Partners. Plus, you’ll earn 2X miles for every $25 spent at any eligible grocery store, wholesale club (warehouse like Costco) and alcohol retailer*. For the rest, you earn 1 reward mile for every $25 in purchases.

Also, you can get a 0.99% introductory rate on balance transfers for 9 months (a 2% fee applies to the balance amount transferred).

Green Card from American Express

Do you want a cash back credit card with no annual fee that earns travel points? Here is an option for you: the American Express® Green Card.

By signing up for the American Express® Green Card, you can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards Welcome Bonus Points when you charge $1,000 in purchases to your Card in the first 3 months of Cardmembership. This is a $100 value for travel or any purchase on the Card. You can also transfer your points to airline partners (Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club, Flying Blue, etc.) and hotel partners (Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors).

That’s a nice welcome bonus for a credit card with no annual fee.

You’ll also have access to online promotional offers to earn points or rebates on your purchases with this no annual fee credit card.

Like all American Express Canada Cards, there is no minimum income requirement.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card

The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card is the best credit card for free hotel nights.

With this welcome offer, you can earn 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points by spending $1,500 in the first 3 months after joining.

It’s a Card we recommend keeping because each year at renewal, you get an Annual Free Night Award (for up to 35,000 points at hotels worldwide) and 15 Elite Night Credits per year, counting towards your Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.

With this Card, you earn 5 points per dollar on all purchases at Marriott Bonvoy properties and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.

Finally, this Card comes with comprehensive insurance: baggage delay, lost or stolen baggage, $500,000 travel accident, flight delay, hotel or motel burglary, rental car theft and damage, Purchase Security, Purchase Protection.

Like all American Express Canada Cards, there is no minimum income requirement.

Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
Alexandrine Bertrand
Always on the lookout for exotic destinations, Alexandrine shares her strategies for traveling while saving with points and miles. She's an avid cook, both at home and abroad.

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