Which BMO card offers the best welcome bonus: eclipse Visa Infinite or Ascend World Elite?

The BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard currently offers up to 115,000 BMO Rewards points (worth about $770 toward travel), while the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card offers up to 70,000 points as a welcome bonus (worth about $469). Both cards offer a first-year annual fee waiver. The Ascend wins on the raw bonus, but the eclipse partly makes up for it with its $50 annual credit, available starting in the second year.

What are the earn rates for each BMO card?

The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card earns 5 BMO Rewards points per dollar on groceries, dining, gas, and public transit, and 1 point elsewhere. The BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard instead offers 5 points per dollar on eligible travel, 3 points on dining, entertainment, and recurring bills, and 1 point elsewhere. Households that spend mostly on groceries and gas prefer the eclipse, while frequent travellers get more value from the Ascend.

Which of the two BMO cards is accepted at Costco?

The BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard is accepted at Costco across Canada thanks to the Mastercard network. The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card, on the Visa network, is not accepted in Costco warehouses, even though it has been accepted at Costco Gas pumps since 2022. For households that regularly shop at Costco, the Ascend is therefore the better choice of the two. Costco purchases, however, earn only 1 point per dollar since they are coded as warehouse rather than grocery.

Which travel benefits differentiate the BMO Ascend from the BMO eclipse?

The BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard includes 4 free airport lounge passes via Mastercard Travel Pass/DragonPass and a NEXUS credit of up to $200 in the first year, benefits that are absent from the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite*. Both cards offer emergency medical insurance of up to $5M. For a traveller who takes 2 or 3 flights per year, the lounge passes and NEXUS credit on the Ascend alone already justify its $150 annual fee.