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TD Bank and Royal Bank of Canada(RBC) each offer a credit card that lets you earn points to purchase airline tickets with Canadian airlines:
We’ll now look at the main differences between these credit cards in terms of:
The welcome bonus offered by each of these credit cards varies depending on the promotions. However, there are differences to be aware of between the two credit cards.
With this welcome offer for the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, you can get up to 45,000 Aeroplan points, with no annual fee for the first year.
Here’s how:
Based on our valuation of Aeroplan points (2 cents per point), this welcome bonus is worth approximately $900.
With the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard‡, you can earn up to 70,000 WestJet points:
Plus, get an annual round-trip companion voucher after spending $5,000 on the card.
Based on our assessment, one WestJet point is worth 1 cent. So, this welcome offer is worth $700.
For $5,000 in spending, you get 70,000 WestJet points in the first year with the RBC WestJet World Elite Mastercard®.
In contrast, you have to spend $12,000 to get the full welcome offer from your competitor.
What’s more, the WestJet credit card has an additional perk when you spend $5,000 on the card: the companion voucher! This allows you to buy one flight ticket and get the second one from only $119. Depending on your destination, you could save an additional $500 on average.
The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card requires a minimum personal income of $60,000 or $100,000 in annual household income.
The WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard‡ requires a minimum individual income of $80,000 per year or an annual family income of $150,000.
The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card is less demanding in terms of minimum income than its competitor.
The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card has an annual fee of $139, but this annual fee is refunded in the first year.
The WestJet World Elite Mastercard RBC® has an annual fee of $139.
The annual fee for the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card is similar to the RBC WestJet World Elite Mastercard®. With the current promotion refunding the annual fee in the first year, the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card has a big head start!
The WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard and the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card each offer different levels of point accumulation.
With the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card the maximum points earned is 1.5 points Aeroplan per dollar for purchases :
1 Aeroplan points per dollar on all other purchases.
With the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard, you earn WestJet points on the following purchases:
WestJet points and Aeroplan points are two different kinds of points, each with a different value:
So you have to do a bit of math to figure out which accumulates the most value between the two. Take the following examples:
150 WestJet points
($100 x 1.5 points)
$3
(300 points x $0.01)
150 Aeroplan points
100 Aeroplan points
($100 x 1 point)
$5
(250 points X $0.02)
According to Milesopedia, Aeroplan points are more valuable than WestJet points.
As these two credit cards are part of different loyalty programs, the ways in which points are used are also different!
Each month, the Aeroplan points accumulated through the purchases of the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card are automatically credited to the cardholder’s Aeroplan cardholder’s account.
Then, to use Aeroplan points, you need to book your flight on the Air Canada or Air Canada Vacations website. These Aeroplan points allow you to get a cheaper vacation package or an airline ticket with around fifty partners, members of the Star Alliance network, such as:
WestJet points earned with the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard‡ are credited to the WestJet Rewards membership account.
The WestJet member can then redeem these WestJet points to deduct all or part of the cost of:
Thanks to the flexibility of the Aeroplan points, they can be used in a variety of ways, such as :
With the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card you’ll enjoy the following benefits:
With the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard‡ you can also enjoy a number of other benefits:
Both cards are excellent for their wide range of travel benefits, but the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard stands out. Especially for the very advantageous companion voucher to save an average of $500 on a second plane ticket yearly.
For Air Canada travellers, the benefits of Air Canada are to save money and make the annual fee more cost-effective.
The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card offers equal or more generous coverage than its competitor. What’s more, it requires that only 75% of travel purchases be charged to the card.
Conversely, the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard requires that the trip be fully charged to the card. What’s more, it has no cancellation insurance.
If you want a credit card that covers your travels, even when a small portion of the expenses has been charged, I recommend this article: The best credit cards for travel insurance with rewards points.
So? Which card is the winner?
For great flexibility thanks to Aeroplan points, and to start from anywhere in the world, the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card stands out thanks to :
While the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercard makes a strong case for:
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