Credit Cards Head-to-Head: TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card and National Bank Platinum Mastercard^® Card

To the point Here's our detailed comparison of the TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card and the National Bank Platinum Mastercard® Card.

Welcome bonus and annual benefits Minimum Income The accumulation of points Redeeming Points Insurance Bottom Line

TD and National Bank each offer a credit card called Platinum:

At first glance, Visa and Mastercard may appear to be identical, especially since their names are almost identical! But which one is the most advantageous?

Let’s look at each of their features in detail, to distinguish these two credit cards.

Welcome bonus and annual benefits

You can earn up to 50,000 TD Rewards points ($250 value), distributed as follows:

15,000 TD Rewards points on your first purchase with your Card
35,000 TD Rewards points after $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months
Free 6-month subscription to Uber One ($60 value)

What’s more, there’s no annual fee ($89) for the first year on this TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card.

TD reimburses the full annual fee for additional cardholders ($120 value).

A few times a year, the National Bank has an offer for this card. Right now, there isn’t one.

Keep an eye on our website for the next offer!

TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card

The TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card is the best!

Minimum Income

There is no minimum annual income for this card.

To be eligible you must:

Be of the age of majority in your province or territory of residence
Be a Canadian resident

No minimum annual income is required.

The eligibility criteria for the National Bank Platinum Mastercard^® are :

Have reached the age of majority in your province/territory
Be a Canadian resident

It's a tie !

Both are exactly the same!

The accumulation of points

The TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card rewards the cardholder with :

5 TD Rewards points per dollar when booking a trip online at ExpediaForTD.com
3 TD Rewards points per dollar on groceries and pre-authorized recurring bill payments
2 TD Rewards points per dollar spent on other purchases

With the National Bank Platinum Mastercard^®, you can accumulate :

2 points per dollar on grocery store and restaurant purchases,
1.5 points per dollar for gas, electric recharges, recurring bills and À la Carte Travel
1 point per $1.5 for all other purchases

Benefit: TD Platinum Travel Visa Card

The accumulation rate of the TD card is higher than that of the NBC card. Let’s analyze the most advantageous ways to redeem your points.

Every 200 TD Rewards points redeemed is worth $1 in savings on travel purchases made through Expedia for TD.

Every 10,000 NBC Rewards points redeemed are worth $100 in savings through Plan à la carte’s online travel agency NBC. This is the equivalent of 100 points for every $1 saved.

Let’s look at what it would take to save a dollar:

	Grocery purchases and payment of recurring invoices	Other purchases
TD Platinum Travel Visa	66,67$	100 $
National Bank Mastercard Platinum	100 $	100 $

The National Bank Platinum Mastercard^® is easy to remember!

Redeeming Points

With the TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card, the best use of TD Rewards points is to redeem them when booking directly on the Expedia site for TD.

You can use your points to reimburse taxes, golf fees or resort tours.

Rewards	Points for $100
Exchange with Expedia forfor TD	20 000
Flexible travel discount	25 000
Store with TD Points at Amazon.ca	33 303
Gift card	40 000
Statement credit	40 000

With the National Bank Platinum Mastercard, you can use your points for various rewards, including travel discounts such as an apartment rental on Airbnb, or SAQ gift cards.

Rewards	Points for $100
Exchange with dedicated NBC À la carte Travel agency	10,000
Flexible travel discount (from 55,000 points redeemed)	11,000
Flexible travel discount	12,000
Extras à la carte RRSP or TFSA contribution Repayment of all-in-one line of mortgage or mortgage loan	12,000
Gift card	12,000 – 13,500
Account credit	25,000

Advantage: National Bank Platinum Mastercard

To compare the two fairly, here are the grocery expenses you’d need to make to get $300 in travel credit.

Card	Expenses
TD Visa Platinum Card	20 001 $
National Bank Platinum Mastercard^® card	15 000 $

Insurance

Insurance
Travel cancellation insurance	No	Up to $1,250 per person
Trip interruption insurance	No	Up to $2,500 per person
Out-of-province/country emergency medical coverage	No	Up to $5,000,000 for up to 10 days (age 76 and under)
Flight delay insurance	Up to $500 after 4 hours	Up to $500 after 4 hours
Baggage Delay Insurance	Up to $1,000 after 6 hours	Up to $500 after 6 hours (up to $1,000 for lost, damaged or stolen baggage)
Hotel burglary insurance	up to $2,500	No
Rental car theft and damage insurance	up to $65,000	up to $65,000
Travel accident insurance (common carrier)	up to $500,000	No
Purchase insurance	Up to 90 days	Up to 2 additional years
Extended warranty – Purchase	Up to 1 additional year	180 days
Mobile Device Insurance	Up to $1,000	up to $1,000

Here are all the details and conditions in :

Advantage: National Bank Platinum Mastercard

For insurance, the National Bank Platinum Mastercard^® is excellent.

It offers generous insurance of all kinds. In addition, it requires that only a portion of the travel expenses be charged to the account. This is quite rare, as the issuer usually requires the entire trip to be charged.

Bottom Line

So? Which Card is the winner?

In general, the National Bank Platinum Mastercard^® has a head start for :

Excellent insurance coverage even if you only charge a portion of the trip to your credit card
The fact that it can be used at Costco!

On the other hand, the TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card is gaining ground with :

Easy-to-obtain welcome bonus
Its higher accumulation rate means less spending to earn rewards

All in all, both cards are a good way to get started in the world of travel rewards, but the National Bank Platinum Mastercard^® may be better suited to accompanying you abroad, thanks to its insurance benefits.

If you’ve ever had one of these two cards, what are your comments? Come and point them out in the Milesopedia Facebook group.

To see the other cards, check out our ranking of the best travel credit card offers in Canada.