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Neo Financial and Bank of Montreal (BMO) both offer Canadian travellers credit card options that are co-branded with an airline loyalty program. Fans of United MileagePlus and VIPorter can use one (or both) of the following credit cards to earn rewards that can be redeemed for free flights:
The United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard and the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard are both good credit cards for someone looking to earn free flights and who enjoys travel perks.
To see how these two cards stack up, and to help you decide if either one is right for you, we’ll compare the following categories:
Both the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard and the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard give new cardholders the chance to earn valuable welcome offers.
These offers tend to fluctuate a few times a year, so we’ll compare the current offers from both cards to make this as fair as possible.
The current welcome offer for the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard gives you the chance to earn up to 25,000 MileagePlus miles.
The full offer can be earned in 3 portions as follows:
The BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard offers a strong welcome offer for new cardholders, letting you earn up to 70,000 VIPorter points and some additional perks.
The full 70,000-point welcome offer can be earned in three chunks as follows:
Additionally, if you meet the spend requirement of $9,000 in the first 180 days as a cardholder, you also earn a VIPorter companion pass. This pass gives you 100% off the base fare for a travel companion.
As a new cardholder, you also get $1,000 in Qualifying Spend to help you earn VIPorter Avid Traveller elite status faster.
This category proved quite difficult to judge.
While the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard offers more points and ultimately a higher value welcome offer, we found the spending requirements fairly high, making it difficult for people to earn the full amount.
Comparatively, the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard has a lower spending requirement that makes it much easier to earn the full welcome offer. Plus, the annual fee for this card is fairly reasonable, meaning that the yearly renewal bonus comes close to offsetting this cost.
Given these details and barriers, we ultimately decided that the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard wins this category since its welcome offer is more accessible. That said, if you know that you can meet the spending requirements for the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard, then there’s more overall value available there.
The United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard requires an individual minimum income of $80,000 or a household minimum income of $150,000.
The minimum income requirement for the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard is $80,000 individual or $150,000 household income.
This category is a tie since both cards have the standard World Elite Mastercard minimum income requirement.
The United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard has an annual fee of $89, which is notably lower than most World Elite Mastercards.
The annual fee for the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard is $199; however, it’s currently being waived for the first year as part of the welcome offer.
We’re calling this category a draw since the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard offers the better first-year annual fee, given that it’s waived for new cardholders, but the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard offers the lower overall annual fee.
This means that if you’re only keeping the card for one year, the VIPorter card wins, but if you’re planning to keep the card year after year, the United MileagePlus card is the better value.
The United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard and the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard both earn their respective program’s airline rewards currency for every dollar you spend.
Let’s dig into each card’s earning rates to see if one helps you increase your account balance faster.
The United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard has the following base earning rates:
Additionally, as part of the Neo Financial family, the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard also earns bonus miles on top of the base rates with Neo’s network of partnered merchants.
As a cardholder, you’ll find the current partner merchant offers in your Neo app, with the offers varying over time and depending on the merchant.
We value MileagePlus miles at 1.6 cents each, and the miles you earn through credit card spend are totalled once each month and added to your MileagePlus account.
With the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard, you earn VIPorter points at the following rates:
The points that you earn are credited to your VIPorter account each month shortly after your monthly statement is issued, and we value VIPorter points at 1.5 cents each.
The winner of this category is the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard, given that it offers better earning rates in all categories.
Since we value VIPorter points at 1.5 cents each and MileagePlus miles at 1.6 cents each, we’re able to do a fairly straightforward comparison, with the VIPorter card providing earning rates that are at least double for dining, grocery, and airline tickets. There is also the wildcard potential of the bonus earning rates available with Neo partner merchants to consider; however, without knowing exactly what’s on offer, we didn’t find this compelling enough to change our decision on this category.
Both of the cards in our comparison earn their respective program’s airline rewards currency; namely, VIPorter points and United MileagePlus miles.
Given that they both earn airline points/miles, the rewards programs’ main redemption options are similar. That said, there are some differences between what the two programs offers, so let’s take a closer look.
The main redemption option for MileagePlus miles is to use them for award flights with United Airlines, its Star Alliance partner airlines, and its non-alliance airline partners. Similar to VIPorter redemptions, you can use miles to cover the full base fare, or you can combine miles and cash for redemptions with United, United Express, and select partner airlines.
Additionally, your miles can be redeemed for other travel expenses, like the following:
Once you’ve accumulated some VIPorter points, you can redeem them for award flights with Porter, Air Transat, and Alaska Airlines.
With your VIPorter points, you can cover the full base fare (you’ll need to pay the taxes and fees with cash), or you can choose to pay with a combination of cash and points.
In terms of redemption options, the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard and its MileagePlus miles provides more flexibility for how you use your rewards, and it also connects you with considerably more partnered airlines.
Using your MileagePlus miles, you can redeem across United Airlines’ large network of destinations, and you can enjoy the expansive selection of routes available through Star Alliance partners (like Air Canada/Aeroplan). Comparatively, VIPorter points can only be redeemed with 3 airlines (Porter, Air Transat, and Alaska Airlines).
Additionally, MileagePlus miles can be redeemed for other travel expenses (as listed above)—though these are typically not the most valuable options.
In addition to earning MileagePlus miles on all purchases, the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard comes with the following benefits:
Additionally, in terms of insurance coverage, the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard comes with the following:
As a cardholder, you can also enjoy the suite of World Elite Mastercard perks.
The BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard also comes with several travel perks, as follows:
*These benefits are valid for the cardholder and up to 8 companions on the same booking.
Additionally, as a cardholder, you’ll enjoy the following travel insurance coverage:
Plus, rounding out the card’s offerings, you can also enjoy a complimentary membership to Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass, extended warranty and purchase protection, discounts on car rentals, and more.
We’re crowning the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard the winner of this category since it offers a few more perks than the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard.
Additionally, the VIPorter card also extends several valuable perks to travel companions, making it easier to enjoy free checked bags, seat selection, and priority airport access as a group travelling together.
Finally, enjoy 6 months of complimentary Instacart+ membership plus a $10 monthly Instacart credit when you sign up with your eligible BMO credit card.
So, after comparing these two airline-loyalty World Elite Mastercards, which one takes the top prize?
Considering that both cards offer the chance to earn valuable travel points on all purchases (alongside potentially valuable welcome offers), the best card may ultimately depend on which airline you fly with more.
On the one hand, the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard has better perks and earning rates, a first-year fee waiver, and it technically offers the higher welcome offer (though the individual portions of this lucrative offer come with fairly high spending thresholds).
On the other hand, the United® MileagePlus® Neo World Elite® Mastercard makes it considerably easier to earn the welcome offer, so you’ll be able to redeem for an award flight sooner. It also has an accessible annual fee at only $89. Plus it’s connection with Star Alliance and other partner airline networks is very attractive and makes it easy for Canadians to redeem for flights around the world.
Given these variables, we think that the best card is the one that earns you the miles/points that you’ll enjoy using the most—whether that’s MileagePlus miles or VIPorter points.
If you’d like some more help deciding on a new card, check out our other guides and head-to-heads to learn more and find inspiration for your next adventure:
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