BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card: No FX Fees and 10 Lounge Passes
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The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card has recently undergone a notable refresh, with 4 major changes across key card features, including significant travel perks, while the $599 annual fee stays the same.
In this article, we’ll explore what’s new with the card and how these changes affect the card’s value and utility, and we’ll help you decide if this is a card suited to your spending habits and reward goals.
BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card: What's New/Changed
With the product refresh, BMO has made a few changes to the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card: some good, some great, and one that asks a little more of you.
Specifically, BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege cardholders will note the following changes:
- No foreign transaction (FX) fees on foreign currency purchases, instead of 2.5%*
- $200 annual Travel Credit replaces the $200 Lifestyle Credit*
- More airport lounge passes (increased from 6 passes to 10 passes)*
- New 5x health and wellness category replaces the 5x drugstore category*
How do these changes rate?
| Previously | Refreshed | Positive/Negative/Neutral | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $599 | $599 | No change |
| Foreign transaction fee | Yes, 2.5% | No FX fee | Positive |
| Annual credit | $200 Lifestyle Credit | $200 Travel Credit | Neutral |
| Airport lounge passes | 6 annual passes | 10 annual passes | Positive |
| 5x categories | Travel, groceries, gas, dining, and drugstores | Travel, groceries, gas, health and wellness, and dining | Positive |
As you can see in the table above, the card changes range from neutral to positive.
The good news is that the annual fee doesn't move: it stays at $599, where it has been since BMO raised it in February 2025.* That price tag is in line with other Visa Infinite Privilege cards, and the refresh adds value without making you pay more for it.
We'll explore all 4 of the card changes in the sections below to see how they all fit together in the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card's offerings and how they affect the attractiveness of this card.
Key Card Features
Now that we've got an overview of what the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card refresh entails, let’s also go over the card's key details to get a full picture of what's on offer.
As we mentioned above, the annual fee for the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card is $599, the same amount as before the refresh. That's a significant cost; however, as we’ll see throughout the rest of this article, the card has the perks, benefits, and earning power to justify this fee.
If you're considering adding the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card to your wallet, in addition to the annual fee, another key thing you’ll need to be mindful of is the considerable minimum income requirement.
To qualify for the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card, you need a minimum income of either $150,000 individual or $200,000 household, making this a card for a niche segment of spenders.
| Credit card | Annual fee | Welcome offer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $599 | |||
| $0 |
Welcome Offer
The refreshed BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card starts off strong by providing new cardholders with an enticing welcome offer of up to 200,000 BMO Rewards points and additional perks.
Though the welcome offer is quite compelling, it does require that you meet a few spending thresholds. Specifically, the full 200,000-point welcome offer is earned in the following chunks:
- Earn 80,000 BMO Rewards points when you spend at least $10,000 in the first 110 days as a cardholder
- Earn an additional 40,000 BMO Rewards points when you spend at least $20,000 in the first 180 days as a cardholder
- Earn a third disbursement of 80,000 BMO Rewards points when you spend at least $40,000 in the first 12 months as a cardholder
The offer also gives you a 0% introductory interest rate on balance transfers for 12 months, with a 2% transfer fee.*
Earning the welcome offer
As you can see from these spending requirements, filling your account with all 200,000 points likely requires that you choose to use the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card fairly consistently.
For example, the first tier of $10,000 in spending over 110 days is equal to just below $3,000 spent per month. Then to meet the next two welcome offer spending tiers, you’ll need to spend, on average, $3,333 per month. We find these spending thresholds pretty fair given the welcome offer size and the card's premium status.
That said, we do find it can be beneficial to plan your expenses to meet these monthly averages so that you make sure you're hitting the spending requirements and not missing out on any of the welcome offer portions.
To help with this, we’ll share an example of an accessible spending plan to earn the welcome offer in the section below.
Earning points
As we alluded to above, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card offers strong earning rates on many key daily spending categories. Specifically, the card earns BMO Rewards points on all purchases at the following rates:
- Earn up to 5x BMO Rewards points on travel, groceries, gas, health and wellness, and dining in and out.*
- Earn 1x BMO Rewards points on all other purchases.*
Keep in mind that the 5x rate applies to purchases made at merchants in Canada, up to an annual spending cap for each category (calculated from January 1 to December 31). Once you reach a cap, you earn 1 point per dollar in that category:
- Travel (airfare, hotel and car rental): first $25,000 per year
- Groceries: first $20,000 per year
- Gas: first $15,000 per year
- Health and wellness: first $15,000 per year
- Dining: first $25,000 per year
This is a considerable number of 5x categories, giving you a lot of opportunity to earn rewards on common daily spending categories. With the card refresh, BMO removed drugstores from the list of 5x categories and instead replaced it with a health and wellness category.
We feel that this change is positive since drugstore spending tends to be less significant than the other 5x categories. In fact, the addition of the health and wellness category aligns quite nicely with this premium card since this category gives you 5x points on things like fitness club memberships, golf courses, and spas – expenses that tend to be more expensive than regular drugstore spending.
Example monthly budget
With so many 5x categories, and with the welcome offer's reasonable spending threshold requirements, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card sets you up to earn an impressive number of points in your first year as a cardholder.
Let's look at a month of theoretical spending for a family of 4 to see these earning opportunities in action:
| Category | Budget | Points Earned |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | $1,500 | 7,500 |
| Dining/delivery/take-out | $1,000 | 5,000 |
| Gas | $500 | 2,500 |
| Travel | $500 | 2,500 |
| Health and Wellness | $500 | 2,500 |
| All other purchases | $1,000 | 1,000 |
| TOTALS | $5,000 | 21,000 |
As you can see in the table above, with just this budget and multiple 5x earning categories, you can earn 21,000 BMO Rewards points each month, for a total of 252,000 points each year. Plus, with these expenses, you’re comfortably over the average of $3,333 that you need to meet each tier of the welcome bonus, adding another 200,000 points to your account.
That means that you’ll end up with over 450,000 BMO Rewards points after your first year as a cardholder – not bad at all!
Redeeming points
Since points are really only as valuable as their redemption options and utility in your life, it’s important to understand what you can expect from your BMO Rewards account balance.
We value BMO Rewards points at an average of just under 0.7 cents per point, with the value changing depending on how you choose to redeem.
BMO Rewards points can be redeemed the following ways:
- Travel: Use Pay with Points to redeem for eligible travel expenses made on your card in the last 90 days. With this option, you get a redemption rate of 150 points = $1, meaning that 15,000 points would save you $100.
- Pay for purchases: Using the same Pay with Points feature as above, you can redeem to pay for non-travel purchases made on the card at a rate of 200 points = $1 (e.g., 20,000 points = $100 redemption).
- Investments: BMO Rewards points can be redeemed to top up your eligible BMO account balance at a rate of 150 points = $1. This is a great option if you're not planning to travel any time soon, and you'd like to see your investments grow.
- Gift cards, merchandise, and experiences: You can redeem your points in these categories for rates that vary by item.
If you're after the best value redemption, you'll want to focus on using the Pay with Points option to cover eligible travel expenses. At the rate of 150 points = $1 (equal to 0.67 cents per point), the 200,000 welcome bonus alone could save you $1,333! Alternatively, you can get the same value by using your points to bolster your BMO investment accounts.
The other redemption options aren't terrible choices either in terms of value, but they're not our first picks. That said, the best redemption is always the one you'll use and enjoy, so make sure to explore your options a bit before you cash in all your points for one choice or another.
Perks and Benefits
The next aspect of the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card that we'll explore are its array of perks and benefits, including a couple notable changes that occurred with the refresh.
Annual Travel Credit
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card offers the ability to enjoy a $200 annual Travel Credit when you make a travel purchase of at least $500 on the card. The travel purchase needs to fall under the merchant category code (MCC) that identifies the purchase as either airfare, hotel, or car rental.
The previous iteration of the card offered a similar $200 annual Lifestyle Credit, so this is a bit of a neutral change through the card refresh. However, the previous Lifestyle Credit was earned by making a single purchase over $200 on the card, after which you would be credited the $200.
Comparatively, with the new Travel Credit structure, you have to spend more to earn the same credit value, and your spending needs to be in a narrower selection of categories. That said, a single $500+ expense on a hotel or airfare generally isn’t difficult to do, so although we wouldn’t mind seeing a lower spend requirement for the annual credit, this structure is not unreasonable.
Airport lounge passes
The next perk that you get as a BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege cardholder also saw a change during the recent card refresh. In the past, cardholders could enjoy Visa Airport Companion Program membership and 6 complimentary lounge passes. Now, with the updated card, BMO upped the number of annual lounge passes that you receive from 6 to 10.
These lounge passes are valued at around $32 USD (or ~$44 CAD) so the 4 extra passes add about $128 USD (~$180 CAD) in value to the card's perks portfolio.
Airport lounges are a great way to enjoy extra comfort before a trip, and the Visa Airport Companion Program connects you and your complimentary passes with 1,200 airport lounges around the world. Plus, you can also use the passes for family and friends travelling with you, giving you the opportunity to share the comforts and luxury of a pre-flight airport lounge.*
There's another bonus for couples and families: when you add an authorized user to your account and they enroll in the program, they also get their own 10 complimentary lounge visits per year. That's up to 20 free visits for your household, and each extra visit beyond your passes costs $32 USD per person.*
No FX fees
Probably the most exciting part of the refreshed BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card is the removal of the usual 2.5% foreign transaction fee for foreign currency purchases.
With this change, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card joins the very limited number of Canadian credit cards that waive foreign transaction fees.
This savings of 2.5% can really add up as you travel around paying for hotels, transport, tours, and meals. For example, if you were to spend $5,000 in foreign currency on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card, this new no-FX feature would save you $125.
Keep in mind that the exchange rate still applies to your foreign currency purchases. Also, the 5x rate on travel only applies at merchants located in Canada: a hotel you pay directly abroad earns 1 point per dollar, but with no FX fee on top.
NEXUS statement credit
Keeping with the card's travel focus, the next benefit on the list is an up to $200 NEXUS statement credit that's available to new cardholders in their first year as a member.* NEXUS memberships are valid for 5 years and designed to make your eligible Canadian and US border crossing faster and smoother.
You can easily access the NEXUS statement credit by charging your NEXUS application fee to your BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card during your first year as a cardholder. The statement credit is issued automatically, so there's no need to submit a request or take any additional steps.
Travel insurance coverage
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card also offers cardholders a comprehensive package of various travel insurance coverage, including:
- Out of province/out of country emergency medical insurance
- Trip cancellation/trip interruption insurance
- Common carrier insurance
- Car rental collision/loss damage insurance
- Flight delay insurance
- Lost/delayed baggage insurance
- Hotel burglary insurance
The emergency medical insurance covers the first 22 days of each trip, up to $5 million per insured person. If you're 65 or older, that coverage only applies to the first 3 days of your trip, so you'll want to plan for top-up insurance on longer getaways.
This is a solid array of coverage that can provide value and support to you and your companions when you travel abroad or even within the country. We've written a great guide that helps clarify what your card insurance covers and doesn't, as well as many other guides on travel insurance and related card perks, so we recommend you check those out to better understand these features and how to maximize the value of your card.
Other perks and benefits
In addition to the notable perks that we've covered above, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card also offers a number of other valuable benefits. These include things like:
- Visa Infinite Privilege Benefits: Enjoy perks such as access to a Visa Infinite Privilege concierge, the Visa Infinite Hotel Collection, Visa Infinite Dining Series, and more! Check out our guide on the Visa Infinite benefits portfolio to learn more.*
- Extended warranty coverage: The card also includes other protections, such as mobile device insurance and purchase protection.
- Instacart+ savings: As a cardholder, you can enjoy 6 months of free Instacart+ membership and a $10 monthly Instacart credit to save you money on groceries and more.*
- Car rental discounts: Your BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card gets you up to 30% off car rental base rates with Avis and up to 35% off with Budget when you prepay with the card, subject to location, vehicle type and availability. The discount applies to the base time and mileage rate, not to taxes, insurance or fees.*
Our Take on the Refreshed BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card
We think the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card is worth exploring if you can meet the minimum income requirements, even with its $599 annual fee. The card's welcome offer is impressive and very achievable for many households – especially higher-income households – making the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card all the more attractive.
In terms of the refreshed card details, the removal of the 2.5% foreign transaction fee and the addition of 4 more airport lounge passes (valued at about $180 CAD) add real value, with no change to the $599 annual fee.
In fact, if you use all 10 lounge passes (about $448 CAD in value), count the Visa Airport Companion Program membership (about $95 CAD) and earn the $200 annual Travel Credit each year, you've already recouped over $740 in value. That comfortably covers the $599 annual fee before you've even started accounting for the value of the other perks, your earned points, and the first-year welcome offer.
Overall, we think the refresh is a positive move for the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card, adding value and savings across multiple desirable perks and features.
- Annual fee
- $599
- Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$1,340Total$1,340Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.
- $1,340
- Welcome offerAfter $40,000 in 12 months
- Up to 200,000 points
- Ends Oct 31, 2027
Apply Now
on BMO's website
Who Is This Card For?
The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card is a good option for you if you fit some/most of the following criteria:
- Meet the minimum income requirement
- Spend enough on average to meet the spending thresholds for the welcome offer
- Can maximize the points-earning potential of the many 5x earning categories
- Travel in a way that can benefit from perks like free airport lounge access, no FX fees, 5x points on travel expenses, $200 annual Travel Credit, and NEXUS statement credit.
If you can’t meet these requirements, or you're not sure that this is the right card for you, be sure to check out other top credit cards in Canada to see what else is available.
Bottom Line
The refreshed BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card offers a strong portfolio of travel benefits, a compelling welcome offer, and an impressive selection of 5x earning categories.
Despite the hefty annual fee, this card remains an attractive option for the right traveller/spender as the perks and points-earning potential are well designed to offset the $599 annual charge.
If you're in the market for a new premium travel-focused credit card, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card is certainly worth considering if you can meet the minimum income requirement.
For more information on BMO's roster of credit cards and other travel news, be sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which benefits change with the refreshed BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card?
The refresh brings 4 changes: foreign transaction fees are gone, the $200 Lifestyle Credit becomes a $200 Travel Credit, lounge passes go from 6 to 10 per year, and the 5x drugstore category is replaced by a 5x health and wellness category.
Did the annual fee go up with the refresh?
No. The annual fee stays at $599, the amount BMO has charged since February 2025. The refresh removes foreign transaction fees and adds more lounge passes without changing the fee.
How do I get the $200 annual Travel Credit?
Make a single purchase of $500 or more on airfare, a hotel or a car rental during your card year. BMO then credits $200 to your account within 30 business days. You can earn it once per year, and the year resets on your account anniversary.
Who can use the 10 airport lounge passes?
You can use them for yourself and for the guests travelling with you, after enrolling in the Visa Airport Companion Program. An authorized user who enrolls also gets their own 10 visits. Each visit beyond your free passes costs $32 USD per person.
Are there limits on the 5x categories?
Yes. Each 5x category has an annual cap, calculated by calendar year: $25,000 for travel, $20,000 for groceries, $15,000 for gas, $15,000 for health and wellness and $25,000 for dining. The 5x rate applies at merchants in Canada; past a cap, you earn 1 point per dollar.
Does the card charge foreign transaction fees?
No. The refreshed card charges no foreign transaction fee on foreign currency purchases, so you save the usual 2.5%. The exchange rate still applies, and purchases at merchants outside Canada earn 1 point per dollar.
How much income do I need to qualify?
You need a minimum annual income of $150,000 as an individual or $200,000 as a household. This makes the card a fit for a fairly narrow group of high earners.
How long does the travel medical insurance cover me?
Out-of-province and out-of-country emergency medical insurance covers the first 22 days of each trip, up to $5 million. If you are 65 or older, the coverage only applies to the first 3 days of your trip, so plan for top-up insurance on longer stays.