Canadian Amazon Visa card

[mab2012]

I really like the look of that new Brim card, but since we have shiny new Fido and HomeTrust cards in our wallets, we'll give it a little while to let the dust settle and see how the new company does. Too bad it wasn't around two months ago though. I probably would have skipped both Fido and HomeTrust and just given Brim a try.

I don't see using the Fido card much at all now that they've dropped the returns. We're just back from the US; no issues with the HomeTrust card so far.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

For those with the home trust cards... how many days between receiving the PIN info and the actual cards were there? We have the emails saying we qualified but still haven't recieved the actual cards. (I think we'll cancel the Rogers card once we get the Home Trust card since the Rogers cards so clearly sucks...

 

[bankr63]

Just got the offer for the Scotiabank Travel Platinum Visa. No forex, but the $130 annual fee makes it a no starter for me.

 

[gskywalker]

Has anyone received their cheque for the Amazon rewards points? I just logged into the card and it says the points were forfeited.

 

[DavidL]

@gskywalker - We used our Amazon Visa for our Disney trip this March. After we came home, I paid 80% of the outstanding balance right away, making sure that I left a balance so that a credit could be applied against it. On the March 27 statement date, all of my outstanding points were converted into a credit on the statement. Online it showed as though the points were forfeited, but I *did* get credit for those points against the remaining balance. I don't know what would happen for those people who had a $0 balance on statement date.

 

[gskywalker]

@gskywalker - We used our Amazon Visa for our Disney trip this March. After we came home, I paid 80% of the outstanding balance right away, making sure that I left a balance so that a credit could be applied against it. On the March 27 statement date, all of my outstanding points were converted into a credit on the statement. Online it showed as though the points were forfeited, but I *did* get credit for those points against the remaining balance. I don't know what would happen for those people who had a $0 balance on statement date.

My problem was the balance was due March 15. So I didn't want to leave a balance and have some sort of late penalty, etc. Someone else on here phoned and asked before the 15th and they said they would mail cheques, guess I will have to phone and ask.

 

[DavidL]

Changes are coming to the Rogers Card!

(Somewhat related to this discussion)

https://www.rogersbank.com/en/notification

The $29 annual fee is being dropped on the Rogers Platinum card. That's a positive.

The "cash-back" for Foreign Exchange transactions is dropping from 4% to 3%.
The "cash-back" for Canadian purchases is dropping from 1.75% to 1.25%

 

[bankr63]

Changes are coming to the Rogers Card!

(Somewhat related to this discussion)

https://www.rogersbank.com/en/notification

The $29 annual fee is being dropped on the Rogers Platinum card. That's a positive.

The "cash-back" for Foreign Exchange transactions is dropping from 4% to 3%.
The "cash-back" for Canadian purchases is dropping from 1.75% to 1.25%

True, but they also have introduced the new World Elite Mastercard with exactly the same terms as the old Platinum card, offering free upgrades to select existing Platinum cardholders.

This is a positive for those who don't have a service relationship with Rogers as you can still get your forex back (once a year) without paying a card fee. For those who have Rogers services, and get the offer, the World Elite card probably makes sense as you can have the fee waved easily enough. We took the bait on the new WE card.

 

[gskywalker]

FYI, I had to phone in today to get the credit from the points, they did not round up to the nearest dollar as the letter(informing the card was closing) said. They are sending me/wife chq's.

 

[DavidL]

@bankr63 - Thanks for the info. Did Rogers contact you via email / snailmail in regards to this other World Elite Mastercard? How long had you had a Platinum Mastercard when you received the offer? We've only had the Rogers Mastercard for a couple months now. Even with the change, it still suits our needs to help offset the foreign exchange fee, but if they have another card that offers better cash-back then I will have to investigate it.

 

[bankr63]

@bankr63 - Thanks for the info. Did Rogers contact you via email / snailmail in regards to this other World Elite Mastercard? How long had you had a Platinum Mastercard when you received the offer? We've only had the Rogers Mastercard for a couple months now. Even with the change, it still suits our needs to help offset the foreign exchange fee, but if they have another card that offers better cash-back then I will have to investigate it.

Both my wife and I received the offer via email, but we do have alerts enabled on the site, so they have our email addresses. We haven't had the Platinum card long; two statement cycles so far. But we are good Rogers customers, between all the family cell phones (5) and other services, we are probably around $700/mo in services.

 

[DavidL]

We have about $200/month of Rogers services. We are only a single income household, so I don't know if we will get the offer or not. We may not meet the minimum income requirement for an elite card, although I think that they should seriously look at the fact that we live in a fully paid-for house, driving a fully paid-for vehicle in our ability to qualify for their card. Maybe our credit rating is too low because we don't carry any debt

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

We received our invite last Thursday. When we accepted the invite, we received an email that we will start earning rewards at the World Elite rate on May 15.

This move by Rogers really baffles me. They are now only 1 of 2 no fee World Elite MasterCard, so coming from the Platinum I now have no fee, and way more insurance coverage. Why they would make this change escapes me. It works out better for me, but I cannot see it being better for them.

Nothing has been published as to how you will get your cash back, so I will be interested to see if they do it the say way they did the Platinum MasterCard.

Based on these changes, the Rogers World Elite card now appears to have a better return than the Brim Financial and the Home Trust Visa. I have enclosed some calculations I did in another thread, adjusted for the Rogers World Elite Mastercard. As usual, the decision for each of us is personal and there are many other factors that come into play. I am only illustrating it from a pure charge/cash back perspective.

And a round and round we go...

USD Amount = $5,644.00

Converted Amount = $5,644.00 x 1.28610028 = $7,258.75

Charge Amount = $7,258.75 x 1.025 (FX Fee) = $7,440.22

Rogers World Elite Mastercard:
2.5% FX Fee
4% Cash Back on Foreign Currency Transactions

Charge Amount = $5,644.00 USD x 1.28610028 x 1.025 = $7,440.22

Dollars Earned on $7,258.75 = $7,258.75 x .04 = $290.35

Net Cdn Cost for $5,644.00 USD Transaction = $7,440.22 - $290.35 = $7,149.87

Brim Mastercard:
(assuming $0 fee card, earning 1 point for every dollar spent and $.01 per point, net of 1% cash back. You can increase this, but the fee on the card goes up substantially)

0% FX Fee
1 Point Back per $1.00 Spent

Charge Amount = $5,644.00 USD x 1.28610028 = $7,258.75

Points Earned = 7,258.75

Dollars Earned on 7,258.75 at a rate of $.01 per point = $72.58

Net Cdn Cost for $5,644.00 USD Transaction = $7,258.75 - $72.58 = $7,186.17

HomeTrust Visa:
(Earns at the same rate as the $0 Brim Mastercard, 1% cash back on purchases. Also assuming that Visa and Mastercard use similar exchange rates)

0% FX Fee
1% Cash Back per $1.00 Spent

Charge Amount = $5,644.00 USD x 1.28610028 = $7,258.75

Dollars Earned on $7,258.75 at a rate of 1% Cash Back = $72.58

Net Cdn Cost for $5,644.00 USD Transaction = $7,258.75 - $72.58 = $7,186.17

Difference: $7,149.87 - $7,186.17 = $36.30 LESS paid with the Rogers World Elite MasterCard

 

[FigmentSpark]

Can you only get the World Elite offer by invitation?

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Can you only get the World Elite offer by invitation?

I don't know for sure, but I assume it will be released to the public. The guys at CreditCardGenius speculate about 3 months.

https://creditcardgenius.ca/blog/new-rogers-world-elite-mastercard-coming-soon/

 

[Debbie]

I was the one who was told that they would send me my cheque for the credit that was on my account. Today, I received my statement with no indication of that at all. I called and got "Could we confirm a few things and we'll get that cheque out to you.....seven to ten business days." It does make me wonder 1) why that wasn't confirmed during my March 16 phone call and 2) when would they have sent me a cheque if I hadn't called to "confirm" my address etc? We wait with bated breath.

 

[aballerina]

I was the one who was told that they would send me my cheque for the credit that was on my account. Today, I received my statement with no indication of that at all. I called and got "Could we confirm a few things and we'll get that cheque out to you.....seven to ten business days." It does make me wonder 1) why that wasn't confirmed during my March 16 phone call and 2) when would they have sent me a cheque if I hadn't called to "confirm" my address etc? We wait with bated breath.

I wonder if they will automatically mail out cheques to those who have a credit or will we need to phone in to get it.
I just received my final statement with a $6.17 credit. I know it's not a lot but I still want what's mine.

 

[efrant]

So, after morning the loss of my Marriott Visa for a few weeks , and considering the available options (Rogers, Fido, Home Trust, Scotia), I decided to go with Scotia. Yes, I realize the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite card's annual fee is hefty at $139, but it comes with a $300 sign-up bonus ($250 from Scotia and $50 from GCR), which will cover the annual fee for two years. By then, likely something better will surface, and I'll consider switching at that time. With the annual fee covered for two years, you basically get six Priority Pass lounge passes annually, and a full suite of travel insurance (trip interruption AND cancellation, flight delay, delayed and lost baggage, travel accident and emergency medical, and rental car collision) for free.

 

[deedubb]

So, after morning the loss of my Marriott Visa for a few weeks , and considering the available options (Rogers, Fido, Home Trust, Scotia), I decided to go with Scotia. Yes, I realize the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite card's annual fee is hefty at $139, but it comes with a $300 sign-up bonus ($250 from Scotia and $50 from GCR), which will cover the annual fee for two years. By then, likely something better will surface, and I'll consider switching at that time. With the annual fee covered for two years, you basically get six Priority Pass lounge passes annually, and a full suite of travel insurance (trip interruption AND cancellation, flight delay, delayed and lost baggage, travel accident and emergency medical, and rental car collision) for free.

That's not a bad plan. I think the trip cancellation is a rare bird. My cards give me everything else (medical, trip interruption, etc) but I usually still end up buying cancellation and I can't seem to find that in isolation so I end up paying for interruption as well. Since I just got the Home Trust, I'll see how it goes with that one.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

That's not a bad plan. I think the trip cancellation is a rare bird. My cards give me everything else (medical, trip interruption, etc) but I usually still end up buying cancellation and I can't seem to find that in isolation so I end up paying for interruption as well. Since I just got the Home Trust, I'll see how it goes with that one.

Yeah, agreed - not a bad plan. I was thinking about this Visa as well, but have not gotten around to doing an analysis of whether this card or the Rogers World Elite Mastercard would give me a better payback on my typical yearly US Dollar spend. I see another spreadsheet coming on....