Travel continues to be most popular type of credit card rewards sought after by Canadians and over the years these rewards have become increasingly flexible with the addition of any travel anytime options. With an overabundance of credit cards in Canada that offer any travel anytime rewards you may be asking which are the best and are they all the same?
Finding out which are the best can be a daunting task due to different earn rates on credit cards coupled with different and often not so simple redemption rates. Then you have variations in how you go about redeeming for any travel anytime rewards which just further complicates the task! Well, you don't have to worry about conducting that daunting task as we have done it for you and show you below which cards are the best at any travel anytime rewards and how they are not all the same.
With any travel anytime we are referring to the ability to book any type of travel, flights, hotels, car rentals, vacations packages and so on - not just flights. Several programs also have flight reward charts which tend to be marketed as any flight at anytime but it is best not to confuse those with any travel at anytime as they do not work for hotels, car rentals etc.. We do rank those any flight anytime options towards the end of this feature as well.
There are two primary any travel anytime reward redemption methods that are found with Canadian credit card rewards. Those two are booking any travel on your own with any travel provider and booking any travel via the credit card's travel agency.
Booking any travel on your own is what we consider as the true any travel anytime rewards option since you have complete control over your travel bookings. With this option you get to book with any travel provider directly, you don't have to book via the credit card's own travel service, if they have one. This means you can buy flights directly from Air Canada, hotels from Marriott, car rentals from Budget, all inclusives from WestJet Vacations, rail travel with Via Rail and the list goes on. Once the travel purchase shows up on your credit card you can then redeem points against the charge.
Booking any travel via the credit card rewards travel service is also considered an any travel anytime reward option as you can book a variety of travel (flights, hotels, cars etc.) but it is slightly less flexible than the first option. It is less flexible in that you have to book via the credit card's own travel service. This means you are limited to what options and prices they provide (although some state they will price match). One example is that many of these agencies don't have access to Ultra Low Cost airlines such as Flair, Ryanair and so on. Another example is many of these credit card programs utilize Expedia as their booking service and with Expedia being a U.S. based company they do not provide flights, hotels or vacation packages to Cuba.
Technically speaking there are a fair share of cash back credit cards that can fit the bill of any travel at anytime since there are some that offer great cash back rewards of 4% and 5% and you can use that cash back towards any purchase including travel. However, for the sake of keeping this feature from being too long and confusing we have not included cash back cards in these rankings. On top of this most people looking for travel rewards are also looking for additional travel benefits and insurance coverage which the travel cards listed below tend to do a better job with than cash back cards (but not always!)
Credit Cards Ranked: Booking any travel on your own
This is the most flexible of all credit card travel rewards and with this option you don't actually require the points at time of booking. You can redeem points after the charge posts to your account. The time period you get to redeem ranges from 90 days (BMO Rewards) to 12 months (Scotiabank, American Express) after the posting of the charge. This means you can be on vacation, book a spur of the moment flight, train ride, etc. and then redeem points towards it when you get back home.
All of these cards allow for partial points redemptions towards the charge that shows up on you account. For example, if you have $200 worth of points and your travel charge is $800 you can choose to redeem your points for a $200 credit towards that purchase.
| Rank | Credit Card | Details | Minimum Earn Rate / $ | Maximum Earn Rate / $ | Value per point for any travel at anytime | Minimum possible return | Maximum possible return | Link to apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Scotiabank Gold American Express Card |
Earns 1, 3, 5 and 6 points per dollar spent $120 annual fee |
1 point | 6 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 6% | |
| 2 |  American Express Cobalt Card |
Earns 1, 2, 3, and 5 points per dollar spent $12.99 monthly fee |
1 point | 5 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 5% | |
| 3 |  MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® |
Earns 1 and 5 points per dollar spent + 10% bonus $120 annual fee |
1 point | 5.5 points | 0.83 cents per point* | 0.83% | 4.57% | |
| 4 |  National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard |
Earns 1, 2, and 5 points per dollar spent $150 annual fee |
1 points | 5 points | 0.83 cents to 0.91 cents per point | 0.83% | 4.54% | |
| 5 |  Desjardins Odyssey Visa Infinite Privilege |
Earns 1.75%, 3% and 4% BONUSDOLLARS per dollar spent $395 annual fee |
1.75% BONUSDOLLARS | 4% BONUSDOLLARS | 1 cent per BONUSDOLLAR | 1.75% | 4% | |
| 6 |  CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege Card |
Earns 1.25, 2 and 3 points per dollar spent $499 annual fee |
1.25 points | 3 points | 1.25 cents per point** (or 0.625 cents per point**) |
1.56%** (or 0.8%**) |
3.75%** (or 1.87%**) |
|
| 7 |  BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card |
Earns 1 and 5 points per dollar spent + 10% bonus $120 annual fee |
1 point | 5.5 points | 0.67 cents per point | 0.67% | 3.69% | |
| 8 |  TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card |
Earns 2, 4, 6 and 8 points per dollar spent + 10% bonus $139 annual fee |
2 points | 8.8 points | 0.4 cents per point | 0.80% | 3.52% | |
| 9 |  BMO AscendTM World Elite®* Mastercard®* |
Earns 1 and 5 points per dollar spent $150 annual fee |
1 point | 5 points | 0.67 cents per point | 0.67% | 3.35% | |
| 10 |  Desjardins Odyssey World Elite® Mastercard® |
Earns 1.5%, 2% and 3% BONUSDOLLARS per dollar spent $130 annual fee |
1.5% BONUSDOLLARS | 3% BONUSDOLLARS | 1 cent per BONUSDOLLAR | 1.5% | 3% | |
| 11 |  Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card |
Earns 1, 2, and 3 points per dollar spent $150 annual fee |
1 point | 3 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 3% | |
| 12 |  Scotiabank American Express Card |
Earns 1, 2, and 3 points per dollar spent $0 annual fee |
1 point | 3 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 3% | |
| 13 |  CIBC Aventura® Visa Infinite* Card |
Earns 1, 1.5 and 2 points per dollar spent $139 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1.25 cents per point** (or 0.625 cents per point**) |
1.25%** (or 0.63%**) | 2.5%** (or 1.25%**) |
|
| 14 |  TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card |
Earns 1.5, 3, 4.5, and 6 points per dollar spent $89 annual fee |
1.5 points | 6 points | 0.4 cents per point | 0.60% | 2.40% | |
| 15 |  Scotiabank®* Platinum American Express® Card |
Earns 2 points per dollar spent $399 annual fee |
2 points | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 2% | 2% | |
| 16 |  American Express Gold Rewards Card |
Earns 1 and 2 points per dollar spent $250 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2% | |
| 17 |  The Platinum Card from American Express |
Earns 1 and 2 points per dollar spent $799 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2% | |
| 18 |  Scotiabank Scene+ Visa Card |
Earns 1 and 2 points per dollar spent $0 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2% | |
| 19 |  RBC ION Visa Card |
Earns 1 and 3 points per dollar spent $4 monthly fee |
1 point | 3 points | 0.58 cents per point* | 0.58% | 1.74% | |
| 20 |  RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card |
Earns 1 and 1.25 points per dollar spent $120 annual fee |
1 point | 1.25 points | 0.58 cents per point* | 0.58% | 0.73% |
* These cards do not have a special redemption for booking travel on your own thus the value per point is based on the statement credit (cash back) option provided in the respective reward program
** CIBC has a special promotion for their Shopping with Points for Travel option that provides a 50% discount on the standard amount of points required to redeem for any travel purchased on their Aventura cards. There is a major word of caution for this however, you will only receive the promotional rate if you redeem while the travel charge is still pending, so you get roughly a 3 to 7 day window after you purchase your travel to redeem. If you miss that window you have to redeem at the lower Pay with Points option which are the values shown in the brackets.
Credit Cards Ranked: Booking any travel via the credit card rewards travel service
With this option you need to have the points on hand at the time of booking via the credit card or associated loyaly program travel agency to redeem at the rates listed below. All of them do allow for paying part with points and then charging the rest to your card. For example, if you have $300 worth of points and buy travel worth $700 you can choose to redeem your points at that time and charge the remaining $400 to your card.
| Rank | Credit Card | Details | Minimum Earn Rate / $ | Maximum Earn Rate / $ | Value per point for any travel at anytime | Minimum possible return | Maximum possible return | Link to apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scotiabank Gold American Express Card |
Earns 1, 3, 5 and 6 points per dollar spent $120 annual fee |
1 point | 6 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 6% | |
| 2 | MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® |
Earns 1 and 5 points per dollar spent + 10% bonus $120 annual fee |
1 point | 5.5 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 5.5% | |
| 3 | American Express Cobalt Card |
Earns 1, 2, 3, and 5 points per dollar spent $12.99 monthly fee |
1 point | 5 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 5% | |
| 4 | National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard |
Earns 1, 2, and 5 points per dollar spent $150 annual fee |
1 points | 5 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 5% | |
| 5 | TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card |
Earns 2, 4, 6 and 8 points per dollar spent + 10% bonus $139 annual fee |
2 points | 8.8 points | 0.5 cents per point | 1% | 4.4% | |
| 6 | CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege Card |
Earns 1.25, 2 and 3 points per dollar spent $499 annual fee |
1.25 points | 3 points | 1 cent per point | 1.25% | 3% | |
| 7 | RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card + RBC ION+ Visa Card (Combo)** |
Earns 1, 1.25 and 3 points per dollar spent $120 annual fee + $4 monthly fee |
1 point | 3 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 3% |
|
| 8 | Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card |
Earns 1, 2, and 3 points per dollar spent $150 annual fee |
1 point | 3 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 3% | |
| 9 | Scotiabank American Express Card |
Earns 1, 2, and 3 points per dollar spent $0 annual fee |
1 point | 3 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 3% | |
| 10 | TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card |
Earns 1.5, 3, 4.5, and 6 points per dollar spent $89 annual fee |
1.5 points | 6 points | 0.5 cents per point | 0.75% | 3% | |
| 11 |  MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus® Mastercard® |
Earns 1 and 5 points per dollar spent + 10% bonus $120 annual fee |
1 point | 2.2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2.2% | |
| 12 | Scotiabank®* Platinum American Express® Card |
Earns 2 points per dollar spent $399 annual fee |
2 points | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 2% | 2% | |
| 13 | CIBC Aventura® Visa Infinite* Card |
Earns 1, 1.5 and 2 points per dollar spent $139 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2% | |
| 14 | American Express Gold Rewards Card |
Earns 1 and 2 points per dollar spent $250 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2% | |
| 15 | National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard |
Earns 1.25 and 2 points per dollar spent $115 annual fee |
1.25 points | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1.25% | 2% | |
| 16 | The Platinum Card from American Express |
Earns 1 and 2 points per dollar spent $799 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2% | |
| 17 | Scotiabank Scene+ Visa Card |
Earns 1 and 2 points per dollar spent $0 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2% | |
| 18 |  CIBC Aventura® Gold Visa* Card |
Earns 1, 1.5 and 2 points per dollar spent $139 annual fee |
1 point | 2 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 2% | |
| 19 | RBC ION+ Visa Card |
Earns 1 and 3 points per dollar spent $4 monthly fee |
1 point | 3 points | 0.58 cents per point | 0.58% | 1.74% | |
| 20 | RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card |
Earns 1 and 1.25 points per dollar spent $120 annual fee |
1 point | 1.25 points | 1 cent per point | 1% | 1.25% |
** When you have both the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card and the RBC ION+ card you are able to transfer points between the separate Avion Rewards accounts. This allows you to take advantage of the ION+ card's better earn rates and the Avion card's better redemption rates. Learn more here: Loyalty Lesson - How to extract more value from Avion Rewards
Credit Cards ranked: Any flight anytime reward chart options
Three Canadian card issuers also offer a fixed chart redemption option for flight bookings. These are referred to as any flight anytime rewards and are only applicable to airline tickets. These all work on the same premise of redeeming a set number of points towards an airline ticket. The amount of points required depends on the region and the points only cover the base fare of a ticket up to a maximum set amount per region.
For example in RBC's Avion Rewards you can redeem 15,000 points for a short haul ticket (same province or neighbouring province/state) with a maximum base fare amount of $350. Any portion of the base fare that exceeds the maximum and all taxes and fees need to be paid for with the card or by redeeming additional points (typically at the rates listed in Option 2 above)
| Rank | Credit Card Reward Program | Details | Minimum Earn Rate / $ | Maximum Earn Rate / $ | Maximum value per point when redeemed via the flight reward chart | Maximum possible return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Express Membership Rewards Fixed Points for Travel |
Cards earn 1, 2, 3, and 5 points per dollar spent |
1 point | 5 points | 2 cents per point | 10% |
| 2 | RBC Avion Rewards Avion Air Travel Redemption Schedule (When using an Avion card and ION+ card combo)** |
Cards earn 1, 1.25 and 3 points per dollar spent | 1 point | 3 points | 2.33 cents per point | 7% |
| 3 | CIBC Rewards Aventura Airline Rewards chart |
Cards earn 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 points per dollar spent |
1 point | 3 points | 2.28 cents per point | 6.84% |
| 4 | RBC Avion Rewards Avion Air Travel Redemption Schedule |
Cards earn 1 and 1.25 points per dollar spent | 1 points | 1.25 points | 2.33 cents per point | 2.91% |
** When you have both the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card and the RBC ION+ card you are able to transfer points between the separate Avion Rewards accounts. This allows you to take advantage of the ION+ card's better earn rates and the Avion card's better redemption rates. Learn more here: Loyalty Lesson - How to extract more value from Avion Rewards
Recommended reading:
- Clash of the Reward Charts! Amex Membership Rewards vs. CIBC Aventura
- Clash of the Reward Charts! Amex Membership Rewards vs. RBC Avion Rewards
- Clash of the Reward Charts! CIBC Aventura vs. RBC Avion Rewards
Wrapping it up
As with many of the features on Rewards Canada, this ranking should be used in conjunction with other rankings and features on our site to ultimately find the right card for you. Each individual may have to take into account more factors than what is shown above. We list those factors in the Notes/Warning section right below this.
However, even when you are take into account the other factors I think what you can take away from these rankings is that there are striking differences in the value provided by Canadian card issuers - with some of the more popular options coming out on the lower end of things!
Notes / Warnings:
- The three rankings above are based upon the "Maximum possible return" which takes into account the earn rates and redemption rates for each card as you cannot properly compare credit cards without looking at this earn to burn ratio.
- When choosing the right card for you there are many more factors that also need to be looked at which include the "Minimum possible return" as every individual's spending habits are different. One person may spend heavily in categories that have accelerated earn rates while others will spend heavily at the base earn rate level which is the spend that provides the minimum possible return.
- You also need to consider monthly and annual spending caps for the accelerated earn rate categories. Some cards cap their highest earn rates at $500 or $2,500 per month while others may range from below $10,000 to as high as $50,000 annually.
- You also need to consider the annual fees, additional benefits and insurance coverage provided on these cards. A card that has a lower overall return may be best for you if it provides No Foreign Transaction fees, airport lounge access and so on.
- In the grand scheme of things it is best to have multiple cards withat least one of them being a points earning machine that provides unmatched value for earn to burn and then another card for features/benefits/insurance coverage.
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This feature was first published on March 11, 2024 and is updated on a regular basis
Title Image by G.C. from Pixabay