The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Cruising the African Coast (Part 2) & The Top Travel Rewards Cards
Travel Expert Onanta Forbes continued her cruise down the west coast of Africa last week so we'll get an update from her on this week's show. Plus, what is the best travel rewards credit card? We'll find out when Patrick Sojka from Rewards Canada joins us for our monthly visit as they recently released their 18th Annual list of the Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. Travel expert Onata Forbes continued her cruise down the west coast of Africa last week, so we'll get an update from her in a few seconds on what she's been up to. Plus, what's the best travel rewards credit card? We'll find out when Patrick Soika from Rewards Canada joins us for our monthly visit, as they recently released their 18th annual list of the top travel rewards credit cards. But first, let's kick things off. Chatting with travel expert Onanta Forbes, who joins us each week to discuss some of the travel news and travel trends. You can follow her adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and X at Onanta Forbes. OnantaForbes.com is her website. Hello, Onanta.
SPEAKER_00:Hello from West Africa again.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I've been uh I've been following your uh latest adventures on Instagram, some amazing photos. It looks like an amazing trip. So uh give us an update. Where are you now and where have you been?
SPEAKER_00:So today I'm at sea, and we're actually going to be arriving in um Namibia tomorrow in Walvis Bay, and really looking forward to it because we've had three days at sea, and they've been nice, but sometimes, you know, it's just nice to get off the boat as well. And I thought what I would share with you is um, you know, what it is like to sail to West Africa. Like up in like we've come through Europe where the ports are polished, the excursions are predictable, and everything runs on cruise time. But West Africa isn't so much like that. Um, and it becomes clear almost immediately. The ports aren't built around cruise tourism, and you feel that the moment that you arrive. Um, it is a once-in-a-lifetime cruise, and I would definitely recommend cruisers that are repeat cruisers and have kind of gone off the beaten path to try it. But it does demand a different mindset. So, like places like Dakar and Banjul are busy, they're loud, they're unpredictable. Things run on local time, not ship time. And before we could even leave the port, you have to wait for clearance from local custom authorities, and that didn't always happen on schedule. Um, in one port, we were delayed almost an hour before the excursions could even begin. But oddly enough, that unpredictability kind of becomes part of the experience. Nothing is staged, and it's like real life unfolding around us. But logistically, it could be rough. Like when we went into San Pomei and Principe, um, they actually said the cruise people, because when they we had to tender, number one, and number two, the um exit from the tender up to the port level, like the ground level, it's very much narrow, high stoned. So some people with mobility challenges were recommended, actually told not to go. Um, and you have to be expected of that because the port was underdeveloped or undeveloped for what we're used to in Europe or the Caribbean. Um, sometimes taxis could get lost. If you were one of those brave souls that thought, oh no, I'm gonna rent a car. Um check your car. Like you might see that there was a spare tire, but are there the uh instruments to change a spare tire? Um, you know, with that spare tire, because you could actually miss the boat if you can't change your tire, right? Um, the vehicles aren't modern, uh, infrastructure is probably lagging behind what most cruise um cruisers are used to. You if you were that independent soul, it sometimes wasn't easy and you have to be flexible. So you have to accept that changes or plans might change or not happen at all, but that's okay. That's just what it is. Um, but when you get here and you visit the port, one of the most powerful aspects is the history, like visiting, um uh standing in front of the door of no return at Gori Island in Senegal. That's pretty deeply moving. Um, it's not just a sightseeing stop, it provides some context and and kind of reflection of what history kind of is or was. Um, there's also um a stark contrast between ship and shore. So on board, life is comfortable. Like modern amenities, good food, a sense of you know, goodwill, camaraderie between your um passengers. When you step off the ship, uh you're climbing into open-air vehicles, heading out on dusty roads. So it's it's different, right? Like the ship's stable and safe where exploring places may not be as polished or easy. And I definitely enjoy, I'm enjoying my trip. Like I'm definitely getting to see places I've never seen before. And honestly, Randy, I never thought I'd come to a place like Togo before, right? Whoever thought that I'm even the voodoo ceremony.
SPEAKER_01:Uh you mentioned uh the door of no return just kind of smacks you in the face.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, right. It's amazing, right? And and it was interesting too, because uh we also went to a voodoo ceremony, and it's an actual voodoo ceremony.
SPEAKER_01:It's like a so mind your P's and Q's when you're there, you never know.
SPEAKER_00:Well, they kind of illustrate, they don't actually do it like a chicken sacrifice, and it's like and then and then so people who are you know prone to loving animals or squeamish might not appreciate that. Or they would show how um a fake fight in the voodoo ceremony between um the men, or they show perhaps like some of the libations um would make you kind of feel like they look like they were drunk and stumbling. So it was very um eye-opening for me it was anyway. And then we were in this village and so all the little kids were quite um you know interested in the tours that were there, and and one lady, so you have to be careful of this, had some candy. So she pulled out this bag of candy for a couple of kids, then all of a sudden a lot more kids showed up.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and you don't want to be doing that, you're asking for trouble doing that, right?
SPEAKER_00:So it it's it's it's part of the cruise, it's not for everybody, it's not for travelers looking for luxury at every turn, turn because when you think of region, it is luxury. Um, and you need to have a decent level of physical fitness, patience, and an adventurous spirit, and also health prep matters too, right? So I have a personal medical kit um that I have. Like I nick my um finger. Um, so it, you know, at home it wouldn't mean anything, but here I made sure like we had polysporum and a band-aid. And um, you have to be careful with that. And even with vaccinations, like people did get sick. So you have to be realistic about where you are and what resources you have. Um, you know, but then things like Ghana stood out, like um it, you know, the inland excursions gave some real depth. Um, visiting Cape Coast tied so much of what we had already seen earlier in the journey. Um, the guides were good, you know, they're probably not as refined and polished as perhaps other guides that you had in Europe, but they explained it with confidence and um they're welcoming and organized, um, but they don't sugarcoat stuff like it. They tell you exactly what it is because slavery or the history of slavery um is definitely part of the fabric of the places that you're visiting. Um, also, so today we're heading into Namibia. So you're seeing that the the landscapes are gonna be um different, gonna see more marine life. So for the whole time I've been on board since mid-December, I've only seen one school, and I don't know if that's the right word, school of dolphins, the whole time we've been here. Um and then um, but and then you're gonna have a little bit more time at sea. And then so we haven't hit Namibia yet, but I have been Namibia before, and I love it. It's it's great. I'm gonna go to a new place. It's called Walvis Bay. It's um, you know, the captain says that you're gonna see like sea lions sunning themselves as you enter um the port. Um, you're gonna, you know, see massive dunes kind of rolling straight into the ocean and the and the wildlife will be will be better or will be more, not better. I didn't mean it that way. Um, and then even like so new this year, or I guess it's 2026, new in 2025, um, you now need an e-visa to come into Namibia, and you cannot leave the ship if you don't have it. And then um there's a mandatory face-to-face inspection that happens for all guests, um, that's that they have to um go and and uh uh have a conversation with the customs officer, and that's also for arrival and departure. So things um that I would say Regent is really good about getting their guests prepared. Also, um you have to have a yellow fever card, and I you have to show that yellow fever card way back in Barcelona before you even started the journey. Um so you and if you don't, you can't come on board, right? And you don't want that because no, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:So, did you know all this before you got on the cruise? I know you're a travel uh expert and things like that, and you're the one that people go to to organize this stuff. So, did you know all this prior?
SPEAKER_00:I again, kudos to Regent. They were give sending you multiple, and I mean multiple emails about these are the visas you need in the different places, these are the visas you need to get on your own. Um, as a Canadian, I didn't need the visa for the Gambia, but I did need it for Ghana. But they you could do it through Regent, like just pay a fee, and they arranged it. But um for Nibia, it's a new process for the country. And um, for us it was pretty straightforward, but for other guests, this the uh site kept on crashing. And um, one of my guests, they went on a land African safari through Botswana. Um, and you had to go through Nibia, and they had all the documents and all of it filled out, all the forms. But again, it's so new. The lady, the customs lady in this little beautiful little shack on the side of the river said, No, I want everything filled out new. So it is so new. Yeah. So be careful, and it does cost you money. Um, and I did see some people in the internet cafe um scrambling to get their e visa for Nibia because they wanted to go ashore. Um, and it was the site wasn't reliable, but you just have to motor on and try and get it done, right? Um, so it it's so you do have to have prepare not only logistically, but mentally as well as physically. Um you know, coming here. And again, it's not like I've never been a cruise, I'm gonna go on this cruise.
SPEAKER_01:This wouldn't be the one for a first-timer, is what you're saying.
SPEAKER_00:No, no. Um, and then the cruise will end up in Cape Town, which will be amazing because you know, you're gonna see sites like Table Mountain, you're gonna see or l learn, or not learn, but maybe um refresh your memory about history with Nestle and Mandela, which is quite amazing. Um and depending on where you stay at the Wharf or it's it's a beautiful city and uh and uh uh something to look forward to. Again, we've been to Cape Town before, but um again, just uh you know, another part of Africa that um perhaps you haven't been to. Like again, people may have, you know, gone to Egypt or Kenya or Tanzania first. Um so but traveling down the African coast, you know, um kind of gives you a broader view of how diverse the continent really is, whether it's culturally, geographically, or historically. It's not always comfortable, it's not always smooth, but it's very interesting and worth doing for sure. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:I bet. I'd be interesting or interested rather to uh know uh some of the comments from other guests. Have you heard or overheard comments? Because uh, if you weren't expecting those conditions at port, then uh it would be an eye-opener, and some people might not like it.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely, yes. But I do have to say, these are well-traveled cruisers. I was just chatting with a lady. Actually, she's from Niagara in Ontario, and before she came on this 25-day cruise, she was on a 16-day Azamara cruise. So these people have been are cruisers and they have the time, the resources to do it. Um, and I, you know, I don't know if this is a cruise that you wouldn't want the assistance of a travel expert or professional, because you do need to um be on your toes for different things that you need to prepare for. Africa, even if you're going on a safari, you need to have somebody that knows their stuff making sure that you're prepared. That's my thoughts, anyway.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, for sure. The last thing you want is to forget something or didn't know about something, and now you're stuck. You don't get to do what you want to do, or you don't even get to go on the ship, like like you're mentioning before.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Like, could you imagine arriving into Barcelona and not having your yellow fever card? And you said, no, you can't come. And I don't think it will be super easy to just run down to the local pharmacist in Barcelona and get your yellow fever shot.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, I don't think so either. The ship's not gonna wait for you.
SPEAKER_00:No, no, but you know, as we enter um the final stages of our cruise, I have to say that region has done a very nice job of getting us to each port. We didn't miss a port. We've had good weather. Today's a bit choppy, but you know, nothing um horrid at all. Like you are on the open seas. And um so it it's it's it's always nice when you don't miss a port, I think.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:I dude, I I feel I I remember one time I was in the KMB and and it was a hurricane, so it was legitimate. And we couldn't go to Grand Cayman. It's like, oh, I want to go to Grand Cayman. And it's like, oh, I have a uh more days at sea. And sometimes that that extra day at sea is kind of like, oh, I don't want to spend more days at sea. I want to go on port.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that used to happen uh as a crew member. Uh I remember in Nassau, because uh Nassau has got a very narrow entrance. Uh if you've ever been there, you know this. Um and so there there were days where the winds were too high and it was too dangerous to enter into Nassau. So we would just skip it. And that happened quite frequently, actually, actually.
SPEAKER_00:Right. So again, another thing you have to be prepared for. It's you know, like your your itinerary may could change, so you have to roll with it, basically. With the waves, you're rolling with the waves.
SPEAKER_01:Well, excellent. Now uh you got uh Namibia tomorrow. Is that what you said?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, that is correct.
SPEAKER_01:And then uh after that, it's on onward to South Africa, right?
SPEAKER_00:So one more day at sea, and then we head into Cape Town. And actually, it's an overnight as part of the cruise itinerary where you are the the ship is your hotel for one night before it actually physically ends um as far as the end of the the world um you know holiday extravaganza that we're on. Um so so that's kind of neat too. So always I think too that you always pay for it in some way, but it's nice to have the ship as your hotel as an overnight.
SPEAKER_01:Now, are you spending a few days in Cape Town or are you heading back to Barcelona? What's the plan after that?
SPEAKER_00:So, part two of O's snowboard 2026 adventure. We're going to the Canary Islands. Back to the Canary Islands.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, that's tough.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I'm hoping Wi-Fi's better.
SPEAKER_01:I'm sure it will be. Well, it's it's an amazing adventure, amazing trip. Uh, people can follow uh your posts on Instagram, Facebook, and ex at Onanta Forbes. And you can check out her website to OnantaForbes.com. Uh good stuff, Onanta. Here's to uh smooth sailing.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Take care.
SPEAKER_01:This is the Informed Traveler Podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, theinformedraveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast or any show segment ideas. You can also email me too with any questions or segment ideas you might have. My email address is randy at the informedtraveler.org, and check out our social media pages too at facebook.com slash informed traveler, Instagram at informed traveler, or on X at Informed Traveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and reels from our adventures throughout the year and the past year, and audio clips from our past shows. Plus, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our January issue is now available. Just go to our website, theinformtraveler.org, click on the newsletter button, and it'll take you right there. Or better yet, you can subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox each month. Well, every year, Rewards Canada comes out with their list of the top travel reward credit cards. So we're gonna find out which ones should be in your wallet. So joining us now to do that is Patrick Soyka. He is the founder of Rewards Canada. RewardsCanada.ca is the website. Hi, Patrick. Hi, Randy. Happy New Year to you. We are going to talk about Canada's best travel rewards uh credit cards. And we can really get bogged down in a whole lot of numbers, but uh different types of cards. But for simplicity's sake, uh we're gonna talk about the two categories that you have. And your website breaks it down quite nicely if people are looking for more categories. But we're gonna talk about the travel rewards card, the best travel rewards card, and then the best travel credit card. But before we get into all that, this I was just looking at all the different categories and different cards. Um this must be uh quite a job to go through all of these things and and and rank them.
SPEAKER_03:You know what? I will say it used to be. The good thing is I've been doing It this is now our 18th annual for credit card rankings. Um, so it's kind of set in place, it's just when new cards come along or if card changes come along. So it's just making sure I keep all you know up with all of those. You know, in the past year we did see about uh at least a half a dozen new travel credit cards come out. Um, you know, you had uh Porter Airlines come out with their credit cards, uh, so I had to you know could give those consideration and see how they they fit into the to the to the whole mix. Uh Scotia came out with like an ultra premium version of their passport infinite card. Uh so yeah, so I have to take all those into consideration. And then yeah, and then there's changes that happen throughout the year too programs, you know, like TD improved their first class Visa Infinite Card, so that actually bumped their card up a little bit in the rankings. So so yeah, so I mean it is a constant uh line of work, but luckily I think because I've been doing it long enough, I kind of have the uh you know the outline done beforehand.
SPEAKER_01:So what like what's the criteria? Like what makes uh a good travel rewards card?
SPEAKER_03:All right, so so in travel rewards, so so and I'm gonna make that distinction. So this year we're making the distinction between travel rewards and travel. So travel rewards are really it's about the it's more about the points earning and the points value. Um, and then travel without the rewards, like just the travel credit cards, more about, you know, kind of the benefits and extras they give you while you're traveling or you know, when you when you want to travel. So it's kind of those two distinctions because there are cards out there, like the the best travel rewards credit card is the American Express Cobalt card. It's been there for nine years now. Um such uh you know a machine when it comes to earning points and value for points, but you know, it doesn't have extras, it doesn't have like lounge access or or um no foreign transaction fees, it doesn't offer some of those extra benefits. So that's why we we kind of want to make that distinction because a lot of our readers are like, well, you know what, I do have the cobalt card, but what's the best one for me when I'm in, you know, in Switzerland or in Thailand or or somewhere or you know, I'm going to these places, what what cards can I use? And that's you know, something that we we also want to tell people is that it it is a lot of times better to be carrying more than one credit card. And there's multiple reasons. I mean, you know, you have Visa, MaskCard, Amex. They all have all their different card offers, but they also have individual offers just for the brand. You know, like you can use a Visa card and maybe get 10% off, you know, with some airline. I I've seen they've they've had you know discounts with Air Canada where if you use any Visa card, you'll get a discount. You know, American Express has the same thing. They have like the special hotel deals, MasterCard does the same thing. So I kind of tell people you want to kind of carry one from each. You can have one main card that you pay an annual fee on, and the others can be no annual fee if you you know if you're adverse to paying you know a lot of annual fees. Um, and the other main reason too is when you're traveling, is if something happens where one card gets you know compromised, you have a back, you have a backup card. You know, so it's always good to have so it's always good to have at least two or three credit cards. And and I've always said, you know, if you have if you you can go with three, go with three and have one Amex, one MasterCard, one visa, and that way you're covered for everything. Because here in Canada, like you go shop at a Costco warehouse, you can only use a MasterCard. So there, you know, there's all these little leap, all these little things that we we take into consideration. And that's you know, when you say what we take into consideration, even take in human aspects, you know. Like I said, we you know Porter Airlines has their new credit cards, but for a lot of Canada, there's not a lot of utility because Porter, you know, Porter doesn't fly to Regina, they don't fly to Whitehorse. They you know they there's a they're they have a very limited uh route capacity at this time. Um, so it's a strong card for those, say, in Ontario and Quebec, but for those of us like in Alberta and BC, you know, unless you're flying Porter a lot to Toronto or to Ottawa, that's there's not a lot of utility to that credit card. So these are all things we take into consideration. It's like how many cities can you fly to? You know, what are the airline partners? You know, that's why the Aeroplan cards still do really well because they have you know over 40 plus partners where you can redeem your points on, earn points on. Um, so there's just yeah, there's a lot of things that we take into consideration as factors for you know ranking these credit cards.
SPEAKER_01:Well, you mentioned that the American Express Cobalt card is the uh top ranked uh rewards card. So what makes it the top rank and what does it do better than anybody else?
SPEAKER_03:So it's great on earning points. You earn one, two, three, or five points per dollar. And the five points per dollar is on uh eats and drinks, so groceries, dining, uh bakeries, coffee shops, so things that we do every day, and you're earning five points per dollar. Uh I will put a caveat that that's capped at$2,500 per month, but still for most people that's not a problem. You know, the a the average That's a lot of food. That's a lot of food. I mean, the average that they just but they just released uh there's a study every year, the average family of four is gonna spend about$17,000 on groceries alone this year. Uh so and that cap there is$30,000. So it gives you$17,000 for groceries,$13,000 for dining. So it's so for most people that's totally fine. And you're gonna earn those five points per dollar. So it's a strong points earning card, but where it really shines is on the redemption side because it gives you every reward pretty much possible under the sun. So you got any travel at any time, so you can go and book a flight directly with Air Canada, book with Wesh at your favorite travel agent. You can use the card there. And then when the charge shows up on your account, you redeem points against the charge. Um, and that you don't even have to have the full amount. You know, if you're buying if you're buying a$3,000 all-inclusive vacation and you have$1,000 worth of points, you can redeem$1,000 and then you've only paid$2,000 for your vacation. Um, but then they also have like a reward chart, just like your classic traditional uh frequent flyer chart where it's like, you know, uh 20,000 points for this region, 35,000 for this region. Uh Amexes are a little different, but I'm just throwing numbers out there. But they have that chart as well where you can redeem points. And and here's where you kind of look at the value. It's like, well, you can get up to two, what they say two cents per point in value using that chart. And because you're earning five points per dollar, if you redeem at that two cents level, that's actually a 10% return on your spending already. So that's huge. You know, like cash back cards or a lot of cash back cards only giving you one, two, three percent, maybe maybe five percent if you're lucky on like groceries and that. So it gives you big value there. But and then so they there you have two very flexible redemption options, but then they have airline partners. They have Air Canada, Aeroplan, Air France, KLM Flying Blue, British Airways, and you can convert to all of those programs one-to-one. So basically, the cobalt card at earning five points per dollar is earning five aeroplan points per dollar. No other card can earn that many aeroplan points per dollar. So it's like it's actually the strongest aeroplan earning card in market. Um and and with aeroplan, then you get to the huge, and and I should say not just aeroplan, Air France, Kalan, Flying Blue, which I will also say on January 3rd, they improved American Express improved that conversion. It used to be that it would take one Amex membership rewards point to get 0.75 Flying Blue miles. It's now one to one. So they they actually improved it by 33%. Uh, so all of those programs, Air Canada, Air France, British Airways, those are the ones where you get the option to redeem. You know, you can use points for business class flights, first class flights, because you can redeem Aeroplan points on Emirates, you can redeem British Airways Avios on Qatar Airways. So that's where you get to your um your luxury travel. And a lot of times those business class flights are providing. We'll go back to this cent per point valuation. You know, you people are getting four or five cents per point. So if you're earning five points per dollar times that by five cents per point, that's like a 25% return on your spending. Like it's just, it's just, it's, it, it's mind-blowing the potential. Like, I'll and I'll say potential value because those aren't guaranteed redemption rates, because it it all depends on what the cash cost is of your flight and all that. And then people also throw in the things like, well, would you have ever spent you know,$7,000 to fly business class? And if people say no, I would have only spent$2,000. Well, that's your value is$2,000 then. So there, you know, there's so many different things in the way people calculate value, but but just the fact that the cobalt card is so flexible that they give you every possible redemption option. You know, you want to go fly business class by redeeming aeroplan points, you can do it. You want to fly economy class with Flair Airlines, you just book your foot for your flight direct with Flair and then redeem your points against that charge. So it gives you every option.
SPEAKER_01:Nice. I do like those charts though, because then you can decide based on the number of points you have where you want to go. Exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. And we do have, you know, you have uh American Express has the charts, uh, Avian RBC has the charts, and CIBC Avenured has the charts as well. And then of course the airlines, you know, aeroplan's kind of in between. They do dynamic pricing, but they give you a chart so that you kind of know where the points start at. Um so they they publish a chart, but it's not a guaranteed rate, but it kind of gives you a good idea of what you know roughly you'd be spending. Um, you know, AeroPlan, there's huge value there when you're reading for their partners because that is a set amount. It's not the dynamic pricing. So, you know, if you want to fly uh Lufthansa business class, Swiss business class, um ANA, you know, all Nippon Airlines out of uh Japan, you know, they all price out at a flat rate with AeroPlan. So if you can find availability, those are always a great deal too.
SPEAKER_01:And I uh again going back to your website, people can find all the different categories on rewardscanada.ca. But uh you also say that that it is individualized because uh what might be a uh a good card for me may not be a right fit for you, right? That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_03:So I mean, you know, American Express does very well in our rankings, but if you're somebody who does all your grocery shopping at a la blah branded grocery store, like say real Canadian Superstore, La Blah is theirs, no frills, they don't accept American Express. So right there, that that becomes an issue for some people. Um, you know, so you have to look at like MasterCard or Visa. So you have to look at your spending habits, shopping habits. You know, some people are very heavy Costco shoppers, that's where they do majority of their shopping. Uh, so that's where cards like the WestJet card shines, because you're earning one and a half Westchet points per dollar spent at Costco because it's a MasterCard. Um, most a lot of MasterCards you don't earn actually a lot at Costco. So and then same thing, Air France KLM, we talked about them with American Express, they have their own MasterCard here in Canada, which you can use at Costco. And that's a hidden gem about flying about the Air France KLM Flying Blue program, is you can redeem their miles on West flights, even domestically within Canada. So you could use them for Calgary to Winnipeg, even though it's Air France KLM miles. Hmm.
SPEAKER_01:Interesting. Yeah. Okay, let's talk about the top travel credit card now. This is when I'm actually traveling around. Yes. Uh what are some of the benefits? The the the top what first of all, what is the top card and what are the benefits? What makes it the best one?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so the top card is a Scotia Passport Visa Infinite card. This is the one I've been, you know, ever since it launched, uh it's been quite a few years. It's a very well-rounded card. This is one that does everything very well. It may not be the best in any single category, but because it's very good in all the categories, it's you know, it's just such a well-rounded card. The reason why it's good for travel is that it gives you um airport lounge access membership. So it gives you Visa Airport Companion with six visits per year. Um, so right there, you know, those visits typically, if you don't have those, it costs you uh$32 US. Uh so right there, there's over$180 US in value just from the airport lounge access and those passes. And those passes are good for you know um aspire lounges like here in Calgary, priority or sorry, plaza premiums like in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto. Uh it just gives you really good access to the lounges. Um, but then it also the one of the big things with this card is it's no foreign transaction fees. So if you are outside of Canada and you are spending, you know, your hard-earned money somewhere out there, you're saving that average 2.5% that most cards in Canada charge. Um, like no, so for people who are unaware, most cards in Canada, and by I say most, I think there's only a dozen that don't do this. So out of over 230 cards, probably about 215, 220, charge a foreign transaction fee every time you make a purchase that's not in Canadian dollars. And that fee ranges from one and a half to three percent. Most cards are two and a half percent. So right there, if you are a big spender outside of Canada, and I should even say, or if you shop a lot online from outside of Canada. Oh, yeah, that's right. I know people who get this card even for their business because they import and the people they import from accept credit cards. So that even saves their business two and a half percent by doing that.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it all adds up, right? Like it's not hard. Like if you're spending thousand, two thousand dollars on a vacation while you're there or while in in transit, which is not hard to do. That's uh you know, twenty-five, fifty dollars uh right there.
SPEAKER_03:Every time you go, yeah, absolutely. And then yeah, and then so it so it does that. Um, and then it's earn rates. Um, so a lot of the cards, so I shouldn't say a lot of cards, but some of the other cards have no effects fees, like there's another Scotia card that has no effects fees, they don't give you the accelerated earn rates outside of Canada, whereas this one does. So if you're buying groceries, say you're staying at an Airbnb or you know, renting a condo outside of Canada. I know a lot of people go to Mexico for a month or a month at a time. This card, you'll you're still gonna earn your two points per dollar on groceries instead of one point per dollar. Or same with dining. So you still get your accelerated earn rates outside of Canada. So that's a and you're saving your two and a half percent. So it's really good value.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, double value.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, exactly. So so that is why it's just kind of that well-routed card. Here in Canada, it still does, you know, you get one, two, you get three points per dollar. It's a scene plus card, so you get three points per dollar at their Empire store. So that's like Sopey, Safeway, places like that. So it's a decent earning card. Like I said, it's not the best points earning card out there, but it's not the worst either. And the beauty with Scene Plus program, when you have one of their credit cards like this one, you can do the same thing as the co-alt card. You just book any travel you you want with whomever you want. So you can go to Air Canada, go to WestJet, Expedia, you book that travel, and then you redeem your points against the charge. And again, you don't have to have the full amount of points, and they give you up to 12 months after the charge post to redeem. So you can actually fund your vacation after you're done your vacation.
SPEAKER_01:It's uh very complicated. It is a lot of diving into it. Did you say there's 230 credit cards?
SPEAKER_03:Something like that in Canada. Yeah, that yeah, yeah. Now they're not all rewards cards. There are more these days, but you have cash back, you have low interest, you have balance transfer. There are so many um, you know, and then credit unions give you have their credit cards. Um, gosh, you know, even here, like here in Alberta, what we have ATB has their own credit cards, Service Credit Union has their own credit cards. There, they're just there are so many. And then you have like, you know, Aeroplan themselves, you know, between their three banks, there's there's 11 different cards from AeroPlan alone, you know. So yeah, there are so many to pick. And that's what we, you know, that's what these rankings, like you said. And as you said, it it comes down to the individual. Uh and that's my whole goal with these rankings is to help you or help the individual get closer to making that choice. I I feel like, you know, do you want to use our rankings? You you can. I'll say you can use our rankings without doing more research. You will be happy with any of the cards that are in the top five. That's what we try to make sure that any of the top five cards will do that job very well. Um, but it doesn't hurt to do even more research because you need to find out, you know, it's like, yeah, you know what, you know, America's press may not be right for me, or you know, or this card, you know, I'm actually pushing more for I would like to have better insurance coverage on my travels. And that, by the way, that's supposed to passport visa infinite is really good on insurance as well. So that's that's another thing, you know, when you're traveling.
SPEAKER_01:That's another topic for another day.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. So you know, there's there's other cards out there. I mean, it only ranks fifth in our travel, but National Bank of Canada's World Elite Mascard is considered one of the best insurance cards in Canada. So there, you know, so these are all things you need to take into consideration. You know, it's like what what you know, what do you need the most? Is it rewards? Is it benefits? Is it insurance? And that's again, you can, and then you can even split it up too. You can get, you know, if you get yourself the Amex Cobalt card, that's that's your points earning machine. Then you get yourself something like the Passport Visa Infinite, that's your travel card with the benefits. And then you could get like that National Bank Rural Elite MasterCard for insurance, and you've covered yourself. You have Amex Visa and MasterCard covered, you've covered yourself for insurance, benefits, and earning.
SPEAKER_01:There you go. As long as you pay them off. Yeah, yeah. Not promoting anybody going to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. You know, yeah, you definitely, and that that we we gotta stress that as well. You need to be financially responsible. Reward the reward, the rewards you earn on these credit cards do not come even close to the interest that you pay if you're running around.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. That is very true. Well, it's the 18th annual edition of Rewards Canada's Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards. You can find the complete list on the Rewards Canada website, rewardscanada.ca, and the guy behind all the work is Patrick Soika. He is the founder of Rewards Canada. Again, their website, rewardscanada.ca. It's uh fun chatting with you, Patrick. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:Always a pleasure.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks, Randy. We'd love to hear from you for looking at the job ideas. And that'll aren't as well.