The best TD credit cards in Canada 2021
What are the best TD credit cards in Canada? That depends on whether you want to earn points, get cash back, travel, or save on interest.
What are the best TD credit cards in Canada? That depends on whether you want to earn points, get cash back, travel, or save on interest.
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Before we talk about the best TD credit cards in Canada, let’s talk about TD. Formed through a merger between financial giants Bank of Toronto and The Dominion Bank in 1955, TD is one of Canada’s big five banks. It offers a wide array of financial services including an impressive portfolio of more than two dozen credit cards. We’ve broken down the TD credit cards into five categories so that whether you’re looking for cash back, flexible travel points, a co-branded travel card, no-fee cash back, or low interest, you’ve got the inside information to make your choice.
Card | Rewards | Annual fee |
---|---|---|
TD CashBack Visa Infinite (get more details)* |
|
$120 |
TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite (get more details)* |
|
$120 |
TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite (get more details)* |
|
$120 |
TD CashBack Visa (get more details)* |
|
$0 |
The TD CashBack Visa Infinite’s main draw is its strong 3% return in three very popular spending categories: groceries, gas and recurring bill payments. This, along with the base 1% rate that applies to everything else, makes it one of the highest-earning cash back cards in Canada. Even better, your cash back never expires and you can redeem it (in $25 increments) whenever you want.
This card also comes with a few notable perks, including up to $2 million in travel medical insurance on trips of up to 10 days and delayed or lost baggage protection. Drivers will be interested in the included deluxe membership in TD Auto Club (roadside service membership valued at $79 annually), rental car collision/loss damage protection, and discounts for car rentals at Budget and Avis. As a Visa Infinite card, it gets you perks like Concierge and access to luxury events like Food and Wine Experiences.
Get more details about the TD CashBack Visa Infinite*
Thanks to the partnership between TD and Expedia, you can redeem TD points you collect on the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite for virtually anything travel-related including hotels, vacation packages, and flights—on any airline, hotel, or travel provider listed on of the world’s largest travel comparison site. That flexibility put this on our best TD credit cards list.
With this card you’ll get 9 TD Points per dollar (4.5% in travel rewards) on purchases from ExpediaForTD.com and a flat 3 points per dollar (1.5% in travel rewards) on everything else. Redemptions on ExpediaforTD.com are super straightforward: 200 TD Points are worth $1, or, put another way, 1 Point = 0.5 cents. Spend frequently or save up—your points never expire. You can redeem points for travel outside of Expedia For TD or for merchandise or gifts, but be aware that you’ll get less value out of your points this way.
Perks include comprehensive travel insurance benefits, automotive coverage and discounts, and Visa Infinite privileges.
Get more details about the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite*
The new TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite has a super-impressive welcome offer of up to 20,000 bonus Aeroplan points, a first-year annual fee rebate and the ability to earn a bonus Buddy Pass that gets you a companion ticket on Air Canada economy flights anywhere within North America, when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. Offer ends May 30, 2021. You’ll earn between 1 and 1.5 points per $1 on everyday spending, which can go towards booking flights on Air Canada or on over two dozen Star Alliance partner alliances.
The card has a slew of travel perks, including preferred pricing when booking flights on points and savings on baggage fees on Air Canada flights. The insurance package is robust and includes hotel/motel burglary and auto rental loss and collision coverage. And between Aeroplan’s rewards chart and generous stopover policy, there are plenty of opportunities to maximize your points values and travel options further.
Get more details about the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite*
For those looking for a no-fee cash back card, there’s the TD CashBack Visa. When you spend with this card you’ll earn 1% back on groceries, gas, and recurring bills, and 0.5% on everything else. The perks are lean—expect purchase security and extended warranty—but like other TD cards, your cash back never expires and you can redeem it whenever you want (in $25 increments).
It’s important to note that when it comes to simple math, this is not the best no-fee credit card out there. The Tangerine Money Back is a better choice, offering up to 2% back on up to three spending categories. That said, new applicants are eligible for a sweet $25 bonus when they keep their account in good standing for 90 days.
Get more details about the TD CashBack Visa*
Credit card | Best | Annual fee |
---|---|---|
TD CashBack Visa Infinite | Cash back credit card | $120 |
TD First Class Visa Infinite | Flexible points card | $120 |
TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite | Airline travel card | $120 |
TD CashBack Visa | No fee rewards card | $0 |
TD’s All-Inclusive Banking Plan is a premium bank account that offers top-tier services and valuable discounts, some of which reward those carrying select TD credit cards. For example, All-Inclusive Banking Plan account holders receive an annual fee waiver when they sign up for certain TD credit cards for both the primary and one additional card holder—for as long as they carry the account. Just how much can you save? A bundle. The TD Cash Back Visa Infinite, for example, costs $120 annually plus $50 for up to one authorized cardholder. The $170 annual savings nicely offsets the account fees while allowing you to leverage the perks associated with your credit card. Eligible cards include the following: TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite, TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum, TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite, TD Platinum Travel Visa, and TD Cash Back Visa Infinite.
Sweetening the pot for account holders, TD rewards with premium chequing account benefits such as unlimited debit transactions and Interac e-transfers, a small safety deposit box, money orders, and personalized and certified cheques—all included. Additionally, there are no TD transaction fees when you use any ATM in Canada, the U.S. or internationally (except for exchange rate fees). Clearly, bundling accounts with the big banks has its perks, including that it keeps things simple.
This premium account does come at a premium price. The monthly fee is $29.95, or $22.45 for seniors. However, for those who can afford to keep $5,000 parked in the account, that fee is rebated, meaning all these perks including the credit card rebates are free. Otherwise, you’ll want to weigh the benefits against the cost. The annual fee comes out to nearly $360 (or almost $270 for seniors) but any credit card rebates would come out of that total.
The TD Cash Back Rewards credit card program lets you redeem on-demand without time restrictions, unlike some other programs that restrict you to once per calendar year. You can redeem once you’ve accumulated $25 (that’s the minimum redeemable amount, too) and your cash-back rewards never expire. The TD program is one of the most flexible cash-back programs out there, though it’s worth mentioning that BMO does have an edge in that you can redeem with as little as $1 in your account.
TD Rewards Points can be redeemed for a range of gift cards, merchandise and even cash–but they’re first and foremost made for travel redemptions, specifically from the Expedia For TD website. The value of your points varies according to what you redeem them for, and how. We break down the options below:
200 TD Points = $1 / 1 TD Point = 0.5 cents (0.5%)
You’ll get the very best value from your points when redeeming on ExpediaforTD.com. There, you can put your points toward booking free or discounted travel from Expedia, one of the world’s largest travel search engines and online travel agencies. There are no blackout dates or airline restrictions, and the points values remain consistent no matter how, when or where you’re travelling, making this method a winner for those who don’t want to spend their time deciphering rewards charts.
250 TD Points = $1 on the initial $1,200 of travel booking / 1 TD Point = 0.4 cents (0.4%)
200 TD Points = $1 on any amount that is over $1,200 / 1 TD point = 0.5 cents (0.5%)
If you don’t want to use Expedia For TD, you do have the flexibility to book elsewhere, such as directly with an airline or another travel agency. You can use TD Points for virtually anything travel-related including flights, hotels, tours and car rentals. Simply select the Book Any Way option when redeeming points. The one disadvantage here is that at 0.4 of a cent per point on the initial $1,200, you’ll get slightly less value than you would on Expedia For TD. This works out to about 25% less value per point.
400 TD Point = $1 / 1 TD Point = 0.25 cents (0.25%)
Everybody loves cash, but at 400 points per dollar, using your TD Points to get it isn’t the best idea. If you want to earn cash with TD, it’s better to go with one of TD’s cash back cards. However, if you’re still looking to turn your points into cash, you can–just know that you need a minimum of 10,000 points.
Average 1 TD Point = 0.25 cents (0.25%)
There’s a wide variety of gift card options on TDRewards.com, usable toward purchases at retailers including Best Buy, Canadian Tire, Foot Locker, Bed Bath & Beyond, and others. That said, the value of your redemption done this way matches what you’d get when using points for cash back so you’re better off using another method.
TD Points can be used toward a huge variety of merchandise, from exercise equipment to electronics. Points values on these items vary dramatically but generally will hover between 0.2 and 0.35 of a cent per point.
Aeroplan launched a program overhaul on November 8, 2020, at which time Aeroplan points will be redeemable for flights based on a redemption chart that breaks up the world into four different travel zones: North America, Atlantic, Pacific and South America. You’ll be able to redeem points for flights on Air Canada, plus more than two dozen Star Alliance members, including Singapore Airlines, Austrian Airlines and United.
Points values vary depending on where you’re flying to and how popular the route is, but you can use this calculation:
Value of 1 Aeroplan Point = (The Price of Ticket – Fees) ÷ Aeroplan Points needed to redeem
So, as an example, if a round-trip flight from Toronto to Vancouver has a base fare of $405 and $20 in fees, your formula would look like this:
($405 – $20) ÷ 25,000 TD Points = 1.54 cents per 1 Aeroplan Point
You can also maximize your points values by adding stopovers, getting baggage fees waived, and so forth.
Learn more about changes to Aeroplan.
Any and all Aeroplan points you earned on an Aeroplan credit card between now and November 8, 2020 will be honoured on a one-to-one basis.
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