Every bank has a rewards program. It should be pretty straightforward: You use a travel credit card, earn points on your spending, and redeem them for travel, merchandise, statement credits, or even mortgage payments in some cases.
But over the years, these programs have become surprisingly complex as banks layer on new features to attract customers. Sometimes, these changes are incredibly valuable. But in many cases, they become more complicated than they need to be.
It’s essential for consumers to understand how loyalty programs work so they can ensure they’re getting the best value (Spoiler alert: it’s always travel redemptions). You don’t need to maximize every dollar, but you should know enough to feel confident you’re not leaving money on the table.
I’ve been covering credit cards and loyalty programs for more than a decade, reviewing nearly every major card launched in Canada during that time. I’ve seen the evolution firsthand, and I have a solid sense of how these programs stack up.
To come up with this ranking of worst to best bank rewards programs, I focused on strong credit card earning rates and perks, flexible points, solid partnerships, and overall program simplicity.
One variable I didn’t include is the annual fee rebate some banks offer when you hold certain accounts. A “free” travel card is tempting, but if the earning rate is weak or the program doesn’t match your travel style, it’s not worth sticking around.
At the end of the day, people want rewards that are easy to earn and easy to use – not complicated math. If you’re not satisfied with what you’re getting now, this guide will help you understand your options.
Of all the major bank rewards programs, BMO Rewards sits at the bottom for me. The program tries to be simple, but is unnecessarily complicated. And they have no transfer or retail partners that let you squeeze extra value out of your points.
The biggest headache is the math. You need 150 BMO Rewards points for a one-dollar travel redemption value, which works out to 0.67 cents per point (CPP). Most competing programs give 1 CPP.
Take the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card. On paper, earning five points per dollar on groceries, gas, transit, dining, cafés, and food delivery sounds fantastic. But once you factor in the lower point value, your real return is 3.35 per cent. If you add an authorized user, you get a 10-per-cent points boost on all purchases, which helps, but then BMO caps both grocery and dining rewards at $6,000 per year at the 0.67 CPP rate. After that, you drop to one point per dollar. Again, this is more complicated than it needs to be.
One positive aspect of BMO Rewards is that you can redeem points against any travel charged to your BMO card, which is useful. Booking directly with airlines or hotels means you keep your status benefits and can earn bonus loyalty points and status qualifying nights.
And if you have BMO InvestorLine, you can redeem 15,000 points for $100 in investments, which is effectively the same rate as travel redemptions. You won’t get the instant gratification of a trip, but putting those points into your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) or tax-free savings account (TFSA) can leave you much better off in the long run.
National Bank may fly under the radar outside Quebec, but it just edges BMO Rewards on simplicity: 12,000 points = $100 for both travel booked on your own and TFSA or RRSP contributions. That works out to a CPP of 0.83, another confusing number for most people.
However, if you use the À la carte Travel Agency for your vacation bookings, for every 10,000 points you redeem, you get an extra $100 off, which means your CPP is 1. But it’s incremental, making it an unnecessary barrier for consumers seeking value.
Some travellers might be drawn to the National Bank World Elite Mastercard for its strong travel insurance and an annual refund of up to $150 for travel expenses such as parking, seat selection, baggage fees, upgrades, and lounge access at Montréal‑Trudeau airport, but it’s probably not worth it for most when there are better card options available.
We’ve officially hit the middle of the pack, where rewards programs can shift up or down in the rankings depending on your spending habits, preferred perks and where you do your daily banking.
One TD Reward point is worth half a cent (0.50 CPP), so it’s easy enough to remember, and the TD First Class Travel Infinite Visa Card has a relatively strong earning rate on multiple categories.
What really sets the card apart is the annual birthday bonus of up to 10,000 points (10 per cent of what you earned the previous year). Add a six-month Uber One trial with 20 per cent off afterward, plus boosted TD Rewards points and extra Starbucks Stars when you link your card to your Starbucks account, and the perks stack up fast.
On the redemption side, 200 TD Rewards points get you one dollar in travel, which is the highest redemption value for TD Rewards. However, Expedia for TD doesn’t always have the lowest prices, and any status benefits you may have don’t apply when booking through a third party.
Alternatively, you can use your points against any travel purchase charged to your card, but the rate drops to 225 points per dollar (0.44 CPP), a minor dip compared to Expedia for TD. If TD offered the same rate for all travel redemptions, the program would likely rank higher.
CIBC’s Aventura program has a few standout features that give it a surprisingly strong value proposition. The biggest one is the Aventura Airline Rewards Chart, where you can get up to 2.29 CPP, more than double the standard value of 1 CPP.
With the chart, you redeem a fixed number of points for a maximum base‑fare value. For example, a round‑trip flight from Canada to anywhere in the continental U.S. (excluding Hawaii and Alaska) costs 35,000 points with a maximum base fare of $800.
However, the max ticket price applies only to the base fare – taxes and surcharges are extra. And if you use points to pay for the taxes, they are redeemed at a much lower rate. That means getting full value is hard, but if you’re getting 1 CPP or better, you’re coming out ahead.
Aventura cards have decent earning rates, but they’re nothing special. However, the partner perks are where things get interesting. Link your card to Skip – the convenience network that delivers groceries, takeout, and everyday essentials – and you get a permanent free Skip+ membership, which includes zero dollar delivery fees, exclusive offers, and bonus points.
If you link your card to Journie Rewards – the loyalty program of Pioneer, Fas Gas, Ultramar, and Chevron gas stations – you’ll save 10 cents per litre on your first 280 litres, earn three times the Journie points (up to 900 points), and get two free Absolutely Everything car washes. Once the initial promo ends, you’ll still get three cents off per litre when you pay with your linked card and another seven cents off per litre when you reach 300 Journie points.
We’ve hit the top three, and this is where things get interesting. Point flexibility, partner networks, and the strength of each bank’s card lineup start to influence the rankings heavily.
Scene+ has grown significantly from its roots as a movie theatre loyalty program and has now become a giant coalition network featuring strong partners, including Empire Co. Ltd. grocery stores (Sobeys, Safeway, Foodland, Fresh Co, IGA and more), Cineplex, Recipe Unlimited restaurants (Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet, East Side Mario’s, Montana’s, Bier Markt, and Kelseys Original Roadhouse), The Rec Room, Home Hardware and more.
They also just added Shell gas stations to the mix. If you link your Scene+ credit card to your Shell Go+ account, you can get up to 10 cents per litre in value when filling up.
At all partner locations, 1,000 Scene+ points always equal $10 off, giving you a flat 1 CPP. You can also redeem points at the same value for any travel purchase charged directly to your card. While this simplicity is appealing, it also limits the program since there are no sweet spots where collectors can get extra value.
Scene+ becomes a lot more interesting once you look at the credit cards behind it. If groceries dominate your budget, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is a standout with six times the points at Empire stores and five times at all other grocery stores. Travellers will love the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite for one simple reason: no foreign transaction fees, saving you the usual 2.5 per cent surcharge. And if you prefer customization, the Tangerine Rewards World Elite Mastercard lets you pick three categories that earn 1.5 Scene+ points per dollar spent.
RBC Avion earns its second-place ranking largely because of its extensive roster of airline transfer partners, which gives travellers far more flexibility.
On its own, one Avion point has a CPP value of 1 when redeemed for travel. But many airline programs – including British Airways Executive Club (Avios), a 1:1 transfer partner – are typically valued around 1.5 CPP.
Many people assume Avios restricts you to British Airways flights, but that’s not the case. It gives you access to the entire Oneworld alliance, including Aer Lingus, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar Airways, and others. Business‑class availability is limited for partners, but when you find it, the value can easily exceed 4 CPP. Fortunately, economy seats are easy to find, and RBC typically offers a 30-per-cent transfer bonus to Avios about twice a year.
While airline transfer partners are great, you should only move your points when you have a specific redemption in mind. And not every partner offers a 1:1 ratio. For example, American Airlines AAdvantage transfers at 1:0.7. If you value AAdvantage miles at 1.5 CPP, you’re effectively trading 1 cent of Avion value for about 1.05 cents with American. You’re still ahead, just not by much.
One added benefit for RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege cardholders is the guaranteed 2 CPP when redeeming for business class flights on any airline booked through the RBC travel portal. RBC also has an Air Travel Redemption Schedule that can push returns up to 2.3 CPP.
One area where RBC excels is its partners. When you link your RBC card to Triangle Rewards, Petro‑Points, More Rewards and others, you can earn both Avion points and the partner points when paying with your RBC card. You’re essentially doubling your earning power with no extra effort.
The downside of RBC Avion is that its credit cards don’t offer high earning rates, and its points come in three tiers: Select, Premium, and Elite. Only Elite points (earned on Avion‑branded cards) unlock airline transfer partners and the full redemption schedule. Premium points, which you get via the RBC ION cards, are more limited, but can still transfer to WestJet and to the Elite tier if you also have an Avion card.
American Express Membership Rewards (MR) ranks No. 1 for me because the program is in a league of its own. A few years ago, Amex shifted its “Use Points for Purchases” rate to 100 points for one dollar off your statement, giving you a full 1 CPP. That’s huge, since most other programs cap their statement credit at around 0.70 CPP.
That said, even though Amex makes using your points for purchases easy, what makes the program so good is that they also have multiple ways to increase the value of your points.
Travel partners get the most attention. MRs are the only points in Canada that can be transferred to Aeroplan. Since Aeroplan points typically have a value of around 1.5 cents each, the 1:1 transfer ratio instantly increases the value of your points.
With Aeroplan, you can book any available seat on Air Canada flights. On top of that, you get access to more than 40 Aeroplan partner airlines, including Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, EgyptAir, ANA, Copa Airlines, and more. Partner availability is limited, but the network is so broad that you still have plenty of options. And because you can transfer your Membership Rewards points to programs, like Flying Blue, Avios, Delta SkyMiles, and Etihad Guest, your booking possibilities expand even further.
With Amex, you can also transfer your points to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1.2 ratio. Since a Marriott point is worth roughly 0.70 cents, the standard transfer is a devaluation. You’re trading 1 cent of MR value for about 0.84 cents in Marriott Bonvoy value. However, Amex occasionally runs 30 per cent transfer bonuses, which increases the rate to 1 MR point = 1.56 Bonvoy points (1,000 MR = 1,560 Bonvoy). That pushes your effective transfer value to about 1.10 CPP. It may seem small, but in the right scenario, it matters.
One of the best Bonvoy perks is the “stay for five, pay for four” benefit. When you redeem points for a five‑night stay, the lowest‑priced night is free, so if you’re staying five consecutive nights, the value can be excellent.
MR points are great, but Amex’s cards are what seal the deal. The Cobalt card delivers some of the highest earn rates in Canada, and the Platinum makes up for its modest earn rate with unmatched travel perks, including lounge access, credits, insurance, and more.
The one thing working against Amex is the perception that it isn’t accepted in many places. While some merchants still don’t take Amex, the gap is much smaller than most people think. There’s even a workaround since several Amex cards include monthly Instacart credits, which let you use your Amex to pay for delivery from retailers that normally wouldn’t accept the card, such as a certain wholesale club.