Best Credit Cards for Canadians

[VermiciousKnish]

Soooo...I'm constantly reading about all these bonus mileage sign-up deals, and about all the starwood points you can accumulate in a matter of minutes with various different credit card companies. Being a Canadian living in The Great White North (that's Canada for all of my friends south of the 49o) , I'm wondering what the best option would be in terms of choosing the best credit card. I visit the US quite frequently, so I could probably benefit from the Starwood points for Hotels and flights, but not enough to spend $10,000 in a year. Does anyone know if they offer any of these great AMEX rewards cards here? I've heard that they do but that AMEX is hardly accepted anywhere.

I wouldnt mind getting a US card (even paying an annual fee) if the benefits are worthwhile (im a US citizen with SSN so i shouldnt have a hard time getting one). I've read the different descriptions on the site about what the best card would be but I never travel with AA or Delta or US airways so I dont fully appreciate what all the numbers mean.

Can someone please break this down (slowly and clearly) for us Canadians?

Simply put...Whats the best card for someone who
(i) wont be spending over $10,000 / year
(ii) does not fly with AA, Delta or US air too often
(iii) Would like to get hotel upgrades etc.
(iv) lives in Canada

Thanks!
 

[andrew]

there are 2 great options for canadien credit cards 1) amex starwood 10k bonus (i have a link that will waive the first year if your interested)
2)amex gold charge card which was just introduced   into canada that has a very good promotion now for 15k and first year waived after spending 500 dolllars within 3 months
(if you like aeroplan then amex has a good card too for that)

now for american cards, just having a social wont do you much, you still need a good credit to get a card if you never had one and usually that takes awhile to built up, but there is a simple way to get around that....  if you have an amex card in canada then you can call up amex global transfer (google it ) and what they do is they will match one of your amex cdn cards and report that to the american bureaus, so for example if  you have a amex cdn card for 4 years they will give you a amex card in america and when they report that card to for example experian they will say you have an open account with them for 4 years and all the other info such as credit limit (your credit limit for that card will be based on your AMEX credit rating in canada), you will get to keep the cdn amex as well, now when you call them tell them you do business in the u.s. and you dont have any credit, you must have an address though in the us for this(anyones address is fine be it your uncle etc.)
now once the bureaus get that card on your file they will calculate a credit score for you based on how long that card has been opened for (in canada) and based on the credit limit on the new card amex gave you

another option if you dont have any usa credit is to go to a pharmaprix and buy amex gift cards with your cdn credit cardand they could be used in america by whomever accepts amex with no foreign transaction fee

[me]

if you dont spend 10k a year... there is no real good card.

I would suggest getting the starwood one just for the bonus. (if you go to spg.com from canada it will offer you the canadian card with forst year free)

[VermiciousKnish]

So in spending upwards of $10,000 per year, would you say that the AMEX Gold rewards with a 15K bonus is best? How many points does it usually take to redeem a flight? or How many points will get you one dollar worth of flight purchases?

[moish]

be aware that many stores in canada dont take amex

[youthink]

As many here can attest, you can earn lots of miles without spending much at all.

All the good points cards in Canada have an annual fee of $120+ and are rarely waived for the first year (The Amexs are an occasional exception). For high-volume spending in Canada the best would be CIBC Aventura or RBC Avion for a variety of reasons. Otherwise, if you have decent US credit and a US mailing address you should be able to take advantage of the many US opportunities on this site.

[justcurious]

I live in Canada and I used to live in the USA 7 years ago. I am a us citizen and have a  social security number and a us  address. I kept my one us Amex card active and use it quite often and have maintained excellent credit.

Here is my question: how do I apply today for a new us credit card if I currently don't make/report  any income in the us?

Thanks for any input

[AsherO]

I live in Canada and I used to live in the USA 7 years ago. I am a us citizen and have a  social security number and a us  address. I kept my one us Amex card active and use it quite often and have maintained excellent credit.

Here is my question: how do I apply today for a new us credit card if I currently don't make/report  any income in the us?

Thanks for any input

Make up the income, banks won't ask to verify it (besides for Amex, but even that is unlikely). Do have any active US CCs? Have you even had a US CC?

You're going to need a US billing address.

You might want to check your credit to get an idea of what it's like. It'll also tell you what addresses (if any) are listed on your credit reports.

[moish]

As many here can attest, you can earn lots of miles without spending much at all.

All the good points cards in Canada have an annual fee of $120+ and are rarely waived for the first year (The Amexs are an occasional exception). For high-volume spending in Canada the best would be CIBC Aventura or RBC Avion for a variety of reasons. Otherwise, if you have decent US credit and a US mailing address you should be able to take advantage of the many US opportunities on this site.

are you referring to the 10k bonus for opening?

[Bh101]

wats a good card for a canadian ? specifically for gas.

[ShlomoM]

wats a good card for a canadian ? specifically for gas.

Amex gold it's got a great offer now of 25k and has 2/3 times the points for gas
Pm for link

[bnussbaum]

I have a similar situation to the original writer of this thread.

difference is 1) i have a positive usa credit rating and 2) i spend north of 10K a year in the usa on credit cards.

My question is: i still dont feel its worth it  (maybe i'm wrong ?) to pay an annual fee for the amount i spend in the usa. that being said, which is the card that has a good  track record of returning the annual fee if i call up the cancellation department saying i'd cancel unless i get the annual fee returned etc.

presently, i am with the saphire card. i had the preferred, but dont want to pay an annual fee anymore.