Credit card dilemma – Replacing Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite Mastercard

Long time readers will recall my beef with some personal finance gurus and their advice of using cash and not using credit cards. If you consistently pay off your monthly balance, I believe you should ignore this advice and get a credit card that gives cash back or travel rewards on your everyday spending. Why leave money off the table when you can earn money for continue to do the same things you’ve always done? Some of you may recall that we saved over $10,000 by utilizing credit card rewards to go to Maui for 12 days a few years ago. Some people get pretty obsessed with maximizing reward points by applying for multiple cards every year and taking advantage of the sign up bonuses. While I’m not as obsessed as some, I do try to time credit card applications if we have any big planned expenses coming up.

Using credit cards to maximize rewards 

For the most part, we have been sticking to a two credit card system like below:

  • Capital One Aspire Travel World Mastercard for everyday spending. The card offers 2 reward points per $1 spent on anything (i.e. 2% earning rate) then you can redeem the points on a travel purchase in the last 90 days off your credit card statement.
  • PC Financial World Elite Mastercard for shopping at Superstore. The card offers 3 PC Optimum points per $1 spent at Superstore (i.e. 3% earn rate). The card offers the same earn rate with PC Travel, although I personally wouldn’t book anything with PC Travel due to the higher prices.

On the occasions that we stay at a Marriott property, we then use the American Express Bonvoy Personal Card to earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points for every $1 spent at Marriott Bonvoy properties. I kept the Amex Bonvoy card around for the 15 annual night credit and the free 35k Bonvoy points certificate. I figured these perks are worth the $120 annual fee.

We then have been churning credit cards here and there to get the welcome bonuses. For example, last year earned close to $2,600 via credit card churning by applying and meeting the minimum purchase requirements for American Express Marriott Bonvoy cards, TD Infinite Visa and Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite.

Although Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite Mastercard has a $120 annual fee, the card provides 10,000 travel reward points every year on the card anniversary (I had the card before they rebranded it to the World Elite Mastercard and Capital One grandfathered the anniversary reward). Since applying for the card close to 10 years ago, we have redeemed over $7,500 worth of travel points. The credit card also has some pretty awesome travel insurance coverages. Thanks to these coverages, we were able to get money on a couple of baggage delays while travelling to Denmark and the flight delay when Lufthansa/Air Canada wanted to fly us from Frankfurt to Vancouver via Beijing

Needless to say, we loved the Capital One Aspire World Mastercard. 

But good things don’t always last forever. A few weeks ago, I received a letter from Capital One stating that as of August 5th, 2020 the card will only pay 1.5 points on every dollar spent. The real kicker is that Capital One decided to eliminate the 10,000 anniversary reward points.

With the old rules of 2% earn rate, the $120 annual fee, and the 10,000 anniversary reward points, the fee is only effective $20 per year, and we’d only need to spend $1,000 before starting earning any net reward points. Under the new rules of 1.5% earn rate, the $120 annual fee, and no anniversary reward points, that means we’d have to spend $8,000 before we start earning any net reward points. Spending an extra $7,000 each year before starting to earn any more points isn’t exactly point savvy to me. As a result, we started looking for a replacement credit card. 

Replacing Capital One Aspire Travel

I’ll be the first one to say the new conditions suck. Fortunately our card renewal isn’t until October, so we have some time to figure out a replacement credit card. Thanks to tracking every expense in a budget spreadsheet since 2011, we have a pretty good idea of our monthly and annual expenditure.

For example, last year we spent a total of $54,906.02 for a family of four with $8,975.28 on groceries, $1,155.84 on recurring bills (phone & internet only. Hydro and natural gas come out of the chequing account directly), $2,000 on gas, $12,000 on travels, and $5,000 on dining out. 

When I started looking for credit cards available for Canadians, I found that some enticing Visa cards like TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Card and Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card which offer 3% earn rate and 4% earn rate respectively on groceries. However, when I looked at our grocery shopping trend, I noted that we shop primarily at Costco and Superstore and both stores only accept Mastercard. Therefore, it makes sense to find another Mastercard to replace our Capital One Aspire card.

With that in mind, I narrowed our choices to the following cards below:

  1. Rogers World Elite Mastercard
    • No annual fee
    • 3% on US expenses, 1.5% on everything else
    • $25 sign up bonus
    • Minimum insurance coverages
  2. BMO World Elite Mastercard
    • $150 annual fee. $50 for each supplement card.
    • First year free (for the primary cardholder)
    • 3 BMO points on travels, dining, and entertainment. 2 BMO points on everything else.
    • 40,000 welcome points after spending $3,000 in the first three months
    • Comparable insurance coverages as Capital One
    • 140 BMO points per $1 for redemption 
  3. HSBC World Elite Mastercard
    • $149 annual fee. $50 for each supplement card.
    • First year free (for the primary cardholder)
    • $100 annual travel credit redeemable towards select airline seat upgrades, airline baggage fees and airport lounge passes
    • 3% on travels, 1.5% on everything else
    • No foreign transaction fee
    • 60,000 welcome points after spending $5,000 in the first three months
    • Comparable insurance coverages as Capital One
    • Need to redeem minimum 250,000 points ($125) then 100,000 points increment (i.e. 350,000, 450,000, etc)
  4. BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard
    • $120 annual fee. 
    • First year free.
    • 10% earn rate for the 1st three months. Max $2,000 spending ($200 reward).
    • 1.5% earn rate after
    • Comparable insurance coverage as Capital One
    • Redeem cash-back minimum of $50 to statement credit

Rewards Credit Card Comparison

I then ran calculations with the assumption that we’d charge $40,000 a year on the credit card with $7,000 categorized as travel, $3,000 as dining out, and $30,000 as the remainder (I’m being conservative with our travel and dining out numbers due to COVID-19. Also we can’t charge everything on the credit card). I then assumed that both Mrs. T and I would be holding the card. Based on that, here are what the net rewards (after fees) look like:

CardCapital OneRogers WEBMO WEHSBC WEBMO Cashback
1st Year$480$625$1028.57$964$770
Other years$480$300$442.86$606$480
Total after 5 years$1,920$1,525$2,357.14$2,782$2,210
Total after 5 years if no supplement card$1,920$1,525$2,607.17$3,032$2,210

Rewards Credit Card Comparison Analysis

  • If we just look at first year net rewards, the BMO World Elite Mastercard came out ahead. But BMO devalued the redemption and earn rates in 2018, so I’m a bit weary that they may devalue these rates again.
  • The HSBC World Elite Mastercard seems to be the best card if we hold onto the card for five years. This card does have a tiered redemption system, which is not ideal. However, Capital One had a similar tiered redemption system until 2015 and I didn’t mind it (the current redemption system is way better. I can redeem as little as $1).
  • The BMO World Elite Mastercard also includes four lounge passes each year which I did not put as a vlue in my calculation ($27 USD per pass). These passes can be used once we can fly internationally again.
  • The BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard statement credit redemption seems very straight forward. While the net earn rate isn’t the best, the ease of redemption is appealing.
  • We can increase the potential earn rate if we don’t apply for a supplement card. This would require some spending strategies where we charge expenses to my card as much as possible.

After all the calculations and going through the fine prints of each credit card, I am currently leaning toward replacing our Capital One Aspire Travel World Card with the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. The $100 annual travel credit is nice, and I am certain we would be able to use the credit each year. However, I’m slightly intrigued by the BMO World Elite Mastercard (due to the four annual lounge passes) and the BMO Cashback World Elite Mastercard (cash back so can redeem whenever we meet the minimum redemption requirement). Fortunately since our Capital One annual fee isn’t due until October, we still have a bit of time to finalize our evaluation and decide on a card. 

Dear readers, which card would you pick if you were in our situation?

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46 thoughts on “Credit card dilemma – Replacing Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite Mastercard”

  1. I also have the Capital One Aspire World Elite MasterCard also and have been looking at changing. I shop allot at Costco and Costco gas, Zehrs and don’t eat out much. My mastercard bill is usually $4000 or higher.
    I put as much as possible on CC to max out points.
    I’m afraid of getting rid of World elite for something like the CIBC Dividend® Visa Infinite* Card.
    We were travelling before the C word came every year, but really money talks I don’t care if its cash or points for flying..
    Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Hi Scott,

      I guess you need to run some calculations and see which one credit card makes sense. We ended up with the HSBC card and collecting travel points.

      Reply
    • Check out TD First class Visa…. I run about 2000 a month on it and it hasn’t done me wrong! Good points system for flights and hotels.

      Reply
      • TD First Class Visa is great. I think you have to book flights and hotels via their portal though no? If you shop a lot at Costco, they don’t accept Visa.

        Reply
        • You can book through any site and use points but if you use their Expedia site you will get extra points for booking. I always compare their’s to others and pick best deal. And Costco im not sure I haven’t been there forever…

          Reply
  2. hello!
    I am new in the credit card world…I have had Capital One Aspire travel for a while and is pretty decent ..like their cash back feature….I have an Aeroplan account which I have used for flights in the past and seemed great,,,so I am contemplating finding a CC with Aeroplan points,,,I like to travel but not with COVID now,,but perhaps will start next year again,,,my dilemma is if I should apply to a CC with annual fee or no a.fee? the annual fee ones I have looked so far (CIBC Aeroplan infinite vs TD Aeroplan Infinite) both annual fee $139…with great travel insurance coverage and Aeroplan points….I have also looked at CIBC Aeroplan visa with no annual fee but with basic travel coverage…..not sure what would be best? I will like a credit card that provides great perks but not sure if the idea of having Aeroplan points is limiting me? another credit card I was looking at is the CIBC Aventura infinite visa….with cash back, Aventura points….annual fee $120,,,for daily purchases,,
    what do you suggest?

    Reply
    • Hi Sandra,

      I think you need to calculate and figure out whether you’ll get enough points to offset the annual fee. Without knowing your spending trend it’s nearly impossible to say which card would be the best for you. There are a lot of sites that can help you narrow down which cards are the best for you based on your spending trend/history.

      Reply
  3. I have always believed this! I have been with TD forever and love their first class travel…. I use it for monthly ALL bill payments- and with NO blackouts/ no restrictions -use my points for ALL flights…. why wouldn’t you? This card is vacation saviour…. quick flights and hotels can be booked through their Expedia as well and gain more points…. win win

    Reply
  4. Yeah I have to agree with Ken regarding the Rogers calculation, it would be $600 per other year, not $300, which makes a BIG difference – makes it $3025 with or without supplemental cards. That is a higher value than everything else on the table (except HSBC with no supplemental cards, which only has a $7 advantage). It just doesn’t have as much insurance (though it didn’t actually look much worse than HSBC). So for hundreds of dollars more earnings compared to the competitors, it could be worthwhile. And are you sure you spend $100/yr on seat upgrades, lounges, and baggage? (I find baggage fees are mostly just for flights to USA not international, and if your travel expenses are in USA, Rogers earnings would also increase.)

    I don’t actually have that card, it’s just that error made it really easy to dismiss when actually it’s a real competitor (and it kinda misdirects people who read this post).

    One more note: I noticed HSBC has no foreign transaction fees, vs 2.5% for BMO and Rogers, so that might be about $50/yr advantage depending how much of your travel expense is in the foreign currency.

    This discussion is pretty old now… what card did you end up going with?

    Reply
    • This is an older article… I think on the Rogers calculation I assumed a certain percentage of the spending was in US dollars (i.e. travels in US, Amazon, etc). The key thing with Rogers is the lack of travel insurance like baggage delays, etc. We’ve had to use the baggage delay insurance a few times when we travelled to Denmark.

      We ended up with HSBC and have had good experience so far. We’ll see if we decide to keep this card long term.

      Reply
  5. Hi Tawcan,
    I have until February, so I’m still debating this credit card dilemma. Thanks for writing this article. I noticed Rogers includes access to LoungeKey airport lounges which may be new or not equivalent to other airport lounge passes. I like to use my points for travel, but minimum travel this year with COVID-19. Did others just take their points in less cash back dollars instead?

    Reply
    • Is it just the LoungeKey membership or do you get LoungeKey passes? If it’s just the membership, you’d have to pay to go into the lounge. 🙂

      We are simply accumulating travel points now and wait till we can travel again to use the points.

      Reply
  6. Love the breakdown, any reason why the Tangerine MasterCard was not a consideration? Given the flexibility in picking reward categories and monthly cashback deposited.

    Reply
    • Thank you. Tangerine Mastercard only gives you 2% on certain categories. That means we’d have to use another card to get a good earn rate. We were looking for a one card solution.

      Reply
  7. Thanks for writing up this article. I’m located in Albert, and a very similar scenario.
    C1 was primary shared card, with PC travel elite as secondary. Looking for a replacement currently. One of the more useful pieces of info I found was to verify that the CC you choose to go with will provide you with a high enough credit limit to meet your needs. Tho my wife and I are currently not doing home renos anymore (sold, moved, renting now), we would still need a limit of 6k+. I would verify that whatever card you apply for meets this min limiit for you before cancelling your C1.

    Reply
    • I looked at Brim for a little bit. It looks like a great card for the first year but the annual fee is quite high. If you plan to switch after the first year, Brim might be a good card to consider.

      Reply
  8. If you want to buy some time, call Capital One and ask to speak to a supervisor. Check out redflagdeals post on this. You should be able to get a 100-120 credit on your account for this year to offset the change. I was able to do this. 1.5% is still better than most mastercards for all purchases. Gives you until next Oct to find a replacement.

    Reply
  9. We are having to spend $3-4000 in 4 months to get some points and I am already having a tough time because it is Visa and not Mastercard. We do most of our shopping at Superstore/ No Frills and Costco.

    Never had the Capital Aspire card but it looked great.

    Reply
    • You may want to check with your No Frills. Ours started accepting Visa once Covid-19 hit. I can now get 3% from my Visa Infinite Cash Back card. Still need to find a good MC replacement for Costco.

      Reply
  10. I’m with R. I have used the MBNA World Elite for many years now, and it’s predecessors. I have high end travel insurance through my work already. The simplicity of getting cash back without having to think about which card to use during every purchase is worth more to me than a few bucks here or there. The rental car insurance coverage, price protection, and the doubling of warranties on items purchased are a value to some as well. There are some travel protections as well. You can double up your savings as well like at Petro Canada using your Petro card, and your MBNA card – you get points from both each fill. Link your Petro card to your CAA card and you double your points at Petro Canada.

    Reply
    • Does your work travel insurance cover things like flight and baggage delays. I have travel health insurance with work too but delays aren’t covered. We’ve claimed flight and baggage delays with Capital One before and it was great.

      Reply
      • I don’t think it covers those things specifically. Each person has to decide what features are the most important to them. Having a wallet full of various credit cards and memorizing each ones strengths , picking and choosing each purchase based on the maximum rewards benefit? That is just not for me personally.
        However renting a car 2-3 times a year on vaca. and saving the $13.95 + taxes each day of the rental for insurance, has saved me a bundle.

        Reply
  11. Hi Bob, I’ve been thinking about switching CC for better rewards as well. I saw TD Aeroplan – but not sure if Aeroplan miles are worth it or how difficult it is to get tickets with it..

    Would be interesting to see what you chose.

    Reply
    • I personally feel that Aeroplan isn’t worth collecting. If you book with Air Canada or other airlines that charge fuel surcharge, you end up paying a chunk of money on top of the Aeroplan points you need.

      Also, with Aeroplan going under Air Canada again, I suspect points will get devalued. That’s why we recently redeemed a bunch Aeroplan points for Costco gift cards.

      Reply
  12. I’m in the same situation – grandfathered Capital One card… it was a good time while it lasted! One point that I think you might be mistaken on though – are you sure that Superstore doesn’t take Visa? I’m pretty sure that they do – but I almost always use MasterCard so I’m not sure. Will have to confirm this before we choose our next primary spend card.

    Reply
    • Interesting to see a few readers using the same card. Capital One Aspire Travel was such a good card!

      Unless Superstore changed their policy recently, they only accept Mastercard.

      Reply
  13. Hey Tawcan,

    We are still using MBNA Rewards World Elite. The annual fee is $120 but we get free companion cards.

    Cashback rate used to be 2.0% but they devalued it to 1.67% last February (2019).

    However, I found a trick: I redeem $100 Amazon gift cards which works out to 1.95% cashback.

    We use our MBNA card at Costco and it is our primary card.

    Good luck with your decision!

    Reply
      • Hi Bob. I have carried the BMO world elite for many years. Good card but be careful with the pricing on their travel redemption site. Hotel rooms etc always seem to retail a bit higher, therefore needing more points to redeem. I believe you can check out the website for pricing without being a card holder. Check it out. Im thinking about a switch to their cash back version. Good luck.

        Reply

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