Calculate your annual value
Enter monthly spending across groceries, gas, dining, travel, bills and other purchases. CardGenie estimates yearly rewards, subtracts annual fees and lets you separate first-year bonuses from ongoing value.
Start with what you want the card to do. That might be lowering the cost of groceries, earning flights, avoiding foreign transaction fees or keeping a backup card without an annual fee. A card should solve a specific problem. Collecting features without a use for them is an expensive hobby.
Browse the best-card guides
Compare cards by travel, cash back, Aeroplan, groceries, annual fee and foreign-currency costs. Each list explains who wins, who should skip the card and which limits affect the headline rate.
Read card comparisons
Head-to-head pages isolate the few differences that matter. Start with Amex Cobalt versus Gold or compare the TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite cards.
Read individual card reviews
Card reviews cover earn rates, fees, insurance, acceptance, redemption options and the reasons a card may not fit. The verdict comes after the drawbacks, not before them.
Stack RBC ION+ with Avion Infinite
See how ION+ earns Avion Premium points in everyday categories, why the points move to Avion Elite and when carrying both cards covers the added fee.
How to compare credit cards
Ignore the welcome offer for the first calculation. Multiply your expected annual spending in each category by the applicable earn rate. Apply category caps, convert points to a realistic redemption value and subtract the annual fee. Then add the first-year offer as a separate line.
This prevents a temporary promotion from hiding a weak second year. It also exposes cards that need more spending than your budget allows. A bonus tied to CA$12,000 in purchases is not worth its headline value when you would normally put only CA$5,000 on the card.
Understand what a point is worth
Cash back is the clean benchmark because one dollar is one dollar. Points are less tidy. The same program can offer a low statement-credit value and a higher travel value. Airline transfers can be better still, but only when the route, dates and award availability work for you.
Use the value you can repeat, not the best redemption somebody posted online. If you do not want to search for award space, a straightforward travel portal or cash back may be the more valuable reward in practice.
Annual fees are only one cost
An annual fee is easy to see. Interest and transaction fees can cost more. Carrying a balance at a typical credit card rate can erase a year of rewards quickly. Foreign-currency conversion, cash advances, balance transfers, extra cardholders and missed payments can also add costs.
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada recommends comparing interest, fees, rewards and how you expect to use the account. Its Credit Card Comparison Tool is a useful second source for product features.
Read the insurance certificate
A list of insurance names is not coverage. Eligibility, age limits, trip length, maximum benefit, exclusions and the portion of a purchase charged to the card all matter. Read the certificate before relying on a card for medical, cancellation, baggage, rental car or mobile-device coverage.
Never choose a card only because its marketing page says comprehensive insurance. Compare the specific coverage needed for the trip and confirm that every traveller qualifies.
Before you apply
Confirm the live issuer page, income requirement, annual fee, interest rate and offer deadline. Check whether your regular merchants accept the card network and whether their transactions qualify for the advertised category. Save the offer terms that were displayed when you applied.
Do not apply solely because a calculator ranks a card first. A calculator cannot know your repayment habits, travel plans, credit profile or tolerance for managing multiple rewards programs.
The Short Version
Choose the job first, calculate ongoing value second and evaluate the welcome offer last. Verify every current term with the issuer. The best card is the one whose useful benefits exceed its costs without requiring spending or redemptions that do not fit your life.
CardGenie provides general information, not personalized financial advice. Card terms and offers change. Always verify details with the issuer before applying.