Credit Cards for the FAs

I've done a little research and through my research there are only three credit cards worth considering if you're a FA living in Canada.

Each one of them is good in their own way and it depends on what you're looking for.

First thing that that's important is foreign exchange rate/fees, you know since we go to different countries and stuff.

Next we look at cost to benefits how much it costs to get it and whether the benefit is worth it.

Home Trust Preferred Visa

The first card we'll look at is the Preferred Visa from Home Trust.* This credit card product is not available in Quebec.

The benefits on this card are:

• No annual fee
• One percent CashBack with no limits to your total rewards
• Roadside Assist membership at no extra charge
• No foreign currency conversion surcharges

In my opinion, is that this card is good but not good enough 'cause of the benefits it offers, however if you don't qualify for the other cards then this isn't too bad to use for now.

Link to sign up the Home Trust Preferred Visa.

Next I want to talk about is the Scotiabank Passport Visa.

Scotiabank Passport Visa

This card is good with its benefits and has some that are quite useful for us!

The benefits on this card are:

• No foreign currency conversion surcharges
• Priority Pass Lounge Access (six pass per year)
• Travel Emergency Medical Insurance UP TO 25 DAYS! (If over 65 its 10 days)
• Various other insurance maybe useful to you as well such as Car rental and etc.
• Points to exchange for stuff

These are all amazing benefits however it comes at a cost of $139 annually.

If you do travel enough and use all the passes every year in my opinion is a pretty good card plus not many cards offer 25 days of insurance like this one. One time I had to go to see a doctor cause I caught some disease elsewhere and they covered it 100 percent or else I would've have to pay 300$ for it.

Also right now if you get the card earn 25,000 bonus points with your first $1,000 in everyday purchases in the first three months.

Link to sign up for the Scotiabank Passport Visa.

Rogers World Elite Mastercard

The last credit card I would like to talk about is the Rogers World Elite Mastercard. This card has lots of good features and better yet there's NO ANNUAL FEE! Which for all the World Elite Mastercard benefit is amazing!

Benefits of this card:

• No Annual Fee
• 4 percent cash back on all foreign transaction (2.5 percent transaction fee will be added on so in the end you'd only get 1.5 percent cash back which is still better than the Home Trust one percent cash back)
• 1.75 percent Cash back on all other purchases within Canada (Unless Rogers products then you get two percent)
• Insurance benefits: Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection, Rental Car Collision/Damage, Out-of-Province/Out-of-Country Emergency Medical (10 days insurance or three days if over 64 years old), Trip Interruption and Trip Cancellation.
• Comes with LoungeKey Membership from Mastercard around 27$ USD per visit.

The only real drawback of this card is that there is no ApplePay so I couldn't use this card to charge my Suica in Japan but other than that I'd say this card is 10/10 and I truly believe all FA should use this card!

Link to apply to Rogers World Elite Mastercard.

A card thats not really a credit card many have asked me if its good and what I personally say is depends if you need cash. Some of you already know which card I'm talking about. It is the CIBC AC Conversion Card.

CIBC AC Conversion Card

This card IS NOT A CREDIT CARD. It is only a prepaid card therefore you will not get a hit on your credit score. How to use this card? You load it with your credit card (be aware some credit cards may charge you a cash advance as they see you as buying cash which you essentially are). [If you are an employee you are restricted to only using your debit card for the purchase and you get a fixed rate.]

Important points about this card:

• Each time you load you need to load a minimum of 100$ CAD
• Can take out cash from ATM anywhere with out extra fee once a month. (The card itself won't charge you a fee however if the ATM does then you get charged.)
• Can store up to 10 different currencies (CAD, USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, HKD, TRY, CHF, or MXN)
• No fee keeping this card it is a prepaid card.

For myself I like to use this card to buy the currency so then I could take it out at my layover to pay for tips and buy things that doesn't accept credit cards. Since credit card gives me better rate sometimes and also reward points!

Link to apply for the CIBC AC Conversion Card.