Many of us have favourite credit card features, but sadly, we can't just go to a bank and tell them what we want. We have to pore over the details of existing credit cards and find the closest thing to perfect that we can, making a lot of sacrifices along the way.
But that doesn't mean we can't dream about it. So we're pulling a Victor Frankenstein and creating our own monster of sorts. Our perfect credit card (within reason).
The only rule for picking our features? It has to be available on a current credit card. When Frankenstein created his monster, he didn't start from scratch. He had to stitch together parts from existing creatures.
So here's what our card looks like – hopefully everything works out and it doesn't turn on us.
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1. Rewards we want to earn
“This was then the reward of my benevolence!”
― Frankenstein
Cash back
A lot of people just prefer getting straightforward cash back on every purchase, but there are a couple of features that can really help a cash back card stand out from the crowd.
The biggest one is how do you access your rewards? For many cash back cards, you'll get access to them once per year, only as a statement credit and only when the bank chooses.
But in our ideal scenario, you can get paid out when you like. And you wouldn't be just limited to statement credits either. You could get your cash put right in a bank account to use on whatever you choose or to save for a rainy day.
One set of cash back cards that do this are the BMO CashBack Mastercard and the BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard. With these cards, you can redeem your cash back when you like, with a minimum redemption of $1. And you can also get your cash back deposited into a BMO bank or your investment account if you prefer.
$20 GeniusCash + Up to 5% cash back + No annual fee.*
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GC: $125
1x Award winner Travel rewards
When it comes to earning travel rewards, we want a program that offers you choice.
Sure, a program like Aeroplan offers high value rewards, but you're also limited in how they can be used to get the maximum value possible. You can basically use them on Air Canada flights (and their partners), or stand to take a loss on your cent per point value.
We want to be able to use our points to pay for any travel booking we find, and not lose any value when we do it. We also want to transfer them to airline partners if we so choose. And at the end of the day, is there a high value way to get a quick out should we need it?
If that sounds like fiction, it's actually not. Amex Membership Rewards offers all of that.
There's an easy way to redeem for travel and anything else you pay for. You can use your points to pay for any purchase charged to your card. All points are worth 1 cent each when redeemed this way. This is rare among rewards programs.
But if you want more value, you can also transfer points to 6 airline programs (one of which is Aeroplan), use Amex's own flight chart with the Fixed Points Travel program, or transfer them to either Marriott or Hilton.
There is another program that we'll give an honorable mention to here – Scene+. You may already be earning points in it as it's used by some popular retailers like Sobeys, Safeway, Cineplex, and Home Hardware. And with a Scene+ credit card, you'll be able to add to your bank, and consolidate your travel rewards.
Any Scene+ member can redeem points for free travel using the Expedia Scene+ portal. But with a Scene+ credit card, you can also redeem your points towards any travel purchase made to the card, you just need to redeem at least 5,000 points.
It doesn't have all the Amex Membership Rewards transfer options. But it does have several ways to use your points while maintaining the maximum value of 1 cent each. These are:
- travel,
- Sobeys and Safeway,
- Home Hardware,
- Cineplex theatres, and
- Recipe Unlimited restaurants.
Earn rates
But no matter what type of rewards we're earning, we want a high base earn rate, coupled with bonuses on categories that we spend money on all the time.
And there is one such card that exists – the SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express, which earns the following:
- 4% cash back on gas and groceries
- 2% cash back on all other purchases
For a rewards program, that means earning 2 points per $1 spent on everything, while earning 4 points per $1 spent on gas and groceries.
2. The perks we want
“Wealth was an inferior object; but what glory would attend the discovery…”
― Frankenstein
There is an almost endless list of various perks that credit cards include. We won't ask for the moon here, and just stick to the top 2 things we want (and be as reasonable as we can).
The first is airport lounge access. Though there are some premium cards that offer an unlimited lounge access program, we believe a few free lounge passes per year will do that trick.
For an example, we'll look at the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card, which offers 6 free passes per year to Visa Airport Companion lounges.
×1 Award winner GC: $80
1x Award winner For the second perk, we also want to save on travel fees. Does anyone really like paying money for baggage or seat selection? Some airlines don't even give you access to the overhead bins anymore without paying for access (hello Flair and Lynx).
The National Bank World Elite Mastercard offers a unique perk in this regard. You can save $150 in travel fees every year you have the card. This is what you can use that credit towards:
- baggage fees,
- seat selection,
- airport parking,
- lounge access, and
- airline seat upgrades.
3. Insurance to include
"Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it."
― Frankenstein
Insurance, even credit card insurance, is one of those things that you may not pay much attention to, but you love it when the time comes.
In our ideal credit card, we want an insurance package that includes the following:
- mobile device insurance,
- price protection, and
- a full suite of travel insurance.
The closest thing we can find is the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard. It has almost everything we want, minus trip cancellation coverage.
MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard®
| Extended Warranty | 1 year |
| Purchase Protection | 90 days |
| Price Protection | Yes |
| Mobile Device | $1,000 |
| Travel Accident | $1,000,000 |
| Trip Interruption | $2,000 |
| Flight Delay | $500 |
| Baggage Delay | $500 |
| Lost or Stolen Baggage | $500 |
| Rental Car Theft & Damage | Yes |
| Rental Car Accident | $200,000 |
| Rental Car Personal Effects | $1,000 |
Please review your insurance certificate for details, exclusions and limitations of your coverage.
Price protection is quite rare, and really limits the cards we can look at. If we can do without it, here are some cards we could consider that features everything we want for travel insurance:
- TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card
- Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
- RBC Avion Visa Infinite
4. The fees we'd wish for
“Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money.”
― Frankenstein
When it comes to fees, we don't want to pay anything. That includes annual fees, supplemental card fees, or foreign exchange fees.
Not paying an annual fee for what we've included is something that will never happen, but because we're trying to be a bit realistic with our perfect card, we'll settle for paying an annual fee of $120.
5. Credit card network
Our last part – picking a credit card network. We want to be able to use this credit card anywhere.
And in Canada, that means we need this to be a Mastercard. It's the only credit card accepted at Costco, and (unless a merchant just doesn't accept credit cards at all) you'll be able to use it all over the world.
Our Frankenstein credit card creation
“I beheld the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created.”
– Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
So here's the summary of what our ideal credit card looks like:
| Feature | What Our Frankenstein Credit Card Includes |
|---|---|
| Rewards | Choice of: Cash back that can be redeemed anytime Super flexible rewards like Amex Membership Rewards |
| Earn Rates | * 4% cash back on gas and groceries * 2% cash back on all other purchases |
| Top 2 perks included | * Airport lounge access * Free checked bags and other travel fees |
| Insurance | * 12 types included * Includes price protection, mobile device, and travel insurance |
| Fees | * No annual fee (we'd settle for $120) * No foreign exchange fees |
| Network | Mastercard |
Your ideal credit card creation
Now that we've listed out what our ideal credit card includes, what about you? What does your ideal credit card feature?
Let your imagination run wild and show us your own Frankenstein creation in the comments below.
FAQ
What does our ideal credit card earn for rewards?
Our ideal credit card would feature an uber flexible rewards program that would allow us to redeem our points for cash back on demand without losing value, while also redeeming for travel as needed.
What perks does our credit card include?
We limited ourselves to choosing 2 perks. We included:
- airport lounge access with 6 free passes, and
- a travel credit used towards things like checked bags and airport parking.
What does our credit card include for insurance?
The credit card insurance we picked out has 12 types of insurance coverage, and includes these key coverages:
- price protection,
- mobile device,
- full suite travel insurance.
What fees does our ideal credit card charge?
In our ideal world, we would pay no fees of any kind, including annual and foreign exchange fees. However, since we're getting our perfect card we'd settle for paying a $120 annual fee.
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