by Melissa Morra, from the Sympatico.ca Luxury for Less Travel blog
I used to think that paying a yearly fee for a credit card was one of the silliest things you could do. I saw it as another way banks were trying to rip us off – as if they didn’t have enough money!? That was until I discovered the RBC Platinum Preferred Visa card. Believe me when I say, this is not paid product advertising. I found this card on my own a few years ago and it’s one of the best acquisitions I’ve ever made.
It does of course come down to how you use your card. While it is entirely worth it for me to pay $110 a year for this one, it won’t be for everyone. I signed up for the card when I was booking my relatively expensive honeymoon because it had trip cancellation/interruption insurance. The yearly fee for the card was a little bit more than what I would have paid for the trip cancellation insurance for that trip alone, but I was covered for a bunch of other things – including luggage delay – as well as collecting points for future travel. Peace of mind at that time was worth the cost of the card to me, plus I would be able to use the card for future trips. Thankfully, we didn’t need to use the card benefits on our honeymoon, but within the first year and a half of having the card I had already made my money back and then some by buying a flight to Florida with the points I had accumulated – about a $400 value.
The second year, my bags were delayed on a trip to Italy. I was without my luggage for four days. The luggage delay insurance saw that I was reimbursed for up to $500 worth of emergency purchases including clothing, footwear and personal hygiene supplies. It was so nice not to have to spend much of my precious vacation time trying to get compensation from the airline. You’re lucky if you get $100 from them and even then it would take hours of calling and complaining. I filed my claim with RBC when I returned home and, no question asked, I received a cheque for the full amount a couple of weeks later.
As for the points, every dollar you spend on your card gets you one RBC reward point. 100 points gives you $1 to spend on travel. In other words, all you have to spend on your Visa card in one year to break even is $11,000. This will translate into $110 towards travel, which is something I do several times a year. At this point, all of the other perks that come with the card are just the icing on the cake. And with RBC points you can book travel with any airline, hotel, tour operator etc. Basically, anything a travel agent can get you, you can buy with RBC travel rewards.
So, you can see how it makes sense for some and not for others. If you travel a lot and make most purchases on your credit card, this rewards card could definitely be beneficial. Unfortunately, the RBC Platinum Preferred Visa has been discontinued. However, the RBC Visa Gold Preferred card has the exact same benefits and features. There are also tons of other cards out there that may have benefits that better suite your needs. American Express Gold Rewards card is another one I’ve contemplated. But, for now, I’m happy with my Platinum Preferred.