How To Pick a Premium Credit Card

Credit cards that cost $600 (or more) per year in annual fees – the very idea made my not-particularly-stingy father balk for decades.

He changed his tune in 2023 when he started flying a lot more for work and was able to enjoy Maple Leaf Airport Lounges courtesy of the American Express Aeroplan Reserve card. All of a sudden, the $599 annual fee seemed much more reasonable.

Today, I want to take you on the same journey of choosing the right premium credit card for your personal and travel needs so that you feel like you’re receiving more value than what you are paying in annual fees.

What is a Premium Credit Card?

Before we start, we should probably define what defines a premium credit card.

Contrary to most lower-tier credit cards, premium credit cards almost always come with a high annual fee, usually north of $500 CAD per year. They also tend to incur higher fees on the merchants themselves, which is why they give the most rewards to their cardholders.

For this reason, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has successfully managed to lobby for at least some income restrictions to be placed on such products issued by Visa and Mastercard, but not by American Express because the latter acts as its own payment network as well as issuer.

What this means is that premium credit cards cost you more and also cost merchants more. Fewer customers are even allowed to hold them in Canada. So what’s the upside?

Premium credit cards have myriad benefits outside of just being a method to pay. While it’s nice to have elevated earn rates when dining out or buying travel, premium credit cards offer other perks just for holding the card.

This often includes features such as complimentary airport lounge access, free status boosts (albeit often modest ones) with hotel chains’ reward programs like Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors, and dedicated concierge lines. Even in the era of the internet, some folks like to call in to make travel arrangements! 

Reasons to Get a Premium Credit Card

Premium credit cards cost big bucks and promise big perks. With that in mind, why should you consider getting one, and how should you consider weighing your options so you pick the right one

The first thing I’d like to note is that many premium credit cards come with airport lounge access. The terms and conditions of these lounges and how to access them can get a bit confusing.

For example, the American Express Platinum card provides access to all of the airport lounges in the American Express Global Lounge Collection. On the other hand, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve card my dad got only allows use of the Maple Leaf Lounge when flying within North America on Air Canada.

So, keep these terms and conditions in mind. However, the main reason you should consider getting at least one travel credit card is to enhance and improve your travel experience.

Do you hate paying extra baggage fees? There are cards that can help you avoid that. Do you hate sitting on the cramped, uncomfortable seats outside the gate for hours before boarding? There are cards that can help with that, too.

Overall, try and find the best card that matches how you want to travel: if you don’t care about airport lounges, don’t worry about getting cards with the best access. But if you’re a big spender searching for Air Canada status, some of the premium Aeroplan co-branded cards may be more to your taste.

Many cards also have recurring or changing welcome bonuses; there is no shame in pulling the trigger when a particularly attractive offer arises, though be wary that most bonuses now require you to hold the card for at least two annual fees. Therefore, it’s best to calculate if it’s worth keeping your premium cards each year.

Canadian Premium Credit Cards Worth Considering

American Express Platinum & American Express Business Platinum Cards

The first card I’d like to be a strong advocate of is the American Express Platinum card. For me, this is the simplest, easiest way to introduce yourself to the world of premium credit cards. At $799 per year, it’s also probably one of the most painful to the wallet.

The card boasts an enticing welcome bonus of up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points, but more important than this, it offers a whole slew of evergreen benefits.

An annual $200 dining credit and a $200 travel each cardholder anniversary? Check. Lounge access? Absolutely, the American Express Global Lounge Collection, plus Priority Pass access. Gold elite status at Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors? Yup, and throw in Enterprise car rentals, too. And let’s not forget about its excellent insurance coverage.

This card is the simplest one-stop shop to try premium credit cards. Yes, the fee is super high, but if you can fully utilize the credits, it makes the annual fee an effective $399 per year, with an earn rate of 2x on dining out and travel.

On the other hand, you have this product’s cousin, the American Express Business Platinum card. Clocking in at a $799 annual fee as well, it lacks the $200 restaurant credit.. And no, nothing will convince me that Indeed and Dell credits are anything but niche.

At a flat earn rate of 1.25 Membership Rewards on all spending categories, it may be a higher earner if you’re putting a lot of money through uncategorized spending.

Overall, I think this option is a bit worse, even if it does come with the same bevvy of lounge access. However, it may be a better option for bigger spenders who want convertible Membership Rewards points or for those who would prefer a small business card.

American Express Aeroplan Reserve & American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Cards

Next up, we have the cards I was talking about in the introduction, which I was able to introduce my father to: the American Express Aeroplan Reserve card and the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve card.

There’s not a lot of difference between these products; both have a $599 per year annual fee, and both earn a basic rate of 1.25 Aeroplan miles per dollar spent. They also earn 3x the points on purchases made with Air Canada or Air Canada Vacations (though you may want to think about that latter one). Where they differ is on the 2x category: the Aeroplan Reserve version earns this on dining and food delivery, and the Aeroplan Business Reserve version on hotels and car rentals.

Aside from this, the cards could be considered near identical twins. The area they shine the most is in their airport lounge access, granting cardholders usage of the Air Canada Cafes (limited though their footprint may be), as well as Maple Leaf Lounges when travelling in Canada or the United States on an Air Canada itinerary.

There are also priority boarding privileges, a first free checked bag on Air Canada flights, and the ability to earn 1,000 status qualifying miles per $5,000 spent.

In short: this card is for you if you’ll be flying a lot of Air Canada and can meaningfully improve your comfort by being in their lounges and saving on checking your bags through them. The annual fee may be lower than the Platinum cards, but it doesn’t come with any credits aside from $100 CAD toward NEXUS membership every 4 years.

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege & CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Cards

We next come to our very similar (but slightly distinct) duo of Infinite Privilege Visas issued by TD and CIBC, respectively.

The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege Card and the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege card both have an annual fee of $599 a year and have the same requirement of either a minimum personal annual income of $150,000 or a minimum household annual income of $200,000 in order to be approved.

Credit Card		Welcome Bonus
Apply Now	CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card	CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card 85,000 Aeroplan Estimated value: $1,785	Apply Now

Let’s talk about the cards’ strengths first.

The airport lounge access is also decent, with 6 Visa Airport Companion passes via the Dragonpass Lounge program for non-Maple Leaf Lounges per year, plus the ability to go to the Maple Leaf Lounge.

However, the daily earn rates for both of these credit cards are a bit lacklustre. While they earn the 1.25 Aeroplan per dollar spent base rate, they only accelerate up to a maximum of 2x Aeroplan points on purchases made through Air Canada or Air Canada Vacations.

Their middle earning rate of 1.5 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on dining, gas, groceries, and travel is nice but not really much of an accelerator versus the base rate. These may be common categories, but it’s not enough of an incentive to use this product over the ever-popular American Express Cobalt card.

Now, why would you prefer one over the other, or one of these over an American Express product?

First of all, both are Visas, and so are likely to experience better rates of acceptance. You may also have an established relationship with TD or CIBC and find it easier to get approved by them than some folks have had with other banks in recent times.

There’s also the fact that you can partially offset the annual fees by holding one of these banks’ premium banking products. Also, you can link your TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege card to your Starbucks account for free reward stars.

So overall, these can be a good option, but you’ll have to decide if they come with enough benefits to be worth paying the premium annual fee.

Scotiabank Platinum American Express

Here’s a wacky recommendation I’ll bet you didn’t expect to be on this list: the Scotiabank Platinum American Express card.

Why on earth would someone recommend this product over all the others? Well, it’s as simple as this card’s design philosophy: both this product and the Scene+ loyalty program are easy to understand.

There are no complex transferable points as you get 2 Scene+ points per $1 spent, which are good for 1 cent per point on travel redemptions. Easy. You also get 10 airport lounge passes per year.

If you ever book via Expedia for Scene+, you get 4 Scene+ points per dollar spent (and this works even if you redeem Scene+ against the charges later).

Foreign transaction fees? Nope, this is one of the only cards issued in Canada without any FX upcharge. The card is one of the cheapest premium credit cards on this list, with an annual fee of $399.

In short, this is the perfect card for someone who does want a bunch of nice improvements to their travel experience but doesn’t want to learn the complexities of various other Miles & Points programs. Plus, a 2% flat earn rate on all purchases is pretty good in Canada.

US Premium Credit Cards Worth Considering

This next section applies to those of you who are Americans, or perhaps Canucks who’ve gone down the rabbit hole of getting US credit cards as a Canadian.

I’m not going to delve into the US Platinum family of cards because I feel that, for Canadians, many of their capabilities are outmatched by competing products, even within the existing portfolio.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card

If you love hotel status, this is the card for you. The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card (US) offers 25 elite qualifying nights per year, which can stack with an American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business card (US) for a total of 40 elite qualifying nights towards status at the start of the calendar year. 

It also automatically grants you Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status, which is the most meaningful tier of the entire Bonvoy program, as it comes with the complimentary Marriott breakfast benefit. Oh, and it has Priority Pass lounge access.

Now, its $650 USD annual fee is nothing to sneeze at, and at the time of writing, when converted, that number crests $1,000 CAD. But don’t fret: you get $25 USD per month in restaurant credits worldwide, which also works on the ubiquitous Uber Eats.

It also comes with an annual 85,000-point Bonvoy certificate. Although the entire Bonvoy program continues to be devalued over time, this award is still good for even some of the most in-demand rooms in the entire portfolio. 

When one considers that it routinely receives welcome offers in excess of 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, this makes it a very strong contender.

American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card

Next up is the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card (US).

Whilst its welcome bonus is often also north of 150,000 Hilton Honors points, this isn’t as attractive as its Bonvoy cousin, as Hilton Honors are worth a little bit less. However, what it might lack in a welcome bonus, it makes up for in benefits. This card automatically offers Hilton Diamond status, the highest status in the Hilton portfolio.

Better yet, it comes with an annual Hilton free night award, which is incredibly valuable as these free night awards don’t have a points cap. You can use them in Burlington, Ontario, or the Maldives, and the same award night will get you a free stay.

Its $550 USD annual fee isn’t cheap, but this is offset by $400 in the form of semi-annual $200 Hilton resort credits and $200 in the form of  $50 quarterly flight credits. These can be a bit of a pain to use, but they do bring the cost of the card down somewhat. 

Unfortunately, this is also one of the only cards on this list that does not come with any airport lounge access.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards card is a card so unique and useful that we wrote an entire feature on how to get the Capital One Venture X Rewards card as a Canadian.

The welcome bonus is great, usually hovering in the vicinity of 60,000 to 75,000 transferable Capital One Miles. Capital One Miles are flexible and can be transferred into even more lucrative programs like Air France/KLM Flying Blue.

It also comes with Priority Pass lounge access and the opportunity to visit Capital One’s limited range of lounges in the continental United States, such as the Capital One Lounge at Washington Dulles.

However, what really sets it apart is its flat 2x earn rate on all purchases as well as its unique annual fee structure. While the fee is $395 USD per year, this is offset to being effectively $95 because you receive a $300 USD credit for travel booked with Capital One, which will earn either 5x or even 10x bonus points on the purchase, as well.

If you were to get a US premium credit card to keep, I’d strongly recommend this one as a first choice.

Comparison of Premium Credit Cards

Canadian Premium Credit Cards

Card	Annual Fee	Pros	Cons
American Express Platinum Card	$799	-$200 dining and travel credits -Airport lounge access -Easy one-stop premium solution	-Very high annual fee -Lower earning rates
American Express Business Platinum Card	$799	-$200 travel credit -Airport lounge access -1.25x uncategorized spend can be useful if you buy a lot of goods not in any specific code	-Very high annual fee -No dining credit -Indeed/Dell credits are niche at best
American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card	$599	-Accelerated status earning -Limited airport lounge access -Luggage benefits	-Airport lounge access is when flying Air Canada or a partner -No credits
American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card	$599	-Accelerated status earning -Limited airport lounge access -Luggage benefits	-Airport lounge access is when flying Air Canada or a partner -No credits to offset fees
TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card	$599	-Airport lounge access across both Maple Leaf Lounges and Dragon Pass -Luggage and status benefits	-Convoluted airport lounge access -Extremely high income requirements
CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card	$599	-Airport lounge access across both Maple Leaf Lounges and Dragon Pass -Luggage and status benefits	-Convoluted airport lounge access -Extremely high income requirements
Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card	$399	-Only $399 a year -Flat 2% earn rate -Easy to understand points -No FX fees	-Non-transferable points currency -Only 10 airport lounge passes per year

US Premium Credit Cards

Card	Annual Fee	Pros	Cons
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card	$650 USD	-Platinum status -25 free Elite Qualifying Nights -$300 in dining credits -Priority Pass airport lounge access -No FX Fees	-Monthly credits are a chore -Constant devaluations make free night certificates less useful
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card	$550 USD	-Hilton Free Night Awards are the strongest in the industry -Excellent earn rates on Hilton properties -Diamond Status -No FX fees	-Resort and airline fee credits can be hard to use -No airport lounge access
Capital One Venture X Rewards Card	$395 USD	-$300 travel credit -Airport Lounge access perks -Plenty of transfer partners -No FX fees	-Have to use $300 travel credit on Capital One Portal -Lack of hotel transfer partners

My Pick For a Premium Credit Card

So, the final verdict is in: what would I personally pick as a keeper premium credit card for most Canadians?

My first choice would have to be the American Express Platinum Card. This is the vanilla choice, but it’s tried and true for a reason. It’s easily accessible to most Canadians, and while it does command a hefty fee, its lounge access is good around the globe.

On top of that, the $799 annual fee is easier to offset with the $200 each in travel and dining credits. It’s still significant, but not as hard a pill to swallow as its Business cousin.

However, if I were to pick the strongest card on this list, I’d definitely assert that a case could be made for either the American Express Bonvoy Brilliant card (US) or the Capital One Venture X Rewards card..

It may be unpatriotic for me to say, but the products they get down in the United States are just a bit stronger. Of course, I wouldn’t advocate them for all daily spending with the weak exchange rate, but the benefits they confer versus their annual fees are outsized: both are very useful to any person holding them.

Conclusion

I hope that today I’ve helped you with thinking about the various premium credit cards on the market and which one may best fit your needs.

Remember, there is rarely a perfect solution, but if you know what you’re looking for, be it lounge access, hotel status, or paying as little out of pocket as possible, know that there is at least one premium credit card somewhere on the market for you. We hope you will consider using Frugal Flyer to apply.