Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card is one of the best cards for earning fixed-value points, due to the sheer ease of redeeming Scene+ points.

Throw in a lack of foreign transaction fees, and this card is a winner with a relatively low annual fee to boot.

Bonuses & Fees

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card offers up 35,000 Scene+ points as a signup offer.

The bulk of the bonus, 25,000 Scene+ points, are awarded upon spending $1,000 in the first three months.

You can also earn an additional 10,000 points every year upon spending $40,000, although at such a high threshold, your efforts are likely better spent on other cards.

The annual fee is $150, with one free supplementary card and $50 per card thereafter.

Earning Rewards

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card offers 2 Scene+ points per dollar spent on groceries, dining, entertainment purchases, and daily transit. Entertainment includes movies, theatre, and live performances, while transit covers railroads, local transit, taxis, and ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.

As part of a partnership with Empire grocery stores, you can earn 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent on Empire grocery stores such as Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland, and FreshCo. Purchases made at other grocery stores will continue earning 2 points per dollar.

While this is a decent return, you’ll note that the Scotiabank Gold American Express card actually offers a higher 5% return on groceries, dining, and entertainment, so that’d be a better card to use for spending on these categories. Of course, Visa is more widely accepted than Amex, so that’s another thing to take into account.

On all other spending, you’ll earn a standard 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent.

Moreover, it’s important to note that the accelerated earning rates are capped at $50,000 per calendar year, and not per category. You’ll earn 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent thereafter.

Redeeming Rewards

Scene+ is one of the most flexible fixed-value points programs in Canada. Points have a value of 1 cent per point, and can be easily credited towards any travel expense.

This is far superior to fixed-value points programs from Canada’s other major banks, which force you to book your travel through their in-house travel agencies. This means that you’re effectively limited to using your points for flights, hotels, car rentals, and vacations.

Things like taxes and fees on award tickets, Airbnbs, and train tickets are therefore off the table. And sometimes the cost of booking travel through the banks’ in-house agencies is significantly higher than if you booked directly.

Your points won’t expire for as long as you’re a cardholder. If you cancel the card, you’ll have 60 days to redeem your Scene+ points before they’re gone.

Perks & Benefits

The main draw of this card is the fact that it has no foreign transaction fees – indeed, it’s the first credit card offered by the Big 5 banks in Canada to include such a benefit. While most other credit cards charge a 2.5% markup on foreign transactions, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card uses the Visa mid-market rate.

This is therefore an excellent card to use when you’re travelling abroad. In fact, if you were to make more than $6,000 in foreign purchases in one year, then you’d have saved money by applying for and using the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card.

This is because most other cards that charge foreign transaction fees would have levied $150 in fees after spending $6,000, with a 2.5% foreign exchange fee.

$6,000 a year isn’t a lot of money to spend on foreign purchases if you’re a regular traveller. Throw in six complimentary DragonPass lounge visits, and the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card would be a great addition to your wallet.

Insurance Coverage

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card is a premium travel credit card, and so comes with very strong insurance benefits. Coverage includes:

• Emergency medical insurance of up to $1 million for you, your spouse, and dependent children on unexpected medical illness or injury when travelling out-of-province for up to 25 days (3 days for age 65 and up)

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance of up to $1,500 and $2,000 per person, respectively

• Flight delay insurance for delays of more than four hours, up to $500 per person

• Delayed and lost baggage insurance of up to $1,000

• Rental car collision or damage insurance, which can help you save on the insurance fees usually charged by car rental companies for vehicles with a MSRP of up to $65,000

• Hotel burglary insurance of up to $1,000 in the event of theft

Plus, on the purchase protection side, you’ll get a 90-day protection period against damage, loss, or theft for most new items. In addition, you also get extended warranty of up to one year.

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