What is your favorite reward credit card?

[Mitsu3000gt]

The WJ card pass to Europe is $399 + taxes and fees, which ends up being about as much as it costs to fly without the pass unless their fee structure is different. Last time I flew to Europe my airfare was around $300 and taxes and fees were around $600 - if that is similar for West Jet you're likely better off just buying the ticket normally. Has anyone claimed it before? What fees were you charged?

[sabad66]

msommers, i think you're overcomplicating it. all you need to do is set up the app, switch it to 'next only', and then once you get $20 worth of points it will automatically redeem against your next purchase of $20 or more. it's pretty hands off once you do the initial setup which takes less than 5 mins.

[msommers]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Thinking of cancelling my Capital One Aspire later this year.

Don't do it! Especially if you still get the annual 10,000 bonus points. Their insurance coverage is really good compared to other cards as well, plus travel insurance is automatic regardless if you used your card to book the flight or not.

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

The WJ card pass to Europe is $399 + taxes and fees, which ends up being about as much as it costs to fly without the pass unless their fee structure is different. Last time I flew to Europe my airfare was around $300 and taxes and fees were around $600 - if that is similar for West Jet you're likely better off just buying the ticket normally. Has anyone claimed it before? What fees were you charged?

Our flights w/ baggage, seat selection on all flights from Calgary to Paris, including the annual cost of the card ($120/yr), was $740/each. Flight there has a layover in Halifax for an hour and a half, and back home is direct. Initial $250 WJ bucks was a huge factor here.

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

msommers, i think you're overcomplicating it.

Sounds about right That said compared to the Cap One system, it's still really stupid.

[ThePenIsMightier]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

The WJ card pass to Europe is $399 + taxes and fees, which ends up being about as much as it costs to fly without the pass unless their fee structure is different. Last time I flew to Europe my airfare was around $300 and taxes and fees were around $600 - if that is similar for West Jet you're likely better off just buying the ticket normally. Has anyone claimed it before? What fees were you charged?

LoL wut!!?
$300 to Europe? We you in a cargo plane with livestock. $600 in fees?!
I've used the Canadian companion voucher and it takes whatever the ticket price was and makes it $99 then you still pay the full amount of all fees (fuel, airport improvement, terrorism tax, overcharge charge, imagiLevy, etc). If it was for a $200 ticket to Vancouver, you didn't save much. If it was an $800 to Halifax, you killed it.

[88CRX]

Like others have said the WJ card is key for checked bags ($25 each way per person). So 1 return trip, for a couple, once a year is $100 in checked baggage fees right there.

Other key is if you travel anywhere in Canada around Xmas (or another high demand time) where you can use your $99 companion flight usually saves huge $$$.

And I think we got $250 WJ dollars when we signed up.

If you travel alone or not at peak times I could see the WJ card not making sense.

[Mitsu3000gt]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Our flights w/ baggage, seat selection on all flights from Calgary to Paris, including the annual cost of the card ($120/yr), was $740/each. Flight there has a layover in Halifax for an hour and a half, and back home is direct. Initial $250 WJ bucks was a huge factor here.

So there is basically no advantage for Europe then, especially with sub-optimal flights (non direct). Pretty easy to get to Europe under $1000 almost any time of year. Worth it to sign up for once though then cancel I guess? Peak season within Canada is where I think it would alright too.

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

LoL wut!!?
$300 to Europe? We you in a cargo plane with livestock. $600 in fees?!
I've used the Canadian companion voucher and it takes whatever the ticket price was and makes it $99 then you still pay the full amount of all fees (fuel, airport improvement, terrorism tax, overcharge charge, imagiLevy, etc). If it was for a $200 ticket to Vancouver, you didn't save much. If it was an $800 to Halifax, you killed it.

AirCanada to London. Had a 15% discount code because my friend works for AC, but the discount is only on airfare - only saved about $45/ticket. Went to look at the breakdown and taxes/fees/surcharges made up 2/3 of the ticket price, and were therefore not eligible for the discount.

I don't think its unusual to have a high percentage of ticket prices be the fee portion - it's the same reason using AirMiles used to be completely pointless.

[msommers]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

So there is basically no advantage for Europe then, especially with sub-optimal flights (non direct). Pretty easy to get to Europe under $1000 almost any time of year.

There most definitely is a cost advantage, especially for the flight path I mentioned.

Sub-optimal flights? Westjet JUST started flying direct to Paris in October.

[Mitsu3000gt]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

There most definitely is a cost advantage, especially for the flight path I mentioned.

Sub-optimal flights? Westjet JUST started flying direct to Paris in October.

Anything with a connection, slower route, and a layover is obviously a sub optimal route - you said it had to fly to Halifax first, which is brutal. That's what I am going off of. That's roughly 6 extra hours of flight time + layover.

Unless I am misunderstanding your description, where is the big cost advantage outside of the initial credit if it still cost you $740? Is that before or after one-time $250 credit?

[ThePenIsMightier]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

AirCanada to London. Had a 15% discount code because my friend works for AC, but the discount is only on airfare - only saved about $45/ticket. Went to look at the breakdown and taxes/fees/surcharges made up 2/3 of the ticket price, and were therefore not eligible for the discount.

I don't think its unusual to have a high percentage of ticket prices be the fee portion - it's the same reason using AirMiles used to be completely pointless.

That's weird. My experience is that the fees are roughly $70 on shorter flights within Canada and that is closer to 25% of the total (ticket+fees) cost.

[Mitsu3000gt]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

That's weird. My experience is that the fees are roughly $70 on shorter flights within Canada and that is closer to 25% of the total (ticket+fees) cost.

They are a lot higher on International I believe - and in particular the UK has really high airport fees, which could have made it more of a worst-case scenario. Either way I was not impressed when I was expecting 15% off $800 and I got 15% off $300 haha.

[msommers]

First, prices of direct flights to Paris are only recently a thing. So there isn't much history to go off of. I'm not going to bother looking at the history of what exactly was the cheapest when they started to introduce this.

Second, all flights previously TO PARIS needed to stop in Toronto or Montreal or Halifax -- outside of Westjet currently this still stands. So the point is moot because anytime there was a stellar deal, this layover was a requirement (or sub-optimal lol).

Thirdly, you must consider the cost of baggage ($60/ea), seat selection ($72/ea) on top of previous deals. Moreover, we have Econo tickets and not Basic which is more expensive and provides some flexibility when it comes to cancelling. Basic is not always available either as we quickly found out, despite the prices remaining to be advertised even on Westjet's checkout. The price was there for Basic, the option to buy isn't anymore. Super annoying.

Lastly, while prices may be cheaper currently for May through Air Transit, you have to consider the same time of year -- apples to apples. For us, that's June.

So with all of that adding up, using the sign-up credit bonus, there is no way in hell we would have got those prices otherwise unless we had some other massive rewards program (Aeroplan, for example) to pay for it all.

There is absolutely cost savings if you fly Westjet, especially to Europe.

[ExtraSlow]

Because I have a companion voucher in my account, and I hate doing the math, here's an example itinerary to Paris. Direct flights on the dreamliner, Friday June 14 and returning Friday June 21. Cheapest possible cost for 2 adults is $2586.08 PLUS $120 in baggage fees (assumes one checked bag per person each way). With the companion voucher applied that same itinerary is $1896.08 and you'd have your free checked bag for each person, so that's the true total. And with that WJ card, you'll be earning a few hundred a year in WJ dollars, which spend like cash on these trips. So true out of pocket would be something like $1500 for two round trip to paris.

There may be a way to beat that with transat or some other second rate carrier or route, but for direct flights, it's amazing.

Obviously, the lowest per person price will be on flights for two. Doesn't work at all on solo flights, and flights for four etc will only have one companion voucher (unless you wrangle more somehow).

[max_boost]

Do you have to wait a certain amount of time before utilizing that companion voucher?

[ExtraSlow]

I don't know how fast it's applied to your account. I don't think right away, maybe within a month or so? If you plan to get the card, just get it and start accumulating the WJ dollars, because those stack with any promotion or voucher too.

While I'm not planning to fly to Paris soon, I did recently use a companion voucher on flights to Regina with a guy for work. Regina may be the "Paris of the prairies", but I didn't want to spend any extra time there, so it was nice not needing to choose the cheapest flights, since the companion fare makes that less important. I got the fornication out of there as soon as I could.

EDIT: I'm wrong, I guess Saskatoon is the paris of the prairies. My comments still stand.

[ThePenIsMightier]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Do you have to wait a certain amount of time before utilizing that companion voucher?

Yes! This bit my ass, hard!
1. Use card.
2. Receive bill.
3. Pay bill.
4. Wait another minimum 2-6 weeks to get it and there is literally absolutely nothing you can do to expedite it.

I received mine and used it the next day but oops, that was 1 day after the last billing cycle so now add 4 weeks to your waiting.
The absolute earliest you can possibly get it is 6 weeks after getting the card. Plan on 8-10 weeks.

They have to have proof that you've used the card and paid your bill to prevent cheap weirdos from getting the card and acquiring a companion voucher, then canceling the card.

[max_boost]

Ah perfect. Has anyone had the yearly fee waived?

Yes, lots of cheap weirdos always looking to take advantage.

[beecue]

I went with the Rogers card and was approved when I called to check today.

Looks like you guys were right about them not checking income. My score is good so they just approved it.

I'll get the westjet card if I decide I'm going to fly more. I'm sure I would get approved for that too as the requirement is the same as Rogers.

[KrisYYC]

Anybody here have one of the PC Optimum Mastercards?

I was thinking of getting an Aeroplan Visa, or one of those cash back credit cards, but I think the PC Mastercard might be better for me overall. I do my grocery shopping exclusively at Superstore and get my gas either at Esso or at Superstore as well. Considering the PC cards have no annual fee I'm thinking it may be a better bet for me.

If anybody has one, did it make big difference in how fast you rack up PC optimum points?

[msommers]

We do. Also shop at Superstore and fill up her car at Esso/Mobil. Surprising for just two people how fast we get $10 off redemptions.

[Tik-Tok]

PC Optimum is pretty tempting, our 3 more common places to spend money is Costco, Superstore, and Shoppers. I was going to get the Westjet one, but then got a job that has flight benefits, so I don't need to worry about that anymore, lol.