A great card for Aeroplan members who want solid earn rates on gas and electric vehicle charging, gas savings and car rental discounts. Rewards: Earn 1.5 points for every dollar you spend on eligible gas, electric vehicle charging, groceries and with Air Canada directly, including through Air Canada Vacations. Accelerate your savings with up to 10 cents off per litre on eligible gas. Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend on other purchases. Earn Aeroplan points twice when you pay with your CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card and provide your Aeroplan number at more than 150 Aeroplan partner brands and over 170 online retailers through the Aeroplan eStore. Welcome Offer: Get up to 50,000 Aeroplan points, up to $1,000 in travel value: 10,000 Aeroplan points when you make your first purchase, 15,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $4,000 or more during the first four monthly statement periods and 25,000 Aeroplan points as an anniversary bonus when you have at least $15,000 in net purchases during the first 12 monthly statement periods. You also enjoy a free first checked bag with Air Canada in the first year, a $120 value for two travellers for each round-trip flight. Annual Fee: $139 (rebated in the first year or every year if you have a CIBC Smart Plus Account) Other Benefits and Drawbacks: The collision/loss damage insurance on this card is standard, but the travel insurance offers a generous $5 million in emergency medical, as well as trip cancellation/interruption coverage and flight delay after only four hours. The 25% off base rates at Avis and Budget locations is a great perk, but the $139 annual fee might eat into your savings. ———————————————————————————-
Besides the healthy earn rate on gas, this card comes with a free Deluxe TD Auto Club Membership offering 24/7 roadside assistance. Rewards: Earn 3% cash back on eligible grocery and gas purchases, and on recurring bill payments. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases. Welcome Offer: Earn up to $500 in value†, including 10% in Cash Back Dollars in the first 3 months on Bonus Eligible Purchases up to a total spend of $3,500†.
Conditions apply. Account must be approved by January 6, 2025. Not available for residents of Quebec. Annual Fee: $139 (Get a first-year annual fee rebate; account must be approved by January 6, 2025) Other Benefits and Drawbacks: The included travel insurance (on top of the standard collision/loss damage insurance) make this a solid all-around card for travellers. But the coverage is lower than comparable cards, as is the car rental discount. ———————————————————————————-
This is a well-rounded card with solid features for less than $100 per year. Rewards: Earn 1 point for every dollar spent on eligible gas, grocery and direct through Air Canada® purchases (including Air Canada Vacations®) made with your card. Earn 1 point† for every $1.50 spent on all other eligible purchases made with your Card. Earn points twice when you pay with your Card and provide your Aeroplan number at over 150 Aeroplan partner brands and at 170+ online retailers via the Aeroplan eStore (www.aeroplan.com/estore). Welcome Offer: Earn a welcome bonus of 10,000 Aeroplan points when you make your first purchase with your new card and earn an additional 10,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $1,000 within 90 days of Account opening.† Terms and conditions apply. Not available for residents of Quebec. Must be approved by January 6, 2025. Annual Fee: $89 (Get a first-year annual fee rebate; account must be approved by January 6, 2025) Other Benefits and Drawbacks: This card offers a lot for a low annual fee, including the opportunity to earn points twice when you pay with your card at select retailers. There is some travel insurance, but no emergency medical or trip cancellation/interruption. ———————————————————————————-
Beside the good 2% cash back offer on gas, this card includes a full slate of travel insurance coverage and 25% off base rates at participating Avis and Budget rental car agencies. Rewards: Get 4% cash back for every dollar you spend on grocery store purchases, recurring bill payments and subscription purchases. Earn 2% for every dollar you spend on gas purchases and daily transit purchases (including Uber). Plus, 1% cash back on all other purchases with no cash-back limit. Welcome Offer: 10% cash back in the first three months up to $2,000 in total purchases. Annual Fee: $120 (First year waived) Other Benefits and Drawbacks: All-in-all, this is a solid card, though $1 million in emergency travel medical coverage is lower than other cards. The high annual income requirement of $60,000 personal/$150,000 household may be a barrier for some people. ———————————————————————————-
While this card excels at offering excellent rewards for food enthusiasts, the generous earn rate on gas will add up pretty quickly, coupled with excellent discounts on car rentals at Avis and Budget agencies. Rewards: 6 Scene+ points for every dollar spent at Sobeys, Safeway Freshco, Foodland and more, 5 Scene+ points points for every dollar spent at restaurants, fast food outlets and bars, as well as food delivery and food delivery subscription services like DoorDash or UberEats, 5 Scene+ points for every dollar spent in eligible entertainment purchases, including movies, theatres and ticket agencies, along with 3 points on gas, public transit, rideshare and streaming services, and 1 point on all other everyday purchases. Welcome Offer: Earn 20,000 bonus Scene+ points by making at least $1,000 in everyday eligible purchases in your first three months. Plus, for a limited time, you are eligible to earn a 20,000 Scene+ point bonus when you spend at least $7,500 in everyday eligible purchases in your first year. Annual Fee: $120 Other Benefits and Drawbacks: This card comes with a full suite of travel insurance coverage, though the $1 million in emergency medical is lower than other cards. ———————————————————————————-
This card is known for its rewards value for travel and groceries, but travellers will appreciate its good earn rate on gas, as well as Membership Rewards points for car rental bookings. Rewards: Earn 5 Membership Rewards per dollar spent on groceries (up to $30,000 annually), 3 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on eligible streaming subscriptions in Canada, 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on rideshares, transit and gas in Canada, 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases and 1 additional Membership Rewards point for every dollar spent on eligible hotel or car rental bookings made with American Express Travel. Welcome Offer: In your first year as a new Cobalt Cardmember, you can earn 1,250 Membership Rewards® points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $750 in net purchases on your Card. This could add up to 15,000 points in a year. That’s up to $150 towards a weekend getaway or concert tickets. Annual Fee: $155.88 ($12.99 per month) Other Benefits and Drawbacks: While car rental collision/loss damage insurance is fairly standard between credit cards, this card is one of two on our ranking that covers higher value cars, up to $85,000 MSRP. However, this card also has the most expensive annual fee. ———————————————————————————-
This card earns 3% cash back on gas, and includes free membership to BMO’s roadside assistance program, a suite of travel insurance and rental car discounts. Rewards: 5% cash back on eligible grocery purchases to a maximum of $500 per statement. Eligible ground transportation purchases get 4% cash back on the first $300 per billing cycle. Gas and electric vehicle charging purchases get 3% cash back on the first $300 per billing cycle. You’ll get 2% cash back on recurring bill payments on the first $500 of each billing cycle. All other purchases, and purchases above those spending caps, get 1% cash back with no limit. Welcome Offer: Earn up to 10% cash back for the first three months on qualified purchases (up to $2,600). Annual Fee: $120 (waived in the first year) Other Benefits and Drawbacks: On first glance, this card’s high earn rate across multiple categories is worth applauding. But there’s a downside: its 3% cash back on gas and electric vehicle charging is capped at the first $500 in purchases for each billing cycle. After that, the earn rate drops to 1%. ———————————————————————————-
The 4% cash back on gas purchases is a standout feature of this card, along with the 10 cents per litre savings at select gas stations and 25% off car rentals at participating Avis and Budget locations. Rewards: Earn 4% cash back on grocery and gas purchases, 2% cash back on dining, transportation and recurring bills or payments and 1% cash back on all other purchases with no limit. Welcome Offer: Up to 10% cash back of up to $200 on $2,000 in net purchases over the first four statements. $120 annual fee rebated in the first year. Annual Fee: $120 Other Benefits and Drawbacks: The earn rates on this card are impressive, but the travel insurance coverage, with only $5 million in emergency medical and common carrier accident insurance, falls short compared to other cards. ———————————————————————————-
In addition to the perks offered to American Express cardmembers, this card boasts 4% cash back on gas and a good travel insurance package. This is the second card on this list that covers collision/loss damage on rental cars up to $85,000, compared to the standard $65,000 cap. Rewards: Earn 4% cash back on eligible gas station purchases in Canada, 4% cash back on eligible grocery store purchases in Canada (up to $1,200 cash back annually) and 2% cash back on all other purchases. Welcome Offer: Earn a $40 statement credit for each monthly billing period in which $750 in purchases is spent on the card. This could add up to $400 in statement credits in the first 10 months. Annual Fee: $119.88 (billed as $9.99 a month). Other Benefits and Drawbacks: While the cash back earn rates on this card are impressive, the travel insurance coverage lacks trip cancellation/interruption coverage, and there are no discounts offered on car rentals or gas at the pump. ———————————————————————————-
This is a solid—but basic—cash-back card with no spending cap, especially lucrative if you’re shopping in U.S. dollars. The best part? No annual fee. Rewards: Earn unlimited 2% cash back (exclusively for eligible Rogers, Fido or Shaw customers) on non-U.S. dollar purchases, otherwise earn 1.5% unlimited cash back. Earn unlimited 3% cash back on U.S. dollar purchases. Welcome Offer: N/A Annual Fee: $0 Other Benefits and Drawbacks: As mentioned above, this card is the only one on our list with no annual fee and it does include some travel insurance. However, there are no discounts on rental cars and the collision/loss damage insurance only provides coverage for up to 31 days, compared to 48 days with the other cards. Also, this insurance is secondary, meaning it only kicks in after your own personal auto insurance coverage has been exhausted.
Several Amex cards offer auto rental coverage in Canada, including Scotiabank Gold American Express, American Express Cobalt® Card and SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express. While all three offer up to 48 days of collision/loss damage insurance, the Scotiabank Gold Amex only covers cars with a MSRP of up to $65,000, while both the Cobalt Card and SimplyCash Preferred Card cover cars with a MSRP of up to $85,000. The other distinguishing feature between the cards is what kind of rewards you earn while using the card: the Scotiabank Gold Card offers Scene+ points, the Cobalt Card offers Membership Rewards points and SimplyCash Preferred Card rewards cardholders with cash back. These Amex cards all boast solid travel insurance plans, but the Cobalt Card and SimplyCash Preferred Card offer $5 million in emergency medical travel insurance, while the Scotiabank Gold Card maxes out at $1 million. All these cards have annual fees, with the Scotiabank Gold costing $120 per year, the Cobalt Card costing $12.99 per month, or $155.88 per year (the most expensive annual fee on our ranking) and the SimplyCash Preferred Card costing you $9.99 per month or $119.88 per year. Choosing between these cards largely comes down to what rewards and benefits you value the most.
Claims usually need to be reported within 48 hours of the theft, loss or damage.
Your car rental company may also offer additional insurance, such as personal accident insurance (that covers accident medical expenses, ambulance expenses and accidental death) and/or personal effect coverage that covers your personal effects in the rental car.
Your personal auto insurance may cover rental cars, or you can add an endorsement or rider to your policy (in Ontario, this is known as OPCF 27: Liability for damage to non-owned vehicles).
Regardless, it’s important to understand any limitations or exclusions of the coverage you have with your credit card, with the rental agency and/or with your personal auto insurance before you drive away with your rental car.