MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard®
Review

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  Mobile Device Insurance

  $1000
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  Purchase Protection

  Up to 90 days
• 

  Extended Warranty

  Up to a year

• 

  Annual Birthday Bonus

  10% of the Points earned the 12 months prior to the primary cardholder's birthday month (up to a max 10,000 bonus points per year)
• 

  Car Rental Discount

  10% off base rate of Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car in Canada and US and 5% internationally

The MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard offers high earning potential on popular spend categories like restaurant and grocery purchases. The card also comes with one of the highest welcome bonuses for a no-fee credit card.

In all honesty, the rewards are so competitive that this card is actually one of the highest no-fee reward earners in Canada!

For more on the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard, plus a detailed comparison between other cards with similar earn categories, keep scrolling.

How You Earn Rewards with the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard

We hinted at the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard’s rewards program in the intro, but here’s a concise breakdown of how you’ll earn those MBNA Rewards points.

With this card, you’ll collect:

• 4x points per dollar spent on eligible restaurant, grocery, digital media membership, and household utility purchases during the first 90 days (capped at $10,000 in spending annually)
• 1x points per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases

The optimization of restaurant and grocery purchases is the real highlight of the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard. Why? First of all, since restaurant purchases tend to be expensive, earning something from these outings makes them even more worthwhile. Additionally, buying groceries is something that we all do, making it perhaps the most common spend category there is, so you might as well earn points on it.

Redeeming your Rewards with the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard

Now that you’ve grasped how you earn points with the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard, it’s time to get into how you can redeem those rewards.

Below, you’ll find a list of MBNA Rewards redemption categories:

• Travel: when you redeem your points towards eligible flights or vacation packages.
• Gift cards: when you redeem your points to purchase eligible gift cards.
• Statement credits (cash): when you redeem your points as cash towards your statement balance.
• Merchandise: using your points to purchase eligible merchandise.
• Charity donations: when you redeem your point-value as a donation towards a participating charitable organization of your choice.

5 Benefits of the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard

To best determine whether or not the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard is the credit card for you, you’ll have to consider its benefits.

In this section, we’ve included all of the best perks this Platinum Plus contender has to offer.

No Annual Fee

For starters, perhaps one of the most enticing aspects of the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard is the fact that it comes with no annual fee – making it particularly appealing to the budget-conscious!

One of the Best Welcome Bonuses for a No-Fee Card

Applicants may also be persuaded by the generous welcome offer, which is especially impressive considering that the card has no annual fee. In fact, the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard is considered to have one of the best sign-up bonuses for a no-fee credit card.

Specifically, this card earns you extra points for going paperless and additional points after spending $500 in the first few months of membership. Not to mention, 2 extra points in the first few months to bulk up the earnings in each optimized category!

Competitive Reward Categories

Speaking of optimized categories, as mentioned, the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard earns you competitive no-fee points on common expenses like dining and groceries – which certainly add up for everyday spenders!

In fact, out of all of the cards with no annual fee, this card ranks as one of the highest earners.

Annual Birthday Bonus

Who doesn’t like an extra gift on their birthday? The MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard celebrates alongside you by offering an annual birthday bonus of 10% of the points earned within the year prior to the primary cardholder’s birthday month (capped at 10,000 bonus points per year).

Car Rental Discounts

Want something a little more travel-oriented? The MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard also offers car rental discounts at Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car.

Note that discount rates are slightly lower when renting at locations outside of Canada and the U.S.

2 Downsides to the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard

In all fairness, there are two distinct downfalls to the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard. 

Let’s take a look at those shortcomings now:

Limited Redemption Opportunities

To get the most out of your MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard, you’ll want to use the MBNA Rewards points you collect towards eligible travel bookings since this is the highest-value redemption category offered by the card. Otherwise, there are other cashback and points credit cards with better redemption flexibility.

Basic Inclusions

When it comes to extras on top of the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard's rewards program, this card is pretty basic (aside from the annual birthday bonus). Why is this a downfall? Because other no-fee credit cards on the Canadian market actually come with better perks and insurance coverage (take the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard for example).

Comparison to Other No-Fee Points Credit Cards that Optimize Grocery and Restaurant Purchases

The last step in our credit card reviews is always to compare our featured credit card against similar credit cards on the Canadian Market.

Today, we’re going to compare the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard to other credit cards that optimize grocery and restaurant purchases – two of the most popular spend categories optimized by this card.

This table demonstrates a quick overview of the comparisons we’ll be making:

MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard vs Scotiabank American Express Card

Another no-fee restaurant and grocery credit card that you might want to have on your radar is the Scotiabank American Express Card.

When it comes to groceries, this card earns you the highest Scene+ points on items purchased at partnered grocers like Sobeys, Safeway, Freshco and more. If you don’t buy your groceries at these partnered grocers, you’ll be subject to a point rate similar to the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard.

As for restaurant purchases, the Scotiabank American Express Card offers similar points on eligible dining expenses as the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard.

The Scotiabank American Express Card also offers more specialized categories than the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard. These categories include entertainment, gas, transit, and travel.

Overall, the Scotiabank American Express Card is also much more flexible when it comes to spending your Scene+ points, offering more redemption categories than the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard that are just as valuable as travel. These redemption categories include entertainment, groceries, and restaurants.

Regarding insurance, both cards provide cardholders with the same three coverage categories — mobile device insurance, extended warranty insurance, and purchase protection insurance. The key difference is that you’ll get better coverage on your mobile device insurance with the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard.

The two cards also offer car rental discounts at both Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car, but the Scotiabank American Express Card features a higher discount rate than the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard. Still, the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard also includes that rare annual birthday bonus, whereas the Scotiabank American Express Card offers Amex Experiences instead (a rather standard inclusion on Amex credit cards).

It’s important to note that the Scotiabank American Express Card also has some lower personal income requirements, something you can avoid completely with the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard. Additionally, since it’s an American Express credit card, the Scotiabank American Express Card has an overall lower acceptance rate. This is because Amex cards are less accepted as forms of payment in certain places within Europe and at smaller retailers.

Ultimately, you’d likely pick the Scotiabank American Express Card over the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard if you want more earning potential on groceries (if you shop at partnered grocers), extra earn categories, more flexible redemption categories, and better car rental discounts at Avis and Budget locations. Otherwise, the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard is more accessible, acceptable, insured, and uniquely beneficial with its annual birthday bonus.

MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard vs TD Rewards Visa Card

Another card that you might consider for your grocery runs and restaurant visits is the TD Rewards Visa Card.

The TD Rewards Visa Card earns you more TD Rewards on grocery and restaurant purchases, plus it adds travel as an earn category if you’re someone who tends to book their trips online through Expedia. That said, TD Rewards are overall less valuable than MBNA Rewards. Still, the TD Rewards redemption program offers more flexibility with additional redemption categories like Travel via Expedia specifically, education expenses, and Amazon.ca purchases.

The coverage on the TD Rewards Visa Card and the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard are completely the same. They also both offer similar rental car discounts at Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car locations. The real difference then is that where the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard provides an annual birthday bonus, the TD Rewards Visa Card offers extra Stars and more Aeroplan points at participating Starbucks stores.

Therefore, if you’re looking for better points in the form of TD Rewards on grocery and restaurant purchases, plus the opportunity to earn on travel and redeem your points on more redemption categories, then the TD Rewards Visa Card might be the credit card for you. Alternatively, if you want more valuable MBNA Rewards points on groceries and dining out alongside the unique annual birthday bonus, then you’ll probably want to stick to the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard.

Final Verdict

All in all, the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus Mastercard is a solid no-fee option for earning points on groceries and dining – especially if you plan on redeeming those points towards travel.

This card also comes with a unique annual birthday bonus – adding to its yearly value beyond its impressive welcome bonus.

Still, if you’d rather more specialized earn categories like travel or more redemption options, you might want to look at other no-fee restaurant and grocery points credit cards like the Scotiabank American Express Card and the TD Rewards Visa Card.