BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card Review

The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card is a solid option if you want to optimize dining, grocery, and transit purchases with flexible (although not overly valuable) BMO Rewards points.

The rewards program is backed by decent coverage and a variety of perks that would benefit travellers, golfers, and everyday spenders alike.

Discover all there is to know about this BMO contender, plus how it compares to close competitors in this comprehensive review.

How You Earn Rewards with the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card

Applicants will be pleased to see just how many BMO Rewards points they can collect with the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card.

Specifically, you’ll earn:

• 5 points per dollar spent in restaurants, fast food establishments, coffee shops, food delivery services, grocery stores, gas stations, and daily transit (capped annually at 30,000 points on food, 30,000 points on groceries, 100,000 points on gas, and 100,000 points on daily transit)
• 1 point per dollar spent on everything else

As you can see, you’ll earn tons of points on popular everyday spend categories like dining, groceries, gas, and transit – as long as you keep your spending within the provided caps.

Redeeming your Rewards with the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card

Now that you’re familiar with how many BMO Rewards points you’ll receive on specialized categories offered by the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card, it’s time to brush up on the ways in which you can spend those points.

Here’s a breakdown of each redemption category associated with the BMO Rewards program, ranked from most point-value to least point-value:

• Travel: when you redeem your points towards eligible flights or vacation packages.
• Financial products: using points to pay off loans or mortgages.
• Entertainment: when points are used towards entertainment activities like eligible movies, shows, or concerts.
• Statement credits (cash): turning your points into cash towards your statement balance.
• Gift cards: when you redeem points to purchase eligible gift cards.
• Merchandise: using your points to buy eligible items.

6 Benefits of the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card

What makes your credit card rewards program even better? Accompanying benefits.

Below, we’ve pointed out all of the perks that come preloaded onto your BMO eclipse Visa Infinite card:

The First Year Fee Rebate

For starters, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card rewards you with a first year annual fee rebate.

A Generous Welcome Bonus

If the rebate wasn’t enough, applicants can also expect extra BMO Rewards points once they meet certain spending goals in the first few months of membership. You’ll also receive even more points every month for up to a year by meeting monthly spending milestones.

High-Point Potential on Popular Categories

Out of all of the credit cards in the BMO eclipse series, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card offers the most competitive rate of BMO Rewards points on popular everyday categories like dining, groceries, gas, and transit.

Gas Discounts

With the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card, you can earn points on gas and discounts in Shell fuel if you’re an AirMiles member.

The Anniversary Credit

Want a statement credit you can continuously count on? The BMO eclipse Visa Infinite’s anniversary lifestyle credit is applied to your statement balance every year. This way, you can redeem this free cash towards anything you want.

Visa Infinite Exclusive Benefits

With the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card, you can unlock Visa Infinite Exclusive Benefits. 

These benefits include: 

• Access to perks within the Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection – such as complimentary breakfast, room upgrades, late checkout, vouchers, and VIP Guest Status
• The opportunity to sink a hole-in-one at 95 resorts and courses across the globe with Troon Rewards Golf Benefits including discounts and access to select private clubs within the U.S.
• Exclusive dining events through the Visa Infinite Dining Series
• Personal assistance for every booking, reservation, or ticket purchase with Visa Infinite concierge services

2 Downsides of the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card

Where there are benefits, there are also some downsides.

Here are some of the less-favourable aspects of the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card:

Income Requirements

Sure, the income requirements on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card aren’t the worst, however they still might be an obstacle to some applicants.

As of now, cardholders must have a personal annual income of $60,000 or a household annual income of $100,000.

Lower Point Values

While the amount of points you’ll receive on popular earn categories is impressive, the actual value of those points is less exciting.

Compared to other credit card reward programs in Canada (like American Express Membership Rewards), BMO Rewards offer lower overall point redemptions towards participating redemption categories.

Comparison to Other BMO eclipse Credit Cards

The most identical credit cards to the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card are other BMO eclipse competitors. Let’s compare all the cards from this series to see which is best for you.

BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card vs BMO eclipse rise Visa Card

What if you could avoid the annual fee on a BMO eclipse Visa Card every year? That’s the selling point of the BMO eclipse rise Visa Card.

Compared to the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card, the BMO eclipse rise Visa Card offers about half of the BMO Rewards points on fewer everyday spend categories. These categories only include eligible dining, groceries, and recurring bill payments. On top of this, you’ll receive a slightly lower earn rate on all other eligible purchases.

When it comes to coverage, both cards offer mobile device insurance, extended warranty insurance, and purchase protection insurance. However, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card goes on to add car rental damage and theft insurance, travel accident insurance, and emergency out of province medical insurance – but that’s to be expected since we’re comparing a paid card to a no-fee credit card.

Similarly, while the two Visa eclipse cards come with gas discounts on Shell fuel for AirMiles members, the BMO eclipse rise Visa Card then focuses on extra points for things like paying your credit card bill on time for a full year straight, and extra points for redeeming a set number of points annually towards your statement balance. This is opposed to golf benefits or anniversary credits, both perks offered by the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card.

For those who don't meet the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card’s income requirements, the BMO eclipse rise Visa Card could be the solution since it lacks income requirements altogether.

Ultimately, you’d likely apply for the BMO eclipse rise Visa Card over the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card if you don’t meet the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card’s income requirements and if you want to save on annual fees indefinitely.

BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card vs BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card

Maybe you’re looking for a premium version of the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card. If that’s the case, consider the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card instead.

This contender offers the same amount of BMO Rewards points on groceries, gas, and dining, but it substitutes transit optimization for drugstore purchases and travel-related purchases to better compliment its comprehensive travel-oriented benefits and coverage. This Privilege version also offers a high flat-rate spending limit on all of its specialized earn categories, rather than separate caps like the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card.

As mentioned, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card is stacked with insurance, adding valuable travel coverage categories like trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance, hotel burglary insurance, plus emergency medical over 65 insurance. Some shared categories, like purchase protection insurance and extended warranty insurance also have higher coverage on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card.

Now on to benefits. As previously stated, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card has tons of benefits, including a few travel-focused inclusions. On top of things like gas discounts, the anniversary credit, and Visa Infinite Exclusive Benefits, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card features a Dragon Pass airport lounge membership with some complimentary visits each year, plus discounts on Priority Security Lane, airport parking, and valet services at select Canadian airports.

Of course, to account for all of these top-tier perks, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card comes with a much higher annual cost, not to mention higher income requirements.

Overall, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card is a substitute to the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card for high-earning frequent travellers who want similar high-point potential as well as exclusive coverage and perks.

Final Verdict

In conclusion, the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card is the BMO eclipse card that essentially hits the sweet spot for everyday shoppers.

For a reasonable annual fee (one that’s rebated in the first year of membership), cardholders receive strong rewards on common spend categories, solid insurance coverage, and a good amount of perks.

If you need a budget-friendly alternative to the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Card, you can always opt for the BMO eclipse rise Visa Card instead. Likewise, if you happen to be a high-earning frequent traveller, you might want to splurge on the BMO ellipse Visa Infinite Privilege Card.