Spicy Sunday Finance's Top Credit Card Combos 🌶️💸

The Key Criteria for a Strong Credit Card Combo:

💳 A primary card that earns maximum points
✈️ A card that provides travel benefits and insurance
🌐 Coverage across all three major credit card networks
💸 Avoiding unnecessary annual fees
📉 Keeping overall annual fees reasonable
🛠️ Maintaining 3–4 solid cards, each with a clear role

✅ Jane recommends holding 3–4 well-chosen cards in your rotation as the most effective way to optimize rewards. The average household spends on essentials like groceries, gas, and bills, with travel points typically delivering the highest value from credit cards. While you may be tempted to collect more cards, having too many often leads to cards you don’t use and that’s not an efficient strategy. These carefully selected combinations are designed to help you maximize those rewards.

⚠️Things to Watch For

• You will want to ensure you're exhausting enough value to justify paying the annual fees
• Some cards might overlap in reward categories; decide which card works best for your expenses to maximize value
• Each card has different redemption values (use the Credit Card Point Value Calculator to find out) so have a clear redemption plan for your trips
• Be sure you're comfortable with keeping up with more than 1 premium credit card
• Avoid having too many standalone credit cards as you can’t switch to different card types like Big Bank credit carfs

🧐 What Each Card Brings: Key Roles

💳 American Express Cobalt – Point Accumulator

• Drives your point earnings with 5x points per $1 on food and dining
• Convert your Amex MR to Aeroplan points at a 1:1 ratio

This card is your primary driver for accumulating travel rewards.

💳 TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite – Book Flights & Manage Bills

The TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite complements the Amex Cobalt perfectly because you can:

• Redeem your converted Aeroplan points on flights at preferred pricing
• Enjoy free checked bags for yourself and up to 8 companions
• Access travel insurance

A great strategy is to put your recurring bills on this card. Separating bills makes it easy to sell your expenses at a glance from your statements. You can also have the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite instead as well.

💳 Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite – Backup & Travel Benefits

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite covers situations where the Amex Cobalt isn't accepted and offers:

• 3x points per $1 at select grocery stores
• 6 lounge passes per year
• No foreign transaction fees

This card is ideal to use abroad after booking your trips with points so you can still earn value on purchases without worrying about FX fees.

👀 Watch the "Credit Card Breakdown" Video of this Combo

💭 Why this Works Together

"If you have this combination, you’re set up to optimize your spending for maximum rewards. You’re earning Amex Membership Rewards and transferring them to Aeroplan for excellent flight deals, while using the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite to actually book the flights. I like to think of the Amex Cobalt and TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite as "besties"—the Cobalt does the heavy lifting, while the Aeroplan card provides the exercise equipment/gym membership to make it happen. Meanwhile, your Scotiabank Scene+ points can cover accommodations, along with perks like lounge access, no foreign transaction fees, and strong earn rates on everyday purchases in case the Amex doesn't get accepted. And for the missing Mastercard, you can easily supplement it with a Prepaid Mastercard from EQ Bank or the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard." - Jane

At any of the Big 5 Banks, you can have the annual fee for one premium credit card waived if you also hold a high-tier chequing account (typically costing around $29–$30 per month). This chequing account benefit can effectively offset a $120–$150 credit card annual fee each year.

Tip: You can waive the monthly chequing account fee by maintaining the required minimum balance (usually around $5,000–$6,000). This way, both your chequing account and premium credit card can effectively be free. Even if you don’t keep the minimum balance, paying about $30 per month is still far less than the $120–$150 annual fee most premium cards charge.

Almost every premium credit card from the Big Five banks comes with a first-year annual fee waiver—a great opportunity to try out the premium perks for free!

Make the most of those benefits, especially if you’re travelling that year. When the anniversary comes around, you can always downgrade to a no-fee card to skip the renewal fee.