There’s a new incredible generous welcome offer on the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite Card. It’s now offering the best ever welcome bonus of 40,000 Scotia Rewards points (worth $400 towards travel purchases). Plus, the annual fee of $139 is waived for the first year! But hurry, this amazing offer is only valid until November 21, 2021.
On top of this welcome bonus offer, this unique Scotiabank credit card has no foreign transaction fees and offers an amazing 5x Scotia Rewards points on travel purchases for the first 3 months!
Plus, you can easily redeem your Scotia Rewards points against any eligible travel purchases charged to your card. With the bonus 40,000 Scotia points, you can save up to $400 on your travel purchases during your next vacation.
Now, let’s go through the details of the card.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite card lets you earn Scotia Rewards points on every purchase.
There’s also currently a very generous welcome bonus of 40,000 Scotia points (worth $400 towards travel purchases) for new cardholders in their first year. To unlock the full welcome bonus, complete the following 2 criteria:
- Earn 30,000 Scotia Rewards points after spending $1,000 in in everyday eligible purchases within the first 3 months.
- Earn an additional 10,000 Scotia Rewards points after spending $40,000 in eligible purchases annually.
- Also, earn 5x Scotia Rewards points on travel purchases for the first 3 months (up to a max of $2,500 so 12,500 points).
Breaking it down, you could easily unlock the 30,000 Scotia points bonus with spending $1,000 in the first 3 months of having the card. Plus, if you spend the max of $2,500 on travel purchases in those first 3 months, you’d also get an extra 12,500 points for a total of 42,500 points! That’s a savings of $425 right there against any travel purchase charged to your card.
Also, this card does have an annual fee of $139 but it’s waived for the first year! Plus, the $50 fee for the first supplementary card is also waived for the first year only.
The combination offers of 40,000 bonus Scotia points, 5x points on travel plus no annual fee in the first year have never been seen before on the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite card. So, now is definitely the best time to apply for this card before this offer ends on November 21, 2021.
Next, let’s look at the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite card’s earning rates.
Scotiabank Passport Visa earning rates
With the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite card, you earn Scotia Rewards points according to the following rates:
- PROMO: 5x Scotia points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible travel purchases (such as flights, hotels, travel agencies, tour operators and car rentals) for the first 3 months up to a maximum of $2,500. Note that bonus travel points could take 60 days to post to your account.
- 2 Scotia points for every $1 spent on eligible grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, and drinking establishments in Canada.
- 2 Scotia points for every $1 spent on eligible entertainment purchases. Includes movies, theatre, and ticket agencies.
- 2 Scotia points for every $1 spent on eligible transit purchases (such as buses, taxis, subways, trains and ferries) in Canada.
- 1 Scotia point for every $1 spent on other purchases.
The Scotia Passport Visa Infinite card is great because it allows you to earn 2 Scotia points per dollar spent on groceries, restaurants, and daily transit but also on entertainment (movie theatre) purchases!
For example, if you spent $1,000/ month on groceries and transit, you would earn 2,000 Scotia Rewards points monthly. Over the course of a year, this means you would earn 24,000 Scotia points which is worth $240 towards travel purchases!!!
Note that the 2x accelerated earning rate is only valid for a maximum of $50,000 in net purchases per calendar year. Once you’ve reached that max amount, you’ll then earn 1 point per dollar spent on those categories for the rest of the year.
Finally, you earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
If you want to earn more Scotia points, consider also applying for the Scotiabank Gold American Express card, which offers an incredible 5x points on grocery, restaurant and entertainment purchases. Also, read why now is the best time to apply for the Scotiabank Gold Amex card!
Options to redeem your Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite points
Scotia Rewards points can be used for a variety of items (gift cards, merchandise, statement credit) but redeeming points for travel purchases provides the best option for your points.
1. Apply points against any travel purchase
Your best bet for redeeming your Scotia Rewards points is with the “Apply Points to Travel” option. It allows you to redeem your Scotia Rewards points to offset any type of travel purchase charged to your card within the past 12 months! This includes flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals but also train tickets, Airbnb’s and more.
The flexibility of this option allows you to redeem 100 Scotia points for $1 off any travel purchase on your card.
Note that you must redeem a minimum of 5,000 points (worth $50) against a travel purchase to use this feature.
Here are the steps to use the Apply Points to Travel option:
- Make a qualifying travel booking with your Scotia Passport Visa Infinite card
- Wait for the travel purchase to appear on your credit card account or statement
- Log into the Scotia Rewards website.
- Click on the “Apply Points to Travel” option to redeem your points against any eligible travel purchases at a rate of 100 points = $1
- A statement credit will be displayed in your account upon redeeming your points. Generally, this takes 2-3 business days but sometimes it may take longer.
Finally, remember that the full amount of points has to be applied (only once) towards each unique travel transaction as there are no partial redemptions.
2. Redeem points for statement credits
Additionally, you can use your Scotia Rewards points to pay for previous card purchases. But you will need more points compared to this Apply Points for Travel option. In this case, you must redeem 7,500 points to receive a $50 statement credit.
3. Use points for gifts cards, merchandise and more
Also, you can use your Scotia points to buy gift cards to various retailers like Amazon.ca, Walmart, Uber Eats, Indigo, Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons. A $50 gift card will cost 6,700 Scotia Rewards points.
Plus, you also have the option to redeem your points for a variety of other options like merchandise, unique experiences and shopping at Best Buy.
4. Convert to SCENE Rewards points
Lastly, Scotia points can be converted into Cineplex SCENE Rewards points for free movie tickets! Members can convert a minimum of 1,000 Scotia points into 770 SCENE Rewards points.
Currently, you need the following amount of SCENE points depending on the movie ticket:
- 1,250 points for a general admission movie ticket
- 2,000 points for a free Enhanced movie ticket (3D, IMAX® and D-BOX®)
- 2,500 points for a free VIP Cinemas™ movie ticket.
Also, members can convert SCENE rewards points into Scotiabank rewards points.
Out of all the options to redeem your Scotia points, your best choice is to Apply points against any travel purchase. This gives you the greatest flexibility as you can book any type of travel (hotel, flight, car rental etc.) and also gives you the best value for your points.
No Foreign Transaction fees
Most credit cards and banks will charge a 2.5% foreign transaction fee on purchases not in Canadian dollars.
But, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card has no foreign transaction fees! This means you will not pay the pesky 2.5% foreign transaction fee on any foreign currency purchases, including online shopping and when travelling abroad. Only the exchange rate applies.
Summary
Overall, the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite card, is a great credit card to have in your wallet. It’s a good choice to use for groceries, transit and entertainment purchases with 2 Scotia points per dollar spent on those categories.
Without a doubt, the best use of your Scotia Rewards points is offsetting the cost of any travel purchase with the “Apply Points to Travel” option. But you also can redeem your Scotia points for a variety of other options which include statement credits, gift cards, merchandise and converting them to SCENE points.
Lastly, now is the best time than ever to apply for this card! If you apply before November 21, 2021 the card is FREE for the first year and you could earn the best ever welcome bonus of up to 40,000 Scotia points!
Do you plan on applying for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card? Let me know in the comments below.
Disclosure: Scotiabank is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information, please visit the Scotiabank website.
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