The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite wants to make sure that you use the passport in its name, designed to maximize your ability to collect Scotiabank Rewards. Besides statement credit and merchandise from retailers like Best Buy and Apple, you can redeem travel rewards, from flights and hotels to rental cars and vacation packages.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Review
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Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite
- Welcome Offer Up to 35,000 SCENE points
- Annual Fee $150
- Interest Rates Purchases: 20.99%, Cash Advances: 22.99%
- Recommended Credit 660-724
- $150 annual fee
- 3 Scene points for every $1 spent at participating Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, & Participating Co-ops
- 2 Scene points for every $1 spent on eligible grocery stores, dining, entertainment, and daily transit
- Earn 1 Scene point for other eligible purchase
- No foreign transaction fees
- 6 airport lounge access visits per year
This WealthRocket article provides an in-depth Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite review, detailing how the card works, how to use it effectively, and what it can provide you in everyday spending.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite: Card Overview
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite offers benefits that support traveling, including:
- No foreign transaction fees when you make purchases abroad
- Six complimentary airport lounge visits per year
- Complimentary Preferred Plus Membership with Avis Car Rental
- Access to the Scotia Rewards Travel Service with a “best price guarantee”
- Comprehensive travel insurance coverage that includes flight delay, lost baggage, hotel burglary, travel accident rental car, and trip cancellation or interruption
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card rewards program targets young travelers, aligning with spending habits often made by college graduates or millennials.
The rewards program includes two points per dollar on the first $50,000 per year spent on public transit or transportation (including Uber and Lyft), entertainment, dining, and groceries, and one point per dollar on all other purchases on the two-point categories once reaching the $50,000 annual threshold.
Also appealing to youth is the Scotiabank Passport Visa infinite’s ability to let cardholders convert Scotia Rewards to SCENE points, redeemable for free movies. Cardholders can convert their points back to Scotia Rewards at will.
The Visa Infinite program available on the card gives them access to The Visa Concierge, which can help them with travel or dining reservations to help them score tickets to a show.
Plus, its Dining and Wine Country Program ensures one-of-a-kind dining experiences with the biggest names in the food industry, so they can still feel like they’re somewhere else at home.
Then, when the cardholder decides to travel, the Visa Hotel Collection gives you an automatic room upgrade when available and free Wi-Fi wherever you stay.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite: Sign-Up Process
Newly approved applicants for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite are entitled to 30,000 bonus Scotia Rewards, an equivalent of $300 in travel purchases.
This card’s breakdown is 20,000 Rewards when you spend $1,000 in the first three months and another 10,000 Rewards if you spend $40,000 every year.
Potential clients must provide personal information, identification, contact information, employment status, including place of employment and annual employment income, plus any other annual income you may have from things like investments.
Once submitted, you are subject to a credit inquiry, but before that happens, you will need to set up your card with a secret PIN for purchases and customize your Scotiabank online account.
That way, if your application is approved, you are sent the card with everything already set-up and can start using it immediately.
But not so fast. You will have to meet several requirements first if you hope to receive the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite. More on these requirements below.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite: Sign-Up Requirements
To qualify for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card, you will need to be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada who has reached the age of majority in the province or territory where you live.
You must not have declared bankruptcy in the past seven years, and you must meet one of the following requirements:
- Have at least $60,000 in annual personal income.
- Have at least $100,000 in annual household income.
- Have at least $250,000 in assets under management.
In addition, your credit score should be good to excellent, which translates to somewhere between 740 to 850 or higher.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite: Features
As outlined above, the primary focus on this card is travel. There are, however, several additional features on the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite that bolster a cardholder’s purchasing power.
First, every manufacturer’s warranty on any product purchased with the card doubles by one year. Additionally, all purchases come with insurance against theft or damage, up to 90 days after buying.
Many other rewards credit cards in Canada come with these features, but what you don’t often see is that the Passport Visa Infinite gives you price protection.
If you find a lower price in Canada for your purchase up to 60 days after buying it, you can receive a credit of up to $100 per purchase with a redeemable $500 per year.
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite is also tap-enabled, which works when you use the physical credit card at a payment terminal or if you tap your phone after adding the card to your digital wallet.
Combine these purchasing features with the travel features outlined above, the comprehensive travel insurance coverage, the exclusive Visa Infinite access and experiences, and the ability to collect and redeem Scotia Rewards for travel, merchandise, gift cards, and statement credit and you have one of the best credit cards in Canada.
Need proof? The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite was named MoneySense Magazine’s Best Travel Card for No Foreign Transaction Fees in 2020 and Ratehub.ca’s Best Travel Perks Card for 2021.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite: Annual Fees and Interest Rate
All these benefits and features do not come cheap.
The annual fee for this card is $139, which isn’t too inexpensive. However, the $300 in travel purchases cardholders can receive by collecting up to 30,000 Scotia Rewards cancels the first year’s annual fee.
If you sign up for Scotiabank’s Preferred or Ultimate Account Package chequing accounts, you can waive the annual fee for the first year. This option is ideal for people who like to keep all of their banking under one roof.
Plus, you can get an additional supplementary card for free, which will mean you can collect even more Scotia Rewards and travel for free even sooner with your family, which means the annual fee won’t sting as much.
Meanwhile, the 19.99% annual interest rate on purchases and the 22.99% interest rate on cash advances and balance transfers are standard for credit cards in the Canadian market.
Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Pros & Cons
Pros
Great sign-up bonus of up to 30,000 Scotia Rewards (a $300 travel value)
A full suite of travel insurance benefits including car rental insurance, travel accident, trip cancellation/interruption, lost baggage and baggage delay, hotel/motel burglary, travel emergency medical, and flight delay
The only major bank credit card in Canada with no foreign transaction fees
Complimentary memberships with Preferred Plus at Avis Car Rental and Priority Pass Select for airport lounges with six free lounge visits per year so cardholders can travel in style
Collect Scotia Rewards to statement credit, travel purchases, gift cards, experiences, and merchandise
Cons
High $139 annual fee
High-income requirements of either $60,000 in annual personal income, $100,000 in household income, or $250,000 in assets under management
Low earn rate of only two Scotia Rewards per dollar on the first $50,000 a year in dining, entertainment, transit, and grocery purchases, with one Scotia Reward per dollar after that and on everything else
Our Final Thoughts
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite is one of the best credit cards for travel perks from a major Canadian bank.
But if you never find yourself traveling, the purchase benefits, especially the no foreign transaction fees, also count on international online purchases, and the Visa Infinite experiences still make the card worth it for homebodies.
Aaron Broverman
Frequently Asked Questions
The highest earn rate categories on this card include dining, entertainment, transit, and groceries. These purchases mimic the spending habits of the typical millennial.
However, the millennial cardholder here must have a well-established career to meet the high-income requirements to qualify for the card of $60,000 in annual personal income, $100,000 in personal income, or $250,000 in total assets by themselves or with the help of a member of their household.
The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite credit card comes with full travel and purchase insurance, rarely seen to the same extent in the Canadian credit card market.
Cardholders who travel can expect car rental insurance against theft or damage when they refuse the rental car company’s collision damage waiver. Other travel insurance types include flight delay, travel accident, travel emergency medical, lost or delayed baggage, hotel or motel burglary, and trip cancellation or interruption.
If that wasn’t enough, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite extends manufacturer’s warranties on purchases by a year.
It also provides coverage against theft or damage of purchased items for up to 90 days. It also gives up to $100 in price protection reimbursement if an item is cheaper elsewhere in Canada, up to 60 days after purchase.
The short answer is yes. However, you will require credit history. You probably should’ve had a credit card at one point in your life because you won’t get approved with a credit score below the good to excellent range (740-850+).
You also won’t qualify for this card if you’re not a Canadian citizen or resident of the age of majority who makes $60,000 a year in personal income or has $250,000 in assets under management or whose household annual income is $100,000 or more.
