why i'd rather choose the cibc adventura mastercard over their aerogold visa

aeroplan has another point conversion bonus promotion happening between now and may 13, 2013. this is something that happens 2-3 times a year for at least the last few years. if you're in love with the aeroplan program, or have super-elite status whereby you can redeem your points at the classic reward price for any available air canada seat, this is a great time to convert points. you receive bonuses depending on how much you transfer in. if you transfer 20,000, you get a 25% bonus. if you transfer 150,000, you get a 26.7% bonus.

i particularly like the starwood program because with the spg amex, you earn 1 point/dollar spent. 20,000 spg points can be converted into 25,000 aeroplan points. these extra 5,000 points are a regular part of the starwood program. if you transfer 40,000 spg points, you will then receive 50,000 aeroplan points. according to this aeroplan bonus, you'll get an additional 10,000 points. thus 40,000 spg points = 60,000 aeroplan points. great deal.

CIBC has a similar option to transfer into aeroplan. however, because aeroplan runs this promotion many times a year, it makes sense to earn your points via their adventura world elite mastercard rather than their aerogold visa. these cards are virtually identical, including a 50% bonus on gas, grocery, and drug stores, as well as the $120 annual fee. the adventura mastercard has a stronger insurance package.

the trick is that the adventura mastercard earns adventura points which can be converted 1:1 to aeroplan points (in 10,000 point increments). aerogold visa earns the aeroplan points directly. so during these promotions, you earn bonus points for converting your adventura points, but you get nothing from your aerogold because there's nothing to convert. therefore, if you're interested in earning more aeroplan points, the adventura mastercard effectively gives you a 25% bonus over the aerogold.