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[ANALYSIS] ScotiaHockey NHL Visa

Scotiabank has the ScotiaHockey NHL Visa Card associated with all the different National Hockey League (NHL) teams. These credit cards really are for hard core hockey fans, but are they actually worth it? These credit cards allow you to earn ScotiaHockey Rewards points.

Here are the highlights of the credit cards:

  • $29 annual fee
  • $15 for supplementary cardholders
  • Have your favourite team logo displayed on your credit card
  • Earn 3,000 bonus points after your first purchase
  • Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all purchases
  • Get 20% off purchases made on the NHL’s online store
  • Get up to 20% for Avis car rentals at locations worldwide
  • Redeem points for NHL merchandise and game tickets

I’m a hockey fan myself and I am more than ready to get a credit card with my favourite hockey team on it. I was all ready to make my application until I saw the deal breaker, the dreaded annual fee. And there you have it, Scotiabank just lost another potential customer. Instead of having an annual fee, Scotiabank should have no annual fee and increase the sign up bonus to 5,000 points. To compromise, they should require cardholders to spend something like $500 in the first three months of having this credit card.

In terms of the rewards itself, if you go on the rewards page, you’ll see that the best bang for your buck is to redeem your points for game day tickets. You can use the points (minimum redemption of 2,000 points = $20.00) to reduce the cost of your ticket, effectively giving you a 1% return. That also means that the 3,000 points sign up bonus is a wash against the $29 annual fee because you only gained a measly $1.

But not all is lost with this credit card. Here is where you can get a lot of value out of this credit card. If you are a hockey fan, the 20% off can easily help you make this credit card worth it. If you buy a hockey jersey for $100, 20% off already gives you back $20. Do not forget about double dipping, look for items that are already on sale as well, or else the 20% off alone is not that significant.

Getting this credit card is all about timing. If you know that you plan on going to a hockey game and you feel like buying some merchandise, get this credit card first and maximize the perks, in which case the annual fee can easily be worth it. Otherwise, hopefully they will at least have a higher sign up bonus.

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