CIBC has been a bank that has kind of sat on its laurels over the past few years with their credit cards. After the last major Aventura update back in October 2013, they haven’t done much other then the typical increased sign up bonuses or first year free offers on this suite of cards. They were do for an update or some sort of enhancement and we are happy to report that come October 15 they are doing just that.
For the most part the cards aren’t changing that much, in fact on the rewards side not at all. The earn and burn remain the same but we are seeing additional benefits being added to the cards at no extra cost to the cardholders. This is a welcome enhancement that will make these cards more valuable and bring them up to speed with many of their competitors. One benefit however is one that we have not seen on a Canadian card but is seen on many U.S. cards. We’ll explain more below.
Priority Pass Membership + Lounge Visits
Primary Aventura cardholders (Gold through to Infinite Privilege) will get basic Priority Pass membership included with their card. This represents a US$99 value (although with our special Rewards Canada partnership that is only $79 in the first year ) plus cardholders will get 4 free lounge visit passes per year. Each pass is worth US$32 so you can value this new addition to the cards at US$227. This move is really seen as a necessary competitive move to compete with cards like the BMO Rewards World Elite Mastercard (and basically all other World Elite Mastercards with LoungeKey) and the Scotia Visa Infinite Passport which offer lounge access and passes. You can learn more about how Priority Pass works in our Guide to Business Class Lounge Access.
NEXUS Rebate
Primary Aventura cardholders (Gold through to Infinite Privilege) will get rebate when the apply for and charge their NEXUS application fee to their Aventura card. This rebate is valid once every four years. The current cost of NEXUS is US$50. This is the benefit we mention above that we have yet to see on a Canadian card! Many U.S. credit cards offer credits/rebates for getting Global Entry (you get this with NEXUS) and/or CLEAR.
Enhanced Insurance Coverage
All Aventura cards will offer mobile device insurance and hotel burglary insurance as of October 15th while Infinite and Infinite Privilege Cards will get increased Trip Cancellation Insurance.
Here is a great summary of all these enhancements:
Learn all about the new benefits coming to the Aventura Cards here!
It’s great to see CIBC updating these cards with these benefits – we have been stating that there isn’t much more card issuers can do on the earn and burn side – they have to look to other benefits to really compete and potentially set them apart. The benefit that excites me the most is that NEXUS credit as now we may see other card issuers include that as well and seeing that I don’t personally have an Aventura card it would be nice to see it on other cards.
What are all your thoughts on these true enhancements to the Aventura suite of cards?