Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Review for 2022

Travel hacking is great, but what happens to your dollar bills when you spend abroad? Foreign transaction fees crash the travel party and kill your budget. Save your bacon with the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card. Scotiabank is the only major Canadian bank to offer a credit card product with no foreign exchange fees. 

Travel lovers know a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees is just as critical to globetrotting as their passport, but it’s also a unicorn. Thanks to Scotiabank, Canadian travellers can now earn points, get perks, and enjoy more travel benefits with the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card. Once you kick foreign transaction fees to the curb, you can do more and pay less when you use the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card abroad or online. 

Scotiabank Passport Visa Welcome Offer

New cardholders can earn up 40,000 bonus Scene+ by doing two things. To get the first 30,000 bonus Scene+ points, you need to spend $1,000 during the first 3 months after enrollment, and can earn up to 10,000 additional Scene+ points over the first year when they spend $40,000 annually. The welcome offer bonus points could land you up to $1,300 in value in the first 12 months of having the card. Who is eligible for the Scotiabank Passport Visa?

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite is a premium credit card, which makes it tougher to get than most cards. You’ll need to fulfill the standard qualifications like Canadian residency, age of majority in your province, and no bankruptcies in the last 7 years. But the income requirement will put this card out of reach for many. You’ll need to have either an individual annual income of at least $60,000, an annual household income of $100,000, or have at least $250,000 of assets under management. 

The good news is that your assets under management don’t all have to be with Scotiabank, the total value can include assets held with other financial institutions. While there is no specific minimum credit score indicated, premium cards tend to want good or excellent credit scores. That could range from 660 and up. The higher your credit score, the better chance of approval. Having said that, approval is never guaranteed and you’ll have to consent to a credit check when you apply. 

No foreign transaction fees: travelling and online shopping

Why is this feature so special? Most credit cards on the market charge a fee anywhere from 2.5%-3% for card transactions in a foreign currency, commonly called a currency conversion fee, on top of the market exchange rate. Ouch, that can add up fast if you’re not careful. There aren’t many Canadian credit cards on the market that waive this fee. The easiest way to avoid it is to carry cash, but who wants to do that while travelling abroad? That comes with its own inherent risks. 

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card saves the day and packs a punch too. There are no additional foreign exchange fees, only the market exchange rate applies. In fact, this card is so great it has won multiple awards for best points card with no foreign transaction fees the last 3 years in a row, and landed on Hardbacon’s list of the best travel credit cards. Couple that with the Scene+ Points program and other built-in perks, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite is an excellent choice for Canadian travellers. For those who don’t travel a lot, you can still benefit from the no foreign transaction fee when you shop online at your favourite US stores and other foreign retailers. 

Earning Scene+ points 

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card doesn’t have the highest earn rate out there, but the Scene+ rewards program is so flexible it almost makes up for it. You’ll earn 3 points per $1 spent at Scene+ participating grocers like Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland & Participating Co-ops, and more. Then you earn 2 Scene+ points per $1 you spend on the following: 

• Other eligible grocery stores
• Dining out and fast food
• Entertainment
• Transportation including buses, taxis, subways, etc. 

All other card purchases outside those categories earn 1 Scene+ point per $1 spent. You can earn even more Scene+ points when you add an additional cardholder to the account. The first supplementary card is free, after that additional cards are $50 each. You can also double dip points when you use your Scene+ member card when you use your Scotiabank Passport Infinite Visa card. Make sure to open and register your Scene+ account at sceneplus.ca. 

Redeeming Scene+ points

While the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card is known for being a great travel card, the Scene+ Program offers great benefits beyond just travel perks. That makes this card a good choice for those who may not necessarily identify as avid jet setters. 

You can redeem your Scene+ points for things like free movie tickets, discounts on theatre concession and arcade tokens, discounts at restaurants and fast food restaurants, store gift cards, as well as merchandise from the Apple store and Best Buy. You can even cash in your Scene+ points for a credit on your Scotiabank debit card or credit card. 

For the travelers, you can redeem your Scene+ points for travel booked through any provider of your choice. You’ll get $1 off per 100 points redeemed on the Scene+ Travel platform, which is provided through Expedia. If you don’t have enough points to cover the cost of your trip, no sweat. Scene+ Travel allows you to pay your way with a mix of points and other forms of payment. Also, you can still earn points on eligible travel purchases even if you paid with Scene+ points. 

Valuable travel benefits

With the Scotiabank Passport Infinite Visa card, you can easily book and redeem travel from your rewards anytime, anywhere, without restriction. You can even book your trip from the Scene+ Travel service, as mentioned earlier. Other travel benefits include:

• No foreign transaction/currency conversion fees
• Complementary Priority Pass airport lounge membership
• 6 free lounge visits per year from the date of enrollment
• 7 types of complementary travel related insurances 

Complementary travel insurances

Premium cards come with premiums perks, and the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card delivers the goods with 7 travel-related insurances. Whether you’re flying, driving, or booking a staycation at a local hotel, they’ve got you covered. Travel purchases made with the  Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card include: 

• Travel emergency medical insurance covers up to $2 million of emergency medical care costs for eligible travelers under 65, for up to 25 days. Those over 65 are eligible for coverage for up to 3 days. Conditions and restrictions apply.  
• Travel accident insurance covers eligible travellers for up to $500,000 of costs resulting from accidental death or dismemberment on a common carrier licensed to carry passengers such as airlines, cruise ships, etc. Restrictions and conditions apply.
• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance covers eligible travellers, who charge at least 75% of their trip to the card, for up to $1,500 of travel expenses per person in the event of a cancellation, and up to $2,500 per person for interruptions. Conditions and restrictions apply.  
• Flight delay insurance covers eligible travellers, who charge 75% of their airline ticket to the card, for up to $500 of the flight is delayed or a connecting flight is missed. Conditions and restrictions apply.
• Delayed and lost baggage insurance covers eligible travellers, who charge the full cost of their ticket to their card. They are covered up to $1,000 if their checked baggage is lost or delayed. Conditions and restrictions apply.
• Rental car collision covers you in the event your rental car is damaged or stolen, as long as you charge the full cost of the car to your card and the car is in your name. Conditions and restrictions apply.
• Hotel/Motel burglary insurance covers eligible guests for theft of personal items from a break-in, up to $1,000, as long as the full cost of accommodation was charged to the card. Conditions and restrictions apply. 

Scotiabank Passport Visa purchase protection

For daily card purchases, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card offers extended warranty protection for most items purchased with your card. As long as the full cost of the item was charged to the card, the manufacturer’s warranty is doubled to a maximum of 1 additional year. Items purchased in full with the card are also covered against loss, theft, or damage for 90 days from purchase date. Conditions and restrictions apply, as always. 

Who is the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card for?

Are you tired of choosing between travel perks or living your best life at home? If you said yes, this is the card for you. The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card is built for Canadian travellers, but they’re not the only ones who can benefit from this card’s unique features. Those who love to shop online at their favourite stores in the US and beyond will instantly save money on those purchases thanks to no foreign transaction fees. Not only that, but the Scene+ program is flexible enough to delight travellers and homebodies alike. 

With top-level security features, smart-pay options, and an internationally recognized card backed by the power of Visa, the Scotiabank Passport Visa  Infinite card offers travellers all the benefits of a top-tier bank card with added perks and rewards we don’t see in most other bank cards.

A major downside of this card is the pricey annual fee tipping the scales at $150, and no promo to waive it for the first year like many other premium cards on the market. Having said that, the value received from no foreign transaction fees, free Priority Pass lounge access, built-in purchase protections, and the added bonus points paid out on qualified purchases more than makes up for the icky annual fee. 

Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Rating

Perks & benefits

• No foreign transaction/currency conversion fees
• Earn 3 Scene+ points for every $1 spent at Scene+ participating grocers
• Earn 2 Scene+ points for every $1 spent on eligible grocery, entertainment, dining, or transit purchases.
• Earn 1 Scene+ point on every $1 spent on all other eligible purchases.
• Earn 30,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 on eligible purchases in the first 3 months
• Earn 10,000 bonus points when you spend at least $40,000 annually.
• Earn additional Scene+ points for purchases charged to supplementary cards.
• Emergency Medical Travel Insurance
• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
• Flight Delay Insurance
• Delayed and Lost Baggage Insurance
• Travel Accident Insurance
• Rental Car Collision/Damage Insurance
• Hotel Burglary Insurance