I’m here to tell you about the top 10 travel apps that are perfect for Canadians looking to traveling the world on points, maximize their investments, and organizing their life.
A recent study by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada found that Canadians are still struggling with their personal finances and over half (56%) of respondents reported not being able to cover all living expenses in the event of an emergency.
Now more than ever, we need to get on track, and we have the tech to help us get to where we want to be.
We all know how fast life can move, and disorganization can lead to poor money management. These apps will help keep your finances on track so that you can live your best life, and travel the world
Since we can’t all have a financial advisor on hand at all times, we recommend downloading one, if not all of these personal finance apps today
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1. Best App For Budgeting: Mint.com
Travellers tend to have a lot of money moving around with various credit cards. This can get very confusing if you’re attempting to track all this spending manually. You’ll need an automated system to track all your purchases.
Mint.com has more than 15 million users, and it’s a simple personal finance program that is web-based, but also has an easy to use app.
It’s free to sign up, and it takes only a few seconds to add new accounts.
Mint.com allows Canadians to link their credit/card purchases with their pre-set budget.
Some of the features included in Mint.com include:
- The ability to see all of your credit/debit transactions
- Transaction tracking between your investment accounts
- Real time budget monitoring
- Financial goal setting
- Tips for saving money
Mint.com is a revolutionary web-based personal finance program that allows you to link up your accounts and see all of the information in one place, with just a few seconds worth of work on your end.
Mint is one of the best options for free, all-in-one automatic budgeting. It does everything automatically so you don’t have to spend a lot of time on it, an issue many Canadians face.
2. The Best App for Credit Score Tracking: CreditKarma
For those Canadians who are regularly cycling through travel credit cards, keeping an eye on your credit card score is important to ensure you continue to be accepted for new cards.
Founded in 2007, CredIt Karma was launched in an effort to help Canadians obtain their credit score without having to deal with the fees associated with large financial institutions.
Traditionally, obtaining your credit score required you to work with a major financial institution, and pay a fee.
Credit Karma bills itself as an easy to use product, without the fees.
Credit Karma is a US based company, and has been in Canada for 4 years
What Does Credit Karma Do?
Credit Karma pulls your credit score from Transunion (one of Canada’s largest credit bureaus), and allows Canadians to track their credit score for free. This service historically came with one time or monthly fees, and naturally, the free offerings from Credit Karma have been a disruption in the space.
Credit Karma combines weekly credit checks with financial education to help Canadians understand how their credit score can financially impact major purchases.
Credit Karma will take your personal information, but it is as secure as any platform, so you shouldn’t worry about cyber risk. It is owned by Intuit, which also owns reputable financial wellness products like TurboTax & mint.com
Another thing to note about Credit Karma is that it only performs “soft†credit checks, meaning that any inquiry performed by Credit Karma will not negatively impact your credit score. Hard inquiries performed by financial institutions will negatively impact your credit score for a short period of time.
Credit Karma also provides its users with the following benefits:
- A graph showing your credit score over time
- How your credit score compares to others by age, income and state
- A credit report card that shows you how certain factors—like your payment history and debt utilization—impact your credit score
- Tools to let you simulate how paying down debt or applying for new credit will change your score
Credit Karma is Free, easy to set up, and is easy to use. It also has a seamless mobile experience, which is of course, what this list is all about.
Alternatively, you could use Borrowell to track your credit score
3. The Best App for Investing: Wealthsimple
Personal finance is an important piece of the points game. You need to ensure that your you have enough money to comfortably retire, and that you’re out of high interest debt before earning and burning through credit cards on a monthly basis.
Wealthsimple (specifically Wealthsimple Invest) is meant for those who are not looking to have a hands on approach with investing. You can simply set your risk tolerance, and choose from a wide variety of accounts to grow your money
These accounts include:
| RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) | Great for savings for retirement, or your first home. Reduce your taxable income by putting money in your RRSP |
| TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account) | Have your money grow tax free. Great to save for upcoming large purchases Withdraw anytime with no penalty |
| Personal | |
| RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan) | Save for your kid’s education. Government will match 20% of your contributions up to $7,200 |
| RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund) | Transfer your RRSP to an RRIF upon retirement. |
| LIRA (Locked-in Retirement Account) | Convert your pension to a LIRA |
| Joint | Shared access to investments/savings |
| Business | Standard business accounts that allow you to invest your income |
Wealthsimple won a Webby Award for Best Financial Services Website. IT IS EXTREMELY EASY TO USE.
You can easily track your investment accounts that you have with the app or website, set up automatic transfers. It’s really sleek when compared to the big banks.
Both the website and application are easy to use for both first-time investors as well as seasoned veterans in investing who want to stay on top of what they’re doing with their investments every year.
Create a Wealthsimple Invest account in just 5 minutes and you will be matched with one of three broad portfolio types based on your risk tolerance and investment timeline: conservative, balanced or growth.
You will have the option to speak to an advisor during this process.
Here is a detailed review of the user experience by Canadian Youtuber Brandon Beavis
4. The Best App for Credit Card Churning Information: Reddit
Reddit is a great app to use if you’re looking to data points on the latest credit card churning techniques.
There are a number of communities & reddit users who will share their stories and experiences related to credit card churning, sign up bonuses, and travel rewards
While it can be difficult at times to sift through the information, and sometimes the conversations can get VERY MUCH in the weeds, reddit can be a huge asset if you want to do a deep dive into the points game.
5. The Best Travel App for Saving on Gas: GasBuddy
When you’re on vacation and you’re renting a vehicle, it’s important to know where the nearest gas station is. The last place you want to be is stranded at the side of the road.
Gas prices can vary with each location. For those looking to secure the lowest priced gas within your neighbourhood, the GasBuddy app can be a great resource.
Gas Buddy provides Canadians with directions to the nearest gas station, along with the cost of regular fuel.
Remember to swipe your loyalty card when applicable & use a cash back/travel rewards credit card so you can maximize you return.
6. The Best Travel App to Track Your Travel Points: AwardWallet
Award Wallet manages your points and rewards for you. If you are a frequent traveler, chances are that all the different mile programs will be confusing to track in one place! AwardWallet is here to help with an easy-to use app where everything can be managed together.
7. The Best App for Travel Sales: Gmail
One of the tricks of traveling the world on points is taking advantage of various promotions that your credit card issuer, or rewards parter issues throughout the course of the year.
When these promotions come up, you should stay informed.
Registering for promotional emails ensure you are maximizing your rewards.
You can create a “deals” section within your inbox if you’d prefer to compartmentalize your incoming emails
8. The Best Bill Paying App: Plastiq
You can pay your bills with Plastiq and earn credit card points on a number or large purchases that you would typically use your chequing account for.
The app has a database of major billers, including the CRA and utility companies for you to choose from.
Most Canadians leverage Plastiq paying those monthly phone, internet or utility charges (and in some cases, rent);
Plastiq charges a 2.85% fee when you use your credit card to make a payment.
Plastiq can be a great way for Canadians to meet minimum spending requirements for new credit cards.
9. The Best App for Online Purchases: Great Canadian Rebates
Okay, this isn’t an app per-say, but you can access the website via your phone, and it belongs on this list.
Great Canadian Rebates is free to sign up for, and it allows you to earn cash back on a number of online purchases.
We’re all buying more items online than we did 2 years ago. As online shopping becomes more prevalent, there are a number of resources that have popped up to help Canadians save money.
The days of looked through printed flyers and clipping coupons is over., so it’s time we turn our attention to digital solutions. This industry has been transformed to online shopping portals, browser extensions and apps.
Great Canadian provides cash back to Canadians for online purchases. This can be anywhere from 1 to 12 percent.
Rakuten partners with a number of brand names including Walmart, Lowes & American Express. They also have partnered with a number of credit card issuers to reduce the first year fee on a number of travel credit cards.
Every country is different, but in Canada, the easiest way to rack up miles & points (which in turn can be redeemed for flights and hotels) is with the credit card sign up bonuses from credit issuers such as:
- American Express
- RBC
- TD
- MBNA
- CIBC
- Scitoabank
- BMO
- HSBC
A number of issuers, including: Scotiabank, American Express, HSBC & MBNA have cash back offers listed on Great Canadian Rebates.
Some of the more popular travel credit cards listed on Great Canadian Rebates include:
- American Express Platinum Card
- American Express Business Platinum Card
- American Express Business Gold Card
- American Express Gold Card
- American Express Cobalt Card
- American Express Business Edge Card
- American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
- American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card
- American Express Bonvoy Card
- American Epxress Business Bonvoy Card
- American Express Air Miles Platinum Card
- American Express Air Miles Gold Card
- National Bank World Elite Mastercard
- RBC Visa Infinite
- RBC British Airways Visa Infinite
- RBC Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum
- RBC WestJet World Elite Mastercard
- HSBC World Elite Mastercard
You can view the full list of credit card rebates here
10) The Best App for Foreign Currency Conversion: Wise
Wise is an account that allows you to hold multiple currencies.
You can easily transfer from one currency to another, with extremely competitive fees.
If you’re looking to transfer your CAD to a foreign currency, wise is fast, easy and cheap. Best of all, you can use a Visa or Mastercard to transfer your funds.
Wise also comes with a physical card which allows you to withdraw money. You are allowed 2 free ATM withdrawals (up to $350 CAD equivalent each month)
After your 2 free withdrawals, you’ll be charged CAD $1.50 per withdrawal + 1.75% commission.
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