Credit Cards: The Best Welcome Bonuses With a Small Minimum Spending Requirement

Q: Which small-MSR card delivers the biggest welcome bonus relative to spending?

The MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® is hard to beat: up to 30,000 MBNA Rewards points simply for being approved (varies by province), with no minimum spending required. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite follows closely with 70,000 Avion points tiered as a portion on approval and the rest after $5,000 in 6 months, and the TD Platinum Travel Visa lands a respectable 50,000 TD Rewards points for $3,000 in 180 days, all with the first-year fee waived.

Q: Are these small-MSR cards a good fit for newcomers or low spenders?

Yes. The American Express® Green Card is the easiest entry point: no annual fee, MSR of just $1,000 in 3 months, and you walk away with 10,000 Membership Rewards points. Newcomers to Canada or members with modest budgets also lean on the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Platinum: 20,000 Aeroplan points total (10,000 on first purchase, 10,000 after $1,500 in 90 days) with the first-year fee waived, making it a low-risk way to start collecting Aeroplan points.

Credit Cards Credit Cards: The Best Welcome Bonuses With a Small Minimum Spending Requirement

To the point Find the best welcome offers from credit cards with a minimum spending requirement of less than $1,500.

The Best Welcome Offers With a Small Minimum Spending Requirement

You don’t have to spend a fortune to unlock an attractive welcome bonus! Here’s a selection of offers that require less than $1,500 in spending to earn plenty of points for your next trip.

Credit Cards	Minimum spend	Welcome bonus	Approximate value of bonus
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card	1 $	35,000RBC Avion points	525 $
RBC Avion Visa Platinum	1 $	35,000RBC Avion points	525 $
MBNA Rewards World Elite^® Mastercard^®	1 $	Up to 20,000MBNA Rewards points	200 $
TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card	$1	15,000 TD Rewards points	$75
TD^MD Aeroplan^MD Platinum Visa* Card	$1,500	Up to 20,000Aeroplan points	$400
American Express^MD Green Card	1 000 $	10 000Membership Rewards points	170 $

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card

With this exceptional limited-time welcome offer, you can earn up to 70,000 Avion points as a welcome bonus with the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card!

Receive 35,000 points upon approval
20,000 additional points when you spend $5,000 within the first six months of account opening
15,000 points on your account anniversary

You can use your Avion Rewards points to book flights with over 500 airlines or transfer them to select partner loyalty programs, such as:

American Airlines AAdvantage
The British Airways Club (and Qatar Airways Privilege Club)
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
WestJet Rewards

You can also maximize the value of your points using the Air Travel Redemption Schedule, which offers fixed pricing year-round based on the destination and flight type.

Depending on your goals, this offer can represent strong value, particularly for transfers to partner programs or for using the Air Travel Redemption Schedule.

With the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, you earn 1.25 Avion points per dollar on eligible travel purchases¹² and 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases².

The card also includes several insurance coverages⁷, including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, out-of-province/country emergency medical insurance, rental vehicle collision/loss damage insurance, and mobile device insurance.

RBC Avion Visa Platinum

With this exceptional and limited-time welcome offer, you can earn up to 70,000 Avion points as a welcome bonus with the RBC Avion Visa Platinum Card!

Receive 35,000 points upon approval
20,000 additional points when you spend $5,000 within the first six months of account opening
15,000 points on your account anniversary

You can use your Avion points for travel or convert them to other loyalty programs such as:

American Airlines AAdvantage
British Airways Club (et Qatar Airways Privilege Club)
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
WestJet Rewards

The current welcome offer lets you get the equivalent of 70,000 Avios or 70,000 WestJet points.

With the RBC Avion Visa Platinum Card, you earn 1 point for every dollar spent.

MBNA Rewards World Elite^® Mastercard^® (Quebec)

With the MBNA Rewards World Elite^® Mastercard^®, you can earn 5 points per dollar of purchases for:

Dining
Grocery purchases
Digital media purchases (Netflix, Spotify, etc.)
Memberships
Household utility purchases (electricity, etc.)

Everywhere else, you will get 1 point per dollar.

Enough to make the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard the best MBNA credit card for restaurants, groceries, digital media, subscriptions and household utilities.

Knowing that Mastercard recognizes Walmart Supercenters as grocery stores, this is the best credit card for Walmart customers!

Plus, depending on your province of residence, you’ll get a welcome bonus of between 20,000 and 30,000 points, a value of $200 to $300!

And each year, you will receive Birthday Bonus Points equal to 10% of the total number of Points the Account earned in the 12 months before the month of your birthday, to a maximum Birthday Bonus each year of 15,000 Points.

TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Platinum* Credit Card

With the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Platinum* Card, you can earn up to 20,000 Aeroplan points and get a first-year annual fee rebate:

10,000 Aeroplan points for the first purchase made with your card^†
10,000 additional Aeroplan points when you spend $1,500 within the first 90 days of opening your account^†
First-year annual fee waived for primary cardholder (instead of $89)^†.
To receive the first-year annual fee rebate, you must activate your Card and make your first Purchase on the Account within the first 3 months after Account opening and you must add your Additional Cardholders while the offer is in effect.

With the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Platinum* Credit Card, you earn 1 point per dollar spent on eligible purchases for:

Grocery stores
Eligible purchases of gas or electric vehicle charging
Air Canada purchases, including Air Canada Vacations

This TD Aeroplan credit card requires no minimum income.

American Express^® Green Card

Do you want a cash back credit card with no annual fee that earns travel points? Here’s an option for you: American Express^® Green Card.

By signing up for the American Express^® Green Card, you can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards Welcome Bonus Points when you charge $1,000 in purchases to your Card in the first 3 months of Cardmembership. This is a $100 value for travel or any purchase on the Card.

You can also transfer your points to airline partners (Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club, Flying Blue, etc.) and hotel partners (Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors).

For example, with this welcome offer, if you decide to transfer your Membership Rewards points to a partner loyalty program, you would have the choice of earning:

10,000 Aeroplan points
10,000 Avios points
10,000 Flying Blue Miles
12,000 Marriott Bonvoy points

That’s a nice welcome bonus for a credit card with no annual fee.

You’ll also have access to online promotional offers to earn points or rebates on your purchases with this no annual fee credit card.

Like all American Express Canada Cards, there is no minimum income requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions about credit cards with a small minimum spending requirement

Here are frequently asked questions in the milesopedia community about this card.

What does « small MSR » actually mean and which cards qualify?

An MSR (minimum spending requirement) is the dollar threshold you have to spend to unlock a credit-card welcome bonus. milesopedia considers anything under $3,000 in 90 days to be a « small » MSR. Cards in this list include the RBC Avion Visa Infinite and the RBC Avion Visa Platinum (bonus on approval, then $5,000 in 6 months), the MBNA Rewards World Elite^® Mastercard^® (up to 30,000 points upon approval) and the American Express^® Green Card (10,000 points after $1,000 in 3 months).

Which small-MSR card delivers the biggest welcome bonus relative to spending?

The MBNA Rewards World Elite^® Mastercard^® is hard to beat: up to 30,000 MBNA Rewards points simply for being approved (varies by province), with no minimum spending required. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite follows closely with 70,000 Avion points tiered as a portion on approval and the rest after $5,000 in 6 months, and the TD Platinum Travel Visa lands a respectable 50,000 TD Rewards points for $3,000 in 180 days, all with the first-year fee waived.

Are these small-MSR cards a good fit for newcomers or low spenders?

Yes. The American Express^® Green Card is the easiest entry point: no annual fee, MSR of just $1,000 in 3 months, and you walk away with 10,000 Membership Rewards points. Newcomers to Canada or members with modest budgets also lean on the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Platinum: 20,000 Aeroplan points total (10,000 on first purchase, 10,000 after $1,500 in 90 days) with the first-year fee waived, making it a low-risk way to start collecting Aeroplan points.

Can I keep applying for small-MSR cards back to back?

Technically yes, but pace yourself. Most Canadian issuers run a hard credit pull for each application, and stacking too many in a single quarter can ding your score and trigger declines. milesopedia’s general rule is no more than one or two applications per month, and to space out cards from the same issuer (such as RBC, TD or American Express) by at least 90 days. Always finish the MSR on your existing card before opening the next one to keep things clean.

Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!

Jean-Maximilien Voisine

Jean-Maximilien Voisine is the President and Founder of Milesopedia and a leading expert in rewards programs, credit cards, and travel across Canada, France, and the U.S.A. Now 40 years old and a father of two, he has explored more than 100 countries—many of them alongside his wife Audrey and their children. Specializing in loyalty programs such as Aeroplan, Flying Blue, American Express Membership Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy, Jean-Maximilien helps travellers unlock the full potential of their points and benefits. His mission: empower others to travel better and smarter across North America and Europe.

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The Best Welcome Offers With a Small Minimum Spending Requirement

Frequently Asked Questions about credit cards with a small minimum spending requirement

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