National Bank · Mastercard
Best travel insurance in Canada
The only card here that covers travellers over 65 properly, with 15 days of medical cover up to age 75. The earning is crippled by a monthly cap most people will not notice until it bites.
Rates and features verified 2026-08-18Full terms and conditions
What we like, and what we don’t
Worth having
- Travel medical to age 75, with 60 days of cover if you are 54 or under and 31 days from 55 to 64
- $5,000,000 of emergency medical, plus $2,500 trip cancellation and $5,000 interruption
- Extended warranty triples the manufacturer warranty rather than doubling it
- $150 annual travel credit that covers seat selection, parking and baggage fees
- Unlimited free entry to National Bank's own lounge at Montreal Trudeau on international flights
Watch out for
- The 5 points a dollar rate stops once you charge $2,500 in a MONTH, and that counts every category, not just groceries and dining
- Spend $2,000 on gas and bills and you have $500 of headroom left for the 5x grocery rate
- The welcome offer displayed on the product page expired on 29 June 2026 and has not been replaced
- DragonPass lounge access outside Montreal costs US$32 a visit
- $80,000 personal or $150,000 household income required
- The governing insurance certificate is dated 2017
- The Montreal lounge drops from a three hour to a two hour limit in October 2026
What this card earns
- Groceries
- 5x
- Gas
- 2x
- Dining and restaurants
- 5x
- Recurring bills and subscriptions
- 2x
- Everything else
- 1x
- Bonus rates apply up to
- $30,000 of annual spending after that, the base rate
- What we value a point at
- 1¢
The earning fine print
THE CAP ON THIS CARD IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. The 5 points a dollar on groceries and restaurants applies only "until a total of $2,500 in gross monthly purchases is charged to the account", and that $2,500 counts spending in EVERY category. Buy $2,000 of gas and bills in a month and you have $500 of headroom left for 5 point grocery earning. Past the threshold the rate is 2 points, not 1. The $30,000 recorded here is $2,500 multiplied by twelve, which is our arithmetic and not a National Bank figure; the bank publishes no annual cap at all. Travel earns 2 points only when booked through the A la carte Travel agency. Points expire if the account is inactive for twelve consecutive months.
The welcome offer
- Welcome bonus
- 5,000 points after you spend $5,000, within 3 months
- Second tier
- 10,000 points after you spend $20,000, within 12 months
- Offer ends
- 2026-06-29
What the offer actually requires
THIS OFFER HAS EXPIRED and is recorded only because it is the one National Bank still displays on the product page. The stated period ran to 29 June 2026. The bank's current promotions page attributes its live offer to the Platinum card, not this one. Two further tiers existed: 10,000 points for taking payment insurance and keeping it 90 days, and 10,000 for opening a deposit account within seven days. Treat every figure in this section as historical until re-checked.
Fees and interest rates
- Annual fee
- $150
- Additional card
- $50
- Foreign transaction fee
- 2.5%
- Purchase APR
- 20.99%
- Cash advance APR
- 22.49%
- Balance transfer APR
- 22.49%
Who can get this card
- Minimum personal income
- $80,000
- Minimum household income
- $150,000
Insurance and benefits
- Travel medical
- $5,000,000 first 60 days of a trip, age 75 and under
- Trip cancellation
- $2,500
- Trip interruption
- $5,000
- Flight delay
- $500
- Baggage delay
- $500
- Mobile device
- $1,000
- Rental car damage waiver
- Included
- Purchase protection
- Included
- Extended warranty
- Included
- Airport lounge
- Included
- Annual travel credit
- $150
What the benefits really mean
The travel medical here is the most generous on our list and the only one that covers people over 65 properly: 60 days if you are 54 or under, 31 days from 55 to 64, and 15 days from 65 to 75. Above 75 there is no coverage. Extended warranty TRIPLES the manufacturer warranty rather than doubling it. The $150 annual travel credit covers seat selection, parking, baggage fees and lounge charges, and must be claimed within 60 days with a receipt. Lounge access is two different things: unlimited free entry to National Bank's own lounge at Montreal Trudeau, but only on international itineraries, and a DragonPass membership everywhere else where each visit costs US$32. The Montreal lounge drops from a three hour to a two hour limit on 5 October 2026. Quebec residents face a 5% minimum payment rather than 2.5% but pay no over-limit fee. The governing insurance certificate is dated 2017.
Our verdict
If you are over 65 and you travel, this is the card on this page to look at, and it is not close. Every other premium card here either cuts you off at 65 or drops you to three or four days of cover. National Bank gives you fifteen days to age 75.
The earning is a different story. A $2,500 monthly threshold measured against total account spending means the advertised 5 points a dollar is unreachable for anyone who actually uses the card, and the offer on the product page expired two months ago and nobody has taken it down. Buy it for the insurance and the travel credit.
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Where this came from. nbc.ca product page, cost of borrowing summary, A la carte rewards plan PDF, travel and purchase insurance summaries. We take every figure from the issuer’s own pages, never from another comparison site, and we leave a field blank rather than guess at it.