Our initial research identified 11 credit card rewards/loyalty programs available in Canada. We can start by answering the following questions on the first eight companies listed above: 1. Do they charge a fee to redeem for travel through their call centre and if so, what is the fee? 2. Do they allow cardholders to pay recurring bill payments (i.e. cable, telephone, utilities, etc.) with their reward points? If so, how many points are required to cover one dollar of the associated bill payment? 3. Do they allow cardholders to pay their annual credit card fee with their reward points? If so, how many points are required to cover the annual fee? 4. Do they have a travel redemption chart that outlines points required for each type of flight (i.e. short haul, long haul, etc.)? If so, we will provide a summary of the points needed for each type of flight, a link to the chart, information on the points conversion per dollar, any maximum flight value restrictions and whether rewards can be booked outside the chart. 5. Do they allow cardholders to collect points following a missed credit card payment? If not, we will provide information on how many days past due triggers the disqualification on earning points and how an account is defined as being in good standing for the purposes of earning points. 6. Do the allow cardholders to earn points when traveling out of the country of the cardholder’s residency? If so, we will provide information on whether making the purchase in the cardholder's local currency impacts the points and whether the cardholder is charged a fee to make international purchases in his or her local currency.

We also suggest research into what features Canadian consumers are most interested in related to rewards cards, which may help identify which of the questions above is likely to be the most important to consumers.