The math behind every number on the site
Per card: rewards + credits − annual fee − fx cost. Rewards are the sum of rate × spend × ¢/pt per category.
When an earn rate has a cap (e.g. $25,000/year), spend above the cap drops to the base 1× rate. Cards with a single shared cap across multiple categories (e.g. TD First Class' $25k pool across groceries + dining + recurring) split the budget proportionally by your spend in those categories.
Foreign spend is excluded from the per-category earn table; it's modelled separately as an FX cost (fx_fee × foreign_spend). Category winner for foreign spend uses base earn minus FX.
Point currencies are worth wildly different amounts depending on how you redeem. We ship three presets so you can pressure-test the ranking:
| Currency | conservative | blended | aggressive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Membership Rewards | 1¢ | 1.5¢ | 2.2¢ |
| Aeroplan points | 1.3¢ | 1.8¢ | 2.8¢ |
| BMO Rewards | 0.5¢ | 0.67¢ | 1¢ |
| TD Rewards | 0.5¢ | 0.5¢ | 0.5¢ |
Or set custom values on the home page — your assumptions persist locally.