Winners of the 2022 Prince of Travel Awards!

Over the past four weeks, you’ve all had the opportunity to cast your votes in the 2022 Prince of Travel Awards, the third edition of our annual awards to recognize excellence in travel, hospitality, loyalty programs, and credit cards.

We’re excited to announce the winners of the 2022 Prince of Travel Awards in all 37 award categories, along with some thoughts and impressions about the results.

Credit Cards

Best Premium Credit Card

• Winner: American Express Platinum Card (59%)
• Runner-up: American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card (25%)
• Third place: TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card (14%)

The American Express Platinum Card remained strong this year, as the Canadian credit card that offers the most comprehensive suite of benefits, such as unlimited lounge access and access to Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts.

The American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card captured its largest share of the vote yet this year, likely due to the abundance of Amex Offers which helped to offset the annual fee. It’s also quite possible that Aeroplan members are finding value in being able to rollover up to 50 eUpgrades for another year.

Meanwhile, despite sitting in a distant third, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card remains the sole non-American Express premium credit card of choice. Its current record-high welcome bonus of 105,000 Aeroplan points may well have influenced its ranking.

Best Travel Credit Card

• Winner: American Express Cobalt Card (38%)
• Runner-up: HSBC World Elite Mastercard (26%)
• Third Place: TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card (25%)

Among mid-range travel credit cards, the American Express Cobalt Card is the clear winner, earning nearly double the amount of votes as the runner-up, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard. That’s not surprising, considering that the Amex Cobalt earns 5x Membership Rewards points on food and drinks, a multiplier that’s hard to beat.

The other surprising news is that this is the first year the HSBC World Elite Mastercard has surpassed the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card to claim second place.

This represents a strong showing from the non-“Big 5” contender, and hopefully we’ll see the HSBC World Elite Mastercard stick around in some form after RBC acquires HSBC Canada in late 2023.

Best Small Business Credit Card

• Winner: Business Platinum Card from American Express (60%)
• Runner-up: American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card (20%)
• Third place: American Express Business Edge Card (9%)

American Express…