Triangle World Elite Mastercard Review

Many store credit cards are niche and offer limited value, but the Triangle World Elite Mastercard is easily one of the most underrated credit cards out there. In fact, I would argue that this is an invaluable card since it has no annual fee, and you get a free roadside assistance membership. In addition, you get a great earn rate, and the rewards are easy to cash in. Read my Triangle World Elite Mastercard review now for all the details.

Tangerine World Elite Mastercard

  • No annual fee
  • Earn 4% in CT Money at Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Mark’s/L’Équipeur, Atmosphere, Party City, Sports Rousseau, Hockey Experts, L’Entrepôt du Hockey, and participating Sports Experts stores
  • Earn 3% in CT Money on grocery purchases (up to $12,000), 1% on all other purchases
  • Earn 7¢ per litre in CT Money on premium fuel, and 5¢ per litre on all other fuel types at Gas+/Essence+ locations
  • Free Roadside Assistance Gold Plan
  • No fee, no interest financing available

Welcome bonus and earn rate

The Triangle World Elite World Mastercard has no welcome bonus. That said, you get $5 in CT Money when you sign up for paperless bills.

The earn rate is 4% in CT Money at Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Mark’s/L’Équipeur, Atmosphere, Party City, Sports Rousseau, Hockey Experts, L’Entrepôt du Hockey, and participating Sports Experts stores. You also get 3% in CT Money at grocery stores (up to $12,000 per year) and 1% on all other purchases. When filling up at Gas+/Essence+ locations, you get 7¢ per litre in CT Money on premium fuel and 5¢ per litre on all other fuel types.

Benefits and perks

The Triangle World Elite Mastercard has no annual fee, so it wouldn’t shock people if it didn’t come with many benefits. However, this card actually comes with a few different perks that can be highly appealing to people.

Roadside assistance gold plan

The Roadside Assistance Gold Plan is normally $99.95 if bought separately, but you get it free with the World Elite card. This benefit is incredibly valuable as it includes 24-hour service in Canada and the U.S. for things such as tows, extrication/winching, flat tire changes, battery boost, fuel delivery and unlocking. You also get five service calls up to 250 kilometres every year.

There are unlimited tows if you’re going to a Canadian Tire Auto Service centre within your limits. With this plan, you can choose to cover an individual or a vehicle. The free roadside assistance benefit alone makes my Triangle World Elite review positive.

No interest financing

At participating Canadian Tire corporate-owned merchants, you can get no interest financing for qualifying purchases over $150 that are charged to your card. This can be incredibly valuable since it can help you manage your cash flow. For example, you could choose to pay your $300 purchase over a year in equal installments, which works out to $25 a month. You can choose a two-year repayment plan if your purchase is over $500. No interest is charged unless you miss a payment by the due date. There’s also no fee to use this benefit.

Bill payment option

Another feature not often advertised is the ability to pay major bills, such as hydro and tuition, via your Canadian Tire Bank account (where you log in to see your credit card purchases). Normally, credit cards can’t be used to pay bills, but since you’re paying through the Canadian Tire Bank, you technically can. This feature may seem trivial, but it’s a way to earn points on some bills that usually wouldn’t get you anything.

Car rental collision/loss damage waiver insurance

The car rental collision/loss damage waiver applies to car rentals with an MSRP of $65,000 or less for up to 31 days. While this isn’t bad, premium travel cards usually offer 48 days of coverage, and they cover vehicles with an MSRP of up to $85,000. You must turn down the car rental insurance for your credit card insurance policy to apply. Also, note you don’t get liability insurance.

Purchase insurance

  • Purchase security
  • Extended warranty

Purchases charged to your Triangle World Elite Mastercard are covered for 90 days from theft, loss, and damage, thanks to the included purchase security. There’s a maximum claim of $10,000 per calendar year. As for the extended warranty, your manufacturer’s warranty is doubled up to one additional year.

How to redeem your rewards

Triangle Rewards is a cash back like loyalty program that’s designed for Canadian Tire and its corporate-owned stores. Whenever you use your Triangle Rewards World Elite Mastercard, you’ll earn Canadian Tire e-money (CTM).

Redeeming your rewards is easy since you can claim any amount of CTM you’ve earned at the following stores whenever you want.

  • Canadian Tire
  • Sport Chek
  • Mark’s/L’Équipeur
  • Atmosphere
  • Party City
  • Atmosphere
  • Pro Hockey Life
  • Hockey Experts

It’s worth mentioning that not all Mark’s/L’Équipeur and Atmosphere locations participate in Triangle Rewards. With Gas+ you can only earn rewards. As in, you can’t redeem your rewards at any of their locations. In addition, if you want to earn your points at Gas+, you can only pay with cash or debit.

Besides the earn rate from the Triangle Mastercard, you can earn additional CTM via the Triangle app. For example, you might get offers such as spend $80 at SportChek and you’ll get $8 CTM. I’ve also had spend $25 at Canadian Tire and get $5 CTM. Note that you must activate these offers in the app before you make a qualifying purchase.

It’s worth mentioning that there’s also Triangle Select, a subscription-based enhancement program that allows you to earn up to 30X the rewards on select items. These benefits stack on top of the rewards you earn with your Triangle World Elite Mastercard.

Triangle World Elite Mastercard eligibility

  • You’re a Canadian citizen, or you’re a permanent resident
  • You’re at least the age of majority in the province or territory where you live
  • You have a minimum annual personal gross income of $80,000 or a household income of $150,000

Similar to other banks, Canadian Tire doesn’t list what the minimum credit score requirement is to be approved for the card. That said, since this is a World Elite Card, you should aim for a credit score of at least 700 before applying.

How the Triangle World Elite Mastercard compares

Even though your CTM/Triangle Rewards can be claimed at Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, and participating Mark’s and Atmosphere stores, there’s still a limited number of retailers where you can cash in your points. Now, if you shop at those stores regularly, this card may very well be worth it.

A comparable credit card would be the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard, where you earn 45 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent at Shoppers Drug Mart and 30 points where President’s Choice Products are sold. That works out to a 4.5% and 3% cash equivalent when redeeming points, which is very similar to what the Triangle World Elite Mastercard offers.

That said, with CT Money, you can redeem any amount you’ve earned at any time. However, PC Optimum requires you to have earned at least 10,000 PC Optimum points to redeem $10.

That’s just me comparing two different store-branded credit cards. It might be better to get one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada since you’ll earn a decent rate of return at every merchant.

Compared to other credit cards with no annual fee, the Triangle World Elite Mastercard offers decent “cash-back” options and benefits. It comes down to where you shop regularly and what kind of rewards you like to redeem. Alternatively, you could look at one of the best travel credit cards in Canada since you can get huge sign up bonuses.

Final thoughts

My Triangle World Elite Mastercard review is positive. This is a great card that would be ideal for people in the following situations:

  • You want free roadside assistance – With no annual fee and free roadside assistance, this card is great if you want some added protection when driving.
  • You shop at Canadian Tire-owned stores – You’ll earn 4% back in CT Money at Canadian Tire-owned stores, including Sport Chek Mark’s/, Atmosphere, Party City, Hockey Experts, and more.
  • You want a no fee card – This card has no annual fee but comes with great benefits.

The free roadside assistance gold plan alone makes this card worthwhile. You’re getting a $100 service for free every year. While the no interest financing option that comes with the card is interesting, it’s not something you want to rely on. For those who shop at Canadian Tire regularly, there’s value in this card and loyalty program.

About Barry Choi

Barry Choi is a Toronto-based personal finance and travel expert who frequently makes media appearances. His blog Money We Have is one of Canada’s most trusted sources when it comes to money and travel. You can find him on Twitter:@barrychoi

45 Comments

  1. Max Eido on June 7, 2018 at 7:23 PM

    Yes awesome credit card, one of the best out there but the customer service is pathetic to say the list. I cancelled mine today in protest to inept customer service and ridiculous attitude

  2. Joephus on July 4, 2018 at 2:53 PM

    I got the World Elite.

    You forgot to mention that you are able to do a 24 month no-fee financing over $200 at CT, Sport Check, Marks, and Atmosphere. This was a big selling point for me because I can buy a lot of home products at CT at financing but I’m also into sports; so buying sports gear like snowboarding and clothing at SportCheck and be able to finance over 24 months is IMO a selling point!

    Also with the WE, the Roadside Assistance Gold Plan costs $99 separately which should also be noted. That’s another great benefit that should be looked at and what it offers to you.

    Also note that the Triangle app and in store offers have things like “Buy $50 worth, get $10 back” “Get 20x the points/Get 30x the points”. I’ve only used my card for a month and I already have $40 worth of points!

    All these at $0 yearly fee, it’s a great card.

    • Joephus on July 4, 2018 at 2:55 PM

      Oh and with the World Elite, I get first priority in Customer Service calls. There is also the concierge service so you can reserve restaurants and things.

      • Barry Choi on July 4, 2018 at 3:02 PM

        Joephus,

        Great points, I’ll update my post now.

      • Rick on December 13, 2018 at 3:52 PM

        I called into customer service and waited 30 minutes. I guess 500 others had the elite card as well calling in before I did. Lol

    • John on May 21, 2020 at 12:10 AM

      Hello Joephus,

      I Just applied to this card with 779, do you remember what was your score when got approved?

      • Joephus on May 21, 2020 at 12:27 AM

        802 was my score

        • John on May 21, 2020 at 12:32 AM

          And imagine with the 80,000 right? Damn it may be I shall wait..

    • Joseph Hofer on September 17, 2021 at 7:51 PM

      Hi why is it that me and my friend have the same world elite Canadian tire card and he gets alot more rewards money back than I do for that same item we purchased..

      • Joephus on September 18, 2021 at 12:37 PM

        Probably due to the points activated in the app? If you go to the triangle app, you have to activate offers manually (for example; purchasing any home care products = 5x points”, and you have options to switch the offers. You must activate these offers for them to function or else you just get the basic amount of points. They have a quick button for “activate all offers” and it gets refreshed every do often so you definitely need to look at the app periodically.

        • Joseph kathy Hofer on September 18, 2021 at 2:25 PM

          We both didn’t activate anything in the app ..example we both buy the same meal at McDonald’s he’s rewarded more rewards points per dollar spent than I get…

        • Joseph kathy Hofer on September 18, 2021 at 2:38 PM

          We both didn’t activate anything on every dollar he spends at any store he gets more rewards points per dollar spend than I do same world elite card

  3. kelvin kam on January 10, 2019 at 5:54 PM

    the worst card I ever seen, I apply accidently when i do purchase in Canadian tire, and I found this card damage my credit. keep blocking the card when I try do a purchase. and the reason is because they don’t want I do a lot purchase per time….
    it’s been 5 times they block my card. I payoff the card balance by cheque, they hold the cheque for investigate and put my card balance on delay and count penalty. and hang me up more than 6 times once I call to customer service.

    • Barry Choi on January 10, 2019 at 6:39 PM

      Kelvin,

      WHen paying by cheque, there’s typically a hold period until the funds are released. If the funds aren’t released, then you would be charged as a late payment. To ensure you’re paying on time, you should be paying them directly via your online banking. Your credit score likely has gone down because you’ve been late on your payments.

  4. Kelvin on January 10, 2019 at 7:10 PM

    They hold my cheque for 15 days
    Is it normal?

    • Barry Choi on January 10, 2019 at 7:49 PM

      It’s not unusual. If you were to deposit a cheque into your own bank account, typically it would take 10 days to officially clear.

      If you were to apply for a different credit card and you paid via cheque, you’d likely run into the same issues.

  5. Renee on January 15, 2019 at 10:18 PM

    My iher MasterCard PC is world elite should I re apply for triangle world elite or stay with the one I have ? Can you get two triangle cards ?

    • Barry Choi on January 16, 2019 at 6:11 AM

      Hi Renee,

      Is your other Mastercard the PC Financial World Elite Card? That card earns you more points if you shop at participating stores where President’s Choice products are sold.

      I don’t think you can get two triangle cards

  6. Stefan on January 19, 2019 at 4:22 PM

    Nasty credit card… Unbelievable, they will charge interest on the highest balance you carried that month if you haven’t paid the entire amount before your due date so if you had $5,000 on your card at the highest point in the month and you pay 4990, you will be charged interest on $5,000.

    Also very aggressive customer service they sent me emails and text messages to remind me to pay my balance after I told him to shove their card up there beeeeep, even though I paid a huge amount of my balance every month and never been late for my payment, I just never paid the entire amount.

    I did cancel the card and will never recommend it to anybody for sure. The amount of Canadian Tire dollars I gathered over the time I had that card will never equal the interest they charged me because they charge interest on paid balance. They are extremely aggressive and I don’t believe even though their customer service people tell me that all credit cards are the same I believe there’s something wrong with the way triangle MasterCard does business.

    • Barry Choi on January 19, 2019 at 5:49 PM

      Stefan,

      Cash advances do not have an interest free period. If you fail to pay your balance, your credit score will take a major hit. If you ignore them completely, your balance will be sent to collections which will pretty much ruin your credit card for some time. I highly recommend paying off your bills in full as the hit to your credit score could prevent you from getting a loan in the future.

      • Stéfan on January 19, 2019 at 6:03 PM

        I wasn’ t talking about cash advances, just regular everyday purchases. I didn’ t pay entirely my balance for a couple months, (but still managing to make payment of aproximately 15x the minimum required payment and still using the card normally). Even though I would make huge payments every months as required, they still charged me interest based on the highest balance of the current month, which to me doesn’ t make any sense. they should charge interest based on the amount due at your due date.

        And the harrassment, emails, texts…. WTF ??? I’ m not a rogue user, I pay every paycheck (bi-weekly), just had a few bigger purchases a couple months ago and didn’ t managed to clear he balance immediately that same month.

        Canadian Tire Financial Services sucks and very aggressive. Definitely the type of people I want to do business with.

    • S on March 26, 2021 at 7:27 AM

      You say that hydro can be paid with this card? I have the World Elite one and my hydro company’s says they still don’t take it, or any other credit cards, unless I pay through Plastiq and pay a fee. No thanks. Is there something I’m missing?

      • Barry Choi on March 26, 2021 at 8:37 AM

        Stefan,

        YOu should be able to do it through Canadian Tire Financial Services which is their digital bank.

  7. C.G. on January 24, 2019 at 1:12 PM

    Personally I find this card just perfect. Customer service has alwYs answered my questions or issues with very polite people. Twice I purchased items prior to a 25 or 50 times the normal points and they applied the $$$ i missed out on. Infact, they game me cash towards my points for an issue I experienced. All credit cards work the same way. Remember it’s credit and you owe them the money in full each month. It’s just that simple. If your nice they will treat you the same way. Threatening someone that lends you money makes little sense no matter what they offer.

  8. Jim on February 12, 2019 at 5:13 PM

    Just to clarify – the purchase security and extended warranty benefits are included in the no fee benefit package. But, the optional products: Credit Protector Insurance, Identity Watch Classic or Canadian Tire Protection Advantage will require a monthly fee and only be activated if the user applied and enrolled into them.

    • Barry Choi on February 13, 2019 at 8:15 AM

      Jim,

      Yes good point. Credit Protector Insurance, Identity Watch Classic or Canadian Tire Protection Advantage have an extra charge which isn’t worth it in my opinion.

  9. Jim on March 1, 2019 at 8:11 PM

    They cancelled my card in good standing( bills always paid on time(with an expiry date that was still good) Customer service would not help me even citing they had “rebranded” and I SHOULD have received a new card. I was in line at a grocery store….and still needed to get gas, they stranded me.

  10. Brad on March 3, 2019 at 9:16 AM

    The card was alright. There was a mix up with someone and I haven’t gotten the rewards I thought I should have. I spent three hours in total on three different calls to correct the issue. The issue finally did get corrected however when I mentioned that having two cards on the app and two apps to track one card for having one card in my wallet was pretty confusing I was told that I was weong. It’s not that confusing. Yes it is. I’m exactly the person they want as a customer, pay on time, enough income and future income, shop consistently at Canadian tire and I’m wrong. I cancelled the card due to their responses. Customer service is bad but they think I’m wrong. Been two days since I cancelled and I’m still fuming. Hope everyone else has a better experience but I doubt it.

  11. J Paono on March 9, 2019 at 1:29 PM

    This card is horrible!

    They decrease your credit rating by reducing limit on card arbitrarily.

  12. Alex M on April 15, 2019 at 2:26 PM

    I was wondering if the MasterCard World Elite has similar traveling benefit like other WorldElite cards. Access to Airport lounge for example??

  13. SL on June 20, 2019 at 3:15 PM

    can you apply for this in canadian tire store? it seems like only the mastercard option available and not the world elite. i want the world elite and applied online and they said they didnt have my application and cant look it up even after 12 business days ?

    • Barry Choi on June 20, 2019 at 8:16 PM

      SL,

      The card you’re given is based on your income. If you have an income of $80,000 or a household income of $150,000, you would likely qualify for the World Elite version. If your income falls below that, you’d only qualify for the regular version.

  14. CHRISTINE LEGALL on September 19, 2019 at 7:17 PM

    Je déteste le service offert en ligne et par téléphone. Je perds mon temps dans les 2 cas.
    Pas capable d’aller payer en ligne mon compte WORLD ÉLITE. Ne parlons pas de la complexité pour fermer la carte triangle de base, mon dieu…
    Non, vraiment pas fort sur le plan bancaire.

  15. Allen on November 12, 2019 at 1:01 PM

    what is the Minimum credit limit on a World Elite MasterCard from Canadian Tire?

    • Barry Choi on November 13, 2019 at 5:27 AM

      Allen,

      I don’t believe there is a set minimum. An amount will likely be assigned to you when you apply based on your credit score.

  16. Derek on January 30, 2020 at 7:25 PM

    Ok so I got a mastercard from triangle. Card came quick and was easy to set up and activate. I made some purchases, and here’s where it gets extremely annoying, so I have a available credit with no payment due, and because of the transactions, they froze my card. Now I can understand that 100% to verify purchases that it’s me using the card. Ok that’ I can understand but to forced me to make a payment after I verified I am who I am and I have a available credit as well as no payment due to reinstate my card is criminal. Safe to say I’m paying the balance and canceling my card. I honour my my part of the deal and they can’t. Stay away!! These guys are crooks.

    • Barry Choi on January 31, 2020 at 12:15 AM

      Derek,

      That is beyond stupid. I would have cancelled too.

  17. Adam Nyp on February 25, 2020 at 8:00 PM

    One additional perk of the World Elite card, twice per year they have sent me coupons in the mail for a free oil change at CT and coupons for $20 oil change or $33 oil change and tire rotation in addition to $5 car wash coupons. Was a nice little surprise. Definitely liking this card!

  18. A hudec on March 26, 2020 at 5:15 PM

    .10 cents reward on 136.74 item seems hardly worth the bother of having it

  19. John on June 5, 2020 at 10:08 PM

    Got approved with 779 score, have other 3 cards with 10,000 limit. I always pay in full and never carry a balance. Never missed payments.

    • John on June 5, 2020 at 10:09 PM

      I think more than the 80,000 requirement, the score and your history is more important to be eligible for this card.

  20. Amanda on June 20, 2020 at 2:00 AM

    U can also pay in store and its updated the same day with debit or cash

  21. Shona on June 17, 2021 at 9:44 AM

    I read some negative comments from costumers but for me I have a great experienced every time I called the costumer services they answer to me professionally.I never encounter any one that is rude . I had previous master card like Capital one hard to contact them it takes too long . I love triangle master card especially the road assistance can save 100 every year . I just cancelled my AMA .

  22. David on December 24, 2022 at 6:19 PM

    I already have a CT triangle MC. How can I convert it to the world elite MC?

    • Barry Choi on December 24, 2022 at 7:36 PM

      David,

      Just call them and see if they can upgrade you.

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