BMO has refreshed the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card, effective November 2, 2026. The card no longer charges a foreign transaction fee, and it now includes 10 airport lounge visits a year, up from six.†
The refresh also swaps the $200 lifestyle credit for a $200 Travel Credit and adds health and wellness as a 5x category. You now need to spend $40,000 instead of $75,000 to earn the full 200,000-point welcome bonus.†
Most of the changes add value, while the new Travel Credit is harder to trigger than the lifestyle credit it replaces.
What’s Changing on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
BMO’s new card terms took effect on November 2, 2026, and they cover both the card’s everyday benefits and its welcome bonus. The table below compares the refreshed card with the version it replaces.
| Feature | Before November 2 | From November 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign transaction fee | 2.5% | None |
| Airport lounge visits | 6 a year | 10 a year |
| Annual $200 credit | Lifestyle credit, after any single purchase of $200 or more | Travel Credit, after a single purchase of $500 or more at an airline, hotel, or car rental merchant |
| 5x categories | Travel, dining, groceries, gas, and drugstores | Travel, dining, groceries, gas, and health and wellness |
| Spending for the full 200,000-point bonus | $75,000 in 12 months | $40,000 in 12 months |
| Annual fee | $599 | $599 |
The annual fee stays at $599, so every improvement on this list comes at no extra cost.
No More Foreign Transaction Fees
Dropping the 2.5% foreign transaction fee is the biggest upgrade in this refresh, and it’s one I’m very happy to see on a $599 travel card. Until now, the fee applied to every purchase you made in a foreign currency.†
On $5,000 of spending during a trip, the old fee would have cost you $125. Over a couple of trips a year, that’s money you now keep.
It’s worth noting that the 5x categories only count merchants located in Canada.† In other words, if you pay for dinner in Paris or a hotel in Tokyo with the card, you’ll earn 1 point per dollar. The card now costs nothing extra to use abroad, but it doesn’t earn its best rate there.
The exchange rate still applies, as it does on any card with no foreign transaction fees.†
10 Airport Lounge Visits a Year
The card’s Visa Airport Companion membership now includes 10 complimentary lounge visits a year, up from six.† BMO values the membership at more than $350 (USD).†
That’s a big upgrade for anyone who travels a few times a year. Ten visits cover two people on both ends of two round trips, with two visits to spare.
You’ll need to enrol through the Visa Airport Companion website or app before your first visit.† Our guide to the Visa Airport Companion Program covers how it works.
The New $200 Travel Credit
The card’s $200 annual credit is now a Travel Credit, paid as a statement credit once per account year after an eligible travel purchase.†
What counts is how Visa classifies the merchant. The purchase has to be at a merchant whose Merchant Category Code (MCC) falls in Visa’s air fare, hotel, or car rental category, and it has to be one transaction of $500 or more, not several smaller ones added together.†
BMO’s terms don’t mention a booking portal, travel agencies, or online travel sites. Those bookings can post under a travel agency code instead, so the surest way to get the credit is to pay the airline, hotel, or car rental company directly.
Your first account year runs from your account opening date to your first anniversary, and it resets on each anniversary after that. If you switch to a different card or cancel and reapply within the same account year, you won’t get a second credit that year.†
This is the one slight downside of the refresh. The old lifestyle credit only needed a single purchase of $200 or more, so a big grocery shop or a dinner out was enough to trigger it.
The new credit does arrive sooner, though. The lifestyle credit was paid after your account anniversary, while the Travel Credit posts within 30 business days of the eligible purchase, so you can use it in your first year.†
It also stacks with the card’s earning rates. A $500 stay booked directly with a hotel in Canada triggers the $200 credit and earns 2,500 BMO Rewards points at 5x.†
5x Points Now Includes Health and Wellness
The card keeps its 5x rate on travel, dining, groceries, and gas, and health and wellness joins the list. That category covers gym and golf club memberships, spa services, massage, and recreation services.†
Drugstores are no longer a 5x category. Each 5x category has its own annual cap, which resets every January 1.†
| Category | Earning Rate | Annual Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Travel (air fare, hotels, and car rentals) | 5x | $25,000 |
| Dining | 5x | $25,000 |
| Groceries | 5x | $20,000 |
| Gas | 5x | $15,000 |
| Health and wellness | 5x | $15,000 |
| All other purchases | 1x | None |
Together, the caps cover $100,000 of 5x spending a year, which is more than most households will put through those categories. Spending above a cap earns 1 point per dollar.†
Adding an additional cardholder for $99 a year boosts earning by 25%, which takes the 5x categories to 6.25 points per dollar. The bonus applies to purchases by both you and your additional cardholders.†
BMO calls the 25% bonus an introductory feature, and it stays on your account until BMO tells you it’s ending.†
BMO lets you redeem 150 points for $1 toward travel booked with any provider. Put another way, 5x is a return of about 3.33% on travel redemptions, or about 4.17% with an additional cardholder.†
The Welcome Bonus Is Easier to Earn in Full
New cardholders can still earn up to 200,000 BMO Rewards points on applications received through October 31, 2027, in three tiers.†
- First 110 days: 80,000 points after spending $10,000†
- First 180 days: 40,000 more points after spending a total of $20,000†
- First 12 months: 80,000 more points after spending a total of $40,000†
The first tier now asks for $10,000 instead of $6,000. The full bonus, however, needs $35,000 less spending than the $75,000 the previous offer required, which puts all 200,000 points within reach for a lot more households.
At our valuation, 200,000 BMO Rewards points are worth about $1,340. We put the card’s first-year value at $1,209, after the $599 annual fee.
Welcome bonus200,000 BMO Rewards points
• Earn 80,000 points upon spending $10,000 in the first 4 months
• Earn 40,000 points upon spending $20,000 in the first 6 months
• Earn 80,000 points upon spending $40,000 in the first 12 months
Earning rates
5xTravel5xDining5xGroceries5xGas5xHealth and Wellness1xEverything Else
Key perks
- 10 Visa Airport Companion lounge visits per year
- $200 annual Travel Credit on a single travel purchase of $500 or more
- No foreign transaction fees
- Up to $200 NEXUS application fee statement credit (first year)
- Priority security lane, airport parking and valet discounts at select Canadian airports
- Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection
Welcome bonus200,000 BMO Rewards points
• Earn 80,000 points upon spending $10,000 in the first 4 months
• Earn 40,000 points upon spending $20,000 in the first 6 months
• Earn 80,000 points upon spending $40,000 in the first 12 months
Earning rates
5xTravel5xDining5xGroceries5xGas5xHealth and Wellness1xEverything Else
Key perks
- 10 Visa Airport Companion lounge visits per year
- $200 annual Travel Credit on a single travel purchase of $500 or more
- No foreign transaction fees
- Up to $200 NEXUS application fee statement credit (first year)
- Priority security lane, airport parking and valet discounts at select Canadian airports
- Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection
Is the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card Worth It Now?
For anyone who travels abroad, the refresh makes this a much easier card to recommend. No foreign transaction fees and 10 lounge visits a year cover the two things a premium travel card should do well.
The card also keeps the rest of its premium package:
- NEXUS: a statement credit of up to $200 for the NEXUS application fee in your first year†
- Instacart: six months of Instacart+ and a $10 monthly Instacart credit†
- Travel insurance: up to $5 million in emergency medical coverage for trips of up to 22 days, plus trip cancellation, trip interruption, and flight delay coverage†
- Mobile device insurance: up to $1,000 of coverage†
- Airport perks: priority security lanes and airport parking and valet discounts at select Canadian airports, among the card’s Visa Infinite Privilege benefits†
The card makes less sense if you rarely spend $500 at once on flights, hotels, or car rentals, since the Travel Credit could go unused. You’ll also need a personal income of $150,000 or a household income of $200,000 to apply.†
Conclusion
Dropping the foreign transaction fee was overdue, and it removes the main reason I’d have hesitated to recommend this card for travel. It’s now a card you can take abroad without reaching for a second one at the checkout.
These are all good improvements, but I wish the 5x categories counted globally. Purchases abroad still earn 1 point per dollar, so the card earns its best rates only at home.
If you travel abroad a few times a year and can put $40,000 on the card in its first year, the refresh makes it one of BMO’s strongest offers. If your travel is mostly one domestic trip a year, check that you’ll spend $500 at once with an airline, hotel, or car rental company. Otherwise, the $200 credit won’t pay out.
†Terms and conditions apply. Refer to the card issuer’s website for complete, up-to-date information.
This story originally appeared on princeoftravel
