Last edit by: mia
Referrals and self-referrals are an important part of maximizing rewards from Canadian-issued American Express cards. It is appropriate to discuss how the referral process works in this thread. However, please do not offer or request referrals here. Use only this thread, and do read the Wikipost carefully before posting: Referral Offers (post only in this thread, no referral links, read Wiki post first).
This thread is a continuation of: Churning Amex in Canada (2016). All the listed offers below are still valid as of January 2017.
Jerry: Aug 2017 latest update, all-in-one summary
New as of Mar 23, 2017, minimum spend up to $3000 now
AMEX Platinum Rewards - $699/year, 60K MR (via referral) after $3000 spending in 3 months vs. 50K non-referral
New as of March 23 2016.
AMEX Business Platinum Rewards - $399/year, 75K MR (via referral) after $5000 spending in 3 months vs. 40K non-referral
Updated as of July 21, 2017
AMEX Gold Rewards - $150/year, FYF, 25K MR after $1500 spending + $50/$60 cashback from GCR. New as of Jan 15, 2017, on a referred signup: and an additional 5,000 Membership Rewards points for one approved Supplementary Card added to your account at time of online application. That’s a total of 30,000 Membership Rewards points.
AMEX Business Gold Rewards - $250/year, FYF, 30K MR after $5000 spending (or 40K via referral)
AMEX Air Miles Platinum - $65/year, 2000 Air Miles after $1500 spending + $30 GCR cashback
July 18-Oct 18, 2017 - welcome offer increased 5K to 25K.
Sep 28, 2017 - Personal and Business SPG bonus drops from 10K to 5K per approved referral.
AMEX SPG - $120/year, 25K SPG after $1500 spending + $30 GCR cashback
- if you applied recently for the SPG card at the 20K welcome level, try contacting Amex by Secured Message to ask if they can match the current 25K offer. Several successful datapoints have surfaced with manual addition of 5K at next statement. YMMV.
New as of July 2016
AMEX Aeroplan Plus Platinum - $499/year, 50K Aeroplans after $1000 spending in 3 months (or 51K via referral). The 50K/51K, extra 10K promo expired on April 01, 2016, but started up again July - Sep 30th, 2016.
New card as of Sep 25 2017
AMEX Cobalt CREDIT card - $10/month ($120 annually)
Apply through GCR for $50 Rebate https://www.greatcanadianrebates.ca/...s/Amex-Cobalt/
This is not an all-inclusive list, only the "good" offers, so feel free to add new offers.
AMEX Platinum Rewards
- Earn 15K MR for each referral you make
(Note: from Mar 23 - Jun 29 the bonuses were 75K welcome and 25K referral points)
AMEX Business Platinum Rewards
- Earn 25K MR for each referral you make
AMEX Gold Rewards
- Earn 10k MR for each referal you make.
This thread is a continuation of: Churning Amex in Canada (2016). All the listed offers below are still valid as of January 2017.
Jerry: Aug 2017 latest update, all-in-one summary
New as of Mar 23, 2017, minimum spend up to $3000 now
AMEX Platinum Rewards - $699/year, 60K MR (via referral) after $3000 spending in 3 months vs. 50K non-referral
New as of March 23 2016.
AMEX Business Platinum Rewards - $399/year, 75K MR (via referral) after $5000 spending in 3 months vs. 40K non-referral
Updated as of July 21, 2017
AMEX Gold Rewards - $150/year, FYF, 25K MR after $1500 spending + $50/$60 cashback from GCR. New as of Jan 15, 2017, on a referred signup: and an additional 5,000 Membership Rewards points for one approved Supplementary Card added to your account at time of online application. That’s a total of 30,000 Membership Rewards points.
- July 11, 2017, Amex Gold MR will no longer earn referral points.
- July 21, 2017, no other Amex MR card can refer to Gold MR
AMEX Business Gold Rewards - $250/year, FYF, 30K MR after $5000 spending (or 40K via referral)
AMEX Air Miles Platinum - $65/year, 2000 Air Miles after $1500 spending + $30 GCR cashback
July 18-Oct 18, 2017 - welcome offer increased 5K to 25K.
Sep 28, 2017 - Personal and Business SPG bonus drops from 10K to 5K per approved referral.
AMEX SPG - $120/year, 25K SPG after $1500 spending + $30 GCR cashback
- if you applied recently for the SPG card at the 20K welcome level, try contacting Amex by Secured Message to ask if they can match the current 25K offer. Several successful datapoints have surfaced with manual addition of 5K at next statement. YMMV.
New as of July 2016
AMEX Aeroplan Plus Platinum - $499/year, 50K Aeroplans after $1000 spending in 3 months (or 51K via referral). The 50K/51K, extra 10K promo expired on April 01, 2016, but started up again July - Sep 30th, 2016.
New card as of Sep 25 2017
AMEX Cobalt CREDIT card - $10/month ($120 annually)
Apply through GCR for $50 Rebate https://www.greatcanadianrebates.ca/...s/Amex-Cobalt/
- Earn 2,500 Membership Tiered Rewards points for each month where you spend $500 (up to 30,000/year).
- Limited Time Offer: Apply by Jan 30, 2018 and you can earn a Welcome Bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $3K in 3 months.
- See discussion thread for more details: 2017 American Express Cobalt (Canada)
This is not an all-inclusive list, only the "good" offers, so feel free to add new offers.
Referral Difference Between Cards:
Please note there is a maximum annual referral bonus you can make per card.
AMEX Platinum Rewards
- Earn 15K MR for each referral you make
(Note: from Mar 23 - Jun 29 the bonuses were 75K welcome and 25K referral points)
AMEX Business Platinum Rewards
- Earn 25K MR for each referral you make
AMEX Gold Rewards
- July 11, 2017, Amex Gold MR will no longer earn referral points.
- July 21, 2017, no other Amex MR card can refer to Gold MR
- mid-May 2016, increased from $500 to $1500 required spending.
- Jan 11 to mid-May 2016, the Gold card earned 0 referral points.
- Earn 10k MR for each referal you make.
American Express Canada application and reward strategies (2017)
#31
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 822
Offering personal knowledge and sharing researched information is wayyyyyy more valuable than $50,in my opinion.Leeches that suck up other peoples valuable input,constantly ask without giving,benefiting financially from what they learn yet show no appreciation...are scum,to me.
Last edited by jubberly; Jan 7, 2017 at 11:05 am
#33
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YVR to SEA
Posts: 2,531
The real leeches are the ones who beg for other people to use their referral with zero compensation and then have a holier than thou attitude when their terrible offer is beaten by GCR, nevermind other people
#35
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 822
No need to fight ....FT has a thread where you can offer your referral link .
I don't consider any of the FT'ers that post there(without making any incentives),as scum.It's up to users to pick who they want to "thank" for all their free advise/contributions.....
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...e-posting.html
I don't consider any of the FT'ers that post there(without making any incentives),as scum.It's up to users to pick who they want to "thank" for all their free advise/contributions.....
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...e-posting.html
Last edited by jubberly; Jan 7, 2017 at 11:43 am
#36
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: SPG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, United Premier Silver
Posts: 205
#37
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: AMEX, Aeroplan, SPG, Marriot
Posts: 4
I agree that the knowledge in this or other forums is worth way more $50. When I started out with the basic Gold card I got a referral even though I knew I could get $50 from GCR. Without the information others have shared I don't think I would have anywhere close to the miles I've accumulated so far. Thanks to all and as I learn more I hope to start contributing to help others who start the churning game.
#39
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Moderator action
Happy New Year. 2016 posts have been archived HERE.
I have re-titled the thread for 2017 to more accurately reflect the content. If anyone cares to suggest an improved title click the (!) icon in the lower left corner of this post.
I have re-titled the thread for 2017 to more accurately reflect the content. If anyone cares to suggest an improved title click the (!) icon in the lower left corner of this post.
Last edited by mia; Jan 7, 2017 at 4:20 pm
#40
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 822
I agree that the knowledge in this or other forums is worth way more $50. When I started out with the basic Gold card I got a referral even though I knew I could get $50 from GCR. Without the information others have shared I don't think I would have anywhere close to the miles I've accumulated so far. Thanks to all and as I learn more I hope to start contributing to help others who start the churning game.
It's such a shame that there are those who are happy to take advantage of these forums,implement what they have learned through other Ft'ers and then chose to reward someone else....because of a paltry financial incentive.
Shame.......
#42
Ok, we should move on from the referral fight - it's exactly the same conversation every time.
I don't even post in the FT referral thread anymore. I had a few people PM me for referrals out of the blue, and I'm happy with that. There's literally no way to differentiate yourself from anyone else anymore on the referral bandwagon.
I don't even post in the FT referral thread anymore. I had a few people PM me for referrals out of the blue, and I'm happy with that. There's literally no way to differentiate yourself from anyone else anymore on the referral bandwagon.
#43
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 143
I don't think checking that box has any negative effect on the application - it just expedites the credit checks in my view. Both cards should give you the bonus if you haven't had them for THAT long.
Make sure to apply through a referral though - it's always the better way.
Make sure to apply through a referral though - it's always the better way.
First, thank you both for the responses--very useful info. I've already got the referral covered, thankfully.
#44
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Offering personal knowledge and sharing researched information is wayyyyyy more valuable than $50,in my opinion.Leeches that suck up other peoples valuable input,constantly ask without giving,benefiting financially from what they learn yet show no appreciation...are scum,to me.
Back when FT allowed us to show our referral links in our signature, it was rewarding to post helpful information for others to review and take advantage of, and I felt like I had earned those anonymous referrals. But there were a few idiots who offered nothing substantial to the thread, posting jibberish and nonsense just to increase their web-presence, and to get their signatures onto the "front page", or the latest page in the thread.
This created a cluttered and watered down community for a while. A few of us regulars tried to police this on our own, but ended up getting our own accounts temporarily suspended for trying to take matters into our own hands by shaming the offending accounts with direct replies to their nonsense posts. This allowed the silliness to continue on.
So then into the picture came the bloggers who complained that allowing J-Public to show their referrals were a detriment to the FT community, so guess what? They got their way. FT now bans referral links in their signatures. And the bloggers go skipping home happy, because they are still allowed to post links their blog sites in their signatures and in Wikis, inviting people to come to their click-bait and referral-laden websites.
So, what became of this? Generally, after being a regular on this and past threads for the past few years, it has indeed become a more focused and less-cluttered environment, though there are still a few people who just come here to look for another customer, so to speak.
New applicants who don't already have an Amex Membership Rewards (MR) card for self-referral, or those who do not have family/friends to request for a MR card referral, should apply for the Personal Gold MR card through GCR for the cash back since they will get the same 25K welcome points, or if they appreciate the info that is shared publicly, then they can gift points to whomever they choose.
Otherwise, for other new Amex cardholders who are interested in applying for a new MR card that is NOT the Personal Gold, they WILL benefit if they use an existing cardholder's referral, to get additional welcome bonus points: 10K more for the Biz Gold and Platinum MR cards, and 35K more for the Biz Platinum card. That's what the Amex referral thread is for. I make it very clear in my post at that thread to inform people of which cards have benefits when applying with an existing cardholder's referred signup, while at the same time I clearly note which cards have little or NO extra benefits, as I don't want to misguide anyone of their options.
#45
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Moderator action
Questions about moderator actions need to be addressed privately by using the Alert system (!) or by PM. Comments posted in a thread will simply be removed. Flyertalk discipline is private. Moderators will not tell you what was, or was not, done in a particular incident. If you are not satisfied with any moderator's work please contact the Community Director - she is interested and responsive.
Flyertalk is not a marketplace. If you come here primarily to earn bonus points through referrals, rather than to exchange information, you will be disappointed. I have direct personal knowledge of the reasons for the decision to remove referral offers and links from signatures. It was not influenced by any blogger. We have preserved the opportunity for Flyertalk members to offer referrals through a dedicated thread. If I were seeking a referral offer I would look for one from a helpful and knowledgable poster. That's the best way to set yourself apart from others.
Flyertalk is not a marketplace. If you come here primarily to earn bonus points through referrals, rather than to exchange information, you will be disappointed. I have direct personal knowledge of the reasons for the decision to remove referral offers and links from signatures. It was not influenced by any blogger. We have preserved the opportunity for Flyertalk members to offer referrals through a dedicated thread. If I were seeking a referral offer I would look for one from a helpful and knowledgable poster. That's the best way to set yourself apart from others.