Churning Amex in Canada (2016)
 

Anyone else have their plat points post as 10k initially? I met the spend, received 10k immediately, but no sign of the other 50k as of yet. It's been roughly 1 - 2 weeks since the 10k posted.

Amex really stepped up their game this year, applying the Plat $200 annual TC before the year even began :D

Yes. It took around 5 weeks for the rest of my bonus (50k) to post.

Yeah I noticed that. When the email popped up on my phone I was a bit worried as the email had a subject line of "Membership Rewards Redemption Shipped" and I didn't make a redemption. Anyway, nice to see the credit already available.

I have had the Plat card for a while but no longer see the value in it. I am going to move to the Amex Business Gold. I had a business gold about 5 years ago. Am I still eligible for a the bonus MR? Does anyone have data points about similar circumstances?

Amex seems to be sending out these MR redemption emails for a variety of non-MR transactions. I found one in my email box this morning but have not made a redemption. No MR points removed but notation:

"Platinum TC2016"

I suspect this really indicates my new card is being mailed out as the current one expires at the end of February.

TC = Travel Credit. Just notifying you that your 2016 TC is ready for use.

Yes, you should be good to re-sign up for the 40K bonus (via referral)
I believe the new T&C doesn't apply to BUSINESS Gold anyway
just find a referral link and review the T&C, but no concerns

Good luck

Definitely, because you will actually have a back-and-forth dialog with a Secured-Message email support staff. And they will usually ask you once more, to confirm the correct card to be cancelled (if you have more than one), just in case you chose the wrong card during the "Compose a message" stage. Myself, I always supplement my cancellation messages with the card product name, and add "card number ending with -xxxx". The cancelled card is usually put into 'death' mode within 2-3 days after the confirmation. Do note also that most Amex cards allow you 60 days grace period to cancel with full refund of annual fees, so if you're close to the card's anniversary opening date, don't panic, you have time. If you've REALLY procrastinated, and it's past the 60 days, they will pro-rate a refund to you, so again no big deal.

Note: I've never been asked why I want to cancel, but as well I've never been given any retention offer, so if that's what you want, you're best to call in and speak with a rep (weekdays, business hours).

Happy Down-Sizing!
JJJ

You're probably referring to the July 1st, 2015 changes to Amex policy for one-welcome bonus per card, per lifetime?

If so, you should be good to go. But to back this up, here are some fairly recent personal datapoints of successfully approved applications done after July 1st, complete with the welcome bonus. And these are for churn cards which I (or family) have carried multiple times in recent years:
- Business Gold Rewards - 40K, mid-Dec
- Gold Rewards - 25K, Sep, Oct, Nov
- Airmiles Plat - 2000 miles, Dec

There have been others, friends and FT/RFD members, also reporting the same for Platinum Rewards and SPG Amex cards too. Churned previously, and got the welcome bonuses once more, on applications submitted after July 1st, 2015.

So, with your Plat Rewards card, you can self-refer to get the Gold Rewards (25K/FYF/$500-spending) or the Business Gold Rewards (40K/FYF/$5,000-Spending). No need to look for someone else's referral.

For now, the Business versions of the different Amex card products do not have footnotes that indicate the once per lifetime welcome bonus. I believe we are in a transitional period right now where Amex Canada is being kind enough to allow previous Personal cardholders one last kick at the can after July 1st, 2015. But, they could very will shut this door today (after all, it IS 2016 now!), and follow Amex-USA practices, and be stringent on enforcing this new policy. Let's see how 2016 unfolds.

Can someone find the link to AMEX Canada's car rental insurance policy? I spent the last 30 minutes on Google and was unable to locate it... :confused:

Churning Amex in Canada (2015)
 

Not sure if this is the right one, or if it matters which card you carry, but maybe close enough for your needs?
https://business.americanexpress.com...um_English.pdf

Sorry, I am late to the party and was wondering if churning still works?

If so, what are some major changes i should b aware of?

Churning Amex in Canada (2015)
 

Well, churning means to repeatedly sign up for cards for welcome bonuses, cancel before any annual fee (some are waived for the first year) comes due, wait a while and then sign up again for the same/similar welcome offer. There are several card product families with the major ones of interest being the Membership Rewards, Aeroplan Plus, SPG, Airmiles, Simply Cash. See this thread's Wiki page for some of the better offers.

The most significant change that Amex Canada has made to their policies came this past July 2015 where the footnotes/T&C now mention that the welcome offers are "only available to new American Express ___ Cardmembers. For current or former American Express ___ Cardmembers, we may approve your application, but you will not be eligible for the welcome bonus". Which basically means that they've followed Amex-USA's footsteps to stop/hamper the churning. However, this footnote only appears for the Personal card products, and the Business versions are for the moment clear of it.

Previous cardholders have reported that they are still able to get the welcome bonus, even on a churned application post-July 1st, but this maybe due to Amex-Canada starting the clock on this policy anew after they changed the footnotes. No one on this board can say for sure, and no one at Amex can clarify as well, so it's not guaranteed you will get the welcome bonus if you do try one more churn.

Other changes that we are starting to see with more consistent frequency is that you may only choose your existing card when you want to refer others to the same card product family. But that's another topic on it's own, but referring and self-referring are part of the 'program' as well. Due to FT's TOS, if you want to share your referrals with others then you should be posting in the approved thread for this: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...e-posting.html

As mentioned earlier, I would suggest you read this thread's Wiki for more info.

JJJ

Thanks for the detail.

So i guess if I had the Amex Aeroplan card (2 years ago, I didn't renew), it's not worth to have my spouse refer me again? Since I am already an existing Amex user?

Also it's good to know that the new T&C doesn't apply to business. Can I refer myself to the business gold amex using my personal? or do I need to get someone to refer me? Thanks.