Jan 7, 2017, 4:18 pm
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)
Mar 20, 2017, 11:35 am
#376
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,166
I've been dangling for a month now on a SPG referral (not even a selfie, this was from the Mrs. to me).
Which sucks, because the response I got from them last time this happened essentially amounted to "sorry, we have no record, can't help you".
Needless to say it's dampening my enthusiasm for signups since I can't really count on the referral points anymore.
Which sucks, because the response I got from them last time this happened essentially amounted to "sorry, we have no record, can't help you".
Needless to say it's dampening my enthusiasm for signups since I can't really count on the referral points anymore.
I've had cases where the SPG referral points would post 3-4 months after the card was approved.
I hope yours will also post eventually.
Mar 20, 2017, 4:12 pm
#377
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 101
Props to you crimsona. I remember it was you that predicted it early last year, that the Plat minimum spending would increase sooner rather than later. Did not make sense that the Personal Plat's $1000 minimum could last, given that the Personal Gold was set at $1500.
And I agree. I used to complain about the Biz Gold's $3000 minimum spending requirement when I first started the Amex churn game, and now that it's up to $5000, well it definitely slows the game down. So, same for the Plat's new/higher $3000 minimum, it will make pulling-the-trigger harder for some people.
By the way...what is so special about March 23rd? It was the same day last year (2016) that Amex released the blockbuster news about the increased 75K welcome bonus for the Plat and Biz Plat and that their referring bonus would increase to 25K. As we saw, the Plat reverted back to 60K/15K on Jun 29th, but the Biz Plat survived with the higher numbers. Not looking forward to it, but I would expect Amex Canada to also downsize the Biz Plat's bonus levels as well (i.e., drop it back to it's more-normal 50K/15K levels). We'll see, in a few days.
And I agree. I used to complain about the Biz Gold's $3000 minimum spending requirement when I first started the Amex churn game, and now that it's up to $5000, well it definitely slows the game down. So, same for the Plat's new/higher $3000 minimum, it will make pulling-the-trigger harder for some people.
By the way...what is so special about March 23rd? It was the same day last year (2016) that Amex released the blockbuster news about the increased 75K welcome bonus for the Plat and Biz Plat and that their referring bonus would increase to 25K. As we saw, the Plat reverted back to 60K/15K on Jun 29th, but the Biz Plat survived with the higher numbers. Not looking forward to it, but I would expect Amex Canada to also downsize the Biz Plat's bonus levels as well (i.e., drop it back to it's more-normal 50K/15K levels). We'll see, in a few days.
Mar 21, 2017, 9:23 pm
#378
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 1
Have there been any more recent DPs regarding self-referring between Business cards? I have a Business Gold I need to cancel and currently considering going to the Business Platinum. I've heard mixed (but overall positive) results.
Mar 21, 2017, 9:25 pm
#379
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
Rather than doing that, get someone who already has a Business Platinum to refer you, and talk to the person so that you don't lose out. Then everyone wins.
Mar 22, 2017, 7:27 am
#380
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: JRF
Programs: AA Gold, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, National Executive Elite
Posts: 1,784
So I've put $1500 in spend on my Amex Gold since the beginning of Jan 2017, but only 5000 MR have shown up as a bonus. Is this normal?
Mar 22, 2017, 7:28 am
#381
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
25K welcome bonus can show up from "next day" to 8-10 weeks AFTER crossing $1500, so just keep waiting
Is 5000 from an Authorized/Supplementary card? otherwise it may be weird to see 5K + 20K split
Mar 22, 2017, 9:27 am
#382
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Hex, from what I've seen, majority of people getting the no-no signal from Amex is because they called and discussed (complained) with Amex about missing/delayed welcome bonus, though I believe there were also a couple of reports where a new applicant was advised by Amex of the no-go even without interaction.
In any event, refrain from contacting them if you can. Try using the method of not listing an existing MR card (eg, your Biz Gold MR), or blank existing card in the application, and see if this helps to generate a new MR account for the Biz Plat application. There's no guarantees it will work, nor that it will actually help throw off the the sniffer dogs, but won't hurt to try. You may not get auto-approval by not listing a card though, but just call Amex to correctly ID yourself, but then don't call back again after that, even if you spend the $5K and don't see the 75K welcome bonus right away (wait it out, up to 10 weeks).
Good luck.
JJJ
Mar 22, 2017, 9:37 am
#383
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
MGM GRC Supp 5k 2017
If yes, then that's for the supplementary card's bonus.
If this is your first time opening the Personal Gold card, then call Amex to enquire about the missing 25K welcome bonus. No harm in contacting them in this scenario since this would be your first-ever welcome bonus.
Otherwise, if you've opened the Gold before in the past then you could be endangering your welcome points from posting if you don't continue to wait it out. I know, it's probably around 10 weeks since you signed up and met the $1500 threshold spending, but stay the course and be patient is the best advice if you're churning.
Mar 22, 2017, 11:56 am
#384
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
REMINDER: AMEX Platinum Canada minimum spending increases to $3000 tomorrow (vs. $1000 TODAY)
So if you want to apply, do it TODAY
So if you want to apply, do it TODAY
Mar 22, 2017, 12:12 pm
#387
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Yeah, but I think most people on here on FT can spend and extra $2K without much difficulty, with the upside of an extra 15K. No need to cause a panic to get people to signup for a new card, is what I'm trying to say.
Mar 22, 2017, 12:18 pm
#388
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
I'm sure people know me on FT or RFD
Meanwhile, bloggers have their articles/links ready this week :P
To me, extra $2K is actually a LOT to spend, especially I'm still working on Biz Plat $5K threshold
/end of this discussion from me. One can interpret my replies however they want
Mar 22, 2017, 12:25 pm
#389
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: YQM
Posts: 341
Data point: was referred from my partner's personal Plat to a Gold. Put my Plat for existing account (I realised after submitting the app that I should've put my SPG Personal instead). App went pending (since I had applied for SPG Pers less than 90 days ago). Called and approved on the spot.
This is my second ever Personal Gold. The first one was closed last summer, around August if I recall (shows last reported on CreditKarma at beginning of September).
I will report if I get 25k again. Already got the 15k referral bonus on my spouse's Plat.
This is my second ever Personal Gold. The first one was closed last summer, around August if I recall (shows last reported on CreditKarma at beginning of September).
I will report if I get 25k again. Already got the 15k referral bonus on my spouse's Plat.
Mar 22, 2017, 3:18 pm
#390
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Data point: was referred from my partner's personal Plat to a Gold. Put my Plat for existing account (I realised after submitting the app that I should've put my SPG Personal instead). App went pending (since I had applied for SPG Pers less than 90 days ago). Called and approved on the spot.
This is my second ever Personal Gold. The first one was closed last summer, around August if I recall (shows last reported on CreditKarma at beginning of September).
I will report if I get 25k again. Already got the 15k referral bonus on my spouse's Plat.
This is my second ever Personal Gold. The first one was closed last summer, around August if I recall (shows last reported on CreditKarma at beginning of September).
I will report if I get 25k again. Already got the 15k referral bonus on my spouse's Plat.