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 30, 2017, 10:28 am
#436
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: YWG
Programs: Aeroplan, MileagePlus, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 2,159
I applied for the SPG Business Amex on Feb 27 and got the "unable to give you instant decision at this time...".
Called on Mar 1 and was approved after answering some security questions.
Called again on Mar 17 since I hadn't received the card yet. Was told it must be lost and they would send another.
Called again on Mar 27. Still no card, but I did get my bill for $150 AF (billing period Feb 21 - Mar 20). This time was told there were some problems at Amex and card was being sent out via Priority Post.
Received the card on Mar 29. Hallelujah!
Since I have 3 months to hit my minimum spend, is that starting on Feb 21? Am I paying $150 for a card that will be valid for less than 11 months? Maybe I should ask for a pro-rated amount.
Called on Mar 1 and was approved after answering some security questions.
Called again on Mar 17 since I hadn't received the card yet. Was told it must be lost and they would send another.
Called again on Mar 27. Still no card, but I did get my bill for $150 AF (billing period Feb 21 - Mar 20). This time was told there were some problems at Amex and card was being sent out via Priority Post.
Received the card on Mar 29. Hallelujah!
Since I have 3 months to hit my minimum spend, is that starting on Feb 21? Am I paying $150 for a card that will be valid for less than 11 months? Maybe I should ask for a pro-rated amount.
I'm going to be cautious that the min. spend date began as of approval which in my case was sometime in late February. But it's $1,500 for this card, right? The next month's worth of gas and groceries and I'll be there.
My wife still hasn't received her referral points for this card, but I've been told in other posts that apparently delayed SPG referral bonuses are routine.
Mar 30, 2017, 10:36 am
#437
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 26
Data Point:
May 2016: husband cancelled AMEX Gold Rewards card
March 2, 2017: I referred AMEX Gold Rewards card to husband and was approved. Supplementary card also approved.
March 29, 2017: spent the required $1500 MIN
Mar 30, 2017: 25K points deposited into account
I have not received the 5K referral points nor has husband received the 5K points for my supplementary card.
Do you think it's OK to inquire about the missing points at this time or will they just provide the usual response of waiting 8-12 weeks?
Thank You!!!
May 2016: husband cancelled AMEX Gold Rewards card
March 2, 2017: I referred AMEX Gold Rewards card to husband and was approved. Supplementary card also approved.
March 29, 2017: spent the required $1500 MIN
Mar 30, 2017: 25K points deposited into account
I have not received the 5K referral points nor has husband received the 5K points for my supplementary card.
Do you think it's OK to inquire about the missing points at this time or will they just provide the usual response of waiting 8-12 weeks?
Thank You!!!
Mar 30, 2017, 5:37 pm
#438
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,519
Yes, I checked and it is $1500 spend in first 3 months which I should easily achieve in 2 months. My house and car insurance are due shortly.
Mar 30, 2017, 9:03 pm
#439
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 822
Data Point:
May 2016: husband cancelled AMEX Gold Rewards card
March 2, 2017: I referred AMEX Gold Rewards card to husband and was approved. Supplementary card also approved.
March 29, 2017: spent the required $1500 MIN
Mar 30, 2017: 25K points deposited into account
I have not received the 5K referral points nor has husband received the 5K points for my supplementary card.
Do you think it's OK to inquire about the missing points at this time or will they just provide the usual response of waiting 8-12 weeks?
Thank You!!!
May 2016: husband cancelled AMEX Gold Rewards card
March 2, 2017: I referred AMEX Gold Rewards card to husband and was approved. Supplementary card also approved.
March 29, 2017: spent the required $1500 MIN
Mar 30, 2017: 25K points deposited into account
I have not received the 5K referral points nor has husband received the 5K points for my supplementary card.
Do you think it's OK to inquire about the missing points at this time or will they just provide the usual response of waiting 8-12 weeks?
Thank You!!!
You likely will get the 8-12 week response for the referral points.When Amex was emailed re.my Mum's missing 5,000 bonus for adding a supp.card(after getting the 25k welcome points).....they manually added the 5k points.
Mar 30, 2017, 9:36 pm
#440
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 3
Hey guys question for yall
Right now I can only spend $1500 for the Amex Gold rewards card.
I have already received the welcome bonus and cancelled my previous card.
If I use my friend's referral link and apply for another amex gold rewards card, would I still get the 25k welcome bonus?
Right now I can only spend $1500 for the Amex Gold rewards card.
I have already received the welcome bonus and cancelled my previous card.
If I use my friend's referral link and apply for another amex gold rewards card, would I still get the 25k welcome bonus?
Mar 30, 2017, 9:47 pm
#441
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Hey guys question for yall
Right now I can only spend $1500 for the Amex Gold rewards card.
I have already received the welcome bonus and cancelled my previous card.
If I use my friend's referral link and apply for another amex gold rewards card, would I still get the 25k welcome bonus?
Right now I can only spend $1500 for the Amex Gold rewards card.
I have already received the welcome bonus and cancelled my previous card.
If I use my friend's referral link and apply for another amex gold rewards card, would I still get the 25k welcome bonus?
Most people still seem to be able to get the repeated churned points, but there are a scattering of reports from people who said they did not, thus a YMMV response is the best way to reply to your query. No one can say for sure, either way.
Mar 30, 2017, 10:02 pm
#442
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Data Point:
May 2016: husband cancelled AMEX Gold Rewards card
March 2, 2017: I referred AMEX Gold Rewards card to husband and was approved. Supplementary card also approved.
March 29, 2017: spent the required $1500 MIN
Mar 30, 2017: 25K points deposited into account
I have not received the 5K referral points nor has husband received the 5K points for my supplementary card.
Do you think it's OK to inquire about the missing points at this time or will they just provide the usual response of waiting 8-12 weeks?
Thank You!!!
May 2016: husband cancelled AMEX Gold Rewards card
March 2, 2017: I referred AMEX Gold Rewards card to husband and was approved. Supplementary card also approved.
March 29, 2017: spent the required $1500 MIN
Mar 30, 2017: 25K points deposited into account
I have not received the 5K referral points nor has husband received the 5K points for my supplementary card.
Do you think it's OK to inquire about the missing points at this time or will they just provide the usual response of waiting 8-12 weeks?
Thank You!!!
Yep,it's OK to inquire. as according to their terms you should receive the referral points and your hubby,the additional 5,000 points for adding a supp. card from a referral application.
You likely will get the 8-12 week response for the referral points.When Amex was emailed re.my Mum's missing 5,000 bonus for adding a supp.card(after getting the 25k welcome points).....they manually added the 5k points.
You likely will get the 8-12 week response for the referral points.When Amex was emailed re.my Mum's missing 5,000 bonus for adding a supp.card(after getting the 25k welcome points).....they manually added the 5k points.
Sakura, since your husband is churning the Personal Gold card, it's fortunate that he got the repeat welcome bonus, in spite of the footnotes that say he would not if he's had the card before (which he has, 10 months ago).
Your referral to him is totally legitimate, so there's no question that you deserve the 5K referring points. True.
But, I know what you're concerned about. If your husband enquires about the missing 5K for the supplementary card, or if you want to ask for the missing 5K for referring him, then you're going to have supply your husband's churned Gold card as supporting evidence that you rightfully should have received 5K for referring. Both of these actions will expose his card account for scrutiny/review. While I've not seen reports of people getting the 25K already rewarded, being clawed back in such a scenario, you don't want to be the first to give this negative datapoint, am I right?
Best suggestion I have for you is to wait for your husband's 5K to post for the supplementary card. Most people have been waiting 1-2 months for them to post (seems to be batched), so it's normal that he has NOT seen those points yet since he's only opened it earlier this month. BUT, once he has seen those extra 5K points posted to his MR account, THEN I would say it's a good time to ask about your own missing 5K referring points.
Hopefully you're not due to cancel your Gold card soon to avoid the annual fee. Else, you may want to be more urgent in your actions. Hope this makes sense.
Good luck.
JJJ
Mar 30, 2017, 11:20 pm
#443
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 3
First off, you'll need to get approved again. But first, how long has it been since you've cancelled your previous Gold card? Try not to apply within 2-3 months since your cancellation, in case they may re-open your closed account. That said, I've re-applied within a week and got away with it, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Most people still seem to be able to get the repeated churned points, but there are a scattering of reports from people who said they did not, thus a YMMV response is the best way to reply to your query. No one can say for sure, either way.
Most people still seem to be able to get the repeated churned points, but there are a scattering of reports from people who said they did not, thus a YMMV response is the best way to reply to your query. No one can say for sure, either way.
Mar 31, 2017, 3:09 am
#444
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: Top Tier Flyertalk Member
Posts: 677
Any recent success data point in getting the welcome bonus on self referring from SPG Business to SPG Personal? Had SPG personal in the past.
Mar 31, 2017, 7:38 am
#445
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
There are probably other factors involved, such as: I'd wait till May, load up on another milkshake before Ramadan, and then try applying again.
Or are you in a rush for points?
- how good/strong your credit strength shows itself at Transunion
- have you been applying for (several) other cards recently
- do you currently have other Amex cards
- what length of history do you have with Amex
Or are you in a rush for points?
Mar 31, 2017, 7:56 am
#446
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
Data point
AMEX Platinum (applied just before 3/23)
3/29 paid $1000 via Plastiq (no fee, thanks to current 800+400 FFD referral promotion)
3/31 Got 60K welcome bonus + 1250 from spending
I love AMEX
Now time to spend those $200 credit too
AMEX Platinum (applied just before 3/23)
3/29 paid $1000 via Plastiq (no fee, thanks to current 800+400 FFD referral promotion)
3/31 Got 60K welcome bonus + 1250 from spending
I love AMEX
Now time to spend those $200 credit too
Mar 31, 2017, 8:46 am
#447
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
As for whether SPG Personal is still churnable more than once (your primary question), it's been happening within the past 6 months with positive datapoints. But for more recent (within the past month or so) datapoints, I'll leave that to someone else to chime in about.
Mar 31, 2017, 10:27 am
#448
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 26
Thanks jubberly and JJonahJ.
I'm in no hurry to use the missing points and I have until August to cancel my own Gold Rewards card before the annual fee kicks in so it leaves some time to wait.
My concern as you mentioned JJonahJ was that they will scrutinize my husband's account and realize that he had been awarded the 25K bonus points before. I'm just glad that he received the 25K so I will be patient.
I'm in no hurry to use the missing points and I have until August to cancel my own Gold Rewards card before the annual fee kicks in so it leaves some time to wait.
My concern as you mentioned JJonahJ was that they will scrutinize my husband's account and realize that he had been awarded the 25K bonus points before. I'm just glad that he received the 25K so I will be patient.
Mar 31, 2017, 10:43 am
#449
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Thanks jubberly and JJonahJ.
I'm in no hurry to use the missing points and I have until August to cancel my own Gold Rewards card before the annual fee kicks in so it leaves some time to wait.
My concern as you mentioned JJonahJ was that they will scrutinize my husband's account and realize that he had been awarded the 25K bonus points before. I'm just glad that he received the 25K so I will be patient.
I'm in no hurry to use the missing points and I have until August to cancel my own Gold Rewards card before the annual fee kicks in so it leaves some time to wait.
My concern as you mentioned JJonahJ was that they will scrutinize my husband's account and realize that he had been awarded the 25K bonus points before. I'm just glad that he received the 25K so I will be patient.
Good plan. Slow and steady wins the race!
Turtle-onian
Mar 31, 2017, 11:48 am
#450
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YYZish
Posts: 300
Unless the person is points savvy, when I do referrals I select the appropriate card from the sidebar on the right and then copy/paste the link into an email (example: Amex Biz Plat refer to Amex Gold).
AFAIK, this has always worked for me in the past.
Pointsnerd has a pushing post (Aeroplan mini RTW part II) in which he uses the same base referral link for each of the cards he's summarizing - with the expectation that the applicant will 'select a different card' to get to the proper application.
I'm wondering if something has changed that I've missed here. Is it still okay to select a different card from the Platinum Biz referral page and copy/paste the link for the desired card?
AFAIK, this has always worked for me in the past.
Pointsnerd has a pushing post (Aeroplan mini RTW part II) in which he uses the same base referral link for each of the cards he's summarizing - with the expectation that the applicant will 'select a different card' to get to the proper application.
I'm wondering if something has changed that I've missed here. Is it still okay to select a different card from the Platinum Biz referral page and copy/paste the link for the desired card?
Unless I missed it, no one replied to this.
Now I have two friends telling me they used my referral from my Amex Biz Platinum. Both were for the Amex Gold Personal (where I used the shortcut by preselecting the card for them).
The referral points have not posted yet. IME they post the day after approval.
Does anyone have a datapoint on the 'select a different card' route? I looked at the URL and don't really see anything associated to me specifically.
Thanks much!