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)
Jan 10, 2017, 3:12 pm
#61
Join Date: Oct 2002
Programs: United Premier 1K
Posts: 1,230
It would be appreciated if someone could clarify something for me:
I had the Amex personal Platinum (and cancelled it 1 year later) prior to Amex bring in the "one bonus per lifetime" rule.
If I reapply now, am I eligible for the bonus?
I had the Amex personal Platinum (and cancelled it 1 year later) prior to Amex bring in the "one bonus per lifetime" rule.
If I reapply now, am I eligible for the bonus?
Jan 10, 2017, 3:15 pm
#62
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
But, Amex Canada has been lax with the enforcement of those "one bonus per lifetime" wording in the footnotes in the Personal cards' application pages. So, YMMV, but based on the datapoints for the past 1.5 years (after those footnotes emerged), it seems that most people are still able to churn it.
Jan 10, 2017, 3:25 pm
#63
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 822
I know this was a 2016 issue, but the story continues....
Mrs GHT applied for AMEX Gold Biz, application was "pending review"...... never heard back until the card arrived a mth later. She did spend the $5K within 3 months (from the card arrived) and didnt get the bonus. Agents told her its from the date of her approval (which we have no idea cause the application was under review)
Long story short, emailed them and talked to their call center staff - no one was willing to help. Worse, they blamed Mrs GHT for not following up her application with AMEX and Canada Post for delay in mailing their card out. Gotta say I did not have a good year with their Customer Service.
Mrs GHT applied for AMEX Gold Biz, application was "pending review"...... never heard back until the card arrived a mth later. She did spend the $5K within 3 months (from the card arrived) and didnt get the bonus. Agents told her its from the date of her approval (which we have no idea cause the application was under review)
Long story short, emailed them and talked to their call center staff - no one was willing to help. Worse, they blamed Mrs GHT for not following up her application with AMEX and Canada Post for delay in mailing their card out. Gotta say I did not have a good year with their Customer Service.
Indeed....I find their c/s to be top notch.
My Biz SPG card took several weeks to arrive(from approval).I sent them a message and I received a reply that they would consider an extension of the time-frame,should the need arise.In any event,I was able to meet the spend...so didn't need to request that extension.
Jan 10, 2017, 3:41 pm
#64
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: PHL, NYC, DC
Posts: 9,708
we were actually shocked by the response as well. historically amex CS has been very helpful, but not this case. the fact we tried emailing, phone call and escalation to a supervisor, do you think its even worthwhile to try calling until we get someone right? i'm thinking they must have recorded the notes and will review the file etc.....
Jan 10, 2017, 3:58 pm
#65
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 822
we were actually shocked by the response as well. historically amex CS has been very helpful, but not this case. the fact we tried emailing, phone call and escalation to a supervisor, do you think its even worthwhile to try calling until we get someone right? i'm thinking they must have recorded the notes and will review the file etc.....
Jan 10, 2017, 4:00 pm
#66
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Yes, they have notes, but if you are polite, self-effacing (I must not have explained it well, but we did not know when the application was approved), yet focused, you may prevail.
Jan 10, 2017, 4:15 pm
#68
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Rinse and Repeat, Rinse and Repeat...
- Cancelled my Amex Biz Gold card.
- Waited 30 days and reapplied, went to "unable to give you an instant decision at this time".
- Did not call Amex, but the next day saw the referring points. Proof of approval!
- Two days later saw the email with "Welcome to your American Express Business Gold Rewards Card"
- Card arrives, completed the $5K spending in 2 days.
- Two days later I saw the $$ purchases posted, and 40K points awarded as well.
Jan 10, 2017, 5:03 pm
#69
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 822
I would definitely pursue it....in the manner that MIA said to. Any hint of aggression will result in a brick wall......
I would query why there was no notification of approval....worrisome,because if the card was lost in the mail,that could have been a security concern as you weren't expecting it.
It would be odd if it wasn't policy to advise of approval ....and this would be justification(if it is policy) to extend the 3 month qualifying period,if they had indeed failed to carry out their own policy.
I would query why there was no notification of approval....worrisome,because if the card was lost in the mail,that could have been a security concern as you weren't expecting it.
It would be odd if it wasn't policy to advise of approval ....and this would be justification(if it is policy) to extend the 3 month qualifying period,if they had indeed failed to carry out their own policy.
Jan 10, 2017, 5:03 pm
#70
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 822
- Cancelled my Amex Biz Gold card.
- Waited 30 days and reapplied, went to "unable to give you an instant decision at this time".
- Did not call Amex, but the next day saw the referring points. Proof of approval!
- Two days later saw the email with "Welcome to your American Express Business Gold Rewards Card"
- Card arrives, completed the $5K spending in 2 days.
- Two days later I saw the $$ purchases posted, and 40K points awarded as well.
Excellent churn!
Jan 10, 2017, 5:04 pm
#71
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
not sure when the new change kicks in
but looks like AMEX SPG Personal will also go from $500 to $1500 spending (like AMEX Personal Gold card)
Wow, 30 day churn, I gotta pick up my game then
but looks like AMEX SPG Personal will also go from $500 to $1500 spending (like AMEX Personal Gold card)
The change that is happening is that you will have to spend $1,500 instead of $500 to get the 20,000 bonus Starpoints. Not a huge change, and glad that it does not affect any other of the great options with the card but still spending $500 to get 20,000 Starpoints instead of $1,500 is a much better option so apply for it now!
Wow, 30 day churn, I gotta pick up my game then
- Cancelled my Amex Biz Gold card.
- Waited 30 days and reapplied, went to "unable to give you an instant decision at this time".
- Did not call Amex, but the next day saw the referring points. Proof of approval!
- Two days later saw the email with "Welcome to your American Express Business Gold Rewards Card"
- Card arrives, completed the $5K spending in 2 days.
- Two days later I saw the $$ purchases posted, and 40K points awarded as well.
Jan 10, 2017, 5:14 pm
#72
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: yyz
Posts: 1,611
- Cancelled my Amex Biz Gold card.
- Waited 30 days and reapplied, went to "unable to give you an instant decision at this time".
- Did not call Amex, but the next day saw the referring points. Proof of approval!
- Two days later saw the email with "Welcome to your American Express Business Gold Rewards Card"
- Card arrives, completed the $5K spending in 2 days.
- Two days later I saw the $$ purchases posted, and 40K points awarded as well.
Jan 10, 2017, 6:53 pm
#74
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: PHL, NYC, DC
Posts: 9,708
I agree but let me think of next steps. Spent an hour going round and round denying and blaming one another. Not sure if additional calls would really help and to be honest it was a big test of patience.
I would definitely pursue it....in the manner that MIA said to. Any hint of aggression will result in a brick wall......
I would query why there was no notification of approval....worrisome,because if the card was lost in the mail,that could have been a security concern as you weren't expecting it.
It would be odd if it wasn't policy to advise of approval ....and this would be justification(if it is policy) to extend the 3 month qualifying period,if they had indeed failed to carry out their own policy.
I would query why there was no notification of approval....worrisome,because if the card was lost in the mail,that could have been a security concern as you weren't expecting it.
It would be odd if it wasn't policy to advise of approval ....and this would be justification(if it is policy) to extend the 3 month qualifying period,if they had indeed failed to carry out their own policy.
Jan 10, 2017, 7:12 pm
#75
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Admittedly, I was fortunate that they didn't re-open my previous card account, so I DO NOT recommend others to churn so quickly! I would suggest 3 months from cancel to reapplication date, just to be SAFE. If they re-activated my previous account I would've been shut-out from the welcome bonus (according to folklore, anyways).
That said, the previous churn I cancelled and re-applied a week later. Same story as above. But again, "These stunts are performed by trained professionals, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME"!
That said, the previous churn I cancelled and re-applied a week later. Same story as above. But again, "These stunts are performed by trained professionals, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME"!