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)
Jul 12, 2017, 12:48 pm
#751
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kan@da
Programs: Anything with sweet spots
Posts: 1,790
Does anyone have an experience with the statement credit offered for the Amex AeroplanPlus Gold card ?
Any datapoint on when the $100 credit after Amex Travel purchase is supposed to post ?
For reference, the link to the deal details is availale here:
https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/e...-banners-2017/
Any datapoint on when the $100 credit after Amex Travel purchase is supposed to post ?
For reference, the link to the deal details is availale here:
https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/e...-banners-2017/
Jul 15, 2017, 10:12 am
#752
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: YVR
Posts: 625
FYI - Rewards Canada is suggesting that anyone contemplating applying for the Amex SPG card wait until July 18.
Jul 15, 2017, 1:32 pm
#753
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,410
Jul 15, 2017, 9:30 pm
#754
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 3
Has anyone churned the Amex Gold Rewards card? Was the entire offer valid? (e.g. welcome bonus, GCR rebate, additional 5k, FYF)
I really enjoyed the card and would like to get it again in 3-6 months.
Thanks
I really enjoyed the card and would like to get it again in 3-6 months.
Thanks
Jul 15, 2017, 10:36 pm
#755
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Many have re-churned the Personal Gold, but since July 2015 it has technically been placed on the once-per-lifetime category here in Canada, so while most people seem to still have success in spite of those new rules, there a few who have reported failure (or told so, but still got the welcome bonus anyways, weeks later).
The GCR rebate has been $50 cash back for years now, and once in a while it goes for $60 as a cash back boost.
The FYF has been there for years as well, regardless if you apply directly at Amex, through GCR or through an existing cardholder's referral.
The additional 5K is a recent addition, that started in Jan 2017, making it now a 30K/FYF card. It's available when you apply through an existing cardholder's referral and add a supplementary cardholder for the additional 5K, during the referred signup. This 5K bonus isn't available when applying through other channels, such as GCR or directly by visiting Amex to signup.
The most recent change for the Personal Gold, occurred last week (July 11, 2017). Now the card will no longer earn a 5K bonus for referring to any other Amex MR card. Other MR cards can still earn referring bonus points for referring TO the Personal Gold, for eg., the Biz Plat MR earns 25K.
Jul 16, 2017, 5:28 pm
#757
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,847
The most recent change for the Personal Gold, occurred last week (July 11, 2017). Now the card will no longer earn a 5K bonus for referring to any other Amex MR card. Other MR cards can still earn referring bonus points for referring TO the Personal Gold, for eg., the Biz Plat MR earns 25K.
I'm going to wait until I deal with my missing Biz Gold points first before I do a self-referral! I have to stick it out another month until I hit the 12 week point. That will have meant almost waiting 6 months in total...ugh!
Oh well, it's always worth the gamble if the annual fee is waived for the first year. Plus I like the Personal Gold card a lot anyway (2x points at drug and grocery is the bomb!).
Jul 17, 2017, 2:21 pm
#758
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: YWG
Programs: Aeroplan, MileagePlus, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 2,159
Jul 18, 2017, 4:52 am
#759
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
The welcome offer for the SPG Amex cards has incresed by 5,000 to 25,000.
New Starwood Preferred Guest®* Credit Card from American Express Cardmembers, earn 25,000 Welcome Bonus Starpoints®* after you charge $1500 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership. That’s enough for up to 2 free nights at a Category 5 property. Offer ends October 18th, 2017.
Jul 18, 2017, 6:18 am
#760
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: YYZ (YUL/LHR)
Programs: AC - E50, CX - G, Accor Plat, SPG Gold
Posts: 903
Jul 18, 2017, 6:50 am
#761
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Nor at GCR where it's still at 20,000 signup. But, they tend to lag behind by a half day or so. It'll be super interesting though if the offer via referrals does NOT increase. Who would bother then, other than family/self-referrals, to keep the 10K referring bonanzas within the circle.
Update 10:30a ET - GCR's signup has been updated to reflect the higher 25,000 welcome bonus offer now...and same $30 cash rebate. Referred signups still stuck with 20,000 verbiage.
Update 1:45p ET - now the referred signup pages are also showing the higher 25,000 welcome bonus offer.
Update 10:30a ET - GCR's signup has been updated to reflect the higher 25,000 welcome bonus offer now...and same $30 cash rebate. Referred signups still stuck with 20,000 verbiage.
Update 1:45p ET - now the referred signup pages are also showing the higher 25,000 welcome bonus offer.
Last edited by JJonahJ; Jul 18, 2017 at 11:55 am
Jul 18, 2017, 12:18 pm
#762
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
With the new 25K welcome promo (expires Oct 18, 2017) on the Amex SPG Personal and Business credit cards, I figured I'd post a simple strategy for a pair/couple working as a team to collect SPG points by opening 2 cards each.135K Total points, $510 total net annual fees after $30 GCR rebate.
Each person would have to apply for 2 CCs, 2 to 3 months apart, and keep in mind about the minimum spending requirements to be completed within 90 days after card approvals.
135K of SPG points are valuated differently for each person. But as an example, that could be 11 nites of Cat-5 or 13 nites of Cat-4 hotels, not including the 5th nite free upon booking 4 consecutive nites. With say an average rack rate of $200 a nite, that would be $2000 to $2400 value, to offset those $510 net annual fees.
- 25K - signup for Amex SPG Personal, $120/yr through GCR for $30 rebate
- 10K - refer your partner to Amex SPG Personal
- 25K - partner successfully signs up for Amex SPG Personal, $120/yr
- 10K - partner refers you to Amex SPG Business
- 25K - you successfully sign up for Amex SPG Business, $150/yr
- 10K - refer your partner to Amex SPG Business
- 25K - partner successfully signs up for Amex SPG Business, $150/yr
- 5K - each card requires $1500 spending, so another 4500 points, round up to 5K
Each person would have to apply for 2 CCs, 2 to 3 months apart, and keep in mind about the minimum spending requirements to be completed within 90 days after card approvals.
135K of SPG points are valuated differently for each person. But as an example, that could be 11 nites of Cat-5 or 13 nites of Cat-4 hotels, not including the 5th nite free upon booking 4 consecutive nites. With say an average rack rate of $200 a nite, that would be $2000 to $2400 value, to offset those $510 net annual fees.
Last edited by JJonahJ; Jul 18, 2017 at 2:27 pm Reason: Added up wrong...should be 135K total
Jul 18, 2017, 12:48 pm
#763
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YYZ, YUL, PEK
Posts: 429
125K of SPG points are valuated differently for each person. But as an example, that could be 10 nites of Cat-5 or 12 nites of Cat-4 hotels, not including the 5th nite free upon booking 4 consecutive nites. With say an average rack rate of $200 a nite, that would be $2000 to $2400 value, to offset those $510 net annual fees.
Jul 18, 2017, 1:18 pm
#764
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Thanks Travelling Prince. I don't think there's any eye-openers in my post, it's really just a simple basic plan which spouses/pairs have been following for the past few years, nothing new or ground-shattering, other than the extra 5K welcome bonuses over 4 new cards, which end up pulling in an extra 20K.
Jul 18, 2017, 1:56 pm
#765
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 77
Something else to keep in mind is the Travel Package, right now with 35% bonus transfer to Aeroplan until late August. Probably can't get all those cards, but if you already have some SPG/MRP and can get there, it's a pretty good redemption.