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 25, 2017, 5:39 am
#811
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: YOW
Programs: AC-25k, Marriott-Platinum
Posts: 55
Hey everyone, is the business platinum still churnable? If so anybody got a referral link or know of a good link for the welcome bonus?
Jul 25, 2017, 6:11 am
#812
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
If you have the Personal Platinum or Business Gold MR card, just do a self-referral to earn 15K / 10K bonus for yourself. But, definitely do NOT apply directly at AMEX.ca, as the non-referred signup is only going to earn 40K welcome bonus points, instead of the referred 75K.
Last edited by JJonahJ; Jul 25, 2017 at 6:30 am
Jul 25, 2017, 6:56 am
#813
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Did they remove the option to choose a different card from the referrer's page? I have scanned my referral page from top to bottom and I cannot see the option to choose a different card. I have the SPG business Amex, and my friend would like the SPG Personal Amex. TIA
Jul 25, 2017, 2:03 pm
#814
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 154
Did they remove the option to choose a different card from the referrer's page? I have scanned my referral page from top to bottom and I cannot see the option to choose a different card. I have the SPG business Amex, and my friend would like the SPG Personal Amex. TIA
Jul 25, 2017, 3:12 pm
#815
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kan@da
Programs: Anything with sweet spots
Posts: 1,790
We need to know if referral points can still be earned on Personal Gold card applications referred from Biz Plat using the "tweaked" link.
Last edited by MasterGeek; Jul 25, 2017 at 4:03 pm
Jul 25, 2017, 4:21 pm
#816
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,408
Jul 25, 2017, 8:12 pm
#817
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Canadia
Programs: A loyal Amerisuites customer... oh wait
Posts: 2,033
I don't expect FYF to come back.
1 Starpoint is worth much more than 1 point in any other hotel program.
I value Starpoints at > 2 cents (Canadian) each.
So 25,000 SPG = $500... to me.
For me, this would be the single best intro offer available right now.
Jul 26, 2017, 6:04 am
#818
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,521
There have been several successful datapoints from people who had applied for the SPG (Personal and Business) recently, when it was at the normal 20K welcome offer level, but a Secured-Message to Amex has resulted in a manual addition of 5K to match the current 25K welcome offers (until Oct 18, 2017).
Give it a shot. YMMV.
Give it a shot. YMMV.
^Received today:
For you, I have taken an exception and credited your Reward account with 5,000 additional points to match the ongoing offer.
These points and the points you earn in this billing period will be transferred to the associated SPG account in 3-5 business days after the statement generation date which is August 20, 2017.
We will always go an extra mile to serve to you the best you truly deserve.
If there is anything else we can assist you with, feel free to write us and we will be happy to help you.
These points and the points you earn in this billing period will be transferred to the associated SPG account in 3-5 business days after the statement generation date which is August 20, 2017.
We will always go an extra mile to serve to you the best you truly deserve.
If there is anything else we can assist you with, feel free to write us and we will be happy to help you.
Jul 26, 2017, 8:41 am
#819
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Thanks for the positive datapoint, MG!
Just so people don't have to dig back to find out, you were approved Mar 1, and received the card Mar 29. Finally got your 20K welcome points recently in mid-July. Contacted Amex by Secured-Message email yesterday (Jul 25) and got the extra 5K to match the current SPG Amex (personal and business cards) 3-month promotion for 25K welcome points. I would suggest others to do the same, before Amex decides to stop being so generous. The 3 month promo for 25K on the SPG cards runs till Oct 18, 2017. I've updated it in this thread's Wiki section.
Even though they are changing the 'game', I still love Amex.
JJJ
Just so people don't have to dig back to find out, you were approved Mar 1, and received the card Mar 29. Finally got your 20K welcome points recently in mid-July. Contacted Amex by Secured-Message email yesterday (Jul 25) and got the extra 5K to match the current SPG Amex (personal and business cards) 3-month promotion for 25K welcome points. I would suggest others to do the same, before Amex decides to stop being so generous. The 3 month promo for 25K on the SPG cards runs till Oct 18, 2017. I've updated it in this thread's Wiki section.
Even though they are changing the 'game', I still love Amex.
JJJ
Jul 26, 2017, 8:53 am
#820
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YYZ, YUL, PEK
Posts: 429
Messaged Amex on 2/2 of my cards, successful as well.
Jul 26, 2017, 9:33 am
#822
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
JK'ing. Did you call Amex, and got the denial? If so, try the Secured-Message way instead. Hurry, before they run out of popcorn.
Jul 26, 2017, 9:49 am
#823
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 77
I did the secure message way. I sent another message back asking for reconsideration, noting that several other people had gotten it. Will see what they come back with.
Jul 26, 2017, 10:43 am
#824
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,847
Yes, it has, in the past.
I don't expect FYF to come back.
1 Starpoint is worth much more than 1 point in any other hotel program.
I value Starpoints at > 2 cents (Canadian) each.
So 25,000 SPG = $500... to me.
For me, this would be the single best intro offer available right now.
I don't expect FYF to come back.
1 Starpoint is worth much more than 1 point in any other hotel program.
I value Starpoints at > 2 cents (Canadian) each.
So 25,000 SPG = $500... to me.
For me, this would be the single best intro offer available right now.
Jul 26, 2017, 11:10 am
#825
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: YQB
Programs: AC SE
Posts: 2,139
Thanks for the positive datapoint, MG!
Just so people don't have to dig back to find out, you were approved Mar 1, and received the card Mar 29. Finally got your 20K welcome points recently in mid-July. Contacted Amex by Secured-Message email yesterday (Jul 25) and got the extra 5K to match the current SPG Amex (personal and business cards) 3-month promotion for 25K welcome points. I would suggest others to do the same, before Amex decides to stop being so generous. The 3 month promo for 25K on the SPG cards runs till Oct 18, 2017. I've updated it in this thread's Wiki section.
Even though they are changing the 'game', I still love Amex.
JJJ
Just so people don't have to dig back to find out, you were approved Mar 1, and received the card Mar 29. Finally got your 20K welcome points recently in mid-July. Contacted Amex by Secured-Message email yesterday (Jul 25) and got the extra 5K to match the current SPG Amex (personal and business cards) 3-month promotion for 25K welcome points. I would suggest others to do the same, before Amex decides to stop being so generous. The 3 month promo for 25K on the SPG cards runs till Oct 18, 2017. I've updated it in this thread's Wiki section.
Even though they are changing the 'game', I still love Amex.
JJJ