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)
Sep 7, 2017, 3:56 pm
#946
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,847
First time Personal Gold MR card for family member.
Errr????
- Activated new Gold card and spent $1500 within 2 weeks.
- Waited a few days, saw all the purchases posted, well over $1500, but no automatic reward of 25,000 welcome points.
- Waited another week, still no points, so Secured Message was sent to Amex.
- Amex responded to say: "This is not your first time with the Gold card, no points for you".
Errr????
Sep 8, 2017, 5:12 am
#947
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 81
Does anyone know if the lounge benefit for the Canadian Platinum Amex is the same as for the US version? Specifically with regards to family access for Priority Pass, ie a Priority Pass Select membership?
This is the link I found but I'm not sure if it is for both versions.
http://https://www.americanexpress.c...ction/platinum
Thanks.
This is the link I found but I'm not sure if it is for both versions.
http://https://www.americanexpress.c...ction/platinum
Thanks.
Sep 8, 2017, 5:59 am
#948
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: NB, Canada
Programs: Fairmont, Amex MR, Marriott
Posts: 2,531
Does anyone know if the lounge benefit for the Canadian Platinum Amex is the same as for the US version? Specifically with regards to family access for Priority Pass, ie a Priority Pass Select membership?
This is the link I found but I'm not sure if it is for both versions.
http://https://www.americanexpress.c...ction/platinum
Thanks.
This is the link I found but I'm not sure if it is for both versions.
http://https://www.americanexpress.c...ction/platinum
Thanks.
With the Canadian version you are limited to one guest free. After that $27 per person.
Sep 8, 2017, 7:13 am
#949
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YYZ, YUL, PEK
Posts: 429
PoT,
Two separate questions:
Any experience with these two cases?
Thanks, JJJ
Two separate questions:
- Does it matter if the address that you list when you are linking to the Aeroplan account is NOT the same as your own address on file with Amex for your cards, or do you make sure they are the same?
- If say you list your own address at this form, but the actual address on the Aeroplan account is different, does that matter?
Any experience with these two cases?
Thanks, JJJ
Sep 11, 2017, 8:58 am
#951
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Canada
Programs: Aeroplan 50K, Bonvoy Titanium, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 292
Hello all,
I have a question. I have held am AMEX Business Platinum card since March 2017 and I have made the limit of 225,000 referral points from family and friends.
My question is, is this limit reset on the next calendar year of January 2018 or next membership year of March 2018?
Thank you.
I have a question. I have held am AMEX Business Platinum card since March 2017 and I have made the limit of 225,000 referral points from family and friends.
My question is, is this limit reset on the next calendar year of January 2018 or next membership year of March 2018?
Thank you.
Sep 11, 2017, 9:12 am
#952
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Prince Edward Island
Programs: Air Canada P25K, Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Gold, MGM Gold
Posts: 1,582
I'm pretty sure it's calendar year.
Sep 11, 2017, 7:56 pm
#954
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
I'm new to applying for multiple Amex cards, but the SPG card with 25,000 bonus miles seems too good to pass up, now that I can convert them to Marriott Rewards, which I use a lot.
My question is whether any option/benefit would exist for self-referral as I already have the Amex Plat? Also can self-referral be combined with the $30 GCR rebate?
Thanks.
My question is whether any option/benefit would exist for self-referral as I already have the Amex Plat? Also can self-referral be combined with the $30 GCR rebate?
Thanks.
Sep 11, 2017, 8:21 pm
#955
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
I'm new to applying for multiple Amex cards, but the SPG card with 25,000 bonus miles seems too good to pass up, now that I can convert them to Marriott Rewards, which I use a lot.
My question is whether any option/benefit would exist for self-referral as I already have the Amex Plat? Also can self-referral be combined with the $30 GCR rebate?
Thanks.
My question is whether any option/benefit would exist for self-referral as I already have the Amex Plat? Also can self-referral be combined with the $30 GCR rebate?
Thanks.
For the Personal SPG, apply through GCR to get the $30 cash back, as there's no benefit to use a friend's referral unless you want to gift them the points. You can not get the $30 GCR cash back as well as combine it with a referred signup...
If you can get the Personal SPG in time (by Sep 27, as Amex has hinted something will happen to the SPG referring program after this date) you can then use it to self-refer to the Biz SPG to earn 10K for the referral. Both the Personal and Biz SPG promos offer 25K welcome point, until Oct 18.
If you have a partner to do the SPG cards, you can earn 135K Total points, $510 total net annual fees after $30 GCR rebate. I wrote about it here:
American Express Canada application and reward strategies (2017)
Sep 11, 2017, 11:16 pm
#956
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: West
Posts: 3,357
If you can get the Personal SPG in time (by Sep 27, as Amex has hinted something will happen to the SPG referring program after this date) you can then use it to self-refer to the Biz SPG to earn 10K for the referral. Both the Personal and Biz SPG promos offer 25K welcome point, until Oct 18.
Sep 12, 2017, 10:38 am
#957
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Nothing has been revealed yet. It's all up to the imagination on what can happen:
- No more points for referring, like what happened to the Personal Gold MR?
- Reduced from 10K to 5K, also like what happened to the PG MR?
- Increasing from 10K to 25K, like what happened to the Biz Plat MR?
- Amex is initiating its exit strategy from the SPG partnership?
Sep 12, 2017, 10:40 am
#958
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
but another BAD news for AMEX
http://blog.rewardscanada.ca/2017/09...ards-card.html
If you have been thinking about getting Canada's #1 Travel Rewards Card you need to apply for it by tomorrow! Or if you had it, cancelled it and were waiting to reapply (ie churn it via your referral program etc.) you should apply today or tomorrow. The reason why is that after nearly 7 years of being a first year free card, the card will no longer offer it. As of September 14th the Gold Rewards Card's $150 annual fee will be charged from day one.
http://blog.rewardscanada.ca/2017/09...ards-card.html
If you have been thinking about getting Canada's #1 Travel Rewards Card you need to apply for it by tomorrow! Or if you had it, cancelled it and were waiting to reapply (ie churn it via your referral program etc.) you should apply today or tomorrow. The reason why is that after nearly 7 years of being a first year free card, the card will no longer offer it. As of September 14th the Gold Rewards Card's $150 annual fee will be charged from day one.
Sep 12, 2017, 11:19 am
#959
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 58
What's the most recent data point of a successful Business Plat -> Personal Gold referral bonus posting ?
Last edited by rodriarano; Sep 12, 2017 at 11:42 am
Sep 12, 2017, 1:02 pm
#960
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: YYZ (YUL/LHR)
Programs: AC - E50, CX - G, Accor Plat, SPG Gold
Posts: 903
It is interesting that barring the temporary SPG uplift, it has been consistently very bad news from Amex for a long time. This while other card issuers are improving their offerings, even Avion, which has been so staunchly stuck in the classic 15,000 / $120 paradigm has become more competitive on sign up. The AX Aeroplan card is utterly uncompetitive and now this is being written down.
Even worse, is that this coincides with deterioration on the servicing side, less benefits and increasingly poor telephone service, many instances where simple things cannot be resolved in a single call, call backs not happening, e-mail messaging is just an illusion - they almost never answer the question asked. If you want to redress the sign up side of the equation, then the cardholder experience should be improved but the opposite is happening.
I expect 1. A backlash, 2. The card will be rotationally offered FYF which will help them to leverage it as a promotion (as other banks do) and better track the demand, and purge some churners since the cardholder has to be willing to pay annual fee from the outset.
Even worse, is that this coincides with deterioration on the servicing side, less benefits and increasingly poor telephone service, many instances where simple things cannot be resolved in a single call, call backs not happening, e-mail messaging is just an illusion - they almost never answer the question asked. If you want to redress the sign up side of the equation, then the cardholder experience should be improved but the opposite is happening.
I expect 1. A backlash, 2. The card will be rotationally offered FYF which will help them to leverage it as a promotion (as other banks do) and better track the demand, and purge some churners since the cardholder has to be willing to pay annual fee from the outset.