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 12, 2017, 1:58 pm
#961
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
I wonder if there will still be people willing to pay $150 for the Personal Gold's 30K MR points. For years people have been happy to pay $120 for the Personal SPG's 20K, which is roughly 40K MR. Of course FYF would be preferred, but I can see some people willing to pay 0.5 cpp, especially those who need 30K to reach an Aeroplan redemption tier.
I agree with you Mark, as I too envision that Amex will likely want to rotate the FYF promo for the PG in the next few years, as the Aeroplan / AC breakup draws nearer. Based on recent trends, it now appears that Amex no longer wants to push their Aeroplan Plus cards much any more (no recent promos, upcoming change to referral program on Sep 27). So, I can see them attacking the wavering client base who are probably going to abandon their TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa CCs in the next couple of years, and the Personal Gold at FYF would be a suitable marketing bait to pull them in, similar to 2013 when they attacked the confused Aeroplan CC market with the FYF AeroPlus Gold card.
I agree with you Mark, as I too envision that Amex will likely want to rotate the FYF promo for the PG in the next few years, as the Aeroplan / AC breakup draws nearer. Based on recent trends, it now appears that Amex no longer wants to push their Aeroplan Plus cards much any more (no recent promos, upcoming change to referral program on Sep 27). So, I can see them attacking the wavering client base who are probably going to abandon their TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa CCs in the next couple of years, and the Personal Gold at FYF would be a suitable marketing bait to pull them in, similar to 2013 when they attacked the confused Aeroplan CC market with the FYF AeroPlus Gold card.
Sep 12, 2017, 2:45 pm
#962
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: YYZ (YUL/LHR)
Programs: AC - E50, CX - G, Accor Plat, SPG Gold
Posts: 903
Sep 12, 2017, 6:34 pm
#963
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: West
Posts: 3,357
For the last week or so, the email sever has not been accepting any messages. Is that just me or is there a problem which the site says temporary, when I try to send a message?
Was able to communicate on the 13th. Now waiting for a response.
Was able to communicate on the 13th. Now waiting for a response.
Last edited by 1Newflyer; Sep 13, 2017 at 5:05 pm Reason: update
Sep 12, 2017, 7:05 pm
#964
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Mark, here's the wording, copied from my Aeroplan Plus Platinum application landing page:
New American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Platinum Cardmembers earn 41,000 bonus Aeroplan Miles after they spend $3,000 in the first three months of Cardmembership.5 Offer subject to change at any time. To be eligible for this offer, you must apply by September 27th, 2017 through the link provided on this page. This Card will no longer be part of our referral program after this date.
Sep 12, 2017, 7:12 pm
#965
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Vancouver, BC
Programs: Aeroplan, Fairmont Plat, SPG Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 99
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, 7:17 pm
#966
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Looks like the post was removed... can't seem to find it on the website at all anymore. Is there a chance this isn't happening? That's such a great card, and actually probably worth the fee for 30,000 points. Another Canadian blogger has shared the same info without a source referenced and about 20 referral links to various other Amex cards.
Sep 12, 2017, 7:32 pm
#967
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: YQB
Programs: AC SE
Posts: 2,139
Apparently Amex Canada reached out to their bigger blogging affiliates and asked them to take down the pages that announced this upcoming change to the Personal Gold's FYF feature. Of course, there are those who aren't true partners and decide to keep herding the cattle into their referral-laden ranch, as true referring peddlers.
Sep 13, 2017, 8:32 am
#968
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
"No annual fee for the first year. A value of $150*"
Expect this (FYF) to disappear some time tomorrow, Sep 14. But other than referred and direct signups, there's also those that are sitting on sites like GCR and Perkopolis, which may still show the FYF, so if on say the 14th and beyond, if you want to take a chance on screenshots and then applying with them as proof of your online offer for FYF, there's that possibility too. Or as markandrew suggested, it may come back from time-to-time as a FYF promotional offer for a few months at a time.
Good luck to all.
Sep 13, 2017, 10:32 am
#969
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,847
I wonder if there will still be people willing to pay $150 for the Personal Gold's 30K MR points. For years people have been happy to pay $120 for the Personal SPG's 20K, which is roughly 40K MR. Of course FYF would be preferred, but I can see some people willing to pay 0.5 cpp, especially those who need 30K to reach an Aeroplan redemption tier.
I agree with you Mark, as I too envision that Amex will likely want to rotate the FYF promo for the PG in the next few years, as the Aeroplan / AC breakup draws nearer. Based on recent trends, it now appears that Amex no longer wants to push their Aeroplan Plus cards much any more (no recent promos, upcoming change to referral program on Sep 27). So, I can see them attacking the wavering client base who are probably going to abandon their TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa CCs in the next couple of years, and the Personal Gold at FYF would be a suitable marketing bait to pull them in, similar to 2013 when they attacked the confused Aeroplan CC market with the FYF AeroPlus Gold card.
I agree with you Mark, as I too envision that Amex will likely want to rotate the FYF promo for the PG in the next few years, as the Aeroplan / AC breakup draws nearer. Based on recent trends, it now appears that Amex no longer wants to push their Aeroplan Plus cards much any more (no recent promos, upcoming change to referral program on Sep 27). So, I can see them attacking the wavering client base who are probably going to abandon their TD and CIBC Aeroplan Visa CCs in the next couple of years, and the Personal Gold at FYF would be a suitable marketing bait to pull them in, similar to 2013 when they attacked the confused Aeroplan CC market with the FYF AeroPlus Gold card.
But considering that getting the sign-up bonus is not guaranteed anymore, getting this card is a bit risky. It was always low-risk with the FYF.
I'm beginning to wonder if I should apply today, to at least get in under the wire. But I only cancelled my last Gold Card about 6 months ago - I may have better chances of getting the bonus if I wait longer. Not to mention I've already applied for an SPG Biz and and RBC Avion in the past week - eeek (and both apps are still pending)...I'm scared to look at my credit rating!
Sep 13, 2017, 11:05 am
#970
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Hmmmm...I might be willing to pay the $150 for the 30K. I actually really love the Gold card...it's a good earner for me - I spend a lot at drug, groceries and gas, so the 2x the points are just great.
But considering that getting the sign-up bonus is not guaranteed anymore, getting this card is a bit risky. It was always low-risk with the FYF.
I'm beginning to wonder if I should apply today, to at least get in under the wire. But I only cancelled my last Gold Card about 6 months ago - I may have better chances of getting the bonus if I wait longer. Not to mention I've already applied for an SPG Biz and and RBC Avion in the past week - eeek (and both apps are still pending)...I'm scared to look at my credit rating!
But considering that getting the sign-up bonus is not guaranteed anymore, getting this card is a bit risky. It was always low-risk with the FYF.
I'm beginning to wonder if I should apply today, to at least get in under the wire. But I only cancelled my last Gold Card about 6 months ago - I may have better chances of getting the bonus if I wait longer. Not to mention I've already applied for an SPG Biz and and RBC Avion in the past week - eeek (and both apps are still pending)...I'm scared to look at my credit rating!
I've closed and re-opened Amex cards with short turnaround times, once with just one month gap, and another with one week. Both times I didn't get instant approval online, but with my good fortune I received the congratulatory email within 2 days (I did not call Amex to speed up the manual review) that I was approved and I got the full welcome points. Not everyone will have this same 'luck'.
If you apply, list your Personal SPG card as your other existing card as this will help Amex to ID you correctly when pulling your Transunion credit file, without having to contact you (try to minimize/avoid dialog'ing with them).
Sep 13, 2017, 12:48 pm
#971
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kan@da
Programs: Anything with sweet spots
Posts: 1,790
Has anyone seen "statement credit" offers for the AMEX AirMiles Reserve card ? I saw one on AirCanada.com when I was in the process of making a flight reservation.
It offered a statement credit of $100 or $150, I don't remember exactly
It offered a statement credit of $100 or $150, I don't remember exactly
Sep 13, 2017, 3:40 pm
#973
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 73
There was a $100 statement credit offered with the Aeroplan Plus cards recently, but haven't seen that for AM card.
Sep 14, 2017, 6:29 am
#974
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: YQB
Programs: AC SE
Posts: 2,139
And the Amex Personnal Gold is now officially no longer FYF. The Amex website has been updated as of this morning. Looks like Rewards Canada was right!
Sep 14, 2017, 7:32 am
#975
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Anyways, there are those dreaded (missing) words on the Gold signup page:
$150 Annual Fee*
At the GreatCanadianRebates GCR site, the initial offer page mentions:
No Annual Fee for the first year; $150 Annual Fee thereafter*
However, when you click thru to apply, at the official Amex page in no longer mentions FYF for the primary card. So, with the $50 cash back it's a net of $100 annual fee, but on the downside, no additional 5,000 MR points when applying through GCR, only if you apply via an existing cardholder's referral.
For those who are interested, Perkopolis still shows the $99 annual fee offer. I don't know the details on how to sign up for this though. Never played here before.
-----
Dear FYF-Gold-MR card, RIP. We've been through a lot of adventures together. Hope to see you come by for a visit again, real soon.
Your old friend, JJJ
Last edited by JJonahJ; Sep 14, 2017 at 8:21 am