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)
Oct 27, 2017, 1:23 pm
#1066
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC
Posts: 379
Plastiq not working with Amex
Just a heads-up: tried today and got the message. Not sure if it's just a temporary thing. Plastiq not taking Amex is a big deal for some.
Oct 27, 2017, 1:46 pm
#1067
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Nov 13, 2017, 9:36 pm
#1068
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: London / Los Angeles
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, BA Silver
Posts: 1,631
Does supplemental cardholder spending count towards spend req for signup bonus?
Nov 14, 2017, 11:35 am
#1070
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Canadia
Programs: A loyal Amerisuites customer... oh wait
Posts: 2,033
Here are my present holdings:
• Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express (2017/07)
• Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express (2017/10)
• American Express Gold Rewards Card (2017/10)
• Scotiabank Gold American Express Card (2017/03)
Recently cancelled: American Express Business Gold Rewards Card
I'm considering applying for the Platinum Business card (took me long enough to do this).
I think I can manage the minimum spend okay.
Here are my questions...
• Platinum Business seems to give me better value.
Testimonials in favour of that idea, or rebuttals against that, are appreciated.
• Is it too soon to apply now, having just cancelled the Amex Business Gold?
• If I were to apply for the Platinum (non-business), which comes with the $200/year travel credit, when will I get the card and when will I receive the travel credit? Is it too late to receive and use the 2017 travel credit?
• Will applying for this card mess me up in applying for the Cobalt card too?
So many questions.
• Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express (2017/07)
• Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express (2017/10)
• American Express Gold Rewards Card (2017/10)
• Scotiabank Gold American Express Card (2017/03)
Recently cancelled: American Express Business Gold Rewards Card
I'm considering applying for the Platinum Business card (took me long enough to do this).
I think I can manage the minimum spend okay.
Here are my questions...
• Platinum Business seems to give me better value.
Testimonials in favour of that idea, or rebuttals against that, are appreciated.
• Is it too soon to apply now, having just cancelled the Amex Business Gold?
• If I were to apply for the Platinum (non-business), which comes with the $200/year travel credit, when will I get the card and when will I receive the travel credit? Is it too late to receive and use the 2017 travel credit?
• Will applying for this card mess me up in applying for the Cobalt card too?
So many questions.
Nov 14, 2017, 12:00 pm
#1071
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Prince Edward Island
Programs: Air Canada P25K, Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Gold, MGM Gold
Posts: 1,582
It has most of the perks of personal platinum except:
- the priority pass membership with the business platinum requires a $27 fee/visit (the membership that comes with the personal platinum has free priority pass visits). However, you still have free access to the Plaza Premium lounges in Canada and the Centurion lounges with the business card.
- the business version doesn't give Hilton Honors gold status (which the personal version does). However, you should be able to status match from your SPG gold status (I did).
Last edited by Low Roller; Nov 14, 2017 at 12:31 pm
Nov 14, 2017, 12:19 pm
#1072
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Here are my present holdings:
• Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express (2017/07)
• Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express (2017/10)
• American Express Gold Rewards Card (2017/10)
• Scotiabank Gold American Express Card (2017/03)
Recently cancelled: American Express Business Gold Rewards Card
I'm considering applying for the Platinum Business card (took me long enough to do this).
I think I can manage the minimum spend okay.
Here are my questions...
• Platinum Business seems to give me better value.
Testimonials in favour of that idea, or rebuttals against that, are appreciated.
• Is it too soon to apply now, having just cancelled the Amex Business Gold?
• If I were to apply for the Platinum (non-business), which comes with the $200/year travel credit, when will I get the card and when will I receive the travel credit? Is it too late to receive and use the 2017 travel credit?
• Will applying for this card mess me up in applying for the Cobalt card too?
So many questions.
• Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express (2017/07)
• Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express (2017/10)
• American Express Gold Rewards Card (2017/10)
• Scotiabank Gold American Express Card (2017/03)
Recently cancelled: American Express Business Gold Rewards Card
I'm considering applying for the Platinum Business card (took me long enough to do this).
I think I can manage the minimum spend okay.
Here are my questions...
• Platinum Business seems to give me better value.
Testimonials in favour of that idea, or rebuttals against that, are appreciated.
• Is it too soon to apply now, having just cancelled the Amex Business Gold?
• If I were to apply for the Platinum (non-business), which comes with the $200/year travel credit, when will I get the card and when will I receive the travel credit? Is it too late to receive and use the 2017 travel credit?
• Will applying for this card mess me up in applying for the Cobalt card too?
So many questions.
- highest welcome bonus of the MR cards, 75K after $5K spending
- highest referring bonus powers, 25K per approved referral to itself, Personal Plat or Business Gold
- Business Platinum is a not going to re-open your recently cancelled Business Gold, so no worries on that front.
- both the Platinum and Business Platinum (usually) will get FedEx priority delivery, so you can get it as soon as 2-3 business days
- only limited access to lounges for free, but does include Amex Centurion and most Plaza Premium lounges (see my post about this) American Express Canada application and reward strategies (2017)
- lower annual fee ($399) compared to the Personal Plat's $699
Pros for the Personal Platinum (non-business)
- second highest welcome bonus of the MR cards, 60K after $3K spending
- second highest referring bonus powers, 15K per approved referral to itself, Business Plat or Business Gold
- superior access to free lounges because of the better Priority Pass membership that you receive.
- you can use the 2017 $200 travel credit, not too late. Reduces your AF to $499. You get the $200 calendar credit to your card balance once you book for travel through Amex Travel services (onllne or phone). I'm not going to comment on what many people tend to do to get this accomplished, not publicly anyways.
- you may also get the 2018 $200 travel credit, but no guarantees that it will not get clawed back if you also got it for 2017. Many have got it for 2 calendar years, but more reports in recent months about getting the second one clawed back. Treat it as a bonus if it sticks, and then it's effectively $299 annual fee. You should cancel well before the 2nd year's annual fee is posted to increase your chances to keep the credit.
Applying for the Business Platinum card will minimally impact your chances for approval for the Cobalt card, because I know you're a long time Amex cardholder with good history. HOWEVER, since the Cobalt is also a CREDIT card, it will not be approved until you cancel one of your other two AMEX CREDIT cards, the Personal SPG and/or Business SPG. AMEX Canada has a TWO CREDIT card maximum.
HTH,
JJJ
Last edited by JJonahJ; Nov 14, 2017 at 12:32 pm Reason: clarify when the Plat $200 travel credit is applied
Nov 14, 2017, 12:59 pm
#1073
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Canadia
Programs: A loyal Amerisuites customer... oh wait
Posts: 2,033
Applying for the Business Platinum card will minimally impact your chances for approval for the Cobalt card, because I know you're a long time Amex cardholder with good history. HOWEVER, since the Cobalt is also a CREDIT card, it will not be approved until you cancel one of your other two AMEX CREDIT cards, the Personal SPG and/or Business SPG. AMEX Canada has a TWO CREDIT card maximum.
YEG, YYZ and YWG are the airports I am in the most, so Plaza Premium access should work well for me.
Nov 14, 2017, 1:58 pm
#1074
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,847
Applying for the Business Platinum card will minimally impact your chances for approval for the Cobalt card, because I know you're a long time Amex cardholder with good history. HOWEVER, since the Cobalt is also a CREDIT card, it will not be approved until you cancel one of your other two AMEX CREDIT cards, the Personal SPG and/or Business SPG. AMEX Canada has a TWO CREDIT card maximum.
HTH,
JJJ
I'd be curious to know if they make the same exception for you!
Nov 14, 2017, 2:09 pm
#1075
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: YWG
Programs: Aeroplan, MileagePlus, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 2,159
Further to the lounges thing, can any of you plat/biz plat vets shed any light on how many guests you can bring into Plaza Premium/Centurion/Delta Sky Clubs?
Nov 14, 2017, 2:30 pm
#1076
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,405
Whenever I use PP lounges I ask people in the line if they're planning to pay and I guest someone in. People are always very surprised and grateful, starts both of our trips out on a good note
Nov 14, 2017, 3:20 pm
#1077
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Platinum Cardholders from American Express
Customers with select Platinum American Express credit cards may access Delta Sky Clubs when traveling on a same-day Delta operated flight or Delta marketed WestJet operated flight booked through Delta (tickets starting with the number 006). Does not include Delta SkyMiles co-branded American Express Platinum Card. Platinum American Express cardholders may enter the club with up to two guests for an additional fee.
Customers with select Platinum American Express credit cards may access Delta Sky Clubs when traveling on a same-day Delta operated flight or Delta marketed WestJet operated flight booked through Delta (tickets starting with the number 006). Does not include Delta SkyMiles co-branded American Express Platinum Card. Platinum American Express cardholders may enter the club with up to two guests for an additional fee.
Nov 14, 2017, 6:33 pm
#1079
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: YYC
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Fairmont Plat, IHG Spire, SPG Gold, WS Gold, Hertz PC, National E Elite,
Posts: 2,768
How strict has AMEX been about the one lifetime bonus thing lately?
Nov 14, 2017, 8:31 pm
#1080
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
I was an exception to the max 2 credit cards rule: they approved the Cobalt card for me, while I still held the SPG Biz and SPG personal - they just lowered my limit on the SPG Personal (so much so, that the intent is to cancel at some point).
I'd be curious to know if they make the same exception for you!
I'd be curious to know if they make the same exception for you!
I thought we already discussed this at the Amex Cobalt thread, and was certain I replied to you already. But I just looked and I guess I didn't post a response that I had typed up. Oh well.
Anyways, that's not really an exception, long term. You and I got exceptions only because there was an outstanding item. In your case, a balance - in my case, I had a pending referral for the card that was to be cancelled, so Amex simply lowered the limit of the card that was going to be cancelled. For me, card had become a $1 credit limit, thereby effectively making it a non-effective card while at the same time it stayed alive so I could get the referring bonus points, and open my '3rd' Amex CREDIT card product.
For me, once the pending bonus points for the referral posted, they then truly closed the down the older card, so my 3 CREDIT card state only lasted for a couple of weeks. I would expect the same will happen to your $200 limit SPG card, but if not, you can continue to use the card if you wanted to, by pre-loading a credit balance onto the card if you'd like, and then making say a $500 purchase. But, you won't need to do that since you still have the Biz SPG card to use for earning SPG points.