Jan 7, 2018, 10:23 am
Last edit by: MasterGeek
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 (2017). All the listed offers below are still valid as of January 2018.
AMEX Business Gold Rewards - $250/year,FYF, 40K MR (by referral, else only 30K) after $5000 spending
(no longer FYF as of Jun 26, 2018)
Updated as of Jan 22, 2018
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 SPG - $120/year, 25K SPG after $1500 spending + $30 GCR cashback
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 thread is a continuation of: Churning Amex in Canada (2017). All the listed offers below are still valid as of January 2018.
AMEX Business Gold Rewards - $250/year,
(no longer FYF as of Jun 26, 2018)
Updated as of Jan 22, 2018
AMEX Gold Rewards - $150/year,
- 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
- Jan 22, 2018, as of Sep 14, 2017 the Amex Gold MR is no longer FYF. $150/yr applies on first statement. Only another Gold or Cobalt card can refer to Gold (and vice versa) for a 5,000 MR bonus. The Personal Gold cannot refer to Business Gold, Personal Platinum nor Business Platinum.
AMEX SPG - $120/year, 25K SPG after $1500 spending + $30 GCR cashback
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)
American Express Canada application and reward strategies
Dec 6, 2018, 2:03 pm
#481
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: YYZ
Programs: AA LT Plat, AC 25K, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,137
I signed up AMEX Platinum personal, 60k points was posted immediately after crossed $5k spending. Later I legitimately returned one of the goods and saw the 60k was deducted from my MR account. I am pretty confident that I will cross $5k spending again.
The question is - will the computer automatically redeposit 60k to my account upon $5k spending again? Or I have to wait the "8-10 weeks" game? Just don't want to become neuroticism to chase the 60k in the next 3 month.
The question is - will the computer automatically redeposit 60k to my account upon $5k spending again? Or I have to wait the "8-10 weeks" game? Just don't want to become neuroticism to chase the 60k in the next 3 month.
Dec 14, 2018, 12:25 pm
#482
Join Date: May 2009
Location: YUL via ARN, PVG, ICN & YOW
Posts: 75
i guess this is how it ends.
as context:
been a card holder 15+ years.
various products then personal gold up until 2016-ish, before a bit of churn with self-ref to personal platinum, and then self-ref to business platinum until this summer, and now back to gold with the perkopolis promo.
after signing up for perkopolis promo for personal gold, i blew through the welcome bonus criteria, but saw nothing for bonus or statement credit even 4.5/5 months after sign-up.
emailed asking, and received standard copy and paste, so phoned today.
was told that i had a "notation" on my account and that i wasn't eligible for welcome bonus miles because i had previously held a gold card.
i explained that nowhere in the perkopolis promo did they indicate previously holding a gold card precluded my earning a) the welcome points, b) the waived annual fee first year, or c) the recurring bonus points each year. i even conceded that the welcome points weren't the end of the world if those t's and c's appeared elsewhere, but b & c were important to me and half the reason i came back to the gold card.
phone rep went so far as to explain that t's and c's are intentionally vague and are adjusted from time to time and there was nothing she could do. i told her i'd call back to cancel after i transferred out my points and paid some bills off, etc.. and she made no attempt at retention.
monthly spend for the past 4-5 years on AMEX products exceeds $7500 (relatively low value, but not nothing...)
the other card in my wallet is a canadian coalition loyalty program, so i guess it's time to ask myself whether i:
-cut my losses with amex and focus all spend on aforementioned card....
-give Cobalt card a try even with MR SELECT-->SPG -->AEROPLAN being a losing value prop and statement credits/AMEX travel rewards being bunk
-swallow my pride and keep plugging away with the personal gold
Anyone in a similar boat?
as context:
been a card holder 15+ years.
various products then personal gold up until 2016-ish, before a bit of churn with self-ref to personal platinum, and then self-ref to business platinum until this summer, and now back to gold with the perkopolis promo.
after signing up for perkopolis promo for personal gold, i blew through the welcome bonus criteria, but saw nothing for bonus or statement credit even 4.5/5 months after sign-up.
emailed asking, and received standard copy and paste, so phoned today.
was told that i had a "notation" on my account and that i wasn't eligible for welcome bonus miles because i had previously held a gold card.
i explained that nowhere in the perkopolis promo did they indicate previously holding a gold card precluded my earning a) the welcome points, b) the waived annual fee first year, or c) the recurring bonus points each year. i even conceded that the welcome points weren't the end of the world if those t's and c's appeared elsewhere, but b & c were important to me and half the reason i came back to the gold card.
phone rep went so far as to explain that t's and c's are intentionally vague and are adjusted from time to time and there was nothing she could do. i told her i'd call back to cancel after i transferred out my points and paid some bills off, etc.. and she made no attempt at retention.
monthly spend for the past 4-5 years on AMEX products exceeds $7500 (relatively low value, but not nothing...)
the other card in my wallet is a canadian coalition loyalty program, so i guess it's time to ask myself whether i:
-cut my losses with amex and focus all spend on aforementioned card....
-give Cobalt card a try even with MR SELECT-->SPG -->AEROPLAN being a losing value prop and statement credits/AMEX travel rewards being bunk
-swallow my pride and keep plugging away with the personal gold
Anyone in a similar boat?
Last edited by tehdee; Dec 14, 2018 at 3:09 pm Reason: typos, brevity & formatting
Dec 14, 2018, 2:17 pm
#483
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: YWG
Programs: Aeroplan, MileagePlus, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 2,159
the other card in my wallet is another canadian coalition loyalty program (work purposes), so i guess it's time to ask myself whether i:
-cut my losses with amex and focus all spend on aforementioned card....
-give Cobalt card a try even with MR SELECT-->SPG -->AEROPLAN being a losing value prop and statement credits/AMEX travel rewards being bunk
-swallow my pride and keep plugging away with the personal gold
Anyone in a similar boat?
-cut my losses with amex and focus all spend on aforementioned card....
-give Cobalt card a try even with MR SELECT-->SPG -->AEROPLAN being a losing value prop and statement credits/AMEX travel rewards being bunk
-swallow my pride and keep plugging away with the personal gold
Anyone in a similar boat?
I've never had the personal plat and the Cobalt so I will at least sign up for those two in 2019. But beyond that, I don't know. The SPG card seems like the only one that is worth it for me to retain since the complimentary night each year makes up for the annual fee.
Dec 19, 2018, 10:34 am
#485
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YVR - MILLS Waypoint (It's the third house on the left)
Programs: AC*SE100K, wood level status in various other programs
Posts: 6,222
Dec 20, 2018, 2:38 pm
#486
Join Date: Oct 2002
Programs: United Premier 1K
Posts: 1,230
Did points to BA used to transfer instantly? I thought that they did, and they still appear to in the US. But in my Canadian MR account it's saying 5 days.
Anyone have any recent experience on how long the transfer takes?
Anyone have any recent experience on how long the transfer takes?
Dec 20, 2018, 7:31 pm
#487
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
It was never instant (only Aeroplan is)
but recently (during the +30% promo) it took 2-3 days only for me to show up
Dec 22, 2018, 5:32 am
#488
Join Date: Oct 2002
Programs: United Premier 1K
Posts: 1,230
I did get an email earlier Friday from Amex saying the transfer was complete, but it took additional time to see the points in my BA account.
Dec 31, 2018, 6:42 am
#489
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
Programs: IHG Gold
Posts: 4,820
Just got an email inviting me to upgrade to Platinum and Earn up to 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards® Pointsą.
I had a Plat card about 1.5 years ago...I had thought that Amex had changed up things so that you only got the bonus offers once, and that as a previous Plat member I would not be eligible, at least if I applied in the normal manner. This promo though has a link I have to use to get the offer, so I presume it's legit. I obviously don't want to apply it they are going to stiff me on the 50,000 points later
1. Account must be in good standing. Membership Rewards points will be earned by the Basic Cardmember on the amount of all purchases, less credits and adjustments. Interest charges, annual fees, other fees and charges for Travellers Cheques and foreign currencies are not purchases and do not qualify for Membership Rewards Points. To qualify for 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have at least $1,000 in net purchases posted to your account in your first 3 months of Platinum Card membership. To qualify for an additional 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have an additional $2,000 in net purchases posted to your account in the first three months of Platinum Card membership. To qualify for a total of 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have at least $3,000 or more in net purchases posted to your account in your first 3 months. Please allow up to eight weeks for the bonus(es) to be awarded if you qualified. Bonus amounts will appear as separate transactions and may not be credited at the same time. Offer subject to change without notice.
I had a Plat card about 1.5 years ago...I had thought that Amex had changed up things so that you only got the bonus offers once, and that as a previous Plat member I would not be eligible, at least if I applied in the normal manner. This promo though has a link I have to use to get the offer, so I presume it's legit. I obviously don't want to apply it they are going to stiff me on the 50,000 points later
1. Account must be in good standing. Membership Rewards points will be earned by the Basic Cardmember on the amount of all purchases, less credits and adjustments. Interest charges, annual fees, other fees and charges for Travellers Cheques and foreign currencies are not purchases and do not qualify for Membership Rewards Points. To qualify for 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have at least $1,000 in net purchases posted to your account in your first 3 months of Platinum Card membership. To qualify for an additional 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have an additional $2,000 in net purchases posted to your account in the first three months of Platinum Card membership. To qualify for a total of 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have at least $3,000 or more in net purchases posted to your account in your first 3 months. Please allow up to eight weeks for the bonus(es) to be awarded if you qualified. Bonus amounts will appear as separate transactions and may not be credited at the same time. Offer subject to change without notice.
Jan 1, 2019, 9:47 am
#490
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Just got an email inviting me to upgrade to Platinum and Earn up to 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards® Pointsą.
I had a Plat card about 1.5 years ago...I had thought that Amex had changed up things so that you only got the bonus offers once, and that as a previous Plat member I would not be eligible, at least if I applied in the normal manner. This promo though has a link I have to use to get the offer, so I presume it's legit. I obviously don't want to apply it they are going to stiff me on the 50,000 points later
1. Account must be in good standing. Membership Rewards points will be earned by the Basic Cardmember on the amount of all purchases, less credits and adjustments. Interest charges, annual fees, other fees and charges for Travellers Cheques and foreign currencies are not purchases and do not qualify for Membership Rewards Points. To qualify for 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have at least $1,000 in net purchases posted to your account in your first 3 months of Platinum Card membership. To qualify for an additional 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have an additional $2,000 in net purchases posted to your account in the first three months of Platinum Card membership. To qualify for a total of 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have at least $3,000 or more in net purchases posted to your account in your first 3 months. Please allow up to eight weeks for the bonus(es) to be awarded if you qualified. Bonus amounts will appear as separate transactions and may not be credited at the same time. Offer subject to change without notice.
I had a Plat card about 1.5 years ago...I had thought that Amex had changed up things so that you only got the bonus offers once, and that as a previous Plat member I would not be eligible, at least if I applied in the normal manner. This promo though has a link I have to use to get the offer, so I presume it's legit. I obviously don't want to apply it they are going to stiff me on the 50,000 points later
1. Account must be in good standing. Membership Rewards points will be earned by the Basic Cardmember on the amount of all purchases, less credits and adjustments. Interest charges, annual fees, other fees and charges for Travellers Cheques and foreign currencies are not purchases and do not qualify for Membership Rewards Points. To qualify for 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have at least $1,000 in net purchases posted to your account in your first 3 months of Platinum Card membership. To qualify for an additional 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have an additional $2,000 in net purchases posted to your account in the first three months of Platinum Card membership. To qualify for a total of 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points, you must have at least $3,000 or more in net purchases posted to your account in your first 3 months. Please allow up to eight weeks for the bonus(es) to be awarded if you qualified. Bonus amounts will appear as separate transactions and may not be credited at the same time. Offer subject to change without notice.
The good thing with your Personal Plat offer, which appears to be the regular off-the-street offer, is the lowered $3K MSR so it should be relatively quick and cheap for you to find out the results. Versus a referred signup it would require $5K MSR, but for a bit more welcome bonus (60K). Plus I believe they would be converting your Gold to a Plat, so you won’t see any effects on your credit bureau files during the product conversion. A very minor plus in your case, I’m sure.
Jan 1, 2019, 9:57 am
#491
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
Programs: IHG Gold
Posts: 4,820
Thanks, appreciate your advice. Not sure I really need the Platinum this year as have status for the year so lounges are not really an issue for me. Will think about it later. (and I am still miffed they took away the Accor Platinum benefit, but that's a whole other topic)
Jan 1, 2019, 10:06 am
#492
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: *void
Posts: 2,408
Thanks, appreciate your advice. Not sure I really need the Platinum this year as have status for the year so lounges are not really an issue for me. Will think about it later. (and I am still miffed they took away the Accor Platinum benefit, but that's a whole other topic)
Jan 10, 2019, 8:10 pm
#494
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: United 1K, AC 50K, Hyatt Globalist, Marriot Platinum
Posts: 684
Jan 29, 2019, 9:48 am
#495
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 39
Been a while since my last churn, but has the bus Gold or Plat applications been updated to prevent getting the bonus if held before like the personal ones?
I'm coming to the end of my personal gold and looking to moving back to a bus card depending on the offers available. Does the gold have the FYF still or has that stopped? I can see the referrals still get a nice bonus. Let me know if there are offers out there for a referral as I am beginning to check this out.
One thing that I'll throw out there is when you carry your MR points to card to card, the purchases on the old cards can still get the extra 1 year warranty on top of the manufacturers. I'm not sure how many cards can carry this, but I've read and asked about this a few times and it sounds like you can, however I believe you need your statement to show them, which I am not sure how you would get once the card is closed. Any body have experiences with this?
I'm coming to the end of my personal gold and looking to moving back to a bus card depending on the offers available. Does the gold have the FYF still or has that stopped? I can see the referrals still get a nice bonus. Let me know if there are offers out there for a referral as I am beginning to check this out.
One thing that I'll throw out there is when you carry your MR points to card to card, the purchases on the old cards can still get the extra 1 year warranty on top of the manufacturers. I'm not sure how many cards can carry this, but I've read and asked about this a few times and it sounds like you can, however I believe you need your statement to show them, which I am not sure how you would get once the card is closed. Any body have experiences with this?