I've applied and met the minimum spend. Any ideas how long it takes for the $100 statement credit to apply?

It posted on November 30th.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3d3a77f1e4.png


American Express Cobalt: 45,000 point (!) offer
Expires May 5, 2021

https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/credit-cards/cobalt-card/

Minimum spend requirement: must spend $3,000 in first 3 months, and also $500 in each of the first 12 months, to earn all of the 45,000 available bonus Membership Rewards Select points.
And, 5x earning on groceries & dining.

"This offer is only available to new American Express Cobalt Cardmembers. For current or former American Express Cobalt Cardmembers, we may approve your application, but you will not be eligible for the Membership Rewards points offers available in the first 12 months of Card Membership."

That should read $500 in each of the first 12 months.

No annual fee, but instead there's a $10 monthly fee.

hi all, looking to get feedback.

need to transfer rbc avion points to either AA or BA before my CC renews. i see that the transfer ratio for BA is 1:1 while AA is less than that (will be getting 24k if i transfer 35k). i do have 6k points sitting in AA account but dont want to necessarily transfer to AA if there is no overall value.

long term, looking to use these points for either domestic flights in Canada or US (post pandemic) or even use on domestic flights in other countries (if possible).

any feedback if AA is better than BA or vice versa?

The Aeroplan Explore For More Contest
https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...-for-more.html
Enter by February 14, 2021.

Renew your Aeroplan expiry date
You can win prizes in the contest, but there's also an easy way (a quiz) to earn 100 points.
For Aeroplan members (particularly outside Canada) who've had trouble finding a way to make an Aeroplan transaction to keep a membership active, this could be a good way to easily generate a small number of points.
https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...more/quiz.html

Oh-so-thank-U, Jerry305!

Good point. Aeroplan must limit the winners of the draws to Canadian residents.

But for the 100 points quiz, it's Aeroplan's decision if they're going to choose to only award 100 points to Canadian residents.
For out-of-country Aeroplan members who need some points, do you think it's worth attempting the quiz anyway?

(And if that expiry date is coming up soon, maybe a different method would be better.)

Why must Aeroplan limit its contest to Canadian residents? Perhaps they don't want to get involved with tax reporting laws in other countries? Still, as a non-Canadian, I can be satisfied with a tiny chunk of 100 points for the quiz ;) .

AA is better than BA for transborder Canada--US flights, because AA has recently changed its rules to black out booking of tickets on most routes with partner miles with less than 30 days advance notice :td: ! They use the ruse of making them available only for Online Special awards. And for far-future bookings, the number of AA miles required is almost always less than BA miles with the possible exception of nonstop itineraries.
OTOH, for overseas or intra-Europe or intra-Asia or intra--Aussie/NZ flights, it gets complicated. 35K BA will often get you further than 24.5K AA miles.
You can always find an itin you like such as home to Caribbean & return, transfer just enough to AA, then the rest to BA.

Got this email today:
Is this as good as it gets to cash out a Cobalt card? I remember there was the promo last year at the same rate for any statement credit, but missed out on that and don't like the rates for regular redemptions on non-travel spend.

Tbanks for the info, but Wow! A WHOLE Canadian cent per point! :o Big whoop! Most US-issued cards give a regular non-promo rate of US$ .01 per point. Canadians get the short end of the stick here :( .

For the same reason almost all U.S. airlines and hotel chains limit their contests to U.S. residents.

Anyone know if it’s possible to combine Bonvoy points + AMEX free night certificate to bump up my free night category?

Unfortunately it isn’t possible.

Thanks for that. I booked two separate days back-to-back to utilize my free night certificates.

Any new card deals out and about? Is Bonvoy still the best hotel-focused card out there or should I drop it for Amex Gold?

I'm gonna keep the Bonvoy Amex for the foreseeable future, mainly for the free night each year.
Amex Gold's signup offers have been pretty good.

Do you have to choose one or the other? :)

This is usually an AC-centric forum so I’ll add that there are the following Aeroplan promotions:

1. CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite - 20K after $1K spending and a Buddy Pass. CIBC usually post the Buddy Pass at the first statement (after the $1K spending) so if you can hit the $$ threshold quickly you may be able to get it by the Nov statement if you apply today. If so, then you can call Aeroplan to have the BP converted 30K. The deadline to convert is Nov 30th.


2. TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite - 25K after $1K spending and a Buddy Pass. But because the BP usually takes 4 months to post by TD, it will not get into Aeroplan in time for the Nov 30th deadline. Plus, you can only get ONE Buddy Pass from each tier of CC, and this one is the same tier as the above CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite. So instead of the above TD promotion there is an "In-Path" offer for the same card with NO Buddy Pass but it's for 45K after $1K spending. It's a bit tricky to get this promotion to appear, but you have to do a mock booking at AirCanada.com to see the offer. POT wrote about it last month: https://princeoftravel.com/blog/td-a...-45000-points/. He includes some suggestions on how to get this offer to appear, but not everyone can see it.

I would couple the CIBC 20K + BP(30K) offer with the TD 45K In-path offer, if you want 95K Aeroplans for a "mere" $2000 spending. You’ll have to act fast, and no guarantees especially on the Buddy Pass timing to convert.

Well, scratch that. Since when did AMEX Gold shoot up to 250 annual? Sheesh.

1 week ago :)

The Amex Cobalt is a good alternative to gold. It's cheaper ($13/month, but GCR has a $120 rebate on now) and earns 5x points on dining and groceries. You also get a 20,000 MR sign-up bonus when you spend $3000. Plus for the first year, you get an extra 2500 MR for each month you spend $500. Points can be transferred 1 to 1 to Aeroplan or to Marriott at a rate of 1 MR to 1.2 Bonvoy.

Is it still working? Not for me...

Same. I don't have to choose, but it seems excessive to pay $250+150 on annual fees for two cards.

I'm reading up on this card since Marriot announced changes to their Bonvoy program for 2022. 5x is appealing for sure.

5x is appealing, but keep in mind that if you spend $500/month on dining or groceries, it's really 10x points for the first year (2500 monthly bonus + 2500 for 5x spend). That would earn you 5000 MR points/month, which could be converted to 6000 Bonvoy.

Cobalt Amex VS Business Edge Amex Card
 

Looking at applying for either of these. Would prefer Cobalt, but they don't appear to have a lump sum sign up bonus.

I've held the Cobalt before - about 5 years ago - not sure if they won't give an any sign up points to previous cardholders?

Also, anyone know how easy the App is for Business Edge? I have a great credit rating, but not sure if they do instant approval or require you to send in info on Financials?

I was going to apply for this card again until I saw the fee increase. Totally not worth it anymore

I've never been asked for any financial documents when applying for an amex business card. Sometimes it is instant approval and sometimes takes a few days, but I've never been asked for supporting docs.

Business Gold has a lower AF than regular Gold. Seems like a better deal to go Business Gold vs. Business Edge

The Business Gold has a 20K higher sign-up bonus than Edge, but the annual fee is $100 more. The Business Gold also earns a straight 1 point per $ spent, whereas the Edge earns 3x on office supplies & electronics, rides & gas, eats & drinks. They both have ongoing monthly or quarterly bonuses, although the Business Gold requires a much higher spend to hit them. See my post here for a comparison: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...l#post34385842

Anyone see Air Miles got dropped by Sobeys and Safeway for Scene+? It’s not just for movies anymore!

i think this card is looking good if you want an alternative to Air Miles:

https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/american-express/platinum-card.html

Nothing?
 

Has Milesbuzz Canada kicked the bucket?
it’s been over 6 months and not one message.

This thread was vibing… How can it go wrong? :(

Seems like it has kicked the bucket. RIP this thread, RIP MilesBuzz. Canadian churning scene continues to disappoint compared to our neighbours in the south.

Hey.
 

Through churning I have two priority pass memberships. Can I give one to my parents?

No, they will be under your name. They always scan your membership + matching boarding pass.

Thanks. Curious, I haven’t seen this one too much. Any idea on what are the easiest flights to book and cheapest from the Aeroplan mini rtw trips? Working on getting access to cowtool lol curious initial trip ideas.

Air Canada basic flights
 

Hey I know there is currently cibc and Amex offer for 7x and 10x points on air Canada flights. Just curious if that would also count when purchasing basic flights which have 0% regular points awarded?

Mini RTW flights
 

Yoooo, new here, curious if there’s a page with a lot of Aeroplan mini round the world style itineraries? Would be good for guidance and inspiration. Thanks,