February 10 Update: Could we see an update to the Marriott Amex card and Amex cards lose access to Quebec City’s Jean Lesage VIP Lounge (could be temporary)

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Down in the U.S. there were changes announced to the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature Credit Card including new accelerated earn rates on dining, gas and grocery plus elite status night with spend. According to an interview Gary Leff at View from the Wing had with Chase and Marriott these changes were not meant to attract new customers:

Chase’s President of Co-Brands Ed Olebe offered a different framing.
In my conversation with him he didn’t portray the accelerators as
game-changers. Instead he suggsested that the “intent here is how do we
take a world class card and make it better, not fix something broken
but improve something people love.”

In other words cardmembers who already use the Marriott card are getting more value,
more reason to spend on the card and use it more. It’s not going to
convert people from spend on high accelerator-earning products or move
people over from 2% cash back.

So one has to wonder will we see the same thing here in Canada? Will Amex and Marriott be providing more value on their co-brand cards here for their existing cardmembers?
I have reached out to Amex to see if they can share any details and if
we learn anything that can be share we’ll be sure to let you all know.

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Continuing on with American Express I saw a tweet from them today that states Amex cards will no longer provide access to the Quebec City Jean Lesage VIP Lounge
and you have to use your Priorty Pass card via the app to access. From
what I gather Amex hasn’t actually lost access however it appears the
lounge has put into an automatic electronic or eGate entry system that
scans the Prioriy Pass app, boarding pass etc. As Amex cards can’t be
scanned they can’t be used for entry.I haven’t found out if this is
temporary or not. Currently the Amex Lounge Guide and YQB’s own guide to
the lounge still state Amex cards can gain access but I’m guessing
those have not been updated yet. I’ll see if I can find more however if
any our Rewards Canada readers are travelling via YQB and are planning
on using the lounge please do tell us if they have more details!

 Image via Twitter

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