Scotiabank has revealed their summer welcome bonus offers for their trio of American Express Cards. Two of the cards, The Platinum Card and the basic Red Card see best ever bonuses in place as they are about to undergo some changes and the mainstay Gold American Express comes in with a respectable new offer.
New Scotiabank American Express Card Offers
The new offers for the cards are as follows:
- Scotiabank®* Platinum American Express® Card Up to 60,000 Scene+ Points
- Scotiabank Gold American Express Card Up to 40,000 Scene+ Points + First Year Free
- Scotiabank American Express Card Up to 10,000 Scene+ Points
The offers on the Platinum and basic cards are the best ever seen to date and that makes sense as their previously announced earn rate and insurance changes take place tomorrow!
The Platinum Card sees a record high offer of up to 60,000 Scene+ points. 50,000 awarded when you spend $3,000 on the card in the first three months of having it and 10,000 more is you spend $10,000 on the card in the first 14 months.
The Gold American Express Card holds it own in the mix with a decent 40,000 Scene+ point bonus that is sweetened by having its first year annual fee waived.
The basic Red card also sees a record high offer of up to 10,000 Scene+ points. 5,000 awarded when you spend $750 on the card in the first three
months of having it and 5,000 more is you spend $5,000 on the card in
the first year.
Card details
Scotiabank®* Platinum American Express® Card
Annual Fee $399 Additional Cards: $99
Earn 50,000 bonus Scene+ points by making at least $3,000 in everyday eligible purchases in your first 3 months. Plus, for a limited time, you are eligible to earn a 10,000 Scene+ point bonus when you spend at least $10,000 in everyday eligible purchases in your first 14 months.
• You will not pay 2.5% foreign transaction fees on any foreign currency purchases, including online shopping and when travelling abroad. Only the exchange rate applies
• Earn 2X Scene+ points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, and drinking establishments. Includes popular food delivery and food subscriptions
• Earn 2X Scene+ points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible gas and daily transit. Includes rideshare, buses, taxis, subway, and more
• Earn 2X Scene+ point for every $1 spent on every other purchase
• Complimentary membership to Priority Pass Airport Lounges Worldwide
• Use your points to purchase travel online or over the phone through our full-service travel agency. Or book your own travel using your card and go online to redeem points for the purchase.
Scotia Gold American Express Card
Annual Fee $120 Additional Cards: $29
Earn up to 40,000 bonus Scene+™ points in your first year (that’s up to $400 towards travel) and first year annual fee waived. Earn 20,000 bonus Scene+ points by making at least $1,000 in everyday eligible purchases in your first 3 months.Plus, for a limited time, you are eligible to earn a 20,000 Scene+ point bonus when you spend at least $7,500 in everyday eligible purchases in your first year.
• You will not pay 2.5% foreign transaction fees on any foreign currency purchases, including online shopping and when travelling abroad. Only the exchange rate applies
• Earn 5X Scene+ points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, and drinking establishments. Includes popular food delivery and food subscriptions
• Earn 3X Scene+ points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible gas and daily transit. Includes rideshare, buses, taxis, subway, and more
• Earn 1X Scene+ point for every $1 spent on every other purchase
• Complimentary Concierge Services 24/7
• Amex exclusive benefits (Front Of The Line)
• Use your points to purchase travel online or over the phone through our full-service travel agency. Or book your own travel using your card and go online to redeem points for the purchase.
• Receive up to 25% off qualifying car rentals
• Travel emergency medical coverage is automatically provided for eligible persons for up to 25 consecutive days
• Redeem points for merchandise and other rewards
Scotiabank American Express Card
Annual Fee $0
Earn up to 10,000 bonus Scene+™ points in your first year (that’s up to $100 towards travel)
Earn 5,000 bonus Scene+ points by making at least $750 in everyday eligible purchases in your first 3 months. Plus, for a limited time, you are eligible to earn a 5,000 Scene+ point bonus when you spend at least $5,000 in everyday eligible purchases in your first year.
• Earn 2X Scene+ points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, and drinking establishments. Includes popular food delivery and food subscriptions
• Earn 2X Scene+ points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible entertainment, including movies, theatres and ticket agencies
• Earn 2X Scene+ points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible gas and daily transit. Includes rideshare, buses, taxis, subway, and more
• Earn 2X Scene+ points for every $1 CAD spent on eligible select streaming services
• Earn 1X Scene+ point for every $1 spent on every other purchase
Card changes
As of July 1st both the Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card and the Scotiabank American Express Card have their previously announced changes come into effect.
For the Platinum Card gone are the 4x points category accelerators and 1x point base earn rate and replaced by an across the board 2x points earn rate with no annual cap. The Platinum Card will now officially take on the role that was vacated by Capital One Aspire World Elite Mastercard many years ago of a card offering a straight 2% return on all spending when used towards any travel.
On top of this Platinum Card will offer no Foreign Currency Transaction fees like the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card and the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card! So to be able to earn a full time 2% and save 2.5% on purchases not in C$ is very appealing!
The Red Card sees changes in two areas – earn rates and insurance. It sees increased earn potential by gaining 2x points category accelerators on grocery, dining and entertainment, gas, daily transit and select streaming services with an annual cap of $50,000 across those categories. All other spending on the card will remain at 1x point. This is a big gain for this card by essentially offering 2% back in those categories with no annual fee – it should definitely move up the ranks in our Top No Fee Travel Rewards Credit Cards category in 2023! However with that gain does come a loss and a pretty major one for some cardholders and that is the removal of all the travel insurance the card offers (it had one of the best insurance packages for a no fee card) and will have mobile device insurance added.
Wrapping it up
Scotiabank is showing they are ready to compete this summer with the other banks by offering some great welcome bonus offers. While all three offers are great the focus will be on the revamped Platinum and Red cards – the Platinum Card has always been called a ‘sleeper’ card by Rewards Canada as it provides some great benefits but was largely ignored by most credit card resources and the market in general. At only $399 per year it provides great benefits and a straight 2% return towards travel with No FX fees that should help it get noticed. The Red Card as well becomes one of the strongest earning no annual fee cards in Canada, it is unfortunate that it loses its travel insurance package but I feel like Scotia is positioning this card as an ‘additional’ card in people’s wallets who have a strong insurance card like the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card as their primary card and the Red card fills the Amex spot while contributing to their overall Scene+ points balance.