Over the past few days rumours started flying around about some big negative changes coming to the American Express Cobalt Card. We can now put those to rest as the changes are here and they aren’t ‘painful’ as someone else described. While it is not a good change, the only change to the card is to the welcome bonus. Everything else on the card, the 5x, 3x, 2x and 1x points earning and the categories they are earned in have not changed. Redemption rates have not changed. In fact, the card is still as amazing as it always has been – just with a less valuable welcome bonus.
See where you can earn 5x, 3x, 2x and 1x points: American Express Cobalt™ Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations
The new welcome bonus of up to 15,000 points
This is the new welcome bonus:
In your first year as a new Cobalt Cardmember, you can earn 1,250 Membership Rewards® points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $750 in net purchases on your Card. This could add up to 15,000 points in a year. That’s up to $150 towards a weekend getaway or concert tickets
This stings for anyone who has held out on getting the card as not only is the welcome bonus cut in half, you also now have to spend 50% more to achieve this lowered amount.
If you recall the old welcome bonus was 2,500 points per month in each month you spend $500 on the card for the first 12 months. Now we have 1,250 points for $750 in spend. Over the course of the year that translates to $9,000 in spending versus the previous $6,000. A sharp increase but still nowhere near what BMO asks of their new cardholders to achieve their bonuses!
I think the hardest pill to swallow here is the change is two-fold in that welcome bonus points are decreased and the spend has been increased. Not just one or the other.
Even with the change to the welcome bonus I wholeheartedly recommend this card 100% to everyone and anyone. Since its inception in 2017 it has rarely ever been a card to get for the welcome bonus. Unlike other cards in market that people simply get for the welcome bonus, the Cobalt Card has always been a long term card, or as many like to call it a ‘keeper card’. The combination of amazing earn rates and outstanding redemption options are why people get this card. Think about it, people who have had it before and then cancelled it, have decided to get it again even with no welcome bonus just for the sheer strength of the card’s earn to burn ratio!
Editor’s note:
I did my best to ‘guide’ you over the past week and yesterday to apply for the card without divulging embargoed information just as I have done when other cards have had their welcome bonuses being lowered but wow, did it ever explode this time!! I may have to rethink how we go about “wink wink warnings on lower bonuses” as perfectly described by BigGuy4UftCIA on Reddit. For now though, if and when I do say that you should apply by a certain day it will, just like it has in the past, only ever have to do with the welcome bonus. Any other significant changes will have a lot more detail in my communicating them as we typically have the green light to announce major changes well beforehand.
Wrapping it up
The American Express Cobalt Card has seen its welcome bonus cut to 1,250 points per month with an increased spend requirement of $750 per month for the first 12 months. As unfortunate of a change that this is for those who do not have the card it does not affect how good the card is. We see cards change their welcome bonuses all the time, they gain value, they lose value, they increase the spend requirement and they decrease spend requirement. When they are set to be lowered and the hints of that make their way to the public there usually isn’t much of an uproar. I think what has happened this time in comparison to those other cards is that we are talking about the best card in Canada and the responses and concern truly show how deeply everyone cares about this card!
Click here to read our review of the American Express Cobalt Card and find out why we consider it the best card in Canada.
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel as I am going to discuss this change and dissect the other changes that have taken place with Amex this year in our next episode of This Week in RWRDS.
Subscribe & join to learn more:
Want to learn more? Have a question? Join our Facebook group to ask the Rewards Canada community!
Be sure to subscribe to the Rewards Canada News email newsletter so that you don’t miss out on any loyalty program news and offers! You can subscribe to the newsletter here