Scotiabank’s summer offers are out and the only card in their suite of products to receive an increased limited time welcome bonus is the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card. Right now when you apply for and are approved for the card you can earn up to 45,000 Scene+ points plus pay no annual fee in the first year. This is an increase of 5,000 points over the previous offer which also required the payment of the first year annual fee. This offer is available until October 31, 2024.
The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is considered the best No Foreign Transaction fee card in Canada and is ranked as the fourth overall best travel rewards card. The card is also one of only three cards that Rewards Canada classifies as a Points Earning Machine.
The 45,000 points + first year free offer
The new welcome bonus offer on the card is broken down as follows:
- Earn 25,000 bonus Scene+ Rewards points by making at least $1,000 in everyday eligible purchases in your first 3 months.
- Earn 20,000 bonus Scene+ Rewards points when you spend $7,500 within your first 12 months
Unlike other ’12 months’ offers this one is not considered an anniversary bonus as it will be awarded within 2-3 business days of hitting that $7,500 spend mark regardless of time. That means if you go out and spend $7,500 in the first month of having the card you should receive receive all 45,000 bonus point in that first month.
Click here to apply for the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
Earning Points
Being classified as a Points Earning Machine means this card can rack up points very fast thanks to accelerated earn rates. The earn rates on the card are as follows:
- 6 Scene+ points for every $1 charged to your account on all eligible purchases1 at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland, FreshCo, Voilà by Sobeys, Voilà by IGA, Voilà by Safeway, Chalo! FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, IGA West, Les Marchés Tradition, Rachelle Béry and Co-Op.
- 5 Scene+ points for every $1 you spend at eligible grocery stores, dining and entertainment *
- 3 Scene+ points for every $1 you spend at eligible gas stations, daily transit, and select streaming services
- 1 Scene+ point for every $1 you spend on all other eligible everyday purchases
The accelerated earn rates of 5 and 3 points per dollar are capped at $50,000 spending annually. This is one of the higher caps in our market and is higher than the comparable Cobalt Card. Although the Cobalt Card’s cap of $30,000 annually is only on eats & drinks – it’s accelerated earn rate on travel, gas, transit, ride sharing etc. is not capped.
One major note is the 5 and 3 point accelerated earn rates are only eligible for purchases in Canada. Should you be travelling outside of Canada you will strictly earn 1 point per dollar on any eligible purchases. But you do have to take into account that you aren’t paying any foreign transactions fees on those purchases.
Redeeming
Travel redemptions
Falling into the Rewards Canada “Travel Points” category in our annual credit card rankings means the points earned are part of the credit card’s semi-proprietary reward program, in this case Scene+ and not a totally separate co-brand program like Aeroplan or AIR MILES. For the vast majority of Canadians this is a good thing since you are not bound by the restrictions and limitations that frequent flyer programs and programs like AIR MILES put on flights and in fact you are not limited to only flights but any travel. This card falls into the book any travel anywhere category of Travel Points cards which means you don’t have to redeem via Scene+ Travel. All you have to do is book your travel whether it be aircanada.com, westjet.com, expedia.ca or anywhere else including your trusted travel agent and when that charge shows up on your statement you simply call up Scotia or go online and redeem points against the charge.
Points are redeemed at a rate of 100 points for $1. That is the beauty of this card and many like it, you don’t have to have the full amount of points to begin to enjoy the rewards! If you buy an airline ticket for $600 and have 30,000 points you can choose to redeem those points for a $300 credit which means your flight only cost $300. You also get 12 months after the travel charge posts to your account to redeem points so you can continue to pay off that vacation with points up to a year after! There aren’t too many card programs in Canada that give you that amount of time to redeem after the fact. Another benefit of this’ book travel on your own’ is you can be on vacation and buy travel on the card (say a rail ticket) and then redeem points when you get home. Essentially the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card falls into the category of most flexible travel rewards cards.
Grocery Redemptions
Now that Empire Company Limited stores like Sobeys, Safeway, IGA and more are part of Scene+ you can redeem the points earned on this card directly at the till to help pay for your groceries. The redemption rate is 1,000 for $10 which means you receive the same return as you would if redeemed for travel. This is a great option from the card and the Scene+ program especially given with the inflation we are seeing in the nation.
Scene+ Partner Redemptions
You can also redeem the points earned on this card at all eligible Scene+ partners including Cineplex and Home Hardware plus their dining partners like Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet and more. Depending on the partner the redemption rate is 100 points to $1 up to 1,000 points for $10 which means you receive the same return as you would if redeemed for travel or groceries. Once againg this is a great option from the card and the Scene+ program as you don’t lose any value across any of these primary redemption options. You don’t have to worry about redeeming 1,000 points at Home Hardware thinking their could be better value for travel or groceries – that’s not the case here!
Cash Back Redemptions
There are also non-travel redemption options in the Scene+ program. Probably the second most popular after travel would be their Points for Credit option which is essentially a cash back option. This works in the same vain as the travel rewards option although with a different redemption rate. Basically you can apply points to receive a cash back credit on a non-travel charge. The redemption rates are as follows:
| Cash Back Credit | Points Required | Rate of Return |
|---|---|---|
| $20 | 3,000 | 0.667% |
| $30 | 4,500 | 0.667% |
| $50 | 7,500 | 0.667% |
| $75 | 11,000 | 0.681% |
| $100 | 14,500 | 0.689% |
| $150 | 21,500 | 0.697% |
| $300 | 43,000 | 0.698% |
| $500 | 71,500 | 0.699% |
For the points earned as 1 point per dollar your cash back return are the rates seen above and for your 2 points per dollar it will be double that and 3 points per dollar will be triple that. Not the most ideal seeing there are cash back cards that have better returns but at least the option is here on this card since it is primarily a travel rewards card.
Other Redemptions
You can also redeem Scene+ points for merchandise directly from Apple and Best Buy or via their own merchandise catalog. The last redemption option is using points to redeem for gift cards for dozens of stores, restaurants and more. All these redemption options also come in at a lower value than the above redemptions (Except for gift cards for Scene+ partners) but it is nice to have them as an option!
Wrapping it up
Scotiabank’s summer welcome bonus offers include an increased offer for theScotiabank Gold American Express Card. a When you apply for the card by October 31, 2024 and are approved you can earn up to 45,000 Scene+ points and pay no annual fee in the first year on the card. This is a great welcome bonus offer for an amazing card and essentially you get to test drive it for a year to see if it meets your needs since you don’t have to pay the first year fee.
Click here to apply for the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
*See Card Provider’s website and Card Application for complete card details, terms and current offers. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accuracy of information
Originally posted on July 2, 2024 @ 7:30 am