There is a new increased limited time welcome bonus on the Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card and it is the biggest bonus ever seen on a Scotiabank Scene+ credit card! Right now when you apply for and are approved for the card you can earn up to 80,000 Scene+ points in addition to the great 2x points earn rate, No FX Fees and ten airport lounge visits per year this card provides!
Described by RWRDS Canada as a “Sleeping Giant“, the Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card is the 3rd best No Foreign Transaction fee card in Canada and we rank this card as the fifth best Ultra Premium Card – but if you don’t need Aeroplan points or benefits for flying with Air Canada, we’d consider it the second best Ultra Premium card in the market after Amex’s own Platinum Card.
The up to 80,000 points offer
The new welcome bonus offer on the card is broken down as follows:
- Earn 60,000 bonus Scene+ points by making at least $3,000 in everyday eligible purchases in your first 3 months.
- You are eligible to earn a 20,000 Scene+ point bonus when you spend at least $10,000 in everyday eligible purchases in your first 14 months.
The great thing is those 80,000 points are worth $800 – that covers two years of your annual fees and you still get all the lounge access, 2x points earn rate and all the other benefits,
Unlike other ’12 months’ or ’14 months’ offers this one is not considered an anniversary bonus as it will be awarded within 2-3 business days of hitting that $10,000 spend mark regardless of time. That means if you go out and spend $10,000 in the first month of having the card you should receive receive all 80,000 bonus points within 8 weeks of achieving that spend level.
Click here to apply for the Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card
Earning Points
The card earns Scene+ Points as follows:
- 2 Scene+ points for every $1 charged to your account on all eligible purchases
Point Valuation Chart
| Spending Category | Points earned per dollar spent | Rate of return when booking any travel on your own / Scene+ Travel / Scene+ Groceries / Cineplex / Scene+ Dining Partners / Home Hardware | Rate of return Cash Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| All spending | 2 | 2% | 1.33% to 1.398% |
Redeeming Points
The Scotiabank®* Platinum American Express® Card participates in the Scene+ program which provides numerous rewards options for your points. The primary reward is redeeming for travel however you also get the same value when redeeming for groceries, dining, movies and select gift cards. Other redemption options include statement credits, merchandise and gift cards.
Travel
When it comes to travel, you have two options for redeeming your Scene+ points. You can choose to book travel via Scene+ Travel and redeem points during the payment process. When you book via Scene+ Travel you can choose to redeem as little as 1 point for 1 cent off your purchase and can redeem as many points as you like up to the total cost of the booking
You can also choose to book travel on your own and use the Apply Points to Travel redemption option. All you have to do is book your travel how you want with whomever you want. Whether it is aircanada.com, westjet.com, expedia.ca or anywhere else including your trusted travel agent you book with them 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 with the Apply Points to Travel redemption. That’s the beauty of this card and others 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 have up to 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!
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.
There are also great non-travel redemption options in the Scene+ program that provide the same value as travel redemptions:
Groceries
You can redeem points right at the till when you shop for groceries at participating Sobeys, FreshCo, IGA, Foodland, Safeway, Les Marches Tradition, and Thrifty Foods locations. The redemption rate is 1000 Scene+ points for $10 off your total.
Dining
Scene+ lets you redeem 500 points for $5 when paying for your meal at Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet, East Side Mario’s, Montana’s BBQ & Bar, Bier Markt, and Kelsey’s Original Roadhouse.
Movies
The original redemption option from the old Scene program is still available in the new Scene+ program and that is movies! This has changed over the past few years and now you simply redeem 100 points for $1.00 towards movie tickets. You can also redeem 500 points for $5 towards food and drinks at the movies or 100 points for $1 off movie rentals or purchases at the Cineplex Store
Home Hardware
Home Hardware will be joining the Scene+ program in May 2024 and they will have the same at the till redemption option seen on groceries of 1,000 points to $10 off your purchase.
Recommended reading: Here are the details on earning and redeeming Scene+ points at Home Hardware
Select Gift Cards
You also have an option to redeem points for gift cards from stores and retailers that participate in the Scene+ program at the same value as all of the above redemption options. For example you can redeem 1,000 points for a $10 Sobeys Gift Card, 5,000 points for a $50 Home Hardware Gift Card and so on.
Points for Credit
Another popular redemption option for those who have any of the Scene+ credit cards is Points for Credit. This is essentially a cash back option. It works in the same way as the any travel rewards option although with a different redemption rate. Basically you 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% |
Right away it doesn’t look like those rates a great but you have to remember that you earning 2 points per dollar spent which equates to up to a 1.4% return. Not the highest for cash back rewards but not a bad either. It’s nice to know you have this option with the card.
You can also redeem Scene+ points for merchandise directly from Apple and Best Buy or via their own merchandise catalog. There is also an option to redeem for gift cards for dozens of non-Scene+ merchants. All these additional redemption options come in at a lower value than redeeming for those detailed in this review but they are nice to have them as an option as well!
Features and Benefits
The Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card has several key features and benefits that on their own can pay for the card’s annual fee and more!.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
In the card’s 2022 revamp came the news this card would join several other Scotia cards in not charging a fee on transactions made in foreign currencies. On average most cards in Canada charge a 2.5% fee (some are even higher) on purchases that are not in Canadian dollars so with this card you expect to save that amount.
This card actually works out to be one of the best No FX fee options in Canada since you still earn 2 points per dollar spent and don’t pay the 2.5% foreign transaction fee on your purchases outside of Canada, whether those are while you are travelling or ordering something from outside the country.
Airport Lounge Access
The card provides access to over 1,300 business class lounges in over 130 countries around the world thanks to its complimentary Priority Pass Standard Membership. On top of this you also receive 10 annual lounge access passes. With each entry into a lounge costing US$32 via Priority Pass those 10 passes are worth US$320 alone and the membership itself typically runs between US$69-$99 per year.
Amex ExperiencesTM
As with all American Express Cards the card comes with Amex ExperiencesTM which includes Front Of The Line® Advance Access, Front Of The Line® Reserved Tickets, Front Of The Line® E-Updates, Special Offers & Experiences for all Cardmembers and Social Access for all Cardmembers.
Amex offers
As with all American Express Cards the Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card receives Amex Offers. These exclusive limited time offers sent out to cardmembers to receive statement credits or bonus points for using their card at select merchants. Depending on your shopping habits these offers alone can provide enough savings in a year to cover the annual fee on the card if not more! You can learn more about this feature in Rewards Canada’s Guide to American Express Canada ‘Amex Offers’
Insurance
The Scotiabank Platinum American Express card comes with a very strong insurance package that includes the following:
- Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance (31 days for those under age 65, 10 days for 65+)
- Trip Cancellation Insurance
- Trip Interruption Insurance
- Flight Delay Insurance
- Baggage Delay Insurance
- Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance
- Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance
- Hotel Burglary Insurance
- $500,000 Travel Accident Insurance
- Purchase Protection Plan
- Buyer’s Assurance Protection Plan
- Mobile Device Insurance
Wrapping it up
The new increased welcome bonus offer on the Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card is the highest ever bonus seen on a Scotiabank credit card! When you apply for this sleeping giant of a card and are approved you can earn up to 80,000 Scene+ points which are worth $800 towards any travel, groceries, movies and more.
Click here to apply for the Scotiabank Platinum 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