Canada: Winners And Losers With The New Amex Platinum Earning Structure

Current Offer – 80,000 Membership Rewards® points

New Cardmembers of The Platinum Card® can earn:

• Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points – that’s $800 towards a weekend away
• New Platinum® Cardmembers, earn 80,000 Welcome Bonus points after you charge $7,500 in net purchases to your Card in your first 3 months of Cardmembership

3x points on dining & food delivery services in Canada

After you either max out the earning as a part of the bonus or past the first three months of Cardmembership, if the bulk of your spend is on restaurants in Canada, then the 3x points is certainly compelling, especially as The Platinum Card® earns “full” Membership Rewards points that can transfer to a variety of airlines.

If delivery is your main source of nutrition, the American Express Cobalt® Card, with 5x on eligible eats and drinks in Canada, including groceries and food delivery might be a better choice for you. Keep in mind however that the American Express Cobalt® Card earns “select” Membership Rewards points, which unlike the U.S. version can still be quite lucrative even though they can’t be transferred to airline partners.

2x points on eligible travel

The Platinum Card® earns 2x points on travel services or travel bookings including air, water, rail, and road transport, lodging and tour operator sales. That covers a broad range of travel, but does not include local and commuter transportation.

The American Express® Gold Rewards Card already earns 2x points on travel, so if you have both cards this is a redundant category. Otherwise, and especially since The Platinum Card® is the no-brainer travel card in Canada, this is a significant improvement, as most cardholders presumably spend quite a bit on travel.

1x points on everything else

You’ll want to look elsewhere for everyday spend not covered by bonus categories here..

Breaking down the new bonus earnings

To keep the math simple, let’s assume that a cardholder is spending $30k CAD per year on the card, evenly divided across the three new categories:

• $10,000/year on dining
• $10,000/year on travel
• $10,000/year on other purchases

Previously, this person would have earned 1.25 points/$CAD on each dollar spent, generating 37,500 Membership Rewards points.

Under the new scheme, they’d earn:

• 30,000 points from 3x dining purchases
• 20,000 points from 2x travel purchases
• 10,000 points on other purchases

At 60,000 Membership Rewards points, this represents a solid improvement for someone with significant spend in the bonus categories, as they’d earn 60% more points under the new scheme.

Even if the bulk of your card spend isn’t dining or travel, however, you may still come out ahead, as long as at least some of your spend is in a bonused category. Consider this breakdown instead:

• $5,000/year on dining
• $5,000/year on travel
• $20,000/year on other purchases

Under the new scheme, you’d earn:

• 15,000 points from 3x dining purchases
• 10,000 points from 2x travel purchases
• 20,000 points on other purchases

Which is still more than the 37,500 you’d have earned previously.

That being said, if you were really only using (or considering getting) this card for everyday spend, you’ll probably want to look at an alternative.

Schmancy metal* card

The Platinum Card® is now available in a metallic version, which I can say from experience seems exciting, up until the point where all your wallets and money clips are stretched out from too-thick cards.

The good news for Canadians is that this card should be significantly thinner than metal cards in the U.S., as the metal is actually just a veneer on the front. This will allow you to continue participating in the 21st Century using contactless payments — something that isn’t really widespread yet in the States.

New cardholders will automatically receive the metal version. Existing cardholders will be sent a metal card when their current one expires, or you can call to request one at any time.

Amex Platinum Canada card details

For the unfamiliar, here’s the general rundown of The Platinum Card®.

$200 annual travel credit

One of the popular perks of The Platinum Card® is the $200 CAD Annual Travel Credit.

You’ll want to book through the Platinum Card® Travel Service, or online at www.americanexpress.ca/travel, and then can use your credit on any travel booking of $200 or more. There are no restrictions as to the airline, hotel, rail, or cruise company you book with as long as it’s available in their system and you pay with your Platinum Card.

Fees

The annual fee is steep (though you are getting that $200 travel credit), and like most Canadian credit cards you’ll also incur foreign transaction fees if you use the card abroad. Purchases made outside of Canada (or directly with some international airlines) will incur a fee.

Benefits

Like its U.S. counterpart, the benefits are where The Platinum Card® really shines. Perks of the card include:

• Great lounge access with the American Express Global Lounge Collection which unlocks access to over 1300 airport lounges worldwide
  • This includes The Centurion® Lounge network, plus a Priority Pass Select membership which allows unlimited visits for the cardholder and one additional guest
• Access to the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program, which can offer incredible value for luxury hotel stays, including complimentary upgrades, 4PM checkout, breakfast for two, and ~$100 in on-property perks with each booking
• Complimentary elite status with Marriott International, Hilton Hotels and Resorts®, Radisson Hotel Group Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and Hertz® and Avis® (Hilton is the most valuable of these for most, as cardholders receive Hilton Honors Gold status)
• Premium benefits at the Toronto Pearson Airport including security bypass, complimentary valet car service and discount car care and parking

Amex FH&R amenities can include spa treatments, dining credits, and more!

The Platinum Card® also includes great travel coverage, including:

• Emergency Medical Insurance
• Trip Cancellation Insurance
• Trip Interruption Insurance
• $500,000 Travel Accident Insurance

Terms and limitations, of course, apply to the insurance benefits, so you’ll want to read through the coverage details carefully to avoid any surprises.

Amex Canada Membership Rewards program

While American Express has Membership Rewards programs in several countries, each works a bit differently. In the Canadian market, there are three main ways to use your rewards.

Transfer points to partners

If you’re interested in international premium cabin travel, this is potentially going to be the most lucrative redemption option. On the downside, Canadians don’t have quite as many transfer partners to choose from as some other countries, and not all programs convert at a 1:1 ratio:

Membership Rewards Transfer Partner	Transfer Ratio	Transfer Time
Air Canada Aeroplan	1000 : 1000	Up to 30 minutes
Alitalia MilleMiglia	1000 : 750	5 business days
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	1000 : 750	5 business days
British Airways Executive Club	1000 : 1000	5 business days
Delta SkyMiles	1000 : 750	Up to 30 minutes
Etihad Guest	1000 : 750	3 business days
Hilton Honors	1000 : 1000	5 business days
Marriott Rewards	1000 : 1200

Still, you can often get outsized value by transferring points versus redeeming them directly.

Transfer points to Aeroplan to redeem for Swiss business class with very low fees

Fixed points travel

One of the unique features of the American Express Rewards program in Canada is that you can also redeem points directly through Amex at a fixed rate. This program has various tiers, so to maximize value, you’ll want to choose airfares that are as close to the maximum base ticket price as possible without going into the next tier.

For economy travel, the chart is as follows:

And for business class, you’re looking at the following costs:

It’s important to note that when you redeem points this way, you’re only considering the base cost of the ticket, exclusive of the taxes and fees.

So this could be a very good option for airlines that don’t have high fuel surcharges, but wouldn’t be recommended for a ticket with a $5 base fare and $600 in fees, as an example — the points would only cover that $5 base fare.

Get credit for travel-related expenses

As a third option, you can also redeem your points at a rate of 1¢ each for new travel purchases, including taxes, surcharges and fees booked through American Express Travel Services or at americanexpress.ca/travel.

This wouldn’t necessarily be my first choice, but there are circumstances where it could make sense — especially now that you can earn points at an accelerated rate.

Other Membership Rewards cards

While there are a variety of American Express cards in Canada, not all of them earn “full” Membership Rewards points. Amex issues the following cards in Canada that earn Membership Rewards points: The Platinum Card®, Business Platinum Card® from American Express, American Express® Gold Rewards Card, and American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card.

Depending on your spending patterns, it may make sense to have a combination of Membership Rewards cards to accelerate your earnings, but diversifying across other programs may be beneficial as well.

Bottom line

Overall, the updates to The Platinum Card® seem mainly positive, and most heavy travelers will be earning more points than they were previously. It would be great to see these bonus categories expand to purchases outside of Canada, but I don’t think that’s likely.

People using the card primarily for everyday spend will likely want to consider shifting those purchases to a different card.

Canadians — what do you make of the changes to The Platinum Card?