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The easiest way to earn American Express Membership Rewards Points is by applying to one of the membership rewards cards and getting a welcome bonus.
Welcome bonuses differ between each card and are offered to new cardholders:
The American Express Cobalt® Card is the best credit card from American Express, whether you want points for travel or cash back.
The welcome bonus is distributed monthly for the first 12 months. You’ll earn 1,250 Membership Rewards points for every $750 in purchases charged to your card during the month (whether in the 1X, 2X, 3X or 5X category). That’s up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points.
You can easily use these points as statement credits for everyday or travel purchases. The value is the same for both: 1,000 points = $10.
Alternatively, transfer them to Aeroplan points, Avios (British Airways/Qatar Airways), Flying Blue, Marriott Bonvoy, or Hilton Honors.
For example, with this welcome offer, if you decide to transfer your Membership Rewards points to a partner loyalty program, you would have the choice of earning up to:
With the American Express Cobalt® Card, you can earn between 1 and 5 points per dollar:
This is a 1 to 5% return on all these purchases.
For example, if you spend $1,000 per month on groceries and/or restaurants and/or food delivery, you’ll earn $50 cash back per month, or $600 cash back per year with this card for this category of purchases!
And if you decide to transfer your points to other programs like Aeroplan, you could get even more value!
In addition, this card provides excellent insurance coverage: rental car theft and damage, baggage delay, lost or stolen baggage, flight delay, $250,000 travel accident, hotel or motel burglary, Mobile Device Insurance, Purchase Security, Purchase Protection Insurance.
Like all American Express Canada Cards, there is no minimum income requirement.
Do you want a cash back credit card with no annual fee that earns travel points? Here’s an option for you: American Express® Green Card.
By signing up for the American Express® Green Card, you can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards Welcome Bonus Points when you charge $1,000 in purchases to your Card in the first 3 months of Cardmembership. This is a $100 value for travel or any purchase on the Card.
You can also transfer your points to airline partners (Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club, Flying Blue, etc.) and hotel partners (Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors).
For example, with this welcome offer, if you decide to transfer your Membership Rewards points to a partner loyalty program, you would have the choice of earning:
That’s a nice welcome bonus for a credit card with no annual fee.
You’ll also have access to online promotional offers to earn points or rebates on your purchases with this no annual fee credit card.
Earn up to 60,000 Membership Rewards points with this welcome offer for the American Express Gold Rewards Card. That’s a value of $600 toward travel or any purchase charged to the Card:
You can also transfer your points to airline partners such as Aeroplan, Avios (British Airways, Qatar Airways, Finnair), Flying Blue, and hotel partners (Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors).
For example, with this welcome offer, if you decide to transfer your Membership Rewards points to a partner loyalty program, you would have the choice of earning up to :
With this Card, you get many benefits like:
You earn 2 points per dollar for travel purchases, and at:
And 1 point per dollar everywhere else.
The Platinum Card® is the best Premium Card in Canada for travellers.
With this welcome offer, you can earn up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points:
With this Card, you get:
You can use your Membership Rewards points in many ways:
With this card, you also have advantages for your travels:
Last but not least, the Platinum Card® offers a wide range of insurance coverage: rental car theft and damage, $500,000 travel accident, emergency medical expenses (out-of-province or out-of-country), lost or stolen baggage, flight delays and misdirected baggage, hotel or motel burglary, Purchase Protection, Purchase Security.
Earn up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points* with the American Expressᴹᴰ Gold Rewards Card:
With this Card, you earn 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar on your purchases.
You can then use your points in many ways:
Alternatively, 80,000 Membership Rewards points can be redeemed for $800 worth of travel or any other Card purchase.
Also, as a cardmember, you get many advantages such as up to 55 interest-free days to maximize your cash flow.
Finally, you are covered with reliable insurance for your travels and purchases.
Earn up to 120,000 points with this welcome offer for the American Express Business Platinum Card:
120,000 points have a minimum value of $1,200 for a Statement credit, and much more if you transfer your points to a partner.
With this Card, you earn 1.25 Membership Rewards points per dollar on all purchases. What’s more, you’ll enjoy a host of travel and business benefits:
With this Card you can maximize your cash flow with up to 55 interest free days. It is a card that is particularly appreciated by contractors when making large purchases in home improvement stores, for example.
Last but not least, Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers a wide range of insurance coverage: rental car theft and damage, $500,000 travel accident, emergency medical expenses (out-of-province or out-of-country), lost or stolen baggage, flight delays and misdirected baggage, hotel or motel burglary, Purchase Protection, Purchase Security.
Aside from the welcome bonus, the best way to earn membership rewards is by using your card to pay for all your purchases.
It is thus possible to earn between 1 and 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar depending on the categories of purchases.
This is where you need to be strategic in accumulating Membership Rewards points!
5X
3X
2X
While the American Express Cobalt® Card is the ultimate earning card in certain 5X categories, we must not forget the other 2X earning categories offered by the American Express® Gold Rewards Card.
Discover all the shops close to you that accept American Express with this interactive map.
However, if most of your purchases are made outside of all these categories, the American Express® Business Platinum Card will be recommended due to its earning rate of 1.25 Membership Rewards point per dollar.
To earn more Membership Rewards points, consider gift cards purchased in 2x and 5x points earning categories! More information here.
American Express is the only institution that allows you to refer friends so they can open a card.
Offers are not always attractive compared to those offered on milesopedia.
Indeed, some offers may require spending up to twice as much money in 3 months to get an equivalent welcome bonus. Nothing to make good friends with…. !
However, it is an option to keep in mind… especially in a couple.
For the referrer, it is possible to get between 5,000 and 25,000 membership rewards points per referred card.
American Express recently introduced “Amex’s offers” some of which earn membership rewards
By regularly monitoring your online account/on your app, you may be able to take advantage of an AMEX offer to earn points!
American Express regularly offers a Membership Rewards bonus for adding an additional cardholder to your account.
Offers can range from 1,000 to 5,000 Membership Rewards points.
All cards offering membership rewards allow you to transfer their points to 2 hotel partners:
Here are the transfer rates and processing times:
All Membership Rewards cards can transfer their points to these airline partners.
American Express Canada partners with 6 airline rewards programs.
Here is each of them, with the transfer rate and processing time:
To find out how to transfer your membership rewards to Hotel Points, check out our tutorial!
American Express’ fixed point travel program is a fare schedule for some economy class flights:
And on some business class flights:
To book this type of flight, you will need to visit the American Express Travel portal.
Let’s take the example of a round-trip from Montreal to New York.
In this example, the flights costs $462.87.
Here, with the Fixed Points Travel Program, you can redeem 15,000 Membership Rewards points and pay $162.87 in taxes.
Thus, 15,000 membership rewards save $300.
So 1,000 membership rewards = $20.
The Flexible Points Travel Program redemption option allows you to redeem your Membership Rewards points to pay for the ticket price in full or in part, including taxes, fees, and carrier surcharges, at a ratio that gives you a $10 statement credit for every 1,000 points.
Let’s revisit the same Montreal – New York round-trip with the Flexible Points option.
In this example, the flight still costs $462.87.
Here, with the flexible point travel program, it is possible to redeem 46,287 membership rewards to cover the full ticket.
To compare with fixed points, 15,000 membership rewards save $150.
So 1,000 membership rewards = $10.
It will therefore be particularly recommended redeem the fixed points travel option when it is offered.
American Express Membership Rewards points can be applied as a statement credit for any travel purchase charged to the card.
Here, 1,000 Membership Rewards points = $10.
This is the easiest way to redeem your Membership Rewards points. Especially since this allows you to save with companies that do not have a loyalty program, such as Air Transat or Airbnb… !
American Express Membership Rewards points can be applied as a statement credit for any everyday purchase charged to the card.
Here, 1,000 Membership Rewards points = $10 as of May 31, 2021.
A little-known option: redeem your Membership Rewards Points as a statement credit for your Card Annual Fee.
For example, upon renewal of the American Express® Gold Rewards Card, you could use 25,000 Membership Rewards points to pay the $250 annual fee.
You can redeem your Membership Rewards Points on American Express’ online store. The first option is gift cards. There are dozens of them.
Here is an example of an Air Canada gift card:
You could use 13,000 Membership Rewards points to get a $100 gift card.
Here, 1,000 Membership Rewards points = $7.70
If you’re interested in this option, keep an eye on American Express’ online store regularly. You could get a better value of your Membership Rewards Points during promotions.
The second option on the American Express store is for products. Hundreds of them exist.
This toaster costs $75 in stores.
Here, 1,000 Membership Rewards points = $5
We strongly advise against this option because you do not get the best value for your Membership Rewards Points.
Another little-known option: redeem its membership rewards on Amazon.ca.
Here, 1,000 Membership Rewards points = $7.
Finally, it is possible to donate your Membership Rewards Points.
As you may have seen above, there are many ways to redeem American Express Membership Rewards Points.
The value of 1 Membership Rewards point is estimated between 0.5 and 5.0 cents per point depending on usage (from purchasing a toaster to transferring to Aeroplan for business class travel).
So we decided to rate the membership reward at 1.7 cents per dollar in order to be conservative.
This means that the welcome bonus of the American Express® Gold Rewards Card has a value of approximately $400.
Membership rewards do not expire, as long as you keep a card active and in good standing.
It can be beneficial to have a card like the American Express Cobalt® Card, whose annual fee is one of the least expensive, in order to maintain an active Membership Rewards account.
Or the American Express® Green Card (no annual-fee card).
You can combine Membership Rewards Points from several cards in one Membership Rewards account.
The condition: all cards must be in your name.
It is therefore impossible for a couple or friends to transfer Membership Rewards points from one account to another. Read our article here.
To request the combination of Membership Rewards points into a single account, you will need to contact American Express (by phone, secure message, or chat).
The combination of membership rewards in a single account allows you to cancel a card while retaining the membership rewards on an active card such as the American Express® Gold Rewards Card advised above.
American Express offers several payment cards linked to the “Membership Rewards” loyalty program.
The Membership Rewards points earned can be redeemed for many rewards:
Membership Rewards points can also be converted into points for airline loyalty programs such as Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club, Delta SkyMiles, or into points for hotel loyalty programs such as Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors.
Milesopedia rates an American Express Membership Rewards Point at 1.7 cents. If you have 50,000 Membership Rewards Points, this has an approximate value of $850.
No, American Express does not require a minimum income for any of its credit cards.
There are many ways to earn American Express Membership Rewards points with:
Welcome bonuses differ between each credit card and are offered to new cardholders: Depending on promotions and cards, these bonuses range from 10,000 to 50,000 points.
In addition to excellent insurance coverage, some American Express Membership Rewards credit cards offer benefits such as unlimited access for the cardholder and a guest to over 1,200 airport lounges and a $200 annual travel credit.
There are many ways to use your American Express Membership Rewards points for:
American Express Canada has 6 airline partners:
And 2 hotel partners:
American Express Membership Rewards points do not expire as long as you maintain an active and valid credit card.
Savings are here (if you don’t see the sign-up form, please click here):
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