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The American Express Cobalt® Card has long been a staple in our wallet, thanks to its exceptional earn rates and the flexibility of its points. But the landscape is rapidly changing, and the American Express® Gold Rewards Card is regaining ground.
If you’ve been following Milesopedia for a while, you probably know that welcome offers and credit cards evolve over time; sometimes cyclically, and other times unexpectedly.
In this article, we’ll give you the lowdown on the evolution of these two cards to see which is currently more advantageous.
The American Express Cobalt® Card is all about long-term earning speed. With 5 points per dollar on groceries and restaurants, it turns your everyday spending into a points machine.
The goal? To quickly earn a large number of points. For those who spend a lot on groceries and restaurants (think families or entrepreneurs who go out often), the Cobalt can generate a large amount of points without any particular effort.
The American Express® Gold Rewards Card has often been overshadowed by the Cobalt due to its advantageous earning potential. However, it positions itself as a slightly more premium card with attractive travel benefits: an annual $100 travel credit, 2 points per dollar on travel purchases, complimentary airport lounge access, and much more.
The current welcome offer for the American Express® Gold Rewards Card is high, with the possibility to get up to 60,000 Membership Rewards points! This is a value of $600 for travel or any purchase made on the Card:
The current welcome offer from American Express Cobalt® Card welcome offer is up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points.
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.
With a total difference of 45,000 Membership Rewards points between the two welcome offers, it goes without saying that the American Express® Gold Rewards Card stands out significantly.
Take, for example, a monthly family budget of $2,000, which would be enough to unlock any of the welcome offers.
The budget is divided as follows:
According to the multipliers of each card, this represents a total of:
So here are the points that can be earned with each of the cards following the previous budget, for the first year:
With this budget, the Gold Rewards Card surpasses the Cobalt Card in terms of accumulation. You could get a total of:
This is simply a simulation. It’s up to you to make your own calculations based on the breakdown of your monthly expenses.
Membership Rewards points have a fixed value of 1,000 points per $10 when redeemed for statement credit. However, they are flexible points that can be transferred to many airline and hotel programs: Aeroplan, Flying Blue, British Airways Club, Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors, among others.
By transferring points, it is often possible to achieve greater value for each point redeemed. For example, Milesopedia estimates that one Aeroplan point is worth 2 cents when used to purchase a flight. With a 1:1 transfer ratio, you can indirectly obtain 2 cents per Membership Rewards point (or potentially even more) with Aeroplan.
If we take the example of American Express® Gold Rewards Card you can earn the equivalent of:
Certain promotions maximize the value of these points, such as the transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy, or Flying Blue Promo Rewards, which enable you to save on the price of an award ticket.
If you’re planning to travel, it goes without saying that the American Express® Gold Rewards Card is to be favoured, especially since it earns 2 points per dollar on travel expenses. As for the Cobalt, the multiplier on travel expenses has been reduced to the base rate as of October 2024, i.e. to 1 point per dollar.
The American Express® Gold Rewards Card offers a $100 annual travel credit, which the Cobalt does not. In a way, this offsets the Amex Gold Rewards Card‘s higher annual fee of $250.
Another travel benefit offered by the American Express® Gold Rewards Card that the Amex Cobalt doesn’t have: a subscription to Priority Pass and 4 complimentary annual visits to the Plaza Premium lounges.
Once again, the American Express® Gold Rewards Card is more advantageous in terms of insurance for travellers. The only advantage of American Express Cobalt® Card is that it provides mobile device insurance of up to $1,000.
Here is a comparison of the insurance offered by the two cards:
Other travel advantages give the American Express® Gold Rewards Card a head start:
These are the little extras that ultimately make all the difference to travellers.
The American Express Cobalt® Card has long been one of the cards we keep in our wallets year after year. Here’s why it’s still a great card to use for rewards.
The American Express Cobalt® Card is one of the very few credit cards in Canada to offer a 5 points per dollar multiplier at grocery stores, restaurants and with food delivery services.
That’s a minimum 5% return on these expenses, which often occupy an important place in a budget. And as demonstrated in this article, the flexibility of these points can easily increase their value. For example, if they are transferred to Aeroplan and then used to purchase a flight at 2 cents per point, we’re talking about a 10% return on food-related purchases!
Plus, by using the gift card trick, it’s possible to get a similar return on other everyday purchases.
Important to know: the 5 points per dollar multiplier category has a monthly cap of $2,500 per month. It is therefore important to demonstrate normal purchasing behaviour so as not to risk finding yourself targeted by Amex for a financial review that could lead to unpleasant consequences.
Indirectly, it’s the card in Canada with the highest accumulation of points for a number of airline and hotel loyalty programs. In this article, we explain how you can earn up to 3.25 X points for over 40 airlines with the Amex Cobalt.
The American Express Cobalt® Card is still very advantageous on everyday spending, offering 3 points per dollar on streaming services: Spotify, Netflix, Crave, etc.
It also offers 2 points per dollar on gas, public transit and ride sharing purchases in Canada.
The American Express Cobalt® Card offers other advantages that are shared by other American Express cards:
Taking into account the current welcome offers of both cards, combined with the advantages of each, it is more advantageous to go with the American Express® Gold Rewards Card.
Not only is it possible to save over $600 on your next trip thanks to the Membership Rewards points awarded, but you will also enjoy significant benefits such as airport lounge access, an annual travel credit, and a comprehensive range of travel insurance. You will also earn 2 points per dollar for every travel expense.
The American Express Cobalt® Card remains an excellent card to have in your wallet, but is simply not as generous with its current welcome bonus.
Due to current welcome offers, the American Express® Gold Rewards Card is more generous in terms of rewards, and more advantageous for travellers. The American Express Cobalt® Card remains a very good option for accumulating points on a daily basis.
The important thing is to respect the terms and conditions of the American Express loyalty program, i.e. not to abuse it. Abusive behaviour may include:
For a detailed analysis of each card’s features, see our comparison of the Gold Rewards Card and the Cobalt Card.
Ultimately, while the American Express® Gold Rewards Card outperforms the Cobalt Card in this analysis, the important thing is to apply for it to take advantage of its high welcome offer.
The Amex Gold is clearly superior for travel with its $100 annual credit, Priority Pass lounge access, and 2 points per dollar on travel spend. The Cobalt offers only 1 point per dollar on travel since October 2024.
The Gold Rewards Card has an annual fee of $250 but includes a $100 travel credit that reduces the net cost. The Cobalt Card has annual fees of $191.88, depending on province of residence, and no offset credit, but offers faster accumulation on groceries and restaurants.
Yes, American Express sometimes offers an upgrade offer to switch from the Cobalt Card to the Gold Card. However, you must respect American Express’s terms and conditions, and therefore not reapply for the Cobalt Card shortly after accepting the offer.
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