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American Express Canada and Scotiabank offer two cards for frequent travellers:
Their names are very similar, and yet, they are not the same! These cards both give us great advantages, but their characteristics differ. Let’s see which one is the best.
The welcome bonus offered by each of these cards varies according to the promotions.
Here’s how the current offer is structured:
With this welcome offer from the American Express Platinum Card®, you can earn up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points:
Based on our Membership Rewards points valuation (1.7 cents per point), this welcome bonus corresponds to a value of 1 700 $.
With this welcome offer for Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card you can get up to 80,000 Scene+ points:
Based on our valuation of Scene+ points (1 cent per point), this welcome bonus corresponds to a value of $800.
The offer from the American Express Platinum Card® provides significantly more points and value compared to its counterpart.
American Express Platinum Card® requires no minimum income.
The Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card requires a minimum annual income of $12,000.
Like the vast majority of American Express cards, American Express Platinum Card® requires no minimum income.
It should be noted, however, that Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card is also very accessible with its low annual income requirement.
If you’re looking for travel benefits, but don’t have a very high income, either of these cards may be right for you.
The American Express Platinum Card® has an annual fee of $799.
The Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card has an annual fee of $399.
In theory, the Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card is much less expensive in terms of annual fees than the American Express Platinum Card®.
However, the American Express Platinum Card® comes with an annual travel credit of $200 and a $200 annual credit for select restaurants, bringing the net annual fee to $399.
If these credits are used correctly, both cards are equal in this category.
The American Express Platinum Card® and the Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card offer different point accumulations.
With the American Express Platinum Card®, you earn:
Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card is very simple: you earn 2 points per dollar (2-cent value) spent on everything!
For simplicity, and if there’s a large portion of the budget related to groceries, recurring bills or subscriptions, pharmacy, gas, entertainment, etc., the Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card is best. It gives 2 points per dollar on everything!
On the other hand, the person who is often away from home will benefit from taking the American Express Platinum Card®.
For a restaurant or travel purchase, it would be better to take the American Express Platinum Card®, as it is more valuable.
Both cards are made for travellers.
However, their loyalty programs are completely different:
As a result, the way points are used is different.
With the American Express Platinum Card®, you can apply its Membership Rewards points to reimburse any travel purchase charged to the card (airline tickets, hotels, Airbnb, car rentals, etc.), where 1,000 points = $10 in reimbursement.
You can also use the American Express fixed rate chart for specific flights.
The usage rate is 1,000 points = $20.
Scene+ points and travel:
You can apply them to travel purchases in two ways, thanks to the fixed redemption rate where 10,000 points = $100 credit:
The two ways of using points for travel are relatively similar for the 2 cards.
With the American Express Platinum Card®, you can apply Membership Rewards points to everyday purchases charged to the card.
The usage rate is 1,000 points = $10.
A minimum of 1,000 points (minimum $10) must be applied.
You can redeem 1,000 Scene+ points for a $10 discount at the IGA/Sobeys checkout.
Points can also be used to purchase gift cards on the Scotiabank/Scene+ website, from 1,000 to 1,400 points for a $10 discount.
Scene+ points can also be redeemed for:
With the American Express Platinum Card®, whether you want to use your points for travel or everyday purchases, you’ll get the same value: 1,000 points = $10 less to pay out of pocket.
This is not the case if you want to use Scene+ points for a statement credit on anything, where using your Scene+ points is not advantageous at all.
With the American Express Platinum Card® you can transfer your points to other rewards programs:
You cannot transfer your Scene+ points to other programs.
When your Scene+ points are in your Scene+ account, you have no other way out: you can only use them in the Scene+ program.
American Express Platinum Card® Membership Rewards points are highly flexible and can be transferred elsewhere for great savings.
It’s a flexibility that the Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card doesn’t have.
With the American Express Platinum Card® you and a guest have unlimited free access to many airport lounges around the world:
The Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card gives you 10 complimentary airport lounge visits per year, from the date you join the program. The card is linked to the DragonPass and Plaza Premium networks.
Once all 10 accesses have been used, the cost is USD 32 per person for entering alounge.
Secondary cardholders enjoy 4 free visits per year.
If you travel regularly, it’s easy: the American Express Platinum Card® will open the doors of numerous lounges around the world for you and one guest (or up to two children, depending on the lounge), as well as in Canada in the Plaza Premium lounges, Air France Lounge, National Bank Lounge or the WestJet Elevation Lounge.
If you travel less often, you’ll get 10 annual visits to airport lounges with the Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card.
With the American Express Platinum Card®, you enjoy the following benefits:
The Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card offers you the following benefits:
The American Express Platinum Card® is aimed at all frequent travelers, making life at the airport easier for them as well as for those who stay in hotels and frequent the best restaurants.
The insurances offered by the two cards are similar on several coverages, but the American Express Platinum Card® is slightly superior.
However, Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card also offers practical mobile device insurance.
So? Which Card is the winner?
The Platinum Card® from American Express is the best because:
The Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card is a good compromise and stands out from the crowd:
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