I thought it might be fun to compare the differences of the American Express Membership Rewards program between the US and Canada. The first factor I will compare is the transfer travel partners.
The American Express Platinum Card has the second most expensive annual fee out of all the credit cards in Canada, though an argument can be made due to the American Express Centurion Card. First place goes to the American Express AeroplanPlus Reserve Card.
Have you ever signed up for a credit card because you thought the design on the card was really cool and you just needed to add that to your collection? I definitely have. This happened when I went to my very first live Ottawa Senators game at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa and I noticed they were booths set up for the Ottawa Senators MasterCard offered by MBNA.
There have been a slew of credit cards being discontinued in Canada. The trend seems to be co-branded credit cards. So now I am wondering if it would make sense to shift towards a cash back credit card portfolio rather than focusing so much on earning miles and points.
Known as the Black Card, the American Express Centurion Card is an invitation only charge card, which is only given to platinum card holders after they have met a specific spending requirement. Through some deep digging in research on the Black card, this is what I came up with.
I was referred by my dad earlier this year to sign up for the American Express Air Miles Platinum Credit Card. As we all know, American Express has made changes to its sign up bonus qualifications. We are now only entitled to one sign up bonus per lifetime, unless we are referred by a family or friend.
It’s no secret that annual fees are a nuisance. However, in some cases there are enough perks associated with certain credit cards to justify annual fees. Furthermore, if annual fees were not an issue, I would probably not care as much about churning credit card as much, so in some cases, I would simply renew the credit card. If annual fees weren’t an issue, I would probably be travelling much more often, which is why my portfolio may seem more travel centric.
The $899 annual fee on the American Express AeroplanPlus Reserve Card is the most hefty annual fee out of all the Canadian credit cards. So it would be interested to calculate whether it is actually worth it.
The American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card has a 20,000 sign up bonus points and $120 annual fee. The question I get fairly often is whether the 20,000 sign up bonus is worth the $120 annual fee.
The American Express Gold Rewards Card is one of my top 3 favourite credit cards in Canada. The features I like best is the ability to transfer my points to partners, generous sign up bonus, great earning ratios on spending, comprehensive travel insurance coverage and first year fee waived.