Amex “Add a Card” Bonus Event: Earn Up to 105,000 Points for Adding Cards

American Express has relaunched its “Add a Card” bonus event for Canadian cardholders, and this round is a big step up from the last one, particularly on the premium cards.

The tiered spending structure from the spring is gone. Each eligible card now carries a single flat bonus, and the headline offers are 30,000 points per additional card on the American Express Platinum Card and the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, for just $3,000 of spending. Last time, that same 30,000 required $10,000.

The promotion runs from August 18 through October 29, 2026, and since September 3, it has also extended to employee cards on four business cards.

Add Supplementary Cardholders, Get Bonus Points

From August 18 to October 29, 2026, select American Express personal cards are offering bonus points or statement credits when you add supplementary cardholders. The new cardholder needs to meet a spending requirement on their card within the first three months, and the bonus lands in the primary cardholder’s account.

A few rules apply across the board. You can earn the bonus on a maximum of two new additional cards per account, with one offer per card. The card has to be added inside the window, but the three-month spending clock runs from approval, so it can finish after October 29. You can review the official terms on the American Express landing page.

Here’s the full lineup of eligible cards and their offers:

Primary card	Additional card	Annual fee	Bonus	Spend in 3 months
American Express Platinum Card	Additional Platinum Card	$250	30,000 MR points	$3,000
American Express Platinum Card	Additional Gold Rewards Card	$0 for first two, $50 after	5,000 MR points	$1,000
American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card	Additional Aeroplan Reserve Card	$199	30,000 Aeroplan points	$3,000
American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card	Additional Aeroplan Reserve No Fee Card	$0	5,000 Aeroplan points	$1,000
American Express Aeroplan Card	Additional Aeroplan Card	$50	7,500 Aeroplan points	$2,000
American Express Aeroplan Card	Additional Aeroplan No Fee Card	$0	2,500 Aeroplan points	$1,000
American Express Cobalt Card	Additional Cobalt Card	$0	7,500 MR points	$2,000
American Express Gold Rewards Card	Additional Gold Rewards Card	$0 for first, $50 after	7,500 MR points	$2,000
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card	Additional Marriott Bonvoy Card	$0	7,500 Bonvoy points	$2,000
American Express Green Card	Additional Green Card	$0	2,500 MR points	$500
SimplyCash Preferred Card	Additional SimplyCash Preferred Card	$0	$50 statement credit	$1,000
SimplyCash Card	Additional SimplyCash Card	$0	$25 statement credit	$500

If you were to add two cards and both cardholders complete the spending requirement, here’s what each offer is worth against the out-of-pocket cost of the additional cards’ annual fees:

• American Express Platinum Card: 60,000 Membership Rewards points for $500, or 10,000 points for $0 with two Gold Rewards add-on cards
• American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card: 60,000 Aeroplan points for $398, or 10,000 points for $0 with the No Fee cards
• American Express Aeroplan Card: 15,000 Aeroplan points for $100, or 5,000 points for $0
• American Express Cobalt Card: 15,000 Membership Rewards points for $0
• American Express Gold Rewards Card: 15,000 Membership Rewards points for $50
• Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card: 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for $0
• American Express Green Card: 5,000 Membership Rewards points for $0
• SimplyCash Preferred Card: $100 in statement credits for $0
• SimplyCash Card: $50 in statement credits for $0

Statement credits on the SimplyCash cards are applied by March 15, 2027.

Business Cards Joined on September 3

Partway through the event, Amex added offers for business cardholders who add employee cards between September 3 and October 29, 2026. The offers cover the same four business cards as the March event, and each account can earn the bonus on up to three new employee cards.

• Business Platinum Card from American Express: 35,000 Membership Rewards points per Employee Business Platinum Card ($250 annual fee) after $7,000 in spending, or 10,000 points per Employee Business Gold Card ($0) after $2,000, for up to 105,000 points
• American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card: 25,000 Aeroplan points per Employee Aeroplan Business Reserve Card ($199) after $5,000 in spending, or 5,000 points per No Fee employee card after $1,000, for up to 75,000 points
• American Express Business Gold Rewards Card: 15,000 Membership Rewards points per employee card ($50) after $3,000 in spending, for up to 45,000 points
• Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card: 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per employee card ($50) after $3,000 in spending, for up to 45,000 points

As with the personal cards, each employee card has three months from approval to meet its spending requirement. Only purchases on the employee cards count, not your own.

The fees on the Aeroplan Business Reserve employee cards are going up. From January 12, 2027, the Employee Aeroplan Business Reserve Card will cost $249 a year, and the No Fee card will be renamed the Aeroplan Business Reserve Expense Card, with a $25 annual fee.

The business terms also refer to an offer sent by email or other select channels, so make sure the offer appears in your own account before you add any cards.

Should You Add Supplementary Cardholders to Your Amex Cards?

Whether the extra points are worth it comes down to what you can get out of them compared to the cost of acquiring them, and this round makes that math easier than usual.

The premium cards are the clear story. On the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, a $199 additional card returns 30,000 Aeroplan points, which is worth around $600 at our valuation of 2 cents per point, and that’s before the additional cardholder’s own perks. Those include a free checked bag and unlimited Maple Leaf Lounge access in North America.

The American Express Platinum Card offer works the same way. A $250 Additional Platinum Card returns 30,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert 1:1 to Aeroplan for the same $600 of value, along with unlimited lounge access for the additional cardholder.

Perks such as these can justify the additional fees on their own, and then the bonus points come as an added incentive. If you’ve been on the fence about adding a partner or family member to either card, this is the round to do it.

Among the no-fee options, the American Express Cobalt Card and the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card stand out. As long as your supplementary cardholders can fulfill the minimum spending requirement, you’ll have grown your balance without any added cost.

The category earning rates on those cards add a further boost. If a supplementary cardholder puts their $2,000 of Cobalt Card spending toward groceries, restaurants, and bars, that’s 10,000 base points from the 5x earning categories on top of the 7,500 bonus points from this offer. Across two cardholders, that’s up to 35,000 Membership Rewards points from the Cobalt Card offer alone, and the $2,000 requirement sits comfortably under the card’s $2,500 monthly cap on 5x categories.

The same logic applies to supplementary cardholders on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card, which earns 5 Bonvoy points per dollar spent at Marriott hotels.

If you wish to further elevate your stay at select Marriott hotels, booking your stays with our in-house travel agency Prince Collection would entitle you to additional benefits for no additional cost.

Since you pay at the property directly, you’ll still be eligible for the bonus points available through this offer.

Conclusion

American Express is once again offering bonus points for adding cardholders to your account, and with flat bonuses of up to 30,000 points per additional card on the Platinum and Aeroplan Reserve Cards, this is the most generous round we’ve seen.

The offer runs from August 18 through October 29, 2026, so there’s plenty of time to add cardholders and let them work through the spending requirement.

For no-fee wins, the American Express Cobalt Card and the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card remain the easy picks. For the biggest haul, the premium cards finally make the additional card fees an easy call.