Head-to-Head: Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card vs. Scotiabank Gold American Express

In this edition of Head-to-Head, let’s compare the two best no foreign transaction fee credit cards in Canada: the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card and the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card. 

If you’re a frequent flyer looking to minimize fees when travelling abroad, which one is right for you? We’ll compare the cards using a range of criteria, including the welcome bonus, earning rates, benefits & perks, and insurance, to help you decide which suits you best.

Card Basics

Let’s kick things off by looking at some of the essentials when considering a credit card: welcome bonuses, annual fees, and earning rates.

1. Welcome Bonus

First and foremost, let’s look at the welcome bonuses, which is one of the most important factors when deciding between two credit cards.

The Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card and the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card both earn Scene+ points.

Until July 1, 2026, the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card has a welcome bonus of up to 60,000 Scene+ points, structured as follows:

• 40,000 Scene+ points upon spending $2,000 in the first three months
• 10,000 Scene+ points upon spending $10,000 in the first six months
• 10,000 Scene+ points upon spending $40,000 in the first year

This is the highest welcome bonus we’ve ever seen on the Scotiabank Passport. Previous offers have typically ranged from 25,000 to 40,000 Scene+ points, so the current promotion is a major step up.

On the other hand, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card has a welcome offer of up to 45,000 Scene+ points, structured as follows:

• 25,000 Scene+ points upon spending $2,000 in the first three months
• 20,000 Scene+ points upon spending $7,500 in the first year

We’ve seen the welcome bonus go as high as 50,000 Scene+ points in the past. The current 45,000-point offer is solid, especially since the card currently comes with a first-year annual fee waiver.

Verdict: The Scotiabank Passport takes this category with its record 60,000-point offer. The first tier alone – 40,000 points on just $2,000 of spending – delivers more points than most Scotiabank welcome bonuses in recent memory. If you’ve been on the fence about the Passport, this is the time.

2. Annual Fee

The Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card has an annual fee of $150, with no annual fee waiver on the current offer.

Meanwhile, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card’s annual fee is $120, and the current offer includes a first-year annual fee waiver. That effectively makes the card free to try for the first year.

Verdict: The Scotiabank Gold Amex wins this one. A lower annual fee plus a first-year waiver gives it a clear edge, saving you $150 in the first year compared to the Passport.

3. Earning Rates

The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card has a multi-tier earning structure:

• 6 Scene+ points per dollar spent on eligible purchases at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, FreshCo, Foodland, Farm Boy, and other Empire-owned grocers
• 5 Scene+ points per dollar spent on eligible groceries, dining, food delivery, and entertainment
• 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent on eligible gas, transit, rideshare, and streaming service purchases
• 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases

Every 100 Scene+ points can be redeemed towards $1 in travel purchases, setting a baseline value of 1 cent per point (cpp) when redeemed for travel.

You’ll earn anywhere from an effective 1–6% return on spending with the Scotiabank Gold Amex, depending on which category your purchases qualify as. Both cards have a combined cap of $50,000 per year across all accelerated categories, after which everything earns 1x.

On the other hand, the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card offers the following earning structure:

• 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent on eligible purchases at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, FreshCo, Foodland, Farm Boy, and other Empire-owned grocers
• 2 Scene+ points per dollar spent on eligible purchases at other grocery stores, dining, entertainment, and transit
• 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases

With the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite*, you’ll earn an effective 3% return at Empire-affiliated grocery stores, a 2% return on groceries, dining, entertainment, and transit, and a 1% return on everything else.

Here’s where it gets interesting: the Scotiabank Passport’s category multipliers apply to purchases made outside of Canada, while the Scotiabank Gold Amex’s multipliers are limited to Canadian purchases only. Abroad, the Gold earns a flat 1x on everything, despite its no foreign transaction fee benefit.

This is a critical distinction for frequent travellers. If you’re spending $5,000 on dining and entertainment during a trip in Europe, the Passport earns 10,000 Scene+ points at 2x, while the Gold earns just 5,000 at 1x – half as much.

Verdict: For everyday spending in Canada, the Scotiabank Gold Amex wins easily thanks to its higher multipliers (5–6x vs. 2–3x). However, the Passport’s ability to earn bonus points on foreign purchases is a major advantage for anyone who travels regularly. Consider which type of spending makes up the bigger share of your annual budget.

Perks and Benefits

Additional perks and benefits offered by credit cards can make a strong case for choosing one over the other, especially when it comes to travel.

1. Redeeming Points

Many of Canada’s major banks force you to redeem their proprietary points for travel through in-house travel agencies. Some of these travel portals can be quite clunky and difficult to deal with, and can also limit your range of options of what type of travel to book.

Fortunately, with Scotiabank’s Scene+ points, you can book with any travel provider and redeem points to offset the cost.

Therefore, you can book flights, car rentals, hotels, short-term rentals, trains, cruises, or anything else that codes as travel, and then redeem your Scene+ points to partially or completely offset the expense.

What’s more, you have up to 12 months after the charge posts to redeem points against it. Therefore, if you’re short by a few points for a redemption, you can continue to earn points and then offset the cost once your balance is sufficient.

Verdict: It’s great to see both cards offering flexibility when it comes to redeeming points for any travel purchase. Since you can redeem points in exactly the same way, we have ourselves a clear draw.

2. Foreign Transaction Fees

The Scotiabank Passport and the Scotiabank Gold Amex both offer no foreign transaction fees, which is one of the most attractive features of both cards.

These two cards remain among Canada’s best options for avoiding the 2.5% foreign transaction fee that most other credit cards levy. The two products use the Visa and American Express mid-market rates, respectively, which are equal or very close to the true mid-market FX rate.

However, as noted above, the Passport earns its full category multipliers (2–3x) on foreign purchases, while the Gold drops to a flat 1x rate abroad. This means the Passport doesn’t just save you the foreign transaction fee – it actively rewards you more for spending overseas.

Verdict: Both cards save you the 2.5% foreign transaction fee, which is great. However, the Passport pulls ahead on two fronts: its earning multipliers continue to apply abroad, and Visa has wider international acceptance than American Express. If you’re primarily using a no-FX card for international spending, the Passport is the stronger choice.

3. Airport Lounge Access

The Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* comes with a Visa Airport Companion membership, with six free lounge visits provided annually to cardholders.

Unfortunately, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card doesn’t offer any complimentary lounge visits.

Verdict: The Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card wins this category outright thanks to its six free lounge visits per year through Visa Airport Companion.

4. Amex Offers

One of the great features available to American Express cardholders is Amex Offers. 

You can manually register the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card for Amex Offers on the dedicated landing page for Scotiabank-issued Amex cards. 

While the offers rotate throughout the year, it’s not uncommon to find offers that provide hundreds of dollars of value for travel purchases, Shop Small statement credits, and other merchandise.

As a Visa product, the Scotiabank Passport isn’t eligible for Amex Offers.

Verdict: The Scotiabank Gold Amex wins this category, since cardholders have access to Amex Offers and Scotiabank Passport cardholders don’t.

Other Factors

1. Supplementary Cards

The Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* offers one free additional card each year. Every additional card thereafter will be subject to an annual fee of $50.

By comparison, the Scotiabank Gold Amex charges $29 for each additional card with no initial free supplementary cards.

Verdict: This is a small win for the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card due to the free first supplementary card, while every additional card on the Scotiabank Gold Amex costs $29 apiece.

2. Insurance

As travel-oriented credit cards, both cards offer travel insurance benefits, though the Scotiabank Passport has a notably stronger package.

Both credit cards offer auto rental collision insurance. The Scotiabank Passport specifies coverage for vehicles with an MSRP of up to $65,000.

On the travel protection front, the Scotiabank Passport offers flight delay insurance for delays of more than four hours (up to $500 per person) and baggage delay insurance (up to $1,000). Notably, the Scotiabank Gold Amex does not include trip delay or baggage insurance.

With the Scotiabank Passport, you’re eligible for emergency medical insurance of up to $2 million for you, your spouse, and dependent children on unexpected medical illness or injury when travelling out-of-province for up to 25 days (three days for age 65 and up). With the Scotiabank Gold, you’re eligible for up to $1 million in coverage (25 days, or 10 days for age 65 and up).

For trip cancellation, the Passport covers up to $2,500 per person and trip interruption up to $5,000 per person. The Gold Amex offers trip cancellation of up to $1,500 per person and trip interruption of up to $2,500 per person.

Both cards also come with Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty coverage.

Verdict: The Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card has significantly better insurance across the board: higher emergency medical coverage, stronger trip cancellation and interruption limits, plus trip delay and baggage insurance that the Gold doesn’t offer. If travel insurance is a priority, the Passport is the clear choice.

3. Ease of Approval

The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card has a minimum personal income requirement of just $12,000 to qualify.

On the other hand, the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card has a minimum income requirement of $60,000 or a household income of $100,000.

Verdict: The Scotiabank Gold American Express has a much lower barrier to entry, and comes ahead in this measure.

4. Acceptance

Depending on where your travels bring you, you may find that Visa has a wider acceptance than American Express. 

If this is the case, then you’d want to have a Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* with you instead of the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card, since you’d be able to use it at a wider range of businesses.

Verdict: The Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card comes out ahead, with wider global acceptance than the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.

5. Visual Appearance

Both cards have a similar appearance, as you might expect for cards from the same bank. 

The Scotiabank Gold Amex uses pops of gold to align with its name, while the Passport has a design that plays with texture.

Both cards are visually appealing, but neither features a metal or vertical design. That said, the Passport’s textured design gives it a slight edge in our books – it looks and feels a bit more premium in hand.

Conclusion

Both the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card and the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card remain two of Canada’s best no foreign transaction fee credit cards, and both offer excellent flexibility for redeeming Scene+ points towards any travel purchase.

In 2026, however, the scales have tipped in favour of the Passport. Its record 60,000-point welcome bonus (available until July 1, 2026) is the highest offer we’ve ever seen on this card, and the fact that its earning multipliers apply to foreign purchases gives it an advantage the Gold can’t match.

The Passport also comes out ahead on insurance, lounge access, and global acceptance – the categories that matter most when you’re actually on the road.

Looking ahead, the Passport’s lounge perk is poised to become even more valuable. Starting January 1, 2027, the American Express Platinum Card will cap Priority Pass and Plaza Premium visits at six per year, unless cardholders spend $20,000 annually to unlock unlimited access. That puts the Passport’s six complimentary Visa Airport Companion visits on a more level playing field with a card that charges a $799 annual fee.

Where the Gold still shines is everyday domestic spending. Earning 5–6x at grocery stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues in Canada is hard to beat, and the first-year annual fee waiver makes it a low-risk entry point for earning Scene+ points. It’s also worth holding if you regularly take advantage of Amex Offers.

If you travel internationally even a couple of times per year, pick up the Passport while the 60,000-point promotional offer lasts. If you’re primarily optimizing for Canadian everyday spending, the Gold is your card. And if you want the best of both worlds, holding both simultaneously is the power move – use the Gold at the grocery store and the Passport at the airport.