Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

The Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card is an excellent card in terms of its welcome bonus, earning rates on everyday spending, no foreign transaction fees, and more.

This card is suitable for a wide swath of people, and it’s one of the strongest all-around credit cards if you’re looking to save money on travel.

Bonuses & Fees

The Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card is offering up to 40,000 Scene+ points for new cardholders,† structured as follows:

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

This is a solid offer, among the better ones we’ve seen for this card. The second spending threshold is well within reach, as the card’s strong everyday earning rates should encourage many cardholders to use it frequently.

There’s an annual fee of $120, and supplementary cards cost $29 apiece.†

How Much Is This Offer Worth?

Here’s a breakdown of what the welcome bonus for the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card is worth. Keep in mind that this doesn’t take into consideration the potential value of other card benefits, which we’ll outline in detail below.

We value Scene+ points at 1 cent per point, and using that value, we’d peg a value of $400 on the welcome bonus alone.

Plus, assuming the card’s baseline earning rate of 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent, you’d earn an additional 7,500 Scene+ points for meeting the $7,500 total minimum spending requirement in the first year. We’d value these points at an additional $75.

Once you factor in the card’s $120 annual fee, your net return winds up at $355 in year one.

Of course, you can certainly squeeze more value out of the card by leveraging the category earning rates and the card’s other benefits; however, this is unique to each cardholder, and our valuation assumes a minimum amount of value rather than a maximum amount of value.

Earning Rewards

This card is an excellent choice for everyday spending. You’ll earn 5 Scene+ points per dollar spent at grocery stores, food and drink, and entertainment venues.† That’s pretty much equivalent to 5% cash back on these categories, which is a fantastic proposition.

In addition to the strong 5x earning rate, as part of a partnership with Empire grocery stores, you can earn 6 Scene+ points per dollar spent on Empire grocery stores such as Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland, FreshCo, and more.† This is a very impressive earning rate, and is on par with the highest everyday earning rate in a specific merchant category.

You’ll also earn 4 Scene+ points per dollar spent on hotel bookings, car rentals, and “things to do” booked through Scene+ Travel.†

Meanwhile, you’ll earn 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent on gas, daily transit, and streaming services, which is a highly competitive earning rate for some spending categories that otherwise don’t get much coverage.†

On all other spending, you’ll earn 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent.†

It’s important to note that the accelerated earning rates are capped at $50,000 per calendar year. After reaching that threshold, you’ll earn 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent.

To get a better idea on how much you can earn each month with this card, feel free to use our rewards calculator below.

Redeeming Rewards

Scene+ is one of the most flexible fixed-value points programs in Canada. Points have a value of 1 cent per point, and can be easily credited towards any travel expense up to 12 months after the date of purchase.

This is far superior to fixed-value points programs from Canada’s other major banks, as most of them force you to book your travel through their in-house travel agencies. With those programs, you’re effectively limited to using your points for flights, hotels, car rentals, and vacations at the rates set in the online travel agencies.

On the other hand, with Scene+ points, you can apply your points to things like vacation rentals, plane tickets, train tickets, hotel stays, award booking taxes and fees, and much more. Simply charge the travel expense to your credit card, and then redeem points to “offset” the charge.

The best part of this is that since you can book directly with travel vendors, you’ll get the full entitlement to earning elite benefits, and you’ll also be covered by the card’s insurance coverage (outlined below).

Perks & Benefits

This card has no foreign transaction fees,† an area where Scotiabank leads the Big 5 by a wide margin.

However, you’ll only earn 1 point per dollar spent on purchases made in foreign currencies, and Amex isn’t accepted quite as widely around the world as other cards.

Despite not being issued by American Express the lender, this card still gets many of the perks of being on the American Express payment network.

You’ll be able to register for some Amex Offers including Shop Small, use Amex Front of the Line for presale event tickets, and use American Express Invites for exclusive experiences.†

Be sure to keep an eye out on the Amex Offers website, and then manually register your card if you see anything that catches your eye.

Insurance Coverage

The insurance on the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card is as strong as you’d expect for a premium travel credit card. Coverage includes:

• The essential emergency medical insurance of up to $1 million for you, your spouse, and dependent children on unexpected medical illness or injury when travelling out-of-province for up to 25 days (3 days for age 65 and up)†

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance of up to $1,500 per person†

• Flight delay insurance for delays of more than four hours, up to $500 per person†

• Delayed and lost baggage insurance of up to $1,000†

• Rental car collision or damage insurance, which can help you save on the insurance fees usually charged by car rental companies for vehicles with a MSRP of $65,000†

Plus, on the purchase protection side, you’ll get a 90-day protection period against damage, loss, or theft for most new items. In addition, you also get extended warranty of up to one year.†

Historical Offers

Legal Disclaimers