Amex Platinum Referral Bonuses In Canada (Sep 2023)

The American Express Platinum Card offers exceptional value for any Canadian traveller. There’s a 100,000 Amex MR points welcome bonus—which we show you here how to turn into $2,000+ worth of travel rewards—worldwide airport lounge access with Priority Pass, a $200 annual travel credit, upgraded hotel memberships, extensive purchase coverage and travel insurance, all included with your card. Here’s a quick breakdown of the card benefits.

American Express Platinum Card

high earn rate at eligible eats & drinks and the option to transfer points to other programs

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• Annual Fee
  $799
• Interest Rate
  N/A
• Welcome Bonus
  100,000 MR points
• Rec. Credit Score
  760+

• Features & Benefits

  • Earn 70,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $10,000 within your first 3 months
  • Earn an additional 30,000 points when you make a purchase between 14 and 17 months of Cardmembership
  • Full access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, the Centurion Lounge network, the Plaza Premium Lounges, and more
  • Redeem your points through American Express Travel Online, the Flexible Points Travel Program, or the Fixed Points Travel Program
  • Transfer your points to other reward programs: Marriott International, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Radisson Hotel Group Americas, Hertz and Avis
  • $200 annual dining credit
  • $200 annual travel credit

• Pros & Cons

  Why we like it

  Great for high earn rate at eligible eats & drinks and the option to transfer points to other programs

  Pros

  • 100,000 MR points
  • Earn 2 MR points per $1 spent on eligible dining, food delivery and travel purchases
  • Earn 1 MR points per $1 spent on all other purchases
  • Access to over 1,300 American Express lounges worldwide
  • Transfer MR points between Aeroplan and Avios (1:1)
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Travel accident and emergency insurance

  Cons

  • High annual fee
  • Requires a good credit score (660+)

• More Details

  Bonuses and fees

  The American Express Platinum Card is a premium credit card with one of the highest annual fees, set at $799. It requires an excellent credit score of at least 760 to apply. With the Platinum Card, you'll earn 2 points for every dollar spent on dining and food delivery in Canada, 2 points for every dollar spent on travel, and 1 point for everything else.

  Rewards

  You can earn MR points at a rate of:

  • 2 MR points per $1 on eats & drinks, dining, and food deliveries
  • 2 MR points per $1 spent on travel-related purchases (flights, hotels, and more)
  • 1 MR point per $1 spent on everything else

  Perks and benefits

  • Access to presale tickets through Amex’s Front Of The Line program
  • Complimentary membership to Hilton Honors Gold Status and Marriot Bonvoy Gold Elite status
  • Exclusive access to American Express Experiences (entertainment, dining, retail)
  • Enroll for NEXUS and get a $100 rebate
  • Special offers when booking travel through American Express Travel Online
  • Priority lane at the Toronto Pearson International Airport

  Insurance

  Like most American Express cards, the Platinum Card offers very complete coverage:

  • Emergency medical insurance
  • Flight delay & trip cancellation insurance
  • Lost or stolen baggage insurance
  • Mobile device coverage
  • $500,000 travel accident insurance

The card also comes with additional American Express benefits that come with all of their cards. These include Front Of The Line, which offers cardholders advanced access/tickets to concerts, sporting events and shows across Canada.

How To Maximize Your American Express Platinum Points

As good as 100,000 American Express points sounds, more sounds even better. Later in this post, we show you exactly how to turn your 100,000 points welcome bonus into 30% more Avios or Aeroplan miles.

Let's look at a few different examples of what those points can do for you whenever you please. This isn't magic: it's just smartly-applied knowledge.

The Amex Platinum's $799 Annual Fee

The Platinum Card comes with a $799 fee.

It's true. And no, there's no getting around it.

But here's the magic in it.

It's nearly impossible not to make money by having this card, even after paying the fee.

Huh? Sounds confusing, right?

Here's how it works.

If you use the 100,000 points in the worst way possible, they're worth $1,000 to you. Why? Because American Express allows you to apply your points against your statement balance at a value of one cent per point, which means 100,000 points = $1,000. Add in your annual $200 travel credit and you're laughing.

The only catch with that is that you can only apply these points toward travel expenses, but you'd be surprised how widely that term applies. Flights and hotels are obvious, but Amex even categorizes a variety of other expenses like Uber rides as travel expenses, meaning they can be paid using your points as well.

Plus, that's not even considering the other benefits you get from the card. The travel/baggage insurance and additional purchase insurance (for theft/damage of your items), the worldwide airport lounge access, the platinum hotel memberships, and everything else you see here are all just cherries on top.

So even if you use your points in the worst way you could – by applying them to your statement balance as a cash equivalent – you nearly cover the annual fee from that alone.

But still, wouldn't you rather do better than the absolute worst? I thought so.

Let's Book Some Cool Flights

If you prefer to double or triple the value of your points, it's actually quite easy. Every flight suggestion you see on our blog gets you at least 2 cents per point – double the value you receive when using your points as cash – and often, that value is much, much higher.

3-4 cents per point is completely attainable once you start to know what you're doing.

In fact, the round-the-world trips I mentioned above offer a value of well over 4 cents per point, meaning the $799 fee you paid just saved you several thousand dollars on flights.

And here's the secret to turning your 100,000 points into 25-30% more: at least once per year, American Express offers a 25-30% transfer bonus when you transfer your points to a program like British Airways Avios. Just by transferring your points smartly, 100,000 points all of a sudden become much more.

You just gained tens of thousands more points—worth hundreds of dollars if you use them at a value of 2 cents per point or above—just for being in the loop.

Here are 3 realistic scenarios of the value you could achieve by getting the Platinum Card, from least valuable on the left to most valuable on the right.

Most of you will find yourselves in columns 2 or 3 in the $1,301 – $2,301 profit range, since you can just read our other blog posts to find tons of flights that get you 2-3 cents per point of value.

But if you're ambitious and want to push your points even further, it's completely possible to surpass what's listed above with a value of 4-5 cents per point or more, and we'd love to help you get there. Just send us an email and we'll help you sift through your options to ensure you get a great bang for your buck.

And since I alluded to them earlier, here's a partial list of some of the benefits you get with the Platinum Card (most of them are also offered with the American Express Business Platinum Card, and some with the Marriott Bonvoy™ Card and the American Express Cobalt Card): 

In Summary

The Amex Platinum Card for Canadians offers truly exceptional value for its $799 annual fee. This makes it a great vehicle for referring friends, making them happy with the great value and bringing in up to 225,000 additional points for you.

We haven’t included all of the card details on this page, so if you want to learn more, read our full review of the American Express Platinum Card.

Amex Platinum FAQs

How many friends can I refer to the Amex Platinum Card for Canadians?

Once you’ve successfully activated your Amex Platinum Card, you can refer up to 15 friends for 15,000 Amex Membership Rewards points each, bringing your annual referral limit to 225,000 points.

How many friends can I refer to my other American Express cards?

Here's a list:

• American Express Platinum: 15 friends at 15,000 points each = 225,000 points
• American Express Cobalt: 15 friends at 5,000 points each = 75,000 points
• American Express Business Platinum: 15 friends at 15,000 points each = 225,000 points
• American Express Marriott Bonvoy Card: 15 friends at 10,000 points each = 150,000 points
• American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business Card: 15 friends at 10,000 points each = 150,000 points
• American Express Business Gold Rewards Card: 15 friends at 5,000 points each = 75,000 points

How do I refer a friend to the Amex Platinum Card?

1. Once you’ve activated your Amex Platinum card, log in to American Express and click “Refer A Friend.”
2. Enter your friend’s email address, or copy the link and share it with them directly.
3. When your friend’s application has been approved, you’ll receive 15,000 points!

Will I receive a referral bonus for inviting friends to the American Express SPG Card?

Yes. Amex's SPG Card has been re-branded as the Marriott Bonvoy™ Card, but you'll still receive a 10,000-point bonus for each friend you invite, up to an annual maximum of 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy™ points.