Recently, Scotiabank has come out with new Fall 2023 offers on some of their revamped Amex credit cards.
This includes the Scotiabank Platinum American Express®card with a welcome bonus of up to 60,000 Scene+TM points (worth $700 towards travel purchases) until October 31, 2024.
Plus, the no-fee Scotiabank American Express card is offering a welcome bonus of 7,000 Scene+TM points until February 29, 2024.
Scene+ points are quite versatile since you can easily redeem 100 points for a $1 off against any eligible travel purchase charged to your card. With a bonus of 7,000 to 60,000 Scene+ points, you can save $70-$600 on travel purchases during your next vacation.
Now, let’s go through the details of each card.
Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card
The revamped Scotiabank Platinum American Express®card lets you earn Scene+ points on every purchase.
There’s also currently a very generous welcome bonus of 60,000 Scene+ points (worth $600 towards travel purchases since 100 points = $1) for new cardholders in their first year. To unlock the full welcome bonus, complete the following 2 criteria:
- Earn 50,000 Scene+ points after spending $3,000 in in everyday eligible purchases within the first 3 months.
- Earn an additional 10,000 Scene+ points after spending $10,000 in the first 14 months.
Breaking it down, you could easily unlock the bonus 50,000 Scene+ points with spending $1,000 per month in the first 3 months of having the card. To unlock the additional 10,000 points, you would need to spend an extra $7,000 in the your first year which could be easily accomplished spending over $1,000/month.
Plus, the Scotia Platinum Amex card comes with 10 free airport lounge passes per year with Priority Pass. These lounge passes can be used to access both Priority Pass and Plaza Premium airport lounges in over 300 cities worldwide. This benefit alone is worth a minimum $299 USD!!
Also, this card does have an annual fee of $399 for the primary cardholder and $99/year for each supplementary cardholder.
However, if you apply for this card through Great Canadian Rebates, you could earn a $150 bonus!!! Plus, add the welcome bonus of 60,000 Scene+ points (worth $600) minus the $399 annual fee means that you come out ahead with a net value of $350+ in the first year of having the card!
Learn how to earn cash back with credit card applications with Great Canadian Rebates (2023).
Scotiabank Platinum Amex earning rates
In regards to daily spending, the Scotia Platinum Amex card has a simple earning rate:
- 2 Scene+ points for every $1 spent on all purchases.
This means that the card earns a flat 2% in Scene+ points, no matter the purchase. No need to worry about spending categories or limits. Therefore, it’s a great card to use to rapidly increase your Scene+ points balance for your next vacation.
No Foreign Transaction fees
Most premium credit cards will charge a 2.5% foreign transaction fee on purchases not in Canadian dollars.
But, the Scotiabank Platinum American Express®card has no foreign transaction fees! This means you will not pay the pesky 2.5% foreign transaction fee on any foreign currency purchases, including online shopping and when travelling abroad. Only the exchange rate applies.
Also, the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite and Scotia Amex Gold card both offer no foreign transaction fee benefit but have a lower annual fee compared to the Scotia Platinum Amex card.
Scotiabank American Express® Card
Like the Scotia Platinum Amex card, the no-fee Scotiabank American Express card lets you earn Scene+ points on every purchase.
There’s also currently a very generous welcome bonus of 7,000 Scene+ points (worth $70 towards travel purchases) until February 29, 2024. for new cardholders in their first year. To unlock the full welcome bonus, complete the following 2 criteria:
- Earn 5,000 Scene+ points after spending $750 in in everyday eligible purchases within the first 3 months.
- Earn an additional 2,000 Scene+ points after spending $5,000 in eligible purchases in the first year.
Breaking it down, you could unlock the full welcome bonus of 7,000 Scene+ points if you spend a minimum of $500/month on your card for an entire year. You would earn 5,000 points on your second month of spend and then the additional 2,000 points after 10 months of spend (or less).
The main perk of this card is that it has no annual fee and no fee for supplementary cards!!!
Plus, if you apply for this card through Great Canadian Rebates, you could earn a $50 bonus!!! Learn how to earn cash back with credit card applications with Great Canadian Rebates (2023).
Finally, the Scotiabank Amex no-fee card includes mobile device insurance! This insurance covers up to $500 in the event that your device is lost, stolen, accidentally damaged, or experiences mechanical failure provided the full price of the cellular phone, smartphone, or tablet was charged to your Scotiabank American Express card.
Scotiabank Amex earning rates
In regards to daily spending, here are the Scotia American Express card’s earning rates:
- 3 Scene+ points for every $1 spent at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland, FreshCo, Voilà by Sobeys, Voilà by IGA, Voilà by Safeway, Chalo! FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, IGA West, Les Marchés Tradition, Rachelle Béry and Co-Op grocery stores.
- 2 Scene+ points for every $1 spent on eligible restaurants, fast food, food delivery, other grocery stores, entertainment, gasoline, transit purchases & select streaming services (like Netflix) in Canada.
- 1 Scene+ point for every $1 spent on other purchases.
The accelerated earn rate of 3x and 2x Scene+ points on eligible categories is available on up to $50,000 in purchases on the card during a calendar year. Surpassing this threshold, the earning rate decreases to 1 Scene+ point per $1 spent on purchases.
Overall, the earning rates on the Scotiabank American Express card are quite competitive for a no-annual fee card and will help you quickly increase your Scene+ points balance.
Now, what is your best option for redeeming your hard-earned Scene+ points?
Best option to redeem your Scene+ points
Previously, these Scotiabank credit cards used to earn Scotia Rewards points. In December 2021, the Scotia Rewards and SCENE loyalty programs merged to become the new Scene+ loyalty program.
These new Scene+ points can be used for a variety of items like movie tickets, gift cards, merchandise, statement credit and more. But like before, redeeming Scene+ points for travel purchases provides the best option for your points.
Apply points against any travel purchase
Your best bet for redeeming your Scene+ points is with the “Apply Points to Travel” option. It allows you to redeem your Scene+ points to offset any type of travel purchase charged to your card within the past 12 months! This includes flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals but also train tickets, Airbnb’s and more.
The flexibility of this option allows you to redeem 100 Scene+ points for $1 off any travel purchase on your card. Note that you need to redeem a minimum of 5,000 Scene+ points towards an “Apply Points to Travel” redemption.
To use the “Apply Points to Travel” option, follow these steps:
- First log into your Scene+ account and click on “Rewards”.
- Next, select the “travel” option and then the “Apply Points to Travel” section.
- From there, select your Scotiabank card (if you have more than one) and you should now see all your travel purchases for a select time period.
- Select which travel transaction you want to redeem your points against and this will show a summary on the side of the screen.
- Finally, click “Continue” to finish the process.
Lastly, it should take 2-3 business days for your redemption to appear as a credit on your Scotiabank card.
Summary
Overall, Scotiabank has come out with some excellent offers on it’s Amex credit cards:
- The Scotiabank Platinum American Express®card is offering a welcome bonus of up to 60,000 Scene+ points (worth $700 towards travel purchases) until October 31, 2024.
- The no-fee Scotiabank American Express card is offering a welcome bonus of up to 7,000 Scene+ points (worth $100 towards travel purchases) until February 29, 2024.
Without a doubt, the best use of your Scene+ points is offsetting the cost of any travel purchase with the “Apply Points to Travel” option. With these Scotiabank welcomes bonus offers, you can save $70 to $600 on travel purchases during your next vacation.
Do you plan on applying for either one of these Scotiabank cards? Let me know in the comments below.
Disclosure: Scotiabank is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information, please visit the Scotiabank website.
My blog contains referral or affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your continued support.