Scotiabank is revamping their rewards program to the new Scene+ program. In light of this development, Scotia has recently come out with new offers on some of their most popular credit cards.
This includes the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite Card with a welcome bonus of 30,000 Scene+TM points if you apply before February 28, 2022. Also, the Scotiabank Gold American Express card with a welcome bonus of 40,000 Scene+TM points (worth $400 towards travel purchases) if you apply before February 28, 2022.
Plus, both cards have no foreign transaction fees & the annual fee is waived for the first year!
Also, you can easily redeem your Scene+ points against any eligible travel purchases charged to your card. With a bonus of 30,000 to 40,000 Scene+ points, you can save $300-$400 on travel purchases during your next vacation.
Now, let’s go through the details of each card.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite card lets you earn Scene+ points on every purchase.
There’s also currently a very generous welcome bonus of 30,000 Scene+ points (worth $300 towards travel purchases) for new cardholders in their first year. To unlock the full welcome bonus, complete the following 2 criteria:
- Earn 20,000 Scene+ points after spending $1,000 in in everyday eligible purchases within the first 3 months.
- Earn an additional 10,000 Scene+ points after spending $40,000 in eligible purchases annually.
Breaking it down, you could easily unlock the bonus 20,000 Scene+ points with spending $334 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 $40,000 ($3,334 per month for 12 months) which is certainly challenging for most people.
Also, this card does have an annual fee of $139 but it’s waived for the first year! Plus, the $50 fee for the first supplementary card is also waived for the first year only.
Scotiabank Passport Visa earning rates
In regards to daily spending, here are the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite card’s earning rates:
- 2 Scene+ points for every $1 spent on eligible grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, entertainment and transit purchases in Canada.
- 1 Scene+ point for every $1 spent on other purchases.
The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite card is offering up to 30,000 bonus Scene+ points and no annual fee in the first year. This is a decent offer so consider applying before this promotion ends on February 28, 2022.
Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card
The Scotiabank Gold American Express card lets you earn Scene+ points on every purchase.
There’s also currently a very generous welcome bonus of 40,000 Scene+ points (worth $400 towards travel purchases) for new cardholders in their first year. To unlock the full welcome bonus, complete the following 2 criteria:
- Earn 20,000 Scene+ points after spending $1,000 in in everyday eligible purchases within the first 3 months.
- Earn an additional 20,000 Scene+ points after spending $7,500 in eligible purchases in the first year.
Breaking it down, you could unlock the full welcome bonus of 40,000 Scene+ points if you spend a minimum of $625/month on your card for an entire year. You would earn 20,000 points on your second month of spend and then the additional 20,000 points after 12 months of spend (or less).
Also, this card does have an annual fee of $120 but it’s waived for the first year! Plus, the $29 fee for each supplementary card is also waived for the first year only.
Scotiabank Gold Amex earning rates
In regards to daily spending, here are the Scotia Gold American Express card’s earning rates:
- 5 Scene+ points for every $1 spent on eligible grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, drinking establishments & entertainment purchases in Canada. This also includes popular food delivery services.
- 3 Scene+ points for every $1 spent on eligible transit, rideshare, gasoline purchases & select streaming services (like Netflix) in Canada.
- 1 Scene+ point for every $1 spent on other purchases.
The Scotiabank Gold American Express card is offering up to 40,000 bonus Scene+ points and no annual fee in the first year. This is a decent offer so consider applying before this promotion ends on February 28, 2022.
Best option to redeem your Scene+ points
Previously, these Scotiabank credit cards used to earn Scotia Rewards points. Sometime in 2021, the Scotia Rewards and SCENE loyalty programs will merge 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.
More details about redeeming points for travel purchases will be available when the new Scene+ program launches.
No Foreign Transaction fees
Most credit cards and banks will charge a 2.5% foreign transaction fee on purchases not in Canadian dollars.
But, the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite & Scotia Gold Amex cards have 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.
Summary
Overall, Scotiabank has come out with some decent offers on it’s credit cards.
The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite Card is offering a welcome bonus of up to 30,000 Scene+ points if you apply before February 28, 2022.
Also, the Scotiabank Gold American Express card is offering a welcome bonus of up to 40,000 Scene+ points (worth $400 towards travel purchases) if you apply before February 28, 2022.
Plus, both cards are FREE for the first year and don’t charge foreign transaction fees!
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 $300 to $400 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.
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