Today, Scotiabank has come out with new Summer 2023 offers on some of their most popular no foreign transaction fee credit cards.
This includes the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite Card with a welcome bonus of 35,000 Scene+TM points (with $150 cash back applying via GCR) and the Scotiabank Gold American Express card with a welcome bonus of 40,000 Scene+TM points (worth $400 towards travel purchases). Note that these amazing offers are only valid until October 31, 2023.
Scene+ points are quite versatile since you can easily redeem them against any eligible travel purchase charged to your card. With a bonus of 35,000 to 40,000 Scene+ points, you can save $350-$400 on travel purchases during your next vacation.
Plus, if you apply for either card via Great Canadian Rebates (GCR), you could earn additional cash back for a successful card application!
Now, let’s go through the details of each card.
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card + $150 bonus via GCR
The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite card lets you earn Scene+ points on every purchase.
There’s also currently a very generous welcome bonus of 35,000 Scene+ points (worth $350 towards travel purchases) for new cardholders in their first year. To unlock the full welcome bonus, complete the following 2 criteria:
- Earn 25,000 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 25,000 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 $150. But, the $50 fee for the first supplementary card is waived for the first year only.
Plus, if you apply for this card through Great Canadian Rebates, you could earn a $150 bonus!!! That would effectively cover your $150 annual fee so the card is “free” for the first year!
Learn how to earn cash back with credit card applications with Great Canadian Rebates (2023).
Scotiabank Passport Visa earning rates
In regards to daily spending, here are the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite 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 other 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 25,000 bonus Scene+ points after just spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. This is a decent offer so consider applying before this promotion ends on October 31, 2023.
Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card + $100 bonus via GCR
Like the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite 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 which is waived for the first year! Also, a $29 fee for each supplementary card.
Plus, if you apply for this card through Great Canadian Rebates, you could earn a $100 bonus!!! Learn how to earn cash back with credit card applications with Great Canadian Rebates (2023).
Scotiabank Gold Amex earning rates
In regards to daily spending, here are the Scotia Gold American Express card’s earning rates:
- 6 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.
- 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 an annual fee waiver & up to 20,000 bonus Scene+ points after just spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. This is a fantastic offer so consider applying before this promotion ends on October 31, 2023.
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.
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.
Also, since July 2022, the Scotiabank Platinum Amex card also has no foreign transaction fees.
Summary
Overall, Scotiabank has come out with excellent offers on it’s credit cards that don’t charge any foreign transaction fees!
The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite Card is offering a welcome bonus of up to 35,000 Scene+ points & free additional card if you apply before October 31, 2023. Plus, apply via Great Canadian Rebates for an extra $150!!!
Also, the Scotiabank Gold American Express card is offering an $120 annual fee waiver & a welcome bonus of up to 40,000 Scene+ points (worth $400 towards travel purchases) if you apply before October 31, 2023. Plus, apply via Great Canadian Rebates for an extra $100!!!
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 $350 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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