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Update March 3, 2021: New American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card Cardmembers, earn a Welcome Bonus of 2,000 AIR MILES®* Bonus Miles when you charge a total of $1,500 in purchases to your Card within your first three months of Cardmembership.
In September, Amex Canada announced a few key enhancements to the Air Miles Platinum Card, which included an enhanced earning rate and the introduction of the new Annual Travel Redemption Benefit. In addition to these changes identified, new American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card Cardmembers can earn a Welcome Bonus of 2,000 AIR MILES®* Bonus Miles – that’s enough to redeem for $200 towards your purchases with AIR MILES®* Cash. Lets look into these enhancements in detail;
American Express AIR MILES®* Platinum Card – Apply Now
- Annual Fee: $120
- Welcome Bonus: New American Express® AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card Cardmembers, earn a Welcome Bonus of 2,000 AIR MILES®* Bonus Miles when you charge a total of $1,500 in purchases to your Card within your first three months of Cardmembership.
- Earning Rate:
- Earn 1 Mile for every $5 in Card purchases on eligible food & drinks and eligible gas & transit in Canada (up to 30,000 annually). Such as eligible: coffee shops, groceries, restaurants, gas and transit.
- Earn 1 Mile for every $10 in Card purchases everywhere else.
- Key Benefits:
- Annual Travel Redemption Benefit – Once per calendar year, when an eligible Cardmember uses Dream Miles with the AIR MILES Reward Program to book their first single flight or package vacation through airmiles.ca or vacations.airmiles.ca, they can get Bonus Miles equivalent to 25% of the net number of Miles used (up to a maximum of 750 Bonus Miles).
- Comprehensive Travel and shopping Insurance coverage, including Car Rental theft and damage insurance, Travel Accident, Purchase Protection Plan, and Buyer’s Assurance Protection Plan.
- Annual Travel Redemption Benefit – Once per calendar year, when an eligible Cardmember uses Dream Miles with the AIR MILES Reward Program to book their first single flight or package vacation through airmiles.ca or vacations.airmiles.ca, they can get Bonus Miles equivalent to 25% of the net number of Miles used (up to a maximum of 750 Bonus Miles).
Detailed list of benefits and perks of the card are listed here
Personal Reflections
2,000 AIR MILES in welcome bonus miles is a good return. I value Air Miles at 15 cents a piece, which makes the welcome bonus $300 in value. 1 Mile for every $5 in Card purchases on eligible food & drinks, and eligible gas & transit, is a strong addition as well. With a $30,000 cap on this earn rate, Cardmembers can earn an additional 6,000 Air Miles, annually. Complement the earning potential with the 25% bonus miles (up to 750 miles ) from the annual travel redemption benefit and you have a well rounded card that allows every member to earn and utilize the miles at a good value.
Best way to visualize what you can do with 3,000 Air Miles, use the Where can I fly tool ;
One r/t trip in low season, with 4,000 AIR MILES
One r/t trip in high season, with 4,000 AIR MILES
Overall, the benefits of the refreshed American Express AIR MILES®* Platinum Credit Card are really impressive and definitely make it the best AIR MILES earning card in Canada.
