Canadian SPG Amex * 10,000 pts + first year FEE-FREE

[crimsondr]

I disagree. Almost everywhere I shop takes Amex.

My main card is the Amex 2%. About 75% of my yearly spending goes on this card. The other 25% to my MBNA cashback card. However, this is partially skewed since I prefer to pay gas/groceries with this card. Actually it's only skewed because of the gas since the grocery stores I go to do not accept amex, except walmart.

[boredstudent3]

i got to pay more attention to the cards accepted at places where i do most of my spending...

biggest spendings for me are gas and food (eating out) and groceries

before i never carried cash in my wallet b/c i had my M/C...now since not everyplace accepts amex i will have to carry some cash, maybe like 5 bucks...lol...

[crimsondr]

i got to pay more attention to the cards accepted at places where i do most of my spending...

biggest spendings for me are gas and food (eating out) and groceries

before i never carried cash in my wallet b/c i had my M/C...now since not everyplace accepts amex i will have to carry some cash, maybe like 5 bucks...lol...

Why don't you just carry a MC for those situations and slowly collect points? Still better than paying cash I think.

[yyzvoyageur]

before i never carried cash in my wallet b/c i had my M/C...now since not everyplace accepts amex i will have to carry some cash, maybe like 5 bucks...lol...

Just carry an Amex and a MasterCard.

[najibs]

Here's a quick pic of the product sheet (don't have a scanner, so i took a pic):

[Jor]

The new card is a better card, and thus you will pay for it, however it is priced competitively for the Canadian market.

Whether or not it is a better card remains to be seen but the second part of this quote really smacks of the philosophy of our wireless market in Canada. The Big 3 constantly roll out the "priced competitively" argument for their colluded pricing.

One could argue that any premium card that decides to distinguish itself from the competition by offering lower annual fees would stand to benefit from an increased number of potential users.

I will wait for the rest of the info to come out but I am not exactly excited about this offering in the least at the moment.

[najibs]

Whether or not it is a better card remains to be seen but the second part of this quote really smacks of the philosophy of our wireless market in Canada. The Big 3 constantly roll out the "priced competitively" argument for their colluded pricing.

I disagree. If you want cable, or a phone you have to pay for it, and there's not many choices, so they control pricing. When it comes to credit cards, there are TONS of FREE credit cards out there. Low interest and rewards. The choices are abundant. When you price a product disproportionate to the market value it could also hurt you because people may perceive it as an inferior product. Amex and SPG are both premium brands. MBNA was not a premium brand. Here you're paying an annual fee, but you're getting a better points structure than the MBNA card. $120/yr prices it the same as Avion and Aerogold, which I'm sure is the target market as well for this card, but in my eyes, and many other people's eyes, SPG is a much superior and flexible points system than both Aerogold and Avion. Aeroplan gets worse and worse every year, and Avion is only worthwhile when the BA promo is in effect. SPG is great all year round, not just for flight, hotels, but also experiences, and all for the same price as Avion and Aerogold. What's not to like? THere are TONS of people who pay for those cards and get shafted with an inferior rewards plan.

Again, it's al about value and perceived value. If you only spend less than $10k a year, this is probably not your card, but if you spend $30k and up, which a LOT of MBNA SPG card users did and then complained about the lack of rewards after $30k spending, then this card is ideal if you travel. Great rewards, great rate of return, etc...

[matdwyer]

When comparing to the us card remember that they are getting 25k points, wheras 'er aren't. That's the biggest factor.

[crimsondr]

Again, it's al about value and perceived value. If you only spend less than $10k a year, this is probably not your card, but if you spend $30k and up, which a LOT of MBNA SPG card users did and then complained about the lack of rewards after $30k spending, then this card is ideal if you travel. Great rewards, great rate of return, etc...

So what do you expect the rate of return to be? 4-6% for regular spending? And with gold status, 4x that for relevant purchases?

For the past 2 years I've spent approximately $40k on my AMEX and $13k on my MC. Hopefully I could maximize my return on this card it would give me more benefits than I am getting now.

[Vasyl]

Whether or not it is a better card remains to be seen but the second part of this quote really smacks of the philosophy of our wireless market in Canada. The Big 3 constantly roll out the "priced competitively" argument for their colluded pricing.

One could argue that any premium card that decides to distinguish itself from the competition by offering lower annual fees would stand to benefit from an increased number of potential users.

I will wait for the rest of the info to come out but I am not exactly excited about this offering in the least at the moment.

+1. Thank you for saving my time.

[yyzvoyageur]

Whether or not it is a better card remains to be seen but the second part of this quote really smacks of the philosophy of our wireless market in Canada. The Big 3 constantly roll out the "priced competitively" argument for their colluded pricing.

One could argue that any premium card that decides to distinguish itself from the competition by offering lower annual fees would stand to benefit from an increased number of potential users.

I will wait for the rest of the info to come out but I am not exactly excited about this offering in the least at the moment.

What he said.

[Jor]

I disagree. If you want cable, or a phone you have to pay for it, and there's not many choices, so they control pricing. When it comes to credit cards, there are TONS of FREE credit cards out there. Low interest and rewards. The choices are abundant. When you price a product disproportionate to the market value it could also hurt you because people may perceive it as an inferior product.

True enough about cable or phones, like almost all analogies it was somewhat flawed, but even in those industries there are tons of choices as well if you consider tiers/prepaid etc.

My point was that amongst the premium cards with premium features/rewards all the big players keep their fees in line with each other which is essentially collusion within that 'tier' even if you call it "competitively priced for this market". We could debate the effect of dropping the fees on perceived quality of product vs. gained customer base but it would be pointless as we can't predict that with any hope of accuracy. No matter how you slice it, Amex is not accepted as readily as their competition so it would not be unrealistic to expect to pay slightly less for it. I'm not after a free lunch (or dinner in this case ) but I really dislike being fed the line "competitively priced" as an excuse for high fees.

This may still end up being the best card for me once all the details are known, but it will take more than what I've seen so far to justify it's fee (for me).

[anom]

The are positioning this card as a competitor to CIBC Aeroplan and Royal Bank Avion. I think it holds up for the annual fee since it essentially offers 1.25 times the benefits of those cards at a similar price.

Trying to understand what you mean by "1.25x the benefits"? Do you simply mean the 1 pt for $1 plus the 30k and 40k bonuses is better than the other cards, or am I missing something else?

[Vasyl]

Trying to understand what you mean by "1.25x the benefits"? Do you simply mean the 1 pt for $1 plus the 30k and 40k bonuses is better than the other cards, or am I missing something else?

No, you can convert points to miles at 1,25 ratio.

[anom]

No, you can convert points to miles at 1,25 ratio.

Right, thanks