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Scotiabank

Scotiabank American Express Gold Credit Card

  • Last Updated:
  • Dec 3rd, 2021 6:12 pm
Deal Addict
Mar 16, 2018
1529 posts
2457 upvotes
Hamilton
Strider wrote: Downvotes because the card isn't anything new, the thread is full of misinformation, the annual fee just went up from $99 last month to $120 this month.
I don’t have this card and I’m not sure I’ll get one, but it’s ironic to state this thread is full of “misinformation” and then pretend the only thing that changes about the card is the annual fee. Sure, if you completely ignore the no FX, most of the accelerator categories getting improved, and the much better welcome bonus; then “just” the annual fee changed Face With Rolling Eyes

I’m pretty happy with my TD infinite and Rogers WE, but I might consider an Amex when my TD first year free gets close to an end. If you haven’t used an Amex before, wait for this card to go FYF. Not just because we’re cheapskates, but because you might realize you may not be able to use it in the stores you frequent.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Nov 20, 2012
1977 posts
1206 upvotes
Narkham
jellytime wrote: Could you expand about these bonus points?
There's random promos where there is "X times bonus points" or "2500 bonus points" for doing something. (ie. There was 5x points on Amazon purchases during prime day, or spend $50 on restaurants between for 2500 bonus points.) These happen I'd say monthly or bi-monthly. I can rack up at least 40-50k points a year min.
RFD: Rarely Finding Discounts on things I actually need
Deal Addict
User avatar
Nov 20, 2012
1977 posts
1206 upvotes
Narkham
Strider wrote: Downvotes because the card isn't anything new, the thread is full of misinformation, the annual fee just went up from $99 last month to $120 this month, and there's been better incentives in the past. There's hardly any "deal" here. Much better information in the Finance forum for anyone looking.

For the record, I have this card and the Visa Passport Infinite... they're both decent cards if you can take advantage of the perks/bonus categories.
Valid, this is Hot Deals not Finance Discussion.
RFD: Rarely Finding Discounts on things I actually need
Newbie
Apr 16, 2009
51 posts
1 upvote
Toronto
I think this card also no longer extends product warranty by one year as of the new changes. Would it still make it worth it?
Deal Addict
Feb 10, 2003
1352 posts
1283 upvotes
Calgary
ownthesky wrote: I don’t have this card and I’m not sure I’ll get one, but it’s ironic to state this thread is full of “misinformation” and then pretend the only thing that changes about the card is the annual fee. Sure, if you completely ignore the no FX, most of the accelerator categories getting improved, and the much better welcome bonus; then “just” the annual fee changed Face With Rolling Eyes
I never stated that nothing else changed. But that doesn't change misinformation regarding lounge access and annual fees being quoted in this thread.

Yes, there's no FX fee but now bonus multipliers no longer apply to foreign transactions. 4% back on restaurants or gas station in the US under the old rewards system beats no FX with 1% back with the new.

"Improved" accelerator categories is highly dependent on your spending. I break even between the increase in entertainment % and decrease in gas %, but only because I have season tickets... I suspect most people will be on the losing end.

Welcome bonus: there's been better incentives in recent history, at the lower annual fee... these would've included combinations of bonus points, FYF, GCR cash back, etc.
Deal Addict
Oct 17, 2012
2873 posts
3520 upvotes
Vancouver
meredithtaylor wrote: @torontorian111 is right. The Scotia Gold Amex does not provide free Priority Pass membership nor visits. It offers a discounted membership rate at 65USD compared to the usual 99USD (35% discount) and each lounge visit will cost 32USD. Here is the link for the official card welcome booklet (Priority Pass mentioned on page 5): https://www.scotiabank.com/content/dam/ ... d_Card.pdf

If Priority Pass is a major selling point for you, I'd recommend the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite. It provides free Priority Pass membership as well as 6 free lounge visits every 12 months (additional visits are 32USD each).
My bad - didn't realize the priority pass element was not the same as the Infinite card

EZSAVE wrote: It's not a good idea to redeem for an air ticket IMO. The best way to redeem the points is you spend money with this card on car rental, hotel stay and you dont pay you balance yet, redeem the points and get credit back.
Agree with this. You can also buy your flight on any travel site and then redeem the points as statement credit against it
Member
User avatar
Apr 8, 2003
380 posts
121 upvotes
Markham
Here's my perspective as I have both the Cobalt and Scotia Passport Infinite (along with a grandfathered Cap One Aspire Travel MC):
- Cobalt - I will only use this card for restaurants that takes Amex to get 5% reward
- Passport Infinite - After satisfying the intro bonus with the required spending in the first 3 months, I'm only keeping this card for the 6 lounge visits a year. Not sure I'll keep it after the FYF.
- Cap One - My everyday card that gets 2% on everything. With grandfathered promo, get $100 in rewards every year.

In my mind, this new Scotia Gold card is slightly better than Cobalt because it matches the food reward but you get more for streaming, gas, and entertainment (3%). I personally don't have any paid streaming services and don't spend enough in gas and entertainment (to me, this category would really apply to movie theatres) to justify a move to replace my 2% Cap 1 card.

I did see this in the T&C that might affect some people's decision with this card:
The following individuals are not eligible for the Bonus Offers:
Current primary or secondary cardholders of a Scotiabank retail credit card, including those that switch from an existing Scotiabank retail credit card
Previous primary or secondary cardholders of a Scotiabank retail credit card in the past 2 years
Employees of Scotiabank
So, as a former holder of the former Scotia Gold Amex (the one with the 4% Food, Gas, Entertainment rewards), I don't think you would get the bonus rewards points in the first year. I could be wrong but just looking at the fine print.
Jr. Member
Mar 31, 2019
155 posts
102 upvotes
Can someone expand on Scotia Rewards points? What are they good for and best ways to redeem? I think the fixed milage travel airplane reward plan for my Colbalt is pretty good.
Jr. Member
Jun 22, 2017
112 posts
75 upvotes
Toronto/Kingston
Strider wrote: "Improved" accelerator categories is highly dependent on your spending. I break even between the increase in entertainment % and decrease in gas %, but only because I have season tickets... I suspect most people will be on the losing end.
The 1% decrease in gas really sucks, but personally I think I'll still earn more with the recent changes from the increase in groceries plus the addition of food delivery & subscription services as a 5% category (SkipTheDishes, Hello Fresh). This is the only card I have that has an accelerated earn rate on the latter, and quite a large chunk of my spending each month is in those categories.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Jan 9, 2011
19733 posts
28613 upvotes
Vancouver
canucks6024 wrote: Can someone expand on Scotia Rewards points? What are they good for and best ways to redeem? I think the fixed milage travel airplane reward plan for my Colbalt is pretty good.
Scotia Rewards points are worth 1¢ each if redeemed against travel expenses charged to the card. There's no converting to airline programs.
I'm glad you are getting value out of Amex fixed travel points, because any time I look at that I get far less than 1¢/point after paying the taxes and fees. I'm sure there must be good deals out there but there never are for the flights I want to take.
Deal Addict
Mar 22, 2013
1075 posts
1746 upvotes
Toronto
If you’re not interested in churning it’s actually a good card. Remember, not everyone makes a second job of churning credit cards.

IIRC it’s also better than the Cobalt because this one has a lot more travel insurance features.
Deal Addict
Nov 12, 2017
2612 posts
2703 upvotes
I noticed this in the Terms and Conditions:

For a limited time, open a new Scotiabank Gold American Express credit card account (the “Account”) and earn a one-time 25,000 Scotia Rewards point bonus with your first $1,000 in eligible everyday purchases made within the first 3 months from the Account open date. Plus, earn an additional one-time 5,000 Scotia Rewards point bonus when you spend at least $10,000 in eligible everyday purchases in your first year (12-months). Each bonus offer is referred to as a “Bonus Offer” or collectively the “Bonus Offers”. Bonus Offers apply to new Accounts opened by December 30, 2019.

Bonus Offer Eligibility and Exclusions:
The following individuals are not eligible for the Bonus Offers:
Current primary or secondary cardholders of a Scotiabank retail credit card, including those that switch from an existing Scotiabank retail credit card
Previous primary or secondary cardholders of a Scotiabank retail credit card in the past 2 years
Employees of Scotiabank

I currently have the Scotiabank Visa (no annual fee one), and I had the Scotia Gold Amex which I cancelled at the beginning of this year. I guess this makes me, and most other people, ineligible for the 25k
Sr. Member
Nov 22, 2012
812 posts
940 upvotes
NS
krispy4 wrote: I noticed this in the Terms and Conditions:

For a limited time, open a new Scotiabank Gold American Express credit card account (the “Account”) and earn a one-time 25,000 Scotia Rewards point bonus with your first $1,000 in eligible everyday purchases made within the first 3 months from the Account open date. Plus, earn an additional one-time 5,000 Scotia Rewards point bonus when you spend at least $10,000 in eligible everyday purchases in your first year (12-months). Each bonus offer is referred to as a “Bonus Offer” or collectively the “Bonus Offers”. Bonus Offers apply to new Accounts opened by December 30, 2019.

Bonus Offer Eligibility and Exclusions:
The following individuals are not eligible for the Bonus Offers:
Current primary or secondary cardholders of a Scotiabank retail credit card, including those that switch from an existing Scotiabank retail credit card
Previous primary or secondary cardholders of a Scotiabank retail credit card in the past 2 years
Employees of Scotiabank

I currently have the Scotiabank Visa (no annual fee one), and I had the Scotia Gold Amex which I cancelled at the beginning of this year. I guess this makes me, and most other people, ineligible for the 25k
Scotiabank is not churner friendly as the bonus offer exclusion rules have been added to all cards. This bonus offer limitation has previously been mentioned here and here. Scotia now only wants new credit card clients. This change will significantly reduce Scotia credit card applications. Many people will never ever apply for a Scotia credit card without a bonus offer. I suspect some long time card holders may actually cancel their current cards just so they will become eligible for a bonus in 2 years time.
Member
Sep 16, 2016
311 posts
296 upvotes
Toronto
alvin545 wrote: yeah i saw those terms. It just says you have membership but it doesn't mention free lounge visits. So I think, based on the language, that with this card you get the standard membership ($99 USD value according to Priority Pass website), and for each visit to a lounge you will need to pay $32 USD. Here is the breakdown for the different levels of PP membership: https://www.prioritypass.com/en/join
If you have to pay for your each visit, it will kill this benefit at all.
If we can dream it, we can make it!
Member
Jan 28, 2009
233 posts
116 upvotes
Hattie917 wrote: If you have to pay for your each visit, it will kill this benefit at all.
That was my interpretation of the T&C, but I did not call and ask. I'm happy with my current duo of the old Scotia Gold Amex + Scotia Passport Infinite
Deal Addict
Nov 8, 2017
1556 posts
894 upvotes
thr333zy wrote: I don't get the downvotes. It's a decent card with slightly better benefits than Cobalt IMO. For those without the ability to pair Cobalt + Rogers WE MC, this is a good choice for no forex. That being said. I'm not going to switch from my Cobalt to this because I'm a lazy shit :)


I strictly use my AMEX for 80% of all my purchases and make the point to ask everywhere I go, it's MUCH more widely accepted than people think, and I rack up tons of points through their bonus points promos all the time.
People go on and on about Amex acceptance

I've never had a problem with acceptance in B.C . I can count on my hand how many times it's not accepted . Especially grocery , gas, and eating out

Granted, Europe it's a bit less, but last spring it was easily more than 50% acceptance @ restaurants, and 100% with trains, planes, and automobiles
Deal Addict
Feb 28, 2014
1020 posts
1206 upvotes
thr333zy wrote: I strictly use my AMEX for 80% of all my purchases and make the point to ask everywhere I go, it's MUCH more widely accepted than people think, and I rack up tons of points through their bonus points promos all the time.
It really depends on where you live & the stores you frequent. If you don't dine out much and just need to get your day to day shopping from small merchants, they tend to not accept AMEX, this also occurs in the suburbs of Toronto, I can count tons of places that don't take AMEX. Heck, even Imagine Cinemas which is a movie chain doesn't take AMEX. It's usually the big chain stores that do accept AMEX but you run the risk of paying more for the same item just to get that AMEX acceptance. Another chain that doesn't accept AMEX is any store owned by Loblaws, so even Shoppers Drug Mart doesn't accept AMEX.
Member
Jan 14, 2003
478 posts
140 upvotes
Ottawa, ON
deltatux wrote: It really depends on where you live & the stores you frequent. If you don't dine out much and just need to get your day to day shopping from small merchants, they tend to not accept AMEX, this also occurs in the suburbs of Toronto, I can count tons of places that don't take AMEX. Heck, even Imagine Cinemas which is a movie chain doesn't take AMEX. It's usually the big chain stores that do accept AMEX but you run the risk of paying more for the same item just to get that AMEX acceptance. Another chain that doesn't accept AMEX is any store owned by Loblaws, so even Shoppers Drug Mart doesn't accept AMEX.
Wrong, shoppers always accept amex, before being bought out by loblaw and after. Have been using amex gold rewards for 2X the points for the longest time.

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