Amex Membership Rewards, the points currency of American Express, are among Canada's most valuable reward points.
About Membership Rewards
American Express Membership Rewards (MR) is one of Canada's most valued and flexible credit card rewards programs. It allows Canadian Amex cardholders to earn points on purchases and redeem them in multiple ways, with travel options offering the best value.
How to earn Membership Rewards points
The only way to earn American Express Membership Rewards is to use an American Express credit card.There are tons of options out there so it’s easy to find one to suit your lifestyle and needs. You can take a look at our picks for the best American Express credit cards to get an idea of what options are available to you.
The fastest way to quickly gain a huge tally of Amex Membership Rewards points is by taking advantage of Amex’s generous welcome bonuses on new accounts:
Card
Welcome Offer
The easiest way to earn Amex MR points is via everyday spending with Amex credit cards:
Platinum Card
Annual fee: $799
Earn rates:
- 2X points on dining and food delivery purchases in Canada
- 2X points on travel from eligible flights, hotels, tours and more
- 1X point on everything else
- 1 additional point on eligible hotel or car rental bookings at Amex Travel Online
Cobalt Card
Annual fee: $155.88 ($12.99/month)
Earn rates:
- 5x points on eligible dining and groceries in Canada
- 3x points on eligible streaming subscriptions in Canada
- 2x points on eligible gas, transit and ride shares in Canada
- 1x point on all other purchases
- 1 additional Membership Rewards point on eligible hotel and car rental bookings via American Express Travel Online
Gold Rewards Card
Annual fee: $250
Earn rates:
- 2x points on travel
- 2x points on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases in Canada
- 1x point on everything else
- additional 1x point when booking travel through the American Express Travel website
Green Card
Annual fee: $0
Earn rates:
- 1x the points on Card purchases
- 1 additional Membership Rewards® point for every $1 you charge to your card on eligible hotel or car rental bookings made with American Express Travel
Centurion Card
Annual fee: $5,000 (plus a $7,500 initiation fee)
Earn rates:
- 1x points on all purchases
Earn Membership Rewards points through referral bonuses
You can earn substantial bonus points by referring friends and family to American Express cards in Canada. Even better, any American Express card in Canada can refer to any other American Express card:
- For example: You can have a Cobalt Card and refer someone to a Gold Rewards Card and you'll still get the referral bonus
However, it’s worth noting that referral offers change regularly and are often targeted to specific cardholders, so you might not see the same bonus as your friends or family.
Here's an example of a potential referral bonus I recieved on my Amex Gold Rewards Card account.:
Examples of typical referral bonuses for Canadian Amex cards:
- Platinum Card: 15,000 to 20,000 MR points per successful referral
- Gold Card: 10,000 to 15,000 MR points per successful referral
- Cobalt Card: 5,000 to 10,000 MR points per successful referral
Earn Membership Rewards points through card upgrades
In addition to welcome bonuses and regular purchases, Amex Canada occasionally provides personalized opportunities to earn bonus points when upgrading from one MR-earning card to another within their Canadian card portfolio.
These bonuses are dynamic and may vary based on the cardholder.
Earn Membership Rewards points through Amex Offers
Amex Offers is a merchant discount program offered to American Express cardholders in Canada. The service is available to all American Express cardholders in Canada, except for corporate cards, gift cards, and prepaid cards.
The program provides targeted opportunities to earn statement credits or bonus Membership Rewards points on eligible purchases with participating Canadian merchants.
Types of Amex Offers:
- Spend-based bonuses: Earn bonus MR points when you spend a certain amount at specific merchants
- Bonus category multipliers: Temporarily increased earn rates in specific spending categories
- Statement credits: Cash back rebated to your account after qualifying purchases
To view available offers, log in to your Amex Canada account at americanexpress.ca and scroll down to the "Amex Offers" section on the Home tab. Alternatively, download the Amex Mobile app and tap the "Offers" button at the bottom of the screen.
Do Membership Rewards points expire?
No, American Express Membership Rewards points do not expire in Canada as long as you maintain at least one active Amex card that earns Membership Rewards points in good standing.
How to redeem Membership Rewards points
Redeeming your Amex Membership Rewards is straightforward through your online account. Simply log into your Amex account, locate the Membership Rewards box, and click "View and Redeem Points" to see all options:
American Express Membership Rewards work on a point system. So you collect points based on your purchases. To access and redeem those points you will log into your account via the American Express online portal.
Once you have logged in, you will be taken to a page that shows your current balance details, the amount due at this time, and your membership rewards. Under the membership rewards box, you will see the “View and Redeem Points” button. Click that button to visit the rewards page where you see your options.
Amex MR Canadian transfer partners
Transferring points to Amex travel partners can offer the best value-for-points.
American Express Membership Rewards transfer to 6 airline partners:
Keep in mind that, except for Aeroplan and Delta, it usually takes about five business days to transfer these points (Aeroplan and Delta take about 30 minutes). Also, note that most of these programs have a minimum requirement of 1,000 points to transfer.
Amex MR points also transfer to two hotel loyalty programs:
Tips for getting the most out of your Amex Membership Rewards points
As mentioned earlier, there are ways to earn points when dealing with vendors that don’t accept American Express credit cards (gift cards and PayPal). Other tricks for maximizing your points include:
- Make sure to earn the welcome bonus. Most American Express credit cards have pretty generous welcome bonuses when you hit the minimum required to spend. It’s worth your while to make sure you reach them.
- Utilize the transfer partners. I will discuss this in more detail below, but American Express Membership Rewards can be transferred to several partners which allows you more flexibility with your points and perhaps the chance to stretch your points further and find better deals.
- Make sure to check the American Express booking website for travel. They often have good deals. Take the time to compare what you find on the portal to other websites.
How does American Express Membership Rewards Canada compare?
Is Amex Membership Rewards worth it?
The American Express Membership Rewards is absolutely one of the best rewards programs on the market for Canadians. Especially when it comes to travel. The value of its points, the option to use points to cover taxes and fees (in some cases), and the flexibility make it a stand-out program. However, during these times it’s understandable that travel may not be at the top of your list. Fortunately, you have several other options for redeeming points and they don’t expire, American Express credit cards are a handy choice to have in your wallet.
Other options
Not sure if Amex is for you? Check out the best travel rewards credit cards in Canada and see if there’s an option that better suits your spending.
Disclosures
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Contact American Express for the most up-to-date referral bonus figures.
American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information, click the Apply Now link. If you apply and get approved for an American Express Card, (I/we) may receive compensation from American Express, which can be in the form of monetary payment.
FAQs
Cory Santos is a finance writer, editor and credit card expert with nearly a decade of experience in personal finance. Cory joined Wise Publishing from BestCards, with bylines in numerous print and digital publications across North America, including the Miami Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Debt.ca, AOL, MSN and Medium as well as financial podcasts like KOFE Talk.
Hannah Logan is a Canadian freelancer writer and blogger who specializes in personal finance and travel. You can follow her adventures on her travel blog EatSleepBreatheTravel.com or find her on Instagram @hannahlogan21.
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