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Hi-Psi · 01-07-2014, 11:14 AM

I still think the regular Gold and Platinum Amex cards are better. Aeroplan continues to degrade their points and the fees are sometimes ridiculous to book flights and I find it hard to find rewards flights unless booked quite a bit ahead of time.

The absolute best card for anyone that travels quite a bit is the Amex Platinum which although it carries a $699 fee/year, it comes with the best benefits out there. You get 60,000 points just for signing up, then you get Priority Pass which gets you into all the airport lounges for free with a guest too. I've used it at 10 lounges so far and love it, saves you the $40 entry and you can get free meals and drinks in a lot of the lounges. Plus you get $200 in free travel credit for each calender year with the card so $400 in the first year which brings down your total cost to $299 and the 60,000 points is worth more than 4x that cost. Plus all the regular travel benefits, SPG upgrade, Carlson Club membership and on top of that I've booked a couple flights and hotels through Amex directly and they've actually given a discount over the airlines website and any other sites I've seen which is nice. Might be $20-30 but it's still worth it. Anyways, check it out, I love it.

AMEX PLATINUM: https://www.americanexpress.com/canada/en/mgm/mgmeeApplynow.cgi?mgmerCard=platinumCard&CPID=9999 99371&MGM_URN=AAAAEg0fHB8bCw%3D%3D

If you don't want to spend the money for the Platinum then the Gold is awesome too, gives you 25,000 points and your first year is free. Has all the usual credit card benefits and still not having to deal with Aeroplan. My girlfriend has this card since I have the Platinum and she likes it.

AMEX GOLD: https://www.americanexpress.com/cana...0fHB8bGQ%3D%3D

If you have a spouse or girlfriend then what you do is one of you gets the Platinum and then the other gets the Gold, then when the year is up the Platinum member refers the Gold to Platinum and the Gold card holder refers the Platinum to Gold. That way you get the referral bonuses each time and you always keep 1 of each card handy for use with travel and you never have to pay the fee for the Gold card. We also love the Amex's cus we shop at Costco a lot and like to be able to use a credit card rather than debit so we get the points.

There has been some talk about the BMO World Elite Mastercard being a great value for the sign up points but so far people haven't been happy with booking rewards through them which you need to do to redeem so I don't recommend that one.

The only other card I can recommend is the Capital One Aspire World. I like that one too and have it as well, it's got good benefits and although it carries a $120 fee you pretty much get it back in the renewal bonus points.

Jason

01-07-2014, 11:14 AM	#155
Hi-Psi Scoring Winger Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Calgary Exp:	I still think the regular Gold and Platinum Amex cards are better. Aeroplan continues to degrade their points and the fees are sometimes ridiculous to book flights and I find it hard to find rewards flights unless booked quite a bit ahead of time. The absolute best card for anyone that travels quite a bit is the Amex Platinum which although it carries a $699 fee/year, it comes with the best benefits out there. You get 60,000 points just for signing up, then you get Priority Pass which gets you into all the airport lounges for free with a guest too. I've used it at 10 lounges so far and love it, saves you the $40 entry and you can get free meals and drinks in a lot of the lounges. Plus you get $200 in free travel credit for each calender year with the card so $400 in the first year which brings down your total cost to $299 and the 60,000 points is worth more than 4x that cost. Plus all the regular travel benefits, SPG upgrade, Carlson Club membership and on top of that I've booked a couple flights and hotels through Amex directly and they've actually given a discount over the airlines website and any other sites I've seen which is nice. Might be $20-30 but it's still worth it. Anyways, check it out, I love it. AMEX PLATINUM: https://www.americanexpress.com/canada/en/mgm/mgmeeApplynow.cgi?mgmerCard=platinumCard&CPID=9999 99371&MGM_URN=AAAAEg0fHB8bCw%3D%3D If you don't want to spend the money for the Platinum then the Gold is awesome too, gives you 25,000 points and your first year is free. Has all the usual credit card benefits and still not having to deal with Aeroplan. My girlfriend has this card since I have the Platinum and she likes it. AMEX GOLD: https://www.americanexpress.com/cana...0fHB8bGQ%3D%3D If you have a spouse or girlfriend then what you do is one of you gets the Platinum and then the other gets the Gold, then when the year is up the Platinum member refers the Gold to Platinum and the Gold card holder refers the Platinum to Gold. That way you get the referral bonuses each time and you always keep 1 of each card handy for use with travel and you never have to pay the fee for the Gold card. We also love the Amex's cus we shop at Costco a lot and like to be able to use a credit card rather than debit so we get the points. There has been some talk about the BMO World Elite Mastercard being a great value for the sign up points but so far people haven't been happy with booking rewards through them which you need to do to redeem so I don't recommend that one. The only other card I can recommend is the Capital One Aspire World. I like that one too and have it as well, it's got good benefits and although it carries a $120 fee you pretty much get it back in the renewal bonus points. Jason