New Amex Cobalt Offer – Earn Up To 45,000 Bonus Points

Please note this offer is no longer available. You can find current offers here.

Ever since its launch in 2017, the American Express Cobalt^® Card has reigned supreme among Canadian credit cards, and has won our best credit card in Canada award every year (4 years and counting now), as well as numerous other awards.

It has remained largely unchanged since its inception, save for a few small extra benefits here and there.

But today, that has all changed.

NEW: Earn up to 45,000 welcome bonus points with the Amex Cobalt

The welcome bonus just got 50% larger on the Amex Cobalt card.

The base welcome bonus offer is still around and remains unchanged. You’ll earn 2,500 bonus points every month you spend $500 in the first year, for up to 30,000 bonus points earned.

But now there’s a new addition to the welcome bonus. You’ll earn a lump sum of 15,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. This part of the offer is only available until May 5, 2021 for new cardmembers.

That brings the total welcome bonus worth up to 45,000 bonus points.

What 45,000 Amex Membership Rewards points are worth

That’s a lot of points, but what are they worth? Thankfully, American Express Membership Rewards provides many high value travel redemption options.

And while we’re not in travel mode right now, they have plenty of other redemption options too – ranging from gift cards to paying for any eligible purchase you make on the card with points.

The choice is yours:

• get a big head start on saving up for your next trip, OR
• get rewarded now on everyday purchases but at a slightly lower reward value.

For travel, you have 3 main redemption choices.

Fixed points travel program

The best value for using your points is with the Amex Fixed Points Travel Program. You’ll use a fixed set of points to fly to a zone, and there are both economy and business class charts.

All you have to pay are any taxes, fees, and carrier surcharges – the points just cover the base airfare, up to a certain amount. You can also pay these fees with points, but your point value won’t be quite as high when you do so.

Here’s what the economy class chart looks like:

45,000 points are enough for a flight within Canada and to the U.S. (except for Alaska and Hawaii), with a few points leftover.

Use the full amount of points for a flight, and you’re looking at a value of up to 1.75 cents per point. Meaning, 45,000 points are worth up to $787.50.

Transfer to hotel programs

Next, you can transfer your points to both Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors loyalty programs.

American Express points transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at a 5:6 ratio. We value a Marriott Bonvoy point at 0.97 cents when redeemed for hotels, giving this transfer an Amex point value of 1.16 cents per point, with 45,000 points being worth $522.

Hilton Honors isn’t quite as valuable. We only value a Hilton Honors point at 0.64 cents each, giving Amex points the same value, as they transfer at a 1:1 ratio.

Flexible Points Travel Program

And if all else fails, there’s always the Flexible Points Program to fall back on. Simply charge any travel booking to your Cobalt Card, and you can use your points to help pay for that booking.

Each point is worth 1 cent when redeemed this way, giving the new welcome bonus a value of $450.

Other Amex Membership Rewards redemption options

Of course, those aren’t the only ways you can use your points. Here are the other ways Membership Rewards points can be redeemed, and what each point is worth.

• Donations to charity – 1 cent
• Ticketmaster – 1 cent
• Gift cards – 0.77 cents
• Statement credits – 0.7 cents
• Shopping at Amazon.ca – 0.7 cents
• Merchandise – 0.68 cents

Summary of new welcome bonus values

For easy comparison, here’s every Amex Membership Rewards redemption option side-by-side, and what these 45,000 points are worth.

No matter which option you pick, there’s a lot of value in these 45,000 points.

Note: If you’re wondering why the airline transfer options Amex Membership Rewards offers aren’t here, it’s because the Cobalt Card only earns Membership Rewards Select Points, which can’t be transferred to airline partners.

Amex Cobalt overview

The welcome bonus pique your interest in the Amex Cobalt? Here are the basics of what this card offers.

Here’s what you’ll earn on your everyday purchases:

• 5 points per $1 spent on groceries and restaurants,
• 2 points per $1 spent on gas, transit, and travel, and
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

On your everyday spending, play your cards right and you’re looking at a return on spending of up to 8.75% – the biggest reason this card rakes in the awards every year. With more typical spending patterns, we estimate the return at 3.76% if you redeem for flights using the Fixed Points Travel Program.

It also includes 9 types of complimentary travel insurance and insurance protection.

It’s all for an annual fee of $120, that gets charged out as $10 per month so you don’t get that shock on your bill all at once.

Your thoughts

It’s a terrific new offer, and made even better by what this credit card offers on all of your everyday purchases.

The Amex Cobalt already has a permanent home in the wallets of several team members here at creditcardGenius and we anticipate this offer will tip the scales and attract a few more.

What are your thoughts on this new offer? Will you take the plunge on the Cobalt Card?

Let us know in the comments below.