Scotia Rewards To Require More Points For Cash Redemptions

One of our favourite flexible rewards programs is Scotia Rewards.

With some easy to use rewards and top of the line credit cards, it’s not surprising to see why.

But a couple of changes are coming on April 1, 2021 you’ll want to be aware of.

Devaluations coming to Scotia Rewards cash redemptions

If you redeem your points for statement credits, you’re going to need more points for your redemptions, specifically those over $100.

You can see the full details here, but here’s what you can redeem right now, and what it will cost you after April 1st.

At the higher end, it’s a steep drop in rewards value – 12.5%.

With the changes, the values are largely the same across the board. There won’t be as much of a bonus for saving up your points for a big credit.

There’s also a change in value when redeeming points through the Best Buy and Apple catalogues. You’ll now need 145 points to save $1, as opposed to the previous 127.

If you live in Quebec, these changes don’t apply to you. Nothing is changing for the time being.

Nothing else is changing with the program, either. Travel value remains at 1 cent each, and so is the ability to redeem for any travel charged to the card, provided you have enough points to cover the entire transaction.

Scotia Rewards credit cards

So which credit cards does this affect? If it collects Scotia Rewards, you’ll be subject to these changes.

Here’s the full list of Scotiabank credit cards that collect Scotia Rewards.

• Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card
• Scotiabank American Express^® Platinum Card
• Scotiabank American Express^® Card
• Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card
• Scotiabank Passport^® Visa Infinite Business^* Card

Your thoughts

It’s never great to see a devaluation in a rewards program, but in this case it’s relatively minor.

The main option of redeeming for travel remains unchanged.

What do you think about the changes, especially if you have a Scotia Rewards card?

Let us know in the comments below.