Amex Membership Rewards Cards: New Offers for Summer 2022 (120,000 Points!)

With travel surging back in the summer of 2022, American Express has decided to boost the welcome bonuses on a wide range of personal and business credit cards.

The upward movements begin with the core set of Membership Rewards (MR) credit cards, which are seeing increased signup incentives across the board, many of which are on par with previous all-time-highs.

Amex Platinum Card: Up to 110,000 MR Points!

When you apply for the American Express Platinum Card through September 20, 2022, you can earn a total of up to 110,000 MR points:

• 90,000 MR points upon spending $6,000 in the first three months
• 10 MR points per dollar spent on eats and drinks in the first three months, up to 20,000 MR points (on $2,000 of spending)

The initial chunk of 90,000 MR points matches the card’s all-time-high amount in terms of the immediate welcome bonus upon completing a three-month minimum spend.

To earn the full bonus, you’d also have to spend $2,000 on eats and drinks. As always, this includes groceries, restaurants, bars, cafes, and food delivery. These purchases on eats and drinks will also count towards the card’s primary $6,000 threshold requirement.

Note that the 10x MR points earned on eats and drinks encompasses the regular rate of 3 points per dollar spent on dining or 1 point per dollar spent on groceries. You’ll earn 10 points per dollar spent on the first $2,000 on eats and drinks, and then the regular earning rates thereafter.

The Platinum Card is known for its premium travel benefits, which is what makes it a card that everyone should consider holding at some point.

First off, the $200 annual travel credit on the Platinum Card, which you get once every card membership year, effectively offsets against the $699 annual fee since it’s easily redeemable on any form of travel.

You’ll get unlimited airport lounge access with Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Delta Sky Clubs, and Centurion lounges. Furthermore, the Platinum Card confers instant elite status levels in Marriott Bonvoy (Gold Elite), Hilton Honors (Gold Elite), and Radisson Rewards (Gold Elite).

Not to mention, top-tier cards like the Platinum Card routinely get the best Amex Offers, including fine dining credits and flexible grocery credits – so if you’ve been considering picking it up, now’s the time to apply.  

Amex Gold Rewards Card: Up to 70,000 MR Points!

Also until September 20, 2022, when you apply and are approved for an American Express Gold Rewards Card, you’ll get an improved welcome bonus worth up to 70,000 MR points:

• Earn 50,000 MR points upon spending $3,000 in the first three months
• Earn 10 MR points per dollar spent on eats and drinks in the first three months, up to 20,000 MR points (on $2,000 of spending)

This matches the all-time-high welcome bonus we witnessed in the spring of 2022. 

For the full bonus, you’d have to spend $2,000 on food and drink, which will also count towards the card’s $3,000 threshold requirement to earn the main part of the welcome bonus.

Again, the welcome bonus component of 10x bonus points earned on eats and drinks encompasses the base rate of 2 points per dollar spent on groceries or 1 point per dollar spent on dining. Thus you’ll earn 10 points per dollar spent on eats and drinks up to $2,000 spent, and then the regular earning rates once you’ve hit the limit.

The Gold Rewards Card now offers a $100 annual travel credit, similar to the $200 annual travel credit on its premium counterpart, the Platinum Card. 

The $100 annual travel credit can be redeemed towards any booking of $100 or more through the Amex Travel online portal, including flights, hotels, car rentals, and more.

Since the travel credit also applies to refundable bookings, it’s effectively as good as cash, and it reduces your net annual fee back down to $150. 

In addition, the Gold Rewards Card also offers four complimentary visits to Plaza Premium lounges in Canada every year, allowing you to make use of airport lounges in Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Montreal. 

Amex Business Platinum Card: 120,000 MR Points!

The Business Platinum Card from American Express is offering 120,000 MR points upon spending $10,000 in the first three months when applying via a refer-a-friend link.

This card returns to its previous all-time high, once again representing the highest single credit card welcome bonus available on any credit card in Canada!

You could transfer the 132,500 MR points to Aeroplan and have enough points for a round-trip business class flight to Europe or Asia – all from a single signup bonus – with points left over to use towards stopovers, additional tickets, or unsavoury dynamic pricing.

Or, book a magic carpet ride to the Middle East in Etihad Airways First Class one-way for 120,000–130,000 points, living it up in the throes of luxury thanks to applying for a single credit card.

The big hurdle? $10,000 in minimum spending in the first three months. Of course, 120,000 MR points is absolutely worth shifting some spending around for if at all possible! 

Don’t forget that if you’re in two-player mode or more, then your partner, family member, or friend would earn 20,000 MR points as a referral bonus if you applied via their referral link, which would bring the total household gain even higher as you apply for more Amex business cards.

The $499 annual fee on the Business Platinum Card may appear intimidating at first glance, but the benefits of getting the card go a long way towards offsetting the impact of the annual fee.

The Business Platinum Card offers a flat 1.25 MR points per dollar spent on all purchases, making it an ideal card for business owners whose large volumes of spending may not fall into traditional credit card bonus categories.

And just like the personal version, the premium travel benefits – including the same lounge access benefits and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status – is what really makes the Business Platinum Card is a favourite product among high-flying points collectors and business owners across all the land.

Amex Business Edge Card: Up to 77,000 MR Points!

The American Express Business Edge Card has bumped up its welcome bonus to an all-time high of up to 77,000 MR points:

• 55,000 MR points upon spending $5,000 in the first three months
• 10 MR points per dollar spent on business essentials in the first six months, up to 10,000 MR points (on $1,000 of spending)
• 1,000 MR points for each of the first 12 months in which you spend $3,000, for a total of 12,000 MR points

“Business essentials” is a new promotional accelerator, encompassing the card’s usual 3x categories: office supplies & electronics, rides & gas, and eats & drinks.

In general, I’d recommend that you pursue the first portion of the welcome bonus, plus the 10x accelerator, to earn at least 65,000 MR points. However, spending $3,000 per month for an incremental 1,000 MR points isn’t necessarily a good idea. I’d only recommend going for that portion of the bonus if you’re organically spending that much every month anyway.

While the higher-tier business cards’ offers are objectively better, the Business Edge Card would be a fine choice if you prefer to keep annual fees down.

Also, note that you can’t apply for the Business Platinum and Business Gold cards within three months of each other. If you’ve recently opened one, that would make the Business Edge Card more appealing as an alternative.

As always, in two-player mode, the best strategy is to apply for the Business Edge through the referral link generated by a Business Platinum Card, so that the referrer can earn the best-available referral bonus of 20,000 MR points. 

Amex Business Gold Card: 75,000 MR Points

The American Express Business Gold Rewards Card has kept its old offer steady at 75,000 MR points upon spending $5,000 in the first three months, when applying via a refer-a-friend link.

(Note that the offer is advertised as 115,000 MR points, but this includes 40,000 points associated with very high quarterly spending thresholds. For the purposes of the upfront welcome bonus, it’s better to think of the offer as 75,000 MR points.)

Upon completing your minimum spending, you’d emerge with at least 80,000 MR points on this card.

Transferring these 80,000 MR points to Aeroplan would be enough for some of the longest points redemptions you might be looking to make, such as Asia from the East Coast or Europe from the West Coast.

In two-player mode, since the three business cards are all part of the same “family” of cards in terms of referrals, it would be optimal to apply for the Business Gold Card via the referral link generated by a Business Platinum Card, so that the referrer can earn that card’s referral bonus of 20,000 MR points. 

The Business Gold Card doesn’t offer nearly as many travel perks as its higher-tier counterpart, and all purchases earn 1 MR point per dollar spent, a lower rate than the Business Platinum Card.

Also, as always, you’ll earn 10,000 MR points for each quarter in which you spend $20,000. This is an ongoing benefit of the Business Gold Card, valid in subsequent years as well.

Conclusion

All-new elevated American Express welcome bonuses have arrived for the Summer 2022 season. The personal card offers are valid until September 20, 2022, while the small business cards have no published end date.

This summer’s signup offers may not be quite as overwhelmingly impressive as the famous 150,000 points that we saw in Summer 2021, but they still represent golden opportunities to unlock thousands of dollars in value towards your next trip.