American Express Cobalt Card

The American Express Cobalt Card is one of the most popular cards in Canada, and for good reason. It’s the ultimate lifestyle card, earning incomparable rewards on groceries and restaurants, with an extremely flexible points program.

Bonuses & Fees

Eschewing the traditional credit card model, the Cobalt Card is designed as a “monthly membership” card, offering a bonus of up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points over the course of the first 12 months of your membership.

Here’s how it works: for each monthly billing cycle during the first 12 months that you complete $750 in spending, you’ll earn 1,250 MR points, for a total of up to 15,000 MR points.

The annual fee of $155.88 is also charged on a month-to-month basis – each month, you’ll be on the hook for a “Membership Fee Installment” of $12.99.

As a cardholder, you’ll earn 5,000 MR points for every referral you make, up to a maximum of 75,000 MR points per calendar year. You can also add supplementary cards for free.

Earning Rewards

The American Express Cobalt Card is a game changer when it comes to the returns on daily spending. You’ll earn:

• 5 MR points per dollar spent on groceries & dining, specifically “(i) restaurant, quick service restaurant, coffee shop and drinking establishments in Canada, (ii) stand-alone grocery stores in Canada, (iii) delivery of food and groceries in Canada as a primary business” up to a maximum of $2,500 a month. Thereafter, you’ll earn 1 MR point per dollar spent.
• 3 MR points per dollar spent on eligible streaming services, which include Apple TV+, Apple Music, Crave, Disney+, fuboTV, hayu, Netflix, RDS, SiriusXM Canada, Spotify, and TSN
• 2 MR points per dollar spent on eligible transit and transportation purchases, specifically stand-alone automobile gasoline stations in Canada and local commuter transportation in Canada including subway, streetcar, taxi, limousine, and ride sharing services
• 1 MR point per dollar spent on all other purchases

American Express has the millennial demographic locked in their sights with this credit card. As someone who’s often lumped into the millennial category myself, I can attest to the fact that the vast majority of my spending goes towards food and travel, and I do indeed get amazing value out of this card.

It’s important to point out that everyone that can make use of the Cobalt Card’s strong everyday earning rates stand to benefit from adding this card to their wallet.

This is also one of the only 5x category multiplier on spending in Canada, which is something our neighbours down in the US have had for many, many years.

Redeeming Rewards

The Membership Rewards program offers outstanding redemption opportunities as well. This is primarily because it’s a flexible, transferable rewards currency.

You can transfer your MR points at a 1:1 ratio to Aeroplan and British Airways Avios, as well as a host of other global frequent flyer programs (including Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Air France KLM Flying Blue) at a 1:0.75 ratio. Moreover, you also have the option of converting points to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1.2 ratio for booking hotel stays.

Furthermore, you can redeem MR points directly for flights through the Amex Fixed Points Travel reward chart, although these are limited to round-trip flights departing from Canada.

Essentially, you can use a fixed amount of points towards the base ticket price of a regular cash ticket, up to a certain maximum. The number of points required and the maximum ticket price depends on the geographical region you are visiting (you can only book roundtrip flights that originate in Canada).

Lastly, you have the option of redeeming MR points directly against travel purchases at a rate of 1 cent per point (cpp), although this is typically not recommended, as the value pales in comparison to what you could get by booking flights through Aeroplan, Avios, or even the Fixed Points Travel chart.

Insurance Coverage

The major coverage categories are pretty much all included, with the exception of Trip Interruption and Trip Cancellation. In particular, the following benefits are included:

• Emergency medical insurance, of up to $5,000,000 for the first 15 days of your out-of-province trip, for travellers aged under 65.
• Lost, stolen, or damaged baggage insurance, of up to $500
• Baggage delay insurance, of up to $500
• Car rental loss or damage insurance, so you can save on the insurance fees usually charged by car rental companies for vehicles with a MSRP of up to $85,000
• Hotel or motel burglary insurance, of up to $500

Additionally, the card also offers Purchase Security and Extended Warranty Protection, covering most eligible items you’ve purchased with your card should they be stolen or damaged within 90 days of purchase, as well as an extended one-year warranty period compared to the manufacturer’s warranty.

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