As the Cobalt card was trying to keep up with the Scotia Gold Amex on earn rate it ended up becoming a better card than the Amex Gold and for certain people even better than the Platinum Card, Amex's flagship card. The Gold card earns 2x on travel, gas, grocery & drugstore and one point on everything else, and has an annual fee of $150 that is really close to the Cobalts annual fee. While The Platinum Card earns 3x on eats & drinks and 2x on travel and one point on everything else, it also has the best lounge access of any credit card in Canada and also gives you hotel status. As you can see the Gold card is already worse than the Cobalt card while if you already book only premium airfare or have another card that gives you lounge access The Platinum Card is also not worth it.

Amex has not mentioned if they are going to revamp the Gold and Platinum Cards, but from the changes to the Cobalt card, it would be really wired if they did not. In my opinion, I think they are going to make the Canadian Gold card more like the American one, increasing the earn rates and give more credits with partner services, I also hope they give you a few Priority Pass entries as that would help segment the cards better. Again I think they will make the Canadian Platinum card more like the American one giving more credits to specific partners and more general credits along with higher earn rates as the Cobalt has 5x on restaurants & groceries while the Platinum has 3x on restaurants and both the Cobalt and Platinum card has a 2x on travel earn rate. If Amex does this they could create a better structure to their cards having the Cobalt as a lifestyle card, the Gold card is the mid-tier travel card, and the Platinum is the best card in the country.

For annual fees, I think that the Gold card's annual fee is going to rise to around $200-$250 and the Platinum card's fee doesn't really need to increase as they are already making so much money on it, in Canada ower annual fee is $699 with a $200 travel credit, while the US Platinum Card will increase to an annual fee of $695 but they have two $200 credits on Hotels and Air travel + $180 CLEAR credit, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck worth $85-$100,  $300 Equinox (not really worth it), #200 uber cash, $240 digital entertainment credit, $100 Saks Fifth credit that up to $1320 in credits and their annual fee is $5 less then ours.

For people how aren't familiar with airlines miles club they are a way for people to buy miles at a discount. Usually, they are tiered at different amounts of miles you will get each month.

Because the prices are denominated in Brasilian Reis this chart will show the number of miles and the price in BRL. The prices in that chart will show first the price if 12 months were paid monthly and then the second will show the price if paid for the one-year plan. At the time of writing the Brasilian, Real is 0.25 CAD, so the prices shown below are actually 4 times higher than what you would pay in Canadian Dollars.

Along with the price of the miles, it is important to also know how much are you paying per mile. I will also compare the price of buying Aeroplan points. This chart is going to look at the price per mile if you pay a year's subscription. The price will be in cents and will show the price in Brasilian Reis and then in Canadian dollars at today's exchange rate of 0.25.

Most people value Aeroplan points at 2.1 cents so buying them at 3 cents only really makes sense if you can get a flight at a great discount on points compared to the cash fare.

The reason why some of the higher tire club options have a higher price per mile is that they also give additional perks like status or free checked bags.

LATAM:

• The miles bough through club 1000 are valid for 36 months and do not give any other benefits.
• The Club 5000 miles do not expire and give LATAM Gold that is LATAM's entry-level status that gives priority check-in extra baggage allowance and 2 upgrade coupons for upgrades into business class, on most of LATAM's partner airlines you will get priority boarding and with Delta, you get more benefits with Delta.
• The Club 10,000 miles do not expire and give you the same benefits as Club 5000 and also give you 5 coupons for LATAM lounges only for flights operated by LATAM in São Paulo (GRU), Bogotá (BOG), Buenos Aires (EZE), Santiago (SCL), and Miami (MIA). Currently because of the pandemic only the lounges in Miami and in São Paulo.

GOL:

• Club plans from 1,000 to 10,000 have all the same benefits of 5 free bookings, discount on paying miles, the miles last 10 years, and differing amount of bonus miles when you transfer points from a credit card, though they are only available in Brasil and Uruguay.
• Club 20,000 has all the benefits of the other levels but also gives you Gol Diamond status that gives you: priority check-in, priority boarding, priority baggage, preferred seating, you also get a once a year companion ticket, and lounge access at São Paulo (GRU) and Rio De Janeiro (GIG) to Gol domestic and international lounges, lounges in, Brasilia (BSB), Quito (UIO), Montevidéu (MVD), Assunção (ASU), Santa Cruz de la Sierra (VVI), Punta Cana (PUJ), Lima (LIM) with a guest. Also when you fly Air France/KLM you have access to the Air France lounge in Paris (CDG) and the KLM lounge in Amsterdam (AMS). When you fly Aerolíneas Argentinas you have accses to there lougne in Buenos Aiers (EZE). You also have access to Delta lounges in Atlanta (ATL), Detroit (DTW), New York (JFK), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO) and Santiago do Chile (SCL) when you fly Delta and when you fly GOL you have access to Delta's lounges in Miami and Orlando.

Azul:

• All the clubs from 1k to 5k are valid for 3 years and there are not more perks for these tiers. Along with benefits for Tudo Azul Credit Cards in Brasil.
• The 10k tier miles have no expiry and also gives you Tudo Azul Safira that give you: priority check-in, 1 checked bags domestic and 2 international, priority baggage, discount at parking at some airports, and 2 upgrade coupons to Espaço Azul on domestic flights that are just seats with extra legroom.
• The 20k tier miles never expire and also give Azul Diamond Status, the highest status with the airline, you get: Discount on point redemptions, Lounge access to Azul's lounges in Campinas (VCP) and Lisboa (LIS), priority check-in, priority boarding, 2 checked bags domestic and 3 international, priority baggage, discount at parking at some airports, and Unlimited upgrade to Espaço Azul on domestic flights that are seats with extra legroom, and when flying United you will also get priority check-in, priority boarding, extra bag in international flights, fast track security in the US.

LATAM is the biggest airline in South America and has recently left Oneworld, they currently have partnerships with Aeromexico, Alaska Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Delta, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar, Royal Jordanian, S7, and Swiss.

GOL is the second biggest airline in Brasil and focus on budget flights but has a great number of partners including but not limited to: Air Canada, WestJet, American Airlines, Copa Airlines, KLM, TAP Air Portugal, Air France, Qantas, Qatar, Swiss, Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Korean Air, ANA, JAL, Lufthansa, and many more airlines.

Azul is the third biggest airline in Brasil and is also the newest and has partnerships with Air Canada, Jet Blue, United Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Emirates, United, Qutar, Copa Airlines.

Out of the three airlines, Gol and Azul have the option to book flights on Air Canda while Gol can also book flights on Westjet, making them the more attractive options if you plan to fly domestically.

Because each airline has there own partner airlines and sweet spots we are going to compare each airline with the cash price and the number of Aeroplan needed for that flight.

Starting with Vancouver (YVR) to Toronto (YYZ) this is the main transcontinental flight in Canada and is operated by both Air Canada and Westjet. Through Aeroplan, you would need from 25k-60k but if you want the lie-flat seats it will usually cost closer to the 60k mark. Flying on Air Canada in Business Class with lie-flat seats the price is 47k miles and as the average price per mile with Azul club is 0.765 cents CAD it would cost you about $360 CAD to get 47k miles. Gol airlines can fly both Westjet and Air Canada but for some reason, I can not find availability on Westjet in Business class. The price for the lie-flat seats though Gol is 58k points with an average price of 0.8 cents per mile this flight would cost you $465 CAD.

A flight from Toronto (YYZ) to Montreal (YUL) in business class but no lie-flat seats costs $450, 15k Aeroplan, 10k Gol smiles with a cost of 0.8 cents per mile makes the cost $80 CAD that is cheaper than economy prices!! On Azul, the cost would be 13k Tudo Azul miles and at a price of 0.765 cents it would cost $100 CAD

Because all three airlines are from Brasil it makes sense to see the prices for flights to Brasil. Flying direct on Air Canada from Toronto (YYZ) to São Paulo (GRU) in business class in lie-flat seats cost 60k Aeroplan, in cash it cost $1830, 138k Gol Smiles at a cost of 0.8 cents so the cost would be $1104, with Tudo Azul also on Air Canada it costs 119k miles at a cost of 0.765 cents so you would pay $910, and LATAM also has flights from YYZ to GRU except it is no a direct flight, the flight flys from YYZ to BOS on some airline and then you fly on LATAM from BOS to GRU, it costs 197.5k miles and at an average cost per cent of 0.95 so you would have paid $1880.

Due to a lower number of flights during the pandemic, I was not able to find many international flights available that I thought were a good deal so I am going to link to an article that has broken down really well how you can redeem Gol Smiles miles here, and LATAM here.

GOL has the most number of partners and tires available and are partnered with both major airlines in Canada along with many world-class airlines and probably makes the most sense for the majority of people, Azul is a newer airline and has fewer domestic flights and partner airlines, while LATAM is mostly partnered with Oneworld airlines.

Some airlines like Air Canada have ferther segmented there status folders with diffrent levels of benfits on AIr Canada flights. Being 25k and 35k Star Aliance Silver and 50k, 75k, and 100k Super Elite being Star Aliance Gold.

TAP Air Portugal is the national flag carrier for Portugal and is 50% owned by the Portugese government. In there lolalty program, called Tap Miles & Go, there are two tires of Star Alaince Status Tap Miles & Go Silver and Tap Miles & Go Gold.

To earn TAP Silver for the first time you need to earn 30,000 status miles or fly 25 segments with TAP, and to renew it for the next years you need 20,000 status miles or fly 15 segments with TAP.

For TAP Gold for the first year you need 70,000 status miles or fly 50 segments with TAP, and to renew it for the next  year you need 50,000 status miles of fly 40 segments with TAP.

What makes TAP such an easy yet pricey option is there club program. I have only seen similar programs with South American airlines, they way they work is you pay an annule price and in exchange you get miles and perks with the airline. TAP Club has four tiers:

with all the club tiers you miles and status miles. Miles and be used to redeem for flights while status miles are used to reach TAP Silver and Gold. If you buy a flight with your TAP Miles & Go accout you will earn the same number of miles as status miles.

If you have Club Extra, Top, or Platinum you also get priorty bording on TAP flights. Also if you have Club Platinum you also get TAP Silver for free.

You can convert your miles at a rate of 2:1 up to a max of 10,000 miles for Silver and 20,000 miles for Gold for both reaching the the status tier or to manitain it.

If you get even just the basic plan that menas you need to fly 7,000 less miles and if you get anything above club you can chosse to fly up to 10k less miles. The TAP Club also is not a ripoff with miles ranging from 0.01 CPM to 0.014.

TAP Club might  even make sence for poeple to get even if it is instead of paying out of poket, for example:

Tornoto-Vancouver in Air Canada's lie flat seats cost $900 CAD one way or 50k Aeroplan Points or 45k TAP Miles. Normally with no promotion Aeroplan Points sell at 0.03 CPP while the most expensive miles you can get from TAP are at a rate on 0.014 CPM. So it would cost you $900 CAD to buy the flight, $1500 CAD if you bough Aeroplan Points or $368* CAD if you bough TAP Club Top. That is alredy a reson to looking to TAP Club and see if it could benfit you.

*The poitns value is in Canadian Dollars at todays exchange rate of 1 Euro = 1.47 CAD.

In conclusion TAP Club could make sence for you if you fly a lot with TAP but it could also be a great opertunity to buy cheap miles and could be an easier way to earn Star Alliance Gold or Silver. Note that SA Silver is best on the airline you fly most because most of the benfits are with that airline. You should also look at Turkish Airlines and Agean Air as they also have some easy ways to get SA Gold.

The Amex ICC cards are available in USD and Euro variants both with Basic, Green, Gold, and Platinum cards. Though the cards don't have that good of an earning rate compared to Canadian and American cards but are on par or better than the EU cards. The Basic cards do not earn rewards so I won't cover them.

Amex ICC Platinum Card

Annual Fee: US$550/€550

Earn Rate: 1 Point per US$/€ spent

Sign Up Bonus: 30,000 MR Points when you spend $5,000 US/EUR in the first 3 months

Lounge Access: Unlimited Priority Pass, Plaza Premium Lounge, Eurostar lounges, Delta Sky Club, Amex Lounges and The Centurion

Hotel Status: Hilton Honors Gold, MeliaRewards Gold, Radisson Reward Gold , and Marriott Bonvoy Gold

Cruise Benefits: a minimum of US$300 credits on AmaWaterways, Crystal Cruises, Crystal River Cruises & Crystal Yacht Cruises, Holland America Line, Oceania, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seabourn, SeaDream Yacht Club, Silversea

The ICC Platinum Card also has access to Fine Hotels & Resorts, The Hotel Collection, and The Vacation Collection. Along with International Airlines Program that gives you up to 20% off on International First, Business, and Premium Economy class tickets booked through your Platinum Travel Service on Singapore Airlines, Qatar, Qantas, Etihad, Emirates, British Airways, Air Europa, and American Airlines.

Amex ICC Gold Card

Annual Fee: US$300/€300

Earn Rate: 1 Point per US$/€ spent

The Gold and Green card are similar except the Gold card has a concierge service and better insurance.

Amex ICC Green Card

Annual Fee: US$100/€100

Earn Rate: 1 Point per US$/€ spent

To get the ICC cards you need to be an egsisting AMEX client.

Again compared to the Canadian and American earn rates they are low but if you look at the Amex Platinum form most of the EU earn only 1 point per € and have worse transfer rates than Candian and ICC transfer rates. The ICC cards have an fx fee, when buying in another currency that is not the Euro for the Euro card or USD for the USD card, so if you spend a lot in Euro or USD these cards could make a lot of sense. If you have access to US credit cards it makes less sense as the US cards will have better rates and similar transfer partners. Because most Candian credit cards (except some Scotiabank travel cards) have an fx fee of around 2.5% when spending in other currencies that are not CAD. If you spend more than $4000 Canadian Dollars in Euros or USD the Green Card would save you money as you would not need to pay the fx fee.

Even if you don't spend $4000 CAD in USD or Euro you still might want to get this card as it opens many new transfer partners that are not available in Canada. There is another lesser know Amex program called American Express International Transfer that allows you to transfer your Candian MR points to any other MR programs from other countries including the ICC cards at the current currency exchange rate.

On the day of writing the CAD/USD rate is 0.83 and the CAD/EUR is 0.68. The first table has the Air Line and Hotel transfer partners for the Candian and ICC MR programs starting with 10,000 points. Table two will have the number of points you will have if you transferred 10,000 Candian MR Points to the ICC MR for both US and Euro cards.

Table 1:

Table 2:

Because you are transferring points at the current currency exchange rate the numbers in table 2 will be different when you calculate. We can see that you would get more points transferring to USD than to the Euro Card because the USD is closer to 1 CAD than the Euro if at some point the Canadian dollar was more expensive than the USD or Euro you would get more than one point for every Candian point. Never the less there are still great opportunities if you want Aisa Miles or Alitalia MilleMiglia you would have more miles by transferring them to the ICC card, and for the rest of the options provided by the Canadian MR program use those. What this also brings is the option to earn points in many different programs that are not easily available in Canada.

NOTE: I would not recommend transferring points to Iberia through the ICC card because you can transfer them from British Airways at a rate of 1:1.

Expedia for TD can be a good and bad thing, first you can't get more then 0.5 CPP but on the flip side you can buy crusies or car rentals as you can buy anything on Expedia.ca.

All RBC Rewards Cards can trasfer points to WestJet rewards and Hudson's Bay Rewards at a rate of 1:1 and can be redemmed for travel at a rate of 1 CPP. You can also redeem for merchendise at around 0.8 CPP, gift cards at 0.7 CPP, statment credits 0.6 CPP, RBC finical products 0.8 CPP, charity at 1 CPP.

Avion card holders have the same options as the RBC Rewards cards along with the fixed points flight chart, and the option to trasfer points to British Airways Avios, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at a rate of 1:1 and to American Airlines AAdvantage at a rate of 1:0.7.

Assuming you can get the the max price for a ticket you would get:

If you have a RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege or are a member of RBC Private Bank you have the option to redeem first class and business class seats at a rate of 100 Points to $2 CAD or 2 CPP.

Down sides are mostly that if you don't get the highest price your CPP drop drasticlly, and you can't buy premium ecnomy, buisness (except VIP and Prive Bank), or first class.

This award chart gives you the best redemption option with Aventura points, as the only other flight redemtion option is 1 CPP. If the price of the ticket is above the max ticket price the amount over the cap can be payed in CAD or at a rate of 1 CPP.

Assuming you can get a ticket for the max price in economy you can get flights form 1.6-3.2 CPP and in in business class you get 2.5 CPP in North America and 2 CPP for flights to the rest of the world.

The down side to the fixed point award chart is that you can not book premium econmy, buisness (if you don not have the Visa Infinite Privilege), or first.

Other redemption options are redemming for any travel at 1CPP, cherity donations at 1 CPP, CIBC fincial porducts at 0.83 CPP, mercandice at 0.7 CPP, gift cards at 0.7 CPP, and satment credits at 0.63 CPP.

Annual Fee & Signup Bonus

• $150 Annual Fee
• 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points when you spend $1,500 in the first 3 months

Earning rates + Bonuses

• 5x Bonvoy Points per dollar at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties
• 3x Bonvoy Points per dollar on gas, dining and travel
• 2x Bonvoy Points per dollar on everything else
• Annual Free Night Award (Room value up to 35,000 Points)
• Instant 15 nights that automatically give you Marriott Silver Elite
• Upgrade to Marriott Gold Elite after spending $30,000 in one calender year or stay 10 additional nights

Redemption Options

• Redeem for free hotel nights
• Transfer to airline at a rate of 3 points per mile except for Air New Zealand at 200:1 and United that has a 10% bonus promotion

Insurance

• Baggage Delay Insurance
• Flight Delay Insurance
• Hotel Burglary Insurance
• Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance
• Travel Accident Insurance up to $500,000
• Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance
• Travel Emergency Assistance
• Buyer’s Assurance Protection Plan
• Purchase Protection Plan
• Employee Card Misuse Protection

Thoughts

You can stay at Marriott properties for free based on an award chart that is dived into 3 sections based on if it is peak, standard, or off peak dates.

There is also another chart for a  hotels that are at a discount that are rotated during the year.

You can also transfer your Marriott Bonvoy Points to airline partners: AEGEAN Miles+Bonus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Aeroflot Bonus, Aeromexico ClubPremier, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Alitalia MilleMiglia, American Airlines AAdvantage, ANA Mileage Club, Asiana Airlines Asiana Club, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Copa Airlines ConnectMiles, Delta SkyMiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, FRONTIER Miles, Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club, Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles, Iberia Plus, InterMiles, Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank, Korean Air SKYPASS, LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass, Multiplus Fidelidade, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Saudia Alfursan, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Southwest Rapid Rewards, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer, and Vueling Club at a rate of 3:1. United MileagePlus at a rate of 3:1.1. Air New Zealand Airpoints at a rate of 200:1. JetBlue TrueBlue at a rate of 6:1. If you trasfer 60,000 Marriott points Marriott will give you 15,000 extra Bonvoy Points.

If you spend more then 10 nights a year in Marriott hotels this might be a card for you as every year you get 15 qualifying nights added to your account automatically giving you Marriott Silver. By spend 10 more nights at Marriott properties you get Marriott Gold is better but you truly only get the best perks at Platinum Elite. Being Silver Elite you get 10% extra points at Marriott properties giving you a true earning rate of 5.5x Bonvoy Points per dollar spend at Marriott. Or if you are Gold Elite you get a 25% bonus points so a earnings rate of 6.25x Bonvoy Points per dollar spend. Both Marriott Silver and Gold give you free WIFI, Member Rates, Ultimate Reservation Guaranteed (If they can't fit your booking they will pay for an equivalent hotel nearby), 10%-75% bonus points depending on level, Late Checkout (Silver if available, Gold at 2 pm), Gold an up gets in hotel gifts, and Gold also gets Enhanced Room Upgrades, while Silver will get Room Upgrades but they will be to worse rooms.

Marriott status through Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card vs Amex The Platinum Card? There are a few major differences in the way status works. The Bonvoy card gives you 15 nights every year that automatically gives you Marriott Silver Status and  so if you spend more nights you can get to higher status levels. While The Platinum Card gives you Marriott Gold automatically but dose not give you the nights so you can't get to higher status levels. So How should you chose? If you spend less then 35 nights a year at Marriott then The Platinum Card makes more sense as you will spend more of your nights as Gold status while if you spend more then 35 nights a year it makes more sense to use the Bonvoy Card's status as you will spend nights as Marriott Platinum.

Annual Fee & Signup Bonus

• $120 Annual Fee
• 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points when you spend $1,500 in the first 3 months

Earning rates + Bonuses

• 5x Bonvoy Points per dollar at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties
• 2x Bonvoy Points per dollar on everything else
• Annual Free Night Award (Room value up to 35,000 Points)
• Instant 15 nights that automatically give you Marriott Silver Elite
• Upgrade to Marriott Gold Elite after spending $30,000 in one calender year or stay 10 additional nights

Redemption Options

• Redeem for free hotel nights
• Transfer to airline at a rate of 3 points per mile except for Air New Zealand at 200:1 and United that has a 10% bonus promotion

Insurance

• Flight Delay Insurance up to $500
• Baggage Delay Insurance up to $500 (aggregate maximum with Flight Delay Insurance)
• Flight Delay Insurance up to $500 (aggregate maximum with Baggage Delay Insurance)
• Hotel Burglary Insurance up to $500
• Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance up to $500
• Travel Accident Insurance up to $500,000
• Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance
• Travel Emergency Assistance
• Buyer’s Assurance Protection Plan
• Purchase Protection Plan

Thoughts

You can stay at Marriott properties for free based on an award chart that is dived into 3 sections based on if it is peak, standard, or off peak dates.

There is also another chart for a  hotels that are at a discount that are rotated during the year.

You can also transfer your Marriott Bonvoy Points to airline partners: AEGEAN Miles+Bonus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Aeroflot Bonus, Aeromexico ClubPremier, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Alitalia MilleMiglia, American Airlines AAdvantage, ANA Mileage Club, Asiana Airlines Asiana Club, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Copa Airlines ConnectMiles, Delta SkyMiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, FRONTIER Miles, Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club, Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles, Iberia Plus, InterMiles, Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank, Korean Air SKYPASS, LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass, Multiplus Fidelidade, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Saudia Alfursan, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Southwest Rapid Rewards, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer, and Vueling Club at a rate of 3:1. United MileagePlus at a rate of 3:1.1. Air New Zealand Airpoints at a rate of 200:1. JetBlue TrueBlue at a rate of 6:1. If you trasfer 60,000 Marriott points Marriott will give you 15,000 extra Bonvoy Points.

If you spend more then 10 nights a year in Marriott hotels this might be a card for you as every year you get 15 qualifying nights added to your account automatically giving you Marriott Silver. By spend 10 more nights at Marriott properties you get Marriott Gold is better but you truly only get the best perks at Platinum Elite. Being Silver Elite you get 10% extra points at Marriott properties giving you a true earning rate of 5.5x Bonvoy Points per dollar spend at Marriott. Or if you are Gold Elite you get a 25% bonus points so a earnings rate of 6.25x Bonvoy Points per dollar spend. Both Marriott Silver and Gold give you free WIFI, Member Rates, Ultimate Reservation Guaranteed (If they can't fit your booking they will pay for an equivalent hotel nearby), 10%-75% bonus points depending on level, Late Checkout (Silver if available, Gold at 2 pm), Gold an up gets in hotel gifts, and Gold also gets Enhanced Room Upgrades, while Silver will get Room Upgrades but they will be to worse rooms.

Marriott status through Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card vs Amex The Platinum Card? There are a few major differences in the way status works. The Bonvoy card gives you 15 nights every year that automatically gives you Marriott Silver Status and  so if you spend more nights you can get to higher status levels. While The Platinum Card gives you Marriott Gold automatically but dose not give you the nights so you can't get to higher status levels. So How should you chose? If you spend less then 35 nights a year at Marriott then The Platinum Card makes more sense as you will spend more of your nights as Gold status while if you spend more then 35 nights a year it makes more sense to use the Bonvoy Card's status as you will spend nights as Marriott Platinum.

Annual Fee & Signup Bonus

• $99
• 30,000 Alaska Miles when you spend $1000 in the first 90 days

Earning rates + Bonuses

• 3x miles per dollars spent Alaska Airlines
• 1x mile per dollar spent on everything else
• $121 US Alaska Airlines companion fare ($99 base fare plus $22 to pay for taxes and fees)
• Minimum 10% off Avis and Budget in Canada and the US and minimum 5% international
• First free checked bag plus 1 free checked bag per companion to a total of 6 free bags
• Price Protection up to $500 CAD on Alaska Airline flights

Redemption Options

• Redeem miles for flights on Alaska Airlines and their partner airlines
• Alaska Airlines companion fare for a second ticket on the same flight for flights in Canada, Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico

Insurance

• Common Carrier Accidental Death & Dismemberment Benefits up to $1,000,000
• Unexpected Return Home up to $2000
• Coverage against loss, theft, or damage to personal effects for the duration of a vehicle rental period $1,000 per insured/ $2,000 per account
• Purchase Assurance Lifetime total accumulative limit of $60,000 per account
• Extended Warranty Benefits 1 year

Thoughts

The World Elite version of this card is only really worth the extra $25 over the Platinum Mastercard for the extra 10,000 Alaska Miles and if you actually travel on Alaska as you get extra features that are only available on Alaska Airlines like free checked bags.

You can get more Alaska Miles by transferring Marriott Bonvoy Points at a rate of 3:1 and if you transfer 60k Marriott Points they will give you an extra 5k Alaska Miles.

The companion fare can only be booked on Alaska Airline flights in Canada, the US, including Alaska and Hawaii, and Mexico in economy. The best use of the companion fare will be on expensive tickets like cross-continental flights or flights to expensive locations like Alaska and Hawaii.

Alaska a very different award chart compared to most other airlines as the amount of miles you pay is based on region and does not take into account distance. So you will get better redemptions on longer flights. For Example: A Cathay Pacific flight from North America to Asia costs 50k in Bussines or 70k in First Class. While a flight from New York to Hong Kong costs $26,000 and a flight from Los Angles to Hong Kong on the same day costs $20,000 in First Class. If you were going to pay for the flight it would make more sense to go to LA as it would save you $6,000 but as the points you will spend are the same amount you will get a better value going from New York. 

CPP = (ticket price ÷ points needed)*100

CPP = (20,000÷70,000)*100 = 28.5 CPP

CPP = (26,000÷70,000)*100 = 37.2 CPP

you can see from my calculations that you are getting almost 9 CPP extra for the flight out of New York not to mention that you get to spend extra time on one of the world's best First Class offerings.

Annual Fee & Signup Bonus

• $75
• 20,000 Alaska Miles when you spend $1000 in the first 90 days

Earning rates + Bonuses

• 3x miles per dollars spent Alaska Airlines
• 1x mile per dollar spent on everything else
• $121 US Alaska Airlines companion fare ($99 base fare plus $22 to pay for taxes and fees)
• Minimum 10% off Avis and Budget in Canada and the US and minimum 5% international

Redemption Options

• Redeem miles for flights on Alaska Airlines and their partner airlines
• Alaska Airlines companion fare for a second ticket on the same flight for flights in Canada, Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico

Insurance

• Common Carrier Accidental Death & Dismemberment Benefits up to $1,000,000
• Unexpected Return Home up to $2000
• Coverage against loss, theft, or damage to personal effects for the duration of a vehicle rental period $1,000 per insured/ $2,000 per account
• Purchase Assurance Lifetime total accumulative limit of $60,000 per account
• Extended Warranty Benefits 1 year

Thoughts

As mention at the begging of the article, Alaska Miles has a very high point evaluation because you can book flights with many of the world's best airlines. Another thing that makes Alaska Miles even more valuable is that usually the piece to fly to Asia from Canada is really expensive out of pocket yet for as little as 50k Miles for Business on Cathay Pacific or Hainan Airlines or for 70k First Class on Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines.

For example: A flight in First Class on Cathay Pacific from Canada to Asia, does not matter from where, costs 70k Alaska Miles and a flight from JFK to HKG has a moderately normal price of 25.4k CAD.

CPP = (ticket price ÷ points needed)*100

CPP = (25,409÷70,000)*100 = 36.3. This is one of the best redemptions you can get with Alaska Miles and shows you that just because the program has an evaluation of 2.3 CPP does not mean you can’t get some outstanding redemptions. This one trip gives you 36.3 cents per point spent but even without this exact flight, you can still get flights for over 20 CPP when redeeming flights to Asia in premium classes.

The companion fare can only be booked on Alaska Airline flights in Canada, the US including Alaska and Hawaii, and Mexico in economy. The fact that this companion fare is valid to trips to Alaska and Hawaii is going to be the best redemptions as these are flights that usually cost the most to fly to.

You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy Points to Alaska Miles at a ratio of 3:1 and when you transfer 60k Marriott Points Marriott will give you a bound 5k Alaska Miles.

Annual Fee & Signup Bouns

• $99 Annual Fee
• Earn 10% cashback in the first month 4 months up to $400 in cashback.

Earning rates + Bonuses

• 2% cashback

Redemption Options

Insurance

• Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance up to $5,000,000 in the first 15 days for people under the age of 65
• Flight Delay Insurance up to $500 (aggregate maximum with Baggage Delay Insurance)
• Baggage Delay Insurance up to $500 (aggregate maximum with Baggage Delay Insurance)
• Hotel Burglary Insurance up to $500
• Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance up to $500
• $100,000 Travel Accident Insurance
• Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance for cars with an MSRP of up to $85,000
• Purchase Protection Plan
• Buyer’s Assurance Protection Plan

Thoughts

Below I put a graph that I made that tells you which Amex cashabck card gives you the most cashback. If you spend more than 12.5k a year on this card then you will get more benefit from the Amex SimplyCash Preferred but if you spend less than that amount then get the Amex SimplyCash.

If you spend close to 12k on this card a year then it still might be worth it to get the SimplyCash Preferred because it has really good insurance coverage that its little brother does not have.

Another thing is that at $99 it is really close to travel credit cards like the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite at $139 that earns 1 Aeroplan Point on everything else but as you can easily get over 2 CPP with Aeroplan plus the TD card higher earning categories the SimplyCash Preferred becomes less appealing.