American Express - bonus is bogus

[GatineauGirl]

My American Express Platinum with Costco has been switched to the new CashBack American Express. One of the advertised perks of this new card is that you get 5% bonus for the first six months at eligible gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants. I have searched high & low, and cannot find a "stand alone" grocery store that accepts American Express. Can anybody shed some light on this? Seems to me that this new card's bonus is bogus. The only place is have found that allows this bonus is Costco's Gas, but I think that expires at the end of the year, when Costco stops accepting American Express. I find it all so confusing.

[tjthemanto]

Wal Mart and Longos is the only place I could use my Amex , so I cancelled it.

not sure if SDM accepts it or not, anymore.

WM probably doesn't qualify as a grocery store for the bonus, even though they sell groceries..same thing with SDM .

Longos does.

[Zonny]

SDM accepts I think, so does Sobeys here in NS. I'm giving mine up though, got a Mastercard that's giving me a bonus of 2,000 Air Miles.

[Ciel]

Could it be that card (AMEX Platinum) is considered a premium card with higher transaction cost to retailer than the plain AMEX? At this point, it seems to me that AMEX is basically for travel/lodging/event ticket use, not daily shopping given the frigid retail chill around more perks cards in general.

Some stores dropped AMEX a few years ago because of the processing charges.

[spanishpoet]

Before I got my MBNA smartcash mastercard, I used my Amex everywhere! In Ontario, I've found very few places that do not accept it. I've used my Amex at:
No Frills
Food Basics
Longos
Fortinos
Sobeys
Shoppers Drugmart
Walmart

[Zonny]

No Frills in NS doesn't accept AMEX, the only credit card they accept is MasterCard.

[Colsgirl]

My American Express Platinum with Costco has been switched to the new CashBack American Express. One of the advertised perks of this new card is that you get 5% bonus for the first six months at eligible gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants. I have searched high & low, and cannot find a "stand alone" grocery store that accepts American Express. Can anybody shed some light on this? Seems to me that this new card's bonus is bogus. The only place is have found that allows this bonus is Costco's Gas, but I think that expires at the end of the year, when Costco stops accepting American Express. I find it all so confusing.

Save on Foods accepts it hth

[AmieT]

Most of big grocery store in the West accept it: Safeway, SaveonFood, Sobey...

[GatineauGirl]

Thanks!....this is great. Food Basics accepts American Express (Super C in Quebec) so I can shop there and get 5% cashback for the next five months. Saves pricematching at the RCSS. Wonderful!

[FLA]

People get Amex mostly for the sign up bonus.

[Snow In Summer]

I got a Scotiabank gold Amex last year because it was free for the first year, signing bonus of 20000 points which I rolled over into Scotiabank investments (RRSP and bank stocks) and it offered 4X the points on food and gas purchases.


I cancelled the card last month as the only store I could use it at (that I shop at) was Farmboy. Loblaws no, Walmart no points etc. etc. etc. Gas stations were never a problem but I'm not interested in paying another annual fee to have this card anymore. I only have one I have now is my gold Visa (which is free) and I'm happy with that.


Just a tip. If you ever decide to cancel your Amex ask the institution your with to add the credit limit from the Amex onto your other existing card if they are linked.


Ei. I had gold Amex and gold Visa both with Scotiabank. When I cancelled my gold Amex I transferred the credit amount of 15k available to me to my gold Visa. This in turn increased the credit amount available on my gold Visa so I wasn't loosing out on anything, except not paying an additional annual fee.

[Decaf]

Metro grocery store.