VISA or AMEX?

[jatthopefullawyer 195]

I got the Scotiabank loc and have the option of getting both with 5000 or just one of those. I prefer having one card instead of two, but I have read others saying there’s a benefit in getting both. Can somebody explain this? I personally just want to get the VISA, but am considering getting both of them 

[Cheech 70]

Are both cards no-fee? If so, there's no harm in getting both, aside from a very minor credit hit that will go away after some usage. You might as well get both to reap the welcome bonus points. There are also various other benefits that each card has that the other doesn't, such as no foreign exchange fee on the Visa, so you might as well get both to have maximum flexibility in any situation.

The only problem I can foresee is that both cards require you to spend a certain amount in the first 3 months of activation to gain the maximum bonus, so you might not be able to hit the target on both cards. If you can get one for now and then the other 3 months from now, that would be even better.

[jatthopefullawyer 195]

30 minutes ago, Cheech said:

Are both cards no-fee? If so, there's no harm in getting both, aside from a very minor credit hit that will go away after some usage. You might as well get both to reap the welcome bonus points. There are also various other benefits that each card has that the other doesn't, such as no foreign exchange fee on the Visa, so you might as well get both to have maximum flexibility in any situation.

The only problem I can foresee is that both cards require you to spend a certain amount in the first 3 months of activation to gain the maximum bonus, so you might not be able to hit the target on both cards. If you can get one for now and then the other 3 months from now, that would be even better.

Yeah both cards are waived and no fees. However, I was looking at the cards on the website, and it appears as if the Visa does not have a welcome bonus. The Amex does and gives 20,000 rewards points. 

These are the two cards 

Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite* Card 

https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/visa/momentum-infinite-card.html

Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/american-express/gold-card.html

 

I am not sure if I should go forward with the AMEX as I will not be using it after I get the reward points (mostly because not a lot of places accept AMEX) and it likely is not good for my credit to cancel the card after the points are redeemed. $200 for a credit hit does not look good 

[OnlyResident 126]

49 minutes ago, jatthopefullawyer said:

Yeah both cards are waived and no fees. However, I was looking at the cards on the website, and it appears as if the Visa does not have a welcome bonus. The Amex does and gives 20,000 rewards points. 

These are the two cards 

Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite* Card 

https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/visa/momentum-infinite-card.html

Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/american-express/gold-card.html

 

I am not sure if I should go forward with the AMEX as I will not be using it after I get the reward points (mostly because not a lot of places accept AMEX) and it likely is not good for my credit to cancel the card after the points are redeemed. $200 for a credit hit does not look good 

I got the both the Amex and the other Visa which combined got me 50,000 points or $500. 

The other Visa is this one:

https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/visa/passport-infinite-card.html

 

Assuming you meet the spending requirements looks like you can actually get 40,000 points instead of the 30,000 I was offered. 

[jatthopefullawyer 195]

2 minutes ago, OnlyResident said:

I got the both the Amex and the other Visa which combined got me 50,000 points or $500. 

The other Visa is this one:

https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/credit-cards/visa/passport-infinite-card.html

 

Assuming you meet the spending requirements looks like you can actually get 40,000 points instead of the 30,000 I was offered. 

that's weird. my rep emailed me the following options:

Visa and or Amex Card $10,000 Limit Your choice of: No Fee Momentum Visa, No Fee ScotiaGold Passport Visa Card or No Fee Gold American Express Card or your choice of 2 cards at a limit of $5000 each

That card is definitely better. I will contact my rep to see if I can get that 

[OnlyResident 126]

10 minutes ago, jatthopefullawyer said:

that's weird. my rep emailed me the following options:

Visa and or Amex Card $10,000 Limit Your choice of: No Fee Momentum Visa, No Fee ScotiaGold Passport Visa Card or No Fee Gold American Express Card or your choice of 2 cards at a limit of $5000 each

That card is definitely better. I will contact my rep to see if I can get that 

The rep didn't make a mistake lol. That is the correct card. You linked the momentum visa when it's supposed to be passport visa. 

[pzabbythesecond 4442]

Get both. I've made roughly 2000 dollars in points over 3.5 years of law school with "clever" spending habits (read: I spent way too much, but I at least spent too much where places would give me 4 times the points for it). 

[xdarkwhite 195]

I got both the Infinite Passport and the Amex Gold card. The Amex card has much better reward points (for restaurants, groceries, gas, and public transportation), and so I always pay with that unless the store does not take it, which then I use the Visa. You also might be surprised with the number of places that actually do take Amex - I'd say 85% of the restaurants and shops I've been to in Toronto do. I also got the 50,000 bonus points for joining the two cards.

Also, not many people seem to be aware of this, but Amex does a small business rewards program every year. This year, the deal is you get $5 back for spending over $10 at small businesses, up to a maximum of 10 times (so $50 total) https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/merchant/shop-small.html. Great incentive to check out some smaller local shops or restaurants that you would not have otherwise, especially during times of COVID-19, and the extra $50 is nice too!

Edited July 31, 2020 by xdarkwhite

[jatthopefullawyer 195]

thanks for the info everyone. after seeing all the positives about the amex its kind of hard to say no so I am going to get both. the AMEX has a better rewards program and I would probably just get that card only if more stores accepted it. 

[pzabbythesecond 4442]

4 minutes ago, jatthopefullawyer said:

thanks for the info everyone. after seeing all the positives about the amex its kind of hard to say no so I am going to get both. the AMEX has a better rewards program and I would probably just get that card only if more stores accepted it. 

I recommend against this.

So assume a store doesn't take amex (major groceries tend not to). So you'll have to pay cash.

Assuming you're taking out of your PSLOC, that cash costs you interest every day you take it out, charged monthly.

Whereas with a credit card, no interest accrues until your statement balance becomes due. Which is a month or so after you've spent that money.

So if and when you can't use amex, you're incurring interest you otherwise wouldn't because you didn't want to also get a Visa.

[WannaBeBanker 25]

9 hours ago, jatthopefullawyer said:

thanks for the info everyone. after seeing all the positives about the amex its kind of hard to say no so I am going to get both. the AMEX has a better rewards program and I would probably just get that card only if more stores accepted it. 

This is the best way to do it, get both cards so that you have the Visa as a backup for places that don't accept the Amex. There is criteria that you'll have to meet to get the Visa Infinite card though (income and/or spending minimums)