Head-to-Head: Amex Cobalt Card vs. Amex Gold Rewards Card

The American Specific Gold Rewards Card has lengthy been thought of one in all Canada’s most iconic bank cards; nevertheless, it’s the American Specific Cobalt Card that has acquired the lion’s share of consideration since its launch over seven years in the past. 

The Amex Cobalt Card is usually thought of the last word way of life card, well-liked amongst millennials due to its wonderful class spending multipliers. In the meantime, the Gold Rewards Card continues to be identified for offering a beneficiant welcome bonus with out a significantly excessive annual charge.

Each playing cards are {powerful} means for incomes Membership Rewards factors, famend for his or her flexibility and worth in unlocking high-value journey. 

On this version of Head-to-Head, we’ll pit the American Specific Cobalt Card towards the American Specific Gold Rewards Card to assist information your resolution on which is greatest on your pockets.

Card Fundamentals

1. Welcome Bonus

Let’s begin by evaluating the welcome bonuses on the 2 playing cards from a historic viewpoint, as the particular bonuses at any second in time can all the time fluctuate.

For the previous few years, the American Specific Gold Rewards Card has supplied a welcome bonus between 50,000 and 75,000 Membership Rewards (MR) factors.

Just lately, the welcome bonus has been awarded step by step with a month-to-month minimal spending requirement, with an preliminary increase of factors within the first few months. We’ve additionally seen some elements of the welcome bonus structured as 10x factors on journey, or as a second-year part to be granted between months 14 and 17.

In the meantime, the American Specific Cobalt Card has all the time had a singular signup construction, wherein you earn MR factors for every of the primary 12 months wherein you spend $500–750. 

Within the current previous, we’ve seen Amex drop the overall quantity of the welcome bonus out there on the Cobalt Card, somewhat than boosting it up because it had in years prior. 

Verdict: Though the presents on each playing cards do fluctuate over time, the Amex Gold Rewards Card sometimes presents a a lot greater welcome bonus than the Cobalt Card.

2. Factors Foreign money

Each playing cards earn the much-beloved American Specific Membership Rewards factors, which will be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to Aeroplan and British Airways Govt Membership, a 1:1.2 ratio to Marriott Bonvoy, and at a 1:0.75 ratio to Air France KLM Flying Blue and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, amongst others.

You can even e-book flights with Amex Fastened Factors Journey, or redeem them for a press release credit score towards any buy at a charge of 1 cent per level.

Verdict: Each playing cards earn the identical Membership Rewards factors – essentially the most {powerful} factors forex in Canada. We now have ourselves a tie.

3. Annual Payment

Each playing cards have pretty affordable annual charges, however once more, there are variations within the construction.

The Amex Cobalt Card costs a month-to-month charge of $12.99, yielding a complete yearly charge of $155.88 (all figures in CAD).

Then again, the Amex Gold Rewards Card has a charge of $250, charged on the primary billing assertion and yearly thereafter.

On the floor, it appears that evidently the Cobalt Card has the decrease annual charge, along with a extra versatile cost construction. Nonetheless, the Gold Rewards Card additionally comes with an annual $100 journey credit score, which will be redeemed for any kind of journey booked by way of American Specific.

When the journey credit score is netted towards the annual price, we will consider Amex Gold Rewards Card as having an efficient annual charge of solely $150.

Verdict: Taking the Gold Rewards Card’s $100 journey credit score under consideration, it’ll price you barely much less out-of-pocket per 12 months in comparison with the Cobalt.

4. Incomes Charges

The American Specific Cobalt Card has among the best incomes charge constructions for ongoing spending of any Canadian bank card. Plus, it’s the one card within the Membership Rewards household that gives 5x MR factors in any spending class, and can subsequently be tough to beat.

The Cobalt Card earns the next on on a regular basis spending:

• 5 MR factors per greenback spent on eligible groceries and eating, as much as $2,500 spent monthly ($30,000 per 12 months)
• 3 MR factors per greenback spent on eligible streaming companies
• 2 MR factors per greenback spent on eligible journey purchases, gasoline, and transit
• 1 MR level per greenback spent on all different eligible purchases

In the meantime, the Gold Rewards Card has the next incomes construction:

• 2 MR factors per greenback spent at gasoline stations, grocery shops, and drugstores in Canada
• 2 MR factors per greenback spent on eligible journey purchases (and 1 further MR per greenback spent when reserving your lodge or automobile rental by way of American Specific Journey)
• 1 MR level per greenback spent on all different purchases

We are able to see that each playing cards earn 2x factors on journey and gasoline purchases, and 1x factors on all different purchases. The Gold Rewards Card holds the sting in relation to spending at drugstores, however the Cobalt Card’s 5x incomes charge on “eats and drinks” merely can’t be beat. 

Verdict: The Cobalt Card’s 5x multiplier is considerably extra worthwhile than the 2x most on the Gold Rewards Card. Until you occur to do all of your procuring at drugstores, the 5x incomes charge of the Cobalt Card make it a transparent winner on this class.

5. Overseas Transaction Charges

Each playing cards proceed to levy an industry-standard 2.5% international alternate charge. On this respect, neither card is as robust as Canada’s greatest bank cards with no international transaction charges when making international purchases.

Verdict: When it comes to the international transaction charge itself, the 2 playing cards are deadlocked at an uninspiring 2.5% surcharge.

6. Card Kind

American Specific presents each bank cards (which have established credit score limits) and cost playing cards (which include no preset restrict). Every cardholder can sometimes maintain a most of 4 bank cards at one time, with no restrictions on the variety of cost playing cards.

Whereas the Gold Rewards Card was beforehand designated a cost card, it has since been switched to being a bank card as of its mid-2021 relaunch. In the meantime, the Cobalt Card has all the time been a bank card because it was launched in 2017.

Verdict: Each playing cards are bank cards, and can thus rely in direction of your restrict of 4 American Specific bank cards. On condition that there are fairly just a few different Amex bank cards value holding, this makes selecting one card between the Gold and the Cobalt all of the extra vital. 

Perks and Advantages

On mid-range bank cards with efficient annual charges within the area of $150 like these two, we sometimes see a handful of perks to justify the fee 12 months after 12 months. Let’s see how the Gold Rewards Card and Cobalt Card examine on this respect.

1. Lounge Entry

The American Specific Gold Rewards Card presents just a few notable advantages on this division. Cardholders achieve 4 complimentary visits to Plaza Premium lounges yearly, which can be utilized by the cardholder themselves or any of their company.

That is maybe essentially the most significant lounge profit on the cardboard, given Plaza Premium’s vital presence in Canada.

As well as, a complimentary Precedence Move membership unlocks entry to over 1,300 airport lounges; nevertheless, an entry charge of $32 (USD) should nonetheless be paid per go to. This makes the Gold Rewards Card inferior to the higher-echelon Platinum Card by way of Precedence Move lounge entry.

The Amex Cobalt Card doesn’t presently have any comparable choices for lounge entry. 

Verdict: The Gold Rewards Card handily beats out its deep-blue millennial-oriented cousin on this class, providing a significant variety of Plaza Premium visits per 12 months as one of many major justifications for its $250 annual charge.

2. Different Advantages

Along with airport lounge entry, the Gold Rewards Card presents a $100 annual journey credit score. We’ve already touched upon this profit above within the Annual Payment part, so we’ll exclude it from this dialogue.

There’s additionally a separate credit score worthy of consideration: a $50 (CAD) NEXUS credit score as soon as each 4 years; nevertheless, this credit score will solely go part-way in direction of overlaying a NEXUS utility or renewal, because the utility price is $50 (USD) as an alternative. 

Regardless of the Gold Rewards Card’s somewhat middling advantages exterior of lounge entry, the Cobalt Card nonetheless doesn’t compete. Certainly, as a card that depends on its 5x incomes charge as its major worth proposition, there aren’t many ongoing perks to talk of. 

Verdict: The Amex Gold Rewards Card presents some “good to have” advantages in comparison with the minimal further perks on the Cobalt Card, and is once more the clear winner on this spherical.

Different Components

1. Supplementary Playing cards

Whereas some well-liked bank cards cost $50 or extra for including licensed customers, the Cobalt Card doesn’t cost any further charges.

Moreover, you possibly can request as much as 9 playing cards for supplementary cardholders, permitting you to unfold the 5x incomes capability throughout all of your family members.

Against this, the Amex Gold Card presents solely one free further cardholder. Any extra will incur a charge of $50 per 12 months.

Verdict: The Cobalt Card is much more beneficial for including supplementary playing cards. Including your loved ones members as free licensed customers would considerably improve your skill to rack up the factors as a family. 

2. Journey Insurance coverage

When charging journey purchases to each the Amex Gold Rewards Card and Amex Cobalt Card, you’ll obtain a beneficiant array of insurance coverage protection, together with:

• Emergency medical insurance coverage for the primary 15 days of every out-of-province journey, as much as a most of $5,000,000 per insured individual below 65
• Misplaced, stolen, or broken baggage insurance coverage, as much as $500 per journey
• Baggage delay insurance coverage of as much as $500
• Automotive rental loss or harm insurance coverage, so it can save you on the insurance coverage charges normally charged by automobile rental corporations
• Lodge or motel housebreaking insurance coverage of as much as $500
• Journey accident insurance coverage, as much as $500,000 for you, your partner, and any dependent youngsters below 23

Nonetheless, the Gold Rewards Card units itself aside with an extra kind of protection: journey cancellation and journey interruption insurance coverage, as much as $1,500 per insured per individual per journey, as much as a most of $3,000 mixed per journey.

Verdict: Each playing cards supply wonderful medical insurance coverage of as much as $5,000,000, standing out towards the {industry} customary of $1,000,000 with comparable playing cards from competing banks.

Nonetheless, the Cobalt falls behind with a scarcity of journey interruption and journey cancellation insurance coverage, so by way of the general insurance coverage bundle, the Gold Rewards Card prevails.

3. Ease of Getting Accepted

Whereas comparable mid-range journey playing cards from different banks sometimes have an annual earnings requirement starting from $60,000–80,000, each the Amex Cobalt and Amex Gold Rewards Card playing cards haven’t any particular earnings necessities.

A good credit score rating remains to be crucial for the most effective possibilities of getting authorised, though American Specific has confirmed to be among the many extra lenient issuers traditionally.

Verdict: Like all American Specific merchandise in Canada, there’s no earnings requirement on both card, and the approval course of must be comparatively easy.

4. Visible Look

The Amex Gold Rewards Card has a slick steel end, with the choice to pick both the standard gold color or a definite rose gold.

Then again, the Amex Cobalt Card has a putting deep-blue design. Since its newest refresh, the cardboard is comprised of 99% recycled plastic.

Verdict: Whereas the Cobalt Card nonetheless has a horny look, by all accounts the 99% recycled plastic card issued in 2021 onwards makes it really feel a bit low-cost.

Evaluate that to the Gold Rewards Card, whose iconic gold color is now additional weighted with a steel physique and a rose-gold different, and the Gold Rewards Card is the winner of this admittedly somewhat superficial class. 

Conclusion

The American Specific Cobalt Card and the American Specific Gold Rewards Card are each wonderful journey rewards playing cards in Canada, primarily on account of their skill to earn giant portions of omnipotent Membership Rewards factors.

The Gold Rewards Card’s welcome bonus is far stronger than the Cobalt’s; nevertheless, the Amex Cobalt Card far exceeds the Gold Card in its skill to earn factors by way of common spending, due to its 5x MR factors on groceries and eating. 

In case you’re extra excited by ongoing journey advantages, although, the Amex Gold Rewards overshadows the Cobalt on its lounge entry advantages and journey insurance coverage – all with a slightly decrease annual charge, due to the $100 annual journey credit score. 

Total, if it’s important to decide one in all these playing cards to maintain long-term (maybe with the Amex 4 bank card restrict in thoughts), think about the Cobalt for its incomes prowess, maybe paired with the Amex Gold Rewards Card for an elevated welcome bonus and a quartet of Plaza Premium lounge visits.