Two months ago, I asked y’all to suggest some road trip ideas –
“Where should my family’s next travels take us? A road trip to Montreal? Perhaps Ottawa? Or maybe a weekend shopping in the States? I’m looking for your best road trip ideas from Toronto – no more than 5-6 hours away.”
Why was I asking? I had racked up a ton of Scotia Rewards on my handy little Scotiabank Gold American Express Card, and wanted to use them to offset the cost of a fun family road trip. So how did I earn enough points to fund our hotel stay?
It’s simple. Not only did I receive the introductory 20,000 bonus points with my first purchase because I signed up for the card early (new cardholders now earn 15,000 bonus points on their first purchase – worth $150 in travel!); I also earned 4x Scotia Rewards points for every $1 I spent at eligible gas stations, grocery stores, on dining and entertainment. Translation: while I was out and about spending money on my everyday purchases like groceries and gas, I was actually earning rewards that brought me that much closer to a much-needed vacation. Four times closer, in fact.
So, armed with ideas for a March Break mini vacation or staycation, I was ready to cash in my rewards for a fabulous little hotel stay in Montreal. And then, this happened –
“We are pleased to invite you to the 2013 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. This invitation-only professional conference for social media-minded moms and dads will take place May 8-12, 2013 at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.”
EEK! Okay, for those not in the know, receiving an invitation to #DisneySMMoms is like receiving a golden ticket to a chocolate factory – but better, because Disney chocolate is shaped like Mickey’s ears.
However, as the invitation came through right around the time I was planning to book our mini getaway, I had an interesting dilemma on my hands. You see, while most costs are covered at the Disney Social Media Moms conference, I did have to come up with airfare: four plane tickets to be exact. So, I had to make the following decision – and quickly:
1. Book the mini getaway as planned, and pay full price for four plane tickets.
2. Cancel the mini getaway and use my Scotia Rewards towards the cost of one of the flights to Orlando.
Hmm… mini getaway in Montreal, or 5-day vacation at Walt Disney World? Can you guess what I decided?
And just like that, thanks to my Scotiabank Gold American Express Card, I was able to almost fully cover the cost of one flight – even though my card was only a few months old! Remember, I earned FOUR (4) POINTS FOR EVERY DOLLAR spent on the card at gas stations, grocery stores and on dining and entertainment. Squee!
And now that I’ve booked my flights, I’ll enjoy the following travel perks:
– Comprehensive Travel Protection & Savings
– Access to Priority Pass Lounges Worldwide
– Travel Emergency Medical Insurance
– Trip Interruption & Cancellation Insurance
– Flight Delay
– Delayed & Lost Luggage Insurance
– Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance
– Rental Car Collision/Loss Damage Insurance
– Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance
– Purchase Security & Extended Warranty Insurance
– Price Protection
I am absolutely thrilled with how simple it was to book our flights online, and now that we’re all set to go, I can sit back knowing we’re covered for any bumps in the road. And, you just know I’ll be putting my feet up at the AmEx Priority Pass lounge at the airport! The Scotiabank AmEx makes it all possible, for just $99 per year. That’s gold.
Click here to learn more about the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.
This post was sponsored by the new Scotiabank®* Gold American Express® Card.
The opinions expressed herein as always, are my own.
That’s awesome! A trip to Disney sounds like perfection!
Seeing as your boys are young – a trip like this is perfect! While I am sure they would like seeing Montreal, Disney truly is magical!
Save Montreal for next year :-)
AS far as the card goes – I’m not clear on what some of the benefits are.. Flight delay? You get points if it happens?
:) Not points – MONEY! If your flight is delayed more than four hours, you can purchase toiletries, a meal – even stay in a hotel overnight – whatever it takes to make your life more comfortable.
“You may be reimbursed for eligible reasonable living expenses incurred during the period of a delayed flight or missed connection which lasts four hours or more to a limit $500 per trip for all insured travellers. Simply charge the full cost of your tickets to your Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.”
This happened to me once (with a different rewards card) – my flight home from New York was delayed until the next morning, but I was covered to book a hotel room and have a nice dinner to make the ordeal less daunting :)
WOW! That certainly is a great bonus!
Thanks for clarifying that! :-)
My pleasure!
Your kids must be delighted to go to Disney again :D… I want to go so badly…
:) They are over the moon! Honestly, I’m very thankful for these opportunities.
My husband has one of these! I am going to have to check his point balance to see if we can book our own “mini-getaway’!
Sweet! With the awesome welcome bonus, plus all that regular spending, I’m sure you can!
I have no rewards cards, one of these days, it seems that it may be worthwhile but no way am I willing to pay a fee to use a credit card
Well, let me put it to you this way Debbie: the annual fee for the Scotiabank AmEx is $99. When you sign up and make your first purchase, you are awarded $150 worth of rewards right then and there. So, even if you only used the card for one year, you are still coming out on top!
However, you’ll likely hang on to it once you start racking in the rewards – especially since you earn 4x the rewards on things like groceries and gas. We took almost $300 off the price of a plane ticket after using the card for just 4 months… even if you factor in the $99 annual fee, we’re still ahead almost $200!
Glad that you were able to use it for a fun vacation ! Disney can never get boring! I have a rewards card where I get cash-back every year but I do not pay any fee.Last year I got $140 cash back without me giving them any fee. Yep..I am all for credit card companies giving me cash back but not the other way around.
All the fee that they collect from card holders usually covers ( and profitable) the cost of the benefits that they offer. The probability that someone uses all the benefits is very less.
WOW! $140 in cash back – that’s the way to go! Good for you!
A great review — I usually don’t get credit cards where you need to pay a fee, but I might have to have a chat with my partner about this one!
Awesome Victoria! The thing is, the $99 annual fee is certainly offset by the fact that you can accumulate rewards so quickly. Four months in, I’m already ahead $200!
Hmm… it would be a perfect excuse to shop more i.e., to earn back the annual fee.
This is really brilliant! I’m going to send this info to my daughters because they are interested in taking a trip to Disney with their families! Thank you for the info
You’re very welcome! One of the best travel cards I’ve ever encountered!
What a smart way to use reward points. I usually save points and use them for holiday shopping but you have inspired me to save them for a family field trip!
Oh, you simply must save them for a field trip or staycation. They’ll thank you!
Well yeah the choice was easy! 5-day vacation at Walt Disney World! Have a great time Lena =)
Thank you Lisa! We are counting down the days!
Florida again??? Lucky you! May should be quite hot. You should try the Disney Waterparks.
Yes, again! Being a blogger is awesome, hahaha. We will definitely make a stop at the waterpark this time!
Sounds like it!!!! Good for you, well deserved!!
:) Thanks Carlee!
wow! Lucky! Your kids are gonna have a blast!
I know they will :) thanks Amy!
Sounds like a good card to have if you travel
Rented a car for an Orlando trip, but my package policy has way better coverage. Beware, there is no ‘Loss Of Use coverage through Amex. You are liable for the downtime due to repairs with no coverage provided by Scotiabank Amex.
For anyone considering applying for this card, I would strongly encourage you to look elsewhere.
I have had this card since January of 2014 and just attempted for the first time to use my reward points to book a car rental. When I went to book the car online for what I thought was a good price, the Scotia Amex travel rewards website went down and I couldn’t book. I wanted to lock in this price so I phoned the so-called help desk. All the staff there actually do, is go on the same website as customers and book the same way you would. Obviously she could not book the car either (I should also mention that this was the second customer service person I spoke with – the first one seemed to barely know how to use a computer). After she said she could not book the vehicle, I asked for the manager to call me back the next day, which she did. She said they were working on the website and she would again have someone call me when it was working. Apparently it took their IT department almost 3 days to correct the website problem. During this time, the price of the vehicle I had tried to book went considerably higher. The manager then sends me an email saying they cannot honour the price I had tried to book some days prior “as the prices change frequently”. I’m not sure how relevant that information is when I tried to book a vehicle but could not due the companies website being out of order. How is that my fault? She pretty much said I was just out of luck, but I was welcome to try to book something else. Hands down it was the worst customer service I have ever experienced. The entire reason I applied for this card was for the travel rewards as I frequently travel to the US. American Express: you should seriously reconsider your relationship with Scotiabank, they are a joke. After my next trip in November, this card will be promptly cancelled and I will never look at American Express or Scotiabank again.
Thank you for the feedback, Leslie! It is absolutely helpful to hear about your experience – I’m sorry it was not a better one.