American Express is one of the best credit card issuers in Canada because they have excellent rewards and benefits with their products. One exclusive is their AMEX Offers promotions. Generally, they involve a statement credit with a minimum purchase. Last year, they ran one with Amazon that gave you a $25 statement credit with a $25 purchase.

This promotion is even better, with credits for Duty Free stores at Toronto Pearson Int’l Airport. These cards qualify:

• American Express Platinum Card: Earn up to 50,000 bonus points (60,000 through refer-a-friend)
• American Express Cobalt Card: Earn up to 40,000 bonus points and 5x on certain categories
• SPG Personal American Express: Earn up to 20,000 Starpoints

Other cards should have similar offers. If you receive something else, please let me know. My business American Express cards, including my Business Platinum Card or the SPG Business American Express, did not get anything. All of this was via email. While the promotion may be targeted, many of my friends have gotten it on their cards. I’m guessing  it should be fairly widespread. These are the headers of the emails I got:

• American Express Platinum Card: “Platinum | Toronto | Duty Free Special Offer at Participating Retailers at Toronto Pearson International Airport.”
• The Cobalt Card: “Earn a $50 credit when you spend $50 or more at participating Toronto Duty Free at Pearson International Airport.”
• SPG American Express (and other) cards: “American Express Invites® – Duty Free Special Offer at Participating Retailers at Toronto Pearson International Airport.”

American Express Duty Free Offer Details

Each card is eligible for a different bonus; however, they have some common requirements. First, the promotion ends February 15, 2018, which gives you six weeks. It does not seem that you need to register your card for this rebate. All eligible stores are past security, which means you must be on an international flight out of Toronto. The qualifying purchase needs to be one transaction made with the same card that got the offer.

You can only receive one statement credit per account. However, either the primary or supplementary cardholder can make the purchase. This is great because you can still take advantage even if you are not travelling. If you have a friend flying out of Toronto, issue them a supplementary card so they can make the purchase for you. The statement credit posts within two billing cycles after the qualifying purchase, and will be reversed if the purchase is refunded.

Platinum – $200 Statement Credit

American Express Duty Free Offer – Platinum Card

American Express Platinum cardholders can get a $200 statement credit after a $200 purchase. The list of participating stores is quite substantial. It includes the regular duty free store, as well as other merchants like Tumi. With this offer, you effectively get a 100% rebate on your purchase.

Here are the other participating retailers. There are some great shops on the list, and it should be very easy to buy more than $200 in goods.

American Express Duty Free Offer – Participating Stores

The Cobalt Card – $50 Statement Credit

The American Express Cobalt Card also has a separate duty free offer, which is a $50 statement credit after a $50 purchase. The list of participating stores are the same as with the Platinum Card. This offer for the Cobalt Card is listed online, so this offer might be open to all members. You are also getting a 100% rebate on this offer if you spend exactly $50.

American Express Duty Free Offer – Cobalt

In fact, you might still be able to take advantage of this offer, if you apply for the Cobalt Card today. The American Express Cobalt Card is the current #1 credit card to get in Canada, and it is worth applying for even if you miss this promotion.

Other AMEX Cards – $50 Statement Credit

Finally, with my Starwood Preferred Guest American Express, I received an offer for a $50 statement credit after a $250 purchase. This is not as great as the other offers, but still helpful if you already had a purchase in mind.

American Express Duty Free Offer – SPG

Conclusion

This promotion is absolutely incredible. If you have both the American Express Platinum Card and the American Express Cobalt Card, that means you get $250 of duty free items. I value these credits at close to face value given the items I intend to buy.

Now, this starts the year off right with a rebate on these American Express cards. No other financial institutions in Canada have anything similar. My guess is why AMEX is running this promotion is that they are trying to drive more traffic to those stores. There are tons of Platinum Cardholders, so I hope it works out.

What will you be getting with this Duty Free Offer?