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by Daniel | Last Updated Sept 24th, 2021 We may earn a commission for purchases using our links, at no cost to you. If you’re trying to find a credit card that has great benefits and can provide you with free travel and cashback then make sure to keep reading this article. I'm going to take a detailed look at the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card and see what it costs on an annual basis and what it offers in terms of benefits and user perks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20_nIXJKGrY Who Is This Card Good For? The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is specifically good for anybody who likes to travel as it offers quite a lot of travel-related perks and benefits.It is also a relatively affordable credit card that offers quite a lot of points earnings potential, and best of all has no annual fee for the first year.There are also a few things to know about this card.One of the first things to know about this card is that it is specifically for the Canadian market.Another important point is that it doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee when traveling overseas or when shopping online for US products, which is somewhat rare amongst Canadian credit cards. Annual Fee So the for the first year of card ownership the is no annual fee, and supplementary cards are also complimentary during this period.After the first year, there is a $120 annual fee for the card and any supplementary cards will cost $29 each.As for the interest rate on this card, it is 19.99% on purchases and 22.99% on cash advances. So similar to pretty much any other credit card it is extremely important to pay off any outstanding money owed to avoid large fees. Sign up Bonus So now let’s go over the signup bonus that is offered with the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.And this is offered in two parts.First of all, you will earn 30,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points after you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months of opening the account.Now for the second way to earn the other 20,000 rewards points you will need to spend at least $7,500 within the first 1 year of card ownership.So to earn all of the 50,000 bonus rewards, you will need to send a total of $8,500 in the first year, which averages out to approximately $177 per week.And these points, according to Scotiabank, are worth up to $500. So not a bad sign-up bonus if you are able to spend $8,500 in the first year, and it easily covers the second year's $120 annual fee. Earning Points Now earning points with the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is pretty good.To begin with, you will earn 5x points per dollar spent at eligible grocery stores, restaurants, food delivery services, and entertainment purchases such as movies, theaters, and ticket agencies all within Canada. Next up you will receive 3x points per dollar spent on eligible gas and daily transit such as taxis, subways, and Uber. You will also receive 3x points for eligible streaming services that include Netflix.And all other purchases will receive 1 point per dollar spent. Benefits and User Perks So now let’s look at what benefits are included with this card.And the main benefit that you get is a discount of approximately 35% on a Priority Pass Membership, and this will give you access to over 1200 airport lounges all over the world.Besides this, you will also get access to Amex Offers, and this has frequent offers available to use on things like shopping, dining, and travel.You will also have access to Amex front of the line, and this gives you the ability to purchase pre-sale tickets to different concerts, theatre productions, and restaurants before the general public have access.And finally, there is a complimentary concierge service that can provide assistance when you need help booking a restaurant or finding tickets to a popular show. Insurance-Related Benefits Now when it comes to insurance, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card actually has a lot to offer.First of all, you will have travel emergency medical insurance for you, your spouse, your dependent children, and any other supplemental cardmembers for up to $1,000,000 in case of a medical emergency.And this will cover things such as sudden illness or accidental injury whilst traveling outside your province or territory of residence in Canada. Next up you will get trip/cancellation/trip interruption insurance that will cover you, your spouse, and your dependent children up to $1,500 per person for travel expenses if you have to cancel or interrupt your trip for medical or non-medical causes.And for this to be valid you must pay for at least 75% of the trip on the card, and the maximum coverage per trip is $10,000. You will also get flight delay insurance which will cover up to $500 per insured person if you miss your flight or the flight is delayed for more than 4 hours. There is also delayed and lost baggage insurance that covers up to $1,000 if your luggage is lost.And if your luggage is delayed for more than 4 hours you will also receive up to $1,000. There is travel accident insurance that will cover you, your spouse, and eligible dependent children if there is an accidental loss of life or dismemberment, and this covers up to $500,000, or up to a maximum of $1,000,000 per occurrence. You will also have access to rental car collision loss and damage insurance which will cover up to the cash value of the vehicle, as long as it is not over worth $65,000.And like most of the insurance benefits, you must have paid for the car rental on your card for it to be valid.Another useful insurance benefit is hotel and motel burglary insurance, and this covers you, your spouse, and any dependent children traveling with you up to $1,000 if any of your personal property is stolen from your room.And this is valid in both Canada and the United States. And finally, you will receive purchases security & extended warranty protection.And this offers a lifetime liability of $60,000.Coverage will be for 90 days from the date of purchase for an item that was purchased anywhere in the world. As for the extended warranty, you will receive up to an extra 1 year of warranty as long as you purchase the item with the card. Final Thoughts So what are my thoughts about the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card? I think it is a pretty good card to have especially if you travel as it does have a lot of insurance-related coverage.The card also offers a very good opportunity to earn quite a lot of points for all of the different options I talked about before such as 5x points for spending at restaurants, grocery stores, and theatre tickets. I also think the sign-up bonus is quite generous at approximately $500 in value, as it easily covers the annual fee when it kicks in during the second year of card ownership.Just a few downsides would be the $29 cost for supplementary cards and the $120 annual fee after the first year of card ownership.If you're interested in a similar Canadian credit card, why not check out my review of the American Express Cobalt card here. Anyway, that’s all I have, for now, but I'd love to know what you think of this card?Do you think it's worth the $120 annual fee once it kicks in?And if not, what card would you recommend instead?