American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card Review

By: Heather Hanks Sep. 6, 2019

The American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve is the perfect card that can be used for both personal and business purposes. It’s a great option if your business requires you to fly often. You’ll earn reward miles that can be used for a variety of perks and benefits. Enjoy one reward mile for every $10 spent at eligible places, such as Air Miles sponsors, grocery stores, and gas stations. Plus, you’ll get one reward mile for every $15 spent elsewhere. The American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card offers a welcome bonus of 2,400 miles when you spend $3,000 within your first three months of membership. You’ll also enjoy an exclusive annual companion flight benefit and Air Miles FlexFly, which allows you to access additional destinations, airlines, and more. To learn more, check out our American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card review below.

American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card

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Overall Rating

Card Type:

Credit Card

Annual fee:

What is the American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve?

The American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card allows you to earn reward miles every time you use it. You’ll get one reward mile for every $10 spent at Air Miles Sponsors when you travel. You’ll also earn one reward mile for every $10 spent on everyday purchases, such as at stand-alone grocery stores, drugstores, and gas stations in Canada. Lastly, you will get one reward mile for every $15 spent everywhere else. This means that you’ll be saving no matter how you choose to use your card. The American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card fee is $299 per year. The preferred rate for purchases is 19.99% and 22.99% for funds advance. Additional cards are $50 each and they can be used to help you earn reward miles on your primary account. You can use your American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card for everything from your daily coffee to bigger travel expenses. Doing so can help you earn enough points to possible bring a friend along on your next adventure.

Here are some additional American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card benefits:

Welcome bonus offer of 2,400 reward miles when you spend $3,000 within the first three months of membership
Exclusive annual companion flight benefit, which allows you to redeem reward miles up to for a companion to travel with you (itinerary must be the same)
Air Miles FlexFly, which allows you to change your airline, destination, departure times, and seating arrangements on eligible flights when available
Automatic Onyx status, which allows you to get more out of your rewards by choosing from a greater selection of flights using fewer miles, discounts, and more
Priority Pass Worldwide Airport Lounge access
Redeem reward miles for flight taxes and fees, business class seats, and waived Air Miles flight administration fee
Extensive shopping and travel insurance and coverage
24/7 customer service care
Emergency card replacement and fraud protection guarantee
Entertainment access, including special offers and Front of the Line access to card holders

What Does The American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card Offer?

The American Express® Air Miles®* Reserve Credit Card offers exclusive benefits to its members. It also makes it easy for you to earn reward miles. You’ll earn reward miles for every purchase you make. This includes small purchases such as your daily cup of coffee as well as bigger purchases, such as vacation packages and business flights. This makes the American Express Air Miles Reserve Card the perfect card for personal and business uses. We like the idea of having one card to meet all your needs. Below is a detailed list of some of the benefits that the American Express Air Miles Reserve Card offers.

Travel Benefits

The American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve card is the only American Express Air Miles card to offer three travel benefits. These include the following:

Companion Flight Benefit

You can bring a travel companion with you once a year by using your Air Miles reward miles. The two of you must have the same itinerary. You can use up to 1,700 of your reward miles. If your balance requires more, then you can use miles from your Air Miles Dream Balance to pay for them.

FlexFly1‡ Redemptions

This program allows you to redeem reward miles to book flights that are not available within the Air Miles Flight Program. You’ll also gain access to additional flights and destinations, departure times, and seating that is not normally available within the Air Miles Flight Program. For example, 770 Air Miles reward miles is equal to $100 through the Air Miles FlexFly redemption program. You can call the American Express concierge service to take advantage of this offer and learn more.

Reward Miles

Choose between redeeming AIR MILES®* Reward Miles for flight taxes and fees, and waived AIR MILES®* flight administration fee.

You’ll also get Air Miles business class seats when you use your card to book your flight. Enjoy Priority Pass for worldwide airport lounge access with your membership to help stay comfortable while you travel. You’ll also get special service at Pearson Priority Security Lanes in Terminal 1 and 3 to expedite your way through security and get to your destination faster.

Travel and Shopping Coverage

American Express always has you covered when you use one of their cards to shop or travel. This is one of the many reasons why we love their cards. You’ll enjoy the following travel and shopping coverage when you sign up for the American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card:

$100,000 in travel insurance: you will be covered for up to $100,000 in accidental death and dismemberment when you travel common carrier and charge your tickets to your card. This offer is good for insured persons, their spouses, and dependents under the age of 23.

Emergency medical insurance for out of country assistance: you’ll be covered for medical emergencies that occur outside of Canada for the first 15 days of your trip. This includes a maximum of $5,000,000 per insured person under the age of 65.

Car rental theft and damage insurance: you’ll be covered from damage or theft of your rental car with an MSRP of up to $85,000. You will need to decline the loss damage waiver provided by the car rental company to take advantage of this offer. This offer will help you save up to $23 per day.

Lost or stolen baggage insurance: you’ll be covered for $500 in lost or stolen baggage when you charge your flight to your card.

Baggage delay: you’ll be covered for up to $500 when your baggage is delayed and you used your card to purchase your flight tickets.

Flight delay insurance: you’ll get up to $500 in coverage for necessary purchases when your flight is delayed and you fully charge your ticket to your card.

Hotel burglary: you’ll be covered up to $500 if your hotel or motel room is burglarized and you charged your room to your card.

Buyers assurance protection plan: this coverage doubles the manufacturer’s warranty for up to one additional year when you use your card to make the purchase.

Purchase protection plan: this coverage insures eligible purchases from theft and accidental physical damage when you use your card to make the purchase.

Entertainment Access

As an American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card holder, you’ll get access to special entertainment events. Here is a detailed list of your entertainment access benefits:

Front of the Line Advance Access: this feature allows card holders to buy tickets to popular sporting and entertainment events before they go on sale to the general public. This includes tickets to concerts, theaters, restaurants, sporting events and more.

Front of the Line Reserve Tickets: this feature allows card holders the ability to buy tickets from a block of seats that are reserved especially for American Express members only.

Special access for all card holders: you’ll get to enjoy American Express entrance to The Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. Plus, you’ll get access to American Express Lounges at The Molson Amphitheatre, Roy Thomson Hall, and Princess of Wales Theatre. Lastly, you’ll enjoy express service at the American Express bar at Massey Hall.

Front of the Line E-Updates: get email updates whenever there is a special event going on so you can get the best tickets available.

Insider Access: you’ll become eligible to win contests that send you to your favorite concerts and other special events.

Other Benefits

American Express offers over 1,000 rewards. You’ll be able to redeem your reward miles for future travel expenses, event tickets, and more. The American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card also allows you to earn rewards miles twice by using your Air Miles Collector Card and your Reserve Card. Plus, you can add additional cards to your account and use them to rack up the reward miles. Additional cards are $50. This is on top of the annual fee of $299 for your primary card. Here are some more benefits you can expect as an American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card holder:

Introductory rate of 1.99% when you transfer balances from other credit cards to your Reserve Card within the first six months of membership. This helps you save money on interest if you have minimum payments and pay on time.

Transfer 50% of your assigned credit limit for up to $7,500 without associated fees. Note that this offer is only available when you sign up for it during your application process.

Online account access so you can manage your account anytime

Fraud protection guarantee and emergency card replacement

American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card: Pros and Cons

Like every card, the Amex Air Miles Reserve Credit Card comes with a list of pros and cons. Some people won’t like the $299 annual fee, but there are plenty of ways to make your money back. You’ll earn points every time you use your card, and these reward miles can be redeemed for various perks that reduce your future spending. Plus, you can add additional cards to your account to help you rack up the points. Because you’ll earn no matter what you spend your money on, the American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card is the perfect card for both business and personal expenses. You won’t need two separate cards or accounts to meet your business or personal needs.

Here are some pros and cons of the American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card:

American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card PROS

You can earn one reward mile for every $10 you spend in card purchases at Air Miles sponsors
You can earn one reward mile for every $10 spent at stand-alone grocery stores, drug stores, and gas stations
You can earn one reward mile for every $15 spent everywhere else
FlexFly program, which allows you to gain additional access to destinations and airlines, departure times, and different seating on flights not normally available within the Air Miles Flight Program
Welcome bonus offer of 2,400 Air Miles when you spend $3,000 within the first three months of membership
Travel coverage that includes flight delays, baggage delays, stolen baggage, theft or damage to rental cars, and more
Annual companion flight benefit where you can use your points to take a friend with you on a trip as long as their itinerary is the same as yours
Enjoy a 1.99% interest rate for six months when you transfer your balance from other credit cards to your Reserve Card (must be done when you fill out your application)
You’ll get automatic Onyx access to help maximize your reward miles
Can be used as both a personal card and a business card
You’ll get Priority Pass so that you can access airport lounges all over the world
You can redeem miles for flight taxes and fees
Your flight administration fee will be waived when you use your card to book the flight
Receive expedited service through security lanes at Pearson Airport
Emergency medical insurance and travel accident insurance
Buyer’s assurance protection plan and purchase protection plan
24/7 customer service and online account access
Fraud protection guarantee and emergency card replacement

American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card CONS

There is a $299 annual fee tied to the card, but you’ll make up for this fee in reward miles. You’ll be rewarded for every purchase you make. So the more you use your card, the more you’ll be rewarded. Redeem these miles for future costs to help you save money down the road. Additional cards are offered at $50. You can use these cards to help you earn even more points.
Other cards may offer better reward to dollar spent ratios, but these earnings might be offset by a higher annual fee.

How To Apply American Express® AIR MILES®* Reserve Credit Card

Because it’s a credit card, American Express will want to see that you have good credit to qualify for this card. They will want to see that you have a long history of making timely payments. Aside from having good credit, you’ll need to be a Canadian resident and have a Canadian credit file to apply. You’ll also need to be the age of majority where you live.

Be sure to ask to have your balance from other credit cards transferred at the time of your application to take advantage of special offers. You’ll get six months of payments at 1.99% interest rate. You can also ask to have half of your credit limit transferred up to $7,500 with no balance fee when you apply for your Reserve Card.

To apply, visit the American Express website and click on the Apply Now button. American Express states that you’ll know whether or not you qualify within 60 seconds. You’ll need to fill out your personal information, contact details and financial information. It helps to have all of your information right in front of you when it’s time to apply to make the process go faster.

Conclusion

The above review on the American Express Air Miles Reserve Credit Card is based on the opinion of Creditnervana. We like that this card can be used for business or pleasure. You’ll get one reward mile for every $10 you spend at Air Miles Sponsors. You’ll also get one reward mile for every $10 spent at stand-alone grocery stores, drug stores and gas stations in Canada, and one reward mile for every $15 spent everywhere else.

This card also comes with an extensive list of shopping and travel coverage. You’ll be covered for out of country medical emergencies, travel accidents, flight and baggage delays, and more. You can also access your account online anytime. American Express offers emergency card replacement and fraud protection. There is a welcome bonus of 2,400 reward miles when you spent $3,000 within the first three months, and you can redeem points once per year so that a travel companion can join you.