The Beginner’s Guide to Scotiabank Scene+ Credit Cards

Over the years, Scene+ has evolved from a rewards program that gets you free cinema tickets and fast food to one of Canada’s leading players in the loyalty space.

This evolution of the program has made Scotiabank’s suite of credit cards, most of which are tethered to Scene+, more attractive.

In this guide, we’ll provide an overview of the various Scene+ cards being offered by Scotiabank to help you more easily navigate your options.

Scotiabank’s Suite of Scene+ Credit Cards

Scotiabank offers a wide array of credit cards, which can be classified into three main categories: travel and lifestyle, cash back, and low interest.

Scotiabank offers credit cards for varying lifestyles and interests

Within the travel and lifestyle group, you can find the following cards that all earn Scene+ points:

• Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card
• Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card
• Scotiabank American Express® Card
• Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card
• Scotiabank® Scene+™ Visa* Card

Scene+ is the loyalty program co-owned by Scotiabank, Cineplex, and the Empire Company, which is behind grocery chains like Sobeys, Safeway, Freshco, and others.

Over the years, the Scene+ program has grown thanks to recent partnerships with the Empire Company, Rakuten, Expedia, and Home Hardware.

This revitalization of the program has made Scene+ points more valuable and useful than ever before, and has also made Scotiabank Scene+ cards all the more appealing for everyone – from travellers, to those who are looking to save money on their groceries and nights out.

We’ve written a complete guide to the Scene+ program, so if you’d like to learn more about how to turn your Scene+ points into free hotels, flights, or piles of groceries, we recommend you take a look.

With this bit of background information in mind, let’s explore the different Scotiabank Scene+ cards below.

Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

The flagship American Express product by Scotiabank, the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card has two standout features: great domestic earning rates and no foreign transaction fees.

The fees and eligibility requirements for this card are as follows:

• Annual fee: $120 (all figures in CAD)
• Supplementary cardholders: $29
• Minimum income requirement: $12,000 (personal)
• Estimated credit score needed: Excellent

Showing off its excellent domestic earning rates, this card earns Scene+ points as follows:

• 6 Scene+ points per dollar spent at Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, FreshCo, and other partnered merchants
• 5 Scene+ points per dollar spent on groceries, dining, and entertainment
• 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent on gas, transit, and streaming services
• 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent on all other purchases

As you can see, this card can effectively earn up to 5–6% in rewards, which is quite rare in the Canadian market. Its elevated earning rate categories are also wide-ranging, where other cards usually limit theirs to two to four categories.

However, you’ll want to keep in mind that while the card charges no foreign transaction fees, its elevated earning rates don’t apply to transactions settled in foreign currencies. In other words, these foreign transactions, regardless of category, only accrue 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent.

The Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card is great for someone who’s interested in top-level earning rates that can help them pile up some Scene+ points to use towards travel, groceries, and more.

Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card

The most premium Amex offering by Scotiabank is the Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card. Similarly to its Gold cousin above, this card can also save you money with its no foreign transaction fee feature.

The fees and eligibility requirements of this card are as follows:

• Annual fee: $399
• Supplementary cardholders: $99
• Minimum income requirement: $12,000 (personal)
• Estimated credit score needed: Excellent

This card earns 2 Scene+ points per dollar spent on all purchases, regardless of currency, so this means you’ll be earning 2% in rewards even when you’re abroad.

However, unlike the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card, this product doesn’t have any elevated earning rates, even within Canada.

It does make up for this by having other travel perks, such as 10 DragonPass airport lounge visits per year, Hertz #1 Club Gold membership, and insurance coverage that includes a $2 million travel emergency medical benefit (for up to 31 days for those under 65).

The Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card is good choice for travellers looking for a card that offers lounge access and solid travel insurance coverage, while also allowing them to save on foreign transaction fees.

Scotiabank American Express® Card

The Scotiabank American Express® Card is a great starter card for newcomers, students, and those just starting out in their working lives. It comes with no annual fee for the principal card and any additional supplementary cards.

The fees and eligibility requirements of this card are as follows:

• Annual fee: $0
• Supplementary cardholders: $0
• Minimum income requirement: $12,000 (personal) or less (students/newcomers)
• Estimated credit score needed: Good

Despite technically being an entry-level product, this card still features elevated earning rates as follows:

• 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent at Empire grocery stores such as Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, Foodland, and FreshCo
• 2 Scene+ points per dollar spent on dining, groceries, movie theatres, gas, transit, and streaming services
• 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent on all purchases

A return of up to 3% is quite rare among entry-level and no-fee credit cards – in fact, many similar products offer a 1% return or less.

Moreover, the Scotiabank American Express® Card offers some insurance coverage, which is a nice add-on for a no-fee card. Its coverage package includes mobile device insurance, purchase security, and extended warranty protection.

As a no-fee credit card with solid earning rates, we think the Scotiabank American Express® Card is a great choice if you’re looking to keep your annual fees low, and you’d like to earn a nice quantity of points on your everday purchases.

You can check out all the in-depth details about the Scotiabank American Express® Card’s in our dedicated guide.

Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card

Another flagship card is the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card, which also charges no foreign transaction fees. Great for travelling abroad, this card offers six free lounge visits annually through Dragonpass.

The fees and eligibility requirements of this card are as follows:

• Annual fee: $150
• Supplementary cardholders: $0 for the first card, $50 for cards thereafter
• Minimum income requirement: $60,000 (personal), $100,000 (household)
• Estimated credit score needed: Excellent

Regardless of which currency you’re spending in, the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card earns Scene+ points as follows:

• 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent at Empire grocery stores such as Sobeys, IGA, Safeway and FreshCo
• 2 Scene+ points per dollar spent on transit, groceries, dining, and entertainment
• 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent on all other purchases

As you may have guessed from its name, the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card is a good travel-card option. In addition to the abovementioned lounge passes and the fact that it doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, the card also comes with solid insurance coverage, including emergency travel coverage for up to 25 days out-of-province, flight delay insurance, delayed and lost baggage insurance, and more.

The Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card is a good choice for an avid traveller who can take advantage of the lounge passes and insurance, and who will appreciate the 2.5% savings on foreign currency spending.

Scotiabank® Scene+™ Visa* Card

The Scotiabank® Scene+™ Visa* Card is one of the bank’s entry level products meant for newcomers, students, and those who are just starting to build up their credit.

The fees and eligibility requirements of this card are as follows:

• Annual fee: $0
• Supplementary cardholders: $0
• Minimum income requirement: $12,000 (personal) or less (students/newcomers)
• Estimated credit score needed: Good

This card earns 2 Scene+ points per dollar spent at Scene+ partners Empire Company grocery stores, Cineplex, and Home Hardware, and earns 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

Up to 2% back in rewards on purchases is great for an entry-level card, especially if you compare it to some Visa cards at the same tier which only offer returns of 0.5–0.75%.

The Scotiabank® Scene+™ Visa* Card is a solid entry-level card and a good choice for people who often shop with Scene+ partner merchants. With no annual fee on the card or on supplementary cards, this is an easy option to add to your wallet to start earning some rewards.

Redeeming Scene+ Points

Scene+ points are one of the most versatile reward currencies in Canada, with a wide range of redemption options.

We’ve written extensively about all the redemption options in our Scene+ guide, but below, we’ve highlighted what we think are the best ways to redeem your points once you’ve got a nice stack of them.

Instant Rebates

The simplest way to redeem Scene+ points is for instant rebates at physical locations of the program’s partners. These include:

• Empire Company grocery stores (Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, FreshCo, etc.)
• Cineplex (including The Rec Room and Playdium)
• Home Hardware
• Recipe Unlimited restaurants (Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet, Montana’s, etc.)

At these establishments, you can usually redeem in blocks of 500 or 1,000 Scene+ points, which are worth $5 and $10, respectively.

To sweeten the deal, you can also earn extra points by logging into the Scene+ app or website for personalized bonus point offers, such as 15x bonus Scene+ points at Harvey’s, East Side Mario’s, and Montana’s.

Note that you can redeem and earn Scene+ points in the same transaction, so you won’t lose out on bonus points earned at the grocery store (for example) when you pay using your accumulated Scene+ points to pay.

Apply Scene+ Points on Any Travel Purchase

For the Miles & Points community, the ability to redeem Scene+ points against any travel purchase made on the associated Scene+ credit card is likely the most valuable use.

When redeeming your points this way, you’re getting the optimal value of 1 cent per point, and you’re able to use your points to pay for travel purchases that can otherwise be difficult to cover using miles or points.

Purchases like boutique hotels, cruises, ultra-low-cost carrier flights, and more are all examples of the unique travel redemptions that you can make using your Scene+ points.

To redeem your points for travel purchases made on your Scene+ credit card, you’ll need to sign in to your account, and locate the purchase you’d like to offset. You can redeem your points for any travel purchase made on the card in the last 12 months.

The good thing is, if you don’t have enough Scene+ points to cover the full cost of a travel purchase, you can still make a partial redemption; however, you won’t be able to redeem against the remaining amount of that purchase in the future.

Thankfully, Scene+ points are automatically pooled into one balance from all your Scotiabank cards, so if you have more than one Scene+ credit card, you can use the accumulated points collectively for a larger purchase.

Scene+ Travel

Another interesting redemption method for travellers is through Scene+ Travel, which is backed by Expedia.

When you book through the Scene+ Travel portal, you can use your Scene+ points directly against your purchase in blocks of 100 Scene+ points = $1, and you can also use them for partial redemptions, covering the rest of the full cost with another payment method like your Scene+ credit card.

This option makes for a really streamlined experience since you’re essentially booking through Expedia but paying (at least in part) with your Scene+ points!

Conclusion

Scotiabank’s suite of five Scene+ cards may not get as much love as airline loyalty program credit cards, but each of them certainly has plenty to offer.

Showcasing elevated earning rates as part of the Scene+ program, which lets you redeem your points a multitude of ways, including applying them to any travel expense charged to the card, these cards will make a great addition to your credit card strategy, especially if you travel abroad often.

Even if you spend most of your time here in Canada, there’s a suitable Scene+ card for you that will help you earn great rewards on your purchases.