At first we were startled by the statistic, but then realized we absolutely contributed to it.

Even though the vast majority of Canadians sincerely value their credit card rewards program, a recent study revealed that only 15% admit to researching the options out there.

Yeah. That’s us.

We looked no further than the options offered by our current bank, and gave about ten seconds consideration as to which one would best suit us. The value to us has been minimal, and we’ve never given any further thought to trying something new, assuming them all to be relatively the same and unchanged over the years.

Travel reward programs have also traditionally had the stigma of inflexibility attached to them – blackout periods, needing to book months in advance, etc. And in case you haven’t noticed, that is not us. We aren’t kidding about the “No Plans” part of our tagline – as I write this from our hotel room in Cambodia, we still haven’t booked our plans for next month. (You can call us lazy or committment-phobes, both are probably true to some regard.)

So many choices, so little time on earth.

So when American Express asked us to take a look at their Gold Rewards Card, we were skeptical. Can a credit card truly give us perks that will be flexible enough to meet our needs?

Turns out, we were pleasantly surprised by their offer. And given that you are reading this because you value travel (and free stuff!) as much as we do, we truly believe you will be too.

Flexibility is the key to their excellent program:

— You can book a trip through any travel agent, online booking system, tour operator etc., for any kind of travel (flights, hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, plus even the taxes!) and apply the points later. Or, transfer points to your favourite frequent flyer program. It’s all about choice – no need to be stuck to just one program or airline.

— Where you want, how you want, when you want.

— There is currently a welcome bonus of 25,000 points! That’s good for a round-trip flight almost anywhere in North America (which means my Mom will now be bugging us to come home for a visit). Refer a friend and you can earn another 10,000 points. Also save the annual fee of $150 which is waived in the first year.

— An accelerated earn rate will double your points on everyday spending (at the grocery store, pharmacy, gas station…even on all travel purchases)! Rack ’em up just by getting the things you need.

If you are part of those 85% of Canadians who haven’t evaluated their credit card rewards program (like us!) now is the time to do so, and bag that free flight in North America while you’re at it.

(And yes Mom, we’re coming home for a visit soon.)

Learn more about the AMEX Gold Rewards Card here!

This post was sponsored by AMEX Bank of Canada. The views and opinions expressed in this blog, however, are purely our own.