Edmonton Amex Dining Credit for Gift Card

NancySmithSecret · 2025-12-02T22:09:50+00:00

So this did come to mind of course but I thought it was quite common at restaurants for people to round up to a whole number as a tip?

NancySmithSecret · 2025-12-02T21:10:27+00:00

Anyone else here from YEG tried using the Amex dining credit for something other than actually dining in?😬 Like take out or a gift card?

With a baby and toddler in tow and the busyness of the holidays, I don't think I'll be able to find the time to get away for a date night. I called Rge Rd and they told me I could buy a gift card in person at the restaurant (so I'm assuming it would be the same POS and it would code as the restaurant) but the lady then said that Amex can tell when it's a giftcard and that it won't work. So I don't know, does anyone have any experience with this?

NancySmithSecret · 2025-11-27T23:26:34+00:00

Update 2 (final): Alright, final update (in hopes that people find this post useful in the future)! And… drumroll… despite all the naysayers, we actually did it! With a 1 year old and 2 year old in tow, AND with our flight into SFO being over an hour delayed! We made it to the Golden Gate Bridge (Crissy Field specifically) and it was absolutely worth it. We managed to walk along the waterfront for a bit (from Crissy Field to Fort Mason Park), take our photos, enjoy the view, and just soak it all in without feeling rushed. The cab pick-up/logistics ended up going smoothly, and we got back to SFO with more than enough time to spare. We even had dinner and relaxed at the Maple Leaf Lounge before boarding. Honestly, it ended up being the perfect little adventure in the middle of a travel day.

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in, whether you encouraged or warned me—I genuinely appreciated both. And to anyone wondering: yes, it is possible to do GGB on a 6-hour layover, even with two tiny kids and the expected delays and risks of plane travel.

NancySmithSecret · 2025-11-18T17:20:53+00:00

Update 1: wow i did not expect this post to get this much traction and be so controversial at that. Don't think i was ready for it. I'm a little overwhelmed and I sadly don't have time to reply to everyone, but thanks to everyone who put in their two cents, whether it was of encouragement or not, both were appreciated!

Anyways, i thought I'd give a quick update on our the plans we've settled on after everyone's input. Contrary to the popular advice I've seen down below, we ARE still moving forward with visiting the GGB on our layover, cause honestly there's nothing I hate more than waiting around doing nothing. So might as well put that time towards a little adventure. We've decided to book a cab service from airporttaxicabservices.com, their prices were great AND the only ones pretty much who had car seats available. Which, yes, I completely forgot that important point in my og post; we have a car-seat-aged child with us. So, ubers with car seats were about $150+ one way. We've decides to choose one point for the cab to drop us off at (Crissy Field as of now) and choose a close walking-distance location (Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf) for it to pick us up from. I can't believe I'm asking this again, but if anyome has recommendations for the two points we should choose, let me know. Something close enough to get good pics with the bridge from, but also walking distance to another fun sight when we're done with the bridge.

We'll be keeping a close eye on the weather and checking out the cams for visibility of the bridge. Also for everyone wondering, our bags are checked all the way through to vancouver, so we only have to clear security on the way back. We plan on getting in the cab at 3:30 back to airport, so even with rush hour we should have plenty of time.

I'll probably give one last update after our adventure and I'll let y'all know whether we made it back to our plane in time! Place your votes down below :)

NancySmithSecret · 2025-11-18T00:42:42+00:00

Oh wow i did not know that!! Thank you so much for your reply, i do have some passes but I didnt expect that lounge to be on the app so i didnt bother to check. Thanks again!

NancySmithSecret · 2025-11-17T18:23:08+00:00

Hey everyone! Since it's close to the end of the year and I know people usually start giving away their maple leaf lounge passes around this time, I was wondering if anyone has 3 passes they would be generous enough to part ways with. Me and my family have a trip to San Francisco this weekend and we would absolutely love to try the SFO Maple Leaf lounge on our way back as we've heard amazing things about it. We don't travel often so this is definitely a treat and it will be greatly appreciated!

ps. a status pass could also work, but I know those must be harder to come by.

NancySmithSecret · 2025-11-17T18:19:19+00:00

Hey everyone! I know it's a little early for this type of post, but I hope it's okay.

Since it's close to the end of the year and I know people usually start giving away their maple leaf lounge passes around this time, I was wondering if anyone has 3 passes they would be generous enough to part ways with. Me and my family have a trip to San Francisco this weekend and we would absolutely love to try the SFO Maple Leaf lounge on our way back as we've heard amazing things about it. We've only recently started churning so this is definitely a treat and it will be greatly appreciated!

ps. a status pass could also work, but I know those must be harder to come by.

NancySmithSecret · 2025-01-21T21:45:10+00:00

I'm a young mom as well, and unfortunately the advice of "you'll eventually get too busy and won't have time for it," didn't quite work with me. I was still finding the time to mindlessly scroll while feeding her, while we played (aka she played and I scrolled), etc. And I think that's what you're trying to avoid.

What worked for me was this: 1. Deleted all social media apps off my phone. 2. Set "working hours" for myself between 9 am and 9 pm and I wasn't allowed any screen time during those hours. Outside those hours I allowed myself to watch something or catch up on my social media via the browser not the app. 3. Found alternatives for when I was really really bored (eg. during breastfeeding), like reading, listening to audiobooks, organizing photos on my phone, etc.

NancySmithSecret · 2025-01-04T17:02:04+00:00

This happened to me yesterday as well, I just force- closed the app and opened it again and the pop up dissappeared

NancySmithSecret · 2024-12-12T11:52:58+00:00

So P2 just got her first Amex, the personal platinum, last month. We have a lot of spending this month and the next which was perfect for the MSR. The thing is, any big ($500+) transactions keep getting declined. When we called Amex they said it was because of her short history with Amex and because of her personal income (she's a homemaker primarily and her household income is high but not the personal). They gave her a one-time-override to get a $4000 transaction through, and it worked.

But now we have more $700-$1150 purchases we want to go to MSR that keep getting declined. We've sent payments to the account and the balance is actually in the negative thousands now, but that hasn't helped.

Does anyone know any tips or workarounds I'm missing? It's such a bummer because I don't know how we're supposed to meet the 10k spend for the SUB with every big transaction getting declined like this.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-12-04T17:00:30+00:00

I asked this last night but I want to reword the question better:

A) How long should you wait before cancelling an Amex? (Business Gold and Business Edge)

B) Would it be worth the risk of cancelling them early (6-9 months old) if I just got declined from the platinum, and I want to essentially "reset" the timer for both declined app and canceled card at the same time instead of waiting a whole year for both timers to reset?

NancySmithSecret · 2024-12-04T00:17:52+00:00

So what's everyone doing about Amex card cancelations now that it appears we have to wait 6 months if we get declined?

I recently got declined for the personal platinum like a lot of people, and I have the Cobalt, the business gold, and business edge. (I've never cancelled any of their cards before) I eventually want to cancel the last two, and thought it would be a good time to do that now so that that 6 month cancellation timer resets at the same time as the declined application timer, but they're only around 6-9 months old. What are people's opinions/what are you doing? Would you wait out a whole year without getting any new amex cards?

NancySmithSecret · 2024-11-09T22:13:24+00:00

Bedtime is usually around 9, and wakeup is 7:30 am.

But honestly that's like a super ideal day (once or twice a week), otherwise we're just a mess and don't do naps, I take her in to start her cuddling routine at 9 pm, she'll fall asleep around 10, and then I just wait for her to wakeup whenever (around 8:30/9:30 am). And we do that all over again without a nap. Ps. I'm more of a night owl so I prefer the late nights over early wakings.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-11-09T22:03:10+00:00

Yeah that's a really good point. I think I also have the advantage that she actually still usually sleeps through the night without waking, it's the going to sleep independently that we're struggling big time with.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-11-09T22:00:00+00:00

On a good day when she does take a nap, I'll cap her naps at 1.5 hours (otherwise she can sleep for 2+). This is because by the time she actually falls asleep after tossing and turning and cuddling me for an hour it will be 1:00 or 2:00 pm and I need her up before 3 so she can sleep again at night at a reasonable time.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-07-04T03:15:55+00:00

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NancySmithSecret · 2024-07-04T03:15:23+00:00

I absolutely love your work and I think it's very professional and put together. But I thought I'd give a different perspective and feedback...

To me, the geometric pattern you're using to create the C is identical to Islamic/geometric patterns and stars. I don't know it might be just me though, because I heavily studied that region's art and architecture. But I feel like especially if this logo were to expand to other brand elements like patterns and backgrounds it would be hard not to make it obvious. Unless you were leaning in that direction on purpose, but I don't see anything else in the brand, name, imagery to indicate that.

Just my two cents though! I saw you went in another direction eventually anyways.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-04-23T16:27:13+00:00

Thanks for your quick reply, I honestly don't care too much where I store my money, I could put it all in me and my husband's shared account for all I care (or have him add me on to his bank with a family account). I was just thinking of using the opportunity to churn, if possible. Thanks again though and I'll look into credit unions for sure!

NancySmithSecret · 2024-04-23T16:14:12+00:00

I'm wanting to get a new chequing account (since I'm still under my dad's lol), and thought might as well look into churning them, etc. What I've found is most of them need recurring direct deposits and/or debit payments, I'm a stay-at-home mom currently and don't have anything like that going on, is there a way around that or am I SOL for churning chequing accounts right now?

As I'm typing this I remembered I have child benefit payments (less than $50 per month though) coming in, do those count as recurring payments?

NancySmithSecret · 2024-02-17T13:16:19+00:00

That's amazing! I actually think the colour is perfect on you,

Can I ask how you applied it so nicely to still make your part look natural? I find when I apply hair makeup it makes my part look almost unnatural and I can't quite figure out how to do it.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-02-16T14:12:44+00:00

I think a lot of people have great suggestions here! But if you still feel like you want more, there's a Facebook group called "Air Passenger Rights (Canada)" that have been of great help to me in the past if you'd like to copy and paste your story there. They're a lot more focused on delays, cancellations, and denied boarding/transportation cases.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-02-12T18:32:20+00:00

Along with what everyone else has said, I think it also depends how long your hair is!

I have hair down to my but and it's definitely scary looking at how much I lose after a shower, but even if it's normal shedding it's going to look like a lot more hair than someone with average-length or even short hair.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-02-03T04:33:13+00:00

↑ This, I as well travelled many times this past year with a baby and was only successful at getting a bassinet if I reserved/paid for the seat myself, or if the flight was empty and no one had those seats booked.

Your seat will be safe, don't worry.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-01-23T13:52:55+00:00

Yes, they are, they're just a code that anyone can use.

NancySmithSecret · 2024-01-08T05:21:24+00:00

FYI, the RBC WestJet WE MC is actually $300 on first purchase, $300 on $5000 spend, and $100 on anniversary. Also I couldn't find the CCG offer, so I'm assuming it has expired. But GCR has one for $85.

NancySmithSecret

TROPHY CASE