Scene+ Rewards

The Scene+ Rewards loyalty program is one of the more prominent rewards programs in Canada, especially with its variety of partners in grocery stores, cinemas, and more. This loyalty program makes it easy to earn flexible points through a variety of methods and is also considered one of the easiest programs to redeem points for the maximum value.

Let’s look at how you can quickly earn and redeem Scotiabank Scene+ Rewards points for the maximum value towards your next vacation.

Earning Scene+ Rewards Points

Scene+ Rewards members can earn points via four methods: credit card welcome bonuses, organic credit card spending, non-credit card spending, and making purchases on Rakuten Canada.

Credit Card Bonuses

As with many miles and points programs, the quickest way to earn Scene+ points is through credit card sign-up or welcome bonuses. Welcome bonuses change regularly and may include other benefits such as the waiving of the first year annual fee, which can further increase the value offered by the card.

The table below captures all of the Scotiabank credit cards that earn Scene+ Rewards points and their current respective welcome bonus:

	Credit Card	Welcome Bonus	Net Value
	Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card	80,000 Scene+	$401	Apply
	Scotiabank Gold American Express Card	40,000 Scene+	$280	Apply
	Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card	40,000 Scene+	$250	Apply
	Scotiabank Scene Visa Card	7,500 Scene+	$75	Apply
	Scotiabank American Express Card	5,000 Scene+	$50	Apply

Credit Card Spending

While all of the above credit cards earn Scene+ points at various rates depending on the Scotiabank credit card and the category of spend, there are a few cards that stand out.

The Scotiabank Gold American Express card offers 6 Scene+ points per dollar spent at Empire grocery stores in Canada (such as Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, FreshCo, and more). This makes it the undisputed best grocery credit card in Canada as the card also earns 5 Scene+ points per dollar spent at all other grocery stores that are not under the Empire brand.

The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card earns 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent at Empire grocery stores, and 2 Scene+ points on all other groceries, dining, transit, and entertainment.

Finally, if you don’t want to worry about spending category bonuses, the Scotiabank Platinum American Express card can be a great option as it earns 2 Scene+ points on all purchases, regardless of category.

Non-Credit Card Spending

Scene+ is more than just a credit card rewards program and as such, has multiple partners that you can earn points with:

Scene+ Partner	Earning Rate
Empire Grocery Stores (including Sobeys, FreshCo, IGA, Foodland, Safeway	Various; Earn through digital offers, in-store events, and promotions
Scotiabank Bank Accounts	Various; Review details of various Scotiabank banking and debit card products
Scene+ Travel powered by Expedia	Earn 3 Scene+ points for every dollar spent on hotel and car rentals
Restaurants (including Harveys, Swiss Chalet, East Side Mario’s, Montana’s BBQ & Bar, Bier Markt, and Kelsey’s Original Roadhouse)	Earn 1 Scene+ point for every $3 spent on dine-in or take-out food orders
Cineplex & Cineplex Store	Earn 5 Scene+ points for every dollar spent on movie and entertainment purchases at Cineplex Theatres and at the Cineplex Store
The Rec Room & Playdium	Earn 1 Scene+ point for every dollar spent on eligible purchases

Simply present your Scene Rewards card at the point of sale to earn points on any in-store purchase at the above retailers.

Rakuten Canada

As part of the Scene+ program, members can link their rewards account to their Rakuten Canada account to earn Scene+ points instead of cash back directly on all of their online purchases.

As a cashback portal, Rakuten Canada rewards customers for shopping at any of their partnered retailers via quarterly payouts. If you link your Scene+ account, any cash back earned will be paid via Scene+ points directly to your Scene+ account on a quarterly basis.

If you are interested in earning Scene+ Rewards points on your Rakuten purchases, in addition to up to 20% more cash back from certain retailers, you can link rewards programs here.

Redeeming Scene+ Rewards Points

Scene+ Rewards members can redeem points via five methods: book any way travel, grocery & liquor purchases, Cineplex & The Rec Room purchases, a statement credit, and gift cards or merchandise.

The best redemption value you can expect to get from your Scene+ Rewards points is 1 cent per point which is possible with a few of the methods below.

Book Any Way Travel

As a Scene+ Rewards member, you are able to redeem your points towards any travel purchases that you have made on your Scene+ earning credit card. Travel purchases can include flights, hotel bookings, rental cars, and more.

This redemption method can be used for a full redemption (e.g. cashing out 40,000 Scene points on a $400 travel purchase) or for a partial redemption (e.g. cashing out 8,000 Scene points on a $400 travel purchase). Scene points are cashed out at a rate of 1 cent per point with this method.

In order to redeem points towards your travel expenses, click the “Apply Points to Travel” redemption option once logged into your Scene+ account. Here you will see a list of your valid travel expense transactions that were made on your Scene+ Rewards credit card. You can filter via time period, up to within the last 12 months.

From there, you can click on the “Redeem” check box and finalize the transaction to redeem your Scene+ Rewards. The redemption will show up as statement credit on your credit card within a few business days.

If you don’t have any travel expenses that you wish to redeem against, you can also use the refundable hotel trick. Simply put, you can book a refundable hotel, redeem your points, and then cancel the hotel booking to liquidate your points to cash. For more information, check out the link below.

Related: How to Perform the Refundable Hotel Trick

Redeeming points for Book Any Way travel is the best way to redeem your Scene+ Rewards points since it essentially converts your points to cash and gives you the opportunity to use that cash as you best see fit. 

Book Travel With Expedia

Scene+ members can book travel via the Scene+ Travel Portal, Powered by Expedia to both earn and redeem Scene+ points. The Scene+ Travel portal functions identically to the consumer-facing Expedia site as members can book flights, hotels, car rentals, activities, and more.

As always, Scene+ Rewards points are worth 1 cent per point when redeemed via this method.

Grocery & Liquor Purchases

Scene+ Rewards points can be redeemed at any Empire brand grocery or liquor store to reduce the cost of your purchases. Scene points are cashed out at a rate of 1 cent per point with this method.

Simply present your Scene+ card and let the cashier know that you would redeem Scene points towards your purchase and the dollar amount that you wish to redeem (a minimum of $10 and then in increments of $10). The points will then be applied towards your purchase in real-time and thus reduce the cost of your total purchase by the amount redeemed.

This is also a good redemption for your points since it results in points being redeemed at the best rate possible. Plus, if you are so inclined, it gives you a great option to stock up on nice bottles of liquor at a price that cannot be beaten.

Cineplex, The Rec Room, & Playdium Purchases

Scene+ members can redeem points for various purchases at Cineplex, The Rec Room, and Playdium including things such as free movie tickets and food and drink. Scene points are cashed out at a rate of 1 cent per point with this method.

Scene+ Rewards members can redeem points for either the full value or partial value of their purchases at Cineplex, The Rec Room, and Playdium.

There are a few options when it comes to redeeming points at Cineplex:

• Minimum 100 points for $1 towards a movie ticket
• Minimum 500 points for $5 towards food and drink
• Minimum 100 points for $1 towards movie rentals or purchases at online store

On the other hand, redemptions are much more standardized at The Rec Room and Playdium:

• Minimum 500 points for $5 towards games, foods, music, and tickets at the Rec Room
• Minimum 500 points for $5 towards game tokens and snacks at Playdium

If redeeming your Scene+ points at any of these properties are of interest to you, this redemption can make sense since it does result in the same cent per point valuation as redeeming against travel expenses.

Statement Credit

Redeeming Scene+ for statement credit is not an ideal redemption method. However, if you must, you can initiate statement credit by navigating to sceneplus.ca (either directly or from your Scotiabank account by clicking ‘View Scene+ Rewards’ and then ‘Redeem credit’).

Alternatively, once you are logged into sceneplus.ca you can select “Points for Credit”.

From there, you can select the card that you want to redeem the credit on and the number of points you are looking to cash out. Once selected, you can confirm the transaction and the statement credit will be posted on your account in the next few business days.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the cents per point valuation gets marginally better the more points you redeem but still maxes out at an approximate rate of 0.70 cents per point. This makes it a not great redemption, especially when you consider how easy it is to get 1 cent per point out of your Scene Rewards.

Gift Cards & Merchandise

Scene+ Rewards is no different when it comes to offering gift cards and merchandise as a redemption option. Redemption rates vary when purchasing gift cards and merchandise, depending on the item that is selected.

Similar to pretty much all other miles and points programs, redeeming for merchandise is not worth it within the Scene+ program. You would be much better off redeeming against travel expenses (whether legitimate or via the refundable hotel trick) and buying your merchandise or gift cards with cash if that is what you truly wanted to redeem for.

Frequently Asked Questions

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