is the classic premium travel card, with an extended list of luxurious perks along with a hefty annual fee. It’s time for another look as they have improved their welcome offer, added many new perks, and increased their annual fee. The highlights:
- 100,000 Membership Rewards points after $6,000 in purchases within your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Plus, earn 10x points on eligible purchases on the Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S., on up to $25,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- $200 Hotel Credit: Get $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts(R) or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card(R).
- $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 in statement credits each month when you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card(R) at your choice of one or more of the following providers: Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, and The New York Times. Enrollment required.
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Get up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year in baggage fees and more at one qualifying airline.
- $200 Uber Cash: Enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status available to Basic Card Member only.
- Uber Eats Pass offer: Get up to 12 complimentary months of an Uber Eats Pass subscription when you enroll with your Gold Card by 12/31/21. Uber Eats Pass will auto-bill starting 12 months from initial enrollment in this offer, at then-current monthly rate. .
- $300 Equinox Credit: Get up to $25 back each month on select Equinox memberships. Enrollment required.
- $179 CLEAR(R) Credit: Use your Card and get up to $179 back per year on your CLEAR(R) membership.
- Expanded airport lounge network. American Express has expanded The Centurion(R) Network to include 40+ Centurion Lounge and Studio locations worldwide. Now there are even more places your Platinum Card(R) can get you complimentary entry and exclusive perks.
- 5X Membership Rewards(R) Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year.
- 5X Membership Rewards(R) Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
- Terms Apply.
- $695 annual fee. ()
Note the following language:
Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this Card. We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.
Not sure about your history? The application will tell you if they detect that you are not eligible for the bonus based on their records. Given that you can only get the welcome offer once time per lifetime, it is best to apply during a limited-time offer. The previous offer was 60,000 bonus points with no 10X bonus.
Membership Rewards points can be converted to the following airline and hotel programs (there are more, this is just a selection):
- Delta SkyMiles
- Hawaiian Airlines
- JetBlue
- ANA Mileage Club (partner of United Airlines)
- Air Canada (partner of United Airlines)
- British Airways (partner of American Airlines)
- FlyingBlue (Air France/KLM)
- Singapore Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- Choice Privileges
- Hilton Honors
- Marriott Rewards (Starwood)
They also run limited-time 25% to 40% bonuses on points transfers. You can also transfer to gift cards many retailers at varying rates, but many available at the rate of 10,000 MR points = $100 gift card. My most recent redemption was a $100 Home Depot card for 10,000 points, sometimes less when they run special discount. However, don’t expect the cash-equivalent prepaid credit cards at that rate, it’s usually closer to a 0.6 cent/point ratio.
100,000 Membership Rewards points, worth an estimated $1,000. Some folks value these points much more highly, but I prefer to stick to a simple and conservative 1 cent per point.
10X points offer. Even at a conservative 1 cent per point estimate, 10X points means that I would put every single restaurant and Shop Small-eligible small business purchase on this card during those first 6 months. If you spent $1,000 a month the 10X categories for 6 months, that’s still another 60,000 Membership Rewards points. Maxing it out would get you 250,000 bonus MR points.
Uber and Uber Eats credits worth up to $200 annually. You get $15 in Uber Cash every month, which can be used for Uber rides or Uber Eats food orders. There is a $20 bonus in December, making it a total of $200 annually. You also get free Uber VIP status, which doesn’t save you any money but gets you higher-rated drivers and nicer vehicles at no extra charge.
Right now, AmEx Platinum cardholders can also get .
Airline fee credit, worth up to $200 annually. You pick an airline, and they will refund you up to $200 in incidential airline fees (baggage, in-flight food and entertainment, ticket fees, etc). This may not be very useful this year to many folks and I’ll estimate the value as nothing to me in 2020, but it’s still worth noting for the future.
American Express Global Lounge Collection. Some other travel cards give you Priority Pass Select, which is nice but not as inclusive as the Platinum card’s list of 1,200+ airport lounges across 130 countries. Domestically, you get Delta Skyclub access (an individual Skyclub membership costs $545 from Delta alone) as well as the new Centurion Lounge network built specifically for American Express cardholders.
- The International American Express Lounges
- Delta SkyClub®
- Priority Pass
- Airspace Lounge
- Escape Lounges
Up to $100 statement credit towards Global Entry (includes TSA PreCheck) every 4 years.
Other benefits:
- Automatic Starwood Preferred Guest (Marriott) Gold status.
- Automatic Hilton Honors Gold status.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
Adding in the new $200 hotel credit, $240 digital entertainment credit, $300 Equinox credit, $100 Shop Saks credit, and $179 CLEAR membership credits, you can instantly see that the perks can easily add up to much more than the $695 annual fee. The question is whether you can take advantage of those perks and how much value you personally get out of them.
Bottom line. The has added an impressively large list of new perks while also adding an improved welcome offer. You’ll have to see if your lifestyle matches up to the perks that this card offers. ()
I will be adding this improved offer on my list of .
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