American Express Platinum: Your Ticket to Travel Status and Credits

The Amex Platinum is a high clout card that comes with a a wide range of annual credits and benefits. It tends to have one of the highest intro bonuses of any card, ranging anywhere from 80,000 to 150,000 points. In this article, we will cover how and what the card earns, how to redeem points, credits and benefits, the annual fee, pros & cons, my personal experience with the card, and the intro bonus.

How it Earns

• 5X on flights

  • Booked direct with airline

  • Booked through Amex Travel

• 5X on hotels

  • Booked through Amex Travel

• 1X on everything else

The 5X on flights booked directly with airlines is a great perk. Most credit cards that offer a multiplier on travel typically require booking through that providers portal. The ease and flexibility of booking directly through airlines for flights is appreciated on this card. The 5X multiplier on hotels is only through the Amex Travel Portal. Hotels can be valuable to book through the portal because you can get access to The Hotel Collection and Fine Hotels and Resorts programs. Booking through these programs gets you guaranteed late checkout, room upgrades if available, and property credits, such as dining and spa credits during your stay. Outside of travel, this card is not much of an earner. Unless you travel a ton and utilize the 5X multipliers, it may be hard to buildup points with this card. Credits, benefits, and the intro bonus is where you will get the most value from this card, which we will touch on later.

What it Earns

• Membership Rewards Points

Membership Rewards Points are some of the best credit card points out there for booking travel. The industry standard for credit card points value is 1 cent per point. Membership Rewards points are not great for cash back, but when utilizing Transfer Partners such as Delta, British Airways, Avianca LifeMiles, and Virgin Atlantic, you can expect to see anywhere upwards of 1.3 cents per point. Membership Rewards Points are particularly powerful for booking international business or first class travel where you can see upwards of 10+ cents per point. Most websites will value Membership Rewards Points at 2 cents per point. Since I mostly travel on domestic US flights, I personally value them at 1.3 cents per point which is a reliable value I have been able to redeem my points for.

How to Redeem

• Cash Back - 0.6 cents per point

• Travel through Amex Travel - 1 cent per point

• Transfer Partners - 1.3+ cents per point

The industry standard for credit card points redemptions is 1 cent per point. You want to ensure that you are never redeeming your points for less than that. As mentioned above, utilizing Transfer Partners is how you are going to extract elevated value for your points. One downside for the Amex Platinum is that the cashback redemption rate is low. I would recommend utilizing Membership Rewards Points for travel instead of cashback.

Benefits

• $200 Hotel Credit

  • Valid on 1-night stays for Fine Hotels and Resorts or 2-night stays at The Hotel Collection

• $200 Airline Fee Credit

  • Valid for flight incidental fees on one airline of your choice per year

• $200 Uber Credit

  • $15 monthly credit valid on Uber and Uber Eats (additional $20 in December)

• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit

  • Audible, Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The New York Times

  • $20 monthly credit

• $155 Walmart+ Credit

  • $12.95 monthly credit

• $300 Equinox Credit

  • $25 monthly credit

• $300 SoulCycle At-Home Bike Credit

• $100 Saks Fifth Avenue Credit

  • One $50 credit Jan-Jun and another $50 credit Jul-Dec

• $189 CLEAR Plus Credit

• $100 Global Entry Credit

• Lounge Access

  • Amex Centurion, Escape Lounges, Delta Sky Club, AirSpace Lounge, Plaza Premium Lounge, Lufthansa, Priority Pass

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status

• Hilton Honors Gold Status

• Avis Preferred Status

• Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Status

• National Car Rental Emerald Club

• No Foreign Transaction Fees

• Purchase Protections

I call the Amex Platinum the coupon book of the credit card space. When it comes to making this card worth it, you want to make sure that you already spend money on things that these credits will cover. For example, I am able to take advantage of the Uber credit because I typically Uber and/or order Uber Eats about once a month. I also take advantage of the Disney Bundle and Audible subscriptions. However, I do not take advantage of the Equinox, Soul Cycle, or CLEAR credits so I do not take those into consideration when deciding whether or not this card makes sense for me. In addition to the credits, you get hotel and rental car status with this card, which can make traveling a much more luxurious and smooth experience.

Lounge access is probably my favorite thing about this card. Amex Centurion lounges have amazing food and drinks and make layovers a breeze. I enjoy going to Centurion lounges so much, I often consider intentionally having a layover so I can stop in for a meal. Escape Lounges are also part of the lounge network you have available. These came in super handy on my most recent trip. Typically, lounges will only allow access 3 hours before your initial departure or during a layover. Most lounges do not allow access upon arrival at your final destination, but Escape Lounges do! This was huge for my friend and I this past weekend because we were able to spend 3 hours at an Escape Lounge while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive.

Annual Fee

• $695

  • $0 effective annual fee

A $695 annual fee is massive. That being said, I call this card the coupon book for a reason. In total, the Amex Platinum credits add up to a potential of $1984 in savings, depending on your utilization. Based on those numbers, in one year, the Amex Platinum could effectively pay you $1289 to have it, just based on credits alone. That doesn't factor in potential upgrades, free breakfasts, and other perks that come with status from different partners. That being said, I have labeled this card as a $0 effective annual fee because not everyone is going to find value in all of the credits. I believe that the hotel, airline, Uber, digital entertainment, and Saks credits are easy enough for most people to get at least $695 of value from. Based on my personal utilization of the credits, this card pays me $420. On top of that, I was able to get a retention offer this past year where I received 30,000 points after spending $3,000 in 3 months on the card. Those points are worth at least $300 dollars for travel, so this year in total, the card is paying me $720 to have.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• 5X on flights booked directly with airlines

• Lounge Access

• Status

Cons

• Other cards have >1X minimum return

• Lowest downgrade is to a $150 annual fee card

One thing to consider with annual fee credit cards is their downgrade paths. Some cards are able to be downgraded to a no annual fee version of the card in case the card is no longer providing enough value to you. The Amex Platinum can only be downgraded to the Amex Gold ($250) or Amex Green ($150). What this means is if the numbers are no longer working out for you, you will need to either downgrade to one of those other cards, which still have annual fees, or cancel the card if you no longer want an annual fee.

How I Use It

• 5X on flights booked directly with airlines

• Coupon book of credits and benefits

How I Use Membership Rewards Points

• Delta Flights

  • 1.3 cents per point

• United Flights

  • 2.4 cents per point

• Alaska Airlines Flights

  • 1.5 cents per point

I got this card in February of 2022 and received an intro bonus of 120,000 points. As I discussed in the annual fee section, I also received a retention offer this year of 30,000 points. I have used my points to book US domestic travel via United, Delta, Alaska, and American Airlines by utilizing transfer partners. On top of that, I have booked some Hilton hotel stays. Thanks to this cards intro and retention offers, I have been able to book some trips that we would not have otherwise been able to afford. In addition, the status, lounge access, and luxury perks have made some of those trips extra special. For booking United flights, I typically find availability via Avianca LifeMiles and can find one ways for 7,500 points. For Delta flights, I use Virgin Atlantic and can find flights for 7,500 points. Finally, for Alaska and American Airlines flights, I use British Airways and can find flights for 9,000 points. The amount of points required typically depends on the length of flight. Based on the dollar amount of the flights, I have seen anywhere from 1.3 to 2.4 cents per point booking short-haul domestic US flights.

Intro Bonus

• 80,000 Membership Rewards points ($800 Value)

  • After spending $6000 in first 6 months

If you are looking to apply for this card, click here and it can help us both out. Make sure you check out Amex's website and your email if you are an existing Amex member to ensure you are getting the best possible intro bonus. Amex will sometimes send targeted elevated offers. Thanks!

Stay Tuned:

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