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The American Express Platinum Card is the grand old dame of charge cards, chock full of prestige and benefits but weighed down by the hefty $450 annual fee.
The prestige should be worth nothing 
and for most people the $450 is a dealbreaker but you should think again.
The American Express Platinum Card
Savvy BradsDealers – especially those who travel moderately – can get much more than $450 of value out of the benefits. I was always hesitant but saw a ton of value when I really dug in and just got a card myself. You just have to change the way you look at it!
I view the Amex Platinum as a “benefits card” rather than a credit card or charge card. Since it does not offer the best rewards, you should never actually charge anything to it! (Yes, you obviously have to charge some things to it get the benefits, such as with the airlines fees, below, but for daily spending, the Amex Starwood is my current favorite.)
So why pay $450 for a card I’m never going to buy anything with?
1. $200 Credit Against Airline Fees
-Register your desired airline and up to $200 of spending (excluding airfare) will be credited back to your card.
-This covers all those miserable fees (baggage, flight change, extra legroom, upgrades) and things like in-flight food or lounge passes.
-Note: AA and Continental gift certificates count towards the $200 free reimbursement; buy 4 $50 GCs and you’ve got your $200 back!
The AA Admiral's Club Lounge at O'hare, showers, bar and all
2. Free Airport Lounge Access
-Includes your spouse and kids or you and 2 companions
-Valid at American Admiral’s Club, Delta Crown Room and US Airways Club
-American and Delta require a same-day ticket on that airline but US Airways does not (you can access anytime!)
-The lounge access means you get free wifi, water and non-alcoholic drinks, snacks, newspapers, peace and quiet and more
-This is worth at least $400
3. Car Rental Savings, Status and Rewards
-Free National Emerald Club Executive status with their awesome Executive Selection (rent a mid-size car at a mid-size rate, pick any full-size or higher car to drive off with!); plus discounts and a free rental day with six rental credits
-Free 2-day weekend Avis rental with every 2 rentals within 6 months plus elite status, discounts & upgrades
-Free Hertz #1 Club Gold membership (with discounts, bonuses and upgrades) plus a free 4-hour grace period (28 hours = 1 day)
4. Free Hotel Upgrades and Elite Status
-Receive room upgrades, 4pm checkout and other benefits at the 600+ Fine Hotels and Resorts
-Complimentary Starwood Gold Elite Status; normally earned after 25 stays, you’ll get late checkout, upgrades and bonus points
5. 25,000 Membership Rewards Points
-Who needs 8 reasons when you have twenty-five thousand…
-Apply for a Platinum card, spend $2,000 within your first three months and get this bonus. 25,000 MR points can be redeemed for at least one free domestic flights (potentially worth over $500 when used advantageously), $250 in cash or if added together with other points can be redeemed for expensive international travel.
6. Pro-rated Annual Fee
-Cancel your card after, say, 4 months and you’ll be reimbursed for all but $150 (1/3 of the annual fee) but you’ll keep your points if you’ve spent your $2,000.
7. Safety & Security
-Up to $3,000 in loss or damage coverage for you checked or carry-on bags
-$10,000 per item Purchase Protection, up from $1,000 for other Amex cards; this is simple: lose, break or have stolen anything you’ve bought within 90 days and you’ll get reimbursed for the original charge
-A warranty extension of up to 1-year on products purchased with the card
8. Cheap Additional Cards
-It is $175 for up to 3 additional cards (this is rare, even their platinum business card doesn’t offer this)
-The annual fee for 4 cards will be $625 ($450 + $175) but after the $200 airline free credit (valid per account, not card) the cost per card drops to $106 per year ($425 / 4), which is by far the cheapest airport lounge membership you’ll ever see. This does not include the 25,000 Membership Rewards points!
9. 20% off Travel Bonus
-Ooh, a bonus reason! Thanks for the reminder Fred!
-Use the Membership Rewards “Pay with Points” feature to pay for all or part of your travel and get 20% of the points back
-Spend 100,000 points on something and get 20,000 back in your account
Of course, you get the full boat of other standard American Express benefits, too.
If you see the value, don’t forget to apply, as I have myself!
Caveats: you’ll likely need a 720 or higher credit score to get approved (buy your credit score & report for $11.96 after code FICO25 here). As always, read all the full fine print at the AmEx site for full details.
About the Author: Brad Wilson
Brad is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Brad's Deals and author of Do More, Spend Less. He loves the game of hunting down the best deals and being able to spread the word to so many others. He is likely travel hacking his way around the world right now, trying to spend his millions of points and miles faster than he earns them!
$200 credit is per account not per card. Two cards is $625-$200 = $425. Still, $212.50 for lounge access isn’t bad.
Dave, that’s right. My math was with 4 cards. I’ll clarify.
Agreed – the lounge access is impossible to beat elsewhere, especially as you spread the cost across multiple cards.
I just got my card – it took all of 2 minutes!
Cool, they are pretty quick!
Funny thing is I used to get caught up in all these points systems. I got AMEX PLAT for air lounges – since I travel like crazy.
But in reality I save MUCH MUCH MUCH more with my Priceline Bidding Cheats, and a few other ways to get cheap cheap rooms at 4 star hotels & resorts. I am already expecting all those 350K AMEX points that were converted to Delta miles to get squashed by Delta in 2013 to half their current worth. Points take up a lot of mind share and generate lots of junk mail. The points required for hotel nights are plain stupid and for buying things are completely idiotic (as far as point value is concerned)
I got the Trump in 2 weeks from now – $135 per night
I stayed at Hilton Ft Collins for $55 – nice
I stayed at Marriott SFO for $58
Sheraton Downtonw SLC for $62
all great stays – no points BS.
All I care about is AA status -but just to get exit row access.
Does anyone know where i can find an Airline Partner list? Is British Airways a partner? If I had a platinum card could I use the lounge at Heathrow?
You can use the American lounge @ Heathrow if you’re on an American flight code though they are sort of partnered with BA so you may be able to book through AA for a BA flight. Not 100% sure of that.
More info:
https://www295.americanexpress.com/cards/platinum/benefit.do?benefitTemplate=template_c&benefitId=1
The use of the Amex card for lounges (when flying economy) is only good in US airports.
on and what are MR points?
MR = Membership Rewards
I have the Amex Blue card which gives me 5% cash back on groceries, gas, and drug store purchases and 1 – 1.5% back on other purchases. I charge everying I can on it (3,000 – 4,000 per month) and every October I get a cash rebate of around $1200.
No annual fee – I think it is the best deal in town.
It’s a decent deal but it doesn’t beat all the wonderful things you can do with points/miles to make them worth *much* more than 1:1 vs. cash, for example:
http://www.bradsdeals.com/blog/2010/10/11/my-40k-trip-to-australia-on-hyatt-uniteds-dime/
I just got a SPG card (after reading your entries). Is it too late to make it a platinum?
Hi Sue, they’re unrelated in that there is no SPG Platinum or Platinum SPG. You can get both.
I personally use the SPG for most spending because the rewards are great but just added the platinum for perks.
Please remind me…what does SPG stand for?
Starwood Preferred Guest
Brad,
I got my AMEX Platinum in February and gto 100,000 frequent flyer miles. Plus, they rebate back 25% of the miles each time you fly, so it’ really 125,000, or 5 roundtrips for $450. That’s just $90 a pop for round-trip, coast-to-coast.
Fred, great point – I totally forget about the bonus.
Tell me how you got the 100000 frequent flyer miles?
I just got a SPG card (after reading your entries). Is it too late to make it a platinum?
I also have a Delta platinum but I don’t think that has the same benefits. It is a $95/year fee.
I’d probably cancel the Delta and use the $95 somewhere else but if you fly Delta a ton it may be worth keeping.
Please refresh my memory…what does SPG stand for?
Starwood’s Preferred Guest rewards program.
I saw your post re: Australia and my family is set to move to Australia in July and was wondering if this would be a good choice to builds miles and help deter airline costs.
The “real” question is can this version of AMEX be used at Costco where I can go in for one item and leave with a cart full…Love your advice and tips….
I have used my Macy’s American express card as well as my Dillards dept store card at Costco so you should have no problem with this one! As long as a card has the AMEX logo on it you are fine!
William, yes, to piggyback on June’s reply, any AmEx works at Costco. There is a specific Costco Amex card but it is not required.
Two more reasons to get this card. Transfer your 50,000 miles to Delta before May 31 and get a 50% bonus. This brings the total to 75,000 Delta Miles. Also, you get a buy one get one free Business class ticket for international travel on many airlines when you use the card to buy tickets.
Jack,
Do you have a link to these promotions you speak of?
- Transferring the miles to Delta and getting a 50% bonus
- BOGO Business class ticket
And what fees/mileage transfer fees/expenses are related to either of these promotions, if any?
Thanks!
Try this link for the Delta miles bonus. This is only good for the first transfer of rewards points to your Delta account. http://dmn.delta.com/offers/getmore/
The BOGO on International Travel is on the Amex Platinum Website. A good deal if you are flying overseas but not so good for travel to north/south america.
Thanks for the info…I have three Amex Cards, but not the Platinum. Maybe I will apply…
Hmmm, read some reviews-most are good but the negative ones are scary. The biggest complaint being that customer service was mediocre and that there is too much fine print and stipulations to even enjoy the ‘benefits’. Those mostly seem to come from 2009-to early 2010 users, have the services changed much since then?
Do you know anything about the international companion ticket benefit? I just want to make sure I’m getting what I pay for in this fee without a lot of jumping through hoops.
I consider the companion tickets to be an almost bogus benefit so didn’t list it.
There are a ton of benefits, some that are good and easy, some that are a mix of the two, and some that are neither.
The two biggest values (free lounge access and the $200 airline fee credit) are pretty straightforward.
Amex’s service isn’t what it used to be (nor is anyone else’s) but the platinum concierge can be legitimately helpful for things like getting into a reservation at a popular restaurant.
Brad,
I’m surprised you find the Amex Platinum’s International Business Class 2 for the price of 1″ to be a bogus benefit. It’s the main reason I have the card!
I’ve yet to come anywhere close to getting 2 tickets to fly overseas for the price that the Amex Plat concierge gets them.
True, it’s Business class, so for those who only fly coach, it’s not a feature they’ll use. And I generally DO fly coach. But for all my overseas flying, I have to fly business class (I’m 6’9″), and I fly overseas at least once a year, often twice. I save thousands on this feature alone.
hi scott, i suppose the big thing for me is that i have a lot of frequent flier miles and the best use is premium class international flights. i have yet in my life to pay cash for any international flight much less biz or first. absent that, there might be some value but the miles are too easy to get…
There are many options for AMX cards. On a few coworkers advice I got a Delta Skymiles platinum card about 6 years ago. It is our only credit card but we put all of our normal expenses on it, groceries, gas, restaurants, cell phone bills etc, and pay it off each month. We have flown first class to Maui from Detroit this year and Kaui last year for $20 total. We also receive a companion ticket each year which we use to visit family in California and it costs very little. Our fee is only $130 and we have a lot of the same travel benefits as the regular platinum card. You do not have lounge access but can use them for $25 a person if you want. The miles never expire so you can save for that crazy exotic trip if you want and their customer service is excellent. I would say the only downside is planning the flight as it can take a little work to watch flights and dates etc. However, in my opinion it is WELL worth it!
I have been reading all the posts about how to get free airline tickets and trips can someone advise me how I can get started earning ie; credit cards, etc. I have never really traveled before but now I have the time and would love to begin. Thanks for the assistance.
To make it worth it the biggest thing is to be able to pay off your balance every month. Then use your card for everything you can to accrue as many miles as possible. If you carry a balance on the card the interest you pay will end up as if you have paid for the miles so that is the biggest thing to avoid. Hope this helps a little
Yes, very true in general. In this case, it is a charge card that needs to be paid off each month, so you can’t run a balance, which is a good thing!
My husband got sold this card as an upgrade to his Gold card over the phone and I was convinced it wasn’t worth it since he usually flies United and I don’t think they have the same valuable perks. I am going to forward this information to him (he is, of course, out of town) gracefully admitting that I am probably wrong this time. (But I’m always right! Darn!) He will have to take some action to maximize the value of the card and balance it against the $450 fee. One question: is it any advantage for me to get one (either on his account or to upgrade my Gold card) even though I rarely travel?
Probably not, and even less so if you when you do travel it is mainly with him.
What credit rating does one have to have to qualify for this card? Does anyone know?
It’s impossible to say but…
740+ is a pretty safe bet. 660+ is possible but not a sure thing. I wouldn’t try below that.
I tried the link you offered for my FICO score and it said that the link was no longer valid. Know why?
thanks harry, i updated the link!
Just applied, and was accepted, 1st time Amex user, but enjoy your email deals and deals in general. Thank you, for what you do bro!
Awesome – glad to hear! Let me know how it goes for you!
I’ve had the Platinum card for several years. It has worked great for me for business travel and hotel stays. My husband was basically able to travel to many conferences and destinations with me for free.
They used to have a free companion ticket for US travel. They have since done away with that offer. I believe the companion ticket is only available for international travel now. I do wish they still had the US program.
They also offer a free amenity such as $100 spa credit in their Fine Hotels and Resorts program. Also included is a free room upgrade, 4:00 pm late checkout, and daily breakfast for two. At the Hotel at Mandalay Bay in Vegas, we were given a $50 credit everyday for breakfast. This hotel is no longer in the program though.
I absolutely love the airport club access also.
You also get double or triple reward points for grocery and gas purchases.
Just thought I’d share…
Thanks for the great feedback. The free hotel amenities and double/triple points offers are something I didn’t mention but both are certainly of value!
Brad, great info the only real surprise was AMX charges a fee for booking airline tickets through their web site which I think is the only way to get the double points on air travel. There is a $6.95 per ticket fee for booking on-line which can add up if you purchase 15 tickets per month like I do. Great job with the site!
Booking travel through them is a dilemma. There are benefits but the cost isn’t always the same.
What do you think about the new Hyatt Promotion which is 10K point bonus after five nights stay and another 5K after every two nights thereafter. It’s not quite like the 2010 promotion but could it still be worthwhile?
Sue, as you mention, it is certainly not 2010 but there is value there, especially once you get over 5 nights. 10k points for 2 nights, especially if those nights are $50 or less (where possible) is not unattractive.
The difference between stays and nights is a positive. If someone already has 5 nights via one stay, they’re in great shape.
Brad,
Dont forget the free additional warranty on large purchases. I bought an HDTV and recieved and extra year..absolutley free. Thats way worth it for big ticket items. JC Penny charges over one hundred bucks for the extended warranty!
Eric
Eric, yes – this can be hugely valuable. A few years a TV broke in the second year and it saved me a ton!
I was just approved (love the MR discounts until end of May!!!)
Could you please explain how to convert 50K MR points to $500 cash? The MR website indicates it is 100K points for cashback/Amex gift cards or traveler’s cheques.
Also, Amex indicates you have to pick an airline for incidental charges. I assume this must be done prior to purchasing gift cards and only to do so on that one airline. Is this correct?
Thanks!
Any idea howmany points we need for Asia ticket like Singapore, India…?
It depends on the airline. Amex Membership Rewards are great because they’re so flexible and can be transferred to a variety of airlines as needed. It lets you pick the airline with the most beneficial award ticket chart.
[...] American Express Platinum Card: Get great travel perks with this card like: a $200 airline credit, free airport lounge access, car rental savings, free upgrades and more. [...]
I applied for this card on March 31st like you said and was approved. They want me to give them the promo code for the 50,000 miles. Do you have it?
Thanks
I’ve had AMEX Platinum for over a year. The free access to the Delta airport lounges is nice (and they do have free alcoholic drinks). The only other feature I used was the car buying program, which saved me a lot (more than the annual fee). It is a “prestige” card, however, the dwindling features are making it less and less prestigious in my mind.
I have the AMEX Costco platinum card, does this have same perks as the platinum card you mention above?
No, that’s an Amex credit card. Most of their credit cards are lighter on benefits than their charge cards (Green, Gold, Platinum), which offer tons of perks but come with significant annual fees.
Your Costco card has some benefits but they are of a more basic type.
AMEX Platinum- This is a farce. I liked being able to use the lounges at the airport except that everyone bailed out of the program but US Airways in the US. Okay I can live with that I think. Recently I tried to buy a business class ticket to and from Europe to get the free companion ticket. Again it is a scam. I could get a fully refundable ticket on Expedia for $5850 each. With AMEX Platinum the one ticket cost $10187 and the other is free. There is something wrong with this picture. I pay double for one ticket so I can get one for free. I guess American Express see the public as being stupid. So far two strikes against American Express and I am paying all this money for a false service. Think twice before getting this card.
I agree that the companion ticket is a joke. I didn’t include it above for that reason. It’s of no value to me and is not why I got the card. They do market it quite a bit, though.
Not sure what you mean about everyone bailing from the lounge thing. They still have AA, Delta and US Air.
Continental dropped because they merged with United who is primarily affiliated with Chase. They offer their own lounge-access cards. It’s not ideal but it’s understandable.
AA’s Admiral’s Club access was only added in 2007 and US Air way added in 2010. If anything, they’ve done a good job with those additions. They have 3 of the 5 largest domestic airlines.
Importantly, US Air does not require a US Air ticket for access to their lounges.
They have now also added Priority club membership which will give you accesss to many other clubs without a ticket on that airlinge.
Thanks for the article and for being so responsive to the above posts. Decided to go Gold v. Platinum based on my needs.
Hi There,
You had written above:
“1. $200 Credit Against Airline Fees
-This covers all those miserable fees (baggage, flight change, extra legroom, upgrades) and things like in-flight food or lounge passes…”
From what I read from their terms and conditions, upgrades are not deemed as incidentals and would not be covered. Can you elaborate on this? Is there a loophole?
Hi Asim, my experience has been all over the board as far as upgrades go. Some things, like AA sticker upgrades, are tough, but others like the co-pay to use a miles upgrade should work. It varies by airline…and seemingly other things, at random.
The easiest move for me is just to buy $200 in AA gift certificates at the beginning of the year and use those as cash.
The other thing to point out is that Amex is usually pretty good if you call and complain. If a fee doesn’t get refunded immediately, they will likely just credit you regardless.
Do you have any idea whether a similar program is going to be offered anytime soon?
[...] then Carmen writes that on BradsDeal Blog you can use the $200 airline credit to purchase four $50 gift cards from either American Airlines of [...]
[...] 3% of this purchase. Chase Sapphire, the British Airways Visa that many of us got recently and the American Express Platinum are all [...]
[...] 3% of this purchase. Chase Sapphire, the British Airways Visa that many of us got recently and the American Express Platinum are all [...]
Please resend the article regarding using the Chase Ink Card and the AMEX Pre-paid credit card.
Thank you.
[...] about the 100,000 mile offer with the Chase British Airways Visa, the 50,000 point bonus on the American Express Platinum Card, 100,000 Mile Citi American Airlines Bonus, the American Express Starwood Card or last [...]
So you get Starwood Elite status? Do you need to do anything to set that up?
I think what you get is Gold status from SPG, which I already have, since I have the Amex SPG card and I am an SVO owner. You don’t get Platinum status, which is their elite status. Maybe they used to offer this?
So, other than the $200 airline credit (which can NOT be used for upgrades), why keep this card after the first year? I would value the lounge access at maybe $20 – $30, annually.
Trying to justify the $450 annual fee, and having a hard time doing that.
yes, it is SPG Gold, which is their second highest elite status.
the amex spg card only gives you gold if you spend $30k annually.
cool that you’re an SVO owner. do you get platinum for that?
i agree that if you value lounge access at $20-$30 this isn’t a good fit. the value on this is totally personal preference. to some, it is easily worth hundreds, to others nothing.
I got mine, meet the spend requirement, got the points, canceled before the first due date, and didn’t have to pay the $450. I just can’t justify that annual fee. Maybe if I traveled more.
right, the main benefits here are saving the fees on flights, getting upgrades and perks at hotels and car rental places and getting extra protection on expensive purchases above what is offered on other cards.
the benefits are pretty travel heavy so it isn’t worth the fee without moderate travel.
Brad – then there’s that $100 credit that covers the entire Global Entry membership fee. The GOES trusted traveler card is good for five years and WELL worth the effort to show up for an airport “interview” which by most accounts is simply a photo op accompanied by a short lesson on how to use the card at airport kiosks.
Worth it even if you’re not flying internationally and weren’t invited by your airline to join TSA Pre through their frequent flier program. We got a card for our daughter to use domestically to enable her to use the dedicated TSA Pre lines at the airport when flying to and from college. Short lines – keep your shoes on and your laptop in its bag – like pre 9/11 travel. TSA Pre is not available at all airports for all airlines yet but more are added all the time.
Hi Julie – great point. I’ve used that $100 credit myself. Great deal. And I love TSA Pre, too!
[...] 8 Reasons To Get an American Express Platinum Card and Never Use It! [...]
Hi Brad,
I recently got the Amex Biz Plat card. I didn’t see any sign up bonus points when I applied through the website. Is that promotion still on going ? I have a Zinc card since 2009. Also, when I add a supplemental card for Amex Plat, do they need to be family members or employees? Or they can be a friend? What are the benefits of supplement card ? Thanks
hi evelyn (my daughter’s name!), i’m so sorry for the slow reply.
the extra cards can be for anyone you trust with a card. the benefit to the cardholder is that the share certain benefits like airport lounge access. it lets you spread out the cost of the annual fee across more people.
yes, the offer is still going on. you should see this fine print at left when you click through. if you don’t, try “clearing your cookies” or using a different browser. the amex site can be a little funny.
Receive 25,000 Membership Rewards® points when you spend $2,000 in your first 3 months of Card membership.1
Annual Membership Fee is $450.2
Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have had this product within the last 12 months or any Consumer ZYNC®, Green or Gold Card account within the last 90 days.
since you’ve had zync, you’ll technically have to get the business platinum, or cancel the zync for 90 days. i’d personally just try signing up without doing anything. i’ve always had good luck with their bonuses.
[...] on an American Express Platinum Mercedes-Benz; there is a $475 annual fee but you get standard Amex Platinum benefits including $200 towards airline fees (or gift cards in some cases) plus a bunch of Mercedes [...]
Are you sure AA gift cards are included in the $200 towards airline fees?
here is my amex platinum statement from this month. i did careless math and ended up buying $210 but you can see the $200 in credits.
:
http://s3.bradsdeals.com/images/axp.png
Hi Brad
I just started traveling a lot and got the AMEX Blue Sky card. Which one would you recommend for someone who flies a lot, wants to get airline upgrades, hotel upgrades etc. I am not too interested in spending like $10,000 to get $100 of travel credit, might aswell get it during the experience.
Thanks,
DSK
dsk, the platinum is as good as it gets for broad hotel upgrades. if you stick with one brand, then that card may be better. you can’t really get direct airline upgrades from a card, but you can get some benefits like better seats, early boarding, etc. which airline do you fly most? your best bet is to get their card, particularly if there is a version that earns you elite qualifying miles.
i do a very thorough breakdown of how to best approach each airline/hotel in dmsl: http://bdeal.me/amzn
also, this amex gets you 3x membership rewards points on flights, which is better than airline card or any other card: http://www.bradsdeals.com/go/p/122927