The Amex Platinum: massively overpriced, or an incredible deal?
It depends how much you travel.
The Platinum offers a ton of different credits and perks to choose from:
- $200 airline fee credit
- $200 hotel credit, $100 property credits, and 4th or 5th night free for Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts or The Hotel Collection
- $200 Uber credit ($15/month + an extra $20 in December)
- fee credits for CLEAR and TSA Precheck or Global Entry
- $20/month credit that can be used for Audible, Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, SiriusXM, or The New York Times
- free Walmart+ membership
- $25/month Equinox credit
- two $50 Saks credits (one every six months)
- Gold status with Marriott and Hilton
- access to over 1,400 airport lounges
- 5 points per dollar for flights booked through either the airline or Amex Travel and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel
As you can see, there is a lot of potential value from the Platinum card. However, the annual fee is a hefty $695, so those benefits don’t come free.
The hotel credits and free nights are specific to the Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts collection and the Hotel Collection, so these benefits won’t apply to everyone. However, if you stay in these hotels at least a few times per year, you can potentially recoup the annual fee from that alone. The gold status with Hilton and Marriott also offer serious benefits like bonus rewards points, room upgrades, late checkout, food and beverage credits, and 5th night free when you book a stay using entirely rewards points (Hilton only).
The airline fee credit can be tricky because you have to choose the airline that you want to use it for each year, so you are tied to one airline if you want to use the full credit. However, if you are traveling with a group, you can get the most out of that credit in one trip fairly easily.
The lounge access that the Platinum offers is the most extensive of any card that I have encountered (save for the fabled Centurion card). These include the International Amex lounges, Centurion lounges, Priority Pass lounges, and many others. These lounges offer things like complimentary food and beverages, comfortable seating, and showers. If you are flying through airports that offer these lounges, they can offer huge benefits. (click here to see if your airport offers lounge access).
As for the other credits, they are pretty self explanatory; maybe you already use those services, maybe you don’t but you will use them in the future because of the credits, or maybe you won’t use them at all. It is up to you to determine how much value you give these.
If you aren’t big on hotels and flying, the Platinum card probably won’t make a ton of sense for you. However, if you stay in a Hilton or Marriott hotel and fly at least once every year, you can probably get at least enough benefits to break even on the Platinum card, and the more you travel, the more value you get. If you stay in Fine Hotels and Resorts or Hotel Collection hotels, the benefits are even greater.
*As a bonus, earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points after using your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within your first 6 months of Card Membership. Plus, for a limited time if you apply for this Card by 06/08/2022, you can earn 10x points at restaurants worldwide on up to $25,000 in eligible purchases during the first 6 months of Card Membership.*
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