So You Got An American Express Platinum Card, Now What?

• Frequent churner said,

  What’s the earning ratios? I’m very hungry and manage to spend $10k at grocery stores every month.

• Winston said,

  Everything is just 1 point per dollar. This is not a card you get for bonused categories, but for it’s benefits and for the bonus points you get by meeting minimum spend. If you are not targeted for this offer, you can get the mercedes Benz Amex platinum for $475 with 50k bonus points and a lower spend requirement.

• gene said,

  what about the global entry subsidy?

• Tom // Sit in first said,

  Don’t forget the return protection program or that you can get the $200 credit twice during one non-calendar-year membership cycle. Furthermore, you need not be ticketed on US Air to visit their clubs with Amex Platinum.

• Cogswell said,

  The problem with these high spending requirements is that you’ll now be forced to earn only 1% back, forfeiting the opportunity of earning 2, 3 or 5% back on $10k of purchases. You are effectively losing money by doing this. Additionally you are immediately out $450 which if invested could easily earn you another $40 in a year (tax free in a Roth IRA)

  And don’t forget that in order to meet the huge spending requirements you will, both consciously and subconsciously convince yourself to buy things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

  Most of the benefits like lounge access and status are pretty gimmicky and require additional spending just to take advantage of them.

  It seems like an enormous amount of work for minimal tangible benefit. My humble opinion :)

• Winston said,

  Mercedes Amex platinum carries all the Amex platinum benefits including global entry. I’m not sure what’s gimmicky about lounge access Cogwell. But if you do not travel that often then that benefit may not be very useful .

• Noah Kimmel said,

  @Cogswell–none of the benefits require additional spending–check your facts! Only the Membership Rewards Points signup bonus.

  As for opportunity cost of investing money, etc. If you travel enough, it is an investment in your time and comfort. Credit cards implicitly are about spending. Nothing is free, and all rewards require an opportunity cost of investment, interest, cash back, etc. Singling out one card’s spend minimum is a bit harsh as all spend minimums and annual fees could be “more profitable” if invested instead. Not to mention the hundreds of strategies we employ to meet spend without adding spending (prepaying utilities, cable, car payments, mortgages, buying supermarket gifcards, buying your online flower deliveries for the year, etc.)

  Lounge access, hotel/car rental status and concierge are all free and have no spending requirements!

  Are the “gimmicky”? Gimmicky is a preference… As someone who spends 40-50 weeks a year on the road, I like having a sky club to sit in, and the card is no more expensive than a membership and gives me AA/US Air / Priority Pass for when I fly non-Delta. I recognize that not everyone sees the value in a lounge, it is preference, and dependent on travel patterns. The $200 statement credit is fantastic, especially for gift cards!

  As for basic status upgrades: I earn my status the hard way, so maybe not a huge benefit for heavy travelers, but great for moderate travelers.

  Global entry is an easy benefit as it comes as a statement credit. You do the regular application process, just pay with your AMEX. Upon approval, they credit you. It also works for any additional authorized cardholders–that’s right, the whole family can get it free! Fantastic for international, but also for Pre Check domestically.

  It is not a card to put your regular spend on! Save that for a gold card or other niche cards, but it is definitely a card to keep in your wallet as the benefits far outweigh the costs for most moderate to heavy travelers.

  Now when will they put ExpressPay on it?

• Eric said,

  Can you get the Starwood Gold status with the Business Platinum Amex?

  What is the difference in benefits between the Personal and Business Platinum Amex?

  Thanks!

• Cogswell said,

  @Noah

  Re: none of the benefits require additional spending–check your facts!

  Of course they do – to take advantage of Global Entry, Gold Status, Lounge Access, etc. you have to buy flights, hotels, rent cars, pay for taxis, eat out and all of the other costs associated with travelling. Now for a business traveller where none of this is out-of-pocket (ie. paid for by your company) then it’s a great benefit, but most followers of these boards are moderate travellers trying to get deals on vacations. That’s when the lure of status becomes dangerous. You’ll end up convincing yourself to stay at a particular hotel because you get free breakfast “worth $40!!!” even though you could book a similar hotel on priceline for 1/2 the price, and get breakfast down the street for $6.

  Re: opportunity cost of investing money

  There are plenty of posts detailing how you can get $2 worth of miles by filling out surveys. If you are going to be concerned about $2 then you should realize you are losing $40 worth of potential return by spending $450 up front. All of these costs add up…

  Re: Gimmicky – you are right it is a preference, if you are travelling 40-50 weeks per year you are probably in the 99.9998% percentile of frequent travellers and I’m sure those are great benefits. But again for most moderate travellers, there really isn’t much difference between sitting in a lounge and reading a book for 30 mins vs sitting at the gate and reading a book for 30 mins twice a year. Additionally, personal preference, but there’s not much value added in my book between a $200/night room and an upgrade to an $800/night suite. When I travel I generally want to spend the *least* amount of time in my hotel room.

  Re: It is not a card to put your regular spend on!

  Then good luck for most people to hit $10k of spending!

• Marc W said,

  You actually do not need to be ticketed on US Air to gain access to the lounge. You gain entrance to AA or Delta clubs if you are flying with them on that day, but for US Air clubs you can gain access at anytime even if not flying with them.

• Mile Collector said,

  @Cogswell -

  For the $10K spend, you are effectively earning 11x per dollar. (100K bonus plus 1 MR per dollar spent, which would be 110K MR after spending $10K).

  I also don’t understand the logic in your comment: “to take advantage of Global Entry, Gold Status, Lounge Access, etc. you have to buy flights, hotels, rent cars, pay for taxis, eat out and all of the other costs associated with travelling”.

  First, you receive these benefits regardless of whether you are on an award ticket or stay or revenue ticket or stay. Second, I’d imagine you read this blog because you do travel – and thus would be incurring travel expenses such as car rental, eating out, etc. anyway.

• Cogswell said,

  @ Mile Collector

  Re: 11x

  Well if you use that logic, cards with a bonus for first purchase are giving you close to infinity points per dollar.

  Re: Gold status etc.

  Benefits like these are add-ons, you generally can’t just use them on their own, but only once you do an initial transaction (such as book a hotel room – yes you can use points to do so). Because of this the value of these add-on benefits is massively overvalued.

  How much would you pay for a $100 Hilton credit? How much would you pay for a $100 *upgrade* Hilton credit?

• Mile Collector said,

  @Cogswell -

  I wouldn’t normally utilize that logic – but you stated “forfeiting the opportunity of earning 2, 3 or 5% back on $10k of purchases” – I was pointing out that you’re better off spending $10K towards a 100K bonus as opposed to 5x using a different card. 60K points better, to be specific.

  In regard to the travel benefits – I agree that not everyone will be able to reap the benefits to justify the fee – but for those who travel frequently, it’s definitely worth it. I justify the fee principally due to the $200 airline gift certificate and lounge access (in 2012 I used my card to access airport lounges over 25 times).

• Cogswell said,

  This card:
  100,000 points = $1000 approx
  $450 fee
  Annual loss of paying $450 upfront = $40 10k spending at 1% = $100
  NET = $610

  Typical other card:
  50,000 points = $500 approx
  zero fee
  10k spending at 3% = $300
  NET = $800

  Of course there are many other factors on both sides, but the main point is that with this card you’ll be locked into a huge minimum spending requirement. Additionally it could prohibit you from earning signup bonuses on other cards which have spending requirements

• SB said,

  Aren’t there hotel perks (not sure who the participating chains are) around free breakfasts, massages, spa events – etc?

  thanks!

• David said,

  If you are Active Duty Military ask them to wave the annual fee. Once verified and approved, the annual fee is waved for life!

  Way to take care of those serving in harms way!

• Scott said,

  I read once – but have otherwise been unable to confirm or disprove – that a benefit of the AmEx Platinum cards is that if you purchase a business-class or first-class international fare, you receive a companion booking (presumably in the same class) each time (i.e. it is seemingly not a one-time or annual-only benefit) for “free” (taxes extra, I assume).

  I don’t hear this talked about very much, since most travel hackers I know don’t scheme to pay for first class with their own hard-earned cash (and I somewhat doubt I’d be able to justify it myself), but does anyone have any knowledge of this facet of the card program or any first-hand experience with it?

• Boom said,

  Hello. Just found your blog and it is great! Some questions though. The Amex people talked me into this card a year or two ago. I don’t travel much right now, pay $450 fee for it, and don’t know if it’s worth keeping anymore. Will my credit get dinged if I go down to the next level for a free card? Also, what is the Global Entry thing? I got a notice in the mail but don’t really understand it and don’t want to be hit with anymore charges that I won’t incur myself. WIll they automatically debit my card $100? I don’t want this feature, whatever it is. Thank you.

Add A Comment