Amex Schwab Platinum
I prefer to keep things moving with Amex, and that’s an understatement. I’ve found I can do best with them by picking up new cards with the bank, achieving welcome offers, and closing them the next year when the second cardmember year comes due. I’ve even turned down solid retention offers because I’d rather have the flexibility of the card slot. And, up to this point, the only card account we’ve consistently kept year over year is the Amex Schwab Platinum. We’ve historically preferred cashing out Membership Rewards points for maximum value via the Schwab Platinum and had no problem paying the annual fee in order to do so (regardless if we picked up a retention bonus along the way). But we’re now planning to close my wife’s Amex Schwab Platinum card. Here’s why.
Amex Schwab Platinum Cashout Devaluation
We’re now amidst the first full year of the latest Schwab cashout devaluation. Via the card’s Invest with Rewards benefit, Schwab Platinum cardholders can now cash out Membership Rewards points at a 1.1 cents per point value for the first one million points per calendar year. Subsequent redemptions via this benefit only obtain a 0.8 cent per point value.
There’s no ignoring that negative change to cashing out Membership Rewards points while paying the same annual fee. Those who cash out at scale are getting less for their money.
Changing Priorities
Partially related to the above, my wife and I have adjusted our earning and redeeming priorities. We’ve chosen to spend on other non-Amex cards offering superior return, many which come sans annual fee. We’re simply not earning Membership Rewards points at the velocity we previously have. To be clear, we’ll keep earning them this year, but we’re managing our expectations. We’re still earning them, but not at a rate where we can currently justify my wife’s Schwab Platinum annual fee. That leads me to the next topic.
Maintaining Control
Much happens in our points and travel hobby which is beyond our control. Banks, hotels, and airlines periodically devalue their rewards currencies. On a whole, elite status changes are generally a net-negative. One of the few areas I can control is how I handle an annual fee.
Of course, it’s my choice which annual fees I take on. Cardmember year one annual fees are relatively easy to justify – a welcome offer, benefits, or both more than make up for that annual fee cost. In subsequent years, that annual fee is more of a gray area, and I know it’s my responsibility to ensure I obtain enough ongoing value to justify paying the annual fee.
At this point, we can’t justify paying my wife’s $695 Schwab Platinum annual fee. She’s just short of her one million point allotment at 1.1 cpp cashout, and not enough remains for her to shell out $695. Plus the other benefits are approaching closer to zero, too. That’s next.
Increasingly Questionable Benefits
Beyond cashing out, it’s getting tougher to swallow the annual fee of the Schwab or Morgan Stanley Platinum. And that’s even worse for any other personal Platinum card without the Invest with Rewards benefit. Centurion Lounges just seem to keep getting worse, to the point of being temporarily shut down due to health violations. Centurion Lounge access has turned into a punchline more than a benefit for some. I actively avoid these clubs now, opting for other bank and airline options. Perhaps the only one I’d still choose to visit is the CLT location, but I now avoid that airport for other reasons, anyway.
Other benefits are more of a slog, too. The Shop Platinum with Saks credit is even more inconvenient now, where certain locations are preventing cardholders from using the benefit. The hotel credit is more stale by the year – Fine Hotels and Resorts properties are more expensive, but that $200 stays the same. I’ll give a tepid shout-out to the airline fee, Uber, and digital entertainment credits, but those alone don’t make up for the annual fee. We have Walmart+ access with another Platinum, but that membership isn’t something we’d otherwise pursue, anyway. We’ve heard rumors of a card refresh, but that doesn’t change the state of things now.
Alternatives
Obviously, my wife’s out, and I’m probably closing my Schwab Platinum when renewal time comes, too. Importantly, we have plenty of Amex options for long-term cashout which don’t involve paying the annual fee of this current Schwab Platinum. There’s cashing out at one cent per point via the Business Platinum and Business Checking. The Morgan Stanley Platinum currently allows uncapped one cent per point cashout. And we could always pick up the Schwab Platinum again in the future if/when we see fit.
Amex Schwab Platinum – Conclusion
Perhaps some of you are thinking, “what if your wife gets a Schwab Platinum retention offer?” Short of a waived fee without a spending requirement, we still plan to close my wife’s card. We’ll try for that offer but don’t expect it. We have several personal Platinums across our household, and we simply have close to zero need for this particular card now. We don’t want to get caught up in the distraction of a retention offer spend requirement, knowing that spend is better-suited on higher-return welcome offers.
Perhaps I’m not totally surprised we ended up here. I never thought we’d hold the Schwab Platinum permanently, just indefinitely. But rather definitely, the day to close has come sooner than we imagined. Hopefully, we’ll have reason to return in the future, and it’s just “goodbye for now.” But near-term, my wife’s done, and I’ll be finished soon, too.
How are you feeling about the Amex Schwab Platinum card these days?
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I also gave up my Platinum Card. The benefits were inconsequencial. There is no Equinox Gym within 25+ miles and Global Entry and Pre-Check are not only available at less expensive cards, but good for 5 years. So what good does the card do for the other 4? Moreover, AMEX would give 100K points to a total newcomer who may very well cash in the points and leave after one year. Yet would not give more than 5K as as retention offer to one, like myself, who has been a cardholder for almost 4 decades.
Loyalty is a two-way street. But judging from their CEO’s remarks on a recent CNBC show, theire one-way mentality is here to stay.
Hmmm, you do realize Amex only allows a retention offer once every 13 months I think. What that means is you can only get a retention offer every OHTER year with them. I have been able to get retention offers on my Gold and Platinum card (which renew in December and January respectively) every other year without fail.
Having said that, I do think there are alternatives to those coupon shy. The Capital One Venture X and Savor cards are the best, as with one annual fee you get 3x on dining, entertain and groceries and 2x on everything else. All that for one $450 annual fee as the cash back on the Savor card can be converted to transferrable Venture miles as long as you hold a Venture or Venture X card. When you consider Amex card is $696 with rumors of it being refreshed to include an even higher annual fee, really holding Chase Sapphire Reserve and Venture X together become viable since both come with easy to use travel credits which mean you are not paying the full annual fee if you travel. Domestically, IMHO Sapphire Lounges + Capital One Lounges are starting to match Centurion lounges in terms of coverage and they are both arguably better for now (yes, like Centurion they are becoming super crowded).
Also being able to cash out at 1 cent/point with the Amex business checking makes the Schwab only worth an extra 0.1 cents, and you would need a large amount to move the needle there.
Do you have a brokerage acct with Schwab? If so, ask your rep for the reversal on the annual fee.
Under the current circumstances, it’s hard to imagine it generating substantial *incremental* value relative to the plain vanilla version.
I’ve had the Schwab for about 4 years. I don’t get to the million number. I use the Uber, airline and other credits as well as the coupon book when I can. For me, it’s the only platinum I would keep. I use the BBP for some daily, and the personal gold for grocery and restaurants. For me it seems to work out.