No cards have ever been as polarizing as the Amex Platinum, with some people loving it and other people absolutely hating it. But whether you like this card or not, there’s no question that it’s $695 price tag is going to be a lot of money to pay. I just want to go over exactly what kind of value you can realistically expect to get for that money.
How does this Amex Platinum card stack up against other slightly cheaper alternatives like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Capital One Venture X? And then overall, just how good or how bad is the Amex Platinum card actually, in my opinion, after using it myself for over three years now.
- Welcome Bonus: Earn 150,000 points
- Annual Fee: $695
- Regular APR : 19.49% – 28.49% Variable
- Credit Score: Good,Excellent (700 – 749)
Amex Platinum annual fee vs Bonus
Now, the first thing that I look out for with any credit card is going to be its signup bonus versus its annual fee. And that’s because, in general, almost anyone out there should be able to get positive expected value in year one with most cards, thanks to how big these signup bonuses can be. So, currently, American Express has some targeted offers out there on the Platinum card for as high as 175,000 points after spending $8,000 in the first six months.
But sometimes, you might find offers that are a bit lower than that for around 125,000 to 150,000 points. So, let’s say you managed to find an offer of 150K, and you can get at least one cent per point in redemption value when using those points.
That means you can value the signup bonus at around $1,500. If we then subtract the $695 annual fee, we’re left with $805 in positive expected value for year one, which is great. And that’s not even considering any value that we might also be able to get from any of the credits and benefits on this card that we’ll talk about later as well. Now, if you know how to transfer Amex points for travel to get closer to at least two cents per point in redemption value, or maybe even a little bit higher than that, then a 150,000 point bonus turns into closer to at least $3,000 of value.
So when you can get that much value from just one single signup bonus on a card like the Amex Platinum charge card, even with its high annual fee, it’s still going to be well worth it for most people, at least in the first year. Now, after that, once the $695 fee comes up for renewal again in year two without that signup bonus, then we’re going to have to go ahead and do some math to make sure that we’re still getting enough value there to justify paying that fee. So, this is where we want to start to think about how we might value the different credits and benefits that come with this card as well.
American Express Platinum benefits
Now, if we go over to the American Express website, we’re going to see that they advertise that you can get over $1,500 in Platinum value. Still, in reality here, the value that you might be able to get really is just going to depend on whether or not you normally would even spend money on any of the stuff covered by these credits in the first place. So, for example, there’s a $50 credit to Saks Fifth Ave that you get every six months for up to $100 back per year.
But I know that I personally never shop at Saks. So even though I use this credit so that it doesn’t go to waste, I value this at $0 personally because it doesn’t fall within my normal spending habits. Or there’s the $300 Equinox credit that’s also pretty useless to me because there are none of those gyms in my area. But to someone out there who’s living in New York City where there’s like 40 plus Equinox locations, then this credit could actually be really good because you might be getting $300 in value back on spending that you were already going to do anyway.
For me personally, one credit that fits really well into my normal spending habits would be the one for digital entertainment that covers Hulu because I already pay for Hulu plus live TV. So, using my Platinum card on this just gets me $20 back per month on that subscription for $240 back per year. I also use the full $200 Uber credit, the $200 hotel credit, and about half of the $200 airline fee credit.
So, in total, the value that I get back on average from the Amex Platinum card every single year is going to be around $740 right now, which more than offsets that $695 Amex Platinum yearly fee. But as my spending habits change or as these credits change over time, then I’m always just reevaluating this to see if I’m still getting good enough value.
The way that I look at it is that by paying $695 every year to have this card, I’m basically just pre-paying for coupons on stuff that, again, I was already going to spend money on anyway. So, for example, when I pay the annual fee, I sort of just look at it like I’m pre-paying for $240 of my Hulu subscription plus $200 that I know I’m going to spend on Uber and so on.
Then all the other benefits out there, like the airport lounge access that comes with this card as well, are just going to be bonus value that I can enjoy on top of that. Now, I do want to point out here that American Express has actually recently said over on its earnings calls that it plans to refresh around 40 of its credit card products in 2024.
And so the Platinum card could very much be a part of that. So there’s a real possibility here that Amex might end up just adding more credits and possibly also increasing the annual fee to somewhere even higher in the near future. We’ve already seen American Express change up a few of its Delta credit cards lately.
So we’ll see if they decide to end up making any changes over here on the Platinum card as well because the last modifications came in 2021, and I could see them updating a few things again in 2024. Now, if they do decide to make any changes, then I’ll just go ahead and rerun the numbers with all the credits to see how much value I’m actually getting relative to the annual fee so I can decide if the card is still worth it.
But aside from those credits, like I said, one other big feature on the Amex Platinum is going to be airport lounge access. So I want to talk about that next year because I’ve got a few thoughts on what that’s actually going to be worth.
Amex Platinum Perks cut Clothing
Right now, I’m wearing this AO Long Sleeve Henley Curve Hem shirt in black, and I’ve got a ton of other Cuts shirts as well in a bunch of different colours that are sitting in my closet. So I just kind of rotate through those throughout the week because they go very well with pretty much anything else that I want to wear.
Now, Cuts is always running these different sales and promotions over on their website where you can go ahead and check out their many different styles of shirts, joggers, jackets, and more. But if they’re not running any promotions, then I’ve actually got a discount code that you guys can go ahead and use to get 20% off your order when the code DANIELBRAUN is used at checkout.
Amex Platinum Airport Lounges
All right, now back to the airport lounge access. So with a platinum card, you’re going to be able to get into places like Amex and train lounges, escape lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, as well as Plaza Premium and Priority Pass lounges. And even though the overall experience here is just going to vary with each type of lounge from location to location, I still think this is a very valuable benefit for people who travel a lot through certain airports.
I fly out of Philadelphia a lot, and we have an Amex lounge here. So this card just made a lot of sense for me because I like to visit this lounge before I fly or if there are ever any delays and I need somewhere to go. Honestly, if I didn’t have this Amex lounge here, then I might not really want to get this card unless I really knew that I was going to fly through other airports where I consistently was going to be able to visit those lounges. To me, I think the airport lounge access really is going to be a main selling point here with a platinum card.
So there’s definitely going to be some sort of a dollar value that you might want to place on this. But the problem is that it’s really tough to know exactly what the dollar value is because it truly just depends on how much you might use them. Now, like I said before, if American Express decides to increase the annual fee or choose to change up the credits on the platinum card, then that really could change things up here for me.
I’d say that if you travel a lot for work or personal reasons and you know that you’re a lot in the whole global lounge collection, then that alone could make the platinum card worth it for you if that is something that you truly do value.
Now, I also want to mention here that even though I do think American Express has been the leader in airport lounge access for credit cards, they’re definitely starting to lose that lead just a little bit here because Capital One and Chase have begun to roll out their lounges now. So there are 13 Amex lounges in the U.S. and then several more internationally. But Chase now has three lounges in the U.S., with four more openings soon.
And Capital One also has three U.S. lounges, with one more opening soon. That means that depending on the cities that you might fly out of, you might be better off getting a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which gets you access to Chase Sapphire lounges. Or you might be better off getting the Capital One Venture X, which is going to get you into Capital One lounges.
I went to one Chase lounge in Boston and then one Capital One lounge in Dallas Fort Worth last year. And honestly, I do have to say that both of these were very, very nice and probably even better than a lot of the Amex lounges that I’ve been to lately.
So yes, American Express does have a larger footprint at the moment, but Chase and Capital One are in the game now, and they definitely are giving more people options, which is always a very good thing to have. Amex lounges have also become notorious for getting a little bit too crowded at times.
I’ve definitely experienced that personally where I’ve just skipped going to the Amex lounge because the line to get in was a little bit too long. But because these Chase and Capital One lounges are a bit newer here, they might not have the same issues. And overall, the positive experiences could be a bit more consistent. But again, the Amex Platinum charge still is going to give you a greater network of lounges to access.
I actually just got the Chase Sapphire Reserve card the other month here to have alongside my Amex Platinum because there’s going to be a brand new upcoming massive Chase lounge in Philadelphia. So, hopefully, if it ever opens up anytime soon here and American Express decides to increase their annual fee on the Platinum card with bad credits, then I may even eventually look to get rid of the Platinum card.
But it’s really too early to tell here right now because I do like the Amex lounges. So, I’m just going to reevaluate things at some point in the future. Now, I want to talk more about the Sapphire Reserve and the Venture X to compare those cards to the Amex cash back Platinum and a few other areas next here.
Spending Multipliers
First, I did want to quickly touch on something that normally is going to be a big selling point for most credit cards, but in my opinion is not that great on the Platinum, and that would be its spending multipliers. To me, these multipliers are fine, but honestly, they really aren’t that great because they focus a lot on areas of spending that just aren’t everyday categories. Because of that, I really just don’t find myself carrying my Amex Platinum rewards card with me in my daily wallet setup because I know that the only time I’m really ever going to want to use it is if I’m just booking something for travel on my computer.
So, I just keep my Platinum card in my backpack to again, use it again for airport lounge access whenever I’m travelling. But yeah, I really do wish they could have at least one everyday points multiplier here on the card, just like 4X on dining or 4X on gas or something like that. In reality, the Amex Platinum card is all about the benefits, though.
So, for most people, it’s not really going to be a card to get if you’re trying to earn a ton of points. However, I could see a certain use case where maybe if you work for a company and they let you book flights for work by using your credit cards, and then they just reimburse you, that could be worth it in those situations. So, in that case, the Amex Platinum card could be a valuable option with its 5X points multiplier on flights.
Amex Platinum Hotel Benefits
Now, one thing to mention about the other 5X points category for booking hotels is that you’re only going to be earning 5X on prepaid hotels that you book through Amex Travel. So you can’t really earn 5X points if you just try to book directly through Marriott or Hilton or something like that. So just be aware of how that works, but then also be aware that if you have status at a hotel chain, and then you book through Amex Travel, your status may or may not be recognized.
But like many things here in the world of credit cards, your mileage may vary. Now, every year, you also get a $200 hotel credit on the Platinum card. So with this, when you book a hotel through Amex Travel that is a part of either the fine hotels and resorts collection or the hotel collection, you’re going to be able to get $200 back per calendar year.
Also, when you book a hotel in one of these programs, depending on the property, you’re going to be able to get things like free breakfast, room upgrades, late checkout, $100 resort credit, and then some other benefits as well.
To activate this $200 hotel credit, you do have to stay a minimum of one night at a fine hotels and resorts collection property or a minimum of two nights at a hotel collection property. So, just make sure that you’re actually meeting those requirements if you do want to go ahead and use this hotel credit. Last year, I stayed three nights at an NH collection hotel in Porto, Portugal, which is a part of the hotel collection.
With the stay, I got $200 back from the hotel credit, but then we also got upgraded to a room that was overlooking the town square, which was nice. And then we also were able to take advantage of getting a free breakfast every single morning as well. Now, because we’re talking about hotels, you’re also going to be able to get two different hotel statuses on the Amex Platinum with Hilton Honors Gold and then Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite statuses. And I think these are fine to have if you’re only maybe staying at Hilton and Marriott properties occasionally because they do come with a few small benefits.
But really, if you’re loyal to either one of those programs or you want to get any real value here, then you’re probably better off trying to get some higher status above what you get with this card. For example, you can get Marriott Platinum Elite status just by getting the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card. And then you can also get top-tier Hilton Diamond status just by getting the Amex Hilton Honors Aspire card.
And these are really going to be your best bet at getting the most valuable benefits like room upgrades, free breakfast and other nice stuff like that. So yes, you are getting some status here on the Platinum card, which is better than nothing, but the real value here typically comes from having higher status. Now, speaking of status, there is also going to be some rental car benefits here that I’ve enjoyed having on the Amex Platinum that don’t really get talked about too much.
Car Rentals
One that I use the most and find the most value in has been Hertz President Circle status, because it’s actually helped me to get upgrades and then better pricing on car rentals. But most importantly, President Circle status also makes the overall process of picking up a rental car super easy after a long flight when all I want to do is just really get out of the airport. There have been times when I’ll see these crazy long lines at other car rental services, and people are getting really frustrated at that.
But with Hertz President Circle status, I just book my car ahead of time, go right to the garage and then tell them I’m here. And then they pretty much have a car ready for pickup almost immediately. So again, a highly underrated benefit here is that you have the Amex Platinum card. Unfortunately though, for some reason, the Amex Platinum only offers secondary car rental coverage and not primary coverage like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Capital One Venture X have. So, I usually just book my rental cars using a credit card that offers primary coverage.
Sapphire Reserve & Venture X
Now, in terms of other areas where the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and the Capital One Venture X might also be just a little bit better than the Amex Platinum, I would say that, first of all, the annual fees could definitely be more appealing to more people out there because the Venture X comes in at $395 per year. Then, the Sapphire Reserve card comes in at $550 per year. But again, even though the Amex Platinum does have a very high annual fee of $695, the credits on the card still might make it a better deal if they fit into your normal spending habits. So you always got to just run the numbers for yourself.
We’ve got calculators down below that you can go ahead and use if you do want to see if any of these three premium travel credit cards might be worth it for you. So, definitely go ahead and check those out. Now the Venture X does have some credits of its own, which I honestly think make it a lot easier to offset the annual fee compared to the Platinum card. So, there’s a $300 annual travel credit for a travel ebook through Capital One. And then there’s also going to be a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus that’s worth at least a hundred bucks.
So the $395 annual fee minus the $300 travel credit, and then the $100 anniversary bonus means that the effective annual fee is potentially negative $5. So the yearly cost is not only cheaper on the Venture X, but it is also way easier to offset with credits. So if you fly out of Dallas, Denver, or Washington, Dallas a lot, and you know that you’re going to use the Capital One lounges that are located in those airports, then I probably say to make your life easier and just skip the Amex Platinum card and go for the Venture X instead.
Now, over on the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, there’s also going to be a pretty simple-to-use $300 annual travel credit that also helps to bring down the 550 annual fees here on this card to effectively $250. But then after that, it can be kind of hard to find the value to bring down the 250 cost any further.
As I said before, there are now more and more Chase lounges that are starting to pop up, which again was why I decided to get this card just a few months ago. So, I’m fine with paying a 250-effective annual fee for Chase Sapphire lounge access for myself and up to two free guests that I can bring as well.
Also, speaking of guest lounge access over on the Venture X card, it’s going to be similar here where you and up to two free guests can also get into the Capital One lounges. Still, on the Amex Platinum card, because of all the overcrowding and other stuff like that, they’ve actually decided to limit guest access.
Now, the only way to bring a guest for free is if they’re added as an authorized user or an additional Platinum card first. And adding that additional user actually costs $195 per year. So it’s not actually free at all. The Venture X and Sapphire Reserve are also just going to be much better everyday use cards too, because the Venture X has a spending multiplier of 2X miles per dollar on everything.
Plus, I’d say these are also more of just system cards because you can pair the Venture X card with something like the Capital One Saver One and a Capital One Duo setup. And then the Sapphire Reserve, you can combine that with other Chase cards out there like the Freedom Flex and the Freedom Unlimited, and even other Chase Inc. business cards as well. When combining all these types of cards into different duo setups, trifectas, and other credit card systems, you’re really going to be able just to amplify the overall value that each card provides because they sort of have these features that work better together.
But then, over on the Amex Platinum, I would say that this is more of just a standalone card that doesn’t really get any other enhancements when you decide to combine it with any other American Express cards. So it’s sort of like the Platinum card either works for you and gives you positive expected value, or it doesn’t. Now, where these cards are all going to be pretty similar, and it’s sort of a wash, is the fact that, first of all, they all come with credits to cover TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, which is honestly pretty standard.
And then they all have no foreign transaction fees, even though the Platinum card is not nearly going to be as widely accepted internationally as the Venture X and the Sapphire Reserve because those are going to be Visa Infinite cards. And then all these credit cards also have different forms of travel insurance that are all pretty good here.
Conclusion
just how good or how bad is the Amex Platinum card actually? Well, in my opinion, and based on my own experience with this card, it’s not going to be my favorite one in my wallet because it doesn’t get used that much for its multipliers. However, it is still a credit card that gives me positive value within my normal spending habits and my normal travel habits as well. So, to me, it’s really going to be another tool that I have to just help me out in my overall credit card strategy.
But then, to other people, it might just be sort of an overrated piece of metal with maybe some art in the front of it as well if you have one of the special designs. It’s really not a card that I honestly like to recommend that much just because I know that most people out there are probably not going to do what I do and go out and put in the work to make sure they’re getting the most value out of that $6.95 annual fee.
So it’s not really a card that I’m going to say is a must-have credit card, but if you run the numbers for yourself and if you travel a lot, then I do still think it’s one of, if not the best travel credit card on the market when you look at all the different benefits you get with this card.
