The American Express Platinum Card is a premium travel credit card that offers a host of benefits and perks to cardholders. From exclusive travel benefits to personalized concierge service, the Platinum Card is a favorite among frequent travelers and luxury consumers.
What is the American Express Platinum Card?
The American Express Platinum Card is a premium credit card that offers a range of benefits and rewards for frequent travelers. With a $695 annual fee (as of April 2023), the Platinum Card is geared toward consumers who are willing to pay for luxury travel experiences and exclusive perks.
What are the Benefits of the American Express Platinum Card?
The benefits of the American Express Platinum Card are numerous, and they cover a wide range of travel-related expenses. Here are just a few of the benefits you can expect with the Platinum Card:
- Travel credits: The Platinum Card offers up to $200 in annual airline fee credits, $200 in Uber credits, and up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credits.
- Airport lounge access: Cardholders can enjoy access to more than 1,200 airport lounges around the world, including the Centurion Lounge network, Priority Pass, and Delta Sky Club lounges.
- Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit: The Platinum Card offers a statement credit for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, which can help expedite the airport security process.
- Elite hotel status: Cardholders can enjoy elite status with hotel partners such as Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy, which can offer perks like free room upgrades and late checkout.
- Personalized concierge service: Platinum Card members can access a 24/7 concierge service for help with travel planning, dining reservations, and more.
- Premium travel insurance: The Platinum Card offers travel accident insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, and car rental loss and damage insurance, among other types of coverage.
Is the American Express Platinum Card Worth the Annual Fee?
Whether the American Express Platinum Card is worth the annual fee ultimately depends on your travel habits and preferences. If you frequently travel for business or pleasure and can take advantage of the card’s many benefits, then the $695 annual fee may be worth it.
For example, if you travel often enough to use the $200 airline fee credit, $200 Uber credit, and $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit, then you’ve already offset more than half of the annual fee. Additionally, if you value airport lounge access, hotel status, and concierge service, then the Platinum Card may be a good fit for your lifestyle.
However, if you don’t travel frequently or don’t value the card’s perks, then the annual fee may be too steep. It’s important to do your own research and compare credit cards to determine which one is best suited for your needs.
How to Apply for the American Express Platinum Card
To apply for the American Express Platinum Card, you can visit the American Express website or call the customer service number. You’ll need to provide personal and financial information, including your income, credit score, and employment status.
In addition, it’s important to note that the Platinum Card requires a high credit score and income, so not everyone may be eligible. If you’re unsure if you qualify, you can use American Express’s pre-qualification tool to see if you’re a good candidate before applying.
American Express Platinum Fees and Other Costs
Amex Fees
As discussed above, the Platinum Card has a $695 annual fee. This isn’t waived for the first year, so you’ll start paying it as soon as you’re approved for the card. However, if you’re an active-duty servicemember, you could be able to get the Amex Platinum without the annual fee.
The card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, but it does have the Amex Pay Over Time financing option (rather than paying your statement balance in full each month), See Pay Over Time APR to see your rates. Other fees include:
- Late payment fee: Up to $40
- Cash advance fee: $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater
If you’re considering this card, make sure you’re able to pay your statement balance in full each month — both because the interest fees will rack up quickly if you don’t, and there are better 0% credit card offers for carrying a balance from month to month.
Amex Credits
The American Express Platinum is unparalleled when it comes to the number of statement credits it offers. Here’s a complete list:
- Up to $200 annual airline fee credit
- Up to $200 in Uber Cash each year ($15 per month, with an extra $20 in December)
- Up to $100 in Saks credit ($5o each for the first and second half of the year)
- Up to $100 credit to cover the cost for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Up to $200 hotel credit
- $189 credit for CLEAR® expedited security screening program
- Up to $240 digital entertainment credit (up to $20 per month for eligible services)
- Up to $300 Equinox credit
- Walmart+ membership credit
- $300 SoulCycle at-home bike credit
Is the Amex Platinum Worth the Annual Fee?
Whether or not the Amex Platinum is worth the yearly fee ultimately comes down to your preferences as a cardholder, and whether you can take advantage of the card’s many travel-related benefits and statement credits.
If you value things like Centurion Lounge access, complimentary elite status with Hilton and Marriott, and extras like the annual airline fee credit, it could very well be worth paying the $695 to hold this card. But if you don’t travel very often and don’t think you’ll be able to put the card’s many benefits to use, you’ll likely be better off with another of the best rewards credit cards—some of which have annual fees under $100.
Amex Platinum Review: Is it the Best Card for You?
If you want a premium rewards card — one with benefits like airport lounge access and annual statement credits for travel — the Platinum Card® from American Express should absolutely be on your shortlist. It has a $695 annual fee, but you get some great perks in return, including access to fancy Centurion lounges at airports around the world.
While most of its benefits are related to travel — such as complimentary elite status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy** and up to $200 in annual airline fee credits** — the Platinum Card has added new perks like digital subscription credits** and Equinox membership credits** to help offset the annual fee.
The Platinum Card earns American Express Membership Rewards points that you can transfer to more than a dozen airline and hotel partners. If you don’t travel much to begin with, this probably isn’t the card for you. But if you travel frequently and want as many premium perks as possible and don’t get an invite for the exclusive Amex Black card, this is the next best thing.
Amex Platinum Rewards
Welcome Bonus
The Platinum Card comes with a welcome offer of 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $6,000 on purchases on the Card in the first six months of card membership. Based on our rewards program valuations, the current welcome bonus is worth about $1,440, which alone makes up for more than two years of the annual fee.
How to Earn Points
The Platinum Card doesn’t have a terribly complicated earning structure. Cardholders earn:
- 5 points per dollar on airfare purchased directly through the airline or through Amex Travel (on up to $500,000 per calendar year)
- 5 points per dollar on hotels booked through Amex Travel
- 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases
How to use Amex Membership Rewards points
The Platinum Card earns Membership Rewards points, the currency of Amex’s loyalty program. You can exchange them for statement credits or cash back, use them to book travel through Amex’s travel website or transfer them to any of 17 airline and three hotel transfer partners (transferable points like these are among the most valuable).
Membership Rewards points don’t have a fixed value, so it’s a bit tricky to figure out how much they’re worth. To get an idea, Insider’s rewards experts developed a set of points and miles valuations, which approximates the value of each Amex point at 1.8 cents on average, though it’s possible to get a lesser or much greater value depending on how you use them.
If you transfer points to airline frequent-flyer programs and use them to fly round-trip to Europe — or even one-way in first class — you could end up getting a much higher value.
Conclusion
The American Express Platinum Card offers a wide range of benefits and perks for frequent travelers and luxury consumers. From airport lounge access to personalized concierge service, the Platinum