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    Amex Announces Big Changes to the Platinum Card

    icon-user Erik Van Dootingh icon-comments 1 Comments June 25, 2020

    Ever since Chase released the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Amex has been playing catch up in the premium card market. Amex’s first response was far less than hoped for – they added 5X earning on airfare to the personal card and the ability to receive a 50% points rebate for premium cabin booking to the business card.

    Amex recently announced a slew of additional enhancements that improve the benefits of the The Platinum Card® from American Express, however they also announced an increase in the annual fee. The following changes go into effect March 30. We detail the benefits and discuss if they are worth the increase in the annual fee.

    1. Annual Fee Increasing from $450 to $550
    In typical Amex fashion, nothing comes free. For existing card holders, the higher annual fee will take effect beginning on their first renewal date after September 1st 2017. For new applicants, the higher annual fee will begin for those applying on or after March 30, 2017. The extra $100 cost of holding this card is the context in which the new benefits must be analyzed.

    2. $200 in Annual Uber Credits
    Cardholders will receive $200 of Uber credits per year simply by adding your The Platinum Card® from American Express as a payment option to your Uber account. You don’t actually have to pay with the The Platinum Card® from American Express, which is nice because you can still use a card that receives a travel category bonus. However, the manner in which these credits are distributed significantly reduces the value of this benefit and many people will not be able to get the full $200 out of it.

    The credits are distributed in $15 monthly increments and they do not rollover from month to month. So, it’s really a use it or lose it monthly benefit. There is an additional $20 credit in December (for a total of $35) which brings the annual total to $200. For people that use Uber on a regular basis, this benefit more than covers the cost of the annual fee increase, but for people that only use Uber on occasion, it may only be worth a fraction of the potential value.


    As a side benefit, cardholders will also receive Uber VIP status. The primary benefit is that riders are granted access to only the highest-rated drivers and best vehicles. Some people have complained about longer wait times however, so you may wish to skip this benefit.

    3. Complimentary Guests with Priority Pass Select
    Amex made a bizarre decision to not advertise this benefit in their press release detailing all the changes. Instead, they simply updated the terms and conditions and left everyone to figure it out for themselves. This is a significant improvement over the previous terms which didn’t allow for any complimentary guests. The other premium segment cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Citi Prestige® Card) both allow complimentary guests with their Priority Pass Select memberships.

    Amex has historically been stingy with its lounge access benefits as both the Priority Pass and Delta Sky Club access only applied to the primary cardholder. For people traveling with family and friends, having lounge access only for the cardholder is often a useless benefit. Such people should find this benefit much more useful now. The free food, drinks, and privacy of lounge access can add up to a lot of value, especially for frequent travelers.

    4. 5X Membership Rewards on Hotels when Booked Through Amex Travel
    Extra points earning opportunities are always nice, but the usefulness of this benefit is limited. When booking through amextravel.com you typically don’t earn the rewards directly from the loyalty program of the hotel. Therefore, this is mostly useful when booking at a non-chain hotel that doesn’t have a loyalty program. This benefit also does not apply to hotels booked through the Fine Hotels and Resorts program.

    You get 5x now when booking hotels through Amex Travel

    5. Complimentary Gold Cards for Authorized Users
    Currently, adding Gold cards to your Platinum account for authorized users costs $45 each. Going forward, these cards will be free. Authorized user Gold cards don’t receive benefits of the The Platinum Card® from American Express, so it’s kind of pathetic that Amex would charge us for the privilege of spending more money on the account. While most people probably use this benefit, for those that do it’s nice that Amex is reconsidering the nickel and dime approach they have used in the past.

    6. New Metal Card Design
    This change is long overdue. Many premium cards are made of metal now including the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the Ritz-Carlton card, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Marriott Rewards Premier card, and other cards issued directly by the payment networks. Paying a $450 or more annual fee to get a cheap feeling piece of plastic just doesn’t feel right. While this enhancement doesn’t have any monetary value, it is an improvement nonetheless.

    7. Access to New Global Dining Collection
    This is another benefit that most people will never use, but for those looking for a rare dining experience Amex has partnered with world renowned chefs to create private dining experiences. The Platinum Card® from American Express cardholders will receive exclusive reserved seating.

    Are the new benefits worth the higher annual fee?

    The answer to this question will depend on the travel habits of each individual. The first two benefits above (Uber credit and lounge access) are the primary ways in which additional monetary value can be realized from the upgrade. If you know that you will be able to use at least half of the Uber credits, then you’ve already reached the break even point. If you typically travel with family or friends that you will now be able to take into Priority Pass lounges, you can assign a value to each trip and estimate how many times you will use the benefit. It’s reasonable to assume $10-15 per trip in free food and drinks per person. This can add up quickly for frequent travelers.

    Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

    UGC Disclosure: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

    Which Card Is Better – Amex Platinum Personal vs. Business?

    Erik Van Dootingh 0 Comments June 29, 2020

    Amex has been announcing a series of changes to both the personal and business versions of the Platinum card over the past several months. The pace of these announcements has increased in recent weeks, and now the differences between the two cards are greater than ever before.

    It used to be the case that the benefits overlapped so much that the only major difference to consider was the size and availability of earning a sign-up bonus. Now that these cards are no longer near replicas, there are many factors to consider when deciding which version is right for you. In this piece, we will focus on the unique benefits of each card and how each provides value depending on your travel and spending habits.

    Amex The Business Platinum Card from American Express

    • 50% Points Rebate for “Pay with Points” Airfare Purchases

    When you book airfare through the Amex travel website and use the pay with points option, you will receive 50% of your points back for any flight on your selected airline, plus 50% of your points back for business or first class flights on any other airline. Your selected airline is the same one you select for the annual $200 airline fee credit.

    If you plan on doing a lot of pay with points bookings, this feature may be a more important consideration than how you will recoup the $200 in fee credits.

    This is an awesome feature because it ensures you can get 2 cents per point for airline bookings. The 2 cents per mile threshold is a goal many travel hackers aim for when making award bookings.

    With so many airlines devaluing their award charts over the years, this has become more difficult to attain. In addition, some airlines have sharply reduced award availability, especially in premium cabins.

    However, when you pay with points you don’t have to worry about either of these problems. You simply find any revenue ticket and redeem your points at guaranteed rate. Traditionally, the Platinum card has been useful for its array of benefits, but not so much for points earning and redeeming. This feature changes that.

    • 5x Points Earned on Purchases of $5000 or More

    While most people may not have the spending power to take advantage of this benefit, for those running decent sized businesses, it may be a common occurrence. You can earn up to a million bonus points per year using this feature.

      • 10 Complimentary Gogo in-flight wi-fi Passes Per Year

      Wi-fi on airplanes remains incredibly expensive. The ability to log on 10 times per year for free can save a bundle of money for those need to stay connected in the sky.

        The Platinum Card® from American Express

        • 5x Points on Airfare Booked Directly with Airlines

        Both versions of the card offer 5x points earning on airfare and prepaid hotels booked via the Amex travel website, but only the personal version offers this benefit when booking directly with the airline. This is valuable because Amex’s search engine will often not find the cheapest flight. If you find a cheaper flight via other means, such as Google flights, you can book directly with the airline and earn more points while also saving money.

        • Up to $200 per Year in Uber Credits

        One of the recently announced benefits is a $15 per month Uber credit, which can be used simply by adding your Platinum card as a payment option in your Uber account. You don’t actually have to pay with the Platinum card to use the credit. There is a $20 bonus in December which gets the annual total up to $200. Unfortunately, these credits do not roll over from month to month.

        • New Metal Card Design

        In an effort to appeal to those seeking a higher-end feeling product, Amex will be sending out new metal Platinum cards. Chase has been doing this for a while with cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and Ritz-Carlton card.

        Difference in Annual Fees

        When Amex announced the recent list of changes, it came along with some bad news for holders of the personal version of the card. The annual fee for the personal card will be increasing to $550 while the annual fee for the business version will remain at $450.

        Which Card Offers More Value?

        For most people, the clear winner is the business card. The ability to get 2 cents per point on a wide variety of airline bookings without having to transfer points to partners and find award availability significantly increases the value of your Membership Rewards. Even for people that consistently hit that threshold by using points transfers, this makes the points more flexible. The GoGo wi-fi passes are also a nice perk.

        For the personal version, the Uber credits are nice, but only people who use Uber every month will be able to get full value out of the benefit. Even if you fall into that category, the net benefit is only $100 because the annual fee is $100 higher. We would only recommend the personal version for those who can use nearly the full amount of Uber credits and will not likely be redeeming a significant number of points via the pay with points option.

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