Is the American Express Platinum Card Worth It?

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The American Express Platinum Card has long held its status as THE premiere card to have in your wallet. Recently, however, they increased an already pricey annual fee from $550 to a whopping $695 making a lot of people ask “Is the American Express Platinum Card worth it?” This made it one of the most expensive cards to maintain. To combat this, American Express has jam-packed the card with a multitude of different perks and benefits that help make up for the new fee. Sign up using our referral link, and you’re eligible for a 100,000 point sign-up bonus, we’ve seen people use these for round trip business class seats to Europe from the US!

Travel Specific Perks and Credits

Like all credit cards, there are great ways to maximize your earnings when using them. In the case of the American Express Platinum Card, you will find your biggest bang for your buck through airlines and hotels. When you book any flights, upgrades, or in-flight purchases, you will automatically get 5 points for every $1 you spend. This can really rack up quickly, especially if you’re one who travels frequently. The best part of this perk is that you do not have to use the American Express website. You can book directly with your favorite airline and still qualify!

You are also entitled to 5x points on your hotel purchases, but there is a caveat here, you MUST use the American Express travel portal to book the room. This makes it a little bit more work to book your hotels, but we’ve found that the prices are competitive and oftentimes you can book now and pay later if you need to.

Hotel Credit – $200

If you do end up booking for your hotel through the travel portal, you can earn a $200 per year credit by choosing one of the hotels in The Hotel Collection or the Fine Hotels+ Resorts Collection. These tend to be more of the premium level of hotels, complete with premium level amenities, but knowing you can save $200 on the cost overall, sometimes it’s worth it to splurge a little!

Airline Fee Credit – $200

This is one that is extremely easy to cash in on each year, but you do have to select an airline that you wish to use the credit for. Each year in January, you can change your airline partner, so this isn’t a decision you’re stuck with for life. Once you’ve selected your airline partner, this will reimburse you for pretty much any purchase made with that airline, outside of the actual ticket purchases themselves. So, if you upgrade to business class, splurge on lounge access, or even have to pay a baggage fee, you’ll see the credit show up on your statement for the amount spent up to $200 each year. The easiest way to take advantage of this? Purchase your tickets without paying for anything extra, then come back and upgrade your seats or purchase any add-ons you would like. Boom, instant credit!

Lounge Access

Frequent fliers LOVE heading to the lounge, and honestly, who wouldn’t? Availability is largely determined by the lounge you are in, but who doesn’t love free drinks, free food, relaxing comfortable chairs, semi-private bathrooms, showers, and sometimes… even spas! With the American Express Platinum Card, you get access to a ton of different lounges, including the Centurion Lounge which offers you the most choices on free drinks and food!

Outside of the Centurion Lounge, you also get complimentary access to the Delta Sky Lounge, Airspace, Escape Lounged, Plaza Premium, Lufthansa Lounge, and other global partners. Not enough lounges for you? The American Express Platinum Card gets you a membership to Priority Pass as well so you can find even MORE lounges available to you on your travels!

Clear, TSA Precheck/Global Entry credits – $179 or $80/100

There are many different ways to get through airport security and customs these days, and now, you can take advantage of most of them just from having the American Express Platinum Card! When you purchase your clear membership, you will get a statement credit for the cost of the membership. This can be extremely handy when you are in an airport that has a lot of TSA precheck users like Los Angeles. You get to go through your own custom line and then the Clear agent will escort you directly to the front of the line on where you need to go next. It really is a no-brainer!

But, that being said, Clear doesn’t replace TSA Precheck and Global Entry, it’s more of an accompaniment to them. If you only fly domestic flights in the US, you can just go for TSA Precheck, which will give you its own dedicated line, oftentimes significantly shorter than the normal TSA lines, which means you’re through security much quicker. Plus, you no longer have to take things off like shoes and belts and can just put things into your carry-on instead of unloading them into those gray plastic trays. However, even if you only fly domestic, it’s worth getting your Global Entry status because if you ever decide to take a flight out of the US, your return will be SO much quicker through customs. Plus, if you get Global Entry, you automatically get enrolled in TSA Precheck as well, win-win!

Trip Canceleation, Interruption, Delay, and Baggage Insurance

Whew, that headline is quite a mouthful! But that’s the level of insurance that you get automatically when you book your travel with your American Express Platinum Card. Each one of these has its own requirements in order for them to be used, but generally speaking, you are covered on your round trip tickets when your trip is canceled, or delayed by more than 6 hours. If your bag gets lost or stolen, you are also covered by these amazing perks!

Complimentary Gold Status Upgrades

So now that we’ve gotten through some of the initial cash value perks, there are some additional upgrades that you get when you are approved for your American Express Platinum Card.

Car Rental Upgrades

You might not need one on every trip, but sometimes you just have to rent a car, but who do you use? Well, now you are likely to reach for either Avis, Hertz, or National because you’ve just unlocked automatic gold status upgrades with all three of them. You can save significantly on car rentals, in some cases up to 50%, and get to take advantage of not having to even stop at the counter after your first rental. Once you’ve signed up and made your first rental, you can do everything through the app, including choosing your vehicle, and the app will tell you which spot your rental car is in. Hop in and get to enjoying your trip that much quicker!

Hotel Upgrades

You’ve gotten off your flight, picked up your sweet rental car, and have gotten to your hotel to check-in and you’re greeted with a complimentary room upgrade and automatic late check out of 4 PM. You feel like you’ve been added to some magical guest list, and honestly, you have in a sense. Not only do you get specific perks directly from your American Express Platinum Card such as the late check-out time, but you’ve also chosen to stay at either the Hilton or the Marriot families of hotels because you’ve automatically earned gold status with them! Each partner has their own benefits that come with this upgrade, so it is worth signing up for both of them and seeing which one is your favorite!

US Specific Perks

If you’re based in the US, there are additional perks that you can take advantage of as well.

Digital Entertainment Credit – $240

This perk is actually one of the most limiting ones, but if you’re in the market for any of these services, you will get statement credits for up to $20 per month when you pay for them using your American Express Platinum Card. Hopefully, they extend these out to some of the more widely used entertainment platforms, but for now, you can get credits on Peacock, Audible, Sirius XM, and the New York Times memberships.

Walmart+ Subscription

Let’s face it, home delivery for groceries is one of the greatest things since sliced bread. With Walmart+, you no longer have any minimum amounts to reach to receive free shipping and same-day delivery on your groceries. Why get dressed, drive to the store, and then have to deal with actually grocery shopping when you can just place your order and have it delivered directly to your house. As long as your membership is paid with your American Express Platinum Card, you’ll receive a monthly statement credit.

Uber Cash – $200

Ok, so maybe the only thing better than home grocery delivery is restaurant delivery and/or a ride to and from drinks with friends. When you attach your American Express Platinum Card to your Uber account, you’ll automatically get $15 deposited as Uber Cash each month into your account. These do expire each month so you can’t just save them up, but that’s like getting a free ride home from your local sports team game each month!

Equinox/Soul Cycle Credit – $300

Looking to add some exercise to your life? You have a couple of different ways to cut down the cost! You can either sign up for the Equinox or Equinox + memberships which offer you in-person and digital memberships to the high-quality gym or, you can purchase a soul cycle at-home bike. Either way, you’re eligible for up to $300 in statement credits when you sign up and pay for them with your American Express Platinum Card.

This is just starting to scratch the surface of the perks and rewards you get by signing up for the American Express Platinum Card. You can read up on the entire spread of benefits on the American Express website. These perks and benefits do change from time to time so it’s always good to check out what is the latest, just remember to use our referral sign-up link to get 100,000 free points!