Comments on: American Express Platinum: Is it worth it? https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 19:41:02 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.7 By: Katie https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5799473 Fri, 14 Feb 2020 20:51:55 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5799473 Our family is not in the lifestyle bracket to typically use enough of the benefits to make it worth getting the Amex Platinum card, BUT…
We had the Amex gold card and got offered an upgrade to the Platinum. The timing was perfect as we were a few months out from joining a church missions trip for 2 weeks in Thailand.
Because it was an upgrade, it did not cause a hit on our credit report, and even better, the annual fee was prorated because we were already partway through our Gold card year. On top of that, we got a prorated refund for the remainder of our Gold cards’ annual fee… And we still got the 60,000 membership rewards points bonus after reaching out minimum spending!
But it gets even better… We had 4 gold cards (mine, as the account holder, and my husband and 2 teenage sons as authorized users). I upgraded only mine to Platinum and kept the authorized users as Gold. Amex lets you keep authorized users as Gold and then their cards have no annual fee, but they still EACH can get the TSA/Global Entry credit. I know it works because we did it! The 3 of us who went on the trip all applied for global entry in time to have our interviews when arriving back in LAX from Thailand, and it couldn’t have been easier!
By the way, we are also now spoiled for life by the lounges…wow! We made full use of that perk: the 3 of us visited lounges 6 different times. I didn’t add up what that would have cost if we paid for 18 entrance fees because of course without the card we wouldn’t have gone to the lounges… But we WOULD have had to buy a lot of meals on the 27 hour trip; instead, the food was so good and plentiful in the lounges that we were always stuffed and never bought a thing. The most memorable were homemade passion fruit jam in the Chiang Mai lounge and all-we-could-eat smoked salmon in the huge buffet in Bangkok, and stretching out and sleeping on comfy couches in Taipei.
Whether or not we end up paying the annual fee for another year will probably be a last minute decision based on if we are planning another international trip, which is pretty likely as our son absolutely loved his first trip to another country! For us, Global entry ($300)+Lounge access ($hundreds)+Airline incidentals ($200)=Worth It!

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By: Cliff Woodards II https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5799472 Fri, 14 Feb 2020 20:39:34 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5799472 In reply to Petra Lee Hocking.

Of course I don’t know what your personal and/or financial situation is but you’re not precluded from “cashing in” at all. You, like everyone else, are permitted to have multiple versions of the AMEX Platinum card (each of whom have a mininum 60,000 point bonus). You can acquire a personal and the business version of the Gold Card, as well as both the personal and business versions of the there Delta co-branded cards, as well as the Green Card.

Whether you choose to keep all, some or none of them past the first year of course is up to you (and AMEX to a certain extent ), but you could end up with over 500,000 MR points within a year.

Just a thought.

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By: Cliff Woodards II https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5799471 Fri, 14 Feb 2020 20:32:30 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5799471 I find it so hilarious when some people post comments “declaring” that a particular card is worthless to “everyone” simply because it doesn’t work for them personally. The author of this article quite extensively and clearly laid out the rationale for having or skipping this card, and it was excellently written.

To come behind her and completely mock her research is…well just infantile. Sure, almost everyone who reads these blogs and is involved in the points and miles game knows that the CSR travel credit is far more flexible than the Platinum card.

However, not everyone who travels flies in business class where you don’t have to worry about seat selection or baggage fees. There are a lot of us who are not specifically loyal to just one airline.

We have Delta, American and United co-branded cards, all of whom have free baggage but not free seat selection. We also will fly Spirit or Frontier to save a lot of dough to certain destinations. As everyone knows, passengers almost have to bring their own fuel on these budget carriers. Hence, the AMEX airline credit is quite useful in these situations.

To be truthful, the revamp of the AMEX Green Card should have a lot of people taking a second look at the CSR anyway. The CSR’s annual fee of $550 maybe offset with the $300 travel credit, but the Green Card’s fee of $150 is still $100 cheaper for essentially the same benefits, unless the Priority Pass lounges are of great importance. And if they are, you should go right back to considering the Platinum instead of the CSR. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

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By: AC https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5799452 Fri, 14 Feb 2020 13:22:29 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5799452 You forgot to include the International Airline Program (IAP) available through the Platinum card. Many people don’t use it (or even know about it) but you can save hundreds, and in some case thousands, on premium international air travel (Premium Economy, Business and First classes) through it.

Personally, I save $1100 a ticket for 3 tickets ($3300 total) by booking an open jaw business itinerary to Europe in business class on the airline I wanted with the dates/connections I preferred through the IAP versus what the airline’s website was selling the EXACT same seats! If I didn’t have the Platinum card (or know about the IAP) I would have either paid over $3000 more for the flights I preferred or settled for sub-optimal connections, routing and/or carrier choices. BTW the IAP on my preferred routing/airline was STILL $200-$250 a ticket cheaper than the lowest price I could find anywhere searching over a month.

Well worth mentioning IMHO.

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By: AC https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5799451 Fri, 14 Feb 2020 13:18:31 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5799451 In reply to Luke Vader.

I have both the Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve (along with 5-6 others). IMHO, they both provide value well beyond the $550 annual fee. I understand if some people can’t afford that or don’t travel enough to get the benefits but I do.

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By: Andrew Wan https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5797450 Tue, 31 Dec 2019 06:34:11 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5797450 In reply to Luke Vader.

Yep, it’s a good reminder to always do an analysis of each card’s benefits to see what it’s worth to you personally based on your travel and spending habits. For those who make use of the Amex Platinum’s credits, like the $200 airline fee credit and $200 in Uber Cash, it makes a huge dent in the card’s annual fee.

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By: Luke Vader https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5797444 Tue, 31 Dec 2019 00:30:53 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5797444 Q: Is the American Express Platinum worth the annual fee?
A: Hell, no (for the great majority of people).

The Amex Platinum reminds me of all the large stuffed animals you see at carnival booths. If you are one of the miniscule few who can toss a small ring over the coke bottle and take home one of the large (stuffed) animals, good for you. But most folks will find it a frustrating waste of time and money.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve, on the other hand, offers high-quality benefits that are far easier to use. The CSR doesn’t involve stupid games (like with the Amex annual airline fee credit) that lead to breakage (unclaimed benefits). It’s as if the CSR offers (for example) 5 high-quality benefits; while the Amex Platinum offers 15 benefits, of which 12 are minimally useful/usable.

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By: Petra Lee Hocking https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5790288 Wed, 17 Jul 2019 05:24:58 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5790288 I have been a loyal American Express member for 35 years and during that time I have enjoyed many of the card benefits. I have never however, received bonus loyalty points for my loyalty and I am tired of seeing the massive amounts of points being given away free to new members just for joining American Express. I recently sent a letter expressing my dissatisfaction to Rachel Stocks. It was answered by Amir T who suggested that I have always enjoyed the benefits of being an AMEX member, which I believe I have acknowledged with my loyalty over the years. He then went on to say that they must treat all customers equally, which THEY DO NOT as new customers receive huge amounts of bonus points with minimum spends. Mr Amir T then suggested that if I am dissatisfied I can complain to the Australian Complaints Authority. So much for customer privileges and loyalty. Thank you, American Express!

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By: Andrew W https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5779822 Mon, 18 Feb 2019 17:44:05 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5779822 In reply to Paul.

Hi Paul!

Woohoo! Glad you were able to find a lounge.

I was stuck for ~3 hours flying out of terminal 5 at JFK one time, with no access to a lounge, and boy was it unpleasant!

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By: Paul https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/is-the-american-express-platinum-card-worth-it/#comment-5779721 Sat, 16 Feb 2019 14:52:55 +0000 https://rvprmmsprd.wpengine.com/?p=539566#comment-5779721 Agree with all that. Yesterday I found myself with three hours at OAK airport. The Escape lounge offered a wonderful respite from the crazy busy terminal. Love my Amex cards for all the benefits — especially the offers. Not cheap up front but pays (back) for itself quickly. YMMV.

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