The long-awaited refresh of The Platinum Card® from American Express has come and gone, and now, many cardmembers, myself included, are crunching the numbers on whether they should keep or cancel their cards.
Everyone’s calculus will be different, but as someone who’s been following the premium credit card space closely for the past decade, the changes from American Express — on both the personal and business versions of the card — show that the issuer isn’t just serious about competing fiercely with Chase and Capital One. It’s also trying to one-up them.
Whether it’s providing more value in terms of the credits that cardmembers receive or a higher annual fee, just about everything with the Platinum Card is designed to beat the competition.
The Platinum Card® from American Express — Find out your offer: You may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new card in your first six months of membership. Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.
But is that necessarily a good thing, and are the changes compelling enough to keep this credit card aficionado hooked? Read on for my full take.
Highest-ever annual fee
Let’s cut right to the chase. The revamped Amex Platinum carries the highest-ever annual fee for a premium credit card. At $895 a year (see rates and fees), you’ll need to cough up some serious cash before you even start swiping the card or reaping the benefits.
Even though some rumors had it that the Platinum Card might become the first to have an annual fee that tops $1,000 a year, $895 isn’t that far off. Plus, it sits well above the $395-a-year fee the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card carries and the $795 annual fee the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees) has.
Sure, Amex may really be leaning into the premium market — a trend we’ve seen adopted in recent years at airlines and hotels — but the new annual fee will sting for everyone. Even those with the deepest pockets likely aren’t thrilled about forking over nearly $1,000 each year.
On the other hand, for those who thought the previous $695 annual fee was already steep, adding $200 on top of that will likely be a deal-breaker.
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So, no matter how you slice it, $895 is a tough pill to swallow.
It positions the Platinum Card as the most expensive premium card yet, and while that may be the market Amex is going after, I can’t help but think several people will cancel simply because of the fee.
Related: How to decide if a credit card’s annual fee is worth paying
Recoup the fee and then get credit
If you can stomach (or be convinced to stomach) the $895 annual fee, things start looking better pretty quickly.
That’s because recouping your annual fee shouldn’t take too much work. In my mind, that’s thanks to the new up to $400 Resy dining statement credit (up to $100 each quarter at U.S. Resy restaurants and on other eligible purchases; enrollment is required) and the revamped $600 hotel statement credit (split into two up to $300 semiannual credits) on prepaid American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel®. Note: The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
I live in New York City and frequently dine at Resy restaurants. Going forward, I’ll just need to ensure I pay with my Platinum Card on checks exceeding $100 each quarter. As such, in my calculus, I value this credit at $400, which in and of itself pays for the incremental increase in the annual fee.
I far prefer Amex’s dining credit to Chase’s semiannual $300 credit on the revamped Sapphire Reserve, simply because there are far more restaurants affiliated with Resy than there are with Chase’s Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables.
Since many properties on Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection retail for more than $300 a night, using this credit will likely involve some out-of-pocket expenses, but I’m nevertheless still excited about highly discounted stays at top luxury resorts.
I’ll likely need to hotel hop (and/or combine credits and redemptions at The Edit by Chase Travel℠ collection with my Sapphire Reserve) to extend my stay beyond a night or two without breaking the bank.
Tracking your benefits
One area where Amex needed to seriously improve was with the usability and utility of its credits.
For years, the Platinum Card has been referred to in the industry as a glorified “coupon book.”
That’s because there have historically been terms associated with each credit. Some expire monthly, some annually and some at other intervals in the calendar.
Plus, Amex’s credits generally require enrollment and, in the case of the airline statement credit (up to $200 annually), selecting a preferred airline each year.
This likely leads to some breakage on the credits (good for Amex’s bottom line) but doesn’t necessarily generate goodwill with the cardmember.
The good news is that Amex seems to have listened to the feedback with its revamped mobile app experience, which launched in tandem with the Platinum Card.
The app has a new benefits enrollment flow that allows you to enroll and see all your combined benefit statuses at a glance. Amex’s digital team was intentional about making benefit tracking faster and easier, Stewart Kendall, Amex’s senior vice president of enterprise digital experiences, told me in an interview. Further improvements to the digital benefit tracking experience are expected in the coming months as well.
Brands that excite me
In my opinion, one area where Amex has improved the value proposition of both personal and business cards is in terms of the brands it is partnering with.
While the annual up to $155 Walmart+ statement credit (Plus Ups excluded; enrollment required; subject to auto-renewal) still sticks around (this one is still a head-scratcher, as it doesn’t necessarily appear at face value to be a premium tie-up), several of the new credits are associated with brands that will surely be popular with large swaths of cardmembers.
This includes:
- Resy (up to $400 statement credit broken into up to $100 quarterly)
- Lululemon (up to $300 statement credit broken into up to $75 quarterly for U.S. store purchases, excluding outlets, and online purchases)
- Oura (up to $200 statement credit each year)
- Expanded suite of digital entertainment partners that now includes Paramount+, YouTube Premium and YouTube TV (up to $300 statement credit each year, broken up to $25 monthly)
- Enrollment is required for these benefits
But going back to the point around utility, the Oura credit offers up to $200 each year toward the purchase of an Oura Ring specifically. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t necessarily need to buy one of these trackers each year, especially considering that they retail for more than $200.
So, while the brands are certainly more appealing to these millennial eyes, using them will not always be easy.
Lounge overcrowding persists
One thing that was noticeably absent in the Platinum Card announcement was a prominent mention of Centurion Lounge access. (It didn’t come until page No. 4.)
That might be by design.
After all, while Amex continues to invest in a stellar network of airport outposts, overcrowding has become a real issue in recent years. Short of making drastic changes to access policies, the issuer cannot do much to solve it.
Sure, we’ll soon get new Sidecar outposts that’ll expand capacity and be perfect for travelers in a rush, but ultimately, lounge capacity is always going to be an issue in airports due to space constraints. And that’s even after accounting for the people who cancel their cards due to the increased fee.
So, for the traveler who likes the Platinum Card for access to the Centurion Lounge, seemingly nothing will change about overcrowding.
I’m not sure how popular I’ll be for saying this, but perhaps capping the number of annual visits like the issuer has done at Delta’s Sky Clubs could help alleviate some overcrowding.
At least the issuer will now provide estimated wait times in the mobile app before you head to a full Centurion Lounge.
Related: 5 ways to ensure you have lounge access before your next flight
Still not a spending card
Perhaps the most surprising part of Amex’s announcement is that the card still isn’t a good one for spending. No new multipliers were introduced, meaning that for most people, the card can sit in the sock drawer after you use your credits.
The exception is The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, which offers new statement credits after spending $250,000 a year. However, aside from convenience and the multiplier on select travel purchases, most users would be better off using a different credit card for everyday spending.
That’s in stark contrast to Chase’s and Capital One’s premium card strategy, where spending multipliers are a big part of the value you can capture with the card.
With Amex, you’ll want to simply check off all your credits one by one. Once you’re finished, put the most expensive premium card in the back of your wallet — and just be sure to whip it out when you need to access the Sky Club or Centurion Lounge.
To learn more, read our full review of the Amex Platinum.
Apply here: The Platinum Card from American Express
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.