American Express Platinum Card may be the best premium credit card for travel perks

Through the two-plus years this website has been in operation, we’ve frequently discussed the value and opportunities presented by both mid-level and “premium” credit cards. We hold several no-fee or low-fee credit cards that provide benefits (e.g., a United Card that more than pays for itself in “free” bags), but figuring out whether to pay a yearly fee simply to spend money requires a careful calculation. Prior to the pandemic we had the pricey Chase Sapphire Reserve, but once we effectively lost the airport lounge benefits (due to a lack of travel and/or the temporary closing of certain lounges) the balance tipped toward canceling it.

Now we’re back in the game – not with the same Chase card, or even a MasterCard/Visa product, but rather with the first American Express card either of us has carried in a few decades. It’s the American Express Platinum.

It wasn’t an easy decision, simply because the card is so costly right out of the gate: $695 for the primary cardholder, plus $175 for each additional card. Since each of us has to have the card to max out the benefits, that’s $870 for the privilege of spending more. Prior to our trip to Mexico, we ran a back-of-the-napkin set of calculations and figured that it was time to jump back in.

Once we made that decision, Hanna hopped online and was approved in less than five minutes. Even before we had the card we were able to use certain benefits with Uber and at the DFW Centurion Lounge.

The Benefits

Consistent with its price, there are lots of high end benefits associated with the Platinum Card. I don’t consider them to be “worth it” unless you were already going to make that purchase or use that service. Nevertheless, our list of pros and cons indicated that there are a lot of benefits that we were otherwise paying for that would now be reimbursed under the card.

After making $6,000 in purchases in the first six months – an easy mark to hit since we already put most of the monthly expenses on a card – Hanna will get 125,000 AmEx Membership Rewards, which should earn her a flight somewhere. They rewards points can be transferred to other carriers with whom we already have accounts. While that’s worth at least a few hundred dollars, we didn’t include it in our basic calculation. We wanted to see if the other reimbursements and perks would be enough. There are a lot of them, many we were already using, some we were not.

Book airplane and hotel reservations through the dedicated American Express web travel portal

What We’ve Already Earned

Against that steep initial $870 cost, here are the benefits we’ve already reaped or which we will definitely use going forward.

Digital Entertainment Credit – The card provides up to $20 in statement credits each month on one or more of the following: The Disney Bundle, Disney, Hulu, ESPN+, Peacock, The New York Times, Audible, and SiriusXM. Since we already have SiriusXM in multiple vehicles, that’s $240.
Monthly Uber Credit -- We can be reimbursed $15 in Uber Cash for orders with Uber Eats or rides with Uber in the U.S. each month, plus a bonus $20 in December. We took an Uber to the airport in June, so that’s $15. (Unfortunately our Uber home was also in June, so we didn’t earn the second credit).
Saks Credit – The card provides a $50 statement credit at Saks Fifth Avenue every six months. Saks sells Hanna’s makeup (a product that few carry and no one discounts) and she needed more, so she already reaped that $50 credit.
CLEAR Credit – We have become big fans of the CLEAR airport security program and we’ve paid for it the past few years. When it’s time to renew, AmEx will provide a statement credit of $189.

Right there, that’s $494, leaving us $376 short. Of course, there are still 11 months left on that first year, and we’ve already used some other benefits. For example:

Lounge Access – One of the primary draws for us was the card’s access to a wide range of airport lounges. There are several at IAD, one of our home airports, and while there are limited options at DCA, our other home airport, they’ll have a Centurion Lounge in the next few months. On the way to Mazatlan, we went through Dallas, and used the Centurion Lounge there for full meals each way. On the way down, we also took our friends Jennifer Combs and Aaron Rygas for breakfast. I figure that breakfast otherwise would have cost us about $15 each, but I won’t count theirs since we otherwise wouldn’t have paid for them, so make it a $30 value. [Note: In February 2023, the ability to bring guests into the Centurion Lounges for free will end except for card members who spend more than $75k in a year, a group that likely does not include us.] On the way home, it was just me and Hanna, but we got a full dinner out of it. I value that in the range of $20 apiece (we might’ve spent more, but I’m being conservative), so that’s $40. At the Mazatlan airport we had soft drinks and snacks at the small Premium Oma Lounge. I figure that saved us $10 we otherwise would have spent at the small gift shop there.

Adding that $80 into the mix, we’re at $574, or $296 short of the break even point, after just a month.

The bar at the American Express Centurion Lounge at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport

Benefits We May Not Use

The card bestows upon us premium status at certain car rental companies and hotel chains. I’m not going to count those because we wouldn’t have spent on those things otherwise. Furthermore, of course I cannot count the $300 Equinox gym statement credit since we don’t belong to Equinox.

While it’s a premium card, it does offer some “blue collar” benefits, including a Walmart+ monthly membership, which otherwise would cost $12.95 a month. That’s $155 a year, and we signed up, but since I’m not really sure what that gets us (free delivery and free shipping, which we didn’t really need, since we have Amazon Prime), I don’t know if it’s a meaningful net benefit.

There are also airline fee credits – you get to pick one airline and then any baggage fees or other incidentals on that carrier up to $200 are reimbursed, and hotel credits for reservations made through American Express travel. I think those will provide some value but I’m not sure.

Transparent Analysis

Being the geek that I am, I already have a spreadsheet tracking what we use the Platinum Card for and the benefits that it provides. At the end of the year, I’ll provide a summary building on this column and explaining our decision as to whether to renew the card. With the 125,000 reward points, I’m sure that this year we’ll more than cover our nut, but you don’t get that bonus in subsequent years. Stay tuned for further analysis.

Links About the AmEx Platinum

If you’re interested in the points game generally, I suggest checking out websites like The Points Guy and One Mile at a Time. For information on airport lounges around the world, check out Lounge Review. For information about the American Express Platinum specifically, check out the following links:

This is a fun “game” to play, but we’re all about maximizing the value. The lounge access is huge for our mental stability, but if it doesn’t otherwise make sense we’ll 86 the card. I hope it proves to be a wise acquisition.