American Express
The Platinum Card from American Express can be worth its high annual fee if you make good use of its travel benefits.
- The Platinum Card® from American Express offers a tremendous value despite its annual fee.
- With many overlapping perks but a few key differences, The Business Platinum® Card from American Express is a similarly valuable charge card.
- Read on to see which card is best for you.
The Platinum Card from American Express has a high annual fee, but you can get enough value for it to be worthwhile. Over the past two years, Amex has added new benefits and perks to both the personal and business versions of the card, and made a few tweaks as the credit card rewards space has become more competitive.
While the personal and business versions used to have virtually identical benefits and terms (with a few exceptions), they're no longer nearly identical - while they do have many overlapping benefits, there are some key differences.
Here are the benefits that the cards offer - and the differences between them:
Welcome offer
Amex Platinum: The personal Platinum Card offers new members 60,000 Membership Rewards points when they spend $5,000 in the first three months of card membership. Points can be redeemed for various products, to book travel through Amex, or, representing one of the best options, transferred to various airline frequent flyer partners. Travel website The Points Guy values Amex Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each - using that valuation, the welcome bonus is worth $1,200.
Keep in mind that that valuation is subjective and an "average" of all of the different ways you can use points. Membership Rewards points are worth a different amount depending on whether you use them for shopping, purchase travel through Amex, or transfer them.
You may be eligible for a higher, 100,000-point Amex Platinum offer through the CardMatch tool. This tool takes some basic personal information and matches you with personalized credit card offers, some of which could be higher than the standard public offer. CardMatch offers are subject to change at any time without notice, but it's always worth checking to see if you can get a higher offer before you apply for a card - and the elevated Amex Platinum offer is especially valuable.
Click here to visit CardMatch and see if you're targeted for the 100,000-point Amex Platinum offer.
Amex Business Platinum: The Amex Business Platinum offers a bigger bonus of 75,000 points, broken into two segments: You'll earn 50,000 points after spending $10,000 in the first three months, and an additional 25,000 points if you spend an additional $10,000 in that same time frame.
Obviously, that's a lot of money to spend in three months. Unless you own a a small-to-medium-sized business and realistically expect to spend $20,000 in a single quarter, the personal card might be a better option for you.
Earning rates on purchases
Both cards offer a whopping 5x points per dollar spent on flights booked through Amex Travel - the personal version also earns quintuple points on flights booked directly through the airline - and 1 point per dollar on everything else.
However, the Business Platinum offers a 50% bonus on purchases of $5,000 or more, meaning you'll earn 1.5x points per dollar, up to 1 million extra points per year (after that, the rate drops back to 1x point per dollar for the rest of the year).
Annual fee
Until recently, both versions of the Platinum card had the same $450 annual fee. However, the fee on the personal card was raised to $550 in 2017, and more recently the Business Platinum's fee increased to $595.
Benefits: What's different
Uber credit on the personal Amex Platinum
The personal Platinum Card offers up to $200 a year in Uber credits. The credit is broken down by month: You'll get a monthly $15 credit, with an extra $20 in December (for a total of $35 that month). That's up to $200 in credits each year in exchange for the $100 annual fee increase - definitely a win for consumers. The Business Platinum doesn't have an equivalent Uber credit.
Saks credit on the personal Amex Platinum
In mid-2018, Amex added this statement credit to the personal Platinum Card. Each year, cardholders can get up to $100 back in the form of statement credits for Saks Fifth Avenue purchases. This is divided into two $50 credits: You'll get up to $50 toward Saks purchases made with the Platinum Card from January to June, and another $50 toward those purchases from July through December.
35% points rebate on the Business Platinum
This is an incredibly valuable perk that's only available with the Business Platinum Card.
One of the ways to redeem Membership Rewards points is by using them to book flights, hotels, cruises, or more through Amex Travel. When you do that, points are generally worth 1¢ each.
However, when you have the Business Platinum card and use points to book any flight on one airline that you pre-select - or business or first class flights on any airline - you'll get 35% of your points back. Because booking through Amex Travel is the easiest way to use points for flights, this represents a great option to use fewer points to get more.
Dell credit on the Business Platinum
While the Business Platinum card doesn't offer any statement credits for Saks or Uber, it does offer up to $200 in statement credits annually for U.S. purchases with Dell. This is divided into two semi-annual credits of up to $100.
WeWork access on the Business Platinum
If you enroll by December 31, 2019, you can get one year of Platinum Global WeWork access. This lets you use WeWork coworking facilities in more than 75 cities around the world.
In-flight Wi-Fi on the Business Platinum
The Business Platinum card comes with 10 complimentary Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi passes each year. You can use these to get online during flights with many participating airlines.
Benefits shared by both cards
Airline fee credit
Every calendar year, the Platinum Card and the Business Platinum Card offer a $200 credit toward incidental fees on one airline (that you can choose at the beginning of each year). While it doesn't cover tickets, it applies to a wide variety of charges and fees, such as checked bags, change fees if you need to change your flight, in-flight food and drinks, fees for traveling with a pet, airport lounge day passes (if you don't already have complimentary access), and sometimes even things like seat assignments and extra legroom upgrade fees.
The best part of the airline credit is that because you get it each calendar year, not cardmember year, you could get it twice in your first year of having the card. Say you opened the card in February - you can earn the full $200 credit before the calendar year ends, then once the credit resets on January 1, get it again before your next annual fee posts, meaning you can get up to $400 in value from this credit each year.
Airport lounge access
Both cards offer identical access to airport lounges.
Lounges are exclusive areas where you can enjoy seats, an internet connection, food, drinks, and sometimes other amenities. Although lounges were traditionally reserved for first class and business class passengers, many are accessible to any traveler who holds either a lounge membership or certain credit cards - and the Platinum cards offer access to three different kinds of lounge.
The first type is Amex's own proprietary Centurion lounges, located at eight airports in the United States - and in Hong Kong. These chic venues offer an oasis in the middle of the main terminal's chaos, featuring comfortable seating, complimentary cocktails and food created by award-winning mixologists and chefs, respectively, and other amenities. Access to these lounges is limited to holders of the Amex Platinum or Amex Centurion cards.
If you're flying with Delta and carry a Platinum Card, you can also access any Delta Sky Club lounge. With more than 30 locations, Sky Clubs offer snacks, complimentary soft and alcoholic drinks (with more "premium" drinks available for purchase), fast Wi-Fi, and a place to unwind. Some locations also feature showers.
Finally, the Platinum Card from American Express comes with a Priority Pass membership. Priority Pass is a network of more than 1,000 airport lounges around the world. With the membership provided by your Platinum card, you and two guests can access any location (as long as there's room) to enjoy free snacks, drinks, newspapers and magazines, showers, and more, all separate from the hustle and bustle of the main terminal. If you have an international version of the card, instead of the US version, be sure to double check the guest policy for your card's Priority Pass benefit.
Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit
Both cards offer a credit that you can use to apply for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck. The credit renews every four years, so it covers you when it's time to reapply.
Gold status with Hilton and Marriott
When you hold either card, you'll receive Gold elite status with Hilton hotels, as well as Marriott hotels, without having to meet any stay requirements. Elite status comes with benefits including more points earned on stays, early check-in and late check-out, room upgrades, and more.
Both cards also offer access to Amex's exclusive Fine Hotels & Resorts program. When you book a stay at a participating hotel through Amex Travel, you'll get benefits like even earlier check-in, a priority room upgrade, free breakfast during your entire stay, and a special amenity, such as a credit to use at the hotel bar or spa.
Which card is best for you?
For most consumers, the personal Platinum Card offers a fantastic suite of premium travel perks and benefits, all of which add up to more than enough value to make up for the annual fee.
If you have a small business, there might be reasons to go for the Business Platinum Card instead. Although you'll give up the Uber credits, you'll get perks like the points rebate when booking flights through Amex Travel, plus Boingo in-flight Wi-Fi, Dell statement credits, and WeWork access. If your business regularly makes purchases of $5,000 or more - and you can put them on the card - or you think you can get value from the 35% points rebate, then the business card might be a better option.
Also make sure to consider the welcome points. If you don't expect to spend enough to earn the bonus on the Business Platinum, you might be better off with the personal version.
Finally, keep in mind that these are both charge cards - that means that you pay your balance in full each month.