How Good is Amex Platinum Card at $695 Fee
Table of Contents
Introduction
Is American Express Platinum (Amex Platinum) Card justifies its hefty $695 annual fee, let’s see in this article. American Express Platinum is a premium travel card from Amex which comes with an annual fee of $695. It comes with a wide range of benefits and if you use all those benefits, it values over $1400. Does it fit for everyone or more frequent travelers. This is not marketed as a travel card but many benefits are tied towards travel.
Benefits of Amex Platinum Card
American Express in general has better benefits than some of its competitors. When it comes to Amex Platinum care, there are a great range of benefits. Below are some of the key benefits of this card
- Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points +10X points at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S. after you spend $6000 within first 6 months.
- Earn 10X points on eligible purchases on your new Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S., on up to $25,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months.
- Cell Phone Protection you can be reimbursed for your costs to repair or replace your damaged or Stolen cell phone up to $800, subject to a $50 deductible, for 2 approved claims per 12-month period when your prior month’s wireless bill was paid utilizing an Eligible Card Account
- $200 Uber Cash – receive up to $15 in Uber Cash each month and an additional $20 in Uber Cash for the month of December
- 5X Membership points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel via AmexTravel.com or booking by calling their travel number.
- $300 Equinox Credit – get up to $300 back per year for their membership plans bought using Amex Platinum card.
- $200 Hotel Credit back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card.
- $240 Digital Entertainment Credit Get up to $20 in statement credits each month when you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card at participating partners.
- $179 CLEAR Credit You can cover the cost of a CLEAR membership with up to $179 in statement credits per year.
There are a mot more benefits and protection plans like trip cancellation insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty etc., that comes with Amex Platinum card.
Where Amex Platinum doesn’t fit
- If you’re someone who doesn’t use many of the above mentioned benefits or using it through any other ways, then the hefty $695 doesn’t justify for you.
- Also some of the merchants doesn’t accept Amex like they accept VISA and Mastercards. I wouldn’t say there is no work arounds as you can link this card to your Apple Pay or Google Pay to use it.
- This card doesn’t offer any kind of balance transfer options if that’s something important to you.
Who can Apply
If you’re already an Amex card holder or if you have very good to excellent credit which is in the range of 720-750, you have a good chance of Approval. Another good alternative to this platinum card is Amex Gold Card.
Final Thoughts
American Express Platinum card is one of the premium credit cards and its benefits easily outweigh the annual fee. If you are someone who travel a lot, this card is definitely a good choice where it gives access to its premium Lounge access with many partnering airlines. Most of its benefits directly to travel, its a great add on to frequent fliers. For others, you just need to evaluate the $695 fee really justifies your benefits out of this card.
