Credit Card Reviews
American Express Platinum Card: Assessing Its Value After 5 Years
It’s that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about Halloween — although it is nearly as scary. October is when I have to pay the piper and pony up the $695 annual fee that comes with the American Express Platinum Card.
This is always a sobering moment as, during the rest of the year, I get to enjoy all sorts of perks and credits that I conveniently begin to forget I actually pay for. With that in mind, as I’ve done occasionally in years past, I wanted to go through all of the credits and some of the other benefits of the Platinum card and see whether I’m really getting positive value from the card.
To be clear, rather than just adding up what Amex says these features are worth, I’ll be assigning my own assessed value based on my experience. What’s more, now that I’ve had the card for a full five years, I’ll also be taking a brief look back to see whether the card is getting better or worse for me.
Breaking Down the Value I Got From the American Express Platinum Card in My Fifth Year
Assessing the Credits
Fine Hotels & Resorts/Hotel Collection credit
- Face value: $200 per year
- My assessed value: $150
To start things off, I want to look at what I think is one of the Platinum card’s most usable and, frankly, on-brand credits. Each calendar year, cardholders can earn a credit of up to $200 toward Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts or Hotel Collection bookings. These bookings also come with some added perks, such as property credits, late check-out, and more. Because of this, I’ve enjoyed my stays at various FHR and Hotel Collection properties in the past.
It is true that, when looking at some Fine Hotels & Resort options, you may encounter some pretty jaw-dropping rates. Luckily there are some definite sweet spots — especially in Las Vegas. Plus, Hotel Collection listings may be a bit more affordable, even if those do require a minimum stay of two nights versus just one night for FHR properties.
Last year, my wife and I used this credit for a two-night stay at Walt Disney World’s Dolphin Hotel near EPCOT. As for how I used my credit this year, well, I’m actually about to. This time around, I’m using my credit for a night at Palazzo (The Venetian). Not only will the $200 credit cover my stay but I’ll also enjoy a $100 dining credit while there. Of course, with it being Vegas on a Sunday night, I’m sure I could find other accommodations that would be cheaper, all things considered. So, I’ll discount this credit a bit and say $150 in value.
Digital Entertainment Credit
- Face value: $240 per year ($20 per month)
- My assessed value: $240
Currently, I use my monthly Digital Entertainment Credit to cover my Disney+/Hulu ad-free bundle subscription. Well, technically, that plan is $19.99 (and, somehow, was one of the only Disney+ plans not to increase recently), leaving a penny left over. Previously, that last penny was then claimed by my Sirius XM subscription — but that option was discontinued earlier this year. So now, I’m missing out on that sweet cent.
For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to overlook a missing penny and say that I get the full value from this credit. The fact is that I’d have a Disney+ plan no matter what and would almost assuredly have Hulu as well. And while I might consider downgrading to an ad-supported plan if Amex wasn’t picking up the tab, I do love this “premium” tier. So, we’ll call it a full $240.
CLEAR Plus credit
- Face value: $189 per year (now $199 per year)
- My assessed value: $20
Look, as I’ve shared before, I do really like CLEAR Plus. Whether necessary or not, I can’t help but enjoy the speed in which I sail through TSA thanks to the one-two punch of CLEAR Plus and TSA Precheck. That said, the price of the former is pretty crazy — especially when the latter does a lot of the heavy lifting, in my opinion.
All this is to say that, while I’m glad CLEAR Plus is included as a part of the Platinum Card, I can’t imagine paying much for it if I had to do so out of pocket. That’s partially because it’s not available at my local airport but also due to the fact that, well, it’s now $200 a year! If the service were priced more closely to TSA Precheck (but with a slight premium), it would be around $20 per year. Thus, that’s how I’ll value it for now.
Equinox credit
- Face value: $300 per year
- My assessed value: $0
When the Platinum Card underwent its big revamp in 2022 and raised its annual fee to $695, this Equinox credit was probably the most controversial. If you’ve ever looked at the price of an Equinox membership, then you can probably guess why. In any case, to their credit, Amex did improve this credit in 2023, removing the monthly restriction on the credit and instead making it a $300 annual credit.
Despite that upgrade, this perk is still useless to me. To be fair, even though there aren’t any gym locations near me, I could use this credit on an Equinox+ subscription. Then again, even if I did burn off the credit by trying that for a few months, this would still be rated with a $0 value since I wouldn’t have signed up for that service otherwise.
Uber Cash benefit
- Face value: $200 per year ($15 a month January through November plus $35 in December)
- My assessed value: $140
Even though I don’t take Uber rides all that often, what I like about this Uber Cash benefit is that it can also be used for Uber Eats orders. In fact, that’s the primary way I’ve used this credit in the past. I should also note that, in addition to the $15 per month (plus a bonus of $20 in December) I earn from the Platinum card, I also earn $10 a month from my American Express Gold Card. So, in most cases, I’m utilizing these two credits in tandem.
As I’ve written about before, we also try to make our Uber Cash go further by opting for Uber Eats pick-up. Alas, even with this hack, prices on Uber Eats tend to be higher than what you’d pay when ordering directly from the restaurant. Because of this, I’ve decided to shave $5 a month off of my assessed value, leaving me a total of $140 per year.
Airline incidentals credit
- Face value: $200 per year
- My assessed value: $50
American Express’s “airline incidentals credit” has long been known for its stringent rules that often make it difficult to use. Sure enough, that’s been an issue for me as I’m rarely able to find use cases (sidenote: I sure would love it if Amex would add Allegiant to its list of eligible airlines — that would help tremendously). Nevertheless, in past years, I’ve managed to spend at least a portion of my credit by selecting a seat on an airline I don’t usually fly or allowing my friend to buy a guest pass to a lounge.
So how did I use this credit this year? Well, I did manage to use a bit of it in an unexpected way… that I can’t really explain. Basically, there’s a bit of a loophole that exists that I wasn’t trying to exploit but ended up benefiting from. In the interest of not incriminating myself or further publicizing said loophole, I’ll leave it at that (and you can go scour Reddit for clues instead). Meanwhile, I once again allowed my friend and authorized user to purchase guest passes for his co-traveler, so that used up a bit more of the credit. But, in terms of actual benefit to me, I’ll say I squeezed $50 of actual value from this perk during my cardholder year.
Walmart+ Monthly Membership Credit
- Face value: $155.40 per year ($12.95 a month)
- My assessed value: $60
I think it’s fair to say that the addition of a Walmart+ membership credit was one of the most unexpected moves the Platinum card has made in recent years. Yet, you won’t hear this midwesterner complain. At the same time, I wouldn’t say I make much use of the core Walmart+ benefits — aside from using Scan & Go that is.
Although I may not use Walmart’s delivery or shipping perks (outside of one time), the membership does keep adding extra benefits. That includes a complimentary Paramount+ ad-supported plan. And while I’m not sure I’d buy a Paramount+ subscription on my own, I do enjoy watching Frasier and some other shows on the platform. Between that, the Scan & Go access, and some other features of the membership that I have managed to use in the past year, I’ll give this one a value of $5 per month, for a total of $60 for the year.
SoulCycle At-Home Bike Credit
- Face value: $300 per year
- My assessed value: $0
Not only is this one of the least known Amex Platinum credits — but I’d venture to guess that it’s also one of the least used. Sure enough, it offers $0 in value to me.
Technically, this $300 credit can be used up to 15 times yearly, putting the real on-paper value at $4,500. But, 15 times $0 is still $0, so this doesn’t change anything as far as my calculations.
Saks Fifth Avenue credits
- Face value: $100 per year ($50 from January through June and another $50 from July through December)
- My assessed value: $40
Can I just point out how strange the Saks Fifth Avenue site is? You’d think that a high-end brand would have a sleek retail site but that’s far from the case with Saks. On top of that, when browsing, you’re sure to find plenty of laughably priced items. All of these factors make the Platinum card’s semi-annual credit pretty difficult to use practically.
Having said that, I have learned a few tricks over the years. For one, the site does have a sale section that occasionally brings quality items down to a reasonable price. Outside of that, even though the apparel is largely overpriced, you can find a few accessories or other items on the site that I think are a fair price — or at least become a good-enough deal once the credit is accounted for.
A major downside that’s come to the Saks credit as of late is that their minimum purchase amount for free shipping has continued to climb. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the retailer was still a part of ShopRunner as they used to be (FYI, Platinum cardholders also get a complimentary ShopRunner membership), but they left the program a while back. That obviously cuts into the usefulness of this credit overall.
Despite all of that, through a combination of searching, timing, and luck, I’ve managed to nab items that I think are worthy of my $50 credit every six months. Of course, since I might not have purchased these items on my own or wouldn’t have paid full price for them, I’m going to say that this $100 was really worth more like $40 to me, all in.
Global Entry or TSA Precheck credit
- Face value: $100 once every five years
- My assessed value: $0 (this year)
Finally, we come to a credit that is not monthly, not semi-annual, not yearly, not once every five years: Global Entry/TSA Precheck. With this credit, you can have your Global Entry or TSA Precheck application reimbursed by Amex (although Global Entry’s fee has risen to $120 and I haven’t seen confirmation that Amex has increased the credit in response).
Seeing as this was not a renewal date for me, I didn’t have a chance to use this credit. That said, last year, we actually saw $200 in value from this perk as my authorized user was also able to claim the credit. Nevertheless, since we’re just looking at the past 12 months, the value is still $0.
The total so far
Adding up all of my assessed values for these credits, it seems my total return so far is $700. Notably, that’s already $5 more than the Platinum card’s $695 annual fee. I swear I didn’t plan this — it just happened to work out that way.
Well, now that we’ve established that the credits alone already allow me to break even with the Platinum card, let’s talk about the value I get from the card’s other benefits.
Other Benefits — Rewards, Perks, and More
Membership Rewards points
- My assessed value: $250 (this year)
Determining the value I got from rewards on my Amex Platinum requires two pieces of information: how many points I earned and what those points are worth. Unfortunately, both of those prove difficult to pin down.
For one, apparently, Amex’s site only lets you see rewards activity for a 30-day date range. Moreover, while it lets me filter by card on the page, downloading the reports still shows points earned by my Gold Card along with the Platinum. In other words, it was a pain in the butt to try to calculate my true total. But, being dedicated to this, I went ahead and downloaded the available data, deleted the Gold Card rows, added up each month’s results, and then tallied all of those totals up.
That’s how I can tell you that, from November 1st, 2023 through today (October 15th, 2024), I earned 31,352 points from my Platinum card. Phew.
Now for the next challenge: American Express Membership Rewards points have greatly different value depending on how you use them. On the low end, statement credit redemptions are valued at just 0.6¢ per point, while redeeming for FHR bookings is 1¢ per point. That said, the agreed-upon best way to use your Membership Rewards points is via Amex’s transfer partners.
For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to assume that I could just cash out these points at a value of $0.8 per point. That’s because, thanks to my Amex Rewards Checking account, that’s the rate I can transfer MR points at. With that in mind, my 31,352 points from this year would be worth $250.
Lounge access
- My assessed value: $150 (this year)
Oh boy. If I thought calculating the value of my rewards points was hard, now we need to talk about lounge access. After all, this is a key perk of the card — and the Platinum card’s access is why I chose it over the popular Chase Sapphire Reserve Card in the first place.
There are many reasons why calculating a monetary value for lounge access is difficult — and you can read about them in another one of my articles. But, rather than fret about how many times I visited the lounges this year, how much we ate while we were there, and just how much being able to decompress before travel is worth, I’ll just estimate that I got $150 in value from this perk this year.
Status benefits
- My assessed value: $20 (this year)
Finally, we have the Platinum card’s status perks, such as Hilton Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold. In the past, I’ve actually been able to leverage this perk into quantifiable perks thanks to status matching. Sadly, though, many of those tricks have since been shut down.
In terms of what the status has earned me this year, well, it’s hard to think of exactly what it got me. I believe it entitled me to a dining credit while staying at Hilton properties and I may have received free WiFi during a Marriott stay. But, without knowing for sure, I’ll assign an admittedly arbitrary amount of $20 to this benefit for the past year.
Which Way is the Platinum Card Trending?
When I covered this same topic in 2022, I obviously came to the conclusion that the American Express Platinum was worth it for me overall (which is why I’ve kept the card). Since then, while the card hasn’t changed significantly, there have been a few things that have impacted the value I get from it.
Perhaps the biggest change for me involved authorized users. Previously, you were able to add up to three Platinum AUs for a fee of $175 per year. Although these AUs didn’t receive any of the credits (except the Global Entry/TSA Precheck one), it did entitle them to lounge access, status perks, and more. So, since we were planning to add my wife to the card anyway, this model made it so we could basically gift two of our friends with lounge access, etc.
However, last year, Amex changed the authorized user fee to $195 — per person! So, instead of paying a total of $175 for three AUs, I’m now paying $585. Clearly, this is a big negative change that takes some of the fun out of having a Platinum card (and changes the math significantly).
The other changes have come to the Digital Entertainment Credit. As I briefly mentioned, Sirius XM was removed from the list. Yet, the more impactful removal was that of Audible. Previously, I used the bulk of my credit on Audible Premium Plus, with Sirius claiming the rest. But, since neither is now possible, it’s that Disney+/Hulu subscription that’s taking up my credit.
Truth be told, this shake-up hasn’t been as detrimental as I initially thought (which is why the Digital Entertainment Credit was the only category to get a full valuation from me). Still, it does highlight the fact that the Platinum card will continue to evolve, even outside of major overhauls.
If pressed, I guess I’d have to say that these examples would suggest that the value I get from the Platinum card is declining. However, in reality, it’s not that simple. Instead, what truly dictates how much value I get from the card in a given year is how much I travel. To that point, I’d say the past cardholder year was down slightly — but I expect things to pick back up in the future. So, as long as I’m not straight-up losing money on the card, I’m happy to keep it.
The Platinum Card from American Express
The Platinum Card from American Express
5
Annual fee
$695
Welcome bonus
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
Rewards
5x Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or via Amex Travel, 5x Membership Rewards points on hotel bookings made via Amex Travel, 1x Membership Rewards points on all other purchases.
Worth the hefty price for frequent travelers
With airport lounge access, numerous travel and lifestyle credits, complimentary hotel status, and more, the Platinum Card is perfect for both luxury travelers and casual travelers alike.
Pros
- Includes complimentary airport lounge accessing including Centurion Lounge, Delta SkyClubs (when flying Delta), and more
- Up to $1,400 in annual credits
Cons
- $695 annual fee
- Some credits may not be as usable or valuable to certain cardmembers
Final Thoughts on the Amex Platinum Card’s Value
In total, I estimate that I saw $1,120 in value from the American Express Platinum card during my fifth cardholder year. Considering that the annual fee is $695, that’s a win. The only downside is that, with the change in authorized user rules, I now need to ask my AUs to pay for their own fees instead of it being a gift to them. With that in mind, if you add in my wife’s AU card fee, then we’re spending $890 on the card — but are still seeing a positive return.
Of course, while I’m still quite happy with the Platinum Card now, there is always the fear that American Express will refresh the card in a way that will severely alter its value proposition for me. Heck, we’ve seen that recently with the Gold Card, which I’m now considering downgrading. Hopefully, that day won’t come for some time as I do love all of the perks and benefits I get from the card. That said, if you are someone considering getting the Platinum, I’d highly recommend doing what I’ve done and calculate the value you expect to get before deciding to spend $695 a year for the card.
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