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The fine print, since we\u2019re talking about a credit card and I\u2019m using an affiliate link: <\/em><\/strong>This post is <\/em>not sponsored or endorsed by American Express<\/em><\/strong>. Money with Katie is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as Milevalue.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit <\/em>americanexpress.com<\/em><\/span> to learn more.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Recently I posted about The Platinum Card\u00ae from American Express, and I received an incredulous DM:<\/p>\n \u201cWait, I can\u2019t imagine you\u2019d promote this card unless you actually thought it was worth the insane annual fee, right?\u201d<\/p>\n You are correct, my friend.<\/p>\n I went to send her a quick post that outlined why the AmEx Platinum is worth its weight in\u2026 platinum, but realized \u2013 with great horror \u2013 that while I\u2019ve written articles about<\/em> the Platinum before, I\u2019ve never expressly written about why I think it\u2019s easily worth the $550 annual fee (and then some) per year (Rates & Fees<\/span><\/a>). <\/p>\n I\u2019ll admit, I was skeptical. Friends and coworkers swore up and down that I wouldn\u2019t regret it, but I wasn\u2019t convinced. I decided to take the plunge when I received a targeted 100,000-points offer in the mail, and treated myself like a human guinea pig. <\/p>\n I\u2019ll just keep track of all the value I get from this thing over the next 12 months, and if it far surpasses $550, I\u2019ll keep it, <\/em>I reasoned, And if it\u2019s a total loss, then at least I know for sure and I\u2019ll just cancel it and move on with my life.<\/em><\/p>\n Long story short is, I stopped keeping track when \u2013 after about six months \u2013 my tally for benefits had already surpassed $2,200. <\/p>\n It\u2019s one thing to just take my word for it, and quite another to see it in action. Let\u2019s begin!<\/p>\n (Unfortunately, I don\u2019t have the original list anymore \u2013 but I do have a pretty good working memory of the types of things we were getting a lot of value from. The other thing worth noting here is that American Express did a truly outstanding job with amping up their unrelated-to-travel credits and benefits during the pandemic, so I\u2019m going to assess 2019 and 2020 separately.)<\/p>\n Airport lounges<\/p>\n In a pre-Coronavirus world, I traveled constantly. We went on at least one trip per month; I think I went on 19 total in 2019 (including two to Mexico and one to Amsterdam). <\/p>\n Almost every time I flew out of an airport with a Priority Pass or Centurion Lounge, I\u2019d stop and eat a full meal and have at least two drinks \u2013 so would Thomas, or whoever was traveling with me. <\/p>\n I value this at about $30 per person, per trip to the lounge, since that same experience (a meal and two alcoholic beverages) in the non-lounge-y part of the airport would probably cost about $30 after tip. <\/p>\n The Centurion Lounges are like a secluded haven tucked away above the terminal with lush couches, dining, meeting rooms, and in some cases free massage and manicures. It sounds stupid, but it really enhances the travel experience because you want<\/em> to get to the airport early and hang out, eat, drink and relax before a flight (or do so for free after you land). <\/p>\n While only major airports have Centurion Lounges (specific to American Express), the Priority Pass lounge system is pretty ubiquitous \u2013 most airports have at least one \u2013 and Platinum gets you free access for you and your guest (enrollment is required, so don\u2019t forget to enroll first!). This is a really great way to become someone\u2019s favorite travel buddy.<\/p>\n I like to list this one first because it\u2019s a distinct difference from the Sapphire Reserve card (the Centurion Lounge, that is) and, in my mind, a differentiator. <\/p>\n Fine Hotels & Resorts Collection<\/p>\n This is one of those benefits that you can milk for a lot more than $550 depending on how much you travel. <\/p>\n For example, in 2019, we stayed at a 5-star hotel in San Diego called the U.S. Grant \u2013 I booked it in the American Express travel portal with points, and it was designated a member of the \u201cFine Hotels & Resorts\u201d collection. See below:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s designated with this dark gray treatment and the Platinum Fine Hotels + Resorts logo \u2013 the hotels that get this distinction are almost always five-star properties. Notice that the point valuation is really strong here, too \u2013 $239\/night or 23,900 \u2013 hotels in the FHR collection are typically priced this way, where each point is worth 1 cent (that\u2019s pretty good).<\/p><\/div>\n The real kicker comes when you get there \u2013 you get guaranteed late checkout, (usually) early check-in, a $100 \u201cresort credit\u201d which is usually agnostic as to where you can spend it (we usually spend it at the restaurant) and daily breakfast for two valued at $75\/day. <\/p>\n If you stay at a hotel in the FHR collection for three days, that\u2019s $325 in value in one trip. <\/em><\/p>\n This is another big differentiator (for me) between Reserve and Platinum in ongoing, repeatable value. <\/p>\n Since the rooms are priced a little better (points-wise), they tend to always be a great redemption value. Check out this hotel that\u2019s not<\/em> FHR for comparison:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Even though this hotel is almost the exact same price, it\u2019s 36,103 points per night, instead of 23,900.<\/p><\/div>\n We\u2019ve stayed in (if memory serves) three FHR hotels:<\/p>\n The U.S. Grant in San Diego, pictured above<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Keystone Lodge & Spa in Keystone, Colorado<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Each time, we used our $100 resort credit at a restaurant or spa, and took full advantage of the $75 daily breakfast credit (the cool thing is that you can pretty much use it for lunch, too, if you decide you don\u2019t want to eat a big breakfast). I like to call the front desk and ask which restaurants on the property (if there are more than one) will receive the credit to be sure. <\/p>\n I would guess that we got $600 in value alone from this benefit. <\/p>\n All the benefits listed below required me to either (a) enroll in the benefit outright or (b) create and link a card or account, so be sure to check out the \u201cBenefits\u201d section of your account if you end up applying and getting approved for the card. Here\u2019s a smattering of the ones from which I got the most value. <\/p>\n Up to $200 annual Uber credit<\/p>\n The annual Uber credit is $15\/mo. (and $30 in December) to be used for Uber or Uber Eats. I love to use it as a \u201ctreat myself\u201d takeout night and usually try to keep the charge at or around $15 so I don\u2019t pay anything out of pocket. This one is a guarantee; you don\u2019t have to go travel to use it (though I probably wouldn\u2019t get this card unless<\/em> I traveled a fair bit, since that\u2019s really where it shines).<\/p>\n Up to $200 annual airline incidental credit, though this is being phased out<\/p>\n This one used to be way more valuable, because you could literally buy an airline gift card and get reimbursed as if it were an \u201cincidental.\u201d Unfortunately, they\u2019ve caught onto that.<\/p>\n In 2019 I chose American Airlines as my \u201cairline of choice\u201d for the credit (it\u2019s annoying, but you have to pick one) and would use the incidentals reimbursement for things like picking my own seat (booking a lower class fare and then paying for the better seat on the seat map), buying WiFi inflight, inflight meals and drinks and \u2013 God forbid \u2013 reimbursing a change fee. <\/p>\n Because I have Southwest Companion Pass (and about 210,000 Rapid Rewards points) this year, I designated Southwest as my airline of choice for the credit \u2013 that means when I book in points, the \u201c$11.20\u201d in round trip taxes & fees gets reimbursed by AmEx. This means my flights are totally, 100% free now, which is a pretty dope echelon of travel hacking to have achieved (please hold your applause).<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t tested this myself, but I think it would reimburse other Southwest ancillary purchases, like EarlyBird automatic check-in and Upgraded Boarding at the gate (I use my Southwest Premier card for Upgraded Boardings; you get four free per year). <\/p>\n The point is, this one used to be a little easier to use, but it\u2019s not value-less \u2013 just a little less straightforward. I\u2019d probably value this one at around $100 in actual value because (unless you\u2019re actually charged a big fee or need to check bags a lot) you probably won\u2019t use the full $200 reimbursement, which is why (in my book) it\u2019s not too devastating of a value to lose (as I don\u2019t believe new cardmembers will get it).<\/p>\n Up to $100 annual Saks Fifth Avenue credit <\/p>\n Because I wholeheartedly dislike fashion and shopping now (it just felt like a rat race I couldn\u2019t win so I gave up), this one isn\u2019t as exciting to me \u2013 but it comes in handy if you want to get a new pair of shoes, a fancy skincare product, etc.<\/p>\n It\u2019s issued in the form of $50 in the first six months and $50 in the second six months, and you\u2019ll be reimbursed up to $50 in each half of the year for purchases at Saks. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re the type of person who would spend money at Saks anyway, this one will definitely be valuable. <\/p>\n Up to $100 Global Entry reimbursement <\/p>\n I finally got Global Entry (applied in 2019 but didn\u2019t actually get my appointment until 2020 thanks to the government shutdown in early 2019, #TBT), the cost of which is $100 \u2013 and AmEx reimbursed it. They\u2019ll also reimburse TSA PreCheck, but since Global Entry is inclusive of TSA Pre, I went for the big guns (is it weird to call an airport security feature \u201cbig guns\u201d? Probably). <\/p>\n Marriott Bonvoy Gold Status <\/p>\n This one is harder to quantify but has come in very handy for us. Since we also have Bonvoy Boundless cards, we stay at Marriott properties a lot<\/em> \u2013 but the Bonvoy cards only come with Silver status, and the good benefits don\u2019t start until you hit Gold. <\/p>\n With the Gold status, we pretty much get a room upgrade every single time we stay at a Marriott (in the Cosmo, for example, it was a room that was $100 more per night; in the Ritz St. Thomas, it was a room that was nearly $300 more per night), so if you\u2019re onboard with quantifying the value difference in the room upgrade, there\u2019s another easy few hundred dollars right there. <\/p>\n In practice, it just means you can book the \u201ccheapest\u201d Marriott room with your Bonvoy points, then show up and get upgraded to a Suite because of the Gold status your Platinum card gives you. <\/p>\n This is another differentiator for me from Sapphire Reserve and a big reason why I think Platinum is superior; there\u2019s no automatic hotel status with Reserve.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that was a long list of things wholly apart from the welcome bonus<\/p>\n \u2026but man, did I use the shit out of that welcome bonus! For the purposes of this post, I\u2019m not going to mention the value of the points much, since I want you to see the ongoing<\/em> value vs. a big one-time points bonanza.<\/p>\n The hilarious thing about 2020 is that I think I actually ended up getting more<\/em> value from my Platinum card, not less. <\/p>\n (That might be an exaggeration, but it certainly didn\u2019t go to waste.)<\/p>\n Because those categories were temporary, I\u2019m not going to rehash them here (this post<\/a> does a little deep dive into how they responded and which categories ended up getting credits, like streaming, cell phones, etc.), but my major takeaway was that AmEx wasn\u2019t playing around with their #COVIDPerks. <\/p>\n They also upped their game with the less-popular-but-still-super-valuable \u201cAmex Offers & Benefits\u201d list, an area in your account where you can \u201cadd\u201d certain seasonal and temporary rebates to your card. In 2020, one benefit was \u201c$100 off at Dell,\u201d so I used it to buy a $140 monitor for my home office. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nWhen I first got the Platinum card, I treated it like an experiment<\/h4>\n
2019 \u2013 before the world shut down<\/h4>\n
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Benefits where enrollment of some kind was required<\/h3>\n
2020, when Platinum pivoted hard on their benefits<\/h4>\n
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