American Express is one of the most recognized names when it comes to platinum credit cards. These reward credit cards offer high-end benefits and perks, and are especially valuable to frequent travelers, whether they travel for business or leisure.
These ultra premium cards do come with high annual fees, though. Is it worth it?
Let’s find out.
Overview of Personal & Business Platinum Cards and High Annual Fees
American Express offers ultra premium personal and business cards. These include:
and
In addition, American Express offers two premium cobranded cards:
Here we’ll explore the high-end features and benefits of the first two cards, so you can decide if they are right for you or your business.
Before we dive in, it’s important to understand that both allow cardmembers to earn Membership Rewards® points. These points can be redeemed in a variety of ways including:
- Redeem for travel, including flights, car rentals, hotels, cruises and more.
- Transfer points to numerous transfer partners.
- Pay with Points at Checkout. Use your points to pay for purchases with selected partners such as Amazon, Best Buy, Staples and more.
- Redeem for gift cards.
- Cover eligible purchases with points, redeem for a statement credit, or deposit into checking.
The value of Membership Rewards points will vary depending on how you use them. A popular rule of thumb is that they are worth approximately 2 cents a point. (You may get more or less value, depending on how you redeem yours.)
What Do I Get With the Personal American Express Platinum Card?
The annual fee for the The Platinum Card® from American Express is .
What do you get for that fee?
Rewards
This card comes with a generous bonus.
.
In addition, you’ll earn rewards with each eligible purchase. .
Key Perks And Benefits
Below you’ll find a chart summarizing the key benefits you get with this card versus the business card. These include:
- $200 Uber Cash
- $155 Walmart+ credit
- Lounge access
- Clear Plus credit
- TSA Precheck or Global Entry credit
- Hotel status
- Car rental perks
- Car rental loss and damage insurance
- Trip delay insurance
- Return protection
- Extended warranty
- Purchase protection
Breakdown of Valuation To Offset Annual Fee
You can offset the annual fee in a number of ways. Here’s an example:
Lounge access (2 times estimated at $50/visit): $100
Clear Plus membership: $199
Uber credit: $200
Digital entertainment credit: $240
Total: $729
And that doesn’t include the welcome offer or points earned. If you spend $8000 to earn the bonus, you can earn 80,000 points plus, and at least 1x base points, for a total of 88,000. If those points are valued at .02 each, that puts the value of that bonus at $1760.
What Do I Get With ?
The annual fee for the is .
What do you get for that fee?
Rewards
This card offers a generous bonus, but requires a higher amount of spending to earn the bonus when compared to The Platinum Card® from American Express.
.
And, of course, you can earn rewards on your purchases. .
Key Perks And Benefits
In addition to rewards, there are a number of perks and benefits offered on this card. (Refer to the chart below for more information.) These include:
- Lounge Access
- Clear Plus credit
- TSA Precheck or Global Entry credit
- Hotel Status
- Statement credits with Dell, Adobe and Indeed
- Wireless statement credit
- Business platinum travel service
- Car rental perks
- Trip delay insurance
- Cell phone protection
- Extended warranty
- Purchase protection
Employee cards also earn Membership Rewards points, and you can set alerts and assign an Account Manager who can set spending limits.
Breakdown of Valuation To Offset Annual Fee
Let’s take a look at an example of how you could offset the annual fee:
Lounge access (2 times estimated at $50/visit): $100
Clear Plus membership: $199
Wireless credit: $120
Dell Technologies statement credit: $400
Total: $809
And like the personal card, you also need to take into account the value of any points you earn. If you spend $15,000 and earn a bonus of 120,000 points, plus earn just 1x base points on those purchases, that’s a total of 135,000 points. (Remember, though, that purchases in certain categories can earn 1.5x or even 5x points.)
If those points are valued at .02 each, that puts the value of that bonus, plus points earned by spending to meet the bonus, at $2700.
Chart: Key Perks And Benefits of Personal and Business Cards
Here are key perks and benefits available when you use The Platinum® Card from American Express or The Business Platinum Card® from American Express to pay for purchases.*
| Benefit | Summary (Terms and conditions apply. Visit AmericanExpress.com.) | The Platinum® Card from American Express | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express |
| Lounge Access | Get access to 1,400+ Airport lounges worldwide, through the Global Lounge Collection, including The Centurion Lounge,, Priority Pass, Select Lounges, and others. Find lounges here. | ✓ | ✓ |
| $200 Airline Fee Credit | Choose one selected qualifying airline and get up to $200 in statement credits for incidental fees. | ✓ | ✓ |
| $199 CLEAR® Plus Credit | Cover the cost of a CLEAR Plus membership with up to $199 in statement credits per calendar year. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® | Receive either a statement credit for Global Entry or TSA Precheck every four or 4.5 years. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hotel Status | Get Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors™ Gold Status, both of which come with additional perks. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Car Rental Privileges | Platinum Card® Members get complimentary premium status for several popular car rental programs, as well as additional benefits and discounts. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance | Get complimentary rental car coverage. This is secondary coverage to other insurance you may have, and does not include liability coverage. It is not available in all countries. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Trip Delay Insurance | Pay for a round trip entirely with your card and if you are delayed more than 6 hours for a covered reason, you may be reimbursed for certain expenses (up to $500 per trip, 2 times a year). | ✓ | ✓ |
| $200 Hotel Credit | Get a $200 statement credit annually on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection1 bookings with a 2-night minimum stay. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fine Hotels + Resorts Program | Book through American Express Travel, and get an average total value of $600 in perks, like daily breakfast for two, 4pm check-out, and more with a prepaid, 2-night minimum stay. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Purchase protection | Cover eligible purchases if they are stolen, accidentally damaged, or lost within 90 days of the Covered Purchase date. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Extended Warranty | Extended warranty matches the original manufacturer’s warranty for up to one additional year when you use your Eligible Card. (Exclusions and restrictions apply.) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cell Phone Protection | Get reimbursed for the lesser of repair or replacement costs following damage or theft, up to $800 with a $50 deductible. | ✓ | |
| Return protection | If you buy something the seller won’t take back, you may be able to return it (eligible purchases only) to American Express within 90 days from the date of purchase. | ✓ | |
| Amex Offers | Each month, you’ll get special offers on the American Express app. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wireless Credit | Enroll and get up to $10 per month in statement credits ($120 annually) for wireless telephone service purchases made directly with a wireless provider in the U.S. | ✓ | |
| Exclusive Business Savings | Get up to $400 in statement credits ($200 semi-annually) on U.S. purchases with Dell Technologies; enroll and get up to $360 in statement credits (up to $90 back per quarter) for purchases with Indeed; enroll and get up to $150 in statement credits for eligible annual prepaid business plan purchases of Adobe Creative Cloud for teams or Adobe Acrobat Pro for teams. | ✓ | |
| $200 Uber Cash | Get $15 in Uber Cash to use on eligible orders with Uber Eats and rides with Uber in the US every month plus a bonus $20 in December. | ✓ | |
| Shop Saks with Platinum | Get up to $100 in statement credits ($50 January through June, and $50 July through December) when you use your card to shop at Saks. | ✓ | |
| $155 Walmart+ Credit | Use your Platinum Card® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership and each month you’ll get a statement credit for $12.95 (plus applicable taxes). This benefit can cover the cost of your Walmart+ membership (excluding any Plus Up Benefits). | ✓ | |
| $240 Digital Entertainment Credit | Make eligible purchases on your Platinum Card for entertainment services like Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu and get up to $20 in statement credits each month. | ✓ | |
| Access to exclusive events | American Express Access, American Express Early Access, American Express Experiences, and American Express Preferred Access all offer tickets to opportunities you may not experience otherwise. | ✓ | ✓ |
*These summaries of benefits have been gathered independently by Nav. Terms apply, so be sure to review details from American Express for complete details, restrictions and exclusions. Trip delay and trip trip cancellation and interruption insurance coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
What Benefits Are Easiest To Use and Which Are Hardest To Use?
Many of the benefits these cards offer are easy to use, provided you understand them, take advantage of them, and they make sense for your lifestyle or business.
Take lounge access for example. If you don’t fly often, or if you don’t fly through major airports, you may not have many opportunities to use lounges.
Or if you don’t shop at Walmart or Saks Fifth Avenue, the Walmart+ or Saks benefits won’t matter to you.
The easiest benefits to use are points that can be converted to statement credits or gift cards. Any cardholder should be able to use them. Benefits like extended warranties, purchase protection and return protection are valuable, but require you to keep good records and to take time to file a claim. Many people don’t bother.
Overall, while these cards offer some appealing non-travel benefits, they are both heavily oriented toward travel rewards. If you don’t travel, or can’t use these benefits, you may be better off with a cash back credit card.
Getting The Most From These Cards
To get the most from an ultra premium card, you will want to understand your spending habits, to make sure it’s a good fit.
Estimating Your Expected Charges
If you’re currently using another personal or business credit card or debit card, take a look at your statements to see how much you typically spend. Do you have any major purchases planned that can help you earn the welcome bonus?
Think about Regular Monthly Business Expenses
If you’re considering the , you’ll also want to know your spending categories, since certain types of purchases can earn a higher rewards rate.
Project Your Annual Travel and Transportation Expenses
Take a look at how much you plan to spend on travel and transportation, and in which categories (air fare, hotels etc.) If you are a frequent traveler who is loyal to a specific hotel brand or airline, you may find a co branded travel credit card, like the or the makes the most sense.
Anticipate How Much You’ll Use Key Platinum Benefits
Again, review the list of the card’s benefits to make sure they are ones you’ll use, and use enough to justify a higher annual fee. That may mean doing a little research, for example, to find out whether the places you travel offer lounge access, if that’s a perk you want to use.
Cost Considerations
These cards generally require payment in full. However, both cards offer The Pay Over Time option. This lets you carry a balance with interest on eligible purchases.
While that’s a convenient option, if your business needs a business credit card for short-term financing, you may want to consider a business card with a 0% intro APR. And for longer term financing, you’ll want to consider a small business loan.
The foreign transaction fee for both cards:
Who Gets the Most Value From the
Overall, the is a popular card with small business owners who value premium perks and benefits, as well as Membership Rewards points.
Those who benefit the most tend to be:
- Small business owners who travel frequently for work
- Businesses with high costs in categories that earn statement credits
- Companies that highly value luxury travel perks and airport lounge access
When These Cards May Not Be Right For You
These cards may not be a fit in several cases:
- You do not have good—excellent credit scores. These cards require strong personal credit scores to qualify. (Your business does not need to have excellent business credit to qualify, and the can help establish business credit when paid on time.)
- If you operate as a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, or other type of business with low expenses, you may not be able to spend enough to earn the welcome bonus on .
- You don’t travel often. A premium travel card may not the best credit card for your needs.
So Is the Amex Platinum Fee Worth It?
Is An Amex Platinum card worth the annual fee?
Yes—if you take advantage of the benefits the card offers, earn a welcome bonus, and/or use the Membership Points you earn strategically for maximum value. And you’ll get the most value if you can accomplish all three.
While these cards aren’t for everyone, they offer significant value for travelers looking for a credit card with excellent service, benefits, and ongoing travel rewards.
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