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The Platinum Card® from American Express has a special offer for 75,000 Bonus Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases with your new card in your first 3 months. We found this offer by going directly to the American Express website, rather than through 3rd party sites or via Google Ad links. This and a 60,000 bonus points offer tend to rotate throughout the year depending on your region.
The best options for redeeming these points would be by booking travel through American Express or by redeeming for gift cards. Using these options, the 75,000 bonus will be worth $750.
The biggest drawback to this card is the $550 annual fee, as this card falls in the premium class of credit cards. The card has a market because it offers premium travel benefits, such as 5X points for flights and eligible hotels, access to 1,000+ airport lounges, $200 in Uber credits yearly, and a $200 airline fee credit annually. For frequent travelers, the added benefits make sense in terms of value and added luxury.
The Platinum Card® 75,000 Bonus Points Offer
The bonus points offer for The Platinum Card® definitely helps keep it in contention with its fiercest premium card competitors – the Chase Sapphire ReserveSM (our favorite) and Citi Prestige® cards. The long-running offer has been for 40,000 bonus points, worth $400 in Travel redemption. Special offers in the past have been anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 bonus points. Your particular offer will likely depend on the current promotion for your region.
Usually you won’t find the best offer through third party blogs or credit card markets, or by clicking through from the Google Ads. You’re also not guaranteed to find the offer every time you go to the American Express website either. But, it’s definitely a trend with American Express that the best offers are usually found by going directly through their site.
If you get to take advantage of the 75,000 bonus points offer, you’ll have to spend $5,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months to earn the points. Book flights with your points directly with airlines or with American Express Travel and these bonus points will be worth $750. Redeeming your points towards Uber rides will also get you the same value, if you’re up for taking that route.
You have other options of redemption, but at a lower value:
| Redemption Method | Value Per Point |
|---|---|
| Shopping | .625 cents |
| Gift Cards | 1 cent |
| Paying off a charge | .6 cents |
| Shopping on Amazon | .7 cents |
| Booking Flights with Points | 1 cent |
| Booking Hotels with Points | .75 cents |
| Transfer Points | 1.2 cents+ |
| Uber | 1 cent |
Of note, transferring your points over using the loyalty program can net you more value per point, but you’ll constrict your points to usage with those partnered airline/hotel loyalty programs.
What’s The Competition?
There are really only two other cards to consider during your search for a premium travel credit card with a sign-up bonus, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Citi Prestige.
Chase Sapphire Reserve
| The Chase Sapphire ReserveSM card is no longer offering 100,000 bonus points (worth $1,500 toward travel), but you can still earn 50,000 bonus points (worth $750 toward travel). You'll need to spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening to qualify for the bonus.This is a premium travel card with a premium annual fee of $450. But, you'll receive premium benefits such as a $300 Annual Travel Credit, access to 1,000+ airport lounges with Priority Pass Select, 3X points on travel and dining, and 50% more in travel redemption. MoneysMyLife picks this as the best premium travel credit card. Full Review |
Citi Prestige
| The Citi Prestige® Card is no longer offers a sign-up bonus (previously there were offers for 40,000 to 75,000 in bonus points). For the most value out of your points, redeem for flights through Citi, where your bonus will be worth 1.33 cents per point. This is another card that competes in the premium travel category, and the annual fee will signify that at $450. In effect, this card is only a good option for frequent travelers who can take advantage of the premium benefits : 3X points on air travel & hotels, 2X points on dining & entertainment, $250 Air Travel Credit annually, and free access to 1,000+ airport lounges with Priority Pass Select. For those in this niche market, this card will provide high perceived value. Full Review |
Bonus Aside, What Are The Card Perks?
Like the other premium travel credit card choices, the high annual fee is not waived during your first year of use. This means consumers looking to just jump on board for the bonus offer only really should think twice before doing so. The $550 annual fee will really cut into your bonus bottom line, so find another card bonus offer if you’re not looking for a premium travel card with all its perks. Tried-and-true options like the Barclayard Arrival Plus and Chase Sapphire Preferred may be a better fit if you don’t feel the more premium travel perks are of benefit to you.
5X On Airfare And Hotels
They’ve made changes to this perk and now you’ll get 5 points per $1 spent on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel, as well as 5 points per $1 on eligible hotels booked on amextravel.com. The need to book your hotels through the amextravel website may prove a little inconvenient, as you’ll often be giving up discounted rates from travel engines for these rewards points. Flights booked directly through airlines is rarely more expensive than through travel search engines (often just $1 or so in savings).
Access To 1000+ Airport Lounges
This is one of the most appreciated benefits of a premium travel credit card. Granted, the program was better in the past when cardholders had access to lounges from American Airlines and United. Now, the only major US carrier still participating in the partnership is Delta, where you’ll have access to Delta Sky Club locations, given that you have a flight with the airline.
The Platinum Card® does have an advantage over its competition with access to the Centurion airport lounges, which boast more luxury than most standard lounges. However, there are currently just a few options throughout the nation: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Las Vegas (LAS), New York (LGA), Miami (MIA), Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), and San Francisco (SFO). International American Express lounges and Airspace lounges are also included with this access benefit.
Aside from those differences in lounge availability, you’re going to have access to all the 1,000+ lounges included in the Priority Pass Select program like you would with the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Citi Prestige cards. This membership level is equivalent to the “Prestige” membership plan that would cost you $399 if purchased directly on the Priority Pass site ($359 with this discount). Frequent travelers find this to be great value, and it’s a big reason for choosing a premium travel card despite the high annual fee.
$200 In Uber Rides
This is a unique benefit to The Platinum Card®, and is one that has made many card-seekers pick this as their premium card of choice (we still give the Chase Sapphire Reserve a slight edge, as explained in the next section). Factor in the $399 savings for the Priority Pass Select program with this $200 in Uber credits, and the annual fee is essentially more than negated. One restriction is that the credits can only be used for Uber rides in the United States.
Just keep in mind that it’s not $200 in credits that you can use anytime throughout the year, rather it’s $15 in credits monthly with an extra $20 in bonus credits for the month of December. All things considered, this was a creative benefit addition by American Express.
The $200 Airline Fee Credit
While this sounds like a great benefit that competes well with the $300 Travel Credit from the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the $250 Air Travel Credit from the Citi Prestige, it actually pales in comparison.
The $200 Airline Fee Credit from The Platinum Card® actually can only be used on incidentals, such as checked bags and in-flight meals. The credit can’t be used on airline tickets themselves. In terms of execution, you’ll usually only have to pay for your first checked baggage with the budget airlines. And when was the last time you ordered an in-flight meal? Even worse, you have to use this credit on just one airline of your choice (you can change this choice once a year).
In comparison, the $250 credit with the Citi Prestige does encompass airline tickets as well as incidentals. The $300 travel credit with the Chase Sapphire Reserve beats them all, with airfare, hotels and even Uber rides counting towards the annual credit. Plus, your Uber ride credits, along with other travel credits, can be used anytime throughout the year, up to the $300 maximum.
Global Entry (TSA PreCheck) Credit
If you travel frequently, you should have already signed up for Global Entry! Once you have The Platinum Card®, there really is no excuse as you’ll receive an application credit (it’s $100 for Global Entry or $85 for TSA PreCheck) when you pay with your card. You’ll also receive the credit every 4 years when you renew as well. Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck, so it’s better to just go for that. Plan ahead, as appointment times for the interview can be weeks or months away.
Hotel Gold Status
Here’s a good perk that helps The Platinum Card® stand out a bit. You’ll receive Gold status in both the Starwood Preferred Guest and Hilton HHonors programs. To take advantage of this, you’ll have to manually enroll in each program on the American Express website. With a rough numbers crunch, Gold status in these programs can range in value from about $700 to $1000.
If you book two or more consecutive nights at a property in the American Express Hotel Collection, you’ll receive an automatic upgrade (if available) and a $75 credit towards dining, resort, spa or other activities at that property. Depending on location, rooms in their Hotel Collection are typically $150 a night or more.
Also, if you book a stay at one of American Express’s Fine Hotels & Resorts, you’ll receive upgrades and amenities worth about $550 each stay.
Now that Starwood has merged with Marriott, you can also match your complimentary Starwood Preferred Guest Gold status to Gold status in the Marriott Rewards program.
Car Rental Elite Status
Just like with the hotel Gold status upgrades, you can choose to manually enroll in elite status with several car rental agencies. This includes Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive, and Avis Preferred status.
Free Boingo Wi-Fi
If you’re stuck at an airport that happens to not have a lounge you can access for free with your Platinum Card® (or if it’s simply way too far a walk from your gate!), your free access to the Boingo Preferred Plan can come in handy. This plan includes unlimited access at more than 1,000,000 Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide. You can sync this free access with up to four of your devices.
Just like with many of the other card benefits, be sure to enroll for access on the Amex website.
Bottom Line
Pitfalls aside, The Platinum Card® from American Express is still a solid choice if you’re in search for a premium travel credit card. If you’ve made up your mind on this card, but aren’t in a rush, we recommend waiting for a special bonus offer to come around before applying. Just be sure to go directly to the American Express website to find these special offers.
Most would agree, there’s a certain sense of luxury that comes with carrying an American Express credit card, and you’ll feel it magnified with The Platinum Card®. The card is made of solid stainless steel by the way.
For frequent travelers outside of the United States, however, our team finds it difficult to recommend this card given its lack of acceptance worldwide when compared to your other choices.
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