physixfan      2025-09-18     2025-09-18 239 Comments

The Platinum Card from American Express Review

2025.9 Update: This card just got a major refresh — benefits have been significantly enhanced, and the annual fee has increased from $695 to $895. With the upgrades, this card is once again worth considering as a long-term keeper! Here are the changes (credit to awash):

2025.6 Update: It seems all the links are showing a “AS HIGH AS” 175k welcome offer, and there’s no link with a fixed 175k welcome offer any more.

Application Link

• AmEx Platinum AS HIGH AS 175k Offer
• CardMatch is a place to check pre-qualify offer. You may see a 150k targeted pre-qualify offer, the chance is very low though (the chance is higher if you have never had an AmEx card).
• This link is another place to check pre-qualify offer. You may see a 150k targeted pre-qualify offer, the chance is very low though (the chance is higher if you have never had an AmEx card). It seems you need to open this link in incognito mode in order to see the page with “Check to see if you Pre-Qualify for these Offers”.

Benefits

1. AS HIGH AS 175k offer: Earn 175,000 MR points after you spend $8,000 in the first 6 months. This is the best offer on this card.
2. We estimate that Membership Rewards (MR) are worth about 1.6 cents/point, see below for a brief introduction. So the 150k welcome offer is worth about $2,400!
3. Earn 5x MR points for flights booked directly with airlines, on up to $500k. Earn 5x MR points for flights and prepaid hotels booked with AmEx Travel. Earn 1x MR points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
4. This card offers varies credits to cover some expenses, see details in the next section.
5. Complimentary access to the following airport lounges:
   • Priority Pass Select (PPS), you need to enroll it by yourself, and then a Priority Pass Select card will be mailed to you, free for up to 2 companions, note that AmEx issued PPS cards no longer give restaurant credit (they can only be used in PPS airport lounges);
   • Centurion Lounges. Guest access costs $50 per person. Complimentary guest access for up to two guests per visit after spending $75,000 USD between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 and in each calendar year thereafter.
   • The International American Express Lounges, companion policies vary by location, but at least 1 companion for free;
   • Escape Lounges, free for up to 2 companions;
   • Delta Sky Clubs, you need a Delta boarding pass on the same day, $29 per companion. [2023.9 Update] Effective 2/1/25, card members of this card will receive 6 Visits per year to the Delta Sky Club; to earn an unlimited number of Visits each year starting on 2/1/25, the total eligible purchases on the Card must equal $75,000 or more between 1/1/24 and 12/31/24, and each calendar year thereafter.
   • Plaza Premium Lounges, free for up to 2 companions;
   • Airspace Lounges, free for up to 2 companions.
6. Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR): if you book hotels through FHR, you can enjoy the benefits of elite members; such as room upgrades, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast, etc. The benefits vary by hotels.
7. Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Status. Use this link to activate.
8. Complimentary Hilton Gold Status. Use this link to activate.
9. Complimentary membership for Avis, Hertz, and National membership. Use this link to activate.
10. Platinum Card Concierge service: for the busy or even lazy, you can use this service to book hotels or reserve restaurants and so on, the service is said to be very, very good.
11. $800 Cell phone protection: get up to $800 per claim and 2 claims per year in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage for phones listed on your monthly cell phone bill when you pay it with your eligible credit card. Deductible $50.
12. With this credit card, you can get access to Amex Offers, which often offers very good discounts at some stores. In the past we have seen offers like: Spend $15 or more and get $5 back at Walmart; Spend $75 or more and get $25 back on Amazon.com.
13. Refer a friend: You can earn 15,000 bonus MR points for every approved account you refer, up to 55,000 MR points per calendar year.
14. This card is relatively easy to get approved for because it is a Charge Card, not a Credit Card. Charge card means that you don’t have the option to pay only minimum payment, you have to pay your balance in full on the due dates. Note that Charge Card applications will also result in a Hard Pull, just like Credit Card applications.
15. Charge Cards have no pre-set spending limit.
16. No foreign transaction fee.

Varies Credits

This card has varies credits to cover some expenses. They are:

1. [$200 airline fee credit] Get up to $200 credit for airline incidental charges such as checked bags per calendar year. Airline ticket itself is not eligible. Because this benefit resets according to calendar year instead of when you opened the card, you can actually get airline fee credit TWICE before the second annual fee posts! Note that this benefit is not automatically enrolled, you need to enroll and specify an airline by clicking here.
2. [New] [$600 FHR/THC Hotel Credit] Get $300 credit semi-annually (total $600 per year) at Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) or The Hotel Collection (THC), prepaid rate required. Stay rules: FHR = 1 night, THC = 2 nights minimum. Note that most FHR hotels are pricey.
3. [New] [$400 Resy Credit] Get up to $100 in statement credits each quarter ($400 in total in a year) when you use this card to make eligible purchases with Resy. Resy mainly features higher-end restaurants. Enrollment required.
4. [$200 Uber credit] Get $15 Uber credit per month except Dec, and $35 in December. That’s $200 per year. The unused credits will expire every month.
5. [New] [$120 Uber One Credit] Get up to $120 in statement credits each calendar year after you purchase an auto-renewing Uber One membership with this card.
6. [New] [$300 Digital Entertainment credit]. Get up to $25 per month, only works at: Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV. Among these, YouTube Premium may be useful to most people. Enrollment required.
7. [New] $300 Lululemon Credit: Receive up to $75 in statement credits each quarter ($300 total in a year) when you use this card for eligible purchases at U.S. lululemon retail stores (excluding outlets) and lululemon.com. Enrollment required
8. [$100 Saks credit] Get up to $50 in statement credits on Saks Fifth Avenue from January through June, and up to $50 from July through December. Both online and in store will work. No minimum purchase required. Enrollment required.
9. [Complementary Walmart+ membership] Pay your Walmart+ membership with your AmEx Platinum card, and you will get full credit back ($12.95/month).
10. [$120 Global Entry credit] Get $120 credit for Global Entry or $85 credit for TSA Precheck application fee.
11. [$209 Clear credit]. It’s the same amount as the Clear annual membership fee. It’s useful if you fly a lot.
12. [New] [$200 Oura Ring Credit] Receive up to $200 in statements credits when you use this card to purchase an Oura Ring at Ouraring.com each calendar year. Oura Ring is a smart ring. Enrollment required.
13. [$300 Equinox credit]. Get up to $300 per year on Equinox membership fees. The value is essentially 0. Enrollment required.

Disadvantages

1. $895 annual fee, NOT waived for the first year. Note that annual fee does not count towards the minimum spending requirement (and this is true for all credit cards)! 

Authorized Users

There are two kinds of Authorized User (AU) cards: platinum AU card, and “silver” AU card. AU cards do not have separate credits.

1. Platinum AU cards have annual fee: $195 per card. Platinum AU card holders have separated PPS card, have access to all the airport lounges mentioned above, get complimentary hotel status, and can use FHR benefits.
2. “Silver” AU cards have no annual fee, but there’s no additional benefits.

Introduction to MR Points

• You can earn MR points with AmEx ED, AmEx EDP, AmEx Green, AmEx Gold, AmEx Platinum, AmEx Platinum for Schwab, AmEx Platinum for Morgan Stanley, AmEx Blue Business Plus, AmEx Business Green, AmEx Business Gold, AmEx Business Platinum, etc.
• The MR points you earn on different MR cards will automatically go to the same MR account.
• MR points never expire. You will not lose the MR points on one card if you close the account, but you will lose all of the MR points if you close all of the MR cards. In order to avoid losing your MR points, we recommend to keep the no annual fee AmEx ED.
• If you have any of the MR cards, MR points can be transferred to some airline miles. One of the most common and best way to use MR points is to 1:1 transfer them to All Nippon Airways (ANA, NH) miles (Star Alliance). Other good options are: Air Canada (AC) (Star Alliance), Delta Air Lines (DL) (SkyTeam), British Airways (BA) (Oneworld), Asia Miles (Oneworld), Singapore Airlines (SQ) (Star Alliance), Flying Blue (SkyTeam), Virgin Atlantic (VS) (Non-alliance), etc. If you use MR in this way, the value is about 1.6 cents/point.
• If you have any of the MR cards, you can redeem your MR points at a fixed rate about 1 cent/point towards air tickets on AmEx travel portal.
• If you have AmEx Platinum for Schwab, you can redeem your MR points at a fixed rate 1.1 cents/point towards cash. If you don't want to spend time studying airline miles, this is a pretty good way to cash out the points. If you don't have this card, you can only redeem your MR points at a fixed rate 0.6 cents/point towards cash.
• In summary, we estimate that MR points are worth about 1.6 cents/point.
• For more information about MR points, see Maximize the Credit Card Points Values (overview), and Introduction to MR: How to Earn and Introduction to MR: How to Use (very detailed).

Recommended Application Time

1. [Once per lifetime language] You can only get the welcome bonus once in a lifetime, so be sure to apply when the historical highest offer appears.
2. [New] [Platinum flavors language] Different flavors of AmEx Platinum cards now affect each other in terms of welcome offers. You can only get one welcome offer among them.
3. [New] [Family language] AmEx begins to add family language: higher annual fees cards will affect the welcome offers on lower annual fee ones in the same family series. Specifically, having held Platinum makes you ineligible for the welcome offer of Gold. So if you want both, you should apply for Gold first.
4. AmEx doesn’t care about the number of hard pulls.
5. You can try to apply for it when you have a credit history of 6 months.
6. You must wait at least 90 days between the application for different flavors of AmEx Platinum cards, otherwise the application will be cancelled.

Summary

In recent years, the welcome bonus on this card has climbed steadily, and it』s consistently ranked at the very top of credit card signup bonus lists. Even if you only consider the welcome bonus without long-term holding, it』s well worth applying for and enjoying a year of premium card perks.

This card earns 5x MR points on airfare, making it the best credit card for buying plane tickets. It also comes with trip delay insurance that kicks in after just 6 hours, which further strengthens its case as the top airfare card. On top of that, it has a solid lineup of travel benefits, including more lounge partners than other premium cards, access to Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR), and more.

After the September 18, 2025 refresh, the annual fee increased to $895, but the coupon book has been significantly upgraded:

• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Same as before, can be liquidated with the UA TravelBank trick. Valued at ~$170 (85% of face).
• $600 FHR Hotel Credit: Changed from $200/year to $300 every 6 months, much easier to use. In some cases you can get 1–2 nights free domestically. Valued at ~$360 (60% of face).
• $400 Resy Credit: $100 per quarter is a very usable denomination. Yes, restaurants on Resy tend to be overpriced, but with $100 every quarter, most people can find a reason to use it. Valued at ~$240 (60% of face).
• $200 Uber Credit: Annoying monthly installments, but if you use Uber or Uber Eats, it』s easy to redeem. Valued at ~$80 (40% of face).
• $300 Streaming Credit: Since most people use YouTube Premium to skip ads, valuing it at $140 is reasonable.
• $300 Lululemon Credit: Based on past experience, physical gift cards reloaded to your account often trigger the credit, letting you stock up on pricier items. Valued at ~$180 (60% of face).

Adding up just the above valuations, you』re already over $1,000 in value. If you also find value in the Oura Ring, Uber One, Walmart+, or Saks credits, then the card is worth even more. Of course, if you』re not the target customer for those benefits, forcing yourself to use the coupon book doesn』t necessarily mean you』re 「profiting.」 The key is whether you have genuine need for these perks — if yes, then this card can be a solid long-term keeper.

If you don』t plan to keep this card and still have unredeemed MR points when closing, you can apply for a no-annual-fee card like AmEx Checking or AmEx Blue Business Plus to preserve your MR points for future use.

To Do List After You Get The Card

1. Enroll in Airline Incidental Fee Credit benefit and choose a carrier. You must enroll and choose a carrier prior to making a reimbursable purchase.
2. Enroll in Resy Credit benefit.
3. Add your card to Uber or UberEats.
4. Enroll in Digital Entertainment Credit benefit.
5. Enroll in Lululemon Credit benefit.
6. Enroll in Saks Credit benefit.
7. Enroll in Walmart+ membership.
8. Enroll in Priority Pass Select (PPS) lounge benefit.
9. Enroll in Marriott Bonvoy Gold status.
10. Enroll in Hilton Gold status.
11. Enroll for Avis, Hertz and NationalCar Rental status privileges.
12. Apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
13. Apply for Clear membership.
14. Enroll in Oura Ring Credit benefit.
15. Enroll in Equinox Credit benefit.

Related Credit Cards

• AmEx Platinum regular version (this post)
• AmEx Platinum for Schwab
• AmEx Platinum for Morgan Stanley

See this post for the comparison of benefits.

Recommended Downgrade Options

• AmEx Gold
• You can not downgrade this card to any card with no annual fee.

After Applying

• Click here to check application status.
• AmEx reconsideration backdoor number: 877-399-3083. The 「real」 backdoor number of Amex is well protected. Different from Chase, the representatives from this AmEx reconsideration backdoor number only have the right to help you submit requests.

Historical Offers Chart

Application Link

• AmEx Platinum AS HIGH AS 175k Offer
• CardMatch is a place to check pre-qualify offer. You may see a 150k targeted pre-qualify offer, the chance is very low though (the chance is higher if you have never had an AmEx card).
• This link is another place to check pre-qualify offer. You may see a 150k targeted pre-qualify offer, the chance is very low though (the chance is higher if you have never had an AmEx card). It seems you need to open this link in incognito mode in order to see the page with “Check to see if you Pre-Qualify for these Offers”.

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