traveler9020

I know this topic has been covered in other posts, but after reviewing the benefits of this card, I guess I'm missing something. For the "bargain" price of $450/yr, I get Priority Pass lounge access, which can be had for as little as $212/yr with a simple google search. In addition I can get a $200 dollar airline expense reimbursement but have to declare an airline in advance, which is not very convenient. The other perks such as purchase protection, extended warranty etc.., are offered with their "no-fee" cards and/or cards with much lower annual fees. It seems that it would be less expensive to get an Amex BCE or SPG and if lounge access is what's important, just buy the Priority Pass access for $212/yr.

I get the fact that there is a "prestige" factor associated with these cards. This is the major marketing factor for Amex on this product. But, my question is, "Is this thing really worth $450/yr when compared to other premium or mid-level cards?

Your thoughts?

nrr

You can use their Centurion Lounges; so far LAS, DFW and LGA (landside)--SFO may be next.
They reimburse the $100 Global Entry fee and TSA pre-check fees.

sdsearch

But GE is good for 5 years (and I presume paid PreCheck the same), so for 4 years that's useless!

(And if you already got GE or NEXUS a couple years ago, the 4 years that's it's useless may be the first two or three years of having the Plat card!)

sdsearch

Not only that, but to get that benefit you have to then pay all tickets on that airline with the Plat card (even if you also have an airline-specific card that gives 2x miles on tickets bought on that airline which you'd otherwise rather use).

And if you have status with the airline and/or you're carryon-only, the expenses you may have might be limited to purchased food when flying coach, and tiny little stuff like that. OTOH, if you're flying that one airline enough to make those fees add up to $200 easily, you've probably got status.

So yes, a lot of these benefits sound like they're structured to sound great to people who don't investitage the details, but to not actually be very useful in practice.

(I already have GE [actually NEXUS which also gives you GE], for several years more. I already have an Lifetime Platinum on AA, and mostly fly either AA where I don't have expenses other than occasional food in coach or Southwest where I don't have any expenses except Early Bird which I don't think Amex Plat would cover. And I buy tickets on AA with my AA card, which not only has 1/5 the annual fee on paper, but where the nice folks at Citi completely credit the full amount of that annual fee pretty much anytime I ask, so effectively there's no annual fee! I don't tend to need lounges that often [when I don't get them from status or from the cabin on an award ticket or from a promo on my Citi AA card], and pretty much never in the locations where this card has lounges. So, yes, I couldn't find a single Amex Platinum benefit which would work for me, much less $450 worth of them!)

krazykanuck

The answer is: it depends. I think the card fee is effectively $250 since you can buy airline gift cards through the gift registry and use them for tickets. I primarly only fly one airline, so selecting in advance is no big deal. You get Centurion lounge access, which is $50 a pop if you pay cash. Even if you only value it at a fraction of that, if you use it a few times a year its nice to have. I'm not sure where you're getting the $212 cost for PP. In the US, on PP, I see a $99/yr package that you have to pay $27 per visit, or $249/yr and get 10 free visits. With the platinum card you get unlimited visits.

The long and the short of it is that it depends on what your travel habits are. If you're not a big traveler, it's probably not worth it. For me, in the last 6 weeks alone I've used the Centurion lounges twice and priority pass lounges three times. On my next trip in two weeks, I'll be using a PP lounge on both the inbound and outbound flights as well. Not to mention it covered my GE fee and $125 in change and bag fees on United. To me it's worth having.

medichill

Excellent customer service, AMEX Offers ($95 so far this year for me) and Small Business Saturday events ($15 so far but $30 more coming up after Thanksgiving), Hertz Gold status, Concierge service (good success the couple times I used it plus they saved my group almost $6K on a hotel booking), 5% off FedEx (very significant for my small business), Boingo wifi access, SPG Gold (free breakfast and wifi, bonus Starpoints).

There are others, but these are the ones that I use. Worth every penny of the $450 to me. And I can buy almost anything I need for my business with no hassle or thinking about a credit limit.

haibane

Of course you left off a few things...
Concierge.
Elite status at most car rental places.
Boingo.
Incircle.

NiceLanding

Discount program with Regus that's been saving me $840 per year.

darrvao777

You left out quite a few things. For my needs, it is absolutely worth it.

- Lounge access: Priority pass, Delta Sky Club, Airspace Lounges, and Centurion Lounges. Even as someone who only travels a handful of times a year, these are nice perks

- Global Entry statement Credit

- $200 reimbursement for airlines. Yes, you have to declare which airline ahead of time. But most of the major ones will allow you to get a gift card or gift registry of sorts which is essentially decreasing the AF to $250 if you have to spend money anyway on air travel (and if you don't, then you probably shouldn't be looking at the platinum card)

- Baggage insurance at higher rates than other Amex cards

- Fine Hotels and Resorts program. I understand the criticism here is that you need to spend more to get benefits out of it. But that is exactly the clientele Amex is targeting with the Platinum. You can easily save the AF with one booking alone using the FHR program if you stumble upon the right deal

- No FTF

- Boingo wireless access (although admittedly, I havent tried using this yet)

- Roadside assistance coverage x 4 events per year

- Upgrade in status for Avis, Hertz, and National car rentals

- Purchase protection is superior to that of other Amex cards as it includes a provision for lost items (other Amex cards only cover for stolen or broken)

In short, even as someone who only travels a handful of times per year (5 trips or less), I find enough use with the Platinum card to continue paying the AF

Okto

Free breakfast is not an SPG Gold amenity, only SPG Platinum gets it.

mia

Priority Pass sells three different levels of membership. Which can you buy for $212 per year?

The airline fee reimbursement program does not require that tickets be purchased with the Platinum Card, and the entire credit can be converted to an airline gift card in a single transaction on AA, DL, UA and some others. We have threads for each eligible carrier documenting how to redeem the credit.

henrythefourth

I thought that was only for the Business Platinum. I valued the Regus lounge benefit closer to $600. I take it you're also using full office space.

This is the perk that really intrigues me. There are two Regus office spaces near me that I wouldn't mind using as a day away from the home-office. Granted, it's only the lounge access so it would have to be solo laptop work. I read somewhere (forget where) that there is max use of around 8-10 visits per month. Need to find out if that is per office or in total. This is the benefit that would make me pull the trigger, if the sign-up bonus were right.

@henrythefourth

mia

Correct.

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/s...platinum/44279

Smid

Well, I'm not particularly sure this is true for the US card, but it is for the uk.

You get TWO Priority Pass's, one for you, and one for your supplemental cardholder. So if you value these at $212 per year, then thats $424 before you start on the rest.

Dubai Stu

I saw Regus gold as one of the listed benefits. I have an Amex personal. Is there anyway to get it on personal rather than business. I have a Regus preferred through National Emerald.