American Express Membership Rewards - Platinum card in Australia

Hi all

I am in Australia and have recently received an invitation from American Express to go Platinum. The material sent with the invitation I feel was lacking in detail about card benefits, and the website doesn't seem to shed much more light on things.

Just wondering what people's experience has been with the Platinum card in Australia in terms of service and benefits including Membership Rewards.

Does it stack up against other offerings or might it be time to look at Citibank or Commonwealth Platinum?

Although, it's almost worth the $900 so I don't have to talk to India anymore...

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ob

[This message has been edited by oceanboy (edited Mar 20, 2004).]

Hiya!

You should probably call them and ask, although I am sure ozflyer has some answers for you as he had the platinum up until recently.

Amex AU seems to be doing what UK did recently, update many of their plat to cent, and many of their gold to plat. Either way, congrats on your upgrade.

I'd hardly call this an 'upgrade'. They've written him asking him to pay a higher fee! There are no more benefits than outlined in the brochure. Most people will hardly use them. The only benefit of note is the companion airline ticket. If you travel on the airlines listed, and use the companion ticketing to advantage, the benefits are terrific. Many people arrange their business travel to revolve around this arrangement, splitting the saving with their colleagues. The downside to that is they're often not the airlines one would normally choose. One might have to do some creative itinerary building to take advantage of these airlines.

There are no circumstances under which I would fly United, for example. Many Australians like Qantas, but you won't find them participating in this programme. My carrier of choice is Singapore Airlines, and similarly they would not be participating in the programme.



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Craig

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by oceanboy:
I am in Australia and have recently received an invitation from American Express to go Platinum. The material sent with the invitation I feel was lacking in detail about card benefits, and the website doesn't seem to shed much more light on things.</font>

The implication is that if you have to ask what the benefits of the card are, then you are "not worthy". It appears to me that there is a lot of deliberate vagueness about these cards, hidden behind the haughty statement that "It's not for everyone" (TM).

Write back to them and ask for a written list of the benefits.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Write back to them and ask for a written list of the benefits.</font>

It's all on their web site.



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Craig

I must say that the card represented value for money for me whilst I had it. I am a bit concerned that the old Platinum will now become the Black however I must say the service of the Centurion card so far has been better than Platinum (not that Platinum was anything but great service).

I would say that within 6-12 months, Platinum will be like it is in the US, ie if you want it just pay the annual fee and you will get it. A friend of mine who is a student earning $200 per week just got invited to Platinum so the next step will be "open to public".

All in all, it does not really matter who has access to the card, you need to decide if the benefits are worth the money to you. The big selling point for me is the customer service. People on this board all have horror stories while travelling to share and holding Centurion (or Platinum) is, an insurance policy in these cases. It is also good to know that if I need something that is hard to get, I can get on the phone and someone will chase it down for me.

Apart from that, the travel insurance is very good and saves a lot of money if your travel internationally a lot.

At the end of the day, if you find the benefits of use get the card, if not, I would not get it for the "status" value as people really don’t care and soon everyone will have or be able to get one.

Full details on the card are at:

http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/page/0,1641,7025,00.asp?australia_nav=IMAGE_Cards_Plati num

Let me know if you have any specific questions.