American Express Membership Rewards - (UK) AMEX PLAT v BA AMEX / BA PREMIUM PLUS

Hi all,

Considering getting an AMEX, unsure of the best option from

AMEX platinum card (£300pa fee)
AMEX BA
AMEX BA premium plus (£150 fee)

-- what are your experiences of platinum benefits?

-- usually travel long haul once per year via BA in Club (so lougne access inc)
-- plus 2/4 other flights (non-BA shorthaul) per year

opinions?

To justify the Platinum Card annual fee one consideration would be the travel insurance, UK details here...

https://www.iplatinum.americanexpress.com/platinum/uk/downloads/SummaryBenefits.pdf

I have both Plat and BA Premium Plus and am deciding which to drop next year.

For me, the tangible benefits I've had from the Plat card in the last year are:
1. Travel delay claim (although Premium Plus card would have covered that as well)
2. Priority pass lounge access about 8 times for me and 3 times for my wife
3. Eurostar lounge access twice
4. BMI lounge access twice
5. Saved about £40 on car hire insurance excess charges
6. Travel insurance (not claimed on but obviously important to have)

For me, these benefits aren't worth £300, although YMMV. The Priority Pass lounges in the UK in particular aren't as nice as airline's own lounges (not a patch on Galleries at T5 for example).

I've decided that I won't renew my plat card but will keep my BA card next year, I'll go for BA silver for lounge access (as I nearly always fly BA anyway) and get travel insurance elsewhere.

As an aside, I've been really impressed with Amex's customer service and think the 2for1 BA voucher 1.5 miles/£ are great deals - well worth the £150 for me.

Ultimately everyone will have a different opinion on this one and you'll have to work out the cost of the benefits for your own travel plans...hope this helps.

Since the Plat card stopped qualifying you for a free BA Amex (saving £150) the savings are harder to justify.

It works for me because I have given supp cards to my wider family so pretty much everyone I am directly related to now has free travel insurance! I also save about £100 a year on the car hire insurance plus, of course, £150 a year for the BA Amex which existing Plats continue to receive. I am therefore up, overall, and I also get occasional deals through the Fine Hotels & Resorts plan.

Overall it depends on your travel needs. If you fly through Luton once a week, for example, the Priority Pass benefit would cover the card in itself. For me, I almost never use it these days since I got BA and *A status. Similar with Eurostar.