Originally Posted by
markandrew
Amex gives more points, more benefits and more value for the annual fee, in addition to generally better customer care, service levels etc.
You travel a lot, most such travelers would rather have 2 miles per $ than 1. Of course there will be exceptions but I cannot see how many people would rather pay $399 for this product over $499 for Amex Aeroplat or Plat (Discounting the travel credit from the Plat annual fee which some will disagree with but works flawlessly for me).
I don't mean to say I'd pay $399. I'm saying I haven't seen any significant value in paying more than $100 for an annual fee. Lounge access, priority check-in/security...yay?
And the AmEx AeroplanPlus Platinum says it's only 1.25 points per dollar.
I'm not sure I put enough spend on a card that even 2 points per dollar would make it worth the additional $400 annual fee. I'd have to spend $20k to break even at 1cpm? I probably do that, but not much more.
Also, my TD card gives me 3x points on travel booked through them (effectively 4.5% cashback), and my Chase card gives me double points on travel, and both of those are roughly $100/year.
If it works for you, great, but I don't think it's fair to say that anyone with high income would see a benefit.