Originally Posted by
calgaryhhr
Go with the Amex Platinum. I have had the card for about 6 years now and it is great. It is pretty expensive at $700 per year but has some great benefits that make it worthwhile. Lounge access is an important feature and I couldn't imagine traveling now without lounge access. They have access to a number of hotel programs. Using their hotel programs I was able to status match up to Caesars Diamond for my last Vegas trip which gave me free parking, comped resort fees, $100 dining credit and free show tickets.
The Platinum card also has a $200 annual travel credit but to use the credit you have to book through Amex Travel Services but sometimes they have some decent deals. Last year I used the travel crefit for a pre cruise hotel in Miami and surprisingly Amex had a much cheaper room rate than any other website. They also have their special Fine Hotel and Resort program which includes added benefits at some hotels.
I'd argue the AE Platinum can make sense if you travel a lot and aren't loyal to a specific airline/alliance (where you could earn status). Otherwise, save the $550 and stick with the Gold. Lounge access is nice but useless if you end up spending your MR points to travel in J where lounge access is included. Hotel perks are nice, but again if you don't stay at SPMarriott or Hilton often enough you won't get much milage out of it. In addition, if you have a significant other, the Gold card will give you a free supplementary card. Platinum wants at least $50 for the Gold supplementary or $175 for the Platinum. Hence, Gold may be a good starter card with a Player 2 strategy. Gold also has a healthy sign up bonus of 25,000 miles. If after using the card for some time you find that you could really use the Platinum features, I would then wait for an upgrade offer to Platinum for 50,000 MR points. That way you'll end up earning 75,000 bonus miles instead of the only 50,000 you would earn by signing up for AE Platinum directly.
Originally Posted by
calgaryhhr
I believe the earn earn rate is 2 points per dollar on travel, 3 for restaurants and 1.25 for everything else (that drops to 1 this summer with new program changes.) I use my points for statement credits on travel purchase where you can redeem 1000 points for a $10 credit or 1000 for a $7 credit on non travel purchases.
The earn rate on the
AE Platinum is different than on the
Gold card. Gold earns 2 points back on Gas, Grocery, Drugstores and Travel, 3 points back on hotels/car rentals booked through AE Travel and 1 point back everywhere else. Also, AE platinum now only earns 1 point everywhere else! Depending on where you spend Gold may be the better card for earning points (i.e. when I lived in Canada I would go to Sobeys more often than McDonalds).
Originally Posted by
Error 601
I have always been able to find member exclusives to Europe, but a lot of itineraries (and especially westbound) just weren't practical.
The best deals I have seen recently were to Hawaii with the ME fares being lower than Basic.
Here's a brief overview video from WS on how to
Clearly a hidden gem of the rewards program!
-James