Originally Posted by
SpaethCo
It's only "free" if you were willing to pay the full freight $695 annual fee for the Platinum card and would keep the card even if there were $0 in credits. The instant you start using the credits to justify the annual fee that's not free anymore - that's your dollars you're getting back if you spend it in very specific ways.
I am not sure I understand.
I pay $695 and Amex gives me $200 in free UA airfare that I would otherwise pay for.
if Amex eliminated the credit, and I would keep the card for $695, I would now pay an extra $200 to get my airfare. And my total cost would be $895.
Same with entertainment credits
if I would buy them independent of having the plat card. Which in my case is the case. I have had NYT and Sirius XM subscriptions for many years. So I value them at full price. I also got Peacock for $0.99 a month on Black Friday. I would have paid that for it anyway, but the Plat makes it free.