Originally Posted by
gnomie
On of my colleagues just got of the phone with Amex - he has a biz and CS platinum cards and had a combined spend of $74,926 in 2022. It appears that Amex is being pretty strict about the $75K minimum spend because they would not bend the rules and provide him with guest access. He is annoyed (rightfully so) that he was not aware it was a combined spend because he could have very easily put another hundred on the card to meet the minimum requirement.
Anyway, according to the rep, guest privileges will be extended to members who have a combined spend of $75K on platinum cards and not just on one card - she read the "rules" which states spend on two or more cards in good standing qualify. He asked for written confirmation of this new benefit and the rep provided a link to the global lounge collection but we could not find any mention of spend on multiple accounts qualifying. Maybe they are in the process of updating the website or I wonder if this will be an "unpublished" benefit.
This makes sense. I feel bad for someone who was 0.1% short of the line, but if you bend the rules there, it's a rabbit hole that never ends. If you make an exception for $74,926, why not $74,681? And then, why not $74,293? Lather, rinse, repeat -- and eventually you are asking why someone can't get an exception for $66K when someone else just got one for $67K because someone *else* got one for $68K. A hard "line in the sand" is tough for people barely on the wrong side of that line, but it opens Pandora's Box to start trying to figure out how close is "close enough".
And in reality, unless you are in a business situation where your guests consistently vary and aren't usually the same three trusted people, an extra $175 for one year isn't a hardship, and now you have an entire year of knowing the rules.