I have had my Rewards Plus Gold for 7 years. I have used the points I earned to travel with my family to Hawaii on 4 occasions. I also transfered enough points to my Marriott Rewards to allow me to stay at the Ritz Carlton in Maui for 7 days. Needless to say, I have been very pleased with their benefits and their service.

I also used it to pay for a new swimming pool when I made the payments to the pool contracter. When I ended up in a dispute with the contractor, I was able to reverse my final payment until he fixed some problems. Amex was great and researched it well.

On another occasion, I had broken the screen of my palm pilot (2001) and paid $100 to have it fixed. After the fact, I realized that it had been under warranty because I had purchased it with my Amex. When I notified Amex of this, they sent me a $100 check in the mail.

I have considered upgrading to Platinum, but can see no advantage. As discussed above the biggest deal breaker is the cost of the Platinum as well as the .5 point loss. Up until last year, Platinum was $300 (double the $150 for Rewards Plus Gold). It is now $450, and you still have to pay for additional cards. I cant justify the expense.

Also, the Platinum offers free companion fares on Delta, but the fare for the paid traveler has to be full fare. Dont know if that is a useable feature for you. The limits on lost luggage protections with Platinum are $200 and only $500 with Gold. Other coverages go up with Platinum too.