mia

I have removed a cross-posted question about a Canadian card with a $399 annual fee. Please follow discussion in HERE.

eajusa

I keep an Excel spreadsheet with columns for 1. Annual Fee 2. $ Saved w/ date and benefit noted and 3. A running balance. The balance of course has to stay a negative amount to demonstrate any real benefit to me. This way, as things change I can keep ahead of whether the AF is really worth it. This lends some "objective measurable data" to my answer; and takes away the emotional connection I might attach to my Plat Card. I don't want to waste my money on a card I can't gain from just because I love Amex or because my card says "Platinum" on it.

gooseman13

How do you value things like lounge usage?

VegasGambler

Also, do you include savings from benefits that you would get from Amex cards with a lower annual fee? Or no annual fee?

It's also difficult to value discounts. If you would not buy it if it were not for the discount, then the value to you is less than the full amount of the discount.

eajusa

Excellent Question. I log in what it would have cost me to have used a lounge based on the least expensive option. For example, I only flew AA over one month in 2013. I used AC six times. So I valued the six at the monthly rate of $99. Had I used AC only once say in June and once in September, I would have valued the visits at $50 each for a total of $100. Had I used AC 9 times or more over multiple months, I would lump all those visits at the annual rate of $450.

VegasGambler

But, would you pay to use the lounge if it wasn't free? If not, then its value to you is not the full price.

eajusa

That's something everyone should ask themselves. I have never regretted using a lounge, but obviously thousands of flyers have never visited a lounge and never intend to. It's similar to realizing that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

VegasGambler

It's not a matter of regret; it's a matter of the value.

Example: I would not pay $50 to use the Centurion Lounge, but I will go if it's free. Realistically, I'd probably pay $10 or $15 to get in. So if I use it 10 times in a year, then, to me, that is not a $500 value; it is a $100 or $150 value. The fact that they charge $50 for admission is irrelevant. Tomorrow they could raise the price to $1000 per visit; that would not raise its value.

TL;DR: "Price" and "Value" are different things.

eajusa

Yes, the value is in the eye of the beholder. When my flight home was cancelled in St. Louis the day the SW plane crash landed at LGA, the folks at AC got me on the first flight the next day and a hotel room which was paid by AA.

VegasGambler

That is pretty good!

When my LAS-SFO flight was cancelled due to the crash at SFO last year, I ended up on a flight to OAK with a lower fare class, no refund, and a pricy uber ride across the bridge.

Tummy

I have the $475 Mercedes Benz version of the card. A couple days ago we just booked two last minute Thanksgiving cruises on Celebrity and got more than the annual fee back with just two purchases. We have been cruising 2-3x per year lately.
http://www.americanexpress.com/cruiseprivileges

First was a cheap inside cabin. The fare was $229 pp for 5 night Western Caribbean. We got $100 on board credit, $90 credit to a specialty restaurant, and a "premium" bottle of wine (probably worth $15 in the real world). Total $205

Second cruise is for a balcony cabin. Fare was $499 pp. for 7 night Eastern Caribbean. This cabin gets the same, but $200 instead of $100. Total $305

Total of ~$500 in value we wouldn't have received otherwise. After taxes and other fees our two cruises came to $2,437. We also received $300 in OBC from our TA, so if you take that into account, the net costs is $1637. Amex Cruise benefits accounting for a 20% discount.

We also took advantage of the $200 airline credit, $100 global entry, annual $100 coupon for Mercedes branded shirts and other toys, FHR savings, lounge access all over the world, SPG Gold and Hilton Gold status (saving us money on internet and breakfast).

Overall I believe we get far more benefit than the annual fee.

Dark Blue

Sorry to bother you, I have one question about Amex Plat (UK-issued IDC).

The travel benefits apply to "only trips booked by your Plat card"?

I can not remember if this is the case, my previous card = UK Plat had these terms, I think. I am not sure if I can get all the travel benefits as an IDC Plat holder when trips are booked by other UK Amex card (i.e. SPG, etc). It would be appreciated if anyone could answer as I am booking a trip.

Thanks!

eajusa

Sorry, just saw this question today. No, I never include the savings that is also offered on any of the other Amex cards I carry. That is just overlap, and on the rare occasion that I do use a discount I consider it icing on the cake, not something to justify an AF.

gooseman13

When my EWR-SFO was diverted to DEN due to the crash, I ended up stuck at the airport for 5 hours, then being forced to overnight, then being told I could get out 2 days later, then spending $350 to buy a ticket on Southwest, then being told by UA that they refused to give me any refund (let alone reimburse alternative flights), even though they didn't get me to SFO. But I digress

ijgordon

We've booked three cruises in the past year (two on X and one on RCCL). We did the Cruise Privileges on the first one, but probably only "saved" less than $50 because we had to pay a higher rate to get the benefits.

For the other two cruises, the promos the cruise line were offering were worth more than the Amex benefits, and they were not combinable. So we didn't get ANY value out of Amex CP. In my view, it's sort of become like the IAP, useless in most cases...