I have both the Palladium and Amex Plat. Currently, the Amex has better benefits. Chase has done little to enhance the benefits of the Palladium, but I put far more spending on the Palladium because it pays a 35,000 point bonus on 100k spend and pays double on travel. On the other hand, my wife has turned her Amex Everyday preferred into a points machine with the 1.5x bonus and the crazy 4.5 x it generates on groceries. We love the combination of both. Now if she could just remember to use the Chase portal for her shopping!

The more people start using cards for points and miles, the worse it is going to get for Amex. Chase Club offers 1.5 miles per dollar, Citi Prestige offers 3x on travel and 2x on restaurants (is $100 a year for Citi Gold account after $250 airline reimbursement), Virgin Atlantic offers 1.5 miles per dollar plus bonus after certain amount of money spent, same with some of the hotel branded cards. It's getting harder and harder to justify getting an Amex Platinum besides the benefit of accessing Centurion lounges and even in that case, most likely one have a combo of cards to max out points.

What inflation?

This is the exact same reason I put most of my spend on the Palladium. Once I hit 100k in a year I generally switch. I'm not too sure why but it's probably habit. Most likely going forward I'll just stick with the Palladium the entire way.

Amex needs to stop saying you don't qualify for the sign up offer because you are an Amex customer. I understand limiting bonuses if you have or had the exact card. This switching browsers or going incognito is not hard, but makes me anxious. I ask myself "Will they id me as an Amex customer and deny me a bonus after spending X thousands on a card?"

Article: Amex Troubles: Some Cardholders Leave Home Without It.
 

Interesting article on the AP yesterday about how more Amex customers are looking and leaving for greener pastures.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/amex-t...145319588.html

Thank you. The most interesting information in this piece is that 70 percent of spending on those [Costco co-branded] cards was done outside the stores. This should help focus the discussions in these threads:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ch-2016-a.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/citi-...ch-2016-a.html


This makes it sounds as if AA lounges access had been a core Platinum Card benefit for decades. In fact access began in October 2007, and ended in March 2014. The article also fails to mention the relationship between AA and Citi. The surprising thing is that American Express was ever able to offer this benefit. Citi was dreadfully late offering a card with bundled lounge membership, which American Express and Chase had long offered with Delta and United.

I just got the Benefits of Platinum Membership mailer. Why do I need to be reminded of the basic benefits of this card? Renewal is next month. Like most members, I got the card because I studied the benefits before applying. If all personal and business members receive this mailer, that is a lot of money that could go elsewhere.

Agreed. All high-end cards do this to some extent, but the flow of expensive printed material from American Express is the worst, and I have never seen anything mentioned that I had overlooked which proved worthwhile.

This said, many people do gush over the presentation boxes and other materials used when a card is delivered.

Like most smart members, you mean. :D You'll frequently see stuff here and on various blogs from people with simple questions about cards that they would've known the answers to had they read the T&Cs of the card before they applied. But they didn't, and now they're freaking out because they just assumed instead of reading the T&Cs.

what is this gold card benefit of airline reimbursement?

The standard Gold Card does not offer an airline incidental fee reimbursement, however the PRG Card as of June 1 2015 will start offering 100/yr.

American Express Adds New Benefits to Premier Rewards Gold Card

The airline reimbursement along with a better point earning system further devalues the Platinum Card IMO. If it weren't for the Centurion lounges (which need to expand quicker) I wouldn't even have the Platinum Card.