taliesin

Also their category bonuses for this year were gas stations (Q1), grocery stores (Q2), restaurants (Q3), and drug and department stores (Q4, for the holidays). All of those are categories of spend most people use multiple times per week, so people get used to having that card at hand. Airfare is not like that. Few people buy plane tickets more than once a month, and even those who do still have no reason to keep the card they use for those purchases in their wallets. So unlike what Chase is doing, this 5X bonus seems unlikely to generate much unbonused spend.

edealinfo12345

Ok, the speculation is now over.

Amex is adding a new benefit to its Platinum card. 5X membership points for airline tickets (only) and only if it is booked directly with the airline or on the Amex travel site.

http://www.kansas.com/news/business/...105927167.html

Useless Amex response to the CSR in my opinion.

flyershmlyer

Yes, but please add actual travel insurance with it also, if they expect people to switch airline spend to the card.

This part baffles me: AMEX eliminated their trip delay insurance (or no new signups), around the time when other credit cards actually made theirs more generous (e.g., only portion of the ticket paid by card).

krazykanuck

Yeah...if 5X on airfare is all of Amex's big reveal, that's a bummer. Oh well. Means I'll probably book any work reimbursable air fare on the Platinum since I don't have to worry about trip interruption coverage since work would deal with that. Personal stuff is probably still better suited for Chase/Citi's trip insurance policies.

I was hoping for a PRG earning structure on the Platinum.

Cubbies2016

Very odd that AMEX is not extending the 5x airfare to the business platinum.

bribro

Just got off the phone with a very chatty AmEx Platinum rep. Nothing really new, just a reinforcing data point. He said the changes are going to be officially revealed on Oct 6th, and that they are indeed adding 5x for airfare spend on the Personal Platinum. He said some changes were also coming to the Business Platinum, but wasn't sure what they were.

Troopers

With the 5x airfare, is there a airline credit card worth holding now? And if the Plat is paired with the CSR? Probably not.

bigbuy

Agreed. I went to bed last night thinking "WOW" 5 points on airline spend. When I woke up this morning it was 'Damn' 2 points on airline spend since many folks already get 3 points thru the Citi Prestige or Chase Reserve. Both of these cards have insurance, so now everytime I purchase an airfare I'll have to think about which is more important, 2 more points or insurance.

United747

Agreed, and I don't think it is worth the 2 points for me

jediwho

How many times have you used card provided travel insurance, how much have you save because of it, and what is the annual spending on airline tickets?

slivrflyr

Guys. guys. It's not the airline direct spend that's a differentiation.


It's MXP.

krazykanuck

It's the airport code for Milan, Italy?

Will MPX trigger bonus points though? I thought I saw data points they weren't giving 3x on the PRG for MPX anymore. I could be wrong though since I don't have a PRG
Here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/26919969-post1169.html

bodiddely

Others have reported that MPX purchases on the PRG do NOT get the 3x as airfare, despite qualifying for the airline incidentals credit. So I doubt this means 5x on MPX purchases.

lkar

This is true for those of us who are active on flyertalk and spend effort to maximize bonuses. But the credit card companies apparently have extensive research on the value of moving their card to the top of your wallet. All of these 3x and quarterly 5x category cards are loss leaders in their bonus categories. Even the everyday cards try to promote this behavior with bonuses on categories that are regular purchases like gas or groceries so that the card is always near the top in your wallet.

Amex has made a lot of money for a lot of years with consumers who flash the platinum card for everything. But clearly, recently, the card for more and more goes into a drawer unless there is a centurion lounge visit planned. And this is exacerbated by (1) the fact that some merchants don't take Amex so you need a back up card in your wallet whenever you go out anyway, and (2) the Costco effect, since for many plat holders they had to keep it in their wallet for Costco visits (and only have one Amex). Ironic given their old tag line of don't leave home without it.

This is strictly a move to get the card back in your wallet and to make the non-churners remember that it is there.

mia

I think the 5X airfare offer on personal cards is a retention strategy, rather than a feature intended to attract new cardholders. American Express Platinum already has benefits which encourage customers to carry the physical card when traveling: Airspace, Centurion and Delta lounge access; Fine Hotels and Resorts.

This new feature provides American Express with specific information about cardholders' travel plans. They can use this to target lodging, car rental, restaurant and other offers. Those revenue streams can help defray the cost of the bonus points. They can also use it to refine their fraud algorithm.

The divergence of Business Platinum from the personal card allows American Express to field test different strategies. The Ameriprise card already has a different rewards structure; it will be interesting to see if the 5X airline category is added to the co-branded versions. It's difficult for Citi or Chase to do this because they have only one product each in this category.

What seems to be missing from personal Platinum's strategy is an incentive to use the card outside the established Travel & Entertainment category. American Express Offers do this to a certain extent, but I think it's not consistent enough. Dining or supermarket are the obvious choices, but that would erode the differentiation between Gold and Platinum. I'd like to see a bonus for cardholder present transactions (swipe or chip).