LouNanne

It would seem per the earnings call today there may be possible changes coming.

notquiteaff

Some details and link to transcript here:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ameri...reshes-in-may/

Mike B

Doing a bunch of fragmented offers with individual companies won’t help.

kdm31091

I'm not super encouraged by the transcript honestly. It sounds like basically more Amex Offers or temporary credits. Maybe a $10 a month streaming credit or something. I hope it's more exciting but I'm not holding my breath.

notquiteaff

That’s what it sounded to me. If they make it opt-in Amex Offers, it’s probably pretty cheap for Amex and the merchants. I don’t think I would even know about the offers if I wasn’t reading FT or DoC.

beachfan

Well, that's worth $120 to me, minus the UR point value of the 600 points I would get on my ink card if I can split the payments between ink and Amex. Or $120 minus about 1000 points if I pay all my netflix bill with it.

Gig103

I'd rather have a $10-$12 monthly streaming credit (or specifically Netflix or Hulu commercial free, not something junky like CBS), than Uber credit. I'm sick and tired of Uber and Eats and only keep their app for my Amex credit.

zorbachs

A streaming credit would make no sense whatsoever for the Platinum card. What they should do is add a dining bonus and have the streaming credit on the Green card that is supposedly more targeted towards millennials. If they gave me a credit for streaming on the Platinum, it would not influence my decision whether to downgrade or renew at this time. Right now, the Platinum card provides no value outside of the Uber Eats credits, and I don't know when I will be on a plane again.

kdm31091

I would agree that streaming and wireless seem pretty odd for the Platinum, but I think the issue is that the Green and Gold both already bonus dining. It seems unlikely (though not impossible) they'd add a dining bonus to Plat even though they should.

My guess is they are wanting to capture everyday spend on the Plat right now and who knows if these credits would even be permanent or just temporary offers to get people to use the card. Long term, streaming/wireless don't make much sense for the product.

GTITAN

I don't wonder if AMEX won't go the Prestige Route and offer 5x on dining as well. Would not shock me to see them open 5x to travel too (again akin to Prestige).

Safe Travels

Adelphos

One strange thing is that Amex seems to view the Gold as an “upgrade” to the Green, and the Platinum as an “upgrade” to the Gold based on the user profile. The problem is that the Gold is in many ways significantly more rewarding than the Platinum, both before Covid and during this Covid situation. It would be great if Amex offers some other kind of permanent enhanced spending with the Platinum. Maybe the much rumored Titanium card or whatever could do this

My Schwab Platinum fee is up next month. I have three premium Amex cards (Delta Reserve, Brilliant, Amex Plat) and it doesn’t make sense to hold all three if I am not taking advantage of perks like Amex FHR. It may make sense for me to cancel now and reapply for the regular Amex Plat (i believe I am still eligible for the bonus) next year...

kdm31091

And I do understand the Plat is more of an "access and perks" card rather than an earner, but they still need to do something to compete with cards at similar price points IMO, especially when the access and perks are pretty much worthless right now and likely for at least a few months to come.

Gig103

While also recognizing the access & perks, and knowing credit vs charge are different markets, it does seem like it would be easy enough to up the earning to a meager 1.2 per dollar, to match the Everyday card (no AC). This is, if I'm doing the math right, also similar to Canadian Plat getting 2MR per CAD.

YClass

I saw on one of the travel blogs that apparently Amex has card refreshes in the pipeline - commentary taken from the recent earnings call. I quote “...actual product refreshes to a number of products, which will infuse additional value in addition to the value that a card may have....” However which cards and what changes it doesn't specify or whether temporary or permanent. A lot of cards have already been refreshed over the past couple of years as it is. And then there's the speculation of a card between Plat and Cent (which I personally think is highly unlikely).

Lets see what May brings.....

LAX

Do these refreshes typically come with AF increases?

LAX