Jul 1, 2021, 1:23 pm
Last edit by: Global Adventurer
*Equinox $25 Credit will not be issued for ANY products you buy online at their merchandise Shop which is coded as "Equinox The Shop". However, it appears that you can purchase Gift Cards straight off the site, but lowest denomination is $100. Gift cards can be used for merchandise and memberships.
USA personal Platinum annual fee increase to $695, July 2021.
Jul 14, 2021, 6:22 am
#676
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NYC (LGA, JFK), CT
Programs: Delta Platinum, American Gold, JetBlue Mosaic 4, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond,
Posts: 4,895
Printing House or Hudson Yards? HY has an outdoor pool, right? Or both in/out? There was like one time I really wanted to go to Printing House during a heat wave a couple summers ago, but I didn't think it was worth the upcharge, especially since I was rarely in lower Manhattan to use it.
Jul 14, 2021, 7:35 am
#677
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Plainfield, IN
Programs: IHG Platinum / HHonors Diamond / Hyatt Globalist / AA EX Platinum
Posts: 200
Jul 14, 2021, 9:11 am
#678
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Programs: Delta DM & MM, Hilton DM, Marriott gold, Hyatt Globalist, Alaska 75K, Wyndham Diamond,
Posts: 15,399
A friends Hilton Am Ex got the same offer and I got the Clear offer on my Hilton. Weird Am Ex is raising the annual fee by almost 25 percent bragging about all these new useless benefits and then offering them on other cards.
Jul 14, 2021, 11:13 am
#680
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: JFK/LGA/BDL
Posts: 419
I really don't think so. You would need to provide your credit card information as the payment option for the new account and then rely upon the Buyer to remove it and replace it with their own. Alternatively, CLEAR does offer eGift Cards (which would certainly be very easy to sell) but it is unclear if you would receive a credit from Amex for this purchase. The Terms of Service do not explicitly exclude gift cards but they do state that the credit is for "your annual CLEAR membership", so that's very much a gray area... Cold water quickly doused on the gift card potential by diesteldorf with datapoint/detail below.
Last edited by imnotalawyer; Jul 14, 2021 at 1:08 pm
Jul 14, 2021, 11:48 am
#681
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,350
... Alternatively, CLEAR does offer eGift Cards (which would certainly be very easy to sell) but it is unclear if you would receive a credit from Amex for this purchase. The Terms of Service do not explicitly exclude gift cards but they do state that the credit is for "your annual CLEAR membership", so that's very much a gray area...
. (No, I'm not volunteering.)
Jul 14, 2021, 12:58 pm
#682
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,065
I really don't think so. You would need to provide your credit card information as the payment option for the new account and then rely upon the Buyer to remove it and replace it with their own. Alternatively, CLEAR does offer eGift Cards (which would certainly be very easy to sell) but it is unclear if you would receive a credit from Amex for this purchase. The Terms of Service do not explicitly exclude gift cards but they do state that the credit is for "your annual CLEAR membership", so that's very much a gray area...
I was going to product change my Green card to a 2nd Gold, and decided to buy a gift card at the end of 2020, prior to the product conversion. Luckily, when I realized they used a 3rd party service, I was able to get the order canceled.
[email protected]
https://www.egifter.com/
https://clearme.egifter.com/
This was my experience in January, 2021, so unless things have changed, I wouldn't plan to be reimbursed.
Last edited by diesteldorf; Jul 14, 2021 at 1:04 pm
Jul 14, 2021, 5:30 pm
#683
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 106
The Amex Platinum launched in 1984 with a $250 AF. In hindsight, was this coupon-less concept a mistake? By today's logic, it should have been a $395 AF, with $10 per month credit towards QVC, $50 credit towards select waterbed retailers, and $25 twice a year towards Avon (with $75 purchases).
Jul 14, 2021, 5:34 pm
#684
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: SAN, BOS
Programs: AS MVPG100K, BAEC Gold, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Plat,
Posts: 2,281
The Amex Platinum launched in 1984 with a $250 AF. In hindsight, was this coupon-less concept a mistake? By today's logic, it should have been a $395 AF, with $10 per month credit towards QVC, $50 credit towards select waterbed retailers, and $25 twice a year towards Avon (with $75 purchases).
I don’t know what was offered with the 1984 model, but it seems like today is a magnitude of order times better tracked to inflation if 250$ was “couponless”
Jul 14, 2021, 5:53 pm
#685
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,350
So yes, today's card at $695 even with all the "coupon" benefits is definitely better.
Jul 14, 2021, 8:12 pm
#686
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,047
I think it was by invitation only when it launched and the only thing of real value it offered was club access (plus a higher limit for check cashing, 24 hour travel concierge, and maybe some other negligible stuff).
So yes, today's card at $695 even with all the "coupon" benefits is definitely better.
So yes, today's card at $695 even with all the "coupon" benefits is definitely better.
Jul 14, 2021, 8:45 pm
#687
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Programs: Delta DM & MM, Hilton DM, Marriott gold, Hyatt Globalist, Alaska 75K, Wyndham Diamond,
Posts: 15,399
Jul 15, 2021, 12:09 am
#688
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
The Amex Plat was more of a focused travel product in earlier decades than it is now. And the card product has become increasingly gimmicky as the product focus on travel gets diluted and the discount coupon booklet approach has grown.
Jul 15, 2021, 2:43 am
#689
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 106
Should Amex have increased the AF in 1984, with niche baby boomer "lifestyle credits", that more than exceeded the difference? Would such credits add to the branding and slogan, "Membership has its privileges"?
Jul 15, 2021, 4:21 am
#690
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NYC (LGA, JFK), CT
Programs: Delta Platinum, American Gold, JetBlue Mosaic 4, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond,
Posts: 4,895
8 years ago, it still provided AA lounge access. 10 years ago, it still provided CO lounge access. And there was more of that and other travel perks in the years before.
The Amex Plat was more of a focused travel product in earlier decades than it is now. And the card product has become increasingly gimmicky as the product focus on travel gets diluted and the discount coupon booklet approach has grown.
The Amex Plat was more of a focused travel product in earlier decades than it is now. And the card product has become increasingly gimmicky as the product focus on travel gets diluted and the discount coupon booklet approach has grown.