Amex Platinum -- am I missing something?

[Anonymous]

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@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:

congrats.. man oh man (or whoaaa man) that are not very forgiving LOL..

Amex Platinum really isn't a good card other than for what you've listed and 150k is an excellent sub. Best Ive been offered was 10 maybe 120k I think.

Amex Plat is such an easy and uninspiring card to get any more. It's almost completely lost its validity in the market place. I think the CSP or CSR is more rare to see these days. Its kinda funny lol

Good luck and dont waste that AF!!! lol

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It depends....  obviously some here get a lot out of the MR eco-system and while the Plat isn't the MR driver, they can use the various perks (e.g. status at various hotels) and coupon book.  And I think the business plat can be valuable

[youngandcreditwrthy]

@Anonymous chase co branded cards are great too! I am so over that stupid 5/24 rule. folk on here have 750-800 scores and get denied because of having 5/24. its crazy. Like I qualify for the Amazon prime visa for 5% back at WF (spend 1000+ there a month just for myself) credit score wise, but becaues I've been rebuilding and transitioning back to prime limits/cards, I cant get it. 

It also next to impossible to dispute inquiries off of your report even if someone steals your identity! @ForwardLooking  the one Amex card I really enjoyed when they were my daily drivers was the Delta Amex because you do get a ton of perks with Delta and also with Amex Plat you get access to the Centurion lounge which in some cities its amazing.

I remember getting drunk as all get out and having some amazing food when the Centurion lounge at DFW I think had just been finished almost 8- 9 years ago. I'm getting old as heyseus!! haha

[Janneman]

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@ForwardLooking wrote:

Amex has been trying to court me recently after being on their blacklist for 25 years.  After about 3 months of nagging, I went ahead and took the bait.  I got the Platinum card with a 150k sign up bonus for spending 8k in 6 months which I accepted.  I will easily meet this target because I pulled the nuclear option to get it done quickly and complete the bonus -- rent.  I got a chuckle that my card says "Member Since 94" considering how long I was blacklisted.

I will say the standard perks and rewards did help me justify the annual fee, considering I actually was already using services they are giving me credit for (I am actually $89 ahead), but the most attractive thing to me was being able to "buy" my travel status back for hotels, car rentals, and at the airport.  I used to be a road warrior (pre-covid) and enjoyed being able to get to the front of the line for almost everything travel related.  Today my travel is 100% leasure, but my wife and I do fly about once a quarter (family on both coasts), we go on about 5-6 cruises a year, and I drive to another nearby state to visit kids and grand kids, staying at hotels, about once a month.

After the  spend for the sign up bonus is done, I don't see much spending incentives for anything but flights with the 5x points.  My Navy Federal Flagship gives me 3% cashback in hotels and car rentals, as well as 3% cashback on my cruise fares, a lot better than the 1x points Amex is offering in these categories.  Yes I know hotels in the Amex travel portal will give me 5x points for hotels, but Hilton and Marriot are not guarented to honor my status with them.  I find it ironic that the Platinum card gives you these statuses at the hotels, but you can't take advantage of that status unless you book directly with the hotel.  I found myself using the Amex Platinum card more as a cupon book than anything else, and still use my Navy Federal Flagship and More Rewards cards as my daily drivers.

I am happy that I can still use my Amex points to buy Southwest tickets at a 1 cent per point rate, meaning 5x points are really 5%, but I am a little sad that they are not a direct transfer partner.  I also was able to make creative use of the flight credits with Southwest, giving me $200 in my southwest bank 

I did look at the other Amex cards too, but none of them seem to be a good fit for me and I feel my Navy Federal cards are a lot better reward wise.  I also don't feel like playing the whole transfer partner game to try and squeeze every drop of blood out of the points.

So what am I missing?  Am I not seeing a better way to leverage Amex?  I am happy with what I got status wise and find value in that, but  I would have much rather gone after the Chase Saphire and Southwest cards.  Unfortinatly I am probably a year or two away from Chase cards as I just am on a tail end of a rebuild and the 5/24 rule will haunt me for a while still.

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Wow....Congrat to be back to Amex ecosystem. By the way, why were you blacklisted by Amex for that long? Did you get debts discharged in bankruptcy, or made some payment plans, or just let those debts charged off without paying anything? Most importantly, how you were able to get back? How and why Amex tried to court you? One of my family members is banned since 1992...32 yrs...and until now is banned.....Thanks

[CaptainConcorde]

I had AMEX Platinum before my BK.  I liked the airport lounge access.  In 60 months I should be back over 750 and will reapply.  I didn't take them down in the BK so I've heard 60 months is the wait.

[Horseshoez]

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@CaptainConcorde wrote:

I had AMEX Platinum before my BK.  I liked the airport lounge access.  In 60 months I should be back over 750 and will reapply.  I didn't take them down in the BK so I've heard 60 months is the wait.

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Sort of, the rule is 61 months, yeah, splitting hairs I know, but I don't want you to be surprised.

[notmyrealname23]

Generally I can turn the $200 "misc airline credit" into $200 of airfare in Delta or Southwest. I can turn the $200 FHR credit into hotel rooms that are usually priced at close to $200 a night someplace where I need a hotel room. The $200 in Uber gets used mostly on Ubers. Oh hey that's $600 of value captured from the card right there. I didn't even have to order junk from Saks. Add in CLEAR and some travel insurance and 5x on flights and I am fine. And I carry a Schwab variant as a keeper whilst letting AMEX offer upgrade/downgrade games so...

That won't work for everyone and if you're Team Cashback/Team Low Annual Fees/Team I Don't Travel Much I don't think it offers a ton, but I do about 40k-60k miles a year in award or highly subsidized/discounted travel that's 100% out of my own pocket, so it works for me. It's nice to make $3-5k a year in travel expenses that are augmented with credit card annual fees work more like $6-10k in actual cash I would have to spend to achieve the same amount of travel (lie flat seats, lounges, nice hotel rooms, suite upgrades). It's nice to be able to punch above my financial weight class (but that surely isn't how everyone needs to travel).

[okurosetta]

@ForwardLooking   I don't think you're missing anything - it is a coupon book. Some people use the term coupon book derisively, others (myself included) embrace it because the coupons work well for existing spending / travel habits.

I can't help but think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when they write off Camelot as "a silly place." In many ways, Platinum is a downright silly card.

But I think it circles back to a strategy that works with all annual fee cards: take a close look at the perks/rewards, then assign a personal value to each and add them up, if the total personal value is in excess of the annual fee that you are happy with, go for it. Plat being a coupon book makes this take longer (see my next post), but still an effective strategy. If the value doesn't exceed the annual fee, it's at least not a keeper card, and then it's up to you whether the sign-up bonus + one year holding it + possible retention offer and another year is worth it, to you.

My next post will be a copy paste of my Google Doc where I examine whether Platinum is worth it, for me. My apologies for the length 

[xenon3030]

You do not miss anything. As long as you are aligned to its spending/credit styles, it should be an excellent card for you to keep.

Some people may do not like its coupon book and monthly/quarterly credits, due to having a different life style.

[okurosetta]

Current analysis of my CS Plat coupon book:

Entertainment credits - max value $240 - my value $211.16

• Already use Peacock ad-free - $11.99 per month, $143.88 per year - with 3.2% opportunity cost loss due to not using 5% streaming card, based on current personal 1.8cpp MR valuation = $139.28 value
• Already use NY Times, on third year of intro pricing (repeatedly threatening the online tool with cancellation works wonders) - $6.10 every 4 weeks so technically one statement reimburses for a bit of the second charge, but using $73.20 annually for simplicity, with 1.8% opportunity cost loss due to not using BBP = $71.88
• Peacock + NY Times value = $211.16

Airline credits - max value $200 - my value $200

• Nearest major airport is a United hub, with United being the best option for domestic economy for us fairly often
• It never takes more than two years to use Travel Bank funds and they don’t expire for five years, so this is the one credit I value in full, with no opportunity cost loss as the credit earns 5X, my highest return on airfare

Uber credits - max value $200 - my value $180

• We use Uber Eats for pick-up or when there is a 40% off deal for delivery, also sometimes use Uber itself
• Lower due to the opportunity cost loss of not using P2’s Savor with how credits work, since we get zero return on the credit (processed as discount, not reimbursed) and would earn 10% back if we used her Savor

FHR/THC credits - max value varies - my value $100

• 2 of 3 bookings have seen much more than $100 in value, but 1 was really only $100, so using lowest value here
• One example of good value: We had a nice stay at The Lodge at Spruce Peak near Stowe, VT, and will be going again this summer; Total with resort fees and taxes is $355 for one night, then $200 FHR credit (only need one night), $100 credit towards dining (flexible), $50 credit towards breakfast (specific), guaranteed late check-out, and room upgrade if available
• The above is a ski lodge in the off-season so rates are favorable, but still great for us as it is right near a bunch of good hiking as well as breweries I have enjoyed visiting for over a decade, e.g. Hill Farmstead, The Alchemist, Lawson’s Finest Liquids

Saks - max value $100 - my value $80.92

• P2 uses this for perfume, tends to be the same as elsewhere (e.g. Amazon) but shipping is now only waived at $200+
• Juliette Has a Gun perfume via Saks - $145 for perfume + $9.99 shipping + $12.40 tax = $167.35, 1X from Plat spend + 2X from Rakuten (standard offer available almost always, but can be higher) = 3X return on spend, 1.8cpp MR value -> 5.4% return, $158.31 after 5.4% return
• Juliette Has a Gun perfume via Amazon - $145 for perfume + shipping included with Prime (P2 happily pays for Prime and I am part of her Amazon household so not factoring subscription cost in) + $11.60 tax = $156.60, 5% from no annual fee Chase Amazon Prime Visa + nothing from Rakuten = 5% return on spend, $148.77 after 5% return
• $158.31 - $148.77 = $9.54 difference, thus perfume is effectively $9.54 more via Saks, so each bi-annual credit is valued at $40.46

CLEAR - max value $190 - my value $60

• Nearest major airport (EWR) has the longest average and longest maximum TSA wait time and it is the part of traveling that stresses us out the most
• We have enjoyed this but would not value this at full price, using $60 as this is what it would cost to cover P2 beyond what it covered and we’d happily pay that

Lounge access - max value varies - my value $50

• Have averaged one good airline lounge visit per year (out of two or three attempts), usually pay at least $50 for a meal for two at an airport restaurant

Walmart+ credit - max value $98 - my value $49

• Note on max value: Amex likes to claim this is worth $155 based on monthly value, but if one uses it often the annual rate is $98, occasionally on sale for $49
• We have been using this a lot more often recently, since we started doing grocery delivery through Walmart, which means we’d definitely buy an annual membership without the credit, and thus we’d also scout for a $49 offer - if the $49 offers become less common this will increase to $98
• Haven't looked at every credit compared with other cards, but this would be tricky - sure I could pay $49 for an annual using BBP at 2X MR, and I do value the membership at $49, but I'm actually swiping $167.88 at 1X MR, thus I'm earning more MR on a value I find excessive, but for which I am reimbursed in full

Flights at 5X MR - max value varies - my value $37.35

• Currently value MR at 1.8cpp (based on historical return using prices we’d pay), next best is Premier’s 3X, with TYP valued at 2.17cpp, thus $1500 in flights per year will add $37.35 in return ($1500 * .0249)

Concierge, Equinox, Amex Offers, and all other credits/perks/benefits - max value varies - my value $0

• Sometimes see some value, but not enough to quantify
• Amex Offers tend to be better but almost all good ones also show up on my no annual fee BBP
• Do like the option to bail from MR and cashout at 1.1cpp, which is why I kept CS Plat over vanilla, but I currently do not have any plans to and do not cash out my MR, so not assigning any value

Total $968.43

And I circle back to... this is a silly card. It is. It is a coupon book. It is what it is. For me personally, it is worth it for now, but if one or a few things break, like United Travel Bank stops working, it could easily go on the chopping block.

[elboullee]

Back when I had the Plat in the early-to-mid aughts, when it was $400, then $450, then $500, and really before the whole points-n-miles thing started, I found a great deal of value in the card - well worth the AF - in two particular areas.

First was travel - of course. Back then you got both free status and free lounge acces with DL, AA, UA, and US. You also got free status with Hertz and someone else, can't recall who. Even if you only traveled two or three times a year, those perks alone pretty much justified the card.

The second was price matching. This was the wild and woolly early days of the internet and long before there was an Amex app. Amex would price match pretty much any product to any advert you could fax in to them.  And their policy was so liberal that you could buy a $4K plasma TV, $3K DSLR, or $2K computer from a local store you trust, someone to go back to if there was a problem, and then price match it to bait-n-switch clip joints adverstising in the back of various electronics magazines. And Amex would then send you a check for the difference!

I saved thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars during those years on the price match alone.

And then of course the nerfing and AF increases and coupon books began. 

AF went from $400 to $450 and they dropped UA and US status and lounge access. Then the AF went from $450 to $500 and they dropped status and lounge access for AA. Then the AF went to $550 and DL was the only airline left with lounge acces, but they dropped the free status, and Hertz was the only rental car company left. And the price match policies had become so degraded, so onerous, that they were next to useless.

With the exception of being able to get a $.011/MR redemption into my Schwab account - which I am considering - it's hard to see how anyone other than consutlants [or other very frequent travelers], those who would have an Equiinox membership regardless, or those just looking to flex, can justify the card by the numebrs. But to each their own. If it works for you - or even if it doesn't but you just want the card - more power to you.