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Amex Platinum seems not worth it

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Anonymous
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Amex Platinum seems not worth it

Amex has been sending offers for a Platinum card my way for months. I finally decided to apply and was surprised I was approved (current FICO is in the mid-600s). I expected to be able to explore the benefits in a more detailed fashion immediately but...no.

Now I have this fancy card and looking at the benefits it simply doesn't seem worth it. My family travels quite a bit, but with kids it's inexpensive weekend road trips. I ran some math on the fees ($550 annually) vs benefits (1 point per dollar). I seem to be getting a significantly better deal by using my BlueCash Everyday as a daily spender and frequently paying down the balance.

The stainless steel card sure is pretty, though
Message 1 of 41
40 REPLIES 40
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it

Fancy looking card is not > $550 af unfortunately. It sounds like you may have jumped the gun on this one. It's always a best practice to weigh out your spend against an AF before applying to ensure it makes sense. Perhaps you'd be best off downgrading it to a non-AF product?
Message 2 of 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it

I contemplated it for about 3 months before applying, including reading up quite a bit on the card. It wasn't so much a "jump the gun" as I didn't do the math on both sides of the equation (Platinum vs Everyday). A family goal for 2018 was too travel more this summer, and from everything I read this would fit in nicely. We already travelled enough to justify (ie, break even) on the annual fee; one the other side, we travel enough to make the Everyday card beneficial. There were certain benefits that don't yield any bonus for us, based on where and how we usually travel - this was what I wanted to explore before applying. It would be a great card if our frequent travel was to the limited set of expensive locations that give nice perks. 

Message 3 of 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it


@Anonymous wrote:
Amex has been sending offers for a Platinum card my way for months. I finally decided to apply and was surprised I was approved (current FICO is in the mid-600s). I expected to be able to explore the benefits in a more detailed fashion immediately but...no.

Now I have this fancy card and looking at the benefits it simply doesn't seem worth it. My family travels quite a bit, but with kids it's inexpensive weekend road trips. I ran some math on the fees ($550 annually) vs benefits (1 point per dollar). I seem to be getting a significantly better deal by using my BlueCash Everyday as a daily spender and frequently paying down the balance.

The stainless steel card sure is pretty, though

Well if you got a decent sign up bonus you should be ok. You can get 400 dollars worth of airline gift cards the first year.  If you dont' need those I suppose you could sell them on a gift card selling website.  And since platinum at minimum gives you 60k points you could use that to get a 600 dollar gift card to some store.  Then cancel when the year is up.  I have the no fee first year version and I only have used it for 400 dollar gift cards, global entry fee, and going to airport lounges. I have never charged anything on it.  

Message 4 of 41
redpat
Senior Contributor

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it

Many don’t think the card is worth the $550 AF. This is my favorite card and use it for all my business and personal flights for 5x, centurion and Escape lounges.  In addition, we use FHR frequently and comes w/ Hilton and Marriott gold status.  The Amex MR point offers I get from all my Amex mr point cards more than pay for all the annual fees.

Personal Cards: Amex Plat | Amex Delta Res | CSR | Citi AA Exec Business Cards: Ink+ | Amex BGR
Message 5 of 41
redpat
Senior Contributor

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it


@Anonymous wrote:
Fancy looking card is not > $550 af unfortunately. It sounds like you may have jumped the gun on this one. It's always a best practice to weigh out your spend against an AF before applying to ensure it makes sense. Perhaps you'd be best off downgrading it to a non-AF product?

You cannot downgrade any Amex charge card to a no AF card.  The best you can do is to PC to Green.

Personal Cards: Amex Plat | Amex Delta Res | CSR | Citi AA Exec Business Cards: Ink+ | Amex BGR
Message 6 of 41
MrDisco99
Valued Contributor

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it

It's definitely not for everyone.

With any card product, you'll want to do some analysis of how it fits into your spending pattern and lifestyle and whether you'll get enough value from it to justify what you pay for it.  You especially want to do that with something as expensive as an Amex Platinum.

Message 7 of 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it


@Anonymous wrote:
Fancy looking card is not > $550 af unfortunately. It sounds like you may have jumped the gun on this one. It's always a best practice to weigh out your spend against an AF before applying to ensure it makes sense. Perhaps you'd be best off downgrading it to a non-AF product?

How do you downgrade an AMEX Platinum to a no AF product? 

 

The answer is you can't. 

Message 8 of 41
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it

For inexpensive road trips, Platinum won't do much. It's more for airport lounge access and upgrades/perks at mid to high-tier hotels.

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
Business use: Amex Bus. Plat., BBP, Lowes Amex AU, CFU AU
Perks: Delta Plat., United Explorer, IHG49, Hyatt, "Old SPG"
Mostly SD: Freedom Flex, Freedom, Arrival
Upgrade/Downgrade games: ED, BCE
SUB chasing: AA Platinum Select
Message 9 of 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amex Platinum seems not worth it

I hate to sound harsh but you kind of did it to yourself. Who applies for a "fancy" (it's really not that fancy) card with a $550 AF without sitting down and analyzing how it would fit into their spending habits and how they are benefiting from it. It sounds like you did have the intent to look at the benefits, however personally I would have done that before applying. Never apply for a card without thinking of how it can benefit you and not just sit there and look "fancy"--especially one with a AF that high Smiley Surprised

 

Due to the above, I don't think it's fair to make a blanket statement saying the Platinum is not worth it just because you are not the demographic the card is intended for. The proper statement would be "The AMEX Platinum is not worth it for me" or something to that extent. Nonetheless, you can downgrade the card to the AMEX Green card but it will be a $95 AF or you can just close it. It sounds like closing it might be the best bet for you since you are looking for no AF.

 

Good luck to you.

Message 10 of 41
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