Amex Platinum seems not worth it

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@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

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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.  

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Can you explain the $400 of airline gift cards the first year? I'm assuming it has to do with how the gift card is coded as an airline fee?

[Credit-hoarder]

I'd NEVER app for this card unless I had. the 100k point offer because I wouldn't even come close to using the benefits that come with it--but at least minus the $550 AF I'd have $450 to put towards a gift card or a statement credit or something.

[adelphi_sky]

We travel as much as an average family travels. We use the airport at least twice a year We're not jet-setters in the least. But I found a way to justify the AF. Lounges, Uber VIP, Annual airline credit, hotel perks (you can actually find FHR rooms in the $200 range during some sales), Gold status at Marriott (though after August this is worth less), National Rental Executive status (I love walking in the exec aisle and getting a Charger at regular price), great customer service, etc. etc. 

I had actually cancelled my Amex Platinum last year when they reduced their benefits. On my Blue Cash page they had the Amex Platinum offer on it. So, I figured what the hell, they had partially redeemed themselves. We'll see what they do next. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@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

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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.  

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Can you explain the $400 of airline gift cards the first year? I'm assuming it has to do with how the gift card is coded as an airline fee?

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Gift card purchases from American, Delta and Southwest will trigger the the airline credit. Because the $200 airline credit is per calendar year, if for example your card was opened this year, you could use the $200 credit between now and 12/31/18, then on 1/1/19 the $200 airline credit is reactivated so you can use it again next year. If you were to cancel the Plat card next year you would essentially get 2x the $200 airline credit. 

Make sure you preselect your airline in the benefits section of your plat card account online. If not you will not get the credit.

As far as giftcard purchases go, the flyertalk forums has some good information on what you can purchase to get the credit. 

<Mod Edit: Links to that forum are not allowed on this forum>

AA giftcards can be purchased up to $100 denomination to trigger the credit. There are a few data points of $200 giftcards triggering it but $100 tends to be almost guaranteed so buy 2 $100 giftcards.

Southwest giftcards can be purchased up to $200 to trigger the credit, so buy 1 $200 giftcard.

Delta giftcards must be purchased on the desktop site, not mobile. The only denomination that works is $50 for Delta, In this case purchase 4 $50 gift cards

[Anonymous]

@frogman1 That’s what I’m gonna do. I assume it’s the Ameriprise version?

[wasCB14]

The particular airports and airlines a person uses, as well as hotel programs, are major considerations in valuing Platinum. It's less a matter of demographics.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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 

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.

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You don't sound harsh. :-)

You're right, though. I should be more specific. After speaking to 3 reps at Amex (by the way, I love their customer service), I can say the Platinum card is not a good choice for my family, and is probably not for a family who, like mine,

• Travels frequently by road trip and almost never by air.
• Spends the majority of hotel nights at less expensive chains such as Choice Hotels or Holiday Inn. 
• Lives in an area with no Uber.
• Spends more on local experiences like museums and kid-friendly attractions than on events. 
• In general spends a decent amount on travel, but not on high-end or luxury travel. 

After exploring the benefits, I think this would be a great card for the future when my kids are all grown and travel won't be as restricted. My annual travel budget justifies the card, but doesn't provide any substantial reward beyond that. The last rep I spoke with was extremely helpful in recommending other cards that would be more rewarding for our usual travel habits than the BlueCash.

One clarification: The "fancy" reference was to the stainless steel card. I knew that's how it came but was kind of surprised by it still. The actual charge card program wasn't what I was referring to.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous

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

The answer is you can't. 

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But you can PC it to a $95 AF product, which is $455 less than his current product.  Compared to no AF, $95 is a drop in the bucket relative to $550.

[tcbofade]

I'm sorry that you discovered that too late, but whats done is done. 

DW is getting preapprovals for the Platinum at least weekly, if not daily...but the card doesn't look to be a good fit for us, so we're going to pass.

[redpat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous

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

The answer is you can't. 

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But you can PC it to a $95 AF product, which is $455 less than his current product.  Compared to no AF, $95 is a drop in the bucket relative to $550.

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Yeah, no kidding but that’s a poor choice you are better off just closing the card and applying for EDP or PC to the PRG card w/ a net $95 AF.  Green card is useless.

Either way you should close the card and apply for an Amex card and get the SUB.