I was approved for this card last year and can confirm that it does not fall under the 5/24 rule. At the ime I was approved I was at approximately 19/24 (Crazy I know... )
The $450 annual fee is definitely more than worth it (at least for the first year). The bonus offer I ended up with included 3 complimentary nights which I used at the Ritz in Aruba in January 2017. The value of the upgraded room we ended up with was approx $3k for the 4days/3nights we were there. We also received the $100 hotel credit on our final bill even though we did not pay for the stay. This credit did help offset one of the days we ordered room service for breakfast.
On top of this the other benefits are awesome:
- $100 Global Entry application credit,
-$100 credit on airfare booked through the visadiscount portal on 2-5 roundtrip tickets
- $300 travel credit each year
-Priority Pass lounge access (which is MUCH better than what is offered by AMEX because there does not appear to be a limit on the number guests you can bring in for free)
-Trip delay/cancellation and baggage insurance and this benefit covers your extended famly as well as long as you use the card to pay at least part of the airfare.
- Hilton and SPG Gold status. With the Marriott/Starwoods merger this perk is important because now you don't have to spend the $10k to keep your Ritz Gold member status. You should get it automatically since you will receive status match across all three programs Ritz/Marriott/SPG
As the OP mentioned, I also would not recommend this as an everyday driver but the perks (at least for me) make the $450 more than worth it. Hope this helps. 