Getting the 75K Platinum Itch....

AvadaKedavra · ‎04-11-2016

I have an offer for the 75K Point AMEX Platinum and I'm itching to app for it. The min spend for it is 7K in 3 months (which is a lot!)

I know right off the bat I have about a 2.2k purchase for next month, and a weekend trip for probably around the same amount in June...but I'm wondering what else I can put on it sooner...

Does Square Cash and VENMO count towards min spend? My partner and I pay rent online seperately thorugh our individual checking accounts. Would I be able to venmo (or Square Cash) him my portion through my plat card and then pay it off? Obvioulsy there will be some fees (square cash and venmo are 3%).

Oy...the itch is so...itchy! Advice please!

Berk · ‎04-11-2016

I think the real question you need to ask yourself is how the card will benefit you? Do you travel much? It is not a rewards card. It is a travel perks card. Don't get a card that you won't use. Especially one that comes with a $450 AF. It sounds to me like yo are going to spend 7450.00 for $750 in rewards. If that works for you - go for it.

lhcole77 · ‎04-11-2016

HAYYYY AK! Good to see a post from you. I'm curious to hear the answer to your question as well.

FWIW, 75K MRPs are worth well over $750 in rewards. Easily $1500+ depending on how they are redeemed.

Anonymous · ‎04-11-2016

@Berk wrote:
I think the real question you need to ask yourself is how the card will benefit you? Do you travel much? It is not a rewards card. It is a travel perks card. Don't get a card that you won't use. Especially one that comes with a $450 AF. It sounds to me like yo are going to spend 7450.00 for $750 in rewards. If that works for you - go for it.

While I agree with you that the OP shouldn't apply for the card unless he travels, the rest of what you post is bit off. As long as he/she is going to spend that $7500 anyways, then using the Platinum card for it is an intelligent thing to do. It's when you spend money just to meet the spend requirement that you're making a mistake. Otherwise it's a sound financial decision. Second, 75K MR points is not just worth $750. If used properly for travel partners it's worth at least $1500 if not considerably more.

jacetx · ‎04-11-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Berk wrote:
I think the real question you need to ask yourself is how the card will benefit you? Do you travel much? It is not a rewards card. It is a travel perks card. Don't get a card that you won't use. Especially one that comes with a $450 AF. It sounds to me like yo are going to spend 7450.00 for $750 in rewards. If that works for you - go for it.
While I agree with you that the OP shouldn't apply for the card unless he travels, the rest of what you post is bit off. As long as he/she is going to spend that $7500 anyways, then using the Platinum card for it is an intelligent thing to do. It's when you spend money just to meet the spend requirement that you're making a mistake. Otherwise it's a sound financial decision. Second, 75K MR points is not just worth $750. If used properly for travel partners it's worth at least $1500 if not considerably more.

Irish, could you please elaborate on this? I might get the Platinum if I get the 75k or 100k offers and this sounds very appealing.

Anonymous · ‎04-11-2016

Not only will Square and Venmo (and all other cash equivalents) not count toward the required spend for the purpose of the welcome bonus, but that is a surefire way to fast-track your account to the financial review team.

Berk · ‎04-11-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Berk wrote:
I think the real question you need to ask yourself is how the card will benefit you? Do you travel much? It is not a rewards card. It is a travel perks card. Don't get a card that you won't use. Especially one that comes with a $450 AF. It sounds to me like yo are going to spend 7450.00 for $750 in rewards. If that works for you - go for it.
While I agree with you that the OP shouldn't apply for the card unless he travels, the rest of what you post is bit off. As long as he/she is going to spend that $7500 anyways, then using the Platinum card for it is an intelligent thing to do. It's when you spend money just to meet the spend requirement that you're making a mistake. Otherwise it's a sound financial decision. Second, 75K MR points is not just worth $750. If used properly for travel partners it's worth at least $1500 if not considerably more.

I agree with what both subsequent posters have stated regarding redeeming for travel. Some partners will give you 2.25 cents per point. However, the majority of the travel is for International destinations. The OP admitted that they would struggle to come up with 7500 in charges in three months. They also made no mention of doing any travel with the card. Outside of international airline travel, you will be lucky to get a little less than a half a cent per point. My point is this - If you want an MR card get anything but the Plat. If you want a travel perks card becuase you do enough travel to take advantage of its great perks, then by all means get the card. If you want to app for the card just because it offers 75K in bonus sign up and you are trying to think of creative ways to spend the 75K, you might want to reconsider apping in the first place - especially if you will only be able to get $750 in redeemable points on $7450.00 in spend.

Anonymous · ‎04-11-2016

@jace8602 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Berk wrote:
I think the real question you need to ask yourself is how the card will benefit you? Do you travel much? It is not a rewards card. It is a travel perks card. Don't get a card that you won't use. Especially one that comes with a $450 AF. It sounds to me like yo are going to spend 7450.00 for $750 in rewards. If that works for you - go for it.
While I agree with you that the OP shouldn't apply for the card unless he travels, the rest of what you post is bit off. As long as he/she is going to spend that $7500 anyways, then using the Platinum card for it is an intelligent thing to do. It's when you spend money just to meet the spend requirement that you're making a mistake. Otherwise it's a sound financial decision. Second, 75K MR points is not just worth $750. If used properly for travel partners it's worth at least $1500 if not considerably more.
Irish, could you please elaborate on this? I might get the Platinum if I get the 75k or 100k offers and this sounds very appealing.

Sure. The value of any rewards points is determined by how you use them. I know that this sounds simplistic but there is no fixed value to any point whether it be MR, UR or TY point. The best redemption value for these points is when you transfer them to travel partners, specifically airlines. Then if you can book a $1500 flight with 75K miles and assuming that it was a 1:1 transfer from Amex to the airline, then the value of those 75K MR points is $1500. Still, if you want to travel in business or first class cabin, this is where you get your highest value. I recently transferred a lot of MR points to Virgin America where upon I used my miles for that airline to book two flights from Los Angeles to Sydney Australlia in business class which is Virgin Australia's highest level of cabin on that flight and while I used considerably more than 75K MR points for the transfer, the points I did use were worth about 4.20 cents per mile which would make 75K MR points worth over $3K. I determined the value by dividing the cost of the two flights by the number of MR points I needed for the redemption. The PointsGuy who sets value for all the reward systems out there has set MR points at about 2 cents per point but if used for certain business or first class flights they can be worth well more as was the case for me.

Hope this helps

Berk · ‎04-11-2016

Yes, being savvy with points redemption is the key. Otherwise you will get somewhere between a half a cent to a cent in actual realized value for your points.

jacetx · ‎04-11-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@jace8602 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Berk wrote:
I think the real question you need to ask yourself is how the card will benefit you? Do you travel much? It is not a rewards card. It is a travel perks card. Don't get a card that you won't use. Especially one that comes with a $450 AF. It sounds to me like yo are going to spend 7450.00 for $750 in rewards. If that works for you - go for it.
While I agree with you that the OP shouldn't apply for the card unless he travels, the rest of what you post is bit off. As long as he/she is going to spend that $7500 anyways, then using the Platinum card for it is an intelligent thing to do. It's when you spend money just to meet the spend requirement that you're making a mistake. Otherwise it's a sound financial decision. Second, 75K MR points is not just worth $750. If used properly for travel partners it's worth at least $1500 if not considerably more.
Irish, could you please elaborate on this? I might get the Platinum if I get the 75k or 100k offers and this sounds very appealing.
Sure. The value of any rewards points is determined by how you use them. I know that this sounds simplistic but there is no fixed value to any point whether it be MR, UR or TY point. The best redemption value for these points is when you transfer them to travel partners, specifically airlines. Then if you can book a $1500 flight with 75K miles and assuming that it was a 1:1 transfer from Amex to the airline, then the value of those 75K MR points is $1500. Still, if you want to travel in business or first class cabin, this is where you get your highest value. I recently transferred a lot of MR points to Virgin America where upon I used my miles for that airline to book two flights from Los Angeles to Sydney Australlia in business class which is Virgin Australia's highest level of cabin on that flight and while I used considerably more than 75K MR points for the transfer, the points I did use were worth about 4.20 cents per mile which would make 75K MR points worth over $3K. I determined the value by dividing the cost of the two flights by the number of MR points I needed for the redemption. The PointsGuy who sets value for all the reward systems out there has set MR points at about 2 cents per point but if used for certain business or first class flights they can be worth well more as was the case for me.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the explanation, once I get the offer I will definitely apply. I will have to abandon the garden but it will be worth it for me.