Huge Amex Platinum Welcome Offer 230K+

[vic6string]

The restaurant spend piece, I think, is the best part of the deal. Obviously, Amex and Chase are feeling the heat from the fact that all of their perks are travel related and no one is travelling (and it won't get back to what it used to be, maybe ever, seeing as businesses are getting more comfortable with digital meetings instead of travel). This is a step in the right direction, I just wish Amex (and everyone else) would go beyond grocery/restaurant. EVERY card does groceries, restaurants, or both. 20% on the first $1500 is a nice spin on it, though. They need to do more stuff like that, or move to categories/perks that don't compete with every singel other card (including their own). Give us 7% on utilities, or 10% on the first $2k in retail.... just something that isn't the same old gas/grocery/restaurant that most of us already have covered on literally every other card.

[iced]

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@vic6string wrote:

The restaurant spend piece, I think, is the best part of the deal. Obviously, Amex and Chase are feeling the heat from the fact that all of their perks are travel related and no one is travelling (and it won't get back to what it used to be, maybe ever, seeing as businesses are getting more comfortable with digital meetings instead of travel). This is a step in the right direction, I just wish Amex (and everyone else) would go beyond grocery/restaurant. EVERY card does groceries, restaurants, or both. 20% on the first $1500 is a nice spin on it, though. They need to do more stuff like that, or move to categories/perks that don't compete with every singel other card (including their own). Give us 7% on utilities, or 10% on the first $2k in retail.... just something that isn't the same old gas/grocery/restaurant that most of us already have covered on literally every other card.

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I don't see anything like utilities going on cards that are still marketed as travel cards. Those are the realm of cash-back cards. Utilities are also pretty static in cost, and usually a very small percentage of monthly spend. They're looking to rake in thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in spend from their clients, not $150 gas or electric bills.

Retail's got a bit of coverage, but it's usually piecemeal offers (spend $x get $y back type of things) rather than a consistent category.

[K-in-Boston]

@iced you want to see my Eversource bills for electric in summer and gas in winter?!?   Static my...  😂 

But otherwise, yeah +1.

[iced]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

@iced you want to see my Eversource bills for electric in summer and gas in winter?!?   Static my...  😂 

But otherwise, yeah +1.

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Another reason people in New England shouldn't buy huge homes, especially with oil heat. My summer electric bills are rarely over $100 and my gas is similar in the winter. When I had oil it was painful, though.

[wasCB14]

I'm surprised this offer hasn't been more popular, given how many non-flight-extras are included.

I do have a lot of streaming spend in the form of Amazon channels. The billing dates are spread throughout the month...thinking of switching between the two cards every two weeks as my default Amazon card.

That is, HBO and Acorn on Schwab, Starz and Britbox on vanilla.

[iced]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

I'm surprised this offer hasn't been more popular, given how many non-flight-extras are included.

I do have a lot of streaming spend in the form of Amazon channels. The billing dates are spread throughout the month...thinking of switching between the two cards every two weeks as my default Amazon card.

That is, HBO and Acorn on Schwab, Starz and Britbox on vanilla.

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I had ... Sirius. Almost cancelled it, then decided to keep it for the 3 days a month or so I'm in my car since Amex was picking up the tab. Soon as that offer ends, I'll cancel it.

I just finally used up the last of my free years of Netflix, and this month was my first bill in so long that they didn't have a non-expired card on file. Almost wished I could have pre-paid another year or so when the credits were going so I didn't have to waste them on Sirius.

As odd as this sounds during a pandemic, I still don't understand how all these people are finding time to watch so much TV. I've managed to catch up on 1 Netflix series with 2 seasons in the last 6 months. How people are knocking out 3-4 series a month is beyond me.

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@iced wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

I'm surprised this offer hasn't been more popular, given how many non-flight-extras are included.

I do have a lot of streaming spend in the form of Amazon channels. The billing dates are spread throughout the month...thinking of switching between the two cards every two weeks as my default Amazon card.

That is, HBO and Acorn on Schwab, Starz and Britbox on vanilla.

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I had ... Sirius. Almost cancelled it, then decided to keep it for the 3 days a month or so I'm in my car since Amex was picking up the tab. Soon as that offer ends, I'll cancel it.

I just finally used up the last of my free years of Netflix, and this month was my first bill in so long that they didn't have a non-expired card on file. Almost wished I could have pre-paid another year or so when the credits were going so I didn't have to waste them on Sirius.

As odd as this sounds during a pandemic, I still don't understand how all these people are finding time to watch so much TV. I've managed to catch up on 1 Netflix series with 2 seasons in the last 6 months. How people are knocking out 3-4 series a month is beyond me.

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You live a very different life than alot of people and being that many people lost jobs or hours of work, they therefore have more time to watch those seasons. Its not rocket science

[wasCB14]

People streaming some show simultaneously, while possibly talking over video chat, has become a big thing. It replaces a lot of in-person gatherings and public entertainment activities.

[Anonymous]

Even solely using the card for something extremely reasonable like $250 a month in restaurants (morning coffee and a takeout meal or two a week should do it) and $150 a week in groceries/gas, that would result in 115,500 MRs and a $300 statement credit.  Even with low value redemptions, that's $808.50 to use during Amazon, Newegg, or Walmart checkout.  Step up to Amex Travel or even Home Depot gift cards and it's at least $1,155.  Move the points to an airline and it can go up, up , up.  All for a $250 net annual fee after the $300 restaurant statement credit - and before even considering things like the $200 airline credit (which could technically be used twice), the Uber/UberEats credits of $200, the 2x $50 Sak's Fifth Avenue credits, and any monetary value one may place on the perks of the card and the remaining monthly credits for 2020 that Amex is offering.

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This line of thinking is exactly what has me seriously eyeballing this offer. Historically I don't travel by air a lot, but we are planning to visit the west coast and Memphis/Nashville when things improve. With the new points earnings, I could almost sock-drawer my Gold (except for grocery spend) and use this as a way to hugely pad my MR balance, likely enough to cover our trip in its entirety airfare and hotel-wise. The idea of gaining six figures in new MRs for the net $250 AF seems pretty smart, since I can easily max out the restaurant spend to get the full $300. I currently have a 25k offer for upgrading Gold to Plat (wouldn't take it though as I do get a lot of use from Gold), as well as preapproval for Green, so I am pretty confident I'd be approved for this.

Decisions, decisions...

[longtimelurker]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

@iced you want to see my Eversource bills for electric in summer and gas in winter?!?   Static my...  😂 

But otherwise, yeah +1.

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So that must be why Eversource (and National Grid for my gas) offer something like balanced billing (where you get billed equal amounts each month, 1/12 of the estimated total): making them static for this kind of cc offer!