amex plat question

[acreditdummy123]

like some people, i don't travel a lot, but the signup offer for this card is quite hefty. should i apply for it, met the spend and stockpile the points for when i do need to travel? And then hope amex gives me retention credits the subsequent years? 

[Hoben02]

Not a good idea you just stated you don't have any travel plans hate to tell you this miles do depreciate. Also, Amex will give retention bonuses usually to those who put healthy spend on the card. Forgo the card and get it when you actually have a need for the card

[acreditdummy123]

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@Hoben02 wrote:

Not a good idea you just stated you don't have any travel plans hate to tell you this miles do depreciate. Also, Amex will give retention bonuses usually to those who put healthy spend on the card. Forgo the card and get it when you actually have a need for the card

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I didn't know MR points depreciate. thanks for making me aware!

[wasCB14]

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@acreditdummy123 wrote:

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@Hoben02 wrote:

Not a good idea you just stated you don't have any travel plans hate to tell you this miles do depreciate. Also, Amex will give retention bonuses usually to those who put healthy spend on the card. Forgo the card and get it when you actually have a need for the card

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I didn't know MR points depreciate. thanks for making me aware!

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A lot of factors affect the value of airline miles. If there's one airline you mainly use, look into the details of that particular frequent flyer program.

Retention offers are YMMV. I very recently got a 30k MR / $3k spend / 3 months retention offer on my Schwab Platinum despite YTD spend of just a few hundred dollars - and most of that on coupon stuff. In 2020 I got 50k MRs with no spend.

[DONZI]

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@acreditdummy123 wrote:

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@Hoben02 wrote:

Not a good idea you just stated you don't have any travel plans hate to tell you this miles do depreciate. Also, Amex will give retention bonuses usually to those who put healthy spend on the card. Forgo the card and get it when you actually have a need for the card

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I didn't know MR points depreciate. thanks for making me aware!

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@acreditdummy123-- note that miles are not MR points.

[bilwilvegas]

Good evening,

Can you clarify what you mean when you said "miles do depreciate"?

Thanks!!

[Gunnerboy]

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@bilwilvegas wrote:

Good evening,

Can you clarify what you mean when you said "miles do depreciate"?

Thanks!!

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Probably what was meant is that miles you earn can become "devalued" by the airline.

[SouthJamaica]

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@acreditdummy123 wrote:

like some people, i don't travel a lot, but the signup offer for this card is quite hefty. should i apply for it, met the spend and stockpile the points for when i do need to travel? And then hope amex gives me retention credits the subsequent years? 

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IMHO no, that card is a waste of money unless you travel a lot.

[longtimelurker]

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@Gunnerboy wrote:

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@bilwilvegas wrote:

Good evening,

Can you clarify what you mean when you said "miles do depreciate"?

Thanks!!

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Probably what was meant is that miles you earn can become "devalued" by the airline.

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I agree.   In general, while 1 MR (or UR or TYP etc) will continue to be transferable to X miles in a particular airline program, over time the value of those X miles decreases as airline "enhance" their reward program.   What used to take say 100K miles now takes 120K or move to dynamic pricing which leads to a variable figure (but almost certainly greater than 100K!)

Changes aren't always uniform, so there might be a few spots where things improve, but they are more the exception.

In addition, it's possible for the issuer to change the transfer ratio so you get less airline miles anyway, or drop a partner that you want to use.  In the prepandemic world, a lot of users preached "earn and burn", i.e. use the points as soon as you have enough for a worthwhile redemption, because of the expected loss of value.

[kierkegaard]

I've also been interested in getting an AmEx Plat (I take 2 international and 4-6ish domestic trips a year) and another member shared a useful link in a separate thread I was inquiring on: https://upgradedpoints.com/credit-cards/credit-card-annual-fee-break-even-spending-guide/

If you can break even, sure; if you're unsure, you could potentially be spending money to spend money. Like others said, the value of these points "in escrow" isn't comparable from now to then and often isn't from one month to the next. If the credits included as cardholder benefits are useful for your consumer profile and you can take enough trips (and like who AmEx partners with for rewards points) to offset the cost, go for it.