UPDATE: This offer is expired.
American Express just launched a new offer for their American Express Platinum card. This publicly available offer is now 40,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months. Up until now it has been a pretty consistent 25,00 point offer, although some folks have received targeted mailings for anywhere between 50,000 and 100,000 bonus points (although the minimum spend requirements were higher).
While the Platinum card does come with a $450 annual fee, you can receive a $200 a year in statement credits for airline incidental fees. This includes checked baggage fees, flight change fees, etc. You can learn more about these incidentals and how to claim your $200 statement credits here. Remember, this is $200 per calendar year, so if you were to apply now you can receive a $200 credit for 2014 and then again another $200 first thing in 2015. So in theory you could earn up to $400 back in statement credits prior to next years annual fee hitting.
Some of my other favorite perks of the card include:
- Access to Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts program. This can provide you with some savings at participating hotels as you get some perks by booking through this program. Perks include room upgrades, late checkout, complimentary breakfast, $100 resort credit per day, resort dinning credit, etc. The free amenity varies per hotel, but can many times be an unbelievable value. One downside is that you are not able to use a special rate (AAA, Corporate, etc.) to book the hotel, so you need to take that into consideration as well and do a rate comparison.
- Complimentary access to select airport lounges. This includes: Participating Delta Sky Club® lounges; Priority Pass(TM) Select (gives you access to over 850 participating airport lounges worldwide); Airspace Lounges in New York (JFK), Cleveland (CLE) and the Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) airports (learn more at airspacelounge.com); Centurion Lounges (Las Vegas McCarran airport and the Dallas/Fort-Worth airport (learn more at thecenturionlounge.com).
- Global entry fee reimbursement. You will receive a statement credit for $100 after applying and paying the $100 application fee for the Global Entry program. This membership is valid for 5 years and allows you to quickly get through US customs. You can learn more about Global Entry program here.
- Add up to three additional cardholders for $175 total. This entitles all three card holders lounge access (to partner lounges) and reimbursement for the Global Entry program. The additional cardholders will not get the $200 credit for airline incidentals (only the primary cardholder).
- Starwood Gold status. This will give you a 50% bonus on points earned on hotel spend.
- Purchase Protection. If you purchased an item using the card and within 90 days and the item is lost, stolen, or has accidental damage, you can be reimbursed for the item up to $10,000 per occurrence and $50,000 total per year.
- Return Protection. If you purchased an item using the card and within 90 days the merchant will no longer accept the item back as a return, you are eligible for a full refund up to $300 per item and $1,000 total per year.
- No foreign transaction fees
And my absolute favorite perk of this card is that it is an Amex so you can use it to sync to many of the social media promotions and other Amex sponsored deals available. If you’ve been following the blog for awhile you are already well aware that I absolutely love these Amex Sync promotions!
American Express points are valuable in the sense that they are a flexible currency. Points can be transferred to a slew of partner and airline miles – you are not pigeon holed into only one loyalty program. However, with that said, the annual fee is $450 so you have to decide for yourself if the perks outweigh the cost. Still a high annual fee in my opinion for one credit card that comes with no bonus spend. Although, Starwood Gold status, Global Entry fee reimbursement, and the slew of Amex Sync promotions could make it worth it. Unfortunately some value will be lost March 22 when US Airways and American Airline lounges are no longer partner lounges.
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I clicked on the app link and since I wasn’t in private mode it saw a cookie to know I have this product. Informed me I was not eligible. Ug! I have Gold Biz and PRG. I assume the PRG is the issue What a crock. Different cards as far as I’m concerned.