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A top-tier luxury rewards card for the international traveler, the American Express Platinum Card® offers an impressive array of travel and everyday benefits. However, the staggeringly high $659 annual fee and so-so rewards rates leave some room for competition.
Quick Review
The American Express Platinum Card® is a luxury travel card with benefits including access to over 1,200 airport lounges, pre-sale tickets and exclusive entertainment events, and several forms of travel insurance to cover you, your guests, and your luggage.
However, it’s important to know that the American Express Platinum Card® isn’t exactly a regular credit card—it has the features of both a credit card and a charge card.
Like a charge card, it doesn’t have a preset credit limit (it varies as you use your card) and requires you to pay off your balance in full each month. The Pay Over Time feature allows you to revolve a balance each month like a regular credit card and applies 19.74%–26.74% (variable) APR. It’s up to you which method to use for paying your bill.
As for the rewards: you earn points to the tune of 5 points per dollar on eligible travel purchases, 2x points on certain American Express Travel purchases, and 1x on all other purchases—fairly average rewards rates that you can find in much cheaper cards.
However, the American Express Platinum Card®’s sheer quantity of perks is what sets it apart—the card offers a range of $100+ value credits on flights, hotels, stores, and gym memberships as well as exclusive access to lounges and events.
The biggest barriers to entry are the $695 annual fee and, while American Express doesn’t specify its requirements, the high credit score you’ll need to be approved. If neither of those things are an issue, the American Express Platinum Card® is a top-shelf luxury credit card for frequent travelers who enjoy the finer things in life.
American Express Platinum Card® Important Details
Basic Card Details
- Credit card issuer: American Express
- Annual fee: $659
- Pay Over Time APR: 19.74%–26.74% (variable)
- Rewards rate: 1%–5%
- Grace period: 25 days after end of billing period
Additional Information
- Order cards for authorized users: $175 for the first three Platinum cards, another $175 per card beyond that, and no fee for Gold cards
- Transfer your Membership Rewards points at full value to qualifying hotel and airline loyalty programs
- Earn statement credits for airline fees, subscription services, and other expenses
- Access to exclusive entertainment and dining programs
- Membership-only deals when you rent vehicles with Avis, Hertz, or National Emerald Club
- Travel insurance, cell phone protection, and other insurance benefits
- Pay off purchases in installments with Plan It
- Make small payments on your balance with Pay It
American Express Platinum Card® Feature Breakdown
Fees
- Annual fee: $695
- Cash advance fee: $10 or 5% of advance amount (whichever is greater)
- Foreign transaction fee: None
- Late payment fee: $40
Interest Rates
- Pay Over Time APR: 19.74%–26.74% (variable)
- Intro Pay Over Time APR: 0% for 6 months
- Cash advance APR: 27.49% (variable)
- Penalty APR: 29.99%
Pay Over Time
The American Express Platinum Card® offers the payment features of a charge card and credit card.
Like a charge card, it requires you to pay off your balance in full each month. Your spending limit isn’t set when you’re approved for the card, but is instead adjusted over time, depending on your credit history, account activity (purchases and payments), and other factors.
With the Pay Over Time feature, you can make at least a minimum payment on eligible purchases and carry a balance month to month, just like a regular credit card. Every eligible purchase you make will be added to your Pay Over Time balance, up to your Pay Over Time limit. When you hit your limit, you can either carry your balance with interest or pay it off.
Your Pay Over Time limit doesn’t restrict you from spending beyond it. You can still freely make purchases if you’re at your limit—you just won’t be able to carry a balance larger than your Pay Over Time limit, and you’ll need to pay your regular balance in full before your due date.
Your Pay Over Time limit applies to Pay Over Time balances, cash advances, and Pay It Plan It installment plan balances. For example, if you already have a Pay Over Time balance and take out a cash advance, that cash advance can’t exceed your Pay Over Time limit.
The Pay Over Time feature is activated by default on the American Express Platinum Card®, but you can deactivate it if you’d prefer not to carry a balance.
Rewards
With the American Express Platinum Card®, you’ll automatically be enrolled in the Membership Rewards program and earn rewards points in three tiers:
- 5x points for qualifying travel purchases
- 2x points on online American Express Travel purchases
- 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
The following travel purchases are eligible for 5% rewards:
- Flights booked through American Express Travel or directly from passenger airlines (up to $500,000 per year)
- Hotels booked through American Express Travel
- Prepaid flight and hotel packages booked online through American Express Travel
Purchases that qualify for the 2% category include online bookings (through amextravel.com) of flights, prepaid hotels and car rentals, vacation packages, and cruise reservations. The Destination Experiences program also earns you 2% on vacation packages booked through American Express Travel via phone.
American Express Travel purchases will either qualify for one category or the other; the rewards can’t be stacked.
Welcome Bonus
You can earn 100,000 points when you spend $6,000 in your first 6 months—a welcome bonus that’s very easy to cash in on.
How to Redeem Your Membership Rewards Points
You can redeem your Membership Rewards points in a number of ways, with varying redemption rates:
| Redemption Method | Value per Point |
|---|---|
| Deposit into an eligible linked checking account (no minimum) | $0.008 per point |
| Pay for purchases made through American Express Travel, excluding non-prepaid car rental and non-prepaid hotels (minimum redemption of 5,000 points) | $0.005 - $0.007 per point |
| Pay at checkout with select retailers | $0.005 - $0.01 per point |
| Redeem for gift cards | $0.005 - $0.01 per point |
| Redeem as cash back | $0.06 per point |
| Shopping with American Express’ retail partners | $0.05 per point |
| Donate to charity through JustGiving | Unspecified |
| Transfer your points to a partner hotel or airline loyalty program | See below |
| Upgrade your tickets booked with a participating airline | Variable |
You can transfer your points to the following loyalty programs:
- Aer Lingus
- AeroMexico
- Aeroplan
- AIR FRANCE KLM
- ANA Mileage Club
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific
- Choice Privileges
- Delta Air Lines
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- HawaiianMiles
- Hilton Honors
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Marriott Bonvoy
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Membership Rewards points can be transferred at equal or greater value to all of these programs, except for JetBlue TrueBlue (250 Membership Rewards points = 200 TrueBlue points).
Cash Advance
You can use your American Express Platinum Card® to take out cash advances, a kind of loan you take out using your available credit.
The maximum cash advance you can take out is $8,000 and it cannot exceed your Pay Over Time limit. Cash advances are subject to a variable 27.49% APR and a fee of either $10 or 5% of your advance amount, whichever is greater.
Balance Transfers
The American Express Platinum Card® does not allow you to transfer a balance from another credit card.
Pay It Plan It
Pay It Plan It consists of two features—Pay It, which allows you to pay your balance in increments before it’s due, and Plan It, which lets you set up installment plans for your purchases.
With Pay It, you can make payments of less than $100 towards your total balance through the American Express mobile app. This can be useful if you’re approaching your credit limit and want to open up some space for new purchases or if you want to have a lower balance reported to the credit bureaus at the end of the billing cycle.
Plan It allows you to set up a no-interest payment plan for purchases over $100, with up to ten purchases per plan. You can also create up to ten plans at once, depending on your creditworthiness, credit limit, and other factors.
A fixed monthly fee is calculated based on your purchase when you set up your plan, based on factors like your plan duration and the APR that would normally apply with Pay Over Time.
You’ll be presented with 1-3 options for the length of your plan which are based on the amount of your purchases, your creditworthiness, and your account history, among other factors.
Travel Benefits: Flights
The American Express Platinum Card® offers exclusive deals on airline fares when you book premium class tickets through the American Express International Airline Program. If you prefer private jets, you can get discounts on Wheels Up Connect and Core memberships.
This card also provides access to participating Global Lounge Collection locations, including the following:
- Centurion Lounges
- Escape Lounges
- Delta Sky Club Lounges
- Plaza Premium Lounges
- Air Space Lounges
- International American Express Lounges
- Lufthansa Business and Senator Lounges
- Priority Pass (with complimentary membership)
Cardholders can also earn up to a $200 airline fee credit per year on incidental airline fees charged by the following airlines:
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta Airlines
- Frontier Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- JetBlue Airways
- Spirit Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
Travel Benefits: Hotels
When it comes to hotels, the American Express Platinum Card® gives you the opportunity to enroll in complimentary Hilton Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite memberships.
If you find a lower price on your hotel room after you book through American Express Travel, you’ll be refunded the difference.
Travel Benefits: Car Rentals
The American Express Platinum Card® lets you enroll at a high membership level with Avis (Avis Preferred status), Hertz (Hertz Gold Plus Rewards) and National Emerald Club (Executive Member). You also get access to rental company-specific deals, including rental rate discounts, complimentary vehicle upgrades, free rental days, and more.
Other Travel Benefits
The American Express Platinum Card® also offers a few additional travel benefits, like the following statement credits:
- $100–$300 shipboard credit per stateroom with the Cruise Privileges Program
- $100 fee credit for Global Entry or up to $85 for TSA PreCheck when you charge these to your card
- $100 shipboard credit or other savings on trips of at least $3,000 with the Destination Experiences program
You can also get on-call concierge and emergency assistance while abroad through American Express Concierge and the Premium Global Assist Hotline, respectively.
Lastly, the Destination Family program provides special amenities like adjacent rooms or free meals for your kids when you book family vacations through American Express Travel.
Insurance Benefits
The American Express Platinum Card® offers certain forms of travel insurance through its insurance affiliates:
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
- Trip delay insurance
- Coverage for baggage lost or damaged in transit
It also offers some other protections:
- 90 days of purchase protection covering the theft, loss, or damage of qualifying purchases
- Cell phone protection for stolen or damaged cell phones
- Return protection in the form of full-price refunds (up to $300 per item) within 90 days of purchase when you refund an item but the original retailer won’t accept it
Statement Credits
With the American Express Platinum Card®, you can earn the following statement credits each calendar year when you charge these expenses to your card:
- Walmart: Up to $155 on Walmart+ membership
- CLEAR: Up to $189 on your annual CLEAR membership
- Uber: Up to $200 in Uber Cash for the cost of Uber rides or Uber Eats
- Equinox: Up to $300 on your annual Equinox membership
- SoulCycle: Up to $300 on purchases of up to 15 SoulCycle At-Home Bikes per year
- Shop with Saks: Up to $100 when you shop at Saks Fifth Avenue
- Select hotels: Up to $200 when making eligible prepaid bookings with members of Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection through American Express Travel with your Platinum card or an eligible Gold card on your account
- Entertainment: Up to $240 on purchases from Audible, Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The New York Times
On top of all that, you can also take advantage of statement credit offers on qualifying purchases through Amex Offers.
Entertainment and Dining Benefits
The American Express Platinum Card® gives you exclusive access to tickets to sports, theater, and other entertainment events through the following programs:
- American Express Access
- American Express Early Access
- American Express Preferred Access
- American Express Experiences
- By Invitation Only
With Global Dining Access by Resy, you get even more opportunities to snag exclusive reservations at restaurants and dining events, including notifications when tables become available at your favorite restaurants.
Other Benefits
The American Express Platinum Card® also comes with a few features and unique perks that don’t fit into any other benefits categories:
- Extended warranties: Get an extra year of protection on eligible warranties of five years or less.
- Send & Split: Send money or split purchases with Venmo or PayPal accounts via the American Express mobile app.
- Uber VIP: Exclusive access to Uber VIP, which refers you to higher-rated drivers and better vehicles.
- ShopRunner: Fully complimentary ShopRunner membership.
- InCircle: Enroll your American Express Platinum Card® into InCircle and earn InCircle points when you shop at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call, or Horchow, and receive a $100 InCircle Point Card for every 10,000 points you earn.
Credit Reporting
American Express reports your credit card activity to Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian on a monthly basis.
Should You Get the American Express Platinum Card®?
FinanceJar verdict
The American Express Platinum Card® offers a dizzying array of benefits that may make up for its otherwise fairly standard rewards rates. Whether you travel in the US or abroad, alone or with family, the American Express Platinum Card® is a top-tier luxury travel card, though the $695 annual fee is a hefty price to pay.
Few cards can compete with the range of statement credit and benefits offers—but plenty of credit cards do offer better rewards rates and lower annual fees, making it worthwhile to shop around.
Who is this card for?
- International vacationers: No foreign transaction fees, a myriad of perks whether you travel by plane, car, or cruise ship, and a bundle of travel insurance benefits place this card at the peak of travel rewards cards. The Destination Family program and complimentary access for guests at select lounges mean your family can join in on the rewards, too.
- Domestic travelers for entertainment: You can get early access and special seating at entertainment events ranging from sports games to Broadway shows, plus exclusive dining reservations at world-class restaurants across the country. Whether you’re flying, driving a rental, or taking an Uber to your destination, you have your pick of deals to choose from.
Comparable Cards
To help you decide if the American Express Platinum Card® is right for you, here’s a look at how it stacks up against the competition.
