Over the last few weeks, American Express has quietly made some changes to benefits on the Amex Platinum Card card. Unlike the massive refresh in 2025, these changes are minor in nature but still deserve attention. I’ll be updating this master list whenever a new announcement is made as we track what’s going on with the American Express Platinum Card.
Earn 200,000 Points OR 5 Free Nights With These Offers!
American Express Platinum Card: What You Need to Know In 2026
| Benefit Type/Name | Change Announced | Date It Will Go Into Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Saks Fifth Avenue Credit | American Express will discontinue the $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit for new cardholders immediately. Existing cardholders retain the benefit through June 30, 2026. Saks Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2026, making the credit increasingly difficult to use. | March 26, 2026 (new cardholders); June 30, 2026 (existing cardholders lose it) |
| Events by Amex | Amex will also wind down “Events by Amex” benefit, which provided presale tickets, exclusive experiences, and invitation-only events. Amex says some form of “special access” will remain, but the dedicated benefit is gone. | June 10, 2026 |
| Uber VIP Status | Uber VIP status (part of the $200 Uber Cash benefit) is being removed and replaced with “Signature Support for Amex,” a priority customer service feature within the Uber app. The $200 Uber Cash credit itself remains unchanged. | May 7, 2026 |
| Lufthansa Lounge Access | Access to Lufthansa Business Lounges is being removed as a benefit for Amex Platinum cardholders. | October 1, 2026 |
| New Airfare Program | A new airfare program has been introduced as part of the card’s evolving travel benefits, which also includes select domestic Economy class tickets. | Effective Immediately |
Earn Up To 150,000 Ultimate Rewards Points With These Offers!
The Pundit’s Mantra
As someone who currently holds the card, the Saks benefit going away is actually a net positive for me. I rarely found good use of the benefit for my style of shopping. Also, I primarily visit Centurion lounges or Priority Pass lounges during my travels, so Amex taking away Lufthansa lounge access isn’t a deal breaker for me. The Uber VIP status tweak is also not a big deal for me as I primarily use the Uber credits for Uber Eats orders, whenever I use them.
However, I do find the airfare program useful. In this post, I highlighted how Amex’s Platinum Member Airfares Program (Back then it was the International Airline Program) came to my rescue when I was having trouble while booking a trip.
Do you view these changes in 2026 as a net positive? Would these changes convince you to renew the card for another year? Tell us in the comments section.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Credit Card Offers
American Express Business Credit Cards
- Earn Up To 300,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Platinum Card!
- Earn Up To 200,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Gold Card by American Express
Chase Sapphire Cards
- 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points up for grabs with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card!
- Earn 125,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
- Earn 150,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card for Business Card
- Chase Ink Business Preferred Card offering a limited time welcome bonus of 100,000 points
Hilton Honors
- Pay No Annual Fee, Earn 70,000 points & 1 free night with the Hilton Honors American Express Card
- Earn 130,000 points & 1 free night with the Hilton Surpass Card
- Earn 175,000 points and 1 free night with the Hilton Aspire Card
- Hilton Business Card: Earn 1 free night & 175,000 points!
The loss of UberOne is a big deal.
$0 Delivery Fees: Free delivery on eligible restaurant orders over $15 and grocery/retail orders over $35.
Ride Credits: Earn 6% back in Uber One credits on eligible rides (including Premium and Reserve).
Discounts on Orders: Up to 10% off eligible orders, marked with the gold Uber One icon.
Priority Service: Access to top-rated drivers on rides and top-rated delivery people on orders.
I don’t think UberOne credit is going away. Just Uber VIP which is far less useful.
What are your thoughts about the 1 August 2026 change to the Digital Services. I am not quite understanding what they are doing or why. Your article does not address this as it was a more recent change announced.
I saw nothing about that. Where did you read that?
How is removing a credit with nothing in return a net positive? WTF
@SMR: I barely used the Saks credit, so its a net positive for me. We’ll have to wait until a replacement/new credit is announced.
The new airfare program is a whole joke. I priced a trip that I had been planning and it literally doubled from 315 to 668. Smh o booked at 315 with the airline.
I recently used the Lufthansa Senator lounges in Frankfurt and found them to be significantly nicer and better in every way than the business lounges. The way it works today is if flying economy, AmEx platinum grants business lounge access. If flying business class, AmEx platinum grants Senator lounge access. I’d hope at least that part will stay as the Senator lounges are not crowded, very spaced out, and quiet.
Removing perks and not replacing them with something else is really lame. The card’s yearly fee already costs a fortune, and Amex needs to offer useful perks to offset the yearly fee. Ditching the Saks benefit is a plus, but they should replace it with a credit at a store that a larger majority of people frequent. Changing the Uber VIP status to something else is fine but, perhaps, they should explain what the new benefit provides. The point? Add benefits, don’t remove them. And if they do remove benefits, replace them with something better!
I agree completely. The ridiculous fee for the card should NOT be rewarded by decreasing benefits.
Offer the health benefits like those to Equinox to any established gym. Everyone exercises ifferently, and it would be great to apply the health benefit to a place you will use.
Having this card for only 1+ years and the constant changes hmm let’s see. I got this card for the lounge benefit plus other perks but it keeps changing and not long after the price went up.
– Personally living in an area with very few to 0 Resu restaurants don’t care about that perk
-Uber credit is nice so loosing that is a negative
I agree offer people something useful like hmm $200 statement credit an actual airfare credit..
Maybe partner with Apple or Microsoft and offer discounts you know they all love giving them and getting their names everywhere!
Maybe offer a $300 account credit like the Chase Sapphire which would probably get you more people applying
Maybe offer a $300 account credit like the Chase Sapphire which would probably get you more people applying