The Amex Platinum card polarizes opinions in our community. Some really love it while others call it the dreaded ‘coupon book’. I first picked up the Amex Platinum card back in the glory years when it still had the $450 annual fee. Over the last half a decade, we’ve only seen the annual fee go up, standing currently at $695.
Amex Platinum Card Rumors
According to the Frequent Miler, the Amex Platinum card is set undergo more changes. At the moment, we don’t know any specific details about what the changes could be. However, I’d love to see some changes that would make me keep the card for another year:
- Make the airline fee credit a generic airline credit that works with any airline
- Introduce a 35% points redemption benefit similar to the benefit on the Business Platinum card
- Introduce limited points transfer bonuses to their partners, exclusive to Platinum cardholders. It would make carrying the Platinum card or the Business Platinum card a point of difference compared to other Amex cards and would help justify the higher annual fee.
However, the skeptic in me feels that the new changes could be meh. We could see more ‘credits’ broken down into monthly or quarterly time frames. I’d love to be pleasantly surprised if these changes turn out to be a net positive. However, if you look at Amex’s recent track record, it doesn’t instill much confidence.
My favorite benefits
At the moment, I love these benefits with the Platinum card for the following reasons:
- $200 hotel credit: I book 3-4 stays each year using fine hotel and resorts. I’m easily able to earn hotel points and elite night credits with hotel chains since these bookings are counted as cash stays.
- $200 airline fee credit: I find this benefit easy to use each year. I’ve written a detailed post about how I use the benefit each year.
- Hilton Honors Gold status: I love this benefit as Hilton Honors Gold status gives me extra bonus points and complimentary breakfast at non US locations.
- Centurion lounge access: This benefit is fantastic as it gives me lounge access at multiple locations in the US and worldwide.
- Trip delay, cancellation and interruption insurance: I’ve had to use this benefit back in 2022 for a canceled trip. The process for getting my airfare refunded was pretty seamless.
The Pundit’s Mantra
Like with Amex’s product refreshes in the recent past, I have very little doubt that the annual fee will increase on the Platinum Card.
In my case, I just paid the annual fee at the start of the year. Depending on what the changes are, I have enough time to take a call in January 2026 when the next annual fee hits.
In this blog post, I’ve written why I’ve kept the Amex Platinum Card in my wallet and have renewed it over the last few years. However, if Amex makes drastic changes and the fee increase is substantial, I may reconsider when it comes time to renew again next year.
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Also it would be much better if the airline credit worked like Chase’s travel credit. Let it apply towards purchase of a ticket and not just ancillary charges. I found out the hard way buying a Delta MC ticket and picking a domestic first or MC+ seat later repurchases the ticket and not count as a seat addon. I was used to flying Jetblue where picking an even more seat after buying a Blue ticket would trigger the credit.