In the world of investing and finance, you often see advertisements on the lines of “don’t work for money, let money work for you”. After Covid-19, once traveled reopened, travel credit cards have also changed. Some would even say, that the ‘golden’ era of travel credit cards is over. However, that’s not the motive of this post. Coming back to the first line on this post, are travel cards working wonders for us, or are we being made to work hard to that we can get some value out of our credit cards? In a pursuit of extracting value, have issuers turned the tables on us and have sent us on an endless maze? In my opinion, the Amex Platinum card has totally changed the way we think about and use credit cards, especially in the world of travel rewards, miles and points.
Also Read: How Soon Does The New $300 Credit By American Express Post?
Amex Platinum Card: Coupon Trend Leader?
For starters, let’s have a look at some examples of credit cards and how some of their benefits stack. There’s a clear trend. You’ll see merchant funded credit or benefits, split across different time frames.
Amex Platinum Card
| Credit | Merchant / benefit | Frequency | Annual total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300 | Fine Hotels + Resorts / Hotel Collection (Amex Travel) | $300 semi-annually | $600 |
| $200 | Airline incidental fees (1 selected airline) | Annual | $200 |
| $15–$35 | Uber Cash (rides + Uber Eats) | $15/mo + $20 bonus in Dec | $200 |
| $209 | CLEAR+ membership | Annual | $209 |
| $100 | Resy restaurants (US) | Quarterly | $400 |
| $300 | Equinox+ or Equinox club membership | Annual | $300 |
| $75 | lululemon (US stores + lululemon.com) | Quarterly | $300 |
| $50 | Saks Fifth Avenue / Saks Off 5th | Semi-annually (Jan–Jun / Jul–Dec) | $100 |
| $12.95 | Walmart+ monthly membership | Monthly | $155 |
| $120 | Uber One membership | Annual | $120 |
| $25 | Digital entertainment (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Paramount+, YouTube Premium/TV, NYT, WSJ, Peacock) | Monthly | $300 |
| $200 | Oura Ring hardware (OURAring.com) | Annual | $200 |
| $120 | Global Entry / TSA PreCheck application | Every 4 years | $120 |
Chase Sapphire Reserve
| Credit | Merchant / benefit | Frequency | Annual Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300 | Any travel purchases (auto-applied) | Annual | $300 |
| $250 | The Edit by Chase Travel luxury hotels | Semi-annually (flexible in 2026) | $500 |
| $250 | Select Chase Travel hotels (IHG, Omni, Montage, Pendry, Virgin, Minor, Pan Pacific) | One-time in 2026 | $250 |
| $150 | Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables (OpenTable) | Semi-annually (Jan–Jun / Jul–Dec) | $300 |
| $150 | StubHub / viagogo (concerts & events) | Semi-annually | $300 |
| $24 | Apple TV+ & Apple Music subscriptions | Monthly (through Jun 2027) | $288 |
| $10 | Peloton All-Access or App membership | Monthly (through Dec 2027) | $120 |
| ~$8 | DoorDash DashPass membership | Monthly (complimentary) | $96 |
| ~$17 | Lyft Pink All Access membership | Monthly (complimentary) | $199 |
| $120 | Global Entry / TSA PreCheck / NEXUS | Every 4 years | $120 |
Citi Strata Elite
| Credit | Merchant / benefit | Frequency | Annual Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300 | Hotels via Citi Travel (2+ night stay, any brand) | Annual | $300 |
| $100 | Blacklane global chauffeur service | Semi-annually | $200 |
| $200 | Splurge credit (choose up to 2: 1stDibs, American Airlines, Best Buy, Future Personal Training, Live Nation) | Annual | $200 |
| ~$50 | American Airlines Admirals Club day passes (4 passes/yr) | 4 passes per year | $200 |
| $120 | Global Entry / TSA PreCheck | Every 4 years | $120 |
Amex Gold Card
| Credit | Merchant / benefit | Frequency | Annual total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | Uber Cash (rides + Uber Eats) | Monthly | $120 |
| $10 | Dining credit (Grubhub, Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, wine.com, Five Guys) | Monthly | $120 |
| $50 | Resy restaurants (US) | Semi-annually | $100 |
| $7 | Dunkin’ (US locations) | Monthly | $84 |
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Co-branded credit cards have also followed suit, especially if you look at the current suite of co-branded cards with both Delta and United.
The Pundit’s Mantra
Overall, the Amex Platinum Card and its multiple refreshes over the years have completely set the trend for everyone else. The trend is clear. Firstly, hike the annual fee on a credit card. Secondly, add merchant funded credits. Thirdly, split the credits across different time frames. Voila! A new premium credit card is ready! Now, market the card as “$2,000 in value” or “$3,000 in value”.
That may be a more cynical way to look at things. A more realistic way would be to say that issuers are looking to offer a bouquet of benefits through their partners. Not all benefits may work for all cardholders. However, they’re banking on that fact that (no pun intended) that enough users will find a substantial number of benefits useful enough to justify for the annual fee.
What do you think about this current trend with travel credit cards? Tell us in the comments section.
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Chase Sapphire Cards
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