The American Express Platinum Card has a ton of benefits, but carries a hefty annual fee. With its most recent refresh, American Express increased the annual fee on the Amex Platinum Card from $695 to $895. Over the years, American Express has moved its focus from a strictly travel focused card to a card that’s more broadly focused on travel, dining, entertainment and shopping. Back in 2021, Amex did a refresh when they increased the fee from $550 to $695. Amex added a new Saks credit during that refresh.
$100 Saks Credit
At the moment, the Amex Platinum Card offers a $100 Saks credit each calendar year. Similar to many other Amex Platinum Card benefits, this benefit is also split bi-annually. You can earn $50 between January and June and then another $50 between July & December during each calendar year.
However, Saks’ own financial woes are seemingly increasing and the future doesn’t look very promising for the company, ranging from problems like missing vendor payments and facing issues with low inventory. This is also showing up on their website as
The Wall Street Journal has also reported about Saks’ current financial troubles. You can read the full article here.
“Saks Global is preparing to file for bankruptcy within days after missing an interest payment on the debt it took on to buy Neiman Marcus, people familiar with the matter said.
Saks has struggled financially since taking on the debt burden in 2024, and the luxury retail chain’s delays in paying vendors have contributed to weaker merchandise offerings—and sales. Saks is now in talks with its creditors about financing for the bankruptcy process, the people said.
The planned chapter 11 filing is expected to mark the highest-profile department-store bankruptcy since the Covid-19 pandemic. Saks declined to comment.”
The Pundit’s Mantra
In the miles and points space, we often use methods or workarounds that are unconventional in order to maximize the benefits on our cards. The main purpose of writing this post was to warn you that if you’re holding gift cards from Saks that contain any substantial value, then it would be a good idea to spend them now instead of later. If Saks does indeed go under and Amex decides to drop them as a partner, then I’m pretty sure that Amex will compensate existing cardholders in one form or another.
If the Saks benefit were to go away from the Amex Platinum Card, would it move the needle in terms of how you perceive the Amex Platinum Card? Tell us in the comments section.
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Credit Card Offers
American Express Business Credit Cards
- Earn 200,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Platinum Card
- Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Gold Card by American Express
Chase Sapphire Cards
- Earn 125,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
- Earn 200,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card for Business
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The Saks benefit is marginal and I struggle to use it. That said, I’ve gotten some cute clothes for grandchildren and some nice knives, as well as some jewelry I resold on ebay. I have a pending order in now — wonder what will become of it?
The pending order should be fine.