Why the Amex Platinum Card refresh is a turning point in the premium credit card market

October 10, 2025

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The Amex Platinum Card Refresh – What’s next?
The Pundit’s Mantra
New Credit Card Offers

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Since June, all the way untli September, the premium card market has been given a good ole shakeup. Two of the biggest players in the arena refreshed their ‘top of the drawer’ cards. If you look at the chatter in the miles and points space, most would agree that Amex probably did a better job at their card refresh as compared to Chase. However, I think Amex may have just reshaped the premium card industry going forward. Here’s why.

The Amex Platinum Card Refresh – What’s next?

Firstly, as a long time Amex Platinum Card customer, I was disappointed during their previous refresh, when they increased the fee from $550 to $695. I was fearing more of the same this time around, but was pleasantly surprised. However, with this successful refresh (if I may call it that), Amex may have pulled off a genius move that may reshape the premium credit card market going forward. What is that?

Also Read: Targeted Amex Platinum Card upgrade offers of up to 125,000 points

The Normalization of High Annual Fees

I may be aging myself here, but many of us got into the miles and points space when an annual fee of $450 was seen as very expensive. Chase shook up the premium credit card market with the Sapphire Reserve. Amex kept changing their products and has since been increasing fees ever so gradually. After Covid-19, Amex upped their game further with multiple refreshes and more increases in annual fees. However, Amex may have pulled off something big with their recent move.

‘A little bit for everyone’ strategy

The Amex Platinum Card offers a ton of new benefits now. If you look at the array of benefits, you’ll see four themes – travel, dining, shopping and entertainment. What Amex has done well is to ensure that most people find credits in at least two to three of those categories useful. In short, with this wide range of benefits on the card, you don’t need to maximize everything. You just need to maximize in the right categories to make the card useful for you.

Also Read: Don’t make this mistake with the Digital Entertainment credit on the Amex Platinum Card

If you look browse through my coverage about the refresh, you’ll see a lot of comments on the blog and other Reddit forums go like this “this makes sense for me because of Resy and the Hotel credit”. Someone else would chime in and say. “this one is perfect for me because I can use the lounge access, hotel credit and Uber.”

The key phrase here is ‘for me’. That sums up why I think that Amex has probably managed to convince enough of their customers that if they offer them enough credits in a wide range, they would be willing to pay $895 up front to get those rebates over the next year.

Chase Makes Amends

Right around the Amex Platinum Card refresh announcement, Chase decided to announce their own changes. Almost like a mea culpa, they offered some ‘new’ benefits, albeit temporarily.

Starting in 2026, you’ll be able to use ‘the Edit’ credit twice a year at any time during the year instead of bi-annually (probably a change to compete with Amex’s $600 Hotel credit)
Also starting in 2026, you’ll earn $250 in credits via Chase Travel when you book a stay with the following brands: IHG Hotels & Resorts, Montage Hotels & Resorts, Pendry Hotels & Resorts, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Virgin Hotels, Minor Hotels, and Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts

Also Read: Your complete guide to the $600 Hotel Credit on the Amex Platinum Card

The fact that Chase announced these changes around the Amex Platinum Card refresh signals that it was aimed at making sure that their own customers don’t consider switching. Also, I won’t be surprised if Chase does another subtle refresh by 2027 and tweaks a few more benefits based on the numbers. Those tweaks could well mean replicating more of Amex’s ‘a little bit for everyone’ strategy.

The Pundit’s Mantra

There’s an old age which goes like this “prices always go up, they barely come down”. In era where we’re hit with unannounced devaluations and more price increases in general, Amex may have convinced a segment of customers to pay a premium price for a product that appeals to a broad enough category of customers.

However, it also means that annual fees on your ‘premium’ credit cards will only go up from here. Moving forward, at least for the next 5 years, $795-895 could well be the range for fees on most premium credit cards. If other issuers jump on to the bandwagon and do the same, the key question would be whether they can do as good a job in convincing people as Amex did with their Platinum card refresh.

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