AMEX PLATINUM: worth considering IMO

For anyone who travels (or, at least, will do, once "things" are closer to normal).

On the face of it, it carries a large annual membership fee, but the benefits are considerable, and without a huge amount of difficulty, savings can easily exceed the fee. Interested? Read on.

For the fee you get your own Platinum card, plus you can issue a supplementary Platinum Card to another person. You are liable for their spending.

Both these cardholders get, individually (in no particular order):
  • Gold (mid-tier) membership of hotel chains: Marriott Bonvoy; Radisson Rewards; Hilton Honors; MeliaRewards. All of these offer things like room upgrades where available and particularly worth noting: Hilton gives you and one other sharing your room a free breakfast daily. That's typically "worth" £10-15 pppd, so on a 5 night stay for two up to £150 saved. Similarly, Melia will give a breakfast for a companion if you pay for yours.
  • Annual multi-trip family worldwide travel insurance for you. With the addition of secondary cardholders (one Platinum plus up to four Gold or Green) you can get this benefit for up to five other people; that's potentially five families. Note: upper age limit 70.
  • Comprehensive insurance for rental cars; you don't need to buy the extra covers typically offered by rental companies. I estimate that can easily be worth maybe £200 for a two-week trip.
  • Airport lounge access for two people (worth typically at least £15 per person per airport used, but depends on the airport). There are ~1300 lounges in the scheme. If you and your supplementary cardholder travel together, you can therefore bring two more people in with you.
  • Eurostar lounge access regardless of ticket class
  • Use of Amex's hotel schemes including Fine Hotels and Resorts; the benefits for cardholders can easily cover the annual fee and include breakfast, room upgrades and a substantial credit sum to be spent in the hotel/resort on services. I have compared Amex rates with those available elsewhere (without the benefits) and the Amex rates are NOT inflated to account for the benefits.
  • Air Fare discount scheme with select airlines; usefulness of this will depend on origin and destination and who serves those places.
  • and various others things like cashback on house rentals; rebate on taxi fares, and an ever-changing list of cashback and/or discount offers at various retail and travel firms.

and you get points on all purchases (yours or the supplementary cardholder's) which can be either spent directly (eg at Amazon) or converted to various types of AirMiles, hotel rewards, etc.

Successful applicants get a sign-up bonus of 35000 points (with a minimum initial spend) which will convert to 35000 Avios or Virgin Points, etc., or are worth around £150 if spent directly.

The annual fee is, as I said, large at £575 but again, it's quite easily offset with the benefits. This is a charge card (not a credit card) meaning you have to clear the balance monthly. The grace period a week between the statement date and the payment due date, plus up to a month (for spending just after your monthly statement). There is no formal "limit" on the card; there is an online tool you can use to check if a large amount would be approved.

EDIT Sept 2022. The original charge card product desribed is no longer available to new applicants. It has been replaced by a Credit Card with the same fee and benefits, but with a traditional credit card structure, with a spending limit and the option to repay either in full or partially (with attendant interest charges on the latter).

In order to get that slightly increased initial sign-up bonus, you need to apply using a referral code. This is mine:
and, for openness, I get a few points for any successful applicant.

Posted with the site owner's specific permission, and not officially endorsed by AVForums. This post is for information only. It is a personal opinion and should not be construed as formally offering advice.
 
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@LV426 is your link still valid? After another crappy morning hanging around airport departures I’m going to bite the bullet.
 
Yes - I updated it a couple of weeks ago:


& thanks!
 
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I got one just before covid hit which was impeccable timing.

So far managed to get return to Vegas for £278 instead of £520 and almost ready to pull the trigger on return to LA for 5 next summer saving over £250pp.

Definitely worth it if you're happy flying from London.
 
Make good use of the offers as well - currently £150pa dining credit at selected restaurants; 2 x £50pa to spend at Harvey Nichols (good for an almost free lunch - or anything else in store). And others. And use of airport lounges of course. If you are using T3 LHR I gather the Centurion Lounge is excellent.
 

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