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I love The Platinum Card® from American Express for many reasons and have carried the card for many years. I more than make up the annual fee each year through the various credits, Amex Offers, and lounge visits that it provides. Some recent changes were announced today and they’re not good.
Additional Users
I recently added my husband as an additional cardholder and paid $175 to do so. That fee used to allow up to three additional users to be added, but now adding others will cost $195 per user each year. The $20 increase is not a big deal to me as I have no intentions of adding anyone else, but for those that were using all three, the cost jumps from $175 to $585 per year.
Additional cardholders, get quite a few valuable benefits. These include:
- Lounge access (Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs®, and Priority Pass)
- A Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® credit
- Gold status with Marriott Bonvoy® and Hilton Honors
- Access to Fine Hotels & Resorts
- Hertz Gold Plus Rewards President’s Circle, Avis Preferred Plus, and National Emerald Club Executive status
I think that this change is being made in the hopes that it will thin the herds that have been packing lounges and causing inordinate wait times to enter. There have been rumors around restrictions coming to Delta Sky Clubs® (more here) and this might be in lieu of those.
Entertainment Credit
Cardholders get up to $20 in statement credits each month for eligible purchases on Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The Wall Street Journal when you purchase directly from one or more of the providers. Audible has been dropped as being eligible for the credit (after October 1st).
No Bonus on Cobranded Cards
American Express is limiting welcome offers to one for any of the versions of the consumer Platinum Cards. This includes the Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab versions. People have been gaming the system and applying for multiples. American Express is tamping this behavior down.
Anthony’s Take: There is no good news here from American Express. I hope that this negates any other changes to lounge access in the future.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
2 comments
Where did you get the info with only one welcome bonus per consumer Platinum from?
American Express updated its terms to read: “You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.”