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American Express issued a press release today to announce that there are changes coming to both the personal and business versions of the American Express Platinum Card®. The announcement shared no real details other than the “company is making its largest investment ever in a Card refresh.” Investments are not made without the hope of a return and my guess is that we’re about to see the annual fee spike to $999 or more.
The notice continues to call attention to the lounge network with “access to over 1,550 lounges in more than 500 airports around the world.” More than 1,518 of these are not operated by American Express, but accessible through Priority Pass and other partnerships. American Express will have 32 of its own lounges with the addition of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) this year. I do find myself using these lounges frequently and they are one of the benefits that makes me keep the card.
Other benefits touted include Fine Hotels + Resorts® (which I only book once each year to get my credit) and access to reservations with Resy and Tock (no card needed for all of these). The common theme among the benefits showcased is travel. It seems like American Express might be pushing for this card to have even more appeal to travelers.
I love that I can earn 5x Membership Rewards points on booking airfare and I use the Platinum Card® from American Express to book all of my plane tickets (you can book up to $500,000 per year and earn the bonus points). Amex Offers are another way that I offset the annual fee. I have saved thousands on hotels, airfare, rental cars, and more.
Howard Grosfield, Group President, US Consumer Services at American Express, said:
More than forty years ago, we introduced the Platinum Card, and we continue to offer Platinum Cards with global servicing, unique benefits and experiences that our Card Members love. Platinum Card benefits and services resonate across generations, particularly with Millennial and Gen Z who accounted for 35% of total U.S. Consumer spending last quarter. We’re going to take these Cards to a new level, not only in what they offer in travel, dining and lifestyle benefits, but also in how they look and feel, to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”
It’s interesting to see Millennials and Gen Z are carrying the card in such numbers. Those generations are big into experiences and the marketing for this card makes it seem like this is the one to have. We’ll see if they hold onto it if the cost raises too much.
Anthony’s Take: If the annual fee creeps up to the $1,000 neighborhood, I will likely keep the card for the lounge access and bonus points. If either of those benefits change than the card is leaving my wallet.
(Image Credit: American Express.)
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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
I would still keep the card if it hits $1k, I can justify the credits/points for the lounge access (since I fly delta and use amex/pp lounges). Would be great if they increased the multiplier for the airline purchases to maybe 7x or 8x. That would be the icing on the cake.
I’ll wait and see but given Amex’s chosen practice of charging more while offering less over the past several years this bodes exceedingly ill. It’s really tough to see these changes as anything less than enshittification and you have to squint pretty hard these days to find sufficient value to justify the current annual fee. Once again I realize that we travel in different socioeconomic circles but I’ve reluctantly come to the conclusion that I have deluded myself into believing that there’s still genuine value in the Business Platinum card. The free guests in Centurion lounges are gone, the annual fee is vastly higher, the 50% rebate for using points to pay for flights is just a memory, Dell credits have been cut by more than half, etc, etc.
It’s been a good run overall and between the spouse and I we have around a couple of million MR points but outside of getting a card for the signup bonus the juice increasingly isn’t worth the squeeze. Perhaps that’s intentional on the part of American Express to keep us riffraff out of the lounges.