The award travel community let out a great breath last year when American Express officially announced a variety of new benefits for The Platinum Card® from American Express. These included the addition of hundreds of dollars in statement credits each year, as well as an increase to the annual fee. And while that fee may be difficult to swallow, Amex has sweetened the pot by increasing its welcome offer to all-time highs.
Let’s take a look.
Amex Platinum Card Welcome Offer
The welcome offers for the Amex Platinum card can vary — depending on your personal information, you may see 1 of several different available offers. The current offer is:
- Earn 80,000 points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months.
However, just because there’s a current offer below 100,000 points, doesn’t mean you can’t find the offer elsewhere. We generally value Membership Rewards points at about 2.2 cents per point, which means that a 100,000-point bonus offer is worth ~$2,200, a 125,000-point bonus is worth ~$2,750, and a 150,000-point bonus is worth $3,300.
Option 1: Pre-Qualified Tool Through Amex (Best Option)
If you’ve been in the points and miles world for a while now, you know that credit card issuers will periodically run an elevated welcome bonus for a particular card, and American Express is no exception.
So if you’re wanting to add the Amex Platinum card to your wallet, and American Express happens to be promoting an increased welcome bonus, then that would be the perfect time to apply for the card.
American Express also offers a pre-qualified tool on their site (see image below), where you can quickly, and easily, check to see if you are eligible for a welcome bonus of up to 150,000 points on the Amex Platinum card!
Offer capture on May 13, 2022, and may not be available to all applicants. Image Credit: American Express
Option 2: Check on CardMatch
If you strike out on the American Express website, then the second option we recommend is checking through the CardMatch tool. This tool completes a soft credit check to see if you’re eligible for any elevated offers. Since it’s not a hard pull, this won’t count against your credit.
Offer captured July 1, 2021, and may not be available for all applicants. Image Credit: CardMatch
Option 3. Targeted Email Offers
You can also look for targeted email offers so long as you are opted-in to receive New Card and Credit Offers in your Amex account’s General Marketing Email Preferences.
Hot Tip: Both the American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab and The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley also feature elevated welcome offers and new benefits, including statement credits.
Benefits of the Amex Platinum Card
Along with a massive welcome offer, the Amex Platinum card features a number of enticing benefits, including great statement credits.
These credits and benefits include:
- Access to 1,400+ Lounges Worldwide: Receive access to Centurion Lounges (U.S. and international locations), Priority Pass upon enrollment, Escape Lounges – The Centurion Studio Partner, Plaza Premium Lounges, select Virgin Clubhouses, select Lufthansa lounges when flying with Lufthansa Group the same day, and Delta Sky Clubs when flying with Delta the same day.
- Hotel and Rental Car Elite Status and Benefits
- $189 CLEAR Credit: Use your card and get up to $189 back per year on your CLEAR membership.
- Up to $300 Equinox Credit: Upon enrollment, get up to $25 back each month on eligible Equinox memberships when you pay with your card.
- Up to $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back each month on eligible purchases made with your card on one or more of the following: Audible, Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The New York Times. Enrollment required.
- Up to $200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings, which require a minimum 2-night stay, through Amex Travel when you pay with your card.
- Up to $155 Walmart+ Credit: Receive a $12.95 monthly credit toward a Walmart+ membership.
- Global Dining Access by Resy
- Wheels Up (Premium Private Jet Program)
Combined with statement credits for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck enrollment fees, up to $200 for airline incidentals, up to $200 in Uber Cash, and up to $100 for Saks Fifth Avenue, you get a lot of value back by having this card in your wallet even considering the annual fee is $695 (rates and fees).
Maximizing Your Membership Rewards Points
What would you do with 100,000, 125,000, or even 180,000 Amex Membership Rewards points? If you qualify for the 150,000-point welcome offer and maximize your minimum spend with 5x purchases, you’ll be sitting on a stockpile of 180,000 points. So, what can you do?
Fly Round-trip to Europe 6 Times
An economy class ticket to the U.K. is just 13,000 Avios one-way on British Airways from select U.S. cities. American Express Membership Rewards transfer to British Airways at a 1:1 ratio which means your 180,000 points can become 13 one-way or 6 round-trip flights to the U.K. How many times did you want to see Big Ben?
Enjoy Emirates First Class
A round-trip flight from New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP) in Emirates first class will set you back 135,000 Emirates Skywards miles. That’s not cheap, but where else can you enjoy digital windows from the middle seat? You can transfer Amex points to Emirates at a 1:1 ratio.
Fly Around the World in Business Class
ANA’s round-the-world ticket prices out its flight costs according to distance. With a maximum stopover limit of 12, you can spend as few as 120,000 miles to fly around the whole world — in business class. That means you can have the time of your life sipping Champagne as you see the sights. Amex points also transfer to ANA at a 1:1 ratio.
Hot Tip: For more inspiration, check out the best ways to redeem your Amex Membership Rewards points (we also have guides for redeeming 60,000 and 100,000 points) and how to upgrade your flight using Membership Rewards points.
Final Thoughts
If you don’t already have the Amex Platinum card, now is the time to get it. Although the annual fee is steep, taking advantage of elevated offerings and increased earnings — along with a suite of statement credits — can make this card a very good deal.
The information regarding the American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab and The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
Featured Image Credit:
Upgraded Points
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