You Can Unlock These Hidden Elite Status Levels With the Amex Platinum — Here’s How

By holding just a single card in your wallet, you can claim elite status with 13 different reward programs, covering hotels, rental cars, and even an airline. No other card on the market can provide the amount of elite status available with The Platinum Card^® from American Express.

You won’t see all of these elite status benefits advertised in your cardholder benefits guide, but starting with the elite perks advertised by American Express can lead to numerous additional status opportunities.

Here’s how it works.

Elite Status Perks on the Amex Platinum Card

The Amex Platinum card directly offers elite status with several hotel and rental car programs upon enrollment. Notice I said “directly,” because you can use these to also get elite status in competitor programs, which we’ll discuss below.

BEST LOUNGE ACCESS

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The Platinum Card^® from American Express

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The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

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The Platinum Card^® from American Express

The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

Welcome Offer

Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

80,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

Up to $1,760

Annual Fee

$695

APR

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Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card^® from American Express.

Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• The best airport lounge access out of any card (by far) — enjoy access to over 1,400 worldwide lounges, including the luxurious Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges (enrollment required), Plaza Premium Lounges, and many more!
• 5x points per dollar spent on flights purchased directly with the airline or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year)
• 5x points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com

Cons

• $695 annual fee (rates and fees)
• Airline credit does not cover airfare (only incidentals like checked bags)

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Card Highlights

• Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
• Earn 5X Membership Rewards^® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel^® up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards^® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel^®.
• $200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts^® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel using your Platinum Card^®. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month on eligible purchases made with your Platinum Card^® on one or more of the following: Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
• With American Express Global Lounge Collection^® eligible Card Members can enjoy access to over 1,400 airport lounges globally, including The Centurion^® Lounge, Unlimited Delta Sky Club^® Access when flying an eligible Delta flight, Escape Lounges, Lufthansa Lounges when flying Lufthansa Group, Plaza Premium, Priority Pass™ Select Lounges, & Additional Global Lounge Collection Partner Lounges subject to visit limitations. Lounges may have their own rules, like additional access rules and guest fees, and for Priority Pass Select, you need to enroll and there are unlimited airport lounge visits for Card Members. With Delta Sky Club Access, Card Members will receive 10 Visits to the Delta Sky Club to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year and can unlock Unlimited Delta Sky Club Access by spending $75,000 in eligible purchases on their Card in a calendar year. To find a lounge, visit the membership section in the American Express^® App or visit http://www.americanexpress.com/findalounge#/loungefinder.
• A Walmart+ membership can get you free shipping with no order minimum on eligible items shipped by Walmart. Use your Platinum Card^® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) and receive one statement credit for up to $12.95 (plus applicable taxes. Plus Ups not eligible) each month. Free Shipping excludes most Marketplace items, freight & certain location surcharges. Paramount+ Essential plan only, separate registration required.
• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees, such as checked bags and in-flight refreshments, are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card^® Account. American Express relies on airlines to submit the correct information on airline transactions to identify incidental fee purchases. If you do not see a credit for a qualifying incidental purchase on your eligible Card after 8 weeks, simply call the number on the back of your Card. Qualifying airlines are subject to change. See terms & conditions for more details.
• $200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card^® Members can ride or dine in style with $15 in Uber Cash each month, plus a bonus $20 in December after adding their Card to their Uber account. Use your Uber Cash on rides and orders in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
• $199 CLEAR^® Plus Credit: CLEAR^® Plus helps get you to your gate faster by using unique facial attributes to verify you are you at 50+ airports nationwide. Use the dedicated CLEAR Lane to confirm your identity without taking out your passport or ID – this can mean shorter lines, less waiting. Receive up to $199 in statement credits per calendar year after you pay for your CLEAR Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) with the Platinum Card^®.
• Receive either a $120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck^® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card^®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• Shop Saks with Platinum: Get up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases in Saks Fifth Avenue stores or at saks.com on your Platinum Card^®. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
• Use Global Dining Access by Resy to access premium dining experiences. Receive Priority Notify and unlock insider access to some of the world's most sought-after restaurants with Global Dining Access by Resy. Download the Resy iOS app or log into Resy.com and add your Platinum Card^® to your Resy profile to take advantage of your special benefits and discover restaurants near you.
• $695 annual fee.¤
• Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
• Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

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• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

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American Express Membership Rewards

These are the elite status benefits you can enroll in with the Amex Platinum card:

Once you factor in the other benefits of the Amex Platinum card, they go a long way toward justifying the card’s hefty $695 annual fee (rates & fees), especially for frequent travelers.

Along with the elite status tiers you can claim via enrollment, cardholders can also get special discounts via members-only sales at the hotel programs or discount codes with the car rental programs. However, there’s more than meets the eye here, because you can use these benefits to claim additional perks with competing hotel and rental car programs.

Claiming Even More Elite Status With the Amex Platinum Card

While getting elite status in 5 programs by holding a single card in your wallet is nice, there’s much more available. The Amex Platinum card can provide elite status in even more programs, made possible by first claiming the “direct” benefits listed on the card.

If you aren’t familiar with hotel status matches and rental car status matches, you should be. Loyalty programs are keen to lure customers away from their competitors by offering what’s known as a status match: honoring the status you hold in another program by providing the corresponding status tier in their own program.

Sometimes, the match is just temporary, and you must complete tasks like spending money or staying at the hotel to retain the status for the future. Other times, there’s no effort required. It varies from program to program.

Claim Additional Hotel Status

Using the Marriott and Hilton status provided by the Amex Platinum card, you can claim these additional hotel status levels:

• Best Western Rewards: Diamond status, available here
• Choice Privileges: Platinum status available here (or potentially top-tier Diamond status after staying at a Cambria property and emailing Status_Match@choicehotels.com)
• I Prefer: Email members@iprefer.com to request a match, likely to Gold status
• Sonesta Travel Pass: No specifics on which tiers match to which, but likely Gold status

Additionally, we’ve seen periodic status match offers for World of Hyatt, GHA Discovery, Wyndham Rewards, and IHG One Rewards, though those aren’t available right now. Lastly, if you’re able to match your status to a casino rewards program by visiting Las Vegas or Atlantic City (in person), you can match that status to MGM Rewards or Fontainebleau.

Claim Additional Rental Car Status

For additional rental car elite status, your best bet is to match using your Hertz President’s Circle status, since it’s the top tier in that program, and match to these:

• Avis Preferred: Email profile.update@avisbudget.com to ask for an upgrade to your existing status by way of matching from Hertz
• Enterprise Plus: Apply here for a match, likely to Gold or Platinum
• SIXT: Apply here for a match, likely to Platinum

Claim Airline Status

The benefits don’t end with hotels and rental cars. After enrolling for Marriott Bonvoy elite status with the Amex Platinum card, you can claim status with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. This partnership provides a shortcut to KrisFlyer Elite Silver status, attainable by taking just 2 flights with Singapore Airlines within 6 months of linking your accounts here.

And while you can’t claim elite status with Emirates Skywards by holding Marriott Gold Elite status, the Your World Rewards program does offer some additional perks. Marriott Gold Elite members earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 spent on eligible Emirates flights — and that’s on top of earnings with Emirates’ own rewards program.

Final Thoughts

If you’re keeping track, there are more than a dozen elite status tiers you can claim with the Amex Platinum card simply by enrolling for the advertised perks and then matching your status from those programs to additional loyalty programs. Getting elite status with 13+ different hotel, rental car, and airline programs through 1 card in your wallet is incredible.

Plus, other offers come and go on a temporary basis, and you may be able to claim elite status with additional programs once you’ve started with the programs covered above.