How I Booked Business Class Flights to Europe This Winter With Amex Platinum’s Welcome Offer

When it comes to ultra-premium cards with all the bells and whistles, no card stands out like The Platinum Card^® from American Express. If you travel frequently and can take advantage of its numerous perks and benefits, it may be worth having the Amex Platinum card in your wallet.

The Amex Platinum card offers great bonuses on travel purchases, perks and benefits such as comprehensive lounge access and elite status with Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors (upon enrollment), and among the best purchase and travel protections of any card in the market. 

However, the Amex Platinum card also comes with a highly valuable welcome bonus offer that, when redeemed correctly, could be worth thousands of dollars. Fortunately, that is easier to do than most people think.

Here’s an in-depth look at the Amex Platinum card and how I used its welcome offer to book business class seats to Europe and back this winter.

Amex Platinum Card Overview

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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 Bonus Valuation*:

$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 (670-850)

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, 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.
• The American Express Global Lounge Collection^® can provide an escape at the airport. With complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries and counting, you have more airport lounge options than any other credit card issuer on the market. As of 03/2023.
• $155 Walmart+ Credit: Save on eligible delivery fees, shipping, and more with a Walmart+ membership. Use your Platinum Card^® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership and get up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes back on one membership (excluding Plus Ups) each month.
• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card^®.
• $200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card^® Members can get out and about and explore their local area with $15 in Uber Cash for US rides each month, plus a bonus $20 in December. That can be up to $200 in annual Uber savings. Simply download the Uber app and add your Platinum Card^® to your Uber account to get started. Available to Basic Card Member only. Effective 11/8/2024, an Amex Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit.
• $199 CLEAR^® Plus Credit: CLEAR^® Plus helps to get you to your gate faster at 50+ airports nationwide and get up to $199 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Card. CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues.
• 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.
• Unlock access to exclusive reservations and special dining experiences with Global Dining Access by Resy when you add your Platinum Card^® to your Resy profile.
• $695 annual fee.¤
• Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

• APR: See Pay Over Time APR
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

American Express Membership Rewards

Although the Amex Platinum card has changed significantly over the years, it’s still among the best travel cards available. For many, the Amex Platinum card has long been considered the premium travel card.

On the earn side, this card earns 5x American Express Membership Rewards points for flights booked directly with airlines or with AmexTravel.com — up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year (then 1x). It also earns 5x Membership Rewards points on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com.

The Amex Platinum card also provides benefits and perks that no other card offers. This includes the most comprehensive airport lounge access of any travel card and hotel and rental car elite status (upon enrollment) with various travel providers.

While the card offers numerous benefits, one defining factor is its welcome offer. The Amex Platinum card currently has an incredible welcome offer: Earn 80,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 6 months..

What Are 100,000 Amex Points Worth?

Here at Upgraded Points, we love getting outsized value for our points and miles. But with so many ways to redeem points and miles, it can become a bit confusing — fortunately, we specialize in getting as much value as possible.

We value American Express Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents each, the highest valuation for any transferable points currency. I scored a targeted welcome bonus offer of bonus points* is worth at least $2,200 when redeemed for travel.

However, the points can be worth more or less depending on how you redeem them. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points, including using them for gift cards or statement credits, shopping with points, and booking travel through AmexTravel.com. However, the best way to use points is by transferring them to transfer partners.

Targeted offers are discussed in the article linked above. Please note that these offers are not available to all applicants. Any information related to targeted offers has been collected independently and not reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

How I Used the Amex Platinum Card Welcome Bonus Offer

Amex has a long list of airline and hotel transfer partners, some significantly better than others. One of my favorite Amex transfer partners is Flying Blue.

Flying Blue, Air France-KLM’s loyalty program, is excellent for award redemptions. The program offers fantastic award pricing, particularly for routes between the U.S. and Europe.

Unfortunately, Flying Blue does not have an award chart. Instead, it uses dynamic pricing for its rewards, which means that award pricing can vary significantly. However, Flying Blue does have standardized saver-level pricing.

With this pricing, you can book one-way business class flights between the U.S. and Europe for as few as 50,000 miles one-way or 100,000 miles round-trip. This means that, assuming I could find the award availability, I could fly to Europe and back in business class with just a single welcome bonus.

Since I last visited Italy several years ago, I knew it was time to return. On the Air France website, I began looking for award space from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to Rome (FCO). To make the search easier, I opted for a one-way award. Fortunately, I easily found some business class award availability, departing Chicago a week before Christmas on KLM.

Better yet, I remembered that Flying Blue allows for stopovers, which I decided to book. This allowed me to spend a couple of days in Amsterdam (AMS) before connecting to Rome, thus letting me visit 2 destinations for the price of 1. The best part, you can book stopovers for no additional cost.

However, it didn’t stop there. I did the same on the way back. After booking an inexpensive cash fare on a low-cost carrier in Europe, I visited a friend in Barcelona. From Barcelona (BCN), I found Air France business class award space to Chicago with a 2-day stopover in Paris.

By maximizing stopovers, I’m visiting 4 destinations in Europe on my 3-week trip. Even if I chose not to have stopovers, this was an excellent redemption as round-trip business class cash fares to Europe often exceed $5,000 (this specific itinerary was above $5,600).

However, it gets even better. Flying Blue frequently offers transfer bonuses from programs like Amex Membership Rewards, and I took advantage of a recent 20% bonus.

Instead of transferring 100,000 Amex Membership Rewards points to Flying Blue, I transferred just 84,000 points. By leveraging the 20% bonus, it gave me the 100,000 Flying Blue miles I needed for this specific redemption!

Final Thoughts

The Amex Platinum card is an excellent travel rewards card with a fantastic welcome bonus offer. The Amex Membership Rewards points you earn with the card are incredibly valuable and, when redeemed effectively, can be worth thousands of dollars.

Generally speaking, the best way to redeem points is by transferring them to airline and hotel transfer partners. With the welcome offer on the Amex Platinum card, I was able to fly to Europe and back in business class for just the taxes and fees.