[Expired] My Favorite (and Least Favorite) Amex Platinum Card Credits

Update:

The information below has expired and is no longer available.

Known for its premium perks, the Platinum Card^® from American Express offers an impressive range of credits. While some of these benefits are a perfect match to help me save money, others are less practical.

Let’s examine the value of my favorite credits and why I’m OK with not using credits that don’t offer a good value for me.

Amex Platinum Card Overview

The Amex Platinum card is one of my favorite travel cards, even though it has a $895 annual fee (rates & fees). Here’s a look at the card:

Amex Platinum Card Credits

Starting with the most valuable, these are the credits available on the Amex Platinum card, some of which may require enrollment:

• Equinox membership credit (up to $300): Use your card to pay for your Equinox fitness membership and get up to $300 back annually.
• SoulCycle bike credit (up to $300): Purchase a SoulCycle at-home bike at full price and receive an up to $300 statement credit.
• Digital entertainment credit (up to $240): Each month, get up to $20 back on eligible subscriptions to Disney+, the Disney+ Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, the New York Times, Peacock, and the Wall Street Journal. 
• Airline fee credit (up to $200): Name an airline you choose to get credit for up to $200 annually on incidental expenses such as baggage fees and seat selections.
• Prepaid hotel credit (up to $200): Book a prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or Hotel Collection stay with your card on AmexTravel.com to get $200 back in statement credits each year.
• Uber Cash credit (up to $200): Add your card as the payment method in your Uber app and get up to $15 per month in credit and $35 in December. 
• CLEAR+ membership (up to $199): Pay for a CLEAR+ membership with your card and get up to $199 back yearly.
• Walmart+ membership credit (up to $155): Renew your Walmart+ membership each month on your card to get up to a $12.95 monthly credit.
• TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit (up to $120): Every 4 years, get a $120 statement credit for a Global Entry application or up to $85 every 4 1/2 years for a TSA PreCheck application.

As you can see, the Amex Platinum card is somewhat of a coupon book, and you could get more than $2,000 in value by maximizing all of the credits available. But you don’t have to use every credit to get good value from the card’s $895 annual fee.

How I Use the Amex Platinum Card

I use the Amex Platinum card to earn 5 points per $1 when booking a flight directly with an airline or on AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year). Using the card for flight purchases gives me travel protections, too.

It’s also great for accessing Centurion Lounges at airports and getting elite benefits at hotels where I don’t have status. But those features alone wouldn’t be enough for me to justify the card’s annual fee. The real value I’ve found in this card is the credits I can use to get paid back for qualifying purchases. 

Admittedly, I leave much of this card’s value on the table every year. For example, Equinox and SoulCycle are too pricey for me, and I have numerous other cards from which to get a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit. Still, I get about $1,100 in value by using the credits that fit my lifestyle — far outpacing the card’s $895 annual fee.

Amex Platinum Card Credits I Love

I get the most value from Amex Platinum card credits that give me money back for purchases I would make regardless of whether I have the credits. These include the airline fee credit, digital entertainment credit, and Walmart+ membership.

Up to $200 Airline Fee Credit

I often fly with my family of 5 and typically check the prices on low-cost carriers before booking award flights. Why burn 6 figures of hard-earned points when I can pay a reasonable $500 or so to get there and back? Often, we end up on Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines flights when the math makes sense. I had status with both airlines at one point and set my Amex airline selection to the airline I had status with at the time.

However, a major drawback of flying with low-cost carriers is the nickel and diming, particularly with fees for bags and seats. We usually travel light and can do a short (or laundry-assisted) trip with personal-item backpacks, which we don’t have to pay for. It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s nice to know that I have the fee credit as a backup if a gate agent decides our backpacks are too large to be personal items.

We’ve had fairly good luck with automatic family seating, but not always. That’s where the $200 airline fee credit really shines. If it looks like we’ll be far apart on a flight, I can pay to select seats at check-in so we at least have an adult with each kid. If I have any of the $200 left over, we can use it to treat ourselves to inflight snacks and drinks.

Up to $200 Hotel Credit

My typical travel year involves various stays at family-friendly properties, such as Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, and Thousand Trails cabins. I won’t find those on AmexTravel.com’s listings of Fine Hotels + Resorts or Hotel Collection properties.

But I squeeze in at least a couple of luxury stays each year, even if it’s only for a night. I can get $200 back on qualifying bookings using my Amex Platinum card. Plus, I get at least a $100 experience credit (typically, I translate this to food), breakfast for 2, and early check-in and checkout privileges. These are great for special occasions, like when I’m on a girls trip or traveling without our kids. 

For example, I used this credit for part of my stay at Thompson Austin by Hyatt and only paid $260.82 after my $200 credit. Then, my Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits credited me $160 in food value, so I essentially paid $100 to sleep and dine at a swanky downtown Austin hotel. 

Up to $240 Digital Entertainment Credit 

I don’t want to imagine the mutiny that would occur in my home if I canceled Disney+. Getting that cost covered by the Amex Platinum card means I never have to find out. I pay $18.34 monthly for my Disney+ bundle, so most of my card’s $20 monthly digital entertainment credit goes to that. The rest takes a little off my $8.65 monthly Peacock subscription.

Up to $155 Walmart+ Membership

I get another digital entertainment credit by way of the $155 Walmart+ membership credit. Walmart+ includes access to Paramount+ Essential, which would cost me $7.99 per month or $59.99 per year.

While I mostly enjoy the Paramount+ aspect of my card covering the cost of Walmart+, having a Walmart+ membership has been a game changer for shopping convenience. 

If I need something right away, Walmart can usually handle it. I’ve found that if I order an item in stock locally at Walmart and select shipping instead of pickup or delivery, it often appears on my doorstep the same day, sometimes less than a couple of hours later. As a Walmart+ member, I also get free delivery if I want to order items that aren’t available for shipping, including an entire grocery shop — I just need to tip the driver.

Fast and free shipping and delivery is impressive, but even more impressive is making returns from home using the app and my Walmart+ membership. Walmart will send a delivery driver to my home to pick up returns, so I don’t have to drag unwanted items to a store to get my money back.

I also get gas discounts at Walmart, Murphy USA, Exxon, and Mobil stations. It’s rare that I can’t find a station where I get a discount, so this saves me money on every fill-up.

Bottom Line:

With travel, entertainment, and shopping credits, I save $795 annually on purchases I would make even if I didn’t have the credits.

Credits I Don’t Love but Still Use

Some Amex Platinum card credits are nice to have but don’t realistically save me money I would have spent otherwise. These are credits for shopping or services that I wouldn’t normally use if I didn’t have the credit, but I still take advantage of them because they’re available.

Up to $200 Uber Cash

Uber isn’t a part of my daily life, as I usually drive myself anywhere I need to go, whether with my car at home or a rental when I travel. I sometimes get ride-shares while traveling, but it’s rare. Food delivery, such as Uber Eats, isn’t a staple of my diet, so using the credit for that doesn’t help me much, either. 

However, I still get the full value of this credit. Most months, I check to see if I’ll need to use the credit for rides while traveling. If not, I might pick up food to save money on travel dining. No travel opportunities to spend the credit? I can always order a meal for local pickup or have groceries delivered.

Bottom Line:

I get another $200 in credit value for benefits I wouldn’t normally use but still appreciate having a credit for.

Credits I Haven’t Used Yet

Then there are the credits I don’t use but might need in the future. These aren’t a total waste, but I haven’t applied them yet.

Up to $120 for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry Credit

I used a different card, my Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, to get TSA PreCheck, and I can use it again when my application is due for renewal. However, I might want to get Global Entry before my Chase Sapphire Reserve card credit is available again, and I could use my Amex Platinum card for that. It’s also an option to gift expedited security to friends or family members.

Up to $199 for CLEAR+ Credit

I don’t have a great excuse for not using this credit yet. It’s just that I have yet to run into enough of a security delay to get motivated to do the paperwork and biometrics for CLEAR+. So far, TSA PreCheck has been enough, but I’m sure I’ll use the CLEAR+ credit eventually.

Bottom Line:

I have another $319 in available credit value to speed me through airport security.

Credits I Probably Won’t Use

The fitness credits aren’t appealing to me because they don’t align with my fitness preferences or cover most of what I’d have to spend to use them. 

Up to $300 Equinox Membership Credit

Getting $300 back for a fitness membership sounds great, but Equinox monthly memberships generally hover around $200. There isn’t a location near me, and I’m not interested in a digital membership.

Up to $300 SoulCycle Bike Credit

Again, $300 sounds like a great credit for a bike. However, there’s much more spending required than $300. To get this credit, you must pay full price for a SoulCycle at-home bike, which is $2,500. Then there’s the $40 monthly membership required to access SoulCycle content. I don’t see myself using this.

Bottom Line:

I leave $600 in fitness benefits unused each year because they wouldn’t save me money.

Final Thoughts

While some Amex Platinum card credits fit into my lifestyle, others don’t add much value. Despite the steep annual fee, the credits I use the most more than make up for it.