The Platinum Card® from American Express has gotten much better. I kind of hate admitting that, because I don’t love expensive credit cards bundled with statement credits. But there’s so much value here now, it’s hard not to get this card if you can.

And there’s an initial bonus offer as 175,000 Membership Rewards points after $8,000 spend in your first 6 months of cardmembership. (Initial bonus offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer – the actual offer is confirmed prior to finalization of application so there’s no credit score impact unless you’re approved and choose to accept the card).

The Platinum Card from American Express has an $895 annual fee (see rates and fees). They tout $3,500 in benefits – in fact, over $2,900 in credits are available. The initial bonus offer, combined with elite status offered by the card and lounge access, make this a no brainer to get. But I’ve had it in my wallet for years. It was sort of marginal lately, but the refresh makes this super easy to keep and get real value from.

It’s not a card I use for my spending outside of airfare. It’s a tool for better travel travel experience.

Lounge Access

American Express touts to over 1,550 lounges. The truth is most of those are via the Priority Pass Select membership you can enroll for. And most premium cards come with one of those – it’s not a differentiator.

What’s unique about this card is:

• access to Centurion Lounges
  
• 10 complimentary Delta Sky Club visits when flying on an eligible Delta flight (basic economy fares not eligible)

Delta Sky Club LAX

Delta Sky Club Austin

The Centurion lounge network is larger than Chase’s and Capital One’s lounge network, and that’s appealing. There are lounges at:

• Atlanta (ATL)
  
• Charlotte (CLT)
  
• Dallas (DFW)
  
• Denver (DEN)
  
• Houston (IAH)
  
• Philadelphia (PHL)
  
• Phoenix (PHX)
  
• Las Vegas (LAS)
  
• Los Angeles (LAX)
  
• Miami (MIA)
  
• New York (JFK)
  
• New York (LGA)
  
• San Francisco (SFO)
  
• Seattle (SEA)
  
• Washington, D.C. (DCA)
  
• Salt Lake City (SLC) (announced)
  
• Newark (EWR) (announced)

Centurion Lounge New York JFK

International locations include Buenos Aires; Sydney and Melbourne; Hong Kong; Delhi and Mumbai; Tokyo Haneda; Mexico City (3) and Monterrey; Amsterdam; Stockholm; and London Heathrow

Centurion Lounge Hong Kong

Centurion lounges can be crowded. Guests aren’t free unless you spend at least $75,000 per year on the card. And while they’ve recently refreshed the food and I haven’t yet tried the new menus, over the past few years the buffet offerings haven’t reached the peaks they did when the lounges first opened. So it’s worth being realistic.

I do like the barbecue – and the mac and cheese bar – in Denver. I like the speakeasy and coffee house at New York JFK. I don’t like the Philadelphia lounge.

Centurion Lounge New York JFK

Centurion Lounge New York JFK

As much as I travel, I want to have access to these lounges. If Centurion lounge membership was $895, I’d give it a miss. But it comes bundled with the card, and I geniunely ‘make money on’ the credits offered, getting a lot more value than the card’s annual fee. And it’s worth those hoops for lounge access.

Centurion Lounge Seattle

Centurion Loujnge Seattle

Over $2,800 In Credits

American Express is touting “over $3,500 in benefits” against an $895 annual fee for the card. The truth is that how much each cardmember will get out of the benefits will vary, and it does take some effort to track and make full use out of these (though their latest app update makes this all easier).

The value amount is true if you include lounge access. When I say ‘over $2,800’ I leave that out and focus on the credits and I’m not including TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit since I assume you already have a card that offers this.

• $320 Uber: $200 Uber Cash + $120 Uber One Credit, $15 in Uber Cash each month plus a bonus $20 in December (add your Platinum card to your Uber account and use it on rides and delivery orders in the U.S to use the credit, and paying for an auto-renewing Uber One membership covers the cost of membership in statement credits).

• $300 Digital Entertainment Credit: up to $25 in statement credits each month after you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card at Paramount+, YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, Disney+, Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal. (Enrollment required.)

• $600 Hotel Credit: up to $300 in statement credits semi-annually on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings (the latter requires a minimum two-night stay).

  

• $400 Resy Credit: Pay with the Platinum cards at U.S. restaurants which use the Resy platform (or make other eligible purchases through Resy) and get up to $100 in statement credits each quarter. The card also offers special access to reservations on select nights at participating ‘in demand’ Resy restaurants. (Enrollment required.)

• $209 CLEAR Plus Credit: Sometimes CLEAR gets you through security faster than PreCheck, not always. I travel enough that I want all options on the table, especially when lines are long and I don’t show up to the airport super early. I don’t like queueing. This credit covers the cost of membership.

• $200 Airline Fee Credit: You choose one qualifying airline and receive up to $200 in statement credits each calendar year for incidental fees like checked bags that are charged by that airline to the card. The past several years I’ve had luck buying under-$100 Southwest Airlines tickets with my credit (I register Southwest as my airline of choice) but I assume at some point this will no longer work, since it isn’t supposed to.

  

• $300 lululemon credit: $75 in statement credits each quarter for eligible purchases at U.S. lululemon retail stores (excluding outlets) and lululemon.com. (Enrollment required.) There was a big rush on in-store gift cards when the benefit launched a few days ago. I assume the ability to use the credit on gift cards will not last.

• $155 Walmart+ Credit: statement credit for an auto-renewing monthly Walmart+ membership.

• $100 Saks Credit: up to $50 in statement credits from January through June and up to $50 in statement credits from July through December for purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue or saks.com on the card. (Enrollment required.)

• $200 Oura Credit Up to $200 back each calendar year in statement credits for Platinum card purchases of an Oura Ring through Ouraring.com. (Enrollment required.) Some folks bought the last gen version for $199. Other folks have paired up with a friend or spouse’s card and managed to split payment of a newer one. You still need to pay for a subscription to use the ring.

• $300 Equinox Credit some people in the past have used the credit for things like massages rather than memberships. Truthfully I work out at home, and probably wouldn’t manage to work out if I needed to incur the time spent going to the gym, parking, and driving home. I need the efficiency of just walking downstairs or else the opportunity cost in time for me is too high, and I’ve never used this credit.

Elite Status

The card comes with a number of different hotel and car rental statuses that you can enroll for. You can opt into Marriott Bonvoy Gold and that comes with guaranteed 2 p.m. check-out at non-resort/convention hotels. It’s not useful to me as a lifetime Platinum, but it’s convenient for many. And this card is how I get my Hilton Honors Gold status – I’m not a Hilton regular, but Gold is helpful for the occasional stay (such as for a food and beverage credit at U.S. properties and breakfast abroad).

Crockfords Las Vegas

They’ve also just added Leading Hotels of the World Sterling status which comes with one-category room upgrade priority; continental breakfast; early and late check-out if available and Sixt Platinum status. You get 5 pre-arrival one-category room upgrades each year for use on revenue stays. Some interesting properties are included.

On the rental car side there’s Avis Preferred Plus (normally requires 10 rentals or $4,000 spend in a calendar year) and offers complimentary upgrades; Hertz Gold Plus Rewards President’s Circle (I have the status via my Capital One Venture X); and National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive status which in my view is best of the three and gets you executive aisle selection when renting a mid-size vehicle.

The Best Card For Airfare Spend

The card continues to earn 5x on flight purchases made direct with airlines. It’s been my go-to for airfare spend for quite some time. And I’m comfortable doing that because the card also has trip delay and baggage coverages as well.

And those points are valuable, transferring to:

• Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, ANA Mileage Club, Singapore Airliens KrisFlyer, Avianca LifeMiles
  
• oneworld: Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles, British Airways Club, Iberia Plus, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club
  
• SkyTeam: Aeromexico Rewards, Air France KLM Flying Blue, Delta SkyMiles
  
• Non-alliance: Etihad Guest, Emirates Skywards (5:4 ratio), JetBlue TrueBlue, Aer Lingus Aer Club, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  
• Hotels: Choice Privileges, Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy

Qatar Airways First Class

I don’t want to earn 1 point per dollar on most spend with the card, though, so I don’t pull it out of my wallet other than for lounge access and to pay for things where I’m earning a statement credit. This card is all about the perks, not the rewards for spend.

Platinum Now Has A Solid Place In My Wallet

I like the Platinum Card from American Express for access to Centurion lounges, even though those are more crowded than they used to be (and I’ve complained about the food, I haven’t yet tried their new menus which are now live across the lounges). I’m also looking forward to the expansion of the lounge network, which is already the largest among card issuers, and the introduction of Sidecar, their new dining-focused space (presumably inspired by Capial One Landing) which will debut in Las Vegas “in early 2026.”

I like having access to Delta lounges (when flying Delta non-basic economy). I have plenty of Priority Pass cards already.

Hilton Gold is a nice throw-in for me. Some of you will value Marriott Gold for the 2 p.m. guaranteed late check-out at non-resort/conference hotels. And it’s been my go-to card for airfare to earn 5x for quite some time (though Chase’s 8x for travel portal air purchases is tempting).

I’ve used the mental math on credits to justify the card’s fee, making those lounge visits more or less a throw-in on cost. The recent updates on the consumer card make it clearly worth keeping for me.

Who Shouldn’t Get This Card

If you’re not a frequent traveler and won’t benefit from lounge access, this card probably isn’t for you. And if you aren’t going to spend for things that this card gives you credit for – like CLEAR, Uber, and premium hotels – then you aren’t going to get the lounge access truly ‘paid for’.

If the card is just pushing you to sign up for things like a Wall Street Journal online subscription because it’s effectively free with the credits, and you don’t value these things, then the statement credits aren’t worth their face value to you.

I don’t factor the Walmart+ membership (though it’s convenient!), Equinox credit, or Oura ring credit when I do my mental math. I don’t value the new Lululemon credit (though my wife will use it) or the Saks credit (since they no longer carry the things I used to use it for that I was buying anyway).

But I take Uber rides and use Uber Eats anyway. In fact, I use them enough that I’ll save more than the Uber One membership price, which the card now covers. I’ve been using the airline fee credit to cover costs I’d be incurring anyway. And I stream YouTubeTV rather than having a cable subscription at home, plus I subscribe to New York Times digital. These credits are legitimately covering real expenses of mine. And they’re worth more than the cost of the card.

I go out to eat and many of the restaurants I frequent use Resy for reservations, so this is a real $100 per quarter in my pocket – with the slight caveat that when I pay the bill with Platinum to get the credit, I’m losing out on 4 (Amex Gold) or 6 (Citi Strata Elite on the weekend) points per dollar for the spending.

And the $600 in Amex Fine Hotels and Resort or Hotel Collection stays I’ll use can offset hotel spend on business trips. That’s real cash in my pocket.

In other words, this card makes a ton of sense for someone like me. If this doesn’t describe you, the card may not be as much of a slam dunk.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.