As discussed before, Amex's iconic Platinum Card has several changes effective March 30, 2017. We will recap the changes below:
Personal Platinum Card: (1) the annual fee is increased by $100 to $550; (2) free additional Gold Cards (used to be $45 for up to five additional Gold Cards); (3) receive up to $200 in Uber credits each year (limited to $15 per month plus a bonus $20 in December); (4) receive 5x Membership Rewards (MR) points on prepaid hotels and travel packages booked through amextravel.com (airfare booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel has been earning 5x since last October); (5) its complimentary Priority Pass Select membership now allows two guests for free (used to be $27 per guest); (6) a new metal card design to rival Chase's Sapphire Reserve and Ritz-Carlton Visa; (7) the regular signup bonus is also increased from 40,000 points (after $3,000 spending) to 60,000 points (after $5,000 spending).
Business Platinum Card: (1) the annual fee is kept at $450 and there won't be any Uber credit; (2) receive 5x points on airfare, prepaid hotels, and travel packages booked through AmexTravel.com; (3) its complimentary Priority Pass Select membership now allows two guests for free.
Even with a $100 increase in annual fees, the increased signup bonus and enhanced travel perks obviously makes the personal Platinum Card better than ever before. It now overtakes JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa as the #1 Credit Card for Perks. More significantly, the personal Platinum Card jumps from #8 to #5 on the list of Top 10 Best Credit Cards by Dr. Credit Card. Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi ThankYou Premier and Chase United MP Club Visa all drops by one spot as a result. We also want to mention that Chase Sapphire Reserve still firmly holds the #1 position, even after the recent decrease in signup bonus (from 100K to 50K), as the gap was just too wide for the runner-up Citi Prestige.
If you have a small business, we argue that the business Platinum Card is probably even more attractive. First of all, you essentially trade $200 Uber credits for the $100 difference in annual fees. As the Uber credits are $15 per month (with a $20 bonus in December) and expire at the end of each month, most consumers probably won't be able to come out ahead with the $100 increase in annual fees on the personal card. Secondly, even though the business version's 5x airfare is limited only to purchases made through amextravel.com while the personal version allows airfare booked directly with airlines, as there is no booking fees and the price is essentially the same and you could still earn miles on tickets booked via third parties, we feel that the business version comes very close in this area. Of course, you need to consider the fact that some airlines such as Southwest can not be booked through Amex. Also note that we don't consider 5x prepaid hotels and travel packages a major enhancement, because hotels booked via amextravel.com (and in fact most third parties online travel agencies) are not eligible to earn hotel points, stay credits, or elite benefits. Lastly and perhaps the most importantly, while both cards allows MR points to be transferred to frequent travelers miles/points and our value for MR points redeemed this way is 1.5 cents per point, the business version offers another unique redemption option essentially returning a fixed value of 2 cents per point when redeeming MR points for airfare through Amex. This unique option makes the business version a 2-10% rewards card, for general purchases and airfare, respectively. It also opens up opportunities for other MR cards such as Amex EveryDay Preferred and Amex PR Gold to return higher reward value, at least on paper.
© 2017 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.
Personal Platinum Card: (1) the annual fee is increased by $100 to $550; (2) free additional Gold Cards (used to be $45 for up to five additional Gold Cards); (3) receive up to $200 in Uber credits each year (limited to $15 per month plus a bonus $20 in December); (4) receive 5x Membership Rewards (MR) points on prepaid hotels and travel packages booked through amextravel.com (airfare booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel has been earning 5x since last October); (5) its complimentary Priority Pass Select membership now allows two guests for free (used to be $27 per guest); (6) a new metal card design to rival Chase's Sapphire Reserve and Ritz-Carlton Visa; (7) the regular signup bonus is also increased from 40,000 points (after $3,000 spending) to 60,000 points (after $5,000 spending).
Business Platinum Card: (1) the annual fee is kept at $450 and there won't be any Uber credit; (2) receive 5x points on airfare, prepaid hotels, and travel packages booked through AmexTravel.com; (3) its complimentary Priority Pass Select membership now allows two guests for free.
Even with a $100 increase in annual fees, the increased signup bonus and enhanced travel perks obviously makes the personal Platinum Card better than ever before. It now overtakes JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa as the #1 Credit Card for Perks. More significantly, the personal Platinum Card jumps from #8 to #5 on the list of Top 10 Best Credit Cards by Dr. Credit Card. Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi ThankYou Premier and Chase United MP Club Visa all drops by one spot as a result. We also want to mention that Chase Sapphire Reserve still firmly holds the #1 position, even after the recent decrease in signup bonus (from 100K to 50K), as the gap was just too wide for the runner-up Citi Prestige.
If you have a small business, we argue that the business Platinum Card is probably even more attractive. First of all, you essentially trade $200 Uber credits for the $100 difference in annual fees. As the Uber credits are $15 per month (with a $20 bonus in December) and expire at the end of each month, most consumers probably won't be able to come out ahead with the $100 increase in annual fees on the personal card. Secondly, even though the business version's 5x airfare is limited only to purchases made through amextravel.com while the personal version allows airfare booked directly with airlines, as there is no booking fees and the price is essentially the same and you could still earn miles on tickets booked via third parties, we feel that the business version comes very close in this area. Of course, you need to consider the fact that some airlines such as Southwest can not be booked through Amex. Also note that we don't consider 5x prepaid hotels and travel packages a major enhancement, because hotels booked via amextravel.com (and in fact most third parties online travel agencies) are not eligible to earn hotel points, stay credits, or elite benefits. Lastly and perhaps the most importantly, while both cards allows MR points to be transferred to frequent travelers miles/points and our value for MR points redeemed this way is 1.5 cents per point, the business version offers another unique redemption option essentially returning a fixed value of 2 cents per point when redeeming MR points for airfare through Amex. This unique option makes the business version a 2-10% rewards card, for general purchases and airfare, respectively. It also opens up opportunities for other MR cards such as Amex EveryDay Preferred and Amex PR Gold to return higher reward value, at least on paper.
© 2017 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.
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