The Platinum Card is getting shinier and pricier.
American Express’ latest update to its high-end Platinum Card, unveiled Thursday, comes with a lot more perks, including a $400 credit for dining out, and a lofty annual fee of $895.
The Platinum Card refresh is just the latest from the major credit card issuers, and the higher fees may put pressure on some cardholders to choose between the Platinum Card or another high-fee card like Chase’s Sapphire Reserve Card. Or pay close to $2,000 in annual fees for the privilege of carrying two or more of these premium cards.
As part of the revamp, the Platinum Card customers will get a $600 annual hotel credit — up from $300 — to use with AmEx’s travel portal; a new $400 credit for using AmEx’s restaurant reservation platform Resy; $300 to use at athletic apparel chain Lululemon; and an increased “digital entertainment credit” of $300 that AmEx cardmembers can put toward several streaming services or news outlets.
The fee, and the increase, might be tough to swallow for most credit card users and travelers. But the number is also a reflection of where the premium credit card market is.
"It could have been worse," says Thrifty Traveler's Kyle Potter. "It feels like Amex probably wanted it to be worse, and they saw what Chase did earlier this summer with the new Sapphire Reserve at $795 a year and they figured they could push it a little bit further, but not too far. Going north of $1,000 probably would have been a breaking point in the same way that paying $95 is a breaking point for everyday travelers."
All the new perks are available for AmEx customers to start using immediately. In all, AmEx says the value of the perks on the new Platinum Card total roughly $3,500. These perks are enough to justify the $200 increase in the annual fee, said Howard Grosfield, group president of U.S. Consumer Services at AmEx. The annual fee on the Platinum Card was $550 just five years ago.
“What we are trying to do is two things: We want to make sure we are delivering $3,500 in benefits that is far, far in excess of the $895 fee and make it easy to find multiple ways for card members to find benefits that exceed that fee,” Grosfield said in an interview.
None of the Platinum Card’s previous perks, such as a $200 airline fee credit or the credit to shop at Saks Fifth Avenue, are going away, the company said.
People who watch the credit card rewards space closely felt the upgrades were worth it.
“If nothing else, going to lounges and using the $600 hotel credit will essentially justify the cost each year, and the other items are a bonus,” said Ryan Smith, news managing editor of UpgradedPoints. Smith was briefed on the changes to AmEx’s card before the launch.
Thrifty Traveler, a Minnesota-based travel and credit card points website, produced a podcast that literally breaks down, one-by-one, how to maximize the credits in order to justify the price. It's a form of couponing (or extreme couponing) that travel and points junkies know come with the territory now. And you literally have to organize how you use them monthly, quarterly, and annually.
Since the benefits for these start immediately, there are things you have to do to maximize them in September.
"This is the ultimate Amex thing. They're going to tell you that you get $100 a quarter in Resy restaurants, but because that's a new benefit you haven't yet used, you have to go in, and enroll in that benefit which is just clicking a button," Potter explains. "Once you've done that, the two that you can use right away, over the next 12 days because the quarter ends Sept. 30th. Use that $75 Lululemon credit, buy a gift card at the store, buy something online, go to a store, whatever's easiest. And then that first $100 Resy credit."
Once you're enrolled for the Resy credit, you only have to use the Platinum Card for a purchase in one of Resy's thousands of participating restaurants. You don't need to book a reservation, simply use the card.
But you have under two weeks to do so.
Also, as part of refresh, AmEx is issuing the stainless steel card with a high-gloss, mirrored finish, a version that may end up pulling double duty as a portable mirror.
Once a niche product whose goal was to “sell snobbery” to the high-flying business executive of the 1980s, as one magazine wrote 40 years ago, the Platinum Card is now one of American Express’ most popular products, as millions of Americans have been willing to pay handsomely to play in the game of chasing airline and hotel status and perks. It is estimated that 70% to 80% of all credit cards are now tied to a loyalty programs like hotel, airline or credit card points, according to industry research and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Those programs used to be a rarity a few decades ago.
American Express pretty much had the premium credit card customer to itself for decades. But the Platinum Card now faces an increasingly competitive market, where the major card companies each have their own high fee, high rewards credit card products with similar perks.
JPMorgan Chase updated its Chase Sapphire Reserve Card in June, with its own $300 dining credit as well as a new $300 credit to use toward concert and event tickets through StubHub, among other perks. Citigroup released the Strata Elite Card in August. Capital One has a high-end card known as Venture X and fintech company Bilt, the company that cultivated a brand by letting renters pay their rent via credit card, is expected to have a high-end card next year.
When Chase increased the rewards on its Sapphire Reserve Card in June, American Express tried to one-up its rival with a press release letting people know that upgrades to the Platinum Card were coming. The company has been teasing its Platinum Card changes on social media for several weeks.
Not to be outdone by AmEx, Chase said Wednesday it was tweaking some of the rewards on Sapphire Reserve to make them more flexible for its customers, 24 hours before AmEx’s announcement.
AmEx continues to lean heavily on what’s been joked about in the industry as the “coupon book,” where customers are given major discounts for select merchants and partners, while Chase has leaned heavily on giving people bonus points for certain spending. But as part of their broad marketing campaign for the updated card, AmEx leaned heavily on its reach and useability of the benefits. For example, AmEx executives pointed out that its $400 credit on Resy is good at 10,000 restaurants, while Chase’s own dining credit is good at only “hundreds” of restaurants. AmEx also has a large airport lounge network, either through their own Centurion lounges, or its partnership with Delta Air Lines.
“We’ve been at this premium game for a long time. I think our cardmembers see the Platinum Card as in a league of its own,” Grosfield said.