The Amex Platinum Cashback Sweepstakes: A Lazy Man’s Lament

By Robert McGarvey

Looking at my May bill from Amex, I was struck by something I had never noticed before: green dollar amounts, at least in the bill I look at online.

Nope, Amex is not on a new sustainability kick.  The green is there to make me notice credits to my account.  Like what?  $18.07 in a PayPal credit (reimbursing me for a New York Times subscription paid via PayPal).  $50 for a purchase of Maryland crab cakes via Goldbelly (the initial charge was $119, but Amex kicks back $50 each on up to three purchases by June 30).  $50 for a Saks purchase (that amounted to $60 initially).

Not noted on the monthly bill, there also was a $15 Uber credit that I used for an Uber Eats lunch.

Add in another $12 for cellphone coverage, also not noted on the bill.

That’s $149.07 in credits.  In one month.  

Sure, I have not set food in a Centurion Lounge this year (in fact not in a full year).  I did not use the Amex $200 airline credit last year and may not use it this year.

But when I see credits actually flowing into my account that may hit $1000 for the year and almost certainly will eclipse the $550 annual fee, I am less peeved about the perks I am not using than I am satisfied with the perks I am claiming.

Am I thoroughly content? I am not.  That is because for some years I have had a lazy man’s relationship with the Platinum card.  I used it frequently to access the Centurion lounge and that alone justified the fee by my calculus.  (Amex now dings a cardholder $50 per guest and that valuation would put breakeven at 11 visits.  But factor in the annual $200 Uber credit and 7 visits is breakeven.)  Toss in the cellphone protection and I would have gotten plenty from my Plat card.  

Easy peasy.  

That was before, when I traveled and used the benefits I had acquired the card to enjoy.

Now I have to work to breakeven and, honestly, I am too lazy to enjoy it.  It takes sorting through possibilities whilst wearing a green eyeshade. Amex showed me 100 credits and perks I am eligible for – my understanding is that the lists are personalized for the cardholder.  Your 100 won’t be identical to mine.

Most of the benefits are meaningless to me.  20% off on purchases at Adidas.com. Bonus miles when shopping at Macy’s. $20 back on a purchase of $100 at Lamps Plus – you get the drift.  Lots of places where I don’t shop and don’t plan to shop.

I am open to new places – in fact I had never shopped at Goldbelly until a JoeSentMe reader praised the $50 cashback offer. When I looked I saw Chris Bianco, Russ & Daughters, Langer’s Deli and already there are more places where I want to shop than I can claim $50 refunds.

For every store that interests me there are five or ten that don’t. Blue by ADT, Terrain, Persol eyewear, and more that I ignore as I scroll through the list.

And even the offers that interest me have varying strings attached. With Saks, it’s $50 twice yearly at six months intervals. With Goldbelly it’s $50 on three purchases of $100 or more. Before clicking buy, if you are counting on an Amex refund, remember to check the fine print on the offer.

Many offers can be used only by the primary cardholder. But some are available to secondary cardholders. But you have to know which is which.

You also have to remember to enroll in programs you want to use. Enrollment is not automatic in most cases.

And now I also have to monitor several sites that report on new Plat benefits (and rumored benefits).  I found the cellphone coverage at one such site, and now see that Amex has made permanent access to Lufthansa lounges for cardholders flying that carrier.  A cool perk in Europe, one I may use before the year is out.

But I had to work to discover it. 

I want credit cards that work for me, not the other way around.

Of course there also are rumors of a Plat card revamp – with talk of a fee boost to $700 and a bunch of new perks including an annual Clear membership (worth $179), an entertainment media credit ($20 monthly for select streaming services) and the list goes on  Nothing is certain about any of this – we’ll report on it when the facts are known – but it may introduce new variables into the keep or jettison decision.

In my current frame of mind, unless travel in fact rebounds I will probably let the card go if the fee jumps to $700. It’s just too much work to make it pay off. 

But maybe I’m just a lazy guy.