My Annual American Express Platinum Review

by Robert McGarvey

Call this a routine review of the advantages versus costs of the Amex Platinum card.

For me, there also is some urgency attached to my review. My membership renews next month and with the pricey Amex Plat the question has to be, to renew or not? For most of us that has become an annual question where there is no certain answer.

Let’s do a deep dive into the value I have gotten from the card this year – and only this year matters. Where travel is concerned, what happened in 2019 is no longer relevant. We are in a world of the now.

Through the first six months of 2022, I have collected 20,853 bonus Amex Membership Miles which, per The Points Guy’s calculator, are worth $417 (at 2 cents a mile) and here is the deal: I scored that bounty putting in very little effort or time and buying absolutely nothing I did not want. Note: personally I value these bonus points (and all Amex Miles) nearer a penny apiece., which puts the real value of this cache to me at $208. Still not bad for a few minutes a week looking through Amex Offers.

So how did I score so many bonus miles? This year I have seen and activated a 5x points offer with WalMart (shopping online or instore) which is good for 1500 points (on a spend of $300).

I have done similar with a 1500 point Amazon 5X offer on a $300 spend.

I picked up 5200 points via Rakuten, mostly for referring a friend who signed up for the service.

An airline ticket purchase – $1600 for business class to Hawaii – brought in 5X points, around 8000.

There are benefits beyond miles with Amex and, for me, this is where the real value of the card lies. There are miscellaneous, recurring cash credits. $18.07 monthly for a NY Times subscription. $25 for Google Services (an Amex Offer that shows up every so often). $1.07 for a Hulu subscription. $12.95 for WalMart Plus (an Amazon Prime competitor without the video). $200 annually for Uber Eats.  $100 reimbursing some miscellaneous expenses with Delta and I will soon get another $100 with an upcoming trip (the annual airline credit is $200).

The credits total around $790 for the year.

And I get free repairs on three cellphones because all three are on accounts paid for by an Amex card. That’s worth maybe $25/monthly, $300 for the year.

I’ve also logged a few airport club stops on the card and can see maybe six more in the next couple months. Value every club entry at $30 and this is the quickest way to get Plat to pay for itself.

Amex covers my TSA Pre ($85) too.

Add up what I get in credits and perks and I have significantly more in benefits than the annual fee I pay.

This year I also am staying aware of the free trip interruption coverage. With a Europe outing on my calendar I may well need it.

Sure, I know the $695 annual fee I pay for Amex Plat is steep. But whenever I run the numbers it seems to me I am breaking even, maybe even coming out a little ahead because the card builds in so many perks.

Amex dings me another $175 for my wife’s card – but she made that back with a free Clear membership ($189). She uses an annual $100 credit at Saks.  She’s also logged around a half dozen airport club stops this year. She gets the card’s fee back in multiples.

Here’s my advice: if you have an Amex Card, especially one with a premium price tag, at least once a year before renewal do what I am doing in this blog.  Add up the credits you get, including bonus and regular miles, and if the total isn’t around the cost of the card – and ideally more than the annual fee – cancel the thing. If it’s not working for you, end the relationship.

But if it is working for you – and I remain satisfied with my return – keep the card. I know I am for another year.