american express platinumIs American Express Platinum Worth the Fee?

Here at Credit Sense we like to look at credit card offers from every angle.  Many readers and other sites for that matter, focus on one aspect of a credit offer—reward points, fees, costs, but we also like to look at credit card offers from the standpoint of its effects on personal credit.

We will examine the American Express Platinum from all of these angles. 

YOUR CREDIT SCORE

I can’t stress enough that you have to consider your credit score when thinking about a credit card.   If you do not understand how a credit card affects your credit score, please refer to our credit repair optimization area of Creditsense.com.  It is not as straightforward as you think.  It can be a complex process to maximize credit and balance your efforts to maintain an excellent credit score.

The first negative with the American Express Platinum is that is that American Express does not give the owner the same boost to your credit score as a Visa or Mastercard.  This is discussed at length in our credit repair, but I want to mention it here as well.  To be clear, owning an American Express does not hurt your credit score. But it does not help your score as much as a Visa or MasterCard.

THE FEE

This if a personal decision as to what the American Express Platinum is worth to you.  It has an annual fee of $450.  The perks of the card can easily be worth more than the annual cost but if you do not take advantage of the perks you may consider another card that does not have the annual fee. 

HOW TO MAXIMIZE THE PERKS of the AMEX PLATINUM CARD

Right now there are many ways to maximize your perks with the Amex Platinum Card.  For one, Amex has included a $200 yearly airline credit to use on the airline of your choice.  This $200 credit is a special grant most likely because Continental Airlines has left the Amex Membership Rewards Program.  If you are already an Amex Platinum Card holder you can choose your airline here.  This $200 credit runs on a Calendar Year so it’s a USE IT OR LOOSE IT deal.

LOWER YOUR FIRST YEAR FEE TO $50 from $450

Since the $200 airline credit is on a calendar year basis, you can sign up for the card this month and receive the $200 credit for 2011.  In January 2012, you will receive another $200 credit.  This lowers your actual first year fee to $50.  Not bad.

The credit is applied automatically to your credit card bill on any approved items that you pay for with your Amex Platinum Card.  Once you have chosen your airline, you can pay for any of the following approved items.

1.     Checked Baggage

2.     Oversized/Overweight Bags

3.     Flight Changes

4.     Fees for phone reservations

5.     Additional charges for pets

6.     Airport lounges (day passes and annual passes)

7.     In-flight amenities (drinks or food)

8.     In flight entertainment

 

The $200 credit is not allowed for the following items:

1.     Directly purchasing an airline ticket

2.     Charges not directly charged by the airline (in flight phone or wireless)

3.     Charges from airline partner.  For example, you book on Delta but end up flying on SkyWest.  Anything you buy from SkyWest will not be reimbursed.

4.     Insurance

5.     Ticket Upgrades

6.     Fees for Travel Agents

7.     Fees for Points Transfer

8.     Buying anything from the Duty Free

9.     Gift cards issued by the airline.

The list of disallowed items seems to include much of what I would want to use the $200 for.  There is a lot of evidence that you actually can use the credit for some of these things.  The trick seems to be purchase items under $100 (under $50 is even better), and purchase multiple items together.  The following examples are not guaranteed to work for you, but they have worked for many people.

GIFT CARDS

 If you want to use your $200 for an Airline gift card purchase four (4) $50 gift cards instead of one (1) $200 gift card. 

USE $200 CREDIT FOR PARTIAL PAYMENT

If you are purchasing an airline ticket or other disallowed item, pay for it partially with your credit card, partially with e-credit and partially with your $200 credit.  This has worked for a number of people.

UPGRADES

Purchase your normal ticket with a credit card or points, and then upgrade using your American Express Platinum. This seems to have worked when the upgrade is less than $100.

These are just a few of the ideas.   We would love to hear more of your ideas as well.

 

  • Have you used your $200 credit in an interesting way?