American Express Platinum Card 60K Sign-Up Bonus

Today is a big day for American Express, a lot of changes went into effect for the Platinum Card. The newest update is the American Express Platinum Card 60K sign-up bonus. I talked here several times before about the many benefits of the Platinum Card and how it’s more than worth the $450 annual fee. Today the card is relaunched with many different benefits and an increased annual fee of $550. I’m going to take this chance to list below ALL the current benefits of the “original” high end card and why it’s still worth the high annual fee.

The Details:

• Earn 60,000 points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases in your first 3 months. This bonus is worth at a minimum $600 which can be stretched when you transfer your points to Airline or Hotel partners. Make sure to check if you can get a better offer through the Card Match Tool.

• $200 Airline Fee Credit. Select a qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 a year in statement credits when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card^® account. This benefit applies per calendar year, so if you apply now, you can get $200 before the end of the year and another $200 at the beginning of the next. Even though it clearly says in the terms and conditions that this credit applies to incidental fees only, many including me have had success in receiving the credit towards purchasing airline gift cards.

• $200 for Uber rides annually. With your Platinum Card, you’ll receive $15 in Uber credits for U.S. rides every month plus a $20 bonus in December, delivered through an exclusive Uber app experience. You’ll also become an Uber VIP, where available, without meeting minimum ride requirements and be matched with top-rated drivers, so that even a 5-minute trip can be a 5-star experience.

• 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel. This change is only applicable to the personal card not the business version of the card. With a value of about 1.8cents/point; this means that you’ll be earning a ~9% return on every airfare you purchase with your Platinum Card.

• 5X Membership Rewards^® points for prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com. That’s in addition to the recently unveiled 5X points for flights when you book directly with airlines or American Express Travel.

• Enjoy complimentary access to over 800 airport lounges, including The Centurion^® Lounge, Delta Sky Clubs^®, and Airspace Lounges. You can also enroll in Priority Pass^™ Select. Bring 2 guests to a Priority Pass Lounge. This is a subtle new change that is found in the terms and conditions of the card. Before, only primary card holder was able to use Priority Pass lounges for free. Guests were allowed but charged $27 per guest.

• Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓. Receive a statement credit, up to $100 every 5 years, as reimbursement for your application fee for Global Entry or TSA Pre ✔

• Hilton HHonors^™ Gold Status Enrollment. With Hilton HHonors^™ Gold Status, you can enjoy benefits at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Portfolio and earn reward stays faster with HHonors Bonus Points.

• Starwood Preferred Guest Gold. Upon check-in and when available, you can receive upgrades to enhanced rooms with Gold status.

• The Hotel Collection. Stay a minimum of two consecutive nights and receive a room upgrade, if available and a $75 hotel credit on qualifying dining, spa or resort activities.

• Boingo American Express Preferred Plan. Enjoy complimentary access to unlimited WiFi at more than a million hotspots worldwide. Connect up to four devices.

• Complimentary Additional Gold Cards. You will be able to add Additional Gold Cards on your Platinum Card Account for no annual fee and existing Additional Gold Cards will also have no annual fee. You can earn Membership Rewards points on your Additional Card Member’s purchases the same way you do for yours.

• No foreign transaction fees on purchases.

• New metal card design

Bottom Line:

The Platinum Card from American Express is one of the most famous high end credit cards. Even though the Citi Prestige and the Chase Reserve cards seem to offer more usable benefits and the Platinum Card raised the annual fee from $450 to $550, there’s still a ton of value to be had from the Platinum card. Access to the Centurion lounges or the Delta Sky Clubs, $200 airline credit, $200 Uber credit, $100 Global Entry credit and many other benefits make this card a keeper in my wallet.

What do you think of the new AMEX Platinum?

If you have any questions please comment below, tweet me @pointspointers or email me at pointspointers@gmail.com