Expensive? Yes. Ridiculous? No
Here’s Why I Love My American Express Personal Platinum Card
When I opened my American Express Personal Platinum Card (There is also an American Express Business Platinum Card which I will review next) several years ago, the annual fee felt high. Now it’s $895. That’s a big number. For many people, it’s a deal-breaker.
But here’s the thing: when you actually use the benefits, the math still makes sense, and then some. If you treat the card like a tool (not just a shiny piece of metal), you can easily squeeze more value out of it than you pay in fees. Let’s go through it. (A lot of these ideas came up in conversations with my frequent traveler friends Natalie Kolodij and Tom Gorczynski. Thanks for the input!)
The Big Travel Wins
$600 Hotel Credit – Up to $300 twice a year when you book prepaid hotels through Amex Travel using Fine Hotels + Resorts, you also get breakfast, upgrades, and late checkout. That’s an easy win if you travel at all.
$200 Airline Fee Credit – For seat selection, checked bags, or in-flight snacks on your chosen airline. You select your preferred airline each year. (Doesn’t apply to airfare.)
Airport Lounges – Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass, Delta Sky Clubs (10 visits a year), Plaza Premium, Airspace. If you’ve ever sat on the floor of a crowded terminal eating a $16 sandwich, you’ll understand the value of walking into a lounge instead. If I’m being 100% honest, the $895 is worth it for this alone. The Centurion Lounge actually has good food. Lately, some locations have been crowded, and I had to wait about 20 minutes in Las Vegas before I could enter.
CLEAR & Global Entry/TSA Pre✔︎ – CLEAR is fully covered up to $209 per year. Add Global Entry ($120 every 4 years), and airport lines suddenly look a lot shorter.
Everyday Lifestyle Credits
$400 Resy Dining Credit (New!) – $100 each quarter when you book and dine through Resy at one of 10,000+ partner restaurants. I use this credit the same way I use tax deadlines — it forces me to plan ahead and not let value go to waste.
$200 Uber Cash + $120 Uber One – That’s $320 in value for rides or Uber Eats, plus free delivery and discounted rides with Uber One.
$300 Digital Entertainment Credit (Enhanced) – $25/month for streaming and subscriptions. This includes Disney+, ESPN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, YouTube TV, and Paramount+. If you’re already paying for these, it’s basically free money.
$100 Saks Fifth Avenue Credit – $50 twice a year. I’ve picked up small gifts, socks, and even skincare with this one. Be prepared, while the credit helps you, you will likely spend way more. After all, it is Saks.
Walmart+ Membership – $155/year. Free shipping, grocery delivery, and fuel discounts. Not flashy, but practical. I don’t remember the last time I set foot in a Walmart, and I have no desire to, but having groceries and household items delivered to my door at low prices is a win.
Health, Wellness, and Retail
$300 Lululemon Credit (New!) – $75 each quarter on workout gear. (They don’t have my size (yet), but I did order some socks.
$300 Equinox Credit – $25/month toward Equinox or the Equinox+ app.
$200 OURA Ring Credit (New!) – If you’re into health tracking, this takes a good chunk off the cost of the ring.
Status and Perks
Hilton and Marriott Gold Status – Upgrades, late checkout, and free breakfast at Hilton.
New: Leaders Club Sterling with Leading Hotels of the World – Perks at 400+ boutique luxury hotels.
Concierge Service & “Platinum Nights” by Resy – Think hard-to-get reservations, event tickets, and special access.
The Math
Let’s look at the easy-to-use credits:
Hotel Credit – $600
Airline Fee Credit – $200
Resy Dining Credit – $400
Uber Cash + Uber One – $320
Digital Entertainment – $300
Saks – $100
Walmart+ – $155
Lululemon – $300
Equinox – $300
OURA Ring – $200
CLEAR – $209
Total: $3,084
That’s before you set foot in a lounge, use hotel status, or grab an upgrade. Subtract the $895 fee, and you’re well ahead.
What Else?
Let’s talk about the core benefits of the personal Platinum Card. The card comes with some insurance perks:
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance - If you purchase a round-trip entirely on the card and a covered reason cancels or interrupts the trip, you can get reimbursed for non-refundable expenses purchased up to $10,000 per trip. As always, read the fine print.
Trip Delay - If your trip is delayed more than 6 hours and you used the card for the round-trip, it can help with some of the expenses. Terms and conditions apply.
Rental Car Protection - I use this option whenever I rent a car and decline the coverage offered by Hertz. Terms and conditions apply.
Purchase protection - buy an item and it gets stolen, accidentally damaged, or lost? If a covered purchase, AMEX will reimburse you up to $10,000 per purchase and up to $50,000 per year. Terms and conditions apply. — I have used this, and the service was great and fast!
Offers - American Express has numerous targeted offers that change frequently. Some examples:
Spend $50 or more using Apple Pay and get $5 back. (Up to 3 times for a total of $15)
Spend $2,500 or more at Brietling and earn 50,000 Membership Rewards points.
Spend $300 or more at Tumi and get $60 back.
Spend $500 or more at Hertz and get $100 back.
Other items worth mentioning include: Cell phone protection, return protection, no foreign transaction fees, a Global Assist hotline, and credit monitoring. You can read more about these here.
Customer service - Amex nails this. Card gets hacked? They’ll overnight you a new one. Out of town? They’ll send it straight to your hotel. It’s the kind of peace of mind you don’t think about… until you need it.
The Bottom Line
For the right person, the Personal Platinum Card isn’t just worth the annual fee; it’s a net gain. The trick is being intentional.
If you swipe the card and forget about the perks, you’re wasting money. But if you use even half of what’s on the table, American Express is paying you to carry this card.
For me, $895 isn’t an expense. It’s an investment in convenience, comfort, and value. And that’s why the Amex Personal Platinum still earns a place in my wallet.
If you’re interested, here is my referral link, and you can earn up to 175,000 Membership Rewards points. (Full Disclosure: I get $100 if you sign up.)
What credit card perks do you enjoy? “What’s in your wallet?”
(Next week, I will review the American Express Business Platinum, which has some really cool, different perks.)
When you book hotels and flights through the card site, are the prices you get the same, less or more than if you went through other free sites, such as Orbitz. We have our Chase card and on occasion I compare and on quite a few occasions, it was still better to purchase through other sites forgoing the benefit. Just curious to see if you looked at it from that angle.
Keep in mind there is a difference in benefits between business and personal platinum. (Unfortunately) also hate that these benefits are not available for each separate cardholder- just per account. When you pay the fee for multiple card holders you should absolutely get the benefits.