When it comes to premium credit cards, there are two names that rise above all others: the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Amex Platinum.
With the Sapphire recently overhauling its benefits, I decided to reevaluate whether the Amex Platinum was still worth holding onto at all. The answer for me turned out to still be "yes", but barely.
She Purdy
Let's start with the strengths of the Amex. It is a beautiful card. Coming in a variety of designs, throwing down that luxurious slab of metal will bring any restaurant into stunned silence. For you are beautiful. You are enviable. You are Platinum.
All hat. No cattle
That is where its strengths end. A closer look at the benefits of this card reveals some gaping holes.
Spending Multiples
Typically, when I evaluate whether or not a credit card is living up to its fee, I begin by adding up the static benefits (lounge access, travel credits, etc) as they are easier to quantify. I'm going to reverse that trend for this post, since the Platinum falls laughably short here.
Typically, every card is going to have an edge over another in some spending category. Be it groceries, dining, flights, etc, there's usually small gains to be had by spreading your spending across various cards.
Let's evaluate where the Platinum has an edge... 🦗
The only spending multiple the Amex provides is on flights and hotels booked through their portal. Spending there earns 5x points. A solid premium, until you compare it to the Sapphire Reserve which earns 8x points. The only expenditures the Amex might have an edge in, and Chase not only matched it, but threw a 60% kicker on top.
Side note on the Amex travel portal: the few times I did try to book travel through it, I noticed that flights were more expensive than other sources - both in cash price and points. Maybe I got unlucky, but I've never seen a price discrepancy with Chase.
Since the Amex has no edge in earning your coveted spending, it's only redeeming qualities are in its static benefits.
Static Bennies
Moving on to where the Platinum offers "value".
An annoyingly recurring theme with the Amex's benefits is that they can be exceedingly difficult to capitalize upon. It's clear the company doesn't want you to.
Let's explore the list in ascending order of difficulty.
Annual Clear Membership ($209 Annually)
My primary issue with this perk, is that I question whether I cherish it as much as its $209 price tag implies. It's nice to have sometimes, but nowhere near as valuable as Global Entry (which includes TSA Precheck) at a fraction of the price.
$240 Digital Entertainment Credit
Currently applies to a variety of streaming services, plus the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. It used to apply to Audible, which I loved, but then they silently pulled the benefit without notice. One year's worth of full-price credits later did not make for a happy Chris.
$200 Uber Credit
A valuable credit to be sure, but it's frustratingly split across calendar months. To take full advantage, you need to use Uber at least once every month. Credits do not rollover. Thankfully, this credit applies to both Uber and Uber Eats. Reasonably easy to take advantage of, but the annoyance only mounts from there.
$200 Airline Fee Credit
Notice it doesn't say "airline credit", but "airline fee credit". This seemingly useful credit only applies to incidental airline fees like checked bags or in-flight purchases. But not all in-flight purchases. Drinks and snacks are typically covered, but not wi-fi since that's charged by the internet company and not the airline itself.
Even more annoying, it can only apply to one single airline of your choosing that you're only allowed to change in January of each calendar year. If you've got qualifying expenses on a different airline, that's too bad.
I've managed to take advantage of this benefit each year by buying the cheapest seat on a flight, and then upgrading, but I loathe the mental strain.
We're In the Black
If we're able to take full advantage of these perks every year, we're at ~$850 in yearly gains, against a $695 annual fee. Given the difficulty of utilizing them, I'd say we're roughly breaking even.
Moving on to some more tertiary perks I'm even more apathetic about.
$200 Hotel Credit
Similar to the airline credit, don't be fooled into thinking this applies to just any hotel. It has to be from Amex's exclusive list of expensive hotels + resorts. Reservations from these bookings do include some added benefits beyond the $200 credit - early / late check-in, room upgrades, dining credits, etc. But all only "if available".
I've typically managed to take advantage of this perk so far, but it's taken some work to find a hotel that's not insanely overpriced.
$100 Saks 5th Avenue Credit
Comes in two $50 biannual credits.
Being that the Amex is catered to a luxury-seeking clientele, it makes sense that a store like Saks would be featured. Saks does have an online store, so even if you're not in New York, it's easy to take advantage.
The question for me though is who would want to. The items from this store are so ungodly expensive, you'd be lucky if $50 gets you a pair of socks. I wish I were exaggerating.
Thankfully, Saks sells enough random home goods that I usually find something to use this credit towards, but again feels like I'm chasing a bit in the name of "value".
Walmart+
The Amex Platinum continues to perplex. We've gone from Saks 5th Ave to Walmart in the same breath.
Walmart+ is more useful than I would have initially thought, but it's still something I seldom leverage. Walmart+ also comes with a free membership to Paramount+, which I think I've used once or twice for random NFL games.
Lounges
So we've come to the conclusion that the Amex Plat can pay for itself through its static benefits, though not without some effort. The area where the card has shown its greatest historical strength is in its lounge network. When given the choice, I always lean Centurion.
Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for Amex, the Sapphire Reserve is rapidly catching up here with its own network of exclusive lounges. If these lounges become as nice, and wide-spread, as advertised, it'll likely serve as the final nail in the coffin for my Amex membership.
Side rant about Amex Priority Pass: I've seen in multiple locations that Priority Pass will not accept your membership if you've earned it through Amex. Priority Pass as a whole has gone rapidly downhill, and is somehow worth even less through Amex.
Is She Worth It?
The Amex Platinum only serves to be worth its fee if you're willing to put in a bit of extra effort to elevate your travel. Its spending multiples are unbelievably subpar, while the static benefits are both discombobulated and intentionally difficult to use.
If you're looking for one card to serve your needs, the Sapphire Reserve is an infinitely better value, even with the higher price tag. Maybe Amex will step it up in the future, but for now, the Platinum is a distant silver 🥈.