Recap: American Express Platinum Card Changes

tl;dr – Recapping the recent changes to American Express’s Platinum Card lineup.

In case you’ve missed it, American Express recently overhauled its Consumer Platinum and Business Platinum Card offerings. Here is a summary of the key changes to each cards’ terms and benefits. As a general rule, you’ll want to enroll in all of these benefits (where applicable) in your Amex dashboard before trying to take advantage of them. 

American Express Platinum Card

What’s changed?:

• Annual fee: Makes sense to get the bad out of the way first. The annual fee for the Amex Platinum card is increasing from $695 to $895.
• Resy Credit ($400 annually): $100 in statement credits each quarter for dining purchases through Resy.
• $600 at Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection ($300 semi-annually): Get up to $600 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection (requires two nights minimum) stays booked through American Express Travel using your Platinum Card. 
• $300 Digital Entertainment: $25 monthly ($300 annually) credit towards streaming services or subscriptions from Paramount+, YouTube Premium, YouTube TV, Disney+, a Disney+ Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal (enrollment required).
• Lululemon Credit ($300): Up to $75 back in statement credits each quarter for eligible purchases at retail lululemon stores (excluding outlets) or lululemon.com in the U.S. (enrollment required).
• Uber One Membership Credit ($120): Up to $120 in statement credits each calendar year after purchase of an auto-renewing Uber One membership in the U.S.
• OURA Credit ($200): $200 back in statement credits each calendar year for an OURA Ring purchase through OURAring.com.
• Leaders Club Sterling Status: (My personal favorite!). Complimentary Leaders Club Sterling Status from The Leading Hotels of the World. Here are the benefits you’ll receive.

What hasn’t changed?:

• TSA PreCheck or Global Entry: Receive either a statement credit for Global Entry ($120 every 4 years) or a TSA PreCheck application fee (up to $85 every 4.5 years, through a TSA official enrollment provider).
• CLEAR Plus Credit: $209 in statement credits per year for a CLEAR (PLUS) membership.
• Walmart+ Credit: A Walmart+ membership is $12.95 monthly, and your Platinum card will cover that in the form of a statement credit. 
• Equinox Credit ($300): $300 back in statement credits annually towards your Equinox membership or other purchases. 
• Saks credit ($100): $50 semi-annually ($100 total) towards Saks purchases. $100 in statement credits annually for purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue or Saks.com (up to $50 in statement credits from January through June and up to $50 in statement credits from July through December; enrollment required).
• Uber credit ($200): Receive $15 in Uber Cash each month, and $20 in December.
• Airline fee credit: $200 in statement credits annually for incidentals, such as checked bags, in-flight refreshments, etc. You’ll need to enroll and designate your airline.

American Express Business Platinum Card

Whereas the consumer version of this card’s changes mostly add statement credit/coupons, the business card has mostly improved its earning structure as well as its employee card benefits.

What’s changed?:

• Annual fee: Once again, it’s going to be more expensive to hold this card. The annual fee for the Amex Business Platinum card is increasing from $695 to $895.
• $600 at Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection ($300 semi-annually): Get up to $600 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection (requires two nights minimum) stays booked through American Express Travel using your Platinum Card.
• Leaders Club Sterling Status: Again, this one is clutch if you stay at high-end hotels with any frequency. Complimentary Leaders Club Sterling Status from The Leading Hotels of the World. You can see the benefits of Leaders Club Sterling here.
• Revamped earn rates for high spend – You’ll now earn 2X points on eligible purchases in select business categories, as well as on eligible purchases of $5,000 or more (up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year).
• If you’re a big (business) spender, you’ll also trigger two additional credits after spending $250,000 on eligible purchases: 
• $1,200 Amex Travel online flight credit for flights booked on AmexTravel.com.
• $2,400 One AP® statement credit for monthly fees on American Express One AP, the company’s digital accounts payable product.

What hasn’t changed?:

• TSA PreCheck or Global Entry: Receive either a statement credit for Global Entry ($120 every 4 years) or a TSA PreCheck application fee (up to $85 every 4.5 years, through a TSA official enrollment provider).
• CLEAR Plus Credit: $209 in statement credits per year for a CLEAR (PLUS) membership.
• Adobe Credit ($250): $250 in statement credits after spending $600 or more on U.S. purchases directly with Adobe per calendar year (enrollment required).
• Indeed credits annually ($360): Earn up to $90 back in statement credits per quarter for purchases made at Indeed.com (enrollment required).
• Hilton credit ($200): Receive up to $50 in quarterly statement credits at Hilton properties.
• $120 in wireless credits annually: Earn up to $10 back in monthly statement credits for purchases made with a US wireless credit provider.