American Express Platinum card review

This premium Amex credit card comes with a huge fee, but also provides benefits such as travel insurance and bonus credit. Is it worth getting? Plus details of the boosted welcome bonus to look out for.

W A T C H N E X T

#Creditcards #AmexPlatinum #AmericanExpressPlatinum

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(You'll also get a free Quidco bonus for signing up)

00:00 What is the Amex Platinum?
02:00 The fee
02:38 How many points can you earn?
04:48 Welcome bonuses
08:07 Travel insurance
09:40 Other travel perks
11:03 Free credit perks
13:09 Is it any good?

A B O U T A N D Y

DISCLAIMER
Content in these videos does not constitute regulated financial advice. Any offers mentioned were correct at the time of filming.

[TofuBoy]

I signed up last year when the welcome offer was 80k, I tried cancel after 6 months and they gave me another 50k to stay!

[declanscammell]

I chose this card as our business card for purchases, one of the key points for myself was the travel insurance, at the time of getting the card, i had just undergone a stem cell transplant as part of some ongoing cancer treatment, and travel insurance was a nightmare to find for work trips. However after discussing with an Amex representative i learned they would still cover me, and they would also cover me if i had to have some sudden medical care related to my illness while abroad, realistically thats not something thats likely to happen with cancer, it would more likely be a rushed flight home for treatment. But ‘im sticking with them because the insurance is so good lol! Amazing video as always!

[kadose]

You, Sir, are a legend. Clear, down to earth, impartial, practical advice. Thank you, subscribed.

[TheJamesJingYi]

The main bonus for me is hotel status, it’s great to just get to Hilton Gold immediately. You don’t have to book it with the card either.
The travel insurance I am pretty sure covers you for medical etc even if you don’t book it on the card. I think the no fuss cancellation is not covered though.
Concierge is good as well if you want to get a place at a restaurant that’s super hard to get into.
There have been some really nice offers as well, I think there was £175 to spend at Waitrose during the pandemic.
If you’re solely spending, you should definitely get the BA Black Amex as it earns 1.5 avios per pound, but I think this serves a place as more of a ‘status’ card (both in hotels but also for the best Amex offers)

[GeorgeMaier]

Like with most of these cards I think a lot comes down to personal circumstances. I have the card because I travel often, both for work, visiting family who live abroad, and holidays; I’m a bit of a nervous flyer who always needs a couple of drinks before I get on a plane - so I think I make the approx. £50/month card fee back in money saved on airport priced alcohol/snacks alone by making use of the lounges. That’s before the annual insurance coverage and other perks which end up saving me quite a bit. If you’re just going on a couple of holidays a year, this card probably isn’t the best choice. Thanks for this video!

[peteketcher]

Andy, what’s your view on the concierge service.

I’m flying to Miami from T3 Heathrow in December & was tempted to upgrade to get Centurion Llunge access.

Love Amex to deal with as a company but I find the annual fees vs benefits hard to justify, especially when you see what US consumers get

[THEJEZMEISTER]

The best offer through the business is 10% back on Dell purchases up to 1K in total statement credit. Easy money and paid for the card.

[milestrotter]

Just want to say thanks for the excellent videos. I got a platinum cashback card last year and just recently had the cashback pay off a whole month's statement! Very pleased. Now looking at what credit card I should move on to now that the cashback rates have dropped.

[Will_rd]

Love these Amex review/hack videos keep it up! Applied for the BA Premium Plus credit card recently based off your earlier video.

[billharcourt]

Forgot the insurance for cars, when you book just take the mandatory cover as AMEX cover you for fully comprehensively this if you hire like i do for 2 to 3 weeks at a time it more than pays for the card

[JulesOfIslington]

I've checked the terms and conditions, and I notice that there's a 2.99% charge for non-sterling transactions. This seems unacceptable for a card that's meant to be used by frequent travellers.

[tues]

Having just received my Platinum card and adding the dining credit I’m slightly confused as the credit resets on JAN 1st each year. So if use my credit now, will I get another £300 come Jan? This just can’t be true, but how does the credit date work. I expect to get the credit after my anniversary of getting the new card.

[justchecking]

I'm just about to apply for the AMEX Platinum with No annual fee. I've checked eligibility thus I passed. *Smiles*

[stephenhockley]

Do you know if brits can get the USA Amex platinum? I keep seeing 125, 000 introductory points... I want it!

[joecanty]

You can also get gift cards with the Harvey Nichols credit to save them up if you don't need them... Recently at Stockholm Arlanda, I used the American Express Lounge, and it's nice to also have that option as well

[CreditSolutionist]

I have the business Gold. They have a threshold for a revolving balance on the card (mine is $2, 000), though it's a charge card. I think this is something new? It wasnt like that when I first got the card last year...

[dlzmedia]

What do you mean it isn't a credit card? Amex site:
Representative APR: 704.6% APR variable.
Annual Fee: £650.

[Eclliipse]

I have recently applied for my AMEX Plat Card (Personal), I thought this was the Credit Card version and the AMEX Plat Business Card was the charge card version?

[thedanielthomas]

The earnings rate of 1 point per pound spent makes this card a hard sell for me. It should be at least double.

With their Gold card you get a 10k bonus points per annum for £15k spend (fee 'only' £140). Their Green card gets you same points per pound but extended warranty on purchases (fee only £60). Their Rewards credit card is same points per pound and is FREE (no fee).

As you say, unless you're travelling a lot or putting a lot of travel expenses through work, this card could be of use, but it's a very niche market.

[julianfp]

One benefit you didn’t mention is the only benefit that has me seriously considering swapping my gold rewards card for a platinum one despite the fact that I have an older gold card earning 1.5 rewards points per £ so my earning level would go down after the switch. That benefit is the “airfare benefit” where Amex says that if you book through them you can get up to 20% off airfares from selected airlines (and selected includes BA, Virgin, Emirates and 7 others) for flights in a premium cabin where premium is anything not economy so includes premium economy. I spend over £10K a year on flights, sometimes almost twice that, and always fly in premium cabins so even if that “up to 20%” only ends up being more like 10% in reality that one benefit on its own pays for the annual fee about 2 times over for me. The problem of course is - is this benefit real or is it like those newspaper “return flight to New York for £100” types of offers where it turns out that there are only a handful of tickets available at that price so essentially the “offer” is inaccessible?

I intend to call Amex next week to see if I can persuade them to run a couple of fare searches for me as if I was already Platinum to see just how accessible and close to 20% these discounts are before going ahead. I don’t suppose you accessed that program benefit? If they won’t let me see the prices in advance then I suppose I’ll have to get the card and then cancel it if this airfare benefit isn’t as good and easy to access as I hope it is.