Card Promotions Amex Platinum Card Benefits, Offers & Discussion

Enjoy a world of travel benefits and 150,000 bonus Amex Membership Rewards Premium Ascent points...​

Learn more and apply for this card:

American Express® Platinum Card

The American Express (Amex) Platinum charge card is one of the best publicly-available cards in Australia for travel benefits.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

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What are the main benefits of this card?

1. Signup bonus: 150,000 Amex Membership Rewards Points (worth 75,000 Qantas Points, Velocity Points, Avios or Asia Miles, among other options) when you apply by 28 January 2025 and spend at least $5,000 within 3 months
2. Earn 2.25 Amex Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on everyday purchases, uncapped. You can transfer these points to 12 airline & 2 hotel programs, including Qantas Frequent Flyer.
3. Enjoy unlimited access to many airport lounges, including Virgin Australia and Priority Pass lounges
4. Gift Priority Pass membership to one additional cardholder
5. Receive complimentary elite status with hotel loyalty programs including Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, Radisson Rewards & Accor Live Limitless
6. Complimentary international travel insurance
7. Receive a $450 annual travel credit, plus airfare discounts, $400 worth of annual dining credits, subscriptions to The Australian & Wall Street Journal, plus many more exclusive benefits!

Why we like the American Express Platinum Card

Packed full of travel perks, the American Express Platinum Card is one of the best publicly-available cards in Australia for frequent flyers.

With a $1,450 annual fee, this metal card is not for everyone. But the return on investment for the high annual fee is strong, as it comes with a lot of useful benefits! This includes an annual travel credit, dining credits and unlimited access to Virgin Australia, Delta, Lufthansa, Priority Pass, Plaza Premium and Amex Centurion airport lounges.

There are also some great hotel perks including a free annual hotel night, Accor Plus membership, Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits and complimentary elite status with Hilton, Marriott and Radisson.

For points collectors, this is one of the most lucrative cards available in Australia. You’ll earn 2.25 Amex Membership Rewards Ascent Premium points per $1 spent on eligible transactions. Points transfer to most frequent flyer programs at a 2:1 rate, although there are some exceptions (e.g. it's 3:1 to KrisFlyer and Emirates).

You can convert your Amex points to around 12 airlines including Qantas, Virgin Australia, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Etihad! Plus, you can transfer points to two hotel loyalty programs for even more redemption possibilities.

To sweeten the deal, new cardholders who apply by 28 January 2025 can also earn 150,000 bonus Amex Membership Rewards points when spending at least $5,000 on the card within 3 months of approval. See our card guide for the full details:

American Express® Platinum Card

The American Express (Amex) Platinum charge card is one of the best publicly-available cards in Australia for travel benefits.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

AFF members are welcome to discuss this card in this thread.

 

[Bell21]

Aren't FHR benefits only available to the main card?

Supps can definitely book FH&R - I'm just not sure about online search, but supps on our account have booked via phone and email --- AMEX Plat advice is typically to book via phone (or at least confirm booking via email), which is not surprising given the state of the AMEX AU travel website...

 

[Ktan89]

Question about the travel insurance for this card. T&C states:

Activation of Transport Accident Cover (Section A), Card Account Balance Waiver Cover (Section B) and Travel Insurance Cover (Sections C–K): Cover is effective for each Trip only when: (a) You pay the full fare for a return Trip on Your American Express Platinum Card; or (b) You pay using American Express Membership Rewards points, frequent flyer points; or (c) You use Your Travel Benefit. The Trip must be a return Trip and commence and end in Your Country of Residence. Cover is not activated until a return ticket has been purchased. Important: One-way Trips are not covered.

-Will it cover me if I use this card to pay for taxes on a return award flight?
-Does it cover me if i book a return trip but on separate PNR because i might use two different airlines - example: Syd to TPE with CI and then MNL to SYD with QF or PR

Sorry, most cards i've had previously was way easier.. "Spend $500 on prepaid travel cost before leaving Australia which includes the following: return tickets, overseas accomodation, etc.. a

 

[daft009]

Question about the travel insurance for this card. T&C states:


-Will it cover me if I use this card to pay for taxes on a return award flight?
-Does it cover me if i book a return trip but on separate PNR because i might use two different airlines - example: Syd to TPE with CI and then MNL to SYD with QF or PR

Sorry, most cards i've had previously was way easier.. "Spend $500 on prepaid travel cost before leaving Australia which includes the following: return tickets, overseas accomodation, etc.. a

using points & paying taxes is covered.
they might ask (not sure) to show that you did transfer the points out from amex to the FF account perhaps?
2x one ways is also covered provided you are starting & finishing in AU. this I have confirmed with them as i do this a lot

 

[daft009]

When you are logged in, there was a section of the site where you could pull up all the restaurants that Amex have a relationship with. At some, they have a reserved table which can be booked for the same day so long as you call up before 10 or maybe 11am.

I think maybe here: explore

If that's the list Sydney has twice as many places as Melbourne, which has over 7 times the number of the next city in the list.

T&C suggest, among other things: The reserved table benefit is limited to one (1) table for up to four (4) people or two (2) tables for up to two (2) people until approx. 10 am daily. Reservations are based on a first-come, first-served basis and are subject to availability.

thanks, so tried again today and table locked in!
first time using the service, booking not for a few weeks yet
we're excited

 

[Ktan89]

using points & paying taxes is covered.
they might ask (not sure) to show that you did transfer the points out from amex to the FF account perhaps?
2x one ways is also covered provided you are starting & finishing in AU. this I have confirmed with them as i do this a lot

Perfect!! I was scared this CC insurance will be a waste for me if it didn't cover those points above.

Another question: i've read the insurance applies for supplementary card holders too, if they use their card to purchase return flights, is this true?

 

[fantastikforce]

Does anyone know how the AFR Subscription Fee works? I've just been charged $632 for it and it seems to have been processed now. Will this automatically be credited back to me in a few days or by the time they post my next bill?

 

[DC3]

Does anyone know how the AFR Subscription Fee works? I've just been charged $632 for it and it seems to have been processed now. Will this automatically be credited back to me in a few days or by the time they post my next bill?

My AFR subscription cost nothing extra. I think I just enrolled through Amex, similar to the other included benefits of the card. Did you do a separate paid subscription? May be worth phoning the Platinum Charge number to sort it out. Should your call be redirected off-shore, and you get no satisfaction, then try phoning during normal business hours M-F, for a better chance that Oz will answer.

 

[Bell21]

Does anyone know how the AFR Subscription Fee works? I've just been charged $632 for it and it seems to have been processed now. Will this automatically be credited back to me in a few days or by the time they post my next bill?

That's weird - did you 'sign up' through the Amex Plat benefits section on the Amex site, as there should be no charge?

Post automatically merged: Feb 6, 2020

Perfect!! I was scared this CC insurance will be a waste for me if it didn't cover those points above.

Another question: i've read the insurance applies for supplementary card holders too, if they use their card to purchase return flights, is this true?

Yes that is my understanding, and even better, it applies to supps even if they're not on a trip with the main card holder (although I'm thinking of direct family members in my case)

 

[Bell21]

using points & paying taxes is covered.
they might ask (not sure) to show that you did transfer the points out from amex to the FF account perhaps?
2x one ways is also covered provided you are starting & finishing in AU. this I have confirmed with them as i do this a lot

That's an interesting point daft009 - I have a trip coming up in which I used the card to pay for taxes, BUT the points were transferred to SQ from a range of sources (eg, AMEX rewards, Dragon etc), and I need to check with them, but I'm pretty sure, from what they once told me, that I may well not be covered by them in this instance - that seems consistent with your understanding?

 

[daft009]

That's an interesting point daft009 - I have a trip coming up in which I used the card to pay for taxes, BUT the points were transferred to SQ from a range of sources (eg, AMEX rewards, Dragon etc), and I need to check with them, but I'm pretty sure, from what they once told me, that I may well not be covered by them in this instance - that seems consistent with your understanding?

yeah its a curly one.... but i guess they could ask to see the transfers from MR to KF? will they/won't they too hard to say.
i would take the "worst case" scenario and lean towards NOT being covered.

I emptied my MR balance before the deval in early 2019, since then all my flights have been booked with points but no new transfers out of AMEX since.
not sure how far back they would want to go in case of a claim

 

[muppet]

yeah its a curly one.... but i guess they could ask to see the transfers from MR to KF? will they/won't they too hard to say.
i would take the "worst case" scenario and lean towards NOT being covered.

I emptied my MR balance before the deval in early 2019, since then all my flights have been booked with points but no new transfers out of AMEX since.
not sure how far back they would want to go in case of a claim

Where in the policy does it say the points have to be transferred from Amex?

 

[daft009]

Where in the policy does it say the points have to be transferred from Amex?

it doesn't.
as i said, i'm considering worst case scenario.

 

[muppet]

it doesn't.
as i said, i'm considering worst case scenario.

Got it.

unfortunately they don’t confirm in advance of travel - which is outrageous - however I’ve claimed twice for the “travel delay” and the origin of points was not question and if it was, I haven’t transferred miles from Amex to Qantas anyway.

the policy doesn’t say frequent flyer points transferred from Membership Rewards so you’re covered (from my opinion).
I can’t see how they can add eligibility criteria that’s not written in the policy.

 

[Ktan89]

WOW - what a grey area. so it's totally up to them if they want to accept or decline the claim. Looks like the best thing to do is pay the taxes with the platinum card AND activate another CC insurance policy as backup (or purchase insurance)... spending more money

 

[daft009]

the policy doesn’t say frequent flyer points transferred from Membership Rewards so you’re covered (from my opinion).
I can’t see how they can add eligibility criteria that’s not written in the policy.

yes the more i think about it, the more i think you are right.
the points could have been earnt from actual flying so it wouldn't be fair to question where the points came from.

for insurances you hear so many horror stories so i always go for the worst case scenario and then work backwards

 

[Bell21]

yes the more i think about it, the more i think you are right.
the points could have been earnt from actual flying so it wouldn't be fair to question where the points came from.

for insurances you hear so many horror stories so i always go for the worst case scenario and then work backwards

I'm with you on this one daft009 (although I think we're often in agreement - this thread has prompted me to give them a call AND I will double-check the T&Cs, but when I spoke to AMEX re another trip some time ago in which all the points did happen to be transferred from AMEX rewards, they explicitly said to me that I would definitely be covered if I could prove all the points were transferred from AMEX rewards - as that applied directly to me at the time, I didn't bother to drill-down further for my current situation where the points have come from multiple rewards programs. I will post a note here after I speak to them and have looked into this further.

 

[Bell21]

Got it.

unfortunately they don’t confirm in advance of travel - which is outrageous - however I’ve claimed twice for the “travel delay” and the origin of points was not question and if it was, I haven’t transferred miles from Amex to Qantas anyway.

the policy doesn’t say frequent flyer points transferred from Membership Rewards so you’re covered (from my opinion).
I can’t see how they can add eligibility criteria that’s not written in the policy.

it's an excellent point - I wonder if the rep I spoke to gave me a 'red herring' but he did seem quite knowledgeable at the time re how the insurance works on the card

 

[Ktan89]

I'm with you on this one daft009 (although I think we're often in agreement - this thread has prompted me to give them a call AND I will double-check the T&Cs, but when I spoke to AMEX re another trip some time ago in which all the points did happen to be transferred from AMEX rewards, they explicitly said to me that I would definitely be covered if I could prove all the points were transferred from AMEX rewards - as that applied directly to me at the time, I didn't bother to drill-down further for my current situation where the points have come from multiple rewards programs. I will post a note here after I speak to them and have looked into this further.

Cant wait to hear back. great initiative @Bell21 . Wish AFF can reach out to them and have something written down though because even if one rep says it's ok, it could be different with different rep.

 

[muppet]

it's an excellent point - I wonder if the rep I spoke to gave me a 'red herring' but he did seem quite knowledgeable at the time re how the insurance works on the card

Were you talking to Amex or to Chubb?
I think it’s best to ask the insurer directly, however I’ve tried in the past relating to being covered if the supplier doesn’t accept Amex and they merely repeated the PDS wording which wasn’t my specific issue.... I wanted advance acceptance not “if I can demonstrate Amex not accepted” blah blah.

 

[SeaWolf]

I'm wondering about countries that require proof of travel insurance. How does that work if you're using the credit card insurance. Will just showing the card and the insurance document be sufficient? Anyone have any experience?