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.

 

[sudoer]

It seems the US Plat card will no longer allow guests entry to the Centurion lounges from Feb 2023.

Has been discussed in this thread a few pages back

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: https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/credit-cards/american-express-platinum-guide/ What are the main benefits of this card? Signup bonus: 150,000 Amex...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[samh004]

Gold charge is still around.

Interesting you say from the website. Maybe something I've missed but can you "downgrade" to, say, Gold charge from Plat internally?

Yes, if you ask to cancel they'll offer the Gold also.

Out of curiosity, what are the benefits like? How much does it cost per year, what rate does it earn at, who can you transfer to etc?

 

[sudoer]

Out of curiosity, what are the benefits like? How much does it cost per year, what rate does it earn at, who can you transfer to etc?

Gold Charge Card Benefits | American Express Australia

Your Gold Card isn't just a way to pay, it's a way to live. From expanding your travel horizon to enjoying rewards, explore the benefits of your Card here.

www.americanexpress.com

1.5 MR per $
Not much in the way of benefits other than HHonors Silver and access to The Hotel Collection
I believe the transfer partners and rates are similar or the same as Platinum, without the QFF option.

I'm not overly familiar with it other than from conversations with a colleague who holds one. Not sure on the annual fee, I think it was around $200-250. I'll confirm when I next see them.

 

[Jousams]

The other part of this That hasn’t been considered here is whether some of these changes have been made to ensure easier compliance with the upcoming design and distribution obligations that are going to apply to financial institutions from October. The obligations require financial institutions to ensure that products are not acquired and/or systemically held by people outside of a reasonably defined ‘target market’. I wonder whether AFR subscription contributed to a target market too narrow?

 

[ole nimeton]

One US article I was reading was suggesting that AMEX is repositioning the (US) card to be more a 'lifestyle' card than a travel card and that specific news subscriptions would be replaced with an 'entertainment' credit to spend on a broader range of products (Eg: newspapers, magazines, Netflix etc). Wouldn’t be the worst thing to have more flexibility...

 

[CallMeHoju]

Agreed, wouldn't be opposed to more generic credits like the Uber ones offered on US Plat

 

[Chimp]

The problem with the generic credits is that there is no value-add. It's getting a bit pointless to pay $1400 then clamour to use $1150 of credit each year and hope your still up elsewhere.

 

[Daver6]

If they have a plans, why not come out and let us know what the new benefits are. This whole taking away benefits while hinting at some new great benefit reads to me as the new benefit will be poor in comparison and we hope you forget about what we took away by the time we announce it.

 

[Poojou]

If they have a plans, why not come out and let us know what the new benefits are. This whole taking away benefits while hinting at some new great benefit reads to me as the new benefit will be poor in comparison and we hope you forget about what we took away by the time we announce it.

This is what i don't get too - why would you stagger the reveal like this, only to drive a lot of nervousness and consternation - and potentially people pulling the plug?

 

[sudoer]

Commercials behind whatever the benefit is may not be finalised yet so I can understand why it can't be announced til locked in. There may also be NDAs involved during negotiations.

Feels like they were caught off guard by AFR pulling the plug and have scrambled to get something else together.

 

[auflier]

based on the trend, unlikely anything substantial

 

[fantastikforce]

based on the trend, unlikely anything substantial

I guess it is better that we lower our expectations.

We'll be blown away if it is anything substantial in that case.

 

[foggy]

i was offered 60k pts to keep this card, has anyone received a higher offer?

 

[Infrequent traveller]

Perhaps Amex has engaged some PR experts to actively manage our expectation

Don't get offended - just having fun...

 

[zig]

i was offered 60k pts to keep this card, has anyone received a higher offer?

There is a seperate thread for this which you can check out:
amex-im-going-to-cancel-my-card-bonus-points-given-thread.71493

 

[Poojou]

Just logged into my account and got an ad for Chris Hemsworth's new training program - apparently a benefit for amex members (free 12m trial, 129.95)

Not sure if this is part of this whole new deal?

 

[sudoer]

Just logged into my account and got an ad for Chris Hemsworth's new training program - apparently a benefit for amex members (free 12m trial, 129.95)

Not sure if this is part of this whole new deal?

Centr has been offered to all Amex card holders (not just Plat) since February

 

[zig]

Just logged into my account and got an ad for Chris Hemsworth's new training program - apparently a benefit for amex members (free 12m trial, 129.95)

Not sure if this is part of this whole new deal?

This has been available for months, so definitely not new.

 

[Poojou]

Haha! Well shows how long since it's been me logging into the web portal!!!

 

[Actos]

This is probably me being really silly, but is anyone able to book the Shangri La Sydney under FHR?
I've tried multiple dates and combinations but I'm coming up empty... has it been removed, or have I missed something, somewhere?