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.

 

[Actos]

Has anyone been able to book anything from the Hotel Collection via Fine Hotels and Resorts? I haven't been able to find and any availability for those hotels on any dates.

Post automatically merged: Mar 17, 2022

Has anyone been able to book anything from the Hotel Collection via Fine Hotels and Resorts? I haven't been able to find and any availability for those hotels on any dates.

Yep works fine for me. I tried booking via the standard AMEX Travel portal instead of the FHR link. Can see both Hilton and Intercontinental. Wish the Primus was still there but I believe they've rebranded.

 

[Daver6]

Has anyone been able to book anything from the Hotel Collection via Fine Hotels and Resorts? I haven't been able to find and any availability for those hotels on any dates.

Post automatically merged: Mar 17, 2022

Has anyone been able to book anything from the Hotel Collection via Fine Hotels and Resorts? I haven't been able to find and any availability for those hotels on any dates.

A minimum two night stay is required for the Hotel Collection. Are you looking at just a single night perhaps?

 

[zig]

Has anyone had any issues with their Accor Plus membership not auto renewing following their AMEX anniversary?

I renewed my Platinum AMEX at the start of February then my Accor Plus membership expired at the end of February.

I was back and forward with AMEX and Accor all of yesterday and neither party want to take responsibility and fix it.

There seems to be two different membership numbers that may be causing the issue.

Yes. My Accor Plus membership didn’t auto renew at the end of January. Amex gave me a different membership number and claimed that it had been renewed. Accor had no record of the new number and said that my membership hadn’t been renewed by Amex. Went back and forth for several days before I got someone at Accor who took ownership of the problem and followed through with Amex to resolve the problem.

 

[_TheTraveller_]

A minimum two night stay is required for the Hotel Collection. Are you looking at just a single night perhaps?

Ah yep. That will do it.

 

[Astroboy52]

Yes. My Accor Plus membership didn’t auto renew at the end of January. Amex gave me a different membership number and claimed that it had been renewed. Accor had no record of the new number and said that my membership hadn’t been renewed by Amex. Went back and forth for several days before I got someone at Accor who took ownership of the problem and followed through with Amex to resolve the problem.

Finally got AMEX to speak with Accor and they say it should be sorted in 24-48 hours. Also did say I was the first one to have an issue...

 

[Plutonus]

The Global Dining Collection page seems to now only list restaurants in Australia. Did I miss something and Australia became the only country on the globe?

Explore The Global Dining Collection | American Express AU

Enjoy top dining locations around the world as part of your Platinum Card membership benefits. Explore the Global Dining Collection at American Express.

www.americanexpress.com

 

[zig]

Finally got AMEX to speak with Accor and they say it should be sorted in 24-48 hours. Also did say I was the first one to have an issue...

Haha, definitely not the first.
I'm glad that you got someone to assist. Amex were useless every time I phoned them and on the 3rd call I was transferred to the 'Accor expert' for assistance. I thought this would be someone at Amex who looked after the Accor Plus memberships etc, but no, I was just transferred to the Accor Plus phone line.
Not sure what Amex is up to, but I suspect the error is happening at their end, not Accor Plus, hence the addition of a 'new' membership number.

 

[daft009]

hmm, sounds like I have a similar issue trying to link MYOB & AMEX in bank feeds.
both are blaming each other.
AMEX is saying their side is done
MYOB is saying no instructions coming from AMEX

 

[dylarr]

For those interested, there's an updated PDF of the Platinum Card Insurance Terms and Conditions on the Amex website now. This went into effect on 15 March 2022 and specifically calls out COVID. There's other changes as well just skimming both side by side but I haven't looked deeply enough to see if significant or not.

https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/au/benefits/Platinum/PlatinumInsurance.pdf

 

[RealtimeY]

There's a summary of the changes here. American Express Insurance | AMEX Australia

 

[dylarr]

There's a summary of the changes here. American Express Insurance | AMEX Australia

AMAZING. Thank you for finding this.

 

[SeaWolf]

I wonder if it would be possible to get AmEx to mail out the updated PDS as one of those little booklets. I figure that I'll have to be showing my travel insurance at check in for the next few years so might as well get a nice little compact booklet to carry around rather than some A4 printouts.

 

[RealtimeY]

I called yesterday to ask for this, and they were happy to do it, although he was a bit surprised that I didn't want it sent by email.

 

[andye]

Had phone screen repaired on Sunday
Submitted claim Monday night and reply Wefnesday morning confirming they will pay out (less a 10% excess)
Had to submit contract, Amex bill and receipt.
The online form asked for a photo of damage but I didn't have one and still went through
All pretty painless

 

[sjf]

Having a look at the new policy activation.
Does anyone read the clause below as the frequent flyer points must have come from card?

In my scenario I've snagged a Qantas Classic Award and paid the taxes on my plat.
Not sure I can show a connection to the points redeemed from Qantas as coming from my Amex Membership Rewards balance. ( I warehouse points in MR and only transfer as needed, in this case I already had enough points in QFF that I didn't need to make a transfer)

I guess my question is about the word 'corresponding' does it refer to direct earn cards, or showing points transfers... or does the word not apply to the frequent flyer points part of the sentence.


International Return Trips

1. You are going on an International Return Trip and You pay the full amount of Your outbound ticket for a Scheduled Flight or Scheduled Cruise leaving Australia on Your:
   i. American Express Card Account;
   ii. corresponding American Express Membership Rewards points or frequent flyer points (where applicable); and/or
   iii. Travel Benefit.

 

[Shinjetter]

Having a look at the new policy activation.
Does anyone read the clause below as the frequent flyer points must have come from card?

In my scenario I've snagged a Qantas Classic Award and paid the taxes on my plat.
Not sure I can show a connection to the points redeemed from Qantas as coming from my Amex Membership Rewards balance. ( I warehouse points in MR and only transfer as needed, in this case I already had enough points in QFF that I didn't need to make a transfer)

I guess my question is about the word 'corresponding' does it refer to direct earn cards, or showing points transfers... or does the word not apply to the frequent flyer points part of the sentence.


International Return Trips

1. You are going on an International Return Trip and You pay the full amount of Your outbound ticket for a Scheduled Flight or Scheduled Cruise leaving Australia on Your:
   i. American Express Card Account;
   ii. corresponding American Express Membership Rewards points or frequent flyer points (where applicable); and/or
   iii. Travel Benefit.

What it is essentially saying is that the round trip that you paid must be a frequent flyer point + any other fees for that round trip flight in full. This way, they want to circumvent any split payment i.e you pay some points + AMEX + another card. I hope that cleared it up?

 

[cbourl]

What it is essentially saying is that the round trip that you paid must be a frequent flyer point + any other fees for that round trip flight in full. This way, they want to circumvent any split payment i.e you pay some points + AMEX + another card. I hope that cleared it up?

On the occasional claims I've made with Platinum Insurance, with frequent flyer tickets, 1 outof Australia, 1 into Australia, this has been sufficient to activate for the entire trip...

 

[sjf]

What it is essentially saying is that the round trip that you paid must be a frequent flyer point + any other fees for that round trip flight in full. This way, they want to circumvent any split payment i.e you pay some points + AMEX + another card. I hope that cleared it up?

Thanks @Shinjetter & @cbourl I think my distrust of Chubb is clouding my comprehension skills

 

[Berlin]

Thanks @Shinjetter & @cbourl I think my distrust of Chubb is clouding my comprehension skills

You cannot be cautious enough with insurance Ts&Cs. Especially when we’re talking about Chubb…

 

[_TheTraveller_]

Does anyone know whether QF was removed from the Amex Travel site? It looks like all QF flights have disappeared or become unsearchable?