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]

Nifty move. So the price on the site is in SGD or USD .. and you simply incur the Forex fees? I am guessing you get here which is the USA portal .. nice!

https://travel.americanexpress.com/travel/finehotelsandresorts?inav=menu_nav_finehotelandresorts

View attachment 274785

Yep that's the right spot.

The price shown there is USD, but as you should always select Pay At Hotel on FHR bookings to increase the chance of getting status recognition/points/status nights, it doesn't matter whether you book through the AU or US portals as you're gonna get charged in the local currency on checkout.

That is another benefit of switching payment over to the Hilton Aspire though, not only do I get 14x points on the HH spend, but the Aspire also doesn't incur a forex commission. Of course I need to pay it off via an AUD-USD transfer through Wise but they take a far smaller cut than the 3% Amex AU would slug me with for paying with the Plat.

Its looking like the US Aspire is an excellent partner card to the AU Plat if you are staying in Hiltons outside of Aus which are part of FHR/THC.

 

[thatsthatmattressman]

Yep that's the right spot.

The price shown there is USD, but as you should always select Pay At Hotel on FHR bookings to increase the chance of getting status recognition/points/status nights, it doesn't matter whether you book through the AU or US portals as you're gonna get charged in the local currency on checkout.

That is another benefit of switching payment over to the Hilton Aspire though, not only do I get 14x points on the HH spend, but the Aspire also doesn't incur a forex commission. Of course I need to pay it off via an AUD-USD transfer through Wise but they take a far smaller cut than the 3% Amex AU would slug me with for paying with the Plat.

Its looking like the US Aspire is an excellent partner card to the AU Plat if you are staying in Hiltons outside of Aus which are part of FHR/THC.

Mate .. you are have nailed it again (and added to our collective knowledge bank) .. looking forward to the follow up in a few days. Enjoy the coughtails!

 

[sudoer]

One more thing to mention, the US FHR portal has the country code forced to +1, so I initially input my TextNow US number... But you can change the number on the booking over to a +61 through the Hilton app too.

 

[http_x92]

Also another interesting thing is that if you login with your AU Plat Charge card, the US Amex Travel website recognises it which means you will still be eligible to do post-paid hotel bookings on there. Nice feature. It would also be eligible for the FHR bookings and you can enter your Hilton or Marriott number on there, making it a tad easier.

Like the AU Amex Travel website only hotels which are under the Hotel Collection or FHR are eligible for elite nights and base points with Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt etc.

 

[sudoer]

Also another interesting thing is that if you login with your AU Plat Charge card, the US Amex Travel website recognises it which means you will still be eligible to do post-paid hotel bookings on there. Nice feature.

Yes sorry this is exactly what I did, I don't have a US card which gives access to FHR.

 

[Daver6]

Am I missing something obvious? Is the main reason to use the US FHR site so you can input your loyalty number at the time of booking? Is there any other advantage?

I've found after booking with the AU site, I just email the platinum travel service and ask them to add my loyalty number. Simples!

 

[sudoer]

Is the main reason to use the US FHR site so you can input your loyalty number at the time of booking?

Yep.

 

[thatsthatmattressman]

Hi all .. feel free to 'boot' me to another thread. I realize there is a Thailand Test and Go thread here: Thailand Test & Go & Bangkok in Feb 2022

But wanting to know specifically if any one has used their Platinum Charge Insurance when applying for Test and Go (I am headed to coughet) .. don't want to get rejected during the process as I only have about 9 days before I go. Thinking i may just buy their insurance (on the Test and Go application stie) and call it a day.

 

[RealtimeY]

I've been able to apply for a Thailand Pass using the Platinum Insurance, but am still having doubts on whether the check-in agent will be satisfied with that... Also considering just buying insurance on top of it.

 

[thatsthatmattressman]

I've been able to apply for a Thailand Pass using the Platinum Insurance, but am still having doubts on whether the check-in agent will be satisfied with that... Also considering just buying insurance on top of it.

Thanks mate.

But they approved your Thailand Pass (Test and Go) application okay? Did you submit the cover page only with the Policy Number or something else in addition?

 

[simonsyd]

Thanks mate.

But they approved your Thailand Pass (Test and Go) application okay? Did you submit the cover page only with the Policy Number or something else in addition?

Currently in coughet. Thailand pass approved with just the cover Page from our corporate travel policy (I did not use platinum card cover)
No issues at check in - only asked for Thailand pass (SQ)

 

[thatsthatmattressman]

Currently in coughet. Thailand pass approved with just the cover Page from our corporate travel policy (I did not use platinum card cover)
No issues at check in - only asked for Thailand pass (SQ)

Great great thank you .. Did it look mainly like this? Or did it have more formal details on it?

 

[simonsyd]

Great great thank you .. Did it look mainly like this? Or did it have more formal details on it?

View attachment 274826

Yes I also included the limits of cover which was on the first or second page - they want to see what your limit of medical cover is (I suspect this is the only criteria they check against)

 

[RealtimeY]

Thanks mate.

But they approved your Thailand Pass (Test and Go) application okay? Did you submit the cover page only with the Policy Number or something else in addition?

Yes. Submitted screenshots of the policy number and medical cover with highlights of relevant sections, and full PDF in the last misc attachment section just for good measure

 

[muppet]

Will report back with definitive success after the points post and probably drop some pics/info in the how Hilton treats elites thread. So far so good, was upgraded to Centennial Suite ($1200SGD inc tax direct) from base King ($500SGD inc tax via FHR) with a bit of encouragement on my part through the chat app

OT but... how is the Conrad @sudoer? In terms of Exec Lounge offerings and pool access - has any of that loosened up back to normal or still very limited?

 

[simonsyd]

OT but... how is the Conrad @sudoer? In terms of Exec Lounge offerings and pool access - has any of that loosened up back to normal or still very limited?

Was at Conrad earlier this week.
Pool access still booked in hour slots as are exec lounge sittings.
Breakfast in Oscars also still more limited due COVID precautions.

 

[sudoer]

In terms of Exec Lounge offerings

Exec lounge still has limited opening hours - 2:30-4:30pm for tea (1 hour sittings, booking essential) and 6pm-10pm for canapes & drinks (again must book). No breakfast offered in exec lounge yet, everyone gets served as Oscars Grill.

I went to afternoon tea just to check the lounge out, the selection was as expected - run of the mill cakes, a scone with cream & jam, etc. Everything was table service, and there were lots of staff on hand. Instead of going to canapés I opted to head to Old Airport Rd and then on to Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak, didn't regret that decision.

Breakfast this morning was a mess - I went down to Oscar's at 9am to find a 30-40 person queue snaking around the front desk. Waited for 10 minutes without the queue moving an inch, so I left. I just wanted something quick and light as I had a spa booking at 11am, so I approached the front desk to ask whether given the queue I could get something takeaway or served as in-room dining. Was given a very stern no with no apology for the queue or other solution offered.

Other than the breakfast experience I've been very happy, obviously the suite is great and the welcome gift was fairly substantial. The FHR property credit does stack with the 20% off spa treatments, and I had no issue paying on the Aspire instead of the Plat in the end.

 

[dylarr]

For anyone who needs to enrol for the Priority Pass benefit, here is my recent experience:

- Enrolled over the phone with Amex in mid-Feb. Advised I would get a Priority Pass card with my welcome pack in the mail which should take a couple of weeks but if I needed it urgently let them know as I can access a digital card through the app.
- Waited about 4 weeks and heard nothing so contacted Amex via chat who were able to give me my Priority Pass member number.
- As well as the member number, the Priority Pass website requires a "validation code" to complete account activation which is mailed out in the welcome pack that I still hadn't received so I used chat on the Priority Pass website to get the code and completed the account activation and set up my digital card in the app.
- Welcome pack with physical card came in the mail today, took about 2 months to arrive from Hong Kong. Looks like it came via seamail as the airmail mark on the envelope was crossed out so expect a fairly lengthy delay to get your physical card. You'd definitely want to just skip straight to getting the digital card setup per the details above.

 

[fantastikforce]

Has anyone here tried to make a hotel booking through Amex Travel travelling with a pet? I can see there are a number of pet friendly hotels but it isn't clear how this works especially if you want to take advantage of the FHR benefits?

 

[Pele]

Also another interesting thing is that if you login with your AU Plat Charge card, the US Amex Travel website recognises it which means you will still be eligible to do post-paid hotel bookings on there. Nice feature. It would also be eligible for the FHR bookings and you can enter your Hilton or Marriott number on there, making it a tad easier.

Like the AU Amex Travel website only hotels which are under the Hotel Collection or FHR are eligible for elite nights and base points with Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt etc.

So if i have a FHR booking through Amex Australia and want to add my Hilton Honors number is it possible?

Thanks