Credit Card Offers Amex Platinum Card Benefits, Offers & Discussion

Enjoy a world of travel benefits and 200,000 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

---

What are the main benefits of this card?

1. Signup bonus: 200,000 Amex Membership Rewards Points (worth 100,000 Qantas Points, Velocity Points, Avios or Asia Miles, among other options) when you apply by 11 March 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 11 March 2025 can also earn 200,000 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.

 

[lavenders]

New cardholder - does anyone have insight into how long enrollment in the hotel benefits takes? Needing to book travel in the next week or so.

 

[Stacking Paper]

Hi all

Considering applying for an Amex platinum, can anyone confirm the MR to Cathay Asia miles conversion rate?

I've seen a 2:1 and 1:1 mentioned.

Cheers

 

[levelnine]

Hi all

Considering applying for an Amex platinum, can anyone confirm the MR to Cathay Asia miles conversion rate?

I've seen a 2:1 and 1:1 mentioned.

Cheers

The Ultimate Australian Credit Card Points Transfer Matrix

This credit card matrix shows which frequent flyer programs you can transfer your Australian credit card reward points to, and at what rate.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[wsthong]

Thinking of applying for the Platinum Card (partly because I plan to add my parents as additional card holders so they can access VA and Priority Pass lounges).

I cancelled my Qantas Amex Ultimate on 8 July 2023 and have an email confirmation. As it has been over 18 months, am I now eligible again for bonus points? Or is it better to wait until February (or even March) just in case they use end-of-month (or billing cycle) as a cutoff rather than days?

Priority Pass is only good for two person.

 

[0x012fd0aa]

Priority Pass is only good for two person.

Just in case you have multiple Priority Pass accounts, they usually can allow more guests... just ask them nicely

 

[RealtimeY]

You can nominate one additional cardholder to also hold a priority pass.

 

[Chrizztofa]

How long do I have to wait from cancelling an American Express card and signing up for a new one to get the sign-up bonus?

It is best to call American Express to confirm the exact date for your situation (here are the phone numbers for different card products and the general number is 1300 132 639).

From what we gather, it is 18 months from the closing date on the last statement after the card is cancelled but we are not 100% on that.

Just an update on this - I've contacted American Express and they have quoted my card closure date (8 July 2023) to tell me that I should be eligible for bonus points. My last statement was issued on 22 July 2023, so I should theoretically be eligible from today anyway.

Priority Pass is only good for two person.

You can nominate one additional cardholder to also hold a priority pass.

My plan is to nominate both of my parents as additional cardholders and sign one up for Priority Pass. They should be able to guest the other in when travelling together, if I read the Platinum Card T&Cs correctly:

Primary Platinum Card Members and one nominated Additional Platinum Card Member per Account are eligible for Priority Pass membership. At any visit to a Priority Pass lounge that admits guests, you may bring in 1 guest for no charge. You will be charged the prevailing retail rate for any additional guests.

It also appears they can both sign up for Plaza Premium individually (based on the table here: What benefits can supplemental platinum cardholders duplicate?).

 

[muppet]

Just an update on this - I've contacted American Express and they have quoted my card closure date (8 July 2023) to tell me that I should be eligible for bonus points. My last statement was issued on 22 July 2023, so I should theoretically be eligible from today anyway.



My plan is to nominate both of my parents as additional cardholders and sign one up for Priority Pass. They should be able to guest the other in when travelling together, if I read the Platinum Card T&Cs correctly:

Primary Platinum Card Members and one nominated Additional Platinum Card Member per Account are eligible for Priority Pass membership. At any visit to a Priority Pass lounge that admits guests, you may bring in 1 guest for no charge. You will be charged the prevailing retail rate for any additional guests.

It also appears they can both sign up for Plaza Premium individually (based on the table here: What benefits can supplemental platinum cardholders duplicate?).

Yes all additional cardholders can use plaza premium, no sign up required - just show the Amex Plat on entry for complimentary access.

 

[Www]

The general consensus seems to be that in practice, they dont care. However, the more risk averse are unwilling to accept a potential claim-avoidance loophole. I'm pretty laid back but would be happier if I had made a transfer of Amex to FF programme of the value or above previously

I specifically checked and double checked via email and they confirmed:
“As earlier mentioned, it doesn’t matter where the Frequent Flyer points came from. Also does not matter which Frequent Flyer program you use.”
This was after I reconfirmed, it was not actually the original question I had asked, but the response meant it didn’t matter at all which program it came from or whether they are an Amex partner, which is more flexible than I thought it was.
If anyone had experience confirming or otherwise would be interested as I was a little surprised.

 

[tmdl]

Has anyone heard om the horizon if AMEX platinum will get any additional perks in 2025 and beyond?

• Any additional status with hotels or airlines lounge perks?
• Any additional transfer partners?
• Transfer partner bonus promos or reduction (Krisflyer/ Skywards)

 

[Human]

Has anyone heard om the horizon if AMEX platinum will get any additional perks in 2025 and beyond?

• Any additional status with hotels or airlines lounge perks?
• Any additional transfer partners?
• Transfer partner bonus promos or reduction (Krisflyer/ Skywards)

I've had my Platinum card for several years now and there are never any rumours or warnings of what's coming up "on the horizon". AmEx seems to run a pretty tight ship and announcements are made about these things when they're good and ready. So speculation about what's coming up is just that.

What I have observed is that AmEx gives and AmEx takes away -- yes, there have been what some would call "devaluations" over the years, but more often than not, the removal of some benefits/perks is accompanied by the addition of other ones (most recently, the devaluation of SQ and Emirates transfers has been accompanied by the addition of Hawaiian and Qatar transfers). Of course, not everyone agrees that new perks have the same value as the disappearing ones. But in general, AmEx's value has held up pretty well for me over the years and I personally have no complaints.

 

[tmdl]

I've had my Platinum card for several years now and there are never any rumours or warnings of what's coming up "on the horizon". AmEx seems to run a pretty tight ship and announcements are made about these things when they're good and ready. So speculation about what's coming up is just that.

What I have observed is that AmEx gives and AmEx takes away -- yes, there have been what some would call "devaluations" over the years, but more often than not, the removal of some benefits/perks is accompanied by the addition of other ones (most recently, the devaluation of SQ and Emirates transfers has been accompanied by the addition of Hawaiian and Qatar transfers). Of course, not everyone agrees that new perks have the same value as the disappearing ones. But in general, AmEx's value has held up pretty well for me over the years and I personally have no complaints.

I would love to have either American Airlines or Air Canada as transfer partners but I guess one can only hope

 

[bernardblack]

I would love to have either American Airlines or Air Canada as transfer partners but I guess one can only hope

Air Canada Aeroplan is a partner of Membership Rewards for the US market, so:

 

[andye]

I would love to have either American Airlines or Air Canada as transfer partners but I guess one can only hope

Alaska would be even better given status earning for redemptions (not that I'd expect it to happen with no Aus flights)

 

[Human]

Alaska would be even better given status earning for redemptions (not that I'd expect it to happen with no Aus flights)

Just transfer to Hawaiian and then transfer to Alaskan at a 1:1 rate.