Hey team, is it worth getting a Platinum American Express?
We travel a couple of times a year at the moment and I could run the bills and groceries through it. I thought it could be fun to upset the toffs in the airport lounges with children jumping on furniture etc while they pretend to read the Australian.
Man unless you're belting scotch at every layover it's probably hard to get money's worth
If you're not averse to high annual fees, head straight to Centurion. If you have to ask you're unworthy, but their memberships are always below target so they harvest invitees from prior contacts. In the US you can now register online for an invitation.
What are their costs? I remmeber seeing an annual fee as well as an initiation fee? Lol
The points transfer program near the most flexible but you'd probably need to put a lot of points through it to be worth it (like run a business, I don't mean like <100k points/year). Don't forget in most cases you pay extra for the Amex points via surcharges so it's not free points earn either. That's extra surcharge over your Visa/MC schemes. So the marginal gain over those cards is even harder to justify.
The Amex lounges are meh. Better than nothing. Better than maybe priority pass lounges but not worth it just gor $1499/year. Or to dunk on people who don't have status to a real airline lounge.
I have a close mate who has one and I'm an additional cardholder of theirs. I get lounge access with it 🙂 that might be a better option if there's some who trusts you
Would definitely be under a hundred thousand points a year. Have never been to a lounge would be disappointed if they weren't nice at this price.
Ah ok I should probably make some friends/become trustworthy quick smart.
Under 100K points per year? Sorry to say… wholly unworthy of Platinum charge card. Qantas Amex Ultimate will grant two complimentary entries to The Centurion® Lounge at SYD or MEL and two Qantas Club Lounge invitations if you purchase a QF airfare. You'll get another two Qantas Lounge invitations if you qualify for Points Club 150K.
Surprisingly, some of the European centurion lounges were amazing
I think I stopped by the one in Heathrow and it had made to order food and cocktails with minimal people
https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/airports/amex-centurion-lo…
Haha I'm very much unworthy the whole affair reminds me of the Groucho Marx quote about not joining any club that would accept me as a member. But we all know Harpo was the real OG.
Personally I think it is worth it
- $450 travel credit
- $400 dining credit
- Travel insurance which is probably worth $400ish for a long trip or $150 for a short trip. Doubled if you are travelling with a partner
That should already make up the annual fee.
Then add some
- Good points flexibility,
- Hotel upgrades
- Business class travel discount (if you are into buying with cash at all)
- $500 smartphone screen insurance. I've used this probably once every 2 years
- Lounge access to Virgin, priority pass, amex which is probably $40-50 of value per person per visit
Would you really pay $40 to enter the lounge? It’s only worth that if you would pay that otherwise.
Same with the travel credit. It is only $400 value if you book non-discount hotels at normal prices. If you fly jetstar and look for deep discount hotels you’re out of luck. The travel insurance is nice, as from memory it covers domestic travel and car hire, but other cards offer similar.
I don’t think the fee adds up unless you are pushing a lot of spending through the card to gain points.
$40 for lounge access is pretty cheap these days and to get a proper seat, charging, food (at minimum snacks) and drinks, it's a no brainer if you need to wait 30-45+ minutes.
Also a plus if you're in during alcohol hours and you want a drink instead of paying at the airport bars
I think the answers to your questions would be yes.
I do a lot of travel and many trips have awkward layovers like 3-5 hours, so I would be paying probably more than $40 to get into a lounge. And as the above said, free alcohol is great when on holidays
In terms of travel insurance, the amex platinum one is actually miles above other cards if you compare. For example, a delay of more than 4 hours is an automatic $700 per person. Since I travel with my partner, we have ended up in $1400 per night hotel rooms. This applies for domestic travel too. As comparison, a Qantas premier card covers after 6 hour delay to $100 domestic or $600 international.
Personally, it suites what I would normally book. Full service airlines and 4-5 star hotels depending on where I am.
P.S. The concierge is crap
I think it's worth it although I also get an additional $400 travel credit under the grandfathered reserve credit card offer.
You really have to make a conscious effort to use the inclusions.
Don't forget roadside assist, Hilton Gold (breakfast included at Hilton stays), and Accor Plus membership which includes a free night every year.
The Amex Explorer is $395/year, with $400 travel credit, travel insurance and 2x lounge passes. Basically it's free but comes with a lot of benefits, as long as you pay it in full every month.
I always found the pricing on the site you can use the travel credit on not to be competitive with their pricing. So yes you do get $400 travel credit however you are paying more than you would if you bought accommodation/flights elsewhere
I only book flights through Amex travel, not accommodation. It's usually about the same as the best price I can find on skyscanner for the same flight with the same carrier.
for me its worth it and then some!
i make great use of the travel credits and the lounges (domestic & international), also the hotel statuses which come with the card.
I am able to put a lot of $$ through the card though, so its an easy win
I dont spend much elsewhere in life, apart from when we travel as a family (2 young kids) so I do like to stay in the hiltons/shangrila/sofitel etc
travel is via points in business for all 4 of us.
The benefits are all published, so stick your own value on them and do some sums.
If you will use most of the more valuable benefits I think it adds up.
It was worth it for me with the bonus points I converted to Qantas but I probably won't renew it.
The way I view that card, it’s best for signalling that you have the kind of money to drop 1.4k on annual fees. It’s a luxury product with a few perks, not a bargain. I’m sure you could make it ‘break even’ with enough effort, but I wouldn’t get it for that purpose.
I wouldn’t even rule out getting it at some point. But if I do, it’ll be because I already bought an LV cardholder to put it in.
Do you have a matching LV phone case? I don't need to carry a wallet any more and don't use actual cards on a day-to-day basis. So the outward signals of wealth are changing…
The Centurion is a luxury product.. hardly this
Sure if you travel enough
Nice flex on us poors too