American Express Platinum Review: Top-Notch Lounge Access, Big Credits

For me, the most valuable perk on The Platinum Card® from American Express by far is the lounge access, which we'll discuss in just a bit. But that’s just one of the card’s many benefits.

Automatic credits

For better or for worse, The Platinum Card® from American Express is something of a high-end coupon book. It offers an array of statement credits for shopping, travel and entertainment — and for both premium and mass-market brands.

Here are some of the standout credits:

• $200 a year for airline incidental fees. This reimburses things like checked-bag fees or in-flight refreshments, but not airfare or upgrades. It applies to a single airline you choose when you enroll; you can change airlines once a year.

• $200 a year for select hotel bookings. This credit covers prepaid bookings through American Express Travel at the more than 2,600 hotels that are The Hotel Collection (two-night minimum stay required) or Fine Hotels + Resorts properties.

• $200 a year for Uber. Issued as $15 monthly installments (and $35 in December), these cover rides or eats orders in the U.S. An AmEx Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit. Unused credits don't roll over.

• $300 a year for Equinox gym memberships. Use this credit on Equinox memberships and the on-demand fitness app Equinox+.

• $100 a year at Saks Fifth Avenue. When you enroll, you get $50 worth of credit for in-store or online purchases from January through June, and another $50 for purchases from July through December.

• Fee credit for TSA Precheck or Global Entry.

• $199 a year for Clear. Speed through airport security and get into stadiums more quickly with a credit that’s enough to cover Clear’s annual cost.

• $12.95 each month for Walmart+. Get a $12.95 statement credit each month after you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership with your card. Walmart+ offers members access to exclusive deals, discounts and free delivery.

• $240 a year for digital entertainment. Get up to $20 per month toward eligible subscriptions for Peacock, Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Enrollment required.

• Terms apply.

Combined, the credits are worth more than $1,500, but don't just take that number at face value. In reality, using them requires effort and careful planning. Certain credits only apply to premium services, so unless those are part of your routine, they might do little to justify an already steep fee.

Many only materialize if you spend big in the first place. For example, the annual $300 Equinox credit is a drop in the ocean compared to Equinox’s sky-high membership fees, which can easily run hundreds of dollars per month for in-person clubs.

Some credits are easier to use than others. For example, some people take Uber nearly every day and will therefore save money with the monthly credits. Others never do so, so the credits are worthless to them. I almost always take an Uber each month, but on the occasional month where I don’t, I frantically order from Uber Eats (the company's meal delivery service) on the last day of the month to use up the credit.

Similarly, Walmart+ will have tremendous value for many cardholders. But I don't live in a market where Walmart has much of a presence, so I rarely use the benefit. However, it did come in handy in summer 2024 when Coca‑Cola teamed up with Oreo to make cookie-flavored cola and, likewise, cola-flavored cookies. Few online retailers sold this bizarre mashup, but Walmart did — and I didn’t have to pay for shipping.

Other credits might be nice-to-haves but not things you would necessarily pay for yourself. Twice a year, I visit the Saks Fifth Avenue website where I filter for items under $50 (I will not be suckered into spending even more thanks to this card!). I have ended up with a steak knife, a dripper for pour-over coffee, leopard workout pants and a bunch of candles.

My fiance and I subscribe to both Disney+ and the Wall Street Journal. Because he also carries The Platinum Card® from American Express, we have two $20 monthly digital entertainment credits, which we use to cover both.

The hotel credit only works on certain prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel (which are almost always ultra high-end). It came in clutch for my anniversary trip to the Halepuna Waikiki by Halekulani.

The airline credit does not apply to airfare. Instead, it works on incidental fees, like checked bags, and only for a single airline you select (enrollment required). As the creator of the 10-$10 rule, I almost never check bags, so it's difficult to use this benefit. And though you can change airlines once a year, that limitation still is quite annoying.

Airport lounge access

The Platinum Card® from American Express offers access to airport lounges worldwide — more than 1,400 and counting. They include:

• The issuer's own Centurion Lounges and International American Express lounges.

• Delta Sky Clubs, when flying Delta.

• Priority Pass Select lounges (enrollment required).

• Lounges in the Plaza Premium, Escape and Airspace networks.

» MORE: Credit cards that offer lounge access

The best lounges in the network — which include most Delta Sky Clubs and Centurion Lounges — offer showers and hot buffet meals. As a paranoid traveler who will never miss a flight, I arrive at airports two hours early, minimum. Passing the time at a lounge, especially one with good food and high-end amenities, makes the wait more pleasant.

On a European summer vacation, I spent a six-hour layover at London Heathrow Airport. The shower inside the Heathrow Centurion Lounge was especially welcome between flights.

My home airport, San Francisco International Airport, has both a Delta Sky Club and a Centurion Lounge. I occasionally fly out of San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport which has an Escape Lounge. This lower-tier lounge doesn’t have showers, but the food is generally pretty good.

I generally love The Platinum Card® from American Express for its lounge access, but some lounges are downright bad. I’m mostly talking about the U.S. Priority Pass lounges, which are accessible to a far broader range of premium travel credit card holders. Overcrowding has led to packed rooms where travelers hover like vultures over barren buffet tables. My family lives in St. Louis so I frequent the Priority Pass Wingtips Lounge STL at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, which is one of the worst lounges I’ve been to.

If your airport’s only lounge is like Wingtips, skip this card. But if you’re frequently flying out of airports with high-end lounges, consider getting it. If I divided the annual fee I paid by my 37 airport lounge visits in the first year, it would bring each visit down to just $18.78.

» MORE: Credit cards that offer lounge access

Hotel benefits

• Marriott. You can enroll to upgrade to Gold Elite status in Marriott's Bonvoy rewards program without meeting any stay requirements. This is hardly a VIP tier of status (they don’t even throw in free breakfast), but it does come with some nice perks like room upgrades and 2 p.m. late checkout, subject to availability.

• Hilton. You get automatic Gold status in the Hilton Honors loyalty program when you enroll. Gold with Hilton is worth a lot more than Gold with Marriott, and it includes daily food and beverage credits.

• The Hotel Collection. Book a stay of at least two nights at one of these properties, and you'll get an automatic upgrade, if available, and a $100 credit for dining, spa, resort or other activities at the hotel.

• Fine Hotels & Resorts. Book a stay at one of these ultra-high-end places and get upgrades and amenities that the issuer says are worth an average of $550 per stay. They include automatic room upgrades, if available, early check-in, late checkout, complimentary breakfast, free Wi-Fi and amenities unique to each property. Often though, these properties run more than $1,000 per night — so free breakfast might be a drop in the bucket for someone paying that much anyway.

I usually book at Hilton because of those credits for Gold status members. I still dream of the hashbrown casserole at The Art Hotel Denver, Curio Collection by Hilton, courtesy of my status.

Other goodies

• Cell phone protection. This increasingly popular benefit joins the card’s already robust return and purchase protections, along with extended warranties. Coverage goes up to $800 per claim, or $1,600 (two claims) per 12-month period. Each approved claim carries a $50 deductible. Terms apply.

• Concierge service. Cardholders get 24-hour access to concierge services by phone.

• Global Dining Access by Resy. Special access to reservations and events, like chef meet-and-greets at high-end restaurants, when you add your card to your Resy profile.

• By Invitation Only. This program offers members-only VIP experiences at events such as Wimbledon and the Kentucky Derby. It's important to note that your card only gives you the ability to buy tickets for these experiences — it doesn't get you in for free.

• Preferred Seating. Your card may let you jump the line to buy tickets for select sports or cultural events.

» MORE: American Express credit cards mobile app review

MORE NERDY PERSPECTIVES

I justify the cost of The Platinum Card® from American Express with my frequent airport lounge visits. But if I didn’t visit lounges so frequently, or if I didn’t live in a city with great airport lounges, the card wouldn’t be worth the high cost for me.

It's worth doing your own cost-benefit analysis. How many lounges do you anticipate visiting, and is that a reasonable price per lounge visit? After weighing the rewards and perks you will and won't use, will you be getting enough value out of the card to justify the fee?

High annual fee

In a world where many travel cards charge less than $100 a year for excellent rewards and benefits, and even other premium cards charge much less, a $695 annual fee could push anyone off the fence into "no" territory on this card. That's especially true considering that so many of the benefits on The Platinum Card® from American Express aren't easily quantifiable. How much is late checkout worth to you? Is the Clear credit actually something you would pay for, or are you just signing up because it's included with your card anyway? What is that $50 candle from Saks Fifth Avenue actually worth?

Limited rewards earning

The spending rewards can be generous on flights, but not much else. You'll earn 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 spent per year, which is ideal if you frequently pay for flights but aren't particularly loyal to one airline.

It earns 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel, but that prepaid caveat is annoying since many hotels don't require payment until checkout (which gives you more flexibility should you need to cancel).

For all other purchases, you earn just 1 point per dollar spent.

I use other cards for bonus categories like dining and groceries. For general spending, I use the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card which earns 2 miles per dollar spent on purchases. Miles can be redeemed for any travel purchase at a value of 1 cent apiece. You also get a $300 travel credit on purchases made through Capital One Travel, a solid sign-up bonus, and reimbursement for the TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee — all for an annual fee of $395. Their lounge network, albeit much smaller than the Centurion Lounge network, is equivalent in quality.

Limited-use credits

The credits on this card are downright finicky, especially in contrast to credits on competing cards. For example, you can't just use the hotel credits to book any hotel room, and the airline fee credits don't cover airfare.

In contrast, the $300 credit on the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is much more flexible. And even more flexible, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers $300 a year in credit for any travel expense — not just incidental fees and not just through a travel portal.

And while the full list of annual statement credits are, combined, worth more than the annual fee, you actually need to use them to get any benefit. That might not be easy to do if you don’t live in a city with Equinox gyms or an airport served by CLEAR. The credits aren’t going to save you much if you’re enticed to spend more on luxuries just to use the credits once.

Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve

The most prominent competitor of The Platinum Card® from American Express among premium travel cards is the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. You can read our comparison of the two cards here. You can also see how this card matches up against other travel card alternatives by checking out our list of the best credit cards.