When the Platinum Card® from American Express got a major overhaul last fall with a higher $895 annual fee (rates & fees), its newer perks and credits have actually made the card more justifiable to me.
Over 30 days, I decided to find out which of the Amex Platinum card perks I actually used. I went into this experiment with a quiet confidence that I was about to unlock the full potential of the Amex Platinum card.
Amex Platinum Card Overview
The Amex Platinum card is arguably the most premium card on the market with benefits including comprehensive airport lounge access, elite status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy, rental car elite status, and fantastic travel and purchase protections (enrollment required for some benefits).
The card also earns highly valuable American Express Membership Rewards points, including 5x points for flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per calendar year) and 5x points on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com.
The Amex Platinum card also has a sizable welcome offer:
- Apply and find out if you’re eligible for as high as 175,000 points after spending $12,000 in eligible purchases in the first 6 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
We value Amex Membership Rewards points at an astounding 2.2 cents apiece, the highest of any transferable points currency. This means that if you can score as high as a 175,000-point bonus offer, it’s worth up to $3,850 when redeemed for travel.
The value, however, depends entirely on how you redeem your points. Although there are many ways to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points, the highest-value redemptions almost always come from transferring points to airline and hotel partners.
The Amex Platinum Card Perks I Actually Used
I’ll be the first to admit I don’t use every single one of the Amex Platinum card benefits, but I do make a conscious effort to use as many as I realistically can.
When a card comes with such a high annual fee, it changes the way I think. Every additional perk I actually use mitigates the fee a bit, so here’s what happened over the 30-day span.
1. Prepaid Hotel Credit
The first Amex Platinum card perk I utilized was the prepaid hotel credit. This immensely valuable benefit provides up to $300 in prepaid hotel credits from January through June and another up to $300 from July through December for bookings made through the American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR) and The Hotel Collection programs (the latter requires a 2-night minimum stay).
Effective January 1, 2027, Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings will require a minimum 2-night stay to be eligible for the $600 Hotel Credit.
When booking through these programs, cardholders also get additional benefits. For example, Amex FHR guests receive complimentary breakfast, on-site property credits, room upgrades upon availability, and late checkout on bookings.
I used roughly half of my semiannual $300 credit for my 1-night stay at the Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta, which is now one of my favorite hotels in the world, getting about $150 in value. I still have plenty of value left on the credit to use before it expires on June 30.
2. Resy Credit
Amex Platinum cardholders also receive up to $400 in Resy credits annually, which can be used at U.S. Resy restaurants (enrollment required). The statement credit is split into quarterly up to $100 credits.
This credit is easy to use, as the Resy platform offers over 10,000 restaurants to book.
I used the entire $100 Resy credit for this quarter’s allotment at a sushi restaurant in Chicago.
3. Uber Cash
The next perk I used was the Amex Platinum card’s Uber Cash benefit. With this benefit, Amex Platinum cardholders receive $15 in Uber Cash per month, with an extra $20 in December, for a total of $200 in Uber Cash each year. This Uber Cash is valid on U.S. Eats orders and rides, and you must add your Amex Platinum card to your Uber account and pay with an Amex card to use the benefit.
Although I have my own car, I do tend to take a couple Uber rides each month, primarily between my home and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). The $15 monthly Uber Cash covered about half of the cost of my ride to the airport.
The Amex Platinum card also comes with up to $120 in Uber One statement credits each year. This is enough to cover the cost of an annual Uber One membership.
4. Airline Incidental Fee Credit
Another major perk I easily take full advantage of is the Amex Platinum card’s up to $200 airline incidental fee credit. With this credit, cardholders can select a single eligible U.S. airline and use the credit to cover fees and extras charged directly by the airline.
This credit covers fees like seat assignment fees, airport lounge passes, inflight dining and beverages, and checked baggage fees. You must select an eligible airline before you can use the airline incidental credit. Charges made to your account before choosing an airline are not eligible for reimbursement.
Since I fly United Airlines a lot, I designated them as my airline of choice. I used about half of the $200 credit toward seat selection and inflight dining on a recent flight.
5. Priority Pass Lounges
The Amex Platinum card also provides cardholders with the best-in-class airport lounge access. Cardholders have access to various lounges, including Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges (upon enrollment), Plaza Premium Lounges, Escape Lounges, and 10 visits a year to Delta Sky Clubs when flying Delta the same day (plus the ability to unlock unlimited visits).
If you travel as frequently as I do, you know how valuable airport lounge access can be. Just this month, I visited 1 Amex Centurion Lounge and 2 Priority Pass lounges across 3 airports.
6. CLEAR+
The Amex Platinum card also provides cardholders with a CLEAR+ statement credit, which covers the cost of the $219 annual membership upon enrollment.
CLEAR+ is a program that allows travelers to move through airport security using dedicated lanes and biometric verification instead of traditional ID checks.
Although not every airport offers CLEAR+, I also have TSA PreCheck as a backup. These programs have saved me hours at airport security over the years.
7. Global Entry
Another major perk of the Amex Platinum card is its statement credit for Global Entry (every 4 years) or TSA PreCheck (every 4 1/2 years). This statement credit reimburses the application fee for either program.
Global Entry is one of my favorite travel perks, and one I recommend to all my friends and family who travel internationally. With Global Entry, I have never spent more than 10 minutes clearing U.S. immigration when returning to the country and using the dedicated Global Entry lanes.
8. Digital Entertainment Credit
I also took advantage of the Amex Platinum card’s up to $300 digital entertainment credit (enrollment required). This up to $25 monthly credit can be used for certain digital purchases and subscriptions from Disney+, the Disney+ Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV.
I use the Amex Platinum card’s digital entertainment credit to pay for my YouTube Premium subscription, which costs $15.99 per month. I have been using YouTube Premium for years now, meaning this credit covers something I use anyway, which is a big win.
9. Walmart+ Credit
Lastly, the Amex Platinum card also has a Walmart+ credit, which covers the cost of a Walmart+ membership that costs $12.95 per month.
This is one of the most underrated perks of the Amex Platinum card, as it offers a ton of benefits for frequent Walmart shoppers, like myself. Benefits include free shipping at Walmart, a complimentary Paramount+ subscription, and fuel discounts at certain major gas stations, including Sam’s Club.
Final Thoughts
In total, I got back around $400 in statement credits alone in just 30 days of using the Amex Platinum card. That said, some of the card’s most valuable perks are the travel benefits that don’t come with a clear dollar amount attached.
Over the course of a year, I definitely extract far more value than the $895 annual fee that I pay, even if ome of the Amex Platinum card’s perks do not naturally intersect with my lifestyle. However, what I learned is that it isn’t about maximizing every little perk and benefit a card offers — it’s more about recognizing which ones do.