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The Platinum Card® clearly stands out from the competition thanks to the various benefits it offers frequent travellers. For each of them, I will try to assign a value.
The current welcome bonus: up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points, worth up to $1,000 toward your travels. You get 70,000 points after putting $10,000 in net purchases on your Card in the first 3 months, then 30,000 points with a purchase between months 15 and 17. In the first year, that completely changes the profitability calculation, as I show in my quantified profiles below.
The American Express Platinum Card®” />
It’s personally something I’m quite fond of (and I know that’s the case for many members of our Facebook group as well).
The Platinum Card® offers free, unlimited access for the cardholder and a travel companion to most of the lounges listed below.
If we look only at the Priority Pass membership included for the Platinum Card® cardholder, this benefit is worth US$469/year.
And American Express has a special agreement with Priority Pass that allows you to add a travel companion to this membership (which would otherwise cost US$35/visit)!
And that is without counting access to all the other types of lounges around the world:
Here are the conditions of access for each type of lounge:
By being reasonable in my estimates, thanks to this airport lounge access benefit offered by the Platinum Card®, I estimate saving $40 per person each time we pass through an airport (for food and drinks). This is without counting the rest obtained versus waiting in certain terminals (especially with children).
American Express has partnered with various hotel programs to provide access to higher statuses when you are a Platinum Card® cardholder.
Among the hotel programs, the status that has the most value in my eyes remains Hilton Honors Gold. It is the only one of the two to provide a dining benefit: a daily food and beverage credit in the United States, or a continental breakfast at several hotels outside the United States (this varies by brand and region).
On the Marriott Bonvoy side, Gold Elite status does not include any breakfast: Marriott reserves this for its Platinum members and above. Since 2026, Hilton has also revised its tiers: Gold status is now obtained after 25 nights, and a new Diamond Reserve tier has been added. The benefits of Gold status remain the same.
The value of this benefit depends mainly on the number of stays you make each year and the country where you travel. In a Hilton hotel outside the United States, free continental breakfast for two can represent a significant saving. In the United States, it is instead a daily food and beverage credit, the amount of which varies by hotel. Counting around $20 per person per day, over about ten nights per year, this represents a few hundred dollars depending on your profile.
On the Marriott side, as Gold status does not offer breakfast, the value comes mainly from upgrades and late check-out. It’s up to you to see, based on your travels, the value you give to this benefit. Personally, I value it at around $200 per year.
If there is one Platinum Card® benefit that is easy to quantify, it is the annual $200 travel credit.
When you apply for the Platinum Card®, you receive a $200 travel credit to use through American Express Travel services. This may be:
Then, each year when your Platinum Card® annual fee renews, you receive this credit again. I explain in detail in this article how the annual travel credit works.
As I have the opportunity to travel several times a year, it is easy for me to use the Platinum Card® annual $200 credit. It is therefore worth $200 for travel I would have purchased anyway!
Another Platinum Card® benefit that is easy to quantify is the annual $200 dining credit.
When you apply for the Platinum Card®, you receive an annual $200 dining credit. This credit applies to your restaurant bill according to an American Express restaurant list.
Then, each year on January 1, you receive this credit again.
Since I love dining at good restaurants and the bill adds up quickly when eating out, it’s become fairly easy to use the Platinum Card®’s $200 annual dining credit.
Instead of using my American Express Cobalt® Card (which allows me to earn 5 points per dollar at all restaurants), I will use my American Express Platinum Card®.
The Platinum Card® comes with another benefit for travelers: the $100 statement credit for NEXUS program membership. Simply charge your NEXUS membership (every 4 years) to your Platinum Card® to receive this credit.
Beyond the travel benefits, it is important to note the excellent Membership Rewards points earning with the Platinum Card®:
Here is an example of earning:
The Platinum Card®—like the American Express Cobalt® Card—lets you use your Membership Rewards points in multiple ways, without being “stuck” with Aeroplan points:
Here is how I go about it, concretely, so that this Card earns more than its $799 annual fee.
To give you real benchmarks, here are two profiles based on the benefit values I assigned earlier in the article. The annual fee is $799. I present the recurring value (year 2 and beyond), then the first-year value with the welcome bonus.
It is clear that the Platinum Card® is not for everyone and remains a card designed for travellers.
However, if you have travel plans and can take advantage of its various benefits (annual $200 travel credit, annual $200 dining credit, airport lounge access, statuses, etc.) as well as the Membership Rewards points earning categories, this is THE card to get in preparation for those trips!
The benefits easily outweigh the annual fee (especially in the first year with a welcome bonus).
The current offer: up to 100,000 Privilege points as a welcome bonus, which is up to $1,000 for your travels. Compare it as well to the rest of our ranking of the best credit cards, and subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss any of the next boosts.
In my view, it therefore remains an essential card alongside my American Express Cobalt® Card!
*This post was not sponsored. The opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are solely my own. American Express is not responsible for maintaining or controlling the accuracy of the information published on this website. To obtain complete and up-to-date information about the product, click the Apply Now link. Terms and conditions apply.
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