The sign-up bonus for the Platinum Card alone can be enough for a round-trip business class award! Photo by: Evan Berman

One of the most popular cards since its launch in 1984, the American Express Platinum card is more than just a status symbol. You’ve read my article on which cards I own, decide to apply for the card, and are approved. Congrats! Now what, you may be asking yourself, as you see the dreaded $695 annual fee hit your statement.

This article shows explain how you can get well over $1,000 in annual value from the Platinum Card.

The Basics:

After activating the card when it arrives in the mail, you should download the American Express app if you have not already. Either in the app or on the website, enroll in the following benefits:

• AmEx Global Lounge Collection
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit
• $200 Airline Fee Credit
• $155 Walmart+ Credit
• $200 Uber Cash
• $100 Shop Saks with Platinum
• Hilton Honors Gold Status
• $189 CLEAR Credit
• $100 Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (if you do not already have one or the other)
• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Status
• ShopRunner

This is by no means all of the benefits, just the ones you should enroll in immediately. Most are as simple as selecting the benefit and pressing enroll but some require more work. For example, with both Hilton and Marriott, you must either create a new account or link your existing account number to enroll.

Redeeming Credits:

Looking at the list above, you may be tempted to say, “wow, that’s $1,184 in value right there. This is easy!”

Uber ($200):

Let’s start with the Uber Credit. Add your Platinum card to the payments portion of your Uber account. Open the Uber app, go to Account, tap Wallet, go to Payment Methods, and select Add Payment Method or Redeem Gift Card. Add your information and tap save on the bottom.

By doing this, you will receive $15 in Uber cash each month, except for December, where you will receive $35. Just remember, after the credit is used up, make sure you use another card to pay for other Uber trips!

Airline Credit ($200):

I won’t even attempt to use AmEx’s words here, it is far too convoluted. Essentially there are two parts:

1. You must choose an airline. The options are: Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Spirit, Southwest, or United. After you make your selection, it is hard to change until the next year, so do not commit until you know which choice is best for you.
2. The credit is an “airline incidentals credit,” not a “general travel credit.” Unfortunately, this means that tickets, upgrades, gift cards, and other similar purchases will not trigger the credit.

Look at this article for examples of how to get $200 of value from the Airline Credit.

Walmart Credit ($155):

Do you shop at Walmart? It doesn’t really matter, you should still sign up for Walmart+. Each month, you will be charged $12.95 (plus tax) and AmEx will issue a credit for $12.95 (plus tax). While you get some perks for purchases at Walmart (such as free shipping on orders of more than $35 and free grocery delivery), there are two main benefits:

1. Save up to 10 cents per gallon at Exxon, Mobil, Walmart, and Murphy gas stations. Additionally, you can access member prices at Sam’s Club fuel centers.
2. Starting in September, Paramount+ will be included in the Walmart+ membership package.

Digital Entertainment Credit ($240):

The next credit to take advantage of is the “Digital Entertainment Credit.” Once enrolled, you will receive up to $20 in monthly credits for purchases at Audible, Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The New York Times. You can decide which of these you value the most.

CLEAR Credit ($189):

If you do not currently have CLEAR, I highly recommend you purchase it, Platinum credit or not. If you travel at all frequently, you know that the airport security lines are often tremendously long and even having TSA PreCheck may not help expedite the process.

CLEAR is a private security firm that contracts with the TSA to provide an alternate form of ID verification for passengers. You will breeze through security with this benefit. CLEAR currently costs $189 per person per year and you will receive up to $189 in credit. Check out this article for how to get 2 or more people CLEAR with just this credit.

TSA PreCheck/ Global Entry Credit ($25):

Another useful travel benefit is TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. See this post for more details, but it is a designation either through TSA (PreCheck) or the US Department of Homeland Security (Global Entry) that you a “low-risk” traveller and do not have to follow certain stringent travel requirements.

The price is either $85 every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck or $100 every 4 years for Global Entry and the credit will be for the same amount.

Saks Credit ($100):

An oft-overlooked feature of the AmEx Platinum is the $50 biannual Saks Fifth Avenue credit. You receive a $50 credit to be spent between January and June as well as another $50 credit to be used between July and December of the year. You can get quality products for close to or slightly more than $50.

The Total:

You can also derive more value from unlimited access to Centurion Lounges, Delta SkyClub access (when flying Delta), Priority Pass lounge access, Marriott and Hilton Gold Status, and more. With the credits listed, it is important to note that you should not value them at 100%, after all you would not pay face value for the credits. Here is the total:

• $200 in Uber credits
• $200 in Airline Incidental credits
• $155 in Walmart+ credits
• $240 in Digital Entertainment credits
• $189 in CLEAR credits
• $25 in Global Entry credits (100/4 years)
• $100 in Saks credits

Total: $1109

Now, I don’t count the Walmart or Digital Entertainment in this calculation as I would not pay any money for those credits normally. Additionally, there are several cards with the Global Entry credit, though this is the card that I used to acquire Global Entry. Even assigning each of those $0, there is still $689 or $714 worth of value from a $695 card– before you count the intangibles or the signup bonus.

Currently the sign up bonus is 100,000 points after spending $6,000 in 6 months. At a minimum (1 cent per point), that is $1,060 in first-year value– on top of the $1,109 from the credits– for only $695. That’s great value! If you would like to sign up, follow this link. Note: I am not being compensated for this, though I do receive AmEx points if you sign up through my link. Thank you for your support!

Evan