Last summer, American Express rolled out a revamped version of its iconic Platinum card. While some of these changes were controversial, I ended up being a fan overall. Yet, one of the sources of consternation among some involved the limitations of the Digital Entertainment Credit. At launch, this $240 a year (broken down into $20 per month limits) credit was valuable, but only applied to select services: Audible, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The New York Times. Now, Amex has announced the addition of three — technically four, perhaps — new options that will trigger this credit.
Starting this month, the Platinum’s Digital Entertainment Credit can be used for subscriptions to Disney+, Hulu, and/or ESPN+. As for that questionable fourth option I mentioned, well, there’s also the Disney Bundle that includes all three services. To take advantage of the credit, new and existing users can simply pay their subscription bill using their Platinum card and the credit will be applied within a few business days. Should users subscribe to more than one eligible service with the total exceeding the $20 per month cap, then the second charge will trigger a partial reimbursement to bring the total monthly credited amount to $20.
Of course, there are some important things to note here. First, this does leave subscribers with a bit of a conundrum as annual plans for these services are often discounted from the monthly price. However, since Amex only pays out up to $20 a month for the credit, paying annually will only trigger this $20 credit once. That said, customers could still use their subsequent monthly credit for other eligible platforms. Next, it should also be pointed out that, in order to qualify for the credit, you’ll need to use your Platinum directly through the eligible service. In other words, if your subscription is made through iTunes, your purchase may not count toward the credit, even if your iTunes account is linked to your Amex.
Personally, despite being a big Disney fan, I actually don’t intend on making changes to my Amex Digitial Entertainment Credit. For one, our Disney+ subscription doesn’t expire until November as we initially signed up for a three-year plan ahead of launch. Secondly, despite this credit option, I still think we’d be better off paying the annual price and saving money that way. Third, while the Disney Bundle may be a good option, we already have Hulu included in our Spotify plan. And lastly, I’ve been quite pleased with my current strategy to max out this credit, which includes subscribing to Audible and then using the rest of our credit on our SiriusXM subscription. However, if we did eventually decide to cancel SiriusXM, perhaps I’d add ESPN+ just to fill out our piecemeal Disney Bundle and use up the rest of our credit each month.
Even with the addition of these Disney streaming services, there are of course still plenty of heavy hitters missing from the Amex Platinum’s Digital Entertainment Credit. Netflix, HBO Max, Paramount+, Spotify, Apple Music, and others are all still no-gos at this time. Nevertheless, it’s definitely encouraging to see this credit expand, hopefully making it more usable for customers and helping them to get more value out of their $695 annual fee card.