Well, it happened. You may recall that, when we got word that the American Express Platinum card would receive a refresh, I admitted that I was quite nervous about the prospect. So, now that we have all of the details (including the increased annual fee), what are my feelings on this revamp?
Honestly? I’m positively floored! Not only is the $200 fee hike smaller than I feared, but the added and enhanced perks are stronger than I would have imagined. Plus, against all odds, they kept everything the card already offered intact! While you can read more about what all of these changes are over on Fioney, in this Quick Tip, I wanted to share how I’m already making some adjustments to my operations in order to maximize my Platinum card’s credits.
The first tweak I’m making involves the upgraded Digital Entertainment Credit. I was already using all but one cent of the $20 credit on my Disney+ and Hulu bundle. So when I saw that the credit was increasing to $25 per month, I initially didn’t know how I’d tap the additional $5. Thankfully, though, Amex has added YouTube Premium to the list of eligible services. As luck would have it, I recently signed up for YouTube Premium Lite. In turn, I’ve already moved billing for that over to my Platinum card, meaning that I’ll now have free Disney+ and Hulu while paying just $3 out of pocket for my YouTube Premium Lite.
As for the other perks I’ve prioritized, those would be the new Lululemon and Resy credits. Since both of these perks run on a quarterly calendar and the end of the third quarter is less than two weeks away, I realized that I needed to spring into action if I wanted to get the most from these perks. By happenstance, my mother-in-law is in town to do a 5K this weekend — so we’re treating her to a pasta dinner downtown tomorrow at one of the two local spots featured on Resy. Between the three of us, getting to $100 should really be no problem. Then, later this weekend, we’ll be heading to the mall and exploring my options at Lululemon. This particular trip will likely have my spying future options that will be completely covered by subsequent $75 credits, but I’ll also plan on picking up a new pair of joggers.
One thing I should have done before this refresh arrived was book a Fine Hotels & Resorts stay in order to use the previous $200 per year credit. Apparently, if I’d done so, I could have then also used the new $300 semi-annual credit as well. But, as awesome as “outsmarting” Amex would have been, I really didn’t have any upcoming trips to take advantage of this. Oh well.
All in all, I’m pretty pumped about this updated American Express Platinum card — and even more excited that I can use all of these new perks right away while still enjoying one more year at the $695 annual fee. I’m sure that, as I settle into the new perks, I’ll have more insights about the best ways to use them. Until then, at least these small tweaks seem like a good start.