We’ve known that American Express was planning its largest overhaul ever of the Amex Platinum Card portfolio. Along those lines, the changes are live as of today, and they’re roughly what you’d expect… or perhaps maybe even a bit better than expected. In this post, I’d like to take a look at the changes to the personal version of the card, and in a separate post, I’ve covered the changes to the business version of the card.
The card’s annual fee has increased, but several valuable new perks have been introduced as well, and I think the card’s value proposition might just be better than before, which is a pleasant surprise. Let’s take a look at all the details.
Details of the Amex Platinum Card changes
The Amex Platinum Card is undergoing major changes. For new cardmembers, all these changes (including the higher annual fee and new perks) kick in effective immediately. Meanwhile for existing cardmembers, the new perks kick in effective immediately, while the higher annual fee only applies for the first renewal on January 2, 2026, or later.
I’ll cover the changes below, though let me note that most of the existing perks stick around, so a lot of the changes are just incremental improvements. So there are no changes to the lounge access perks, existing benefits and credits (Equinox, Saks, airline fee, etc.), rewards structure, etc.
Annual fee increases from $695 to $895
Let’s start with the bad news first. The Amex Platinum Card’s annual fee has increased by $200, from $695 to $895 (there’s no change to the authorized user fee). This is a new high among card annual fees, but is hardly surprising, given the annual fee inflation we’ve seen over the years. Obviously that’s a significant increase, though on the plus side, some valuable new perks have been added as well.
Hotel credit increases from $200 to $600
With the refresh, the Amex Platinum Card now offers up to $600 in hotel credits annually. This is a semi-annual credit, so you receive up to a $300 credit in January through June, and up to a $300 credit in July through December.
This credit is valid for prepaid Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel®. For The Hotel Collection, stays must be at least two nights, while a single night stay is valid with Fine Hotels + Resorts®.
This is pretty awesome, since you could basically book a $300 hotel stay every six months, and maximize the credit that way.
Digital entertainment credit increases from $240 to $300
With the refresh, the Amex Platinum Card now offers up to $300 in digital entertainment credits annually. This is a monthly credit of up to $25, valid on select digital subscriptions, and enrollment is required. As a point of comparison, previously the credit was up to $20 per month, so this is an increase of $5 per month.
This credit is valid with Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV. Most notable is that YouTube now qualifies, which wasn’t previously the case.
New $400 Resy dining credit added
With the refresh, the Amex Platinum Card now offers up to $400 in Resy credits annually. The way this works, you can get up to $100 in statement credits each quarter when you use your card to make eligible purchases with Resy, including dining purchases at over 10,000 U.S. Resy restaurants, and ennrollment is required.
If you dine out with any frequency, this has the potential to be quite valuable. Admittedly the downside is that the card doesn’t otherwise have a great value proposition for dining spending, as it’s not a bonused category.
New $300 Lululemon shopping credit added
With the refresh, the Amex Platinum Card now offers up to $300 in Lululemon credits annually. The way this works, you can get up to $75 in statement credits each quarter when you use your card to make eligible purchases with Lululemon in the U.S., and enrollment is required.
New $200 Oura Ring credit added
With the refresh, the Amex Platinum Card now offers up to $200 in Oura Ring credits annually. This is valid if you use your card to purchase an Oura Ring through ouraring.com, and enrollment is required.
New $120 Uber One credit added
With the refresh, the Amex Platinum Card now offers up to $120 in statement credits each calendar year after purchasing an auto-renewing Uber One membership with the card. This is separate from the card’s $200 annual Uber Cash benefit, which continues to be available.
New Leaders Club Sterling status from LHW added
The Amex Platinum Card already offers Hilton Gold and Marriott Gold status (enrollment required), and now we can add another hotel elite tier to the mix. With the refresh, the Amex Platinum Card now offers Leaders Club Sterling status from Leading Hotels of the World, with enrollment being required.
This status ordinarily requires $5,000 of spending at these hotels per year, and offers things like five pre-arrival upgrades per year.
My take on these Amex Platinum Card changes
Of course I don’t like to see card annual fees go even higher, since we’ve seen a huge amount of inflation in that regard. That being said, for those of us into maximizing value, I think these changes are surprisingly positive.
Most crucially, for the $200 annual fee increase, we’re getting $400 in annual Resy credits, plus an incremental $400 in hotel credits. Previously you received one $200 hotel credit every year, and now you get two $300 hotel credits every year. I think many of us will come out way ahead with these changes, and that’s great.
And that says nothing of the Lululemon credit, Oura Ring credit, Uber One credit, increased digital entertainment credit, etc.
The major downside here is the continued issue of credit card fatigue, as I call it. For those of us looking to maximize value, there’s just so much to keep track of in terms of things to do monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, etc.
The ability to get outsized value is definitely there. The question is just how exhausting it is to actually do all of that. But I do think these are some of the more positive changes that we’ve seen to a premium card in quite some time. Obviously Amex’s hope with these changes is that cardmembers will increasingly use their cards for dining and travel spending, and the credits are intended to incentivize that.
My one major frustration with this card is its value proposition, and the lack of bonus categories. It’s quite a contrast to other premium cards, which offer bonus points in some popular spending categories. Obviously Amex’s hope is that the strong perks and credits will get people to keep their card front of wallet, even if the card isn’t that rewarding for spending.
Bottom line
The Amex Platinum Card has just undergone a major revamp. The card’s annual fee has been increased by $200, to $895 per year. That being said, we’ve seen a substantial number of new perks added, including an increased hotel credit and digital entertainment credit, new credits for Lululemon, Oura Ring, and Uber One, and more.
I think there’s definitely the potential to get outsized value with these changes, and on balance, I’d consider them to be positive. At a minimum, the new Resy credit seems really easy to maximize. It’s all just a function of whether you’re willing to put in the effort to take advantage of all these perks.
What do you make of this Amex Platinum Card revamp?