My take on the benefits of the American Express Platinum card (and referral)
This article is about the personal American Express Platinum card. If you’re interested in the ‘business’ version (for your company), check out this article.
If you’d like a referral, click this link.
American Express: What Is It?
While common in some countries, American Express is still relatively underdeveloped in France.
Contrary to what you might think, American Express is not a bank—it’s a payment method (like Visa or Mastercard).
If you choose to become an American Express customer, it doesn’t mean changing your bank account. When you sign up, you’ll need to authorize Amex to debit your account. Once you receive your card, you can use it daily. Only at the beginning of the following month will American Express debit your bank account for the amount of your previous month’s spending.
In other words, Amex gives you free credit for a month.
American Express makes money by charging merchants a fee for each transaction. This fee is higher than what Visa and Mastercard charge. This ‘extra’ allows Amex to be generous to its customers by offering a range of services and perks.
American Express Platinum: rates and conditions
The American Express Platinum card is the most prestigious card: it offers the most benefits but also comes with the highest annual fee.
There’s an even more exclusive card: the Centurion. It’s available only by invitation from Amex and costs several thousand euros a year.
The Platinum, on the other hand, costs €55 per month (or €660 per year).
To qualify for this card, you need to prove a minimum income of €65,000 gross per year.
Welcome benefits
As soon as you spend €750 with your card, you’ll get a €250 rebate.
The card arrives in an elegant box, which is a nice touch.
Cashback
It’s one of the fundamentals of American Express: every time you make a purchase with your card, you earn reward points.
With a very simple rate: €1 spent = 1 reward point. This applies both in stores and online.
Once you’ve accumulated enough points, you can request a refund for a purchase. 1,000 reward points are worth €5, which is a cashback rate of 0.5%.
You can also convert your points into points for certain loyalty programs. Personally, I convert them into Marriott points for free nights.
The Priority Pass card
With the American Express Platinum card, you get a free Priority Pass card. This card, worth €399, gives you unlimited access to the 1,200 airport lounges in the network, spread all over the world.
This is a really great perk. Especially since you get a free additional Amex for your spouse (who also gets their own Priority Pass).
As a Priority Pass holder, you can also bring a guest free of charge. Perfect for sharing with friends!
Earning statuses
As an Amex Platinum holder, you get complimentary gold status in the Marriott, Hilton, Radisson, and Melia hotel programs. This grants you perks like discounts, free upgrades, free breakfasts, as well as early check-in and late checkout.
As a Marriott Gold member, you also get 10% off restaurant bills.
You also get preferred status with car rental companies Avis and Hertz.
€400 in complimentary dining
Quite an exceptional offer: Amex reimburses you twice a year for €200 (once in France, once abroad) at a selection of gourmet restaurants.
A unique opportunity to treat yourself for less at high-end establishments.
The eligible restaurants are pretty amazing—you’ll find places like Guy Savoy, Yannick Alléno, or Jean-François Piège.
I took advantage of it for the first time in December 2022 by going to this restaurant.
As you can see, the lunch amount was fully reimbursed to me 9 days later.
We took advantage of it again at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome in March 2023.
Update: now it’s only 2 times x 100€ in France
Regular Offers
Throughout the year, Amex offers deals and discounts through its mobile app, whether for online or in-store purchases.
For example, every year Amex offers a few months of 5€ cashback on each in-store purchase of at least 20€, valid 5 times. If you have two cards, that’s an extra 50€ in benefits.
Another example below: 100€ cashback for 250€ spent at Hyatt.
Last example: the Amazon Prime subscription is free until the end of 2025, that’s 70€ back every year!
Insurance
When you talk about a premium payment card, you usually expect various insurance coverages.
That’s certainly the case with Amex, which offers a wide range of coverage.
The most interesting one in my opinion: insurance for rental cars. You can decline all the rental company’s optional insurances, and Amex covers them. If you rent cars regularly, that can be several hundred euros in extra benefits.
Concierge service
Amex is also known for its concierge service.
It’s not really a service that impresses me, even though it sounds very “prestigious”.
I used them once for a fairly complex request. They took a bit of time to search but couldn’t find an answer.
If you have a minister’s schedule, though, it can save you some time for making reservations, ordering flowers, …
Another point that might be interesting, but I haven’t tried it: Amex has a number of tickets for many concerts and sporting events. So it’s possible to get tickets through them.
The downside: foreign transaction fees
This is the big issue I have with Amex: in 2022, they still charge 2.8% in currency conversion fees on payments outside the eurozone. Without even offering a (paid?) option to avoid these fees.
That’s not competitive; more and more banks and payment methods are offering these fees for free. That’s why I barely use my Amex when abroad.
The PayPal trick
Quick tip: you can link your Amex to your PayPal account. You’ll be able to pay with your Amex via PayPal on all sites that accept PayPal, even if they don’t accept American Express.
A referral offer
If the American Express Platinum card interests you, I can refer you. You’ll get 40,000 reward points, which is an extra 200€ in benefits.
Click here to benefit from the referral.
Conclusion
Obviously, 660€ a year for a payment method isn’t cheap, but in my opinion, it can quickly pay for itself.
If you fly regularly and rent cars, there’s not much to hesitate about. The savings on insurance and access to airport lounges alone justify the price of the card.
If you add the 400 € 200€ annual dining credit and the cashback on your spending, you can see the card isn’t actually that expensive after all 😉
