Different Flavors Of The American Express Platinum Card

Update 4/15/19: Updated this page to reflect changes to the ameriprise card and the fact that the Mercedes Benz verison is no longer available.

A lot of people don’t realize that American Express offer multiple co-branded versions of their Platinum credit card. I thought it would be fun to look at each of these cards and also create a table to compare them. This is particularly interesting as American Express have moved to a one bonus per lifetime rule on their personal cards, but you should (YMMV) be able to get the bonus on each of these cards once.

The Cards

There are also a few other partners with which American Express used to offer co-branded platinum cards with: First Republic Bank & Guaranty bank.

Comparison Table

All of these cards come with the same staple of benefits, so I am only going to focus on the things that are actually different: annual fees (for both primary and additional card holders).

?Platinum Card From American ExpressMorgan StanleyGoldman SachsAmeriprise FinancialCharles Schwab
Annual Fee$550$550$550$550$550
Additional CardholdersFirst three are $175, each additional is $175First one free, then $175 each per yearFirst three are $175, each additional is $175First three are $175, each additional is $175First three are $175, each additional is $175
Sign up bonus60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within three months. Possible to get a 100,000 point bonus?60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within first three months10,000 points after first purchase60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within first three months60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within first three months
Spending bonusNone$500 after $100,000 or more in spend within a card member year40,000 points after $100,000 or more in spend within a card member year5,000 MR points after every $20,000 in spend (limit of 30,000 MR points)none
AvailabilityEverybodyMust have MS accountMust have GS accountRestricted to those with AF account, but not enforcedMust have Charles Schwab account
Additional BenefitsNoneNoneNoneNoneRedeem points for 1.25 cents per point. $100 statement credit if funds $250k+, $200 if funds 1,000k+

Best Card Platinum Card

On the surface the original American Express platinum looks one of the weakest (Goldman Sachs card is by far the worst option) but you need to remember that people often receive sign up bonuses of 100,000/150,000 MR points (the best way to check for these offers is with the American Express pre-approval tool). The best option will really depend on what cards are available to you and what you value more (e.g cash or MR points) – I can see benefits to getting each of these cards. Considering you can only get the sign up bonus on each of these cards once, I’d recommend getting cards when they have increased sign up bonuses. Here is what I’d look for:

  • Original American Express Platinum: 100,000+ points
  • Morgan Stanley: ??
  • Goldman Sachs: ??
  • Ameriprise: 25,000 points with annual fee waived. Annual fee is no longer waived, so anything above 60,000 would be a better offer
  • Charles Schwab: Hasn’t had an increased offer

 

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

115 Comments
newest
oldest most voted

JG
JG (@guest_1414033)
July 23, 2022 15:50

Is there an updated version of this article?
Thanks

Dan
Dan (@guest_1164220)
March 21, 2021 16:53

Is the Ameriprise flavor no longer available?

Jason
Jason (@guest_1153898)
March 3, 2021 19:28

Update on the MS Platinum:
The Anniversary Spend Award will no longer be available as a benefit on your Card, effective with your next anniversary date that
occurs on or after April 1, 2020.

Looks the $500 bonus will be going away

Ben
Ben (@guest_829504)
October 23, 2019 15:08

Just tried applying for the Schwab Plat, have never had the card before, but have had the vanilla Plat as well as the Mercedes Benz version that was converted to the vanilla. Upon applying for the card I was greeted by the popup stating that due to the cards I had previously had I was not eligible for the signup bonus.

Have the multiple sign bonuses been put to an end?

Ben
Ben (@guest_956219)
April 12, 2020 14:43

Don’t think so. I believe that the pop-up box refers to the number of Amex cards recently opened, not relating to a business received on another flavor of the Platinum card.

Ben
Ben (@guest_956220)
April 12, 2020 14:43

* bonus

Wai
Wai (@guest_811643)
September 18, 2019 14:21

Once I have the new AMEX Platinum credit card, do I need to open a separate online account for each one?

EWayfarer
EWayfarer (@guest_768223)
June 7, 2019 12:13

Since this article lists out only the differences between the various flavors, I want to know whether the AU Gold cards are available on the co-branded cards.

Referring to the table in this other article, it doesn’t explictly mention that the co-branded Platinum cards offer AU “Gold” cards for $0 AF.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/list-american-express-cards-access-amex-offers-af-au-fee/#Personal_Charge_Cards

So if that’s the case, shouldn’t the table here also mention this difference?

Thanks.

Tom
Tom (@guest_749830)
April 18, 2019 08:15

Can we own (and get sign on bonuses) for two different platinum cards at the same time? I am trying to figure out if I need to cancel my existing platinum before applying for a different one.

Zorn
Zorn (@guest_750200)
April 19, 2019 11:14

My understanding is that they are considered different products so it doesn’t matter.

Tom G
Tom G (@guest_751718)
April 23, 2019 22:57

You can have multiple at the same time, but you’ll probably need to call amex to recon the additional versions.

JMR0303
JMR0303 (@guest_749385)
April 17, 2019 03:25

Now that Goldman Sachs is getting into issuing their own credit cards, I wonder if they’ll still keep the cobranded card with AmEx or if they’ll start issuing a premium card themselves?

Will Shrop
Will Shrop (@guest_749101)
April 16, 2019 14:26

You forgot to list the Amex Platinum Business card, no? 🙂

Frugal Nellie (aka Lela)
Frugal Nellie (aka Lela) (@guest_810576)
September 15, 2019 23:20

Could you do a list of Amex Plat Business cards? Especially useful for those staying under 5/24.

Will Shrop
Will Shrop (@guest_749100)
April 16, 2019 14:23

Why the question around the Charles Schwab 1.25 redemption? From the card’s website:

***Earn Membership Rewards® points that you can turn into deposits to your eligible Schwab account. (For example, 60,000 points = $750).***

You need a General Brokerage Account, but when you set up a Checking Account, you automatically get a Brokerage Account. There is a hard credit pull for this

Kuskit
Kuskit (@guest_749320)
April 16, 2019 22:11

No hard credit pull. There is one box that you have to uncheck. I read it somewhere and I recently opened an account and no credit pull.

Gadget
Gadget (@guest_749369)
April 17, 2019 00:19

Kuskit I assume the box you are speaking of is Options trading. I avoided that box. I still got a hard pull. I did not open the Schwab checking, so I avoided a Chex pull. Opened Schwab One “Cash & Money Market” brokerage account.

Unless something has changed in the last 2 years, Schwab does a hard pull. HP took a few days to show up on Credit Karma, EQ hit in VA as I recall.

Kuskit
Kuskit (@guest_752988)
April 28, 2019 09:26

It has been 2 months since I opened the account and no hard pull. If I recall correctly the box that is checked is something about Margin… that has to be unchecked.

Gadget
Gadget (@guest_753009)
April 28, 2019 11:25

Yeah, margin is used in options trading. In 2017…I unchecked it. Still got hard pull, EQ pull on CK took a day to show up as I recall. Either you got lucky, or they changed the brokerage application process recently.

I applied online. They called me on the phone and asked me a few questions. I specifically asked the CSR if there was a hard pull for opening the brokerage account. Answer was Yes.