I’ll preface this by saying that this is nothing more than a rumor at this stage, I believe it to be true but can’t go into specifics and I’m less sure of this than I was of the Chase 5/24 rule and Chase Sapphire Reserve leaks. Apparently they want to introduce new product(s) to compete with the Chase Sapphire Reserve and plan to introduce these as early as Q4 of 2016. Some people have been throwing around a date of October 5th, but I suspect that will be for a different promotion/offering.
The big thing I got out of what I’ve heard is that they want to compete with the one size fits all nature of the Reserve card. In that it offers travel benefits, premium protections/insurance, category bonuses and cash back.
[Read: Premium Cards Compared: Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express Platinum & Citi Prestige]
I’m interested to see if American Express launch a new card or they make adjustments to the American Express Platinum card they already offer. I could see the value in launching a new card, as that would put less pressure on the Platinum lounge network they offer. Personally I’m very much hoping for new cards, because that means I’ll be able to get the sign up bonus again (as American Express is once per lifetime).
Feel free to speculate in the comments, but for now I’m filing this one away as ‘wait and see’.
