American Express have just announced a number of changes to their personal Platinum card, the biggest changes are:
- Annual fee increasing to $550 from $450
- Existing cardholders that have their annual fee due before August 31st, 2017 will get billed $450 for this year
- Existing cardholders that have their annual fee due on or after September 1st, 2017 will be billed $550
- Addition of $200 in Uber credits per year ($15 per month and an additional $20 in December)
- Full changes can be found here
Currently you can get the American Express Platinum with the $450 annual fee and a sign up bonus of 75,000 points after $5,000 in spend. Does it make sense to get the card now and pay $100 less for the annual fee or should you wait? It’s important to remember that you can only get the sign up bonus on each American Express card once.
There are two things to consider:
- Will American Express offer an increased bonus to try and attract new cardholders?
- Will American Express just offer an increased bonus in the future?
In terms of #1, I have no idea (but I’m trying to find out from sources at American Express). In terms of #2 we’ve seen leaked links for 100,000 points in the past, the problem is that American Express have aggressively frozen accounts and issued points clawbacks for people using those links so even if another similar leak did become available I’d advise against it.
It’s not unreasonable to expect to get targeted for a 100,000 point offer in the future and 25,000 Membership Reward points are more valuable than $100, but it really depends on if you need those points in the near future or not and how long you’re happy to wait (not to mention points/miles inflation and devaluations making those points worth less in the future).
For now my recommendation would be to wait unless you do have that short term need for either the Platinum benefits or the points. Fingers crossed we see a much higher bonus on this card after March 30th when these benefits are added.
Question: may I buy an Uber gift card to get the monthly credit? I will use $200 for Uber in a year but won’t use Uber most months.
Nope
Hi Doc,
Correct me if I am wrong, but the Uber credit is $15/month except in December where it is $35. My calculation would give me the $200 total uber credit where yours is only $185/year.
DOC says “additional $20 in December” on top of $15 normally, which makes it $35 in Dec.
+1
Interesting. I’ve had an offer in my offers for the Platinum 75K – no language on one time per customer. Had to apply by some time in May – so I was waiting. Now its gone.
I know that the travel credit works per card account so the AU and primary share that credit, but how will the new uber credit work for AU’s?
Primary cardholder only.
I read someone’s comment elsewhere that Uber credits are applied in an all or nothing method. Meaning, if your first ride of the month only costs $8, you would forfeit the remaining $7 of the $15 monthly credit. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Obviously this would have a huge implication on whether you can get full value out of the $200 credit.
Thankfully it can be used on multiple rides. From the T&C:
“There is no limit to the number of rides you may apply the Credit to each month, up to a total of $15 in Credits per month. “
That was how Cap One credits worked at first, but they changed it to just issuing a $15 credit, which could be spread across multiple rides. My gut says the reasoning here is because it was easier for Uber – issuing a variable credit usually presents issues in the app from my experience. I’d imagine it would be issued as a full $15 credit & expire at the end of each month.
But what do I know? That would be a big deal 🙂
For existing cardholder, do I automatically receive a new metal card after March?
Do you have to pay your next annual fee before the uber credit kicks in? Although doing it by $15 a month is BS imo…..makes it so I may use it 3 months out of the year instead of using it up in one trip.
Lol, that’s exactly why they did it that way. When people go on trips, they use Uber a ton in a short amount of time, and in 1-2 trips a year it would be easy for most people to use up the full $200. But when I’m at home, I’ll go multiple months without ever really needing an Uber. This way, they figure people won’t use up the credit. That one rule on this new card means -that- at least for me- the Uber credit is nowhere near worth $200 and this new version of the card is less appealing than the old one.
Oh I know that is why they did it I just think it is a shady ass way to get another $100 out of most of their customers.
Indeed, it is. Equally as shady ass as the $200 “incidental” airline credit they already had, which only covers certain things and not regular good old-fashioned airfare- so now there are 2 on the same product.There are probably a ton of people who don’t use it but think they will. At least with that one there are ways to get the value out if you’re in the know, but with this new Uber credit I doubt that even the most astute MSers will find a way, now that Uber’s gift cards are handled by Cashstar. But I’ll be interested to see if something turns up.
I will say that for people who do use Uber every month, this new version could be worth it for some.
If it works with Uber Eats, it will be worth it. I suppose we will find out.
Don’t forget that the Uber credit isn’t in the form of a CC statement credit reimbursement; rather, it is directly deposited into your linked personal Uber account at the beginning of every month. So Uber GCs/Cashstar/all that is irrelevant.
What is relevant, however, is whether this special Uber credit works on UberEats. If it behaves exactly like a regular Uber GC does (except for the expiry date), then it will indeed work. Might not be a bad option for those who don’t (or can’t) ride Uber regularly.
Amex’s new annual fee implement seems always slow though I don’t know how’s that applied to a card that do charge first years annual fee. For me personally, I got the new SPG with 95 af already stated on the app page, received terms stating 65 af after first year and was actually charged 65 for second year. Got BCP and got written notice that the annual fee will increase to 95, got charged 2 month ago for 75. So… I don’t know…
I’m bad at math can someone help me?
I signed up on May 9th 2016 and was going to cancel this year. If I renew this year once it hits May, are my assumptions below accurate?
$450 annual fee renewal instead of $550 – $230 in uber credit – $200 airline credit for 2017 (Already used 2016) = $20 fee?
Seems like a sweet deal since I use the lounges a couple times a year.
In case you are able to utilize the uber credit well, yes. And you got an extra year of Amex offer.
Your math seems good to me.
math is wrong. uber $230? wat? also, you only included features you care about? then yea, i guess only flight credit and uber. so many other benefits to consider. so $20 fee? no. youre actually in the black even without the uber credit, but oh well. your call. you were gonna cancel anyway right? then that means you have no use for it.
Idiot.
Will those who already have the card be grandfathered in $450 AF?
Doesn’t appear so. TPG’s report says that those who have an AF due before August 31, 2017 will still renew at $450, but on or after September 1st, 2017, you’ll be billed at $550.
I doubt it; I expect members need to pay the higher fee next year.
Amex is pretty lubricate about when to start charging new annual fees but I think the answer is no. They will start within no more than 2 years.