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Based on our rating methodology, the American Express Platinum card scored 3.8 out of 5. The company scored best in the security category because it takes data safety seriously and has implemented many measures to protect cardholder information.
The company earned middle-of-the-road scores in the rates and fees and customer service categories. While the American Express Platinum Card® doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, it has a very high annual fee, and many other account costs are on par with similar credit cards. Plus, while American Express provides 24/7 customer service by phone, mobile app, or online chat, it has an overall negative reputation on websites such as Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
In the sections below, we dive into the details behind the scores we gave in each category.
Here’s a look at the American Express Platinum annual percentage rate (APR) and fee schedule:
Pay Over Time APR: 20.24%-28.24%
Cash advance APR: 29.49%
Penalty APR: 29.99%
Annual: $695
Annual for additional card: $195
Cash advance: Greater of $10 or 5% of the cash advance amount
Foreign transaction: $0
Late or returned payment: $40
The Platinum Card® doesn’t offer a 0% promotional APR, so if you carry a balance, it will be subject to the Pay Over Time APR from the beginning. If you miss a due date, your account may be subject to the penalty APR until you make six consecutive on-time payments.
The American Express Platinum Card® offers many perks to cardholders, such as:
You can earn the following rewards by using your Platinum card:
5x points on flights booked directly via an airline or American Express Travel (capped at $500,000 in spend per calendar year)
5x points on prepaid hotels booked via American Express Travel
1x points on all other eligible purchases
Depending on your redemption method, points may be worth up to $0.01 each. Here’s what 10,000 points can get you:
Up to $100 in gift cards
Up to $100 to book travel
$70-$100 to pay at checkout
$60 in statement credit
While you may get the most benefit from your points by using them to book travel, redeeming them for a statement credit could make sense if you want to pay off your balance sooner.
As a Platinum cardholder, you can enjoy the following statement credits by using your card to make purchases at participating partners:
Global Entry credit: Up to $120 every four years for your application fee
TSA Precheck® credit: Up to $85 every 4.5 years for your membership
CLEAR® Plus credit: Up to $199 for your membership
The Hotel Collection credit: Up to $100 toward eligible expenses when you book 2+ nights at a participating hotel via American Express Travel
Prepaid hotel credit: Up to $200 for qualifying bookings
Airline fee credit: Up to $200 to cover incidental airline expenses
Digital entertainment credit: Up to $240 ($20 per month) for select streaming services and online news subscriptions
Walmart+ credit: Up to $12.95 per month for your membership
Equinox credit: Up to $300 for your membership
Saks credit: Up to $100 for transactions at Saks Fifth Avenue (in-store and online)
You can also get $200 in Uber Cash each year ($15 per month, plus a $20 bonus) when you add your card to your Uber account and use it to pay for a ride or delivery.
The American Express Platinum Card® features several travel-related benefits, including:
Fine Hotels and Resorts Program®: Enjoy access to perks such as breakfast for two, room upgrades upon arrival, late checkouts, and early check-ins (subject to hotel participation and availability)
Global Lounge Collection®: Enroll in Priority Pass Select and visit 1,400 airport lounges in 140 countries
Global Dining by Resy: Add your card to your Resy account and gain access to special restaurants around the world
Platinum Travel Service: Receive custom recommendations and itineraries from a travel consultant
Premium Global Assist® Hotline: Get 24/7 emergency assistance when you’re 100+ miles from home
Hilton Honors™ Gold Status and Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite Status: Enroll in these hotel statuses for free
Car Rental Privileges: Get complimentary premium status at Avis, Hertz, and National car rental companies and enjoy perks like free vehicle upgrades
Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance: Get coverage for damage or theft when you decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver (CDW)
Trip Delay Insurance: Get reimbursed for select expenses (up to $500 per trip and twice per consecutive 12-month period) when your trip gets delayed by 6+ hours for a covered reason
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance: Get reimbursed for non-refundable expenses (up to $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per consecutive 12-month period) if your trip gets canceled or interrupted for a covered reason
The Platinum Card® also offers many other benefits, like:
Events with Amex™: Get special access to concerts, sports matches, and other events
Premium Events Collection™: Enjoy specially curated experiences for Platinum members
American Express Offers: Earn extra points by browsing offers and adding them to your account
Return Protection: Return eligible items to American Express if the seller won’t accept them within 90 days of purchase (up to $300 per item and $1,000 per calendar year)
Purchase Protection: Get reimbursed if your covered item is lost, stolen, or damaged within 90 days of purchase (up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 per calendar year)
Cellphone Protection: Get reimbursed up to $800 to fix or replace your stolen or damaged phone if you pay the service bill with your Platinum card (up to 2 claims per 12-month period; a $50 deductible applies)
Extended Warranty: Get an additional year of warranty coverage on eligible items purchased with your card (up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 in a calendar year)
Amex Send®: Send money to your loved ones without paying the standard credit card fee
Learn MoreThe American Express Platinum Card® doesn’t have a set spending limit. Instead, the amount you can charge adjusts based on your credit, purchase, and payment history.
You can pay your American Express Platinum Card® bill in three ways:
In full
Pay Over Time
Plan It®
Paying your bill in full each month helps you save money in interest, but if that isn’t possible, you can spread the debt over multiple billing cycles.
Any balance you carry is subject to your Pay Over Time APR (20.24%-28.24%) and Pay Over Time spending limit. Even though your account doesn’t have a preset spending limit, the card issuer will cap the amount you can borrow beyond the current billing cycle.
You can set up a Plan It® payment plan of equal monthly installments when you make a purchase of $100 or more. You can have up to ten plans at a time.
Plans are subject to a monthly fee based on your repayment term. Check out the Plan It® Pre-Purchase Calculator to see how much a plan may cost.
Here are some of the things American Express does to keep your personal and financial data safe:
Monitors your account for suspicious activity
Sends alerts when unusual spending is detected
Makes it easy to report fraud by phone or online
Uses SafeKey to verify your identity when you shop online (you may have to enter a code, tap an app notification, or scan your face or fingerprint)
Plus, when you add your American Express Platinum Card® to your digital wallet, your account details aren’t stored on your device.
You can read detailed information about all of the American Express cards on the company’s website. Unfortunately, the card issuer doesn’t disclose its qualification criteria publicly. A customer service representative also couldn’t provide that information when I called.
You can apply for an account online. The application is one-page and asks basic questions about your identity and income. You can also apply for a card by calling 1-888-297-1244 seven days a week from 8a to 11p EST. I called this line and got connected with a friendly representative within one minute. They answered my questions and were ready to help me apply for a Platinum account or find a card that better met my needs.
Your credit score won’t be impacted unless you’re approved for and accept the card. If approved, you may receive an instant card number to use virtually. American Express will mail your physical card within seven days of application approval.
As a cardholder, you can manage your account via the American Express mobile app, which is available for both Android and iOS devices. The app helps you:
See your balance, available credit, and payment information
Make a payment
Track rewards
Find special offers
Freeze your card or request a replacement
The app is fairly well-rated by Android device users (3.9 out of 5 stars) and highly rated by Apple device users (4.9 out of 5 stars). Some reviewers praised the app for being user-friendly. However, others said a recent update made the app less effective.
You can get help with your American Express Platinum account 24/7 in these three ways:
By phone – 1-800-528-4800 (line for existing cardholders)
Online
Via the mobile app
You must be logged into your online account or mobile app to chat with a representative. I couldn't test these contact methods since I’m not an American Express cardholder.
However, we spoke to two current Platinum members – certified financial planner (CFP®) and owner of The Ways to Wealth, R.J. Weiss, and CFP® and owner of Arch Financial Planning, LLC, Cecil Staton – to learn about their experience as cardholders. Weiss said the online chat is “a nice feature compared to most other providers' messaging systems. For example, with the chat, I switched the airline for the $200 in airline incidental credits in a few minutes, which allowed me to use the credits to upgrade seats on an upcoming flight without much delay.”
Staton has had to contact American Express for two reasons – his card got stolen, and he wanted a retention offer to keep his account. “Both experiences were positive. When the card was stolen, I had a new one expedited. When I've asked for retention offers to keep cards, they are usually given, and the customer service representative is very helpful,” said Staton.
Weiss said that his experience has been good overall. “My version is the Schwab Platinum card, which allows you to cash out Membership Rewards® points for 1.1 cents per point. The most valuable rebates for me are the airline credits, streaming credits, and Uber Cash. I don’t get much value from the lounges, as my home airport doesn’t have a Centurian lounge, and I usually travel with a family of five,” he explained.
Staton enjoys the travel-related benefits. He said, “I justify the card expenses each year by the airline credit, global entry credit, and lounge access.”
We also checked Reddit to get a few more perspectives. Some Redditors said the card is solid if you’re a frequent traveler or use the perks like cellphone, purchase, and return protection. Others said the travel insurance isn’t great, and frequent lodgers may already have higher statuses at hotel chains than the card offers.
American Express doesn’t have the best reputation online. Here are three blemishes we came across in our research:
From Trustpilot: 1.4 out of 5 stars across 4,500 reviews, with 79% of reviewers giving the company one star
From the BBB: No accreditation, F rating, 1.1 out of 5 stars
From the court: Ordered to pay $108.7 million in civil penalties for allegedly engaging in deceptive marketing practices (as of January 16, 2025)
Please note: As of this writing, we have contacted the company’s public relations department regarding these issues and are awaiting their comments.
Amex Platinum | Amex Gold | |
Annual fee | $695 | $325 See Rates & Fees |
Base rewards |
|
|
APR | 20.24%-28.24% for Pay Over Time balances | See Pay Over Time |
Sign-on bonus | Up to 175,000 Membership Rewards® points if you spend $8,000 within 6 months of account opening | Up to 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases within your first 6 months of Card Membership. |
The American Express Platinum Card could be a good addition to your wallet if you use it to book travel frequently. However, the American Express Gold Card is a better fit if you want to earn points for buying groceries or dining out.
We research each card thoroughly before writing our review. Here’s some of what we consider:
Rates and fees: How much does it cost to be a cardholder? Do the benefits outweigh the expense?
Features and benefits: What is the card’s reward structure? What special perks do you get for being a member?
Security: Does the company safeguard your personal and financial data? Is it easy to monitor your account and report fraud?
User experience: Is it easy to research, apply for, and use the card? Does the card issuer offer a helpful mobile app?
Customer service: Can you get help with your account 24/7? Does the card issuer have a good reputation?
We give the card a one to five rating in each of the above categories, with one being the worst and five being the best. The average of the five ratings is the Editor’s Score.
Weiss said, “The best question to ask yourself is: are the benefits worth paying $695 upfront? This card doesn’t have a lot of great spending bonus categories, so it’s not a card you’d use every day. You’re mostly paying for the perks and credits. If it’s worth paying upfront for the perks, then it’s a good fit,” Weiss continued.
Staton added, “This card would be best utilized by someone who wants an elevated experience when traveling. It would not be good for someone who doesn't want to keep track of utilizing all of the benefits before they expire.”
“It’s a premium card, and Amex wants to make sure that anyone they approve can consistently pay the annual fee year after year. So, you’ll need a higher credit score compared to a no-annual-fee card. But it’s not necessarily hard to get approved if you have a good credit score,” said Weiss.
American Express doesn’t publicly disclose eligibility criteria for its credit cards, so it’s unclear what salary you need to qualify for a Platinum account. However, as a rule, you should have sufficient income to pay your card balance in full each month. That way, you don’t incur interest charges.
The American Express Platinum Card® doesn’t have a general credit limit. The amount you can spend may fluctuate based on your credit, usage, and payment history. However, the card issuer does impose a Pay Over Time spending limit to cap the amount of debt you can carry from month to month.
Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
