Review: American Express Platinum Card UK.

The link to apply for the American Express Platinum Credit Card can be found here:

Sign-up bonus.

As of September 2024, the sign-up for this card is 40,000 points plus an additional 10,000 points when you spend £6,000 within the first three months of taking out the card.

Bonus eligibility.

Can anyone get the 40k bonus points? No, not really; to get those bonus points, you couldn’t have held a personal American Express card in your name in the past 24 months. However, if you’ve had, for example, the British Airways American Express card, then that’s fine because that’s an Avios card, whereas the Platinum card is a membership rewards card.

Card eligiblity.

Who can take out this card? Here’s what you need to qualify for this card.

1. A minimum personal income of just £35,000
2. Aged 18 or over
3. Have a current UK bank or Building Society account
4. Have a permanent UK home address
5. No history of bad debt

Annual fee.

This card’s annual fee is a whopping £650.00*. The representative APR is a 704.6% variable, including the annual fee, and a 31.0% variable on purchases.

But is it worth it? Well, we will take a deep dive into this card, looking at every angle and exploring all its benefits to see if it is worth it. Spoiler alert: It is!

Earning rate on this card.

The Membership Rewards earning rate on this card is as follows.

• 1 point for every £ purchase
• 2 points when you spend at amextravel.co.uk
• 12,000 when you invite a friend to join

Key benefit.

We already know this card has a hefty yearly fee, but what do I get for that? Well, here are some of the best benefits this card offers.

1. 1. Travel insurance for you and your family
   2. Full car hire insurance
   3. Access to the higher tiers at Avis Preferred and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, including a discount of up to 15%.
   4. ***£100.00 to spend at Harvey Nichols every year.
   5. ***£150.00 every year to spend at UK restaurants
   6. ***£150.00 every year to spend at international restaurants
   7. Additional benefits and discounts when booking via FHR
   8. **A Priority Pass card for you and the supplementary cardholder
   9. Access to the Amex Centurion Lounge
   10. Access to the Eurostar lounge in London, Brussels and Paris
   11. Get an extra 10% saving with an eVIP Pass at Bicester Village.
   12. Hotel elite status at the following brands
   • Gold in MeliaRewards
   • Premium in Radisson Rewards
   • Gold in Hilton Honors
   • Gold in Marriott Bonvoy

A few key things to note.

1. *If you cancel, you will receive a pro-rata refund of your annual fee. Amex will remove the ability to obtain a pro-rata refund at some point in 2024, but until then, you can cancel for a refund of your unused months. The exact date when the rule will change is unknown.
2. **If you close your Platinum card, the Priority Pass airport lounge card is cancelled immediately. However, the hotel status cards will continue to work until they expire.
3. If you are self-employed and use the card exclusively for business-related expenses, you can offset the card fee against tax.
4. ***The restaurant and Harvey Nichols credits are only guaranteed for 2024 and may not continue into 2025.
5. With a minimum personal income of just £35,000, you can easily apply for the card and start enjoying its benefits.

Conclusion.

Because I’m sure at this point, you feel that I’ve thrown a lot of information at you, plus this card carries a heavy annual fee. However, it does come with some fantastic benefits, and if you do the maths, you’ll quickly realise that you’ll make money in no time if you take full advantage of the card benefits.

Make sure to check out our credit card page to see which credit is best suited for you, and leave us a comment to let us know which card is your favourite