When a $450 Payment = $1,000s: AMEX Platinum

For awhile I have had my eye on the AMEX Business Platinum card. The benefits are just about unrivaled; however, there has always been a $450 annual fee (not waived) that is a scary barrier. But upon examining the benefits, one quickly realizes that the $450 payment quickly fades away with the benefits that come along with the card.

At a 10,000 foot level, here are the highlights of the benefits:

• Lounge Access at multiple airline clubs
• Free membership into Priority Lounges
• Gold Status with Starwood Preferred Guest
• $200 per calendar year in airline reimbursements for non-flight charges
• $100 Statement Credit for Global Entry
• 50K Membership Rewards points*

*AMEX often sends out targeted offers. What tipped me over the edge on this card was when I received a 100K Membership Rewards sign-up bonus. Now, let’s start looking at how these benefits far outweigh the $450 annual fee.

1. Lounge Access: Most clubs offer some sort of free food/alcohol. Given my fear and dislike of flying, I routinely hit up an airport-bar, purchase one or two $8 beers and sometimes tack on an appetizer. Being very conservative, four trips to lounges/year instead of hitting up the airport-bar should save ~$50. (Net Cost: $450 – $50 = $400)
2. Gold Status with SPG: Free internet, room upgrades, bonus Starpoints or a “welcome drink.” While traveling domestically free internet really is not of much value to me, as my Galaxy S3 phone has hot-spot capability; however, international travel is another story. I won’t add any tangible value to this, but it is a nice benefit none-the-less.
3. $200/year airline reimbursement on ancillary fees: Here’s where the going gets good. Note that the $200 is in a calendar year, not rolling 12-months. That means you can take advantage of this twice during the first year you have the card. AMEX states that this reimbursement comes from charges for checked bags and other fees charged by airlines, but are not valid for plane tickets themselves. HOWEVER, many airlines’ gift cards counts toward this reimbursement. I chose Southwest Airlines for my “reimbursement airline” – and then any non-flight Southwest Airline charges that hit my AMEX automatically receives a statement credit. I purchased two $100 gift cards. As you can see, I received a statement credit just two days later:
   

   $200 of Statement Credits

   And here’s another ADD-ON. With the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass, the $200 of airline gift cards gets me $400 worth of flights! Doing this two times in the first 12 months of the card gets me $800 worth of Southwest flights! (Net Cost: $450 – $50 – $800 = +$400 Value)

4. $100 Statement Credit for Global Entry: $100, free. (Net Cost: $450 – $50 – $800 – $100 = +$500 Value)
5. 100K Membership Rewards Points: With bonus transfers, you are looking at between 120K-150K miles into various programs such as British Airways. That’s enough for 13 round-trip short-haul flights. Say I use these to visit my family in Detroit from Baltimore or use it for my family to fly out and visit me, with flights at least ~$150 round-trip (again being conservative), that’s another $1,950 in value! Of course, you can use these for long-haul premium cabin flights on ANA, Emirates, Singapore, etc…and receive thousands more in value. (Net Cost: $450 – $50 – $800 – $100 – $1,950 = $2,450 NET PROFIT!)

Overall, this is a great card purely for the benefits, and while the annual fee is a tough initial pill to swallow, as you can see above, really pays dividends.