I wasn’t originally intending on writing this type of post since it’s been covered by nearly every blogger out there, but I was asked a bunch of times and figured one was warranted Instead of doing an entire card review, however, I’ll do a bullet-point version that will hopefully help answer most of your questions and give a rundown of some next steps.
- The $450 annual fee DOES NOT count towards your $3K spend requirement. It’s a fee, not a purchase.
- Lounge Access: you ALWAYS have access to US Airways Club Lounges. You will also have access to American and Delta lounges only if you are flying with them that day.
- Lounge Access Part 2: Priority Pass Select membership. You will gain access to hundreds of international lounges with this card, and they have a mobile app to tell you which ones. Enroll here.
- You get a $200 annual airline fee credit, but you have to designate an airline first. This credit can be used to buy gift cards on many airlines (this is the preferred redemption of those in the points community). Mile Value wrote a comprehensive post on this subject.
- You will now have access to Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts. Lucky wrote about the benefits and uses extensively here.
- The $100 Global Entry application fee is waived. If you travel internationally, sign up! I used to have all kinds of trouble re-entering the country, but not anymore thanks to Global Entry. Read why The Points Guy raves about it too.
- You’re now an SPG Gold member, but you have to call to enroll first. Call Starwood at 1-888-625-4990 and tell them you have the Amex Platinum card and would like to have SPG Gold status. They might ask for proof, but it’s usually just faxing a copy of your card. Easy.
- UPDATE: Just to clarify, while the $450 fee does not count towards spend, the $200 airline credit and $100 Global Entry cost DO count since it’s considered spend. For more info, see the discussion in the comments.
- You get rental car benefits with Avis, Hertz, and National. Too much information to list here, but check out this website for all the details.
- There’s plenty more benefits, but I think I covered all the fun stuff. Feel free to ask me any questions I didn’t answer!
Those 100K points that everyone is expecting can do a lot for you. I’ll list some fun ways to redeem those miles below, but these are by no means the only ways or even the best ways. As always, do what’s right for you!
- Singapore Airlines First Class Suites LAX-NRT-SIN (one-way): 91,375 miles when transferred to Singapore Airlines.
- Round trip business class ticket from the US to Europe on Star Alliance when transferred to Singapore or Aeroplan.
- Eleven Round trip short-haul flights on American Airlines when transferred to British Airways (9,000 miles each round trip). Take advantage of a transfer bonus for even more!
- Not my preferred way to redeem these points, but transfer them to Virgin Atlantic and then to Hilton for 200K Hilton Honors points.
- Two and a half round trip domestic (including Canada) business class tickets on United, US, or Air Canada for 40K miles when transferred to Singapore Airlines.
- There’s obviously a million other ways to enjoy your points!
If for some reason you’re having trouble meeting the $3K minimum spend requirement, I recommend reading my post on how to boost your miles/points earning strategy. You’ll find all kinds of interesting ways to minimize your total out-of-pocket costs.
Enjoy your points!
i got SPG gold last night by calling Amex, who connected me directly with Starwood (and i guess have some secret password or something so the Starwood agent knew i was legit) who upgraded my account right there.
oops should add: i got the confirmation email https://twitter.com/i/#!/jonk/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2FqJlWA21P immediately, but had to request a card which she said would arrive in 4 to 6 weeks.
Awesome, thanks for the update!
thanks for a great summary post!
My wife just got a personal platinum card. She has another business platinum card and used that for global entry reimbursement. Do you think she could use her new card to get reimbursed for global entry for a child?
Yes, I believe she can.
It definitely works if you pay for GE for another person … each card gets one $100 reimbursement for the life of that account. That means if you have 3 additional cardholders, that’s 4 reimbursements.
Can you elaborate on using SQ to go to Europe via Asia?ndoes it have high fuel surcharge like BA?
When I say “Round trip business class ticket from the US to Europe on Star Alliance when transferred to Singapore or Aeroplan,” I didn’t mean you can go US-Asia-Europe. I meant that by transferring your Amex points to Singapore Airlines’ program, you’ll gain access to all Star Alliance Award availability (i.e. you can fly on United, US, Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian, Turkish, etc.). Singapore does charge some high taxes/fees, but nothing like BA does.
Thanks!! In your opinion, is it better to transfer to sq or aeroplan if someone is flying out from SFO. To Europe
It really depends on what airline you’re flying on due to fuel surcharges. I recommend my post on Star Alliance redemptions here: http://travelsummary.com/beginners-guide-to-redeeming-points-united-airlines-and-star-alliance/
Could you please clarify whether with Priority Pass the lounge visits are free or you still have to pay?
Lounge visits are free for the priority pass holder, but any additional people must pay something like $27 each.
You can get a Priority Pass membership for each additional cardholder as well.
While the fee doesn’t count toward the minimum spending, the reimbursed charges do. So if you charge $200 for the airline incidentals and $100 for Global Entry, you will get $300 back, but the $300 will go toward the min spend.
someone else somewhere else (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2013/01/07/american-express-platinum-airline-fee-credit-data-point-successful-reimbursement-of-american-airlines-gift-cards/ — scroll down to comment 26) mentioned these reimbursed charges do NOT count toward minimum spend. hmm.
I got the bonus on a $1000 Mercedes Benz Platinum in 2012 after spending $1050 and getting $300 back 😉
oh nice! definitely good to know!
Very nice recap. I’ll just add the roadside assistance since it worked well for us: http://thedealmommy.com/americanexpress-saved-us-50-and-got-deal-dad-out-of-a-real-jam/
The SQ website won’t let me book a LAX-NRT-SIN (one-way). It says stopovers are not allowed on Saver Awards. How did you do this for 91,375 SQ miles?
Unfortunately stopovers are not allowed on one-way awards. I know it doesn’t gray-out the option, but it’s not allowed. You have to book a round trip for a stop over.
Your other option is to book two separate one-ways – one from LAX-NRT and one from NRT-SIN.
Oh gotcha, I see what you mean now. A LAX-NRT-SIN ROUNDTRIP with a NRT stopover is 182,750 SQ miles. Doing a one-way for ONLY 91,375 SQ miles is impossible. Time to rack up more MR points then!