Why You Shouldn’t Book Airfare Using Your American Express Platinum Card

The allure of the Amex Platinum card is clear – it offers premium benefits that should allow a cardholder to at least recoup the massive $550 annual fee that come with the card. One of those benefits is 5x membership rewards points on airfare bookings when purchased directly from the airline. It’s the highest bonus offered on airfare of any credit card.

When compared to Amex Platinum’s biggest competitor, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, the difference is clear. The Sapphire Reserve offers 3x on all travel purchases, so the Amex Platinum earns a whopping 67% more points. Even though I value Chase Ultimate Rewards points higher than Amex Membership Rewards points, it’s not enough to overcome that difference.

So, why shouldn’t you book airfare using the Amex Platinum card? Because the Amex Platinum does not offer any flight delay or flight cancellation coverage. The Sapphire Reserve, on the other hand, offers a better-than-standard flight delay/cancellation coverage that kicks in with a 6 hour delay.

Let me explain my stance with a story of how I was in this exact situation. I just left Australia with my wife where we did some sightseeing. We spent some time in the city of Cairns to go see the Great Barrier Reef and the rain forest, and had a flight booked to Sydney on a Wednesday afternoon. There was no availability using points/miles, so I decided to purchase the ticket on my credit card.

Before I book any flight, I always second guess the card I use. It’s always between the Amex Platinum (5x) or the Sapphire Reserve (3x but delay coverage) for me. This time I opted for the Amex Platinum like I have many times in the past. It ended up being a huge mistake.

Last Wednesday there was a massive storm that hit Sydney to the point where they called it historic. It caused flooding throughout the city among other issues, and the Sydney airport had to close one of the runways early in the morning as a result of the storm. I got an email from the airline, local low-cost carrier Tigerair, that our flight was delayed about 3 hours from a 3pm departure to a ~6pm departure. We were asked to check-in at the normal time, and we did at around 2pm.

The delay then started to increase slowly, first to 6:30pm, then 6:45pm, then 7:05pm, then 7:30pm, then 7:45pm. We finally heard the announcement in the terminal that the flight had been canceled and we were to pick up our checked baggage and meet the airline staff in the departures hall for further information.

Long story short, at around 9pm the airline provided us details of the hotel they booked for our overnight stay, and let us know they rescheduled the flight for the next morning at 7am. All else being equal, that’s a fair solution. The hotel offered is more than any US carrier would provide its passengers for a weather-related issue, so I guess it could have been worse.

Except…it could have been so much better. While my wife and I were waiting in the terminal for hours during the delay, we had to buy snacks and drinks to hold us over. The airline provided the hotel but not transportation to the hotel. We had to Uber to the hotel, but so did everyone else in the small city of Cairns…so surge pricing took effect and ended up costing much more than it otherwise would have. The same was true in the morning from the hotel to the airport when the surge pricing was even higher. We had dinner near the hotel and snacks at the airport for breakfast.

And the hotel? It was a low-budget hotel that seemed clean but would be nothing like I would normally book for myself. In fact, we were scheduled to stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney that night, a hotel where room rates were above $1k/night. In Cairns the night before we stayed at the Hilton Cairns using 35K Hilton points, where the room rate was ~$175 a night. The other premier hotel in the small city is the Shangri-La that has similar pricing to the Hilton.

Then there were our original plans in Sydney. We were scheduled for the Park Hyatt, so those points were seemingly down the drain since we were within the cancellation period. We had also booked an all-day tour starting 8am on Thursday that would take us to the Blue Mountains and end with a cruise. It cost us over $215 for the all-day tour, and we’d miss that entirely given our rescheduled flight was landing at 11am Thursday.

So: several meals, two Uber rides, 30k Hyatt Points, and a tour of $200+ that we’d miss. What was my recourse? With Amex Platinum, or any American Express card, the answer is nothing.

What if I had booked with the Sapphire Reserve, or many other Chase and Citi credit cards? I would have had up to $500 per person to spend on essentially anything I needed. I could have booked a hotel that I normally would stay at, like the Hilton. All meals and snacks would have been covered. My Uber rides would have been covered. If I needed it, any clothing or other items would have been included as well. I’ve heard stories of people getting reimbursed electronics and other items too, though my official stance is you’re better off not pushing your luck.

I would not be covered for the loss of my hotel points in Sydney or the tour. As soon as I found out about the cancellation, I contacted both Hyatt and the tour operator to see if anything could be done. Hyatt is awesome and was able to adjust my reservation, meaning I was able to save those points. The tour operator emailed that they’d get back to me in a few days, but the final result is that they will not be giving me a refund. Oh well.

Flight delays or cancellations are never fun, but they’re a part of a traveler’s life. I lost a day at one of my favorite hotels and in one of my favorite cities, and lost out on a tour that I wasn’t to reschedule.

My point is this: it could have been better. I could have completely avoided the added cost of several snacks and meals, Uber trips, and having to stay at a hotel that was frankly not very comfortable (I didn’t get much sleep).

It was a hard lesson to learn, but it’s one that will stick with me forever. When comparing the extra stress and cost of a delay against the extra 2x points earned with the Amex Platinum, it’s simply not worth it in most cases. The only situation where I could imagine it being worth it is if you’re purchasing an extremely high-cost ticket. On a $10K ticket it’s a difference of 20k points, and at that point I suppose there’s an argument to be made. But frankly, even then I would still go with the option that includes the coverage.

Every person’s situation will be different. I was in the small-ish city of Cairns where there is no hotel in walking distance of the airport, so the cost was higher for me because of that. On the other hand, I know people that regularly purchase trip insurance for every flight they book. I recall the price offered by the airline during booking being around $15 for this short and cheap flight. In my mind, spending that extra money negates the extra 2x points that you’d earn with Amex Platinum anyway.

The bottom line is this: I will never again book airfare for myself using Amex Platinum or any other American Express card as long as they don’t offer trip delay/cancellation coverage. The costs, however unlikely they are to arise, simply outweigh the benefits. And it’s shameful that a “premium” card that you pay $550/year for doesn’t have this in the first place.