Following an incredible weekend of March Madness NCAA College Basketball it’s time to get back to what’s important. Yep, Credit Card Madness of course and this match-up should not disappoint. Today’s match-up is featuring the American Express Platinum vs. Luxury Card Gold Card. Both cards carry high annual fees and come with high-end benefits. Benefits include access to private events, luxury hotels/resorts, and access to private jet charters. If you think you’re a somebody, chances are you have one of these cards in your wallet.
American Express Platinum Card
The American Express Platinum card has been around since the 1980’s and at one point was only held by the card issuer’s most trustworthy customers. In recent years however, the card has lost its prestige to the metal Centurion card offered to high income customers. In more recent years consumers are no longer willing to pay high annual fees without tangible benefits. Thankfully American Express recently announced improvements to the Platinum card which make the now $550 much more worthwhile. For the this comparison I’ll use the benefits offered AFTER March 31, 2017.
Key Benefits
- $550 Annual Fee (up from $450).
- 40,000 Membership Rewards point sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days.
- 5X Membership Rewards Points on Airfare (Booked directly with the Airline or Amex Travel).
- 5X Membership Rewards Points on Hotels booked through Amex Travel.
- $200 in Airline of Choice annual travel credits.
- $200 in Annual Uber Credits (in $15/month increments, $35 in December).
- Instant Uber VIP status.
- Complimentary Centurion Lounge Access.
- Complimentary Priority Pass Access (improved after March 30, 2017).
- 1X Membership Reward Points on All Purchases.
- Delta Air Lines Sky Club Access when traveling with Delta.
- Complimentary SPG Gold Status (Marriott Gold Status)
- Complimentary Hilton Gold Status
- Global Entry / TSA PreCheck Application Credit ($85 / 5 years)
- Complimentary Boingo WiFi Membership
- Access to American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- NEW METAL CARD DESIGN! (Not that exciting, but it made headlines)
- And Many Many More… Complete listing of benefits is found here.
Benefits Overview
It’s incredible to see all of the benefits offered by the American Express Platinum after March 30, 2017 in a single list as seen above. It’s surprising to see American Express raise the annual fee to $550 given how long it’s been set at $450. That being said, by offering the additional $200 in Uber credits the effective annual fee is actually decreasing to $150 from $250. The difficult part now is deciding which benefits are most valuable. Aside from the travel credits, Uber credits, and global entry credits, the next most tangible benefit is the sign-up bonus.
Sign-Up Bonus
40,000 Membership Rewards points are worth approximately $600 ($0.015) at face value. Because Membership Rewards transfer to a wide variety of airline and hotel transfer partners it’s quite possible to get even more value from the sign-up bonus. Although the sign-up bonus is slightly below what’s currently offered by other premium credit cards, I wouldn’t count on a higher bonus anytime soon. It’s clear with American Express’ recent enhancement the issuer is not trying to attract new customers, but retain the existing customer base.
Lounge Access
Access to a Centurion Lounge costs regular American Express card-holders $50/day. For that fee guest have access tor free WiFi, chef inspired cuisine, free alcoholic beverages, and in some instances complimentary massage treatments. Access to the Centurion Lounge network is especially valuable when traveling with others, but American Express recently tightened the rules on guest access.
Priority Pass is a network of lounges made up of airline and airport specific lounges. The number of accessible lounges varies from airport to airport, but prices typically are around the same $40/day price point. With the upcoming Platinum card improvements American Express improved the Priority Pass membership which will no longer require primary-card holders to pay for guests.
Lastly, the American Express Platinum card offers access to Delta Sky Clubs when traveling on Delta Air Lines. Anyone who does not frequently travel on Delta Air Lines should probably consider a card that offers access to their airline of choice’s travel program, but Delta frequent flies would be silly not to carry this card after March 30th.
5X Membership Rewards Points
By far the most lucrative points earning potential relating to travel is the 5X membership rewards points offered on airline and hotel purchases from the enhanced American Express Platinum card. Although the Platinum Card offers 5X points Airfare, the bonus is only valid on airfare booked directly with airlines or Amex Travel. Additionally, the 5X points on Hotel stays is only valid through bookings through Amex Travel. Often prices when booking directly with the airline are higher than those offered from discount travel websites so although you’re earning more points, you may not being coming out ahead with 5X points on airfare. Also, when booking hotel stays through Amex travel you may not be eligible to earn hotel loyalty points on the stay. Basically although the 5X bonus categories seem appealing, they are also extremely limiting.
American Express Platinum Card Summary
With the American Express Platinum card almost all of the benefits offered in some way relate to travel. Anyone who does not frequently travel won’t find very much value from this card. That being said, this card is now the best credit card on the market for frequent flyers. Especially those who book airfare directly with the airline, frequently travel on Delta, or travelers based in a city with a Centurion Lounge. Prior to the recent enhancements to the American Express Platinum card I would have said this card is not worth paying for, but now it’s a no-brainer. I’m also excited about the new metal card design although I hate to admit it.
Luxury Card Gold Card
Anyone who gets excited by a metal credit card will be excited by the Luxury Card Gold Card. The card features a unique design which seamlessly blends carbon fibre and 24-karat gold into a bright Gold card. I mean what other color could it be? But with a $995 annual fee the card is also the card with the most expensive annual fee featured in this year’s credit card madness competition.
Key Benefits
- 24K-Gold-Plated/Carbon Card.
- 2% Value for Cash Back.
- $200 Annual Airline Credit.
- Global Entry / TSA PreCheck Application Credit ($100 / 5 years).
- Complimentary Subscription to Luxury Magazine.
- $995 Annual Fee
- Access to the Luxury Card Concierge.
- Points are worth $0.02 when redeemed for travel through Luxury Card Concierge.
Benefits Overview
I’ll be honest, if anyone is truly interested in the full range of benefits offered by the Luxury Card Gold Card they are welcome to visit this page. The Luxury Card Concierge page should give you more than enough information about the card than I think anyone needs. What it comes down to is that this card’s biggest benefit is the “Wow” factor. It looks like any other credit card out there. The card features a heavy metal gold plated design which is bound to impressive waiters, clerks, and hotel receptionists alike.
Other benefits include the $0.02 value received from points. It is important to note the card only earns 1 point on all eligible purchases. I find it hard to believe that card-holders only earn 1-point per $1 spent on this card. In fact, I think it’s better to look at this card as a cash back 1% cash back credit card which moves up to 2% when redeemed for travel. I don’t think calling the card’s reward currency points because the ‘points’ are non-transferrable.
Personally I’m not really sure what Luxury Magazine is, but I can assure you I have no interest in reading it. At the moment I’m imagining the magazine is quite similar to what I can find by searching #Luxury on Instagram.
Luxury Card Gold Card Summary
Anyone who made it this far, I’m sorry. I originally intended to give the American Express Platinum card a bye, but thought this would be more entertaining. Hopefully you agree. I just can’t see any real value in carrying the Luxury Card Gold Card over any other premium credit card on the market today. I’m sure the card’s concierge offers some nice rebates on hotel stays and access to upgrades, but I can’t imagine the services offer being any better than those offered by American Express, Citi, or Chase.
And The Winner Is!
Hands down this round goes to the American Express Platinum Card. Until this point I hadn’t looked into the new updates to the card, but the new benefits impressed me. I love when rewards programs improve the product offered and lower the price! Going into this competition I didn’t expect the American Express Platinum card to do very well, but with the recent improvements it may end up winning the whole competition.
Hopefully you enjoyed this edition of Credit Card Madness. I tried to have a little more fun with this round considering anyone with a pulse should immediately come to the same conclusion. Also, for anyone who thinks the weight of their credit card matters, try using it a few times and report back on the number of times cashiers comment on it…
Featured Images Courtesy of Luxury Card and American Express
