Credit Cards - Luggage Guru

by Daniel | Last Updated April 2nd, 2021 We may earn a commission for purchases using our links, at no cost to you. In this article, I'm going to review the American Express Platinum credit card and go over some of the benefits that it has. https://youtu.be/EFrDZkqp_Xk Apply for an American Express Platinum Card here. So the Platinum Amex is a premium travel reward card with a high annual fee of $550 which is not cheap, so it can be easy to think it is not worth it.But if you travel a fair amount there is a good chance that you will be able to offset the annual fee and then some to make this card really good value.To begin with, when you first sign up for the Platinum Amex card you will receive a welcome bonus of 75,000 points after you spend $5,000 within the first 6 months of opening the account.And these points, depending on how and where you use them are worth up to $1,500.So this right here covers the annual fee by $950, which is pretty amazing! Next up you will receive up to $200 in Uber rides or Uber Eats credits each year.Basically, you are given $15 in credit each month all year, and then in December, you are given an extra $20 (So $35 in total for December). There is also a $200 airline fee credit that you can use on a pre-selected airline of your choice that can cover incidental fees such as checked bags or in-flight refreshments. Another bonus that you get is $100 in statement credits each year for any purchases made at Saks of Fifth Avenue.To take advantage of this all you have to do is to make a purchase at Saks and you will receive a credit, just note that Amex allows for a $50 credit for the first 6 months of the year and then a send $50 credit for the last 6 months of the year. You will also receive a $100 credit that can be used on either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.This will be offered once every 4 years for Global Entry or it will be an $85 fee credit for TSA PreCheck once every 4.5 years. American Express also has a special offer for Platinum cardholders called “The Hotel Collection”So if you make a booking through Amex’s ‘The Hotel Collection' you will receive a $100 onsite credit to spend at the hotel on any qualifying dining, spa, or resort activities. Along with this, you will receive a free room upgrade when you book in assuming it is available. So these are some of the cash back rewards you get with the card, let’s have a look now at some of the other benefits you can receive just by using the card. First up is the car rental loss and damage insurance, and this is a great benefit that I've used multiple times with my Platinum card.Basically with this, when you hire a car from a rental agency and use your Platinum card you can decline the rental agency’s collision damage waiver which can add up, I quite often hire a car for 2 to 3 weeks at a time, so this really does save me a lot of money.Just note that there are a few limitations, it doesn’t cover cars rented in Australia, Italy, or New Zealand. And it provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Next up and a really useful benefit is the trip delay coverage.With this, if you have booked a complete round trip on your Platinum card you will be eligible for trip delay insurance.If your flight is delayed more than 6 hours the insurance will reimburse covered expenses up to $500 per trip and can be used twice within a 12 month period.Similar to this you also receive Trip Cancellation.So if you book a round trip with your Platinum card you will be covered by trip cancelation and interruption insurance. Basically, this can help reimburse you for non-refundable expenses and purchases up to a total of $10,000 per trip and up to a total of $20,000 per card over a 12 month period. Now with this card, you can get an additional card for your family for $175 or you can opt for a complimentary Gold Card, and by doing this you will be able to earn more points.So the Platinum Amex Card has a generous point earning system when using the card.If you are a new cardmember for the first 6 months of owning the card you will earn 10x points when using the card at US gas stations and US supermarkets up to a combined total of $15,000.That's a potential 150,000 points which is double the signup bonus and if you are able to spend this much the points are worth up to $3,000! Then from here, you will earn 5x points for any flights that are booked directly with the airline or through Amextravel.com up to a total of $500,000 per calendar year.You will also receive 5x points on pre-paid hotels as long as they are booked through Amextravel.com. All other purchases will receive 1 point per dollar spent.So if you keep in mind where you can actually earn more points you have the opportunity to earn a lot. Other notable benefits that you will receive with the Platinum Amex card are: Marriot Bonvoy Gold Elite Status. This gives you the opportunity to receive upgrades to rooms on check-in when available. Hilton Honors Gold Status. This will also give you an upgraded room if it is available, you will also receive free continental breakfast for up to 2 people (you and a guest). The Global Lounge Collection. This will give you access to a large array of airport lounges including the Centurion Lounge and Delta Sky Club (when you are flying on Delta).You will also receive a free Priority Pass membership which has over 1,300 lounges in over 40 countries. No foreign transaction fees so you can use your card anywhere in the world and not worry about being charged extra.Purchase protection. This gives you 90 days to help protect recent purchases if they are lost, stolen, or accidentally damaged.And it will cover up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 per calendar year.Extended warranty. This will match the original manufactures warranty for up to 1 extra year as long as you purchase to item with your Platinum card.This is available for products that have a warranty of 5 years or less and that are sold in the United States.And the coverage is up to $10,000 per item, with a maximum of $50,000 per calendar year. So is the Platinum American Express worth it? If you travel quite a lot and are able to utilize all of the benefits it is a fantastic card and defiantly worth it.But if you don’t travel much it can be hard to recoup the cost of the annual fee of the card so it might not be quite so beneficial.For me, because I travel a lot it is excellent and I have really been able to benefit from using it.