Is The Amex Trifecta The Ultimate Points Earning Combo? 

by Daniel | Last Updated July 21st, 2024

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Are you looking to unlock the ultimate combination of rewards, perks, and benefits with your credit cards? 

In this article, I’m going to take a closer look at the American Express Trifecta, a powerful trio of cards that can transform your spending and travel experiences. 

I’ll be talking about the American Express Platinum Card, the American Express Gold Card, and the American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card. 
When used together, these cards create a synergistic effect that maximizes your rewards and provides unparalleled value.

I’ll walk you through each card’s features, how they complement each other, and why this trio is more than just the sum of its parts.
From luxury travel perks and dining rewards to everyday business spending benefits, the Amex Trifecta has something for everyone. 

But is it actually worth considering for you? 

Stick around as I break down the benefits, potential drawbacks, and overall value of this powerhouse combination.
Whether you’re a frequent traveler, a foodie, or a business owner looking to optimize your expenses, this review is for you. 

So, get ready to elevate your financial game as we explore the American Express Trifecta and discover if it’s the right fit for your lifestyle!

https://youtu.be/NlNF49O8Sgw

How Does The Amex Trifecta Work?

Well, by combining the Amex Platinum, Gold and Blue Business Plus credit cards you can strategically earn and redeem Membership Rewards points across a wide range of categories, maximizing your rewards potential and taking full advantage of the benefits each card offers.

Here’s how the cards complement each other:

Maximize Points Earning

One of the main reasons the Amex Trifecta can be so valuable is the fact that you can maximize your points earning ability from a wider range of categories.

American Express Platinum Card

So with the Amex Platinum card you have the ability to maximize membership Reward Points via travel related expenses which include the ability to earn:

5x points on flights that are booked directly with airlines or through Amextravel.com, just note that this is limited to a total spend of $500,000 each colander year.

It is also possible to earn 5x points on hotels that are booked through Amextravel.com.

Then all other purchase that are made with the Amex Platinum card will earn just 1 point per dollar spent.

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Now at the time of making this video it is possible to earn up to 175,000 Membership Reward points after spending $8,000 on the card within the first 6 months of opening the account.
And with Membership Rewards Points being worth at least 1 cent per point, this signup bonus is worth around $1,750, which is really good.

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American Express Gold Card

Then with Amex Gold card you can maximize your Membership Reward Points earnings via food related expenses which include the ability to earn:

4x points at restaurants worldwide and on take out and delivery services from within the US.

It is also possible to earn 4x points at supermarkets from within the US up to a total spend of $25,000 each calendar year.

If you max-out the $500,000 spend limit on travel with the Amex Platinum card within the calendar year, the Amex Gold card allows for 3x points earning for flights that are specifically booked through Amextravel.com.

Then all other purchases that are made on the Amex Gold card will receive 1 point per dollar spent.

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Now at the time of making this video it is possible to earn up to 90,000 Membership Reward points after spending $6,000 on the card within the first 6 months of opening the account.
And with Membership Rewards Points being worth at least 1 cent per point, this signup bonus is worth around $900 which is pretty good.

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Amex Blue Business Plus Credit Card

And finally, with the Amex Blue Business Plus Credit Card you will be able to maximize you membership Rewards Points earnings from general spending as it allows for 2x points earnings on any categories up to a total spend of $50,000 each calendar year.

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Now at the time of making this video it is possible to earn up to 15,000 Membership Reward points after spending $3,000 on the card within the first 3 months of opening the account.
And with Membership Rewards Points being worth at least 1 cent per point, this signup bonus is worth around $150.

Along with this, you will also have the option of taking advantage of a 0% introductory  APR on purchases for 12 months.
This can be very useful to help you pay off any debt you may have or even make a large purchases without incurring any interest.
But always remember, that you must pay off any money you do borrow as the interest rate will eventually shoot up after the 12 month intro period is up.

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Optimize Travel Perks

American Express Platinum Card

Global Lounge Collection

Access to the Global Lounge Collection, and this basically allows for complimentary access to the:

• The Centurion Lounge
• The Delta Sky Club
• Lufthansa Lounges
• Plaza Premium Lounges
• Escape Lounges

Along with this you also receive a complimentary Priority Pass Select Membership that provides access to more than 1,5000 airport lounges from all over the world.
And this in itself is worth around $469. 

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Now although the Amex Platinum card has a rather hefty annual fee of $695, there are a few travel related credits that can help to offset this expense.

$200 Hotel Credit

The first is a $200 Hotel Credit, and to use this benefit all you need to do is make a booking of 2 nights or more through either the Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection, and this can be found at amextravel.com.

$200 Airline Fee Credit

There is then a $200 Airline Fee Credit which can be used on one of the partner airlines of American Express.
Essentially it covers expenses for things like excess baggage fees, inflight food and beverage purchases and in some cases, access to airport lounges.

 $189 CLEAR Credit 

There is then a $189 CLEAR Credit that can be used towards CLEAR Plus membership and a
$100 Credit For TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.

$200 Uber Credit

Another nice benefit included with the Amex Platinum card is a $200 Uber credit, and this can be used for either Uber Rides or Uber Eats.

Fine Hotels + Resorts Program & The Hotel Collection

Then if you make a booking of 2 nights or longer through either the Fine Hotels + Resorts Program or The Hotel Collection, you will receive a $100 credit that can be used at the hotel you book for things such as food and beverages or spa treatments.

Complimentary Hotel Status

Now along with this, you will also get complimentary Hotel Elite Status at Marriott and Hilton hotels, these are:

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
• Hilton Honors Gold Status

Car Rental Privileges

And finally you will receive Premium Car Rental Privileges through the following companies:

• Hertz President’s Circle
• Avis Preferred
• National Car Rental Emerald Club

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Enjoy Dining Benefits

$120 Dining Credit

A $120 dining credit that is provided to you in $10 monthly allotments, and this can be used at the following business:

• Grubhub
• The Cheesecake Factory
• Goldbelly
• Wine.com
• Milk Bar
• Select Shake Shack locations

$120 Uber Credit 

Along with this there is then a $120 Uber credit which is also is also provided in $10 allotments each month and this can be used for both Uber Rides or Uber Eats.

Hotel Collection

Then somewhat similar to the Amex Platinum card, you will also have access to the Hotel Collection. 
And with this it is possible to receive a $100 hotel credit when you make a booking of 2 nights or more at a hotel through Amextravel.com.

So with these credits you will effectually be ably to justify the $250 annual fee of the Amex Gold card and then take advantage of points earning ability at restaurants and Grocery stores. 

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How Much Does The Amex Trifecta Cost?

Now seeing that two of the three cards that are part of the Amex Trifecta have an annual fee, it’s worth considering how much the Amex Trifecta will actually cost each and every year.
So the Amex Platinum card has a rather high annual fee of $695, then the Amex Gold card had a more reasonable annual fee of $250.
And then Amex Blue Business Plus Credit Card has no annual fee.

So all up its going to cost $945 each year to maintain the Amex Trifecta, and that is a substantial amount of money.

But as I mentioned earlier in the video this can easily be accounted for just be making use of the travel and food related credits that are on offer from both the Amex Platinum and Gold cards.

Just in credits alone the Amex Platinum card offers over $1,200, and the Amex Gold card offers $240 in credits, So if you can make use of around 70% of these credits, the cards are essentially free. 

How To Utilize Membership Reward Points For Maximum Value 

So if you manage to make use of all of the points earning options available from the Amex trifecta, you should be able to earn quite a reasonable amount of Membership Rewards Points each year.

Now there are quite a few ways you can redeem your membership rewards, but it’s worth noting that not all redemption options offer the same value.

Poor Value Redemptions Options 

Now obviously you can use your Membership Rewards points however you want, but the following options provide very little value.

The first way you should avoid redeeming your Membership Rewards points would be the ‘Cover Your Card Charges’ option.
This offers a mere 0.6 cents per point, which in my opinion is not good value at all and is a waste of your Membership Reward Points.
And I say this because later in this video I’ll show you some examples where it is possible to redeem your points for more than 10x this value per point, which is a huge difference. 

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Another Points redemption option that I would avoid using is the ‘Pay with Points at Checkout’
With this it is possible to use Membership Rewards Points to make purchases through retailers such as Amazon, Saks Fifth Ave and Dell.
Unfortunately, this only offers an average value of 0.7 cents per point which is not very good value.

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Reasonable Value Redemptions Options 

Now a more reasonable way to redeem your Membership Rewards Points would be redeeming them for Gift Cards.
With this there is a quite a broad range of options to choose from, with partners offering anywhere for 0.5 cents per points, all the way up to 1 cent per point.
So if you do decide to cash in on a gift card try to aim for an offer that provides 1 cent per point, as any thing less than this is a not very good value.

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Now the next option for redeeming Membership Reward Points is the ‘Book Travel’ option.
And much like redeeming points for gift cards, it is possible to receive anywhere from 0.5 cents per point up to 1 cent per point.
To receive a value of 1 cent per point you can redeem your points through amextravel.com  for either flights of hotel bookings.

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The Most Valuable Redemption Options  

Now to get by far the most value out of you Amex Membership Rewards Points you will want to transfer them to one of the 18 different airline partners or 3 hotel partners.
And by doing this it is possible to receive some insanely valuable deals, specifically when booking business or first class flights.

Now the best way to find these amazing deals is to use a website called seats.aero (which is totally free to use).

So as an example, if I go to their website here, and then click here where it says ‘Explore’ and then select ‘Air France/KLM Flying Blue’ as that is one of the travel partners associated with Amex.

I’ll then just go down to the bottom of the page and put in JFK here where it says’ Departs’ and then LHR where it says ‘Arrives’

I’ll then scroll back up to the top, then click on ‘Business class’ tab here to organize flights in order of the least amount of points or miles requires to book an actually flight.

And you will see right at the top there are a couple of options to book a business class seats from just 50,000 points.

So ill just click here in the little grey information tab here to bring up more information, then again I’ll click business

Now to get the flight for just 50,000 points it will have a stop over, which is a bit annoying, but there is a direct flight for 68,500 points plus an additional $226.70.

Now if I go the Virgin Atlantic Airways website and look up this actual flight, you will see that it will cost $3,132 for the same business class seat.

This means you would be getting a points value of just over 4.3 cents per point, which is really good.
And its not uncommon to see even more value than this if you just spend a bit of time searching put good deals. 

Final Thoughts 

Ok so that covers pretty much every thing you need to know about the Amex Trifecta, and as you can see it can be a fantastic way to help maximize your points earning potential as long as you remember which card to use for the appropriate expenses.

Now seeing that it costs $945 each year to cover the annual fee of these cards, you will want to first make sure you can utilize at least this much value from both the Amex Platinum and Gold card.
This will help to insure you don’t just waste your money on annual fees.
And given all of the benefits on offer, this shouldn’t be too difficult.

Another thing worth considering if you are looking to get the Amex Trifecta is the possibility of Amex not giving you the welcome offer sign-up bonus on all of these cards as part of their ‘Once Per Lifetime’ rule.

So it’s worth talking to Amex if you are concerned about this, just to make sure you are not disappointed about missing out on one of the sing-up bonuses.

And if you to learn more about the best airline credit cards available for 2024 check out my review here.