by Daniel | Last Updated February 2nd, 2022
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With over 68,000 employees and total assets of just over $1.1 trillion, Morgan Stanley has come a long way since it was originally founded back in 1935.
Morgan Stanley offers a variety of different financial services that include investment banking, wealth management, and investment management.
They also offer two different American Express Cards that are exclusively available to Morgan Stanley customers.
In this article, I’m going to review and compare both the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred Amex and the Morgan Stanley Platinum Amex.
I’ll go over what they cost on an annual basis, what you can expect to receive each year in terms of benefits and user perks, and then I’ll also show you how you can actually waive the annual fee of the Platinum card at the end of the article.
Who Are These Cards Good For?
To be eligible to apply for either of these cards you will need to have a Morgan Stanley Brokerage account.
And it’s worth noting that you will need a minimum investment of $5,000 to actually open an account with them.
Also, there is a 0.3% annual fee which is charged on a monthly basis and is based on what your account balance is.
So if you had $10,000 in your account it would cost you $2.50 a month, which is $30 over the course of the year.
And although it’s not a massive amount of money, it could add up if you have a large amount of cash just sitting in the account.
APR
So to begin with, let’s start by looking at what the APR is for each of these cards.
And these rates will depend on what your creditworthiness is and will vary with the markets depending on what the Prime rate is.
Starting with the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred Amex there is an Introductory 12 month 0% APR from the date that you open your account, and then after this, it will be a variable rate of between 13.99% to 23.99%.
For Cash Advances, the APR is 25.24%, and there is a Penalty APR of 29.99%.
Next up, with the Morgan Stanley Platinum Amex the APR for Purchases is 15.99% to 22.99%.
And then the APR for Cash Advances and the Penalty APR is the same as the Blue Cash Preferred card.
Annual Fee
So now let’s look at what the annual fee is for each of these cards.
And starting with the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred Amex the first year of card ownership is free, and then subsequently the card will have a $95 annual fee.
Next up, with the Morgan Stanley Platinum Amex, there is an annual fee of $695, which seems to be the norm for all versions of the Platinum Amex cards.
Sign-up Bonus
So now let’s take a closer look at what sign-up bonus is offered with each card, and what the difference is.
Starting with the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred Amex you will receive $300 cash-back after spending $3,000 within the first 6 months of card ownership.
And given the relatively low spend requirements to receive this bonus it shouldn’t be too hard to get, as this works out at an average spend amount of just $125 per week.
Now as this is a Morgan Stanley Amex There is also the opportunity to earn an additional $100 statement credit if you spend $15,000 within the calendar year.
Next up with the Morgan Stanley Platinum Amex you will receive 100,000 Membership Rewards Points after spending $6,000 within the first 6 months of card ownership.
And with Membership rewards points being worth up to 1 cent per point, this sign-up is worth up to $1,000.
And as this is a Morgan Stanley card, you will have the benefit of actually cashing out your points for cash at a higher rate than you would with the classic Amex Platinum card.
With the Amex Platinum Card from Morgan Stanley, you can actually receive up to 1 cents per point if you deposit them into a Morgan Stanley Brokerage account.
And this is more than what you can get from the Classic Amex Platinum Card which currently convert points to cover charges that are made to your card at a rate of .6 cents per point.
Now it’s worth noting that with the similar Charles Schwab Platinum card you can actually deposit points at a rate of 1.1c cents if you deposit them into your eligible Schwab account.
And if you would like to see my review of the Charles Schwab American Express Cards why not check it out here.
Earning Points/Cash Back
So now let’s take a look at how you can earn rewards with each card.
And just a note, both of these cards are slightly different, the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred Card is a cash back card, whereas the Morgan Stanley Platinum Amex is a points-earning card.
Starting with the Blue Cash Preferred Card you will have quite a few options when it comes to earning cash back.
First of all, you will earn 6% cash back at US supermarkets up to a total of $6,000 per year, and once you have reached the spend limit, it will revert to 1% for the rest of the year.
There is also 6% cash back on select streaming subscriptions.
Then from here, you can earn 3% cash back on both Transit and at US gas stations.
And then finally all other purchases will receive 1% cash back.
So overall, there is a nice broad range of options for earning cash back with this card.
Next up, with the Morgan Stanley Platinum card, there are 2 options for earning points.
Basically, you will earn 5x points for flights that are booked through American Express Travel or directly with the airline, and you will also receive 5x points for prepaid hotels purchases that are made with the card.
And this is limited to a total spend of $500,000 per calendar year.
Then all of the purchaes will receive 1 point per dollar spent.
Benefits and User Perks
So now let’s take a look at what the benefits and user perks are with each card.
And starting with the Blue Cash Preferred Card there are a few extras that come with this card.
First of all, as I mentioned before, there is the ability to earn a $100 statement credit if you spend $15,000 within a calendar year.
There is also a $120 Equinox+ credit that is given out in $10 monthly allotments.
And to get this benefit, you must first enroll for it through your Amex account, and then you can either purchase your Equinox membership within the Equinox+ app or through a third party.
You can get a free ShopRunner Membership that provides free 2-day shipping and free returns from a number of different businesses from across the United States.
Now along with these perks, there is also a few nice insurance-related benefits.
The first is Return Protection, and with this, you will get 90 days of coverage from the date of purchases for up to $300 per item and a total of $1,000 if you are unable to return the item to the place of purchase.
There is also Purchases Protection that gives you the same 90 days of coverage for up to $1,000 per item and a total of $50,000 per calendar year.
And this covers things such as loss and damage of a purchased item that is paid for with the card.
Extended warranty protection is also available with this card and provides you with 1 extra year of coverage on original manufactures warranties that are 5 years or less and are from within the United States.
And finally, there is Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance that covers up to a total of $50,000 in the event of damage or theft of a rental vehicle.
Next up, with the Morgan Stanley Platinum card, you will get quite a lot of benefits.
And one bonus that is exclusive to this card is the ability to get one complimentary additional Card.
And this usually costs $175, so it’s a decent saving and something worth considering if you know you will need two cards.
Now another benefit that is only available with the Morgan Stanley Platinum Amex card is the ability to get one complimentary additional Card.
And this usually costs $175, so a decent saving and something worth considering if you know you will need two cards.
Then all of the benefits from here are available with most variations of the American Express Platinum Card.
So to begin with you will receive a $300 credit that can be used at Equinox clubs, and this is distributed as a $25 statement credit each month for the entire year.
There is a $200 hotel credit and a $200 airline fee credit.
You will also receive up to $200 each year that can be used through Uber for either Uber Rides or Uber eats.
And with this, you will receive $15 in Uber cash each month, with a bonus of $20 in December.
In terms of Airport security benefits, you will get a $179 credit that can be used specifically for CLEAR membership, and you will receive a $100 stament credit that can be used for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
There is a $240 Digital Statement Credit that can be used for The New York Times, Audible, Sirius XM, and Peacock.
And this is given to you as a statement credit of up to $20 each month.
You will receive a Walmart Plus credit of $12.95 each month which basically covers the cost of Walmart + membership.
There is a $100 staement credit for use at Saks Fifth Ave each year, with a credit of $50 available from January through June and then another $50 credit available from July through December.
As with all Amex Platinum cards you also get access to The American Express Global Lounge Collection.
And this includes access to a large variety of different airport lounges from all over the world and includes:
The Centurion Lounges, The Delta Sky Clubs, Escape Lounges, and Lufthansa Lounges.
Along with this you also get a free Priority Pass Select membership that is worth $429.
And this provides access to over 1,300 lounges from all over the world.
Another nice benefit with the Platinum card is the Cruise Privileges Program, and with this, you can receive up to $300 in shipboard credits on a range of different cruise lines.
Now from here, you will also receive a wide variety of different insurance coverage.
The first is cell phone protection, which covers stolen or damaged phones for up to $800 per claim with a maximum of 2 claims per 12 month period.
And each claim will incur a $50 deductible fee.
You will get the same ShopRunner membership as the Blue Cash Preferred Card.
There is car Rental Loss and Damage insurance that will cover up to a total of $75,000 in the event of damage or theft of a rental vehicle.
And included with this coverage is Car Rental Personal Property Coverage of up to $2,000, and this covers damage or theft of your own personal property that is either stolen or damaged from the rental vehicle.
Then finally, there is accidental injury coverage of up to $5,000 per eligible car rental claimant, and up to a total of $300,000 in the event of accidental death, dismemberment, or injury that occurs whilst riding in the car or when getting out of the car.
You will get a Baggage Insurance plan that covers up to $2,000 for check-in luggage and up to $3,000 for carry-on luggage, in the event that you either lose your luggage or it is damaged by the carrier.
There is Extended warranty protection that provides you with one extra year of coverage on any original manufacturer’s warranties that are 5 years or less and that are from within the United States.
And this allows for each item to be worth up to $10,000, with a total amount of $50,000 per calendar year.
Then finally you will have purchase protection that gives you up to 90 days from the date of purchase and will cover each item up to the value of $10,000, with a total of $50,000 per calendar year.
And this is in the event that you accidentally damage or lose a new purchase or it gets stolen.
How To Waive The $695 Annual Fee
Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there is also the option of essentially removing the annual fee from the Platinum card if you open a specific second account with Morgan Stanley.
So to get the free $695 Annual Engagement Bonus you will need to open a Morgan Stanley Platinum CashPlus account.
And just note that this account has a few requirements to receive the full $695 bonus.
First of all, to avoid paying any fees to have the account, you must maintain a cash balance of at least $25,000, and then deposit a minimum of $5,000 each month into the account.
And if you don’t stick to these requirements the account will have a $55 monthly fee, which is $660 a year.
So if you were to have the account and not meet the requirements to waive the monthly fee, you would still save $35 on the annual fee.
Final Thoughts
So what are my thoughts about the Amex Cards from Morgan Stanley?
I think that both cards offer some useful benefits that can be taken advantage of if you meet the right criteria.
The Blue Cash Preferred Card provides a fair bit of value with its 0% intro APR for the first 12 months and the ability to earn up to 6% cash back at supermarkets and on US streaming services.
Another card worth considering that has similar benefits would be the Chase Freedom Flex card, as it offers a 0% APR for 15 months, up to 5% cash back on certain purchases, a $200 bonus after you spend just $500 and it has no annual fee, and you can check out my review here.
The Platinum card from Morgan Staley also has a couple of nice extra benefits that are not available with the Classic Amex Platinum Card, the most notable benefits is the ability to waive the $695 annual fee if you open a secondary account with Morgan Stanley.
The only thing is that it could be a bit difficult for some people to meet the requirements of that account , as it requires at least $60,000 to be deposited over the course of a year and a minimum of $25,000 to be held in the account at all times to forgo the account service fees.
If you are actually interested in these cards, I would encourage you to watch my review of the very similar Amex Cards from Charles Schwab here, as they may work better for you.