The Platinum Card® from American Express offers plenty of potential value, but knowing how to take full advantage of all its perks and credits can be a challenge.
From the welcome bonus to the numerous travel credits, this card offers numerous ways to start earning back your $695 annual fee. But you’ll need to know how to qualify and activate many of the card’s best features to get full value.
- Earn the welcome bonus
- Start booking travel through American Express
- Activate your airline incidental fee credit
- Take advantage of the airport security credits
- Find the best airport lounge when you fly
- Activate your digital entertainment credits
- Activate your monthly Uber Cash
1. Earn the welcome bonus
The best way to maximize the value of your Platinum Card® from American Express in your first few months of card ownership is to earn the welcome bonus. The card currently offers 80,000 Membership Rewards® points when you spend $8,000 in eligible purchases in your first 6 months of card ownership.
Those points are worth $800 when redeemed for travel through American Express, which could be enough to cover a first redemption for a flight or hotel stay. You could get even more value from your welcome bonus if you transfer your points to one of American Express’s travel partners, but you’ll want to check available redemptions and estimated point values before making that choice.
2. Start booking travel through American Express
Apart from the welcome bonus, the best way to start building up your rewards balance is to book your flights and hotel stays through American Express Travel. You’ll get:
- 5 points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1 point per $1)
- 5 points per $1 on prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com
- 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
Plus, you can earn extra value on hotel bookings when you make eligible bookings with Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Hotel Collection.
The Platinum Card® from American Express gives you up to $200 in statement credits each year on select prepaid bookings at these eligible hotels. You might also have access to perks like early check in, late check out, room upgrades and additional property credits.
Finding an eligible hotel might take some work, but those statement credits and extra benefits could be worth the effort.
3. Activate your airline incidental fee credit
The Platinum Card® from American Express gives you up to $200 in statement credits each year to cover incidental airline fees, like checked baggage fees.
The catch is it can only be used at one airline of your choice, and you’ll need to activate your pick to start earning the credit. To select your airline, go to the “Benefits” section of your online account or call the number on the back of your card.
4. Take advantage of the airport security credits
Your Platinum Card® from American Express features a fantastic combo of airport security credits, but you’ll need to activate your memberships to take full advantage.
Like some of its competitors, the card offers a statement credit of up to $120 every four years when you apply for TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry.
Picking the right program for you is simple — both programs get you through the physical security portion of TSA screening faster, but only Global Entry also offers expedited service when you go through U.S. customs. And keep in mind that this credit only covers the application fee — you’ll still need to go through the full application process like everyone else.
If you really want to speed up your airport security experience, you’ll also want to take advantage of the card’s annual $199 statement credit for a Clear® Plus membership, which will speed up the identification verification process at participating airports.
You can start your Clear Plus enrollment online before your next flight and complete the process at a participating security checkpoint.
5. Find the best airport lounge when you fly
The Platinum Card® from American Express offers excellent airport lounge access, but you’ll want to do your research before finding the best option for your travels.
It’s smart to start your search with the Centurion Lounge Network, which is available in airports in most major U.S. cities and several more internationally. To enter these lounges, you’ll need to present your card, a same-day boarding pass and a physical government-issued ID.
If a Centurion Lounge isn’t available at your airport or terminal, you can still gain complimentary access through The Global Lounge Collection, which includes more than 1,400 lounges around the world. Just keep in mind that you may need to activate the individually included lounge memberships before arriving to get inside.
6. Activate your digital entertainment credits
The Platinum Card® from American Express provides useful digital entertainment credits, but activating them requires some work.
You’ll get a $20 monthly statement credit for digital entertainment subscriptions with a selection of services like Disney+, Hulu and The New York Times, but you’ll have to activate the credits in the Benefits section of your online account or by calling the number on the back of your card.
After activation, the credit will only apply to purchases made directly with the service provider. And because the credit is applied monthly, you might want to avoid signing up for annual subscriptions.
Your card also provides another digital entertainment credit, but it’s somewhat hidden. When you sign up for a Walmart+ account, you’ll get a monthly $12.95 statement credit to cover the cost of membership. That membership also includes a Paramount+ Essential subscription, but you’ll need to register for that service separately (with instructions provided by Walmart).
7. Activate your monthly Uber Cash
You can get $15 in Uber Cash each month and a bonus $20 in December with your Platinum Card® from American Express, which could save you up to $200 a year on Uber rides and Uber Eats. You’ll also earn automatic Uber VIP status when available.
This perk is easy to use — all you have to do is add your card as your payment method on your Uber or Uber Eats app. But unused value won’t carry over from month to month.
If you’re not in the habit of using Uber, this perk might not seem valuable. But you should be able to get a good chunk of the value every month even if you make only one Uber Eats order or take just one Uber ride.
Next steps
Your Platinum Card® from American Express comes with other benefits, like a $50 credit at Saks every six months. But the perks we’ve called out above are most likely to help you find value early in your card membership.
Once you start using your card more often, you might find it has some gaps you’d like to fill. For instance, if you’re looking to maximize your rewards balance for redemptions, you may want to add another American Express card to improve on any non-travel rewards rates you get from this card.