Amex Platinum Annual Fee Increase?
Update 6/11/21: An interesting post from BizarreBreak89 adds a lot more creditability to these rumors. During an Amex Chat session a link popped up for a $240 entertainment credit. The link didn’t go anywhere but that is a rumored perk of the Amex Platinum after the increase. Click here to see the screenshots. Here is a link to the proposed changes starting July 1st by an Amex rep according to reversesprawl.
American Express has a lineup of premium cards with some of the highest annual fees. There’s the Amex Platinum Card that has a $550 annual fee and the Business Platinum version with a $595 annual fee. Then there’s the exclusive Centurion Card that comes with an initiation fee of $10,000 and annual fee of $5,000.
But now there’s a rumor that the annual fee could be increased for the personal Amex Platinum Card. This rumor seems a bit far fetched, and comes from FlyerTalk. Here’s the text from that FlyerTalk thread:
Amex is planning on increasing annual fee on the personal Platinum in the third quarter, currently aiming for July 2021 for new applicants. Existing accounts will renew at increased rates starting in January 2022.
New fee is currently planned at $695, but also rumored at $745/795 Additionally, there will be a refresh of benefits that turn the Platinum Card “from a travel card to having more lifestyle benefits.”
New benefits are also supposed to kick in in Q3, so there will be a 6 month overlap where existing cardholders can benefit at the old rates.
Conclusion
Charging $795 for the Amex Platinum Card seems crazy to me. But even $695 would be a huge bump from the current annual fee of $550, which was just recently increased. Even if American Express adds lots of “lifestyle benefits”, marketing a card with a $795 annual fee seems like an impossible task.
We are also seeing a rebound in travel, which is expected to continue through the year. It doesn’t make much sense to shift away from travel benefits at this time.
It is more plausible that that these could be the details of one of the rumored cards that American Express plans to introduce. It could also be related to a recent survey that was sent out about a possible fee increase for the Amex Business Platinum Card that had $695 as one of the options.
Let us know what you think! And how much is too much for a credit card annual fee?
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The AA Citi Exec MC with Admirals Club access is my go to card. I prefer AA over Delta. I visited the Delta Sky Club in LAX a few days ago. Very disappointed. Club was dirty understaffed and underwhelming. Visited several Admirals clubs in Mia, Lax and a Centurion lounge in Sjo. Also several AS lounges in Anc and Sea. All better than Delta experience.
Ultimately…on one hand it doesn’t matter what the a/f is…as long as the value proposition is there.With the proposed changes I don’t see it. Equinox – not interested. Digital streaming – not interested, although many would be.
With that said $795 sounds incredibly high. Plus they make you jump through hoops for the $200 travel credit?
CLEAR isn’t that interesting. TSA Pre / GE is good enough…considering lighter travel these days. With Clear you save how much time on average?
If the list of changes is accurate…I’ll be canceling once my a/f goes up.
Centurion Lounge has a small foot print so it’s not super valuable to me. Though it is in my homebase. But I’m not paying what they’d be asking for that privilege. I don’t fly Delta that often so SkyClub is now and again. Only been to one SkyClub once. I’ll visit again later this year.
Let’s say the $200 is easy to use..I’m not paying $600 for Centurion and Delta Skyclub access.
All the other statuses I have by other means.
It wouldn’t surprise me if AmEx is carving out room for a net-new “crappy Platinum” card. Basically make the ‘Centurion’ card the true aspirational card for the millionaires/billionaires. The ‘Platinum’ card the aspirational card for the upper class at $795 w/ Delta/Centurion Lounge access. And then a net-new crappy card w/ $495 annual fee.
The net-new card could come with super restrictive lounge benefits (4x visits/year, discount on subsequent visits for cardholder, $79 per guest), no delta lounge access. Then to make the card appealing, they’d add 4x earning rate on a few categories, cell phone insurance, $100 annual travel credit, FHR benefits, etc.
The Platinum card was smash hit. The lounges speak to that success. AmEx appears to be considering all the creatively make lounges less accessible. I am sure they are pondering how they can keep customers, as the value proposition of the Platinum card at $600+ is terrible for many. You must really….really…value the lounge experience at those prices. A net-new crappy $495 Platinum-lite card could save AmEx from losing a lot of customers.
I spend $2000/yr in annual fees, and am looking at ways to trim that. $2k can buy a round trip business class ticket, or lot of meals at a airport restaurant, or a lot of massages in the airport. Between my Platinum, Gold, Bonvoy Amex, Delta Amex – I was spending $1000yr just on Amex annual fees. Silly….
Card companies don’t need to make money on interest, if the cardholders are willing to pay a fee for the privilege of being able to use a credit card. In a way, I feel like a sucker, for handing out so much money for the privilege of holding a credit card. Then the cards are all designed to shape your travel patterns, if you want to maximize the benefits. The comments here show the divide created with consumers. Some people find it to be worthwhile. Some people find it to be a bridge too far.
I simply want to travel on my terms, and not how card issuers want me to travel. So when I look at $2k in fees per year over 5 years…….I feel a bit disappointed in myself.
I would happily pay a higher AF if this meant more perks, especially lifestyle perkes, and a lot less traffic on the lounges! I want the platinum card to go back to be more exclusive than it is now.
If an ~50% increase in the fee comes with good benefits, then fine, I ditch my Gold or Bonvoy Brilliant or Aspire or Delta Platinum card. If it doesn’t, I ditch the Platinum card. I’ve hit the ceiling with AMEX fees and I bet I’m not alone.
I agree, the current Platinum rate level is my ceiling!
I would gladly pay the increased fee, provided it decreased the traffic in the Centurion Lounge.
$795 doesn’t seem like a steep increase to me, nor does it sound crazy.
Regarding Centurion Lounge traffic, who know what it will naturally be for the next year or so? I could see air travel being subdued, being higher-demand-than-ever, or back to how it was.