Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit
I presume the Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit is a nuisance for many – maybe not as much as it previously was, though. Amex doles out this credit to Platinum cardholders in $25 monthly increments – recently up from $20 – on a selection of services. But what many see as an inconvenience, I and many of you see as an opportunity. And the November/December timeframe is perhaps the best time of year for those of us to jump at it.
That’s because we have the chance to stack a plethora of deals across many of the services with the credit. It’s possible for attentive cardholders to vastly discount or completely subsidize their service needs with such credits. Indeed, I’m summarizing my most recent success today. Perhaps the biggest positive this year is simplicity.
Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit Highlights
First, I’ll describe our personal situation related to the credit. My wife and I currently hold (only) two consumer Platinum cards between us. We conservatively expect that level to continue, perhaps with additional Platinums appearing later this month and throughout 2026. Like previous years, I was confident we could address most (or all) of our related wants and needs with these credits.
Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max
New this year, we’re obtaining all of these services from one common account. We opted for the no-ads bundle priced at $32.99 monthly. I’m fine paying $7.99 out of pocket for the simplicity of such an arrangement. This year, I’m saving considerable time and effort since I won’t be jumping between multiple separate accounts.
I momentarily considered the premium version of the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN bundle at $38.99 monthly for the first 12 months. But our ESPN needs primarily revolve around football season, anyway, and paying that rate during the non-football months would’ve been a waste. We’re opting to satisfy our future, momentary non-football ESPN needs with other methods.
Peacock and Apple TV
A development I’ve appreciated is the recent partnership between Peacock and Apple TV. Peacock has raised prices over the past year, but it’s nice to see individuals can get a bit more now. Bundled together, the Peacock with ads and Apple TV option is $14.99 monthly. The no-ads Peacock version with Apple TV is $19.99 monthly. I opted for the latter without hesitation. That’s because Peacock offers several of our favorite shows, and cutting out the commercials as much as possible is important to us.
Newspapers
I previously resolved our New York Times situation. As many of you know, retention offers seem to exist everywhere. Our $1 weekly/billed every four weeks plan was extended when we recently attempted to cancel just before our promo rate expired. We’re good there for several more months, then it’s rinse and repeat time. Otherwise, we’ll go after the best promo rate available.
We didn’t get that earlier in the year with the Wall Street Journal and ended up cancelling. But we’re back with a similar offer to the Times, $1 weekly/billed every four weeks, but for a full year.
For now, that means we’re going out of pocket about $3 monthly for both papers and the Peacock/Apple TV bundle. Fine enough with me!
No, Thanks…
We’re opting to not leverage the Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit on the following services for different reasons.
Paramount+
We obtain Paramount+ already thanks to the Platinum’s Walmart+ membership credit. We’re fine holding our nose through the Paramount+ version with ads, primarily because our overall use of the service is limited to just a few shows and random movies here and there.
YouTube TV
As I previously mentioned, our basic cable needs are seasonal, primarily revolving around the football season. I’ve mostly used YouTube TV for those needs the past few seasons, but I’m considering cutting even that. The monthly rate for YouTube TV is now $82.99, the latest in a history of price hikes. Plus, I’m turned off at how the recent Disney negotiations were handled. I’m more open to streaming competitors like DirecTV and Fubo. We’re currently with DirecTV streaming, a blast from the past we haven’t enjoyed since the company was giving out complimentary Apple TV devices with new service. Additionally, discounts on YouTube TV (and other services) are commonly available via card-linked offers beyond Amex.
So we have even less of a need for YouTube TV, but if/when we do, we have other ways to discount it.
Conclusion
I’m happy that our Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit strategy will entail less maintenance throughout the next 12 months or so. I’m interested to see how various services evolve their offerings and invariably increase their rates in the meantime. I may need to get clever if things change in any substantial way soon. But I’m happy to have certain rates and simplicity locked in for the foreseeable future.
How did you recently update your Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit strategy?
No doubt this varies by state, if not county, but we get free online access to the NYT, WSJ and Washington Post through our local library. Kanopy video streaming too, for a somewhat eclectic selection of documentaries, indie and foreign films. It’s definitely worth checking your local library’s resources before wasting your money or CC credits.
Benjy, some readers might not be aware that some streaming services offer *permanent* discounts to service members and veterans. Other services offer the first year at a steep discount. Check it out.
The YouTube credit can also be used for YouTube Premium music/video. I can squeeze YouTube Premium and some of my veteran-discount services into a single card’s monthly credit.
Hope this helps.
Gosh. I need to have a “strategy” to make the Amex Platinum Annual Fee math work? How about just ditch the card and spend your $800 as you see fit, rather than how you need to spend it to make your Amex habit pay for itself? Amex are marketing geniuses to have figured out a way to make their customers work for them, rather than vice versa.
On the surface, I can see someone objecting to an $895 annual fee. But some of us can actually use a reasonable chunk of the credits offered on spending we already do. My wife and I each have the Amex Platinum. On spending we already do, we each capture $1000 per year more than the annual fee. And, lounge access is gravy.