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Introduction

In 2018, I told my wife that I was planning to apply for a credit card with a S$1.7k annual fee. She looked at me in disbelief when I told her it was good value for money.

Four years on, given that my wife suggested that I write this article, it’s safe to say that she’s finally a convert…

The Entry Criteria for Amex Platinum Cards

Amex offers 3 different credit cards within its Platinum series. As one can imagine, the entry requirements and annual fees vary, but so do the benefits. Amex no longer publishes annual income requirements (replacing it with an “internal assessment” of the card applicant) but we have listed the last known official criteria in the image below.

The elusive Amex Centurion Card is by invite only and we have also included it below for completeness. We do enjoy a full family portrait.

In this article, we will be focusing on the Amex Platinum Charge Card and discuss if it’s truly worth the S$1,744 annual fee (spoiler: we think it is).

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Article Summary

1) Amex Platinum Charge Card’s benefits

2) Valuation of the benefits

3) Ad hoc card promotions and events

4) Referral Link for 5K Bonus Amex Points

Appendix: 3 things to do once you receive the Amex Platinum Charge Card

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The InvestQuest View:

The Amex Platinum Charge Card is ideal as a lifestyle card, with its plethora of travel and dining benefits. Outside of the published benefits, we have also had a positive experience with ad hoc offers, member events and gifts, dished out by the Amex team. We believe that it’s easy to extract about S$4.5k in value in the first membership year and over S$3k in value for subsequent years, which more than justifies the S$1,744 annual fee.

Bonus Tip: Another perk of the Amex Platinum Charge Card is the preferential conversion rate for Amex reward points (into airmiles/hotel points), compared to the Amex Platinum Reserve Card or Amex Platinum Card. Hence, individuals who are currently hoarding Amex reward points in these two other cards may find it worthwhile to upgrade to the Platinum Charge Card, as Amex reward points may be pooled and redeemed at the preferential rate.

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1) Amex Platinum Charge Card’s benefits

Amex practices a one annual fee policy. This means if you hold two Amex Platinum cards (i.e. Amex Platinum Charge Card + Amex Platinum Reserve Card), you would only need to pay the annual fee of the more expensive card, while receiving the benefits of both cards!

However, do note that the “one annual fee policy” only applies for legacy holders of the Platinum Charge Card who had received their Platinum Reserve Card prior to 1 November 2022, and not for new incoming Charge Card holders. We list selected benefits of both cards below.

Above was a summary. Below, we’ve given a little more elaboration of the key benefits of the Amex Platinum Charge Card & the Amex Platinum Reserve Card.

Travel Benefits

Most Important

• Complimentary one night stay at participating hotels (see full list here, local options include Fullerton Hotel and St Regis)
• S$200 flight credit (activated after S$600 is spent on SQ/Scoot website or app)
• Unlimited airport lounge access (for principal/supplementary cardholders, and 1-2 guests per card depending on lounge rules)
  • The Centurion Lounge
  • International American Express Lounges
  • Priority Pass (Enrolment required, for one supplementary card holder only)
  • Delta SkyClub
  • Plaza Premium
• Complimentary hotel loyalty program upgrades (for principal/supplementary card holders)
  • Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
  • Hilton Honors Gold Status
  • Radisson Rewards Gold Status
  • Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) Discovery Platinum Status

Less Important

• Complimentary car rental loyalty program upgrades
  • Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star status
  • Avis President’s Club status
• Fine Hotel and Resorts (FHR) booking privileges
  • Early check-ins, late check-outs
  • Daily breakfast for two people
  • US$100 amenities credit (varies by property)
  • Room upgrade where available
• The Hotel Collection bookingprivileges (for bookings of two or more consecutive nights)
  • Up to USD$100 hotel credit to spend on qualifying dining, spa and resort activities
  • Room upgrade where available
• Access to International Airlines Program (IAP)
  • Discounted airfares for premium classes on participating airlines (see details here)

Dining Benefits

Most Important

• S$100 Tower Club Dining Voucher (1 x S$100 voucher)
• S$400 dining credit (S$200 to be used in Singapore and S$200 overseas, see full list of participating restaurants here)

Less Important

• Access to Amex Love Dining program
  • Up to 50% off at participating restaurants (see full list here)
• Access to Amex Chillax program
  • Complimentary welcome drink at participating bars (see full list here)
• S$100 Jaan Dining Voucher (2 x S$50 vouchers)
• S$100 Restaurant Jag Dining Voucher (1 x S$100 voucher)

Lifestyle Benefits

Most Important

• S$400 lifestyle credit (activated after S$600 spend at selected spas and Grand Cru Wine Concierge physical shop, see list of participating shops here)
• S$204 entertainment services (S$17 per month rebate for Netflix, SPH media, Audible etc, full list of vendors here)
• Complimentary access into Tower Club, and the use of its facilities (club website)
• Complimentary Comoclub C5-tier membership upgrade (bypassing $50k qualification spend for 1st year, see summary of member benefits here).

Less Important

• Complimentary parking at Great World City (Fri – Sun only)
• Golfing privileges
  • Amex regional golf program privileges (see full list here)

Amex Reward Points

Super Important – Bonus Amex Points – Valid for card approvals till 29 May 2024.

• For incoming Platinum Charge Card holders who are new-to-Amex: Earn 132,500 Bonus Amex points (equates to 82,813 airmiles), for the 1^st membership year.
  • Welcome Gift: 40,000 Amex points (equates to 25,000 airmiles), for annual fee payment
  • Member Get Member Bonus: 5,000 Amex points (equates to 3,125 airmiles), upon spending S$5k within first 3 months of card membership.
  • Spend Bonus: 87,500 Amex points (equates to 54,688 airmiles), upon S$6k spending within first 2 months of card membership. The S$5k spend for the Member Get Member Bonus may be counted as part of this S$6k spend.
• For incoming Platinum Charge Card holders who are existing Amex cardholders: Earn 85,000 Bonus Amex points (equates to 53,125 airmiles), for the 1^st membership year.
  • Welcome Gift: 40,000 Amex points (equates to 25,000 airmiles), for annual fee payment
  • Member Get Member Bonus: 5,000 Amex points (equates to 3,125 airmiles), upon spending S$5k within first 3 months of card membership.
  • Spend Bonus: 40,000 Amex points (equates to 25,000 airmiles), upon S$6k spending within first 2 months of card membership. The S$5k spend for the Member Get Member Bonus may be counted as part of this S$6k spend.

Most Important – Enhanced “Earning Rate” for Amex Points

• Enhanced Amex points for spending at Platinum 10Xcelerator Partners
  • 20 Amex points for every S$1.60 spent (equates to 7.81 miles per S$1), for the first S$16k of cumulative spending in a calendar year at these shops
  • 10 Amex points for every S$1.60 spent (equates to 3.91 miles per S$1), for spending in excess of first S$16k in a calendar year at these shops.
• Earn 5 Amex Points for every S$1.60 spent with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot (equates to 1.9 miles per S$1).
• Earn 2 Amex points for every S$1.60 spent (equates to 0.78 miles per S$1), for other spend.

Most Important – Enhanced “Conversion Rate” for Amex Points

• Preferential Amex points conversion rate of 400 points to 250 miles (Amex Platinum Credit Card / Amex Platinum Reserve Card conversion rate: 450 points to 250 miles)

Amex Platinum Reserve Card Benefits

Reminder: Amex practices a one annual fee policy (but only for legacy Platinum Charge Card holders who have received their Platinum Reserve Card before 1 November 2022). This means if you hold two Amex Platinum cards (i.e. Amex Platinum Charge Card + Amex Platinum Reserve Card), you would only need to pay the annual fee of the more expensive card, while receiving the benefits of both cards!

There are some overlapping benefits with the Amex Platinum Charge Card, such as access to Tower Club, participation in the Amex Love Dining and Chillax programmes.

But there are also benefits with tangible value, such as:

• Complimentary 1 night stay at participating Frasers Hospitality hotels (see full list here)
• Complimentary Cat & the Fiddle Cake during birthday month (with free delivery)
• Complimentary bottle of wine at Napoleon Food & Wine Bar (no spend required)
• 2 x Complimentary bottles of wine at Grand Cru (no spend required)

Remember, the above is not an exhaustive list! In the next section, we will try to ascribe a value for the most important benefits of having an Amex Platinum Charge Card.

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2) Valuation of benefits

In our opinion, it’s easy to extract about S$4.5k of value from the Amex Platinum Charge Card in the first membership year, and over S$3k of value for subsequent years. The breakdown of how we reached these figures is shown in the below table.

First Year vs. Subsequent Years

The difference in value extraction between the first vs subsequent membership years is due to the “Bonus Amex Points”, which are only offered to new cardholders (this will be covered later).

Cardholder tip: When the card’s annual fee is due in subsequent membership years, cardholders can call up the Amex hotline to request for a “card retention bonus”. The bonus typically starts at 20k points, but high card spenders may be offered up to 60k points .

In fact, we think our valuation is conservative

Overall, our valuation of the card benefits errs on the conservative side because of two reasons:

1. We have only included the card’s official benefits. In Section 3, we cover some of the ad hoc benefits that could potentially add further value to the cardholder.
2. We only included the benefits that we found most useful. Some individuals may find good use in the other benefits. I can think of 3 examples.
   • You decide to cancel your monthly gym membership, and use Tower Club’s gym instead.
   • You are a patron of some of the Platinum 10Xcelerator Partners (such as IWC, Hourglass, Piaget etc), and are able to benefit from the enhanced points accrual rate of 7.81 miles per S$1 spent.
   • You travel frequently on premium cabin classes (premium economy or higher), and can utilize the International Airlines Program (IAP) for discounted fares.

Okay, let’s start! Below, we cover the valuation for some of the key benefits in greater detail!

S$400 Dining, S$400 Lifestyle, S$204 Entertainment, S$200 Airline Credit, S$150 Fashion Credit (S$1.35k valuation)

The statement credits would be broken down into five categories, which includes:

• S$400 in dining credits, comprising of S$200 for use with local participating restaurants and S$200 for use with participating restaurants overseas (see full list of participating restaurants here)
• S$400 in lifestyle credits applicable with minimum spend at participating lifestyle retail partners. (activated after S$600 spend, see list of participating shops here)
• S$204 in entertainment credits in a year for your monthly streaming or news services (S$17 per month rebate for Netflix, SPH media, Audible etc, full list of vendors here)
• S$200 in airline credits, activated after S$600 is spent on SQ/Scoot website or app
• S$150 in Fashion credits, for use at Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter. S$75 credit per semi-annual period

We have still assumed a S$1,350 valuation for simplicity. Do note that enrolment on your Amex online portal is required to enjoy the benefit of these statement credits.

1 Night Stay at 5-Star Hotel (S$400 valuation)

Every year, cardholders are entitled to 1 Night’s stay at participating hotels (see full list here). At the minimum, you would be able to do a local staycation at either St Regis (Executive Deluxe Room), or Fullerton Hotel (Premier Courtyard Room).

A $400 valuation would be relatively conservative in my view, given these hotels are pricing above $500 in the post-covid world.

Cardholder tip: Pick St Regis for the following two reasons, if you are indifferent.

1. There’s a good chance of getting a room upgrade, as you would at least have a Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status (more on this card benefit later), and St Regis is a participating brand under Marriott Bonvoy.
2. You would be able to earn Marriott Bonvoy points on your stay. There’s good usage flexibility for Marriott Bonvoy points, since its portfolio includes Ritz-Carlton, St Regis, JW Marriott, W Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Le Meridian, Westin, Renaissance Hotels, Four Points, Aloft just to name a “few”.

Hotel Loyalty Program Upgrades (S$300 valuation)

Cardholders get complimentary status upgrades to their hotel loyalty programmes, and this benefit applies to supplementary card holders as well. The below lists the participating loyalty programs and which major hotel chains belong to each.

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status: Ritz-Carlton, St Regis, JW Marriott, W Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Le Meridian, Westin, Renaissance Hotels, Four Points, Aloft
• Hilton Honors Gold Status: Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Hilton, Doubletree, Hampton, Canopy
• Radisson Rewards Gold Status: Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn
• Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) Discovery Platinum Status: Pan Pacific, Parkroyal, Capella, Anantara, Kempinski
• [Unpublished Benefit] Ascott Star Rewards Platinum Status: Ascott, Citadines, Lyf, Oakwood

This benefit is really tricky to value, as it depends on how frequently you travel, the probability of you getting a room upgrade and the various benefits you might be entitled to with an elite loyalty status, which could include perks such as free breakfast, early check-in and late check-out.

The most rewarding upgrade I have had, which I imagine to be once-in-a-lifetime, was an upgrade to Hilton Singapore’s Presidential Suite that retails for S$2k+ per night. This happened in 2019, and I was surprised that it was offered to someone with just a Hilton Gold status (Diamond status is above Gold). And of course we had to take a video of the room.

How much did that staycation cost? A mere S$300 nett. I had originally booked a King Hilton Executive Suite at ~S$500 nett (when Hilton was having a 20% discount), and stacked on an ad-hoc Amex Platinum Charge Card promotion (S$200 off for S$500 spend at Hilton).

Unlimited Airport Lounge Access (S$360 valuation)

Cardholders are entitled to unlimited airport lounge access (for principal/supplementary card holders, and 1-2 guests per card depending on lounge rules). Participating lounges include:

• The Centurion Lounge
• International American Express Lounges
• Priority Pass (Enrolment required, for one supplementary card holder only)
• Delta SkyClub
• Plaza Premium

While it is not uncommon to be offered airport lounge access (even for entry level credit cards), three features make the Amex Platinum Charge stand out:

1. Unlimited lounge access
2. Guesting privileges for both principal and supplementary cardholders (less common feature even among premier-tier credit cards)
3. Access to The Centurion Lounge (most consider it several notches above the typical priority pass lounge, so you can expect above average food + alcoholic drinks including cocktails and champagne. Some locations may even offer complimentary massages, manicures, shower facilities and gaming consoles)

To estimate the value of this lounge access benefit, we could look at what a Priority Pass membership costs (see image below). The “Prestige” tier, which allows for unlimited lounge access, currently retails for US$469 per year and it doesn’t even come with guesting privileges.

Personally, I would value the airport lounge benefit at S$360. Assuming I used the lounge four times a year with no guests, and valued each visit at S$30, this would mean the annual value to me is S$120. As two supplementary cardholders would also be entitled to this benefit, I would value this benefit at S$360.

Bonus Amex Points (Up to S$1,242 for 1st Year, S$188 for subsequent years)

For incoming Platinum Charge cardholders, in order to receive the full 132,500 bonus Amex points (for new-to-Amex applicants) or 85,000 bonus Amex points (for existing Amex cardholders) for the first year, you need to get a referral from an existing card member and spend S$6k within the first 2 months of card membership. The breakdown is as follows:

• For incoming Platinum Charge Card holders who are new-to-Amex:
  • Welcome Gift: 40,000 Amex points (equates to 25,000 airmiles), for annual fee payment
  • Member Get Member Bonus: 5,000 Amex points (equates to 3,125 airmiles), upon spending S$5k within first 3 months of card membership.
  • Spend Bonus: 87,500 Amex points (equates to 54,688 airmiles), upon S$6k spending within first 2 months of card membership. The S$5k spend for the Member Get Member Bonus may be counted as part of this S$6k spend.

• For incoming Platinum Charge Card holders who are existing Amex cardholders:
  • Welcome Gift: 40,000 Amex points (equates to 25,000 airmiles), for annual fee payment
  • Member Get Member Bonus: 5,000 Amex points (equates to 3,125 airmiles), upon spending S$5k within first 3 months of card membership.
  • Spend Bonus: 40,000 Amex points (equates to 25,000 airmiles), upon S$6k spending within first 2 months of card membership. The S$5k spend for the Member Get Member Bonus may be counted as part of this S$6k spend.

Do note that you will also be receiving the base points (0.78125 miles per S$1 spent) for the above spending.

Amex points have very flexible uses, including a conversion into frequent flyer miles, hotel loyalty points, gift vouchers or to offset credit card expenses. It’s also worth noting that Amex points do not expire.

Many would suggest that conversion to airmiles would be desirable and 132.5k Amex points would translate to 82,813 airmiles (sufficient for a one-way First Class Saver flight redemption to Japan on Singapore Airlines). Alternatively, 132.5k Amex points may also be used to offset S$636 of credit card expenses, which is less desirable.

We value 132.5k Amex points (82,813 airmiles) at S$1,242, assuming a valuation of 1.5 cents per mile.

Amex Platinum Charge has been bulking up on the card benefits (latest being the addition of the Comoclub membership upgrade and $150 Fashion Credit), and the current sign-up promotion is the best we have seen in recent times. To recap, earlier welcome gifts for new cardholders had included the likes of a 1 Night stay at Fullerton Bay Hotel, an OTO Quantum Advanced Massage Chair (retails at S$3,480), a 48″ Omnidesk Pro 2020 (retails at S$840), 60-80k Amex Points (equivalent up to 50k airmiles), and before that it was 2 Nights Stay at a High End Hotel (we personally redeemed ours for 2 nights at Banyan Tree Bali, which was then retailing at S$800 per night).

1 Nights Stay at Frasers Hotels (S$150 valuation)

While this is not an explicit benefit of the Amex Platinum Charge Card, legacy cardholders may rely on Amex’s “one annual fee policy” and apply for a “free” Amex Platinum Reserve Credit Card with its entitled benefits.

One such benefit would be a complimentary 1 night stay at participating Frasers Hospitality hotels (see full list here). Higher value options include Frasers Suites Geneva and Fraser Suites Harmonie Paris.

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3) Ad hoc card promotions and events

Outside of the official benefits mentioned earlier, we have enjoyed ad hoc offers, member events and gifts, dished out by the Amex team. These ad hoc benefits have not been factored into the valuation of the card’s benefits, covered earlier in Section 1.

Extra free stuff we’ve gotten:

1. One night’s stay at the Outpost Hotel in Sentosa in 2019.
2. S$500 and S$300 of statement credit for grocery shopping in 2020 and 2021 respectively, given the understanding that much of the card’s benefits would be underutilized during this period.
3. S$350 of dining credit in 2021, across a very decent list of participating restaurants.
4. Statement credit for spending at certain hotels, stackable with in-house hotel promotions and the Amex Love Dining program. This typically appears a few times per year and examples include:
   • Hilton Group: Spend S$400, get S$120 back
   • Marriott Bonvoy: Spend S$400, get S$100 back
   • Hyatt: Spend S$300, get S$75 back
   • Millennium Hotels: Spend S$500, get S$100 back

Extra stuff we’ve won:

1. Apple Airpods, iPad and one night Conrad stay playing the pinball machines at Platinum Avenue Pop-up Booth in 2023.
2. Mont Blanc Pen, Ruinart Champagne and TWG Gift Set playing the Christmas Claw Machine in 2022.
3. Yamazaki 12 Year Whiskey during the virtual Platinum af’FAIR 2021.
4. 3 bottles of Krug Champagne during the virtual Platinum af’FAIR 2020, winning 3 of 5 virtual games during the fair.
5. 10k Amex Reward points and TWG teas at the Christmas Claw Machine in 2019. See below video for one of our many failed tries.

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4) Referral Link for 5K Bonus Amex Points

Just so you know, this isn’t a sponsored post. And if you have read till here, you would have already sensed our genuine enthusiasm for this card.

If you feel that this card might be useful to you and wish to apply, do consider using our referral code. This would entitle you to 5,000 Bonus Amex points (equivalent to 3,125 airmiles, worth approx S$47). You would have to spend S$5k within the first 3 months of card membership to be eligible for this bonus, and the S$5k counts towards the “Spend Bonus” for new cardholders.

Referral link for 5K Amex Points!

Again, the image below summarizes our valuation of the published benefits offered by the Amex Platinum Charge Card. Do feel free to tweak it to see if this makes sense for you!

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The InvestQuest View:

The Amex Platinum Charge Card is ideal as a lifestyle card, with its plethora of travel and dining benefits. Outside of the published benefits, we have also had a positive experience with ad hoc offers, member events and gifts, dished out by the Amex team. We believe that it’s easy to extract about S$4.5k in value in the first membership year and over S$3k in value for subsequent years, which more than justifies the S$1,744 annual fee.

Bonus Tip: Another perk of the Amex Platinum Charge Card is the preferential conversion rate for Amex reward points (into airmiles/hotel points), compared to the Amex Platinum Reserve Card or Amex Platinum Card. Hence, individuals who are currently hoarding Amex reward points in these two other cards may find it worthwhile to upgrade to the Platinum Charge Card, as Amex reward points may be pooled and redeemed at the preferential rate.

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Appendix: 3 things to do once you receive the Amex Platinum Charge Card

1) Enroll for Loyalty Program Upgrades

Recall that principal and supplementary cardholders are entitled to the following status upgrades:

• Marriott Bonvoy™ Gold Elite Status
• Hilton Honors Gold Status
• Radisson Rewards Gold Status
• Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) Discovery Platinum Status
• Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star status
• Avis President’s Club status

For that to happen, you have to make the enrollment request via this webpage.

For Ascott Star Rewards Platinum Status match (which is an unpublished benefit), you would need to request for it via this link.

2) Priority Pass Application

While you can use your Amex Platinum Charge Card to access some lounges (shown within the Amex app), some lounges may still require a Priority Pass Card for entry.

The Priority Pass application form would be included in your Welcome Pack and you can apply for up to two Priority Passes (meaning that 1 of your supplementary cardholders would NOT get it). Supplementary cardholders can still use their Amex Platinum Charge Card to access a number of lounges, so the lack of a Priority Pass isn’t too big of an inconvenience.

3) Register for your Amex Online Account and enroll into the various ad-hoc promotions

Once you have entered your account’s Home Page, scroll down to the section on “Amex Offers” and enroll into the various ad-hoc offers that are available (see image below).

Some of the earlier mentioned benefits (Fashion Credit, Entertainment Credit, Lifestyle Credits etc.) would also require enrolment on this page.