The news: American Express refreshed its consumer and business Platinum Cards, complete with $895 annual fees and an enhanced slate of travel, dining, entertainment, and shopping credits.
- Consumer cardholders will receive $600 for hotels, $400 for Resy, $300 for digital entertainment subscriptions, $300 at lululemon, $120 for a Uber One membership, $200 for an ŌURA ring purchase, and premium hotel status at The Leading Hotels of the World annually.
- Business cardholders can anticipate 5x points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com, 2x points on eligible purchases in key categories, and 1x points on all other purchases.
- Business cardholders also will collect $600 for hotels, $1,150 at Dell Technologies, $250 at Adobe, and premium hotel status at The Leading Hotels of the World annually.
- Business members can also unlock $3,600 in additional credits after $250,000 in spend during a calendar year, such as $1,200 in Amex Travel Online Flight credits, and $2,400 for One AP, Amex’s digital accounts payable product.
These perks are in addition to Amex’s existing benefits suite, which includes $200 Uber Cash, $200 for airline fees, $100 at Saks Fifth Avenue, $300 for Equinox and Walmart+ Monthly Membership, and $209 for CLEAR+.
Why this matters: Issuers are locked in an arms race for wealthy consumers’ spend. The top 10% of earners were responsible for nearly half of all US spending as of June, according to analysis from Moody’s.
Chase, Citi, and Amex have all released new premium offers to compete for these consumers’ loyalty. American Express has tried to distinguish itself from the pack through its experiential rewards, reflected in its latest offerings that focus on wellness like lululemon’s luxe yogawear and ŌURA ring’s holistic health monitoring.
Our first take: Amex’s annual fee is creeping closer to $1,000, and the issuer is arguing its fleet of perks—on paper worth over $3,500—more than pays for the price hike. The updated rewards slate also reflects millennial and Gen Z sensibilities—and adding more experiential perks through Resy helps round out the cash rewards with exclusive in-person events.
However, cardholders will need to enroll to access many of Amex’s latest offerings, a snag that’s likely to reduce members actual use rate of their perks—eroding Platinum’s value and potentially pushing away the premium consumers Amex is trying to court.
This is our immediate perspective. We’re actively developing this story throughout the day with more research and data from the EMARKETER database. Our in-depth analysis will be included in our client-only Briefings. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.
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