How I get every penny back from the $695 annual fee on my Amex Platinum (2024)

There are a lot of premium travel rewards cards today, but The Platinum Card® from American Express (terms apply, rates & fees) is the oldest. It’s also one of the most expensive cards offered, and many potential card members are turned off by the annual fee of $695. I like to think I’m a fairly frugal guy, but I’ve been an Amex Platinum cardholder for many years because I know how to maximize each of the many statement credits offered. Read on to see why this card is worth it for me.

How to redeem statement credits offered by the American Express Platinum

The way to justify this card’s annual fee is to leverage its many statement credits — if you can use all or most of the credits, you can easily offset the cost of the annual fee. Enrollment is required for select benefits.

Up to $200 annual airline fee credit

The Amex Platinum card comes with a $200 annual airline fee statement credit. To use it, you need to opt in online, and choose an airline for it to apply to. Then, the fee credit automatically applies to eligible charges like change fees, baggage fees, seat selection fees and in-flight purchases of food and beverages.

But I’ve found that I sometimes receive the fee credit for other small airline charges such as the taxes and fees paid on award tickets or inexpensive ticket purchases, even though it’s not supposed to apply.

Up to $200 in Uber Cash

Link your American Express Platinum card to your Uber account, and you’ll receive $15 per month in Uber Cash, plus an elevated amount of $20 in December. I use Uber enough that I almost always use these credits for Uber rides. But if I find myself with a few dollars left over at the end of the month, I can also use my credits for Uber Eats food purchases, leaving nothing to waste.

Up to $240 Digital Entertainment credit

This credit offers up to $20 in statement credits per month toward eligible purchases with select streaming services and news outlets, including Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peaco*ck, and The Wall Street Journal.Although enrollment is required, this one’s pretty easy for my family to use in full each month.

Up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credit

This benefit offers you an up to $50 statement credit at Saks Fifth Avenue stores and online, twice a year (but not at Saks OFF 5TH outlet stores). Enrollment is required, and you can receive one $50 credit between January 1 and June 30, and a second between July 1 and the end of the year.

When I don’t normally shop there, I’ll typically buy a $50 gift card in-store, as online cards are fulfilled by a third party that doesn’t trigger the credit. And since they offer very few items for $50 or less, I’ll apply multiple cards to a later purchase, or give them as gifts.

Up to $199 CLEAR® Plus statement credit

CLEAR Plus is a service that verifies your identity with biometrics before airport screenings at participating airports, essentially allowing you to cut in line at the airport, even if you’re a TSA PreCheck member. I’m not much of a huge fan of this service, as the lines to use CLEAR and their slow service often make it more of an ordeal in my experience than the regular TSA PreCheck line I normally use. But a few times a year, CLEAR saves me significant time.

$155 Walmart+ credit

Walmart+¹ offers free delivery of groceries and more from your local Walmart store and free shipping from Walmart.com, with no minimums. Other benefits include discounts on fuel and complimentary video streaming through Paramount+. I haven’t used this service yet, but the Paramount+ streaming service perk alone is worth $59.99 a year.

Up to $300 Equinox credit

This is a luxury fitness membership². I can’t say I’ve used it, but I’m sure it can offer value to those who live near an Equinox location or want to stream their live and on-demand classes.

Bottom line

I fully use the up to $200 annual airline fee statement credit, up to $200 in annual Uber Cash and up to $240 in annual digital entertainment statement credits. Since these credits offset purchases that I would have made, I value these benefits at the full $640, leaving just $55 remaining from the $695 annual fee.

The other $744 in credits are nice to have, but I can’t honestly say that I save anything close to 100% of their value. I use the Saks and CLEAR Plus credits, but I haven’t yet used the Walmart and Equinox benefits. But since I’m certain that I receive more than $55 in value from the up to $100 annual credit at Saks and the up to $199 statement credit toward my CLEAR® Plus membership, the American Express Platinum card is sure to remain in my wallet.

It’s not ideal that this premium travel rewards card is now something akin to a coupon book, but that’s the way it is. And since I receive the value of my entire annual fee, and then some, back as statement credits, I’m free to enjoy all of the other Amex Platinum benefits at no extra cost — like extensive lounge access via the Global Lounge collection, elite status at Marriott and Hilton and premium status in my choice of car rental programs between Avis, Hertz and National.

Not sure this is the right card for you? Consider the best credit cards on the market for other options.

^{For rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.}

^{¹When using the card to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership, you’ll receive a statement credit for up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes back on one membership (excluding any Plus Up Benefits) each month (subject to auto-renewal).}

^{²Up to $300 in statement credits each year when you use the card to pay for an Equinox+ digital subscription with live and on-demand classes, or an Equinox club membership (subject to auto-renewal).}