American Express has overhauled its flagship store’s PlatinumCard®, from American Express®, to increase annual fees from $695 to $895, and adds a new set of statement credits as well as travel and lifestyle privileges.
It was the first time the card has charged in four years and the most important refresh since 2021, when Amex piled up on a declared credit for the first time to prove the rise from $550 to $695.
Now it is testing how much value a cardholder can pull from a higher price – fortunately, it’s less than the $1,000 we feared could reach.
Let’s dive in to decide whether the new allowance is reasonable to hold this card or to apply for it first.
What are the new features in Amex Platinum refresh?
Amex added new offers and increased several existing allowances while leaving the earning rate unaffected. Most changes will be valid immediately for new and existing cards, although higher annual fees will not be renewed until January 2, 2026.
Here’s how the cards stack after refresh:
Annual fee
Declare credits
There are four new points and three existing credits are enhanced:
| category* | forward | Now |
|---|---|---|
| New sentence credits | – |
|
| Hotel Credit | Up to $200 per year | Up to $300 per year (every six months) |
| Digital entertainment credit | $20 per month |
|
| Clear and credit | Up to $199 per year | Up to $209 per year (price increases in July; subject to automatic renewal restrictions) |
*Registration required for selected benefits
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New hotel and dining offers
- Leaders Club Stirling Status (world’s leading hotel); registration required
- Resy’s Platinum Night (currently only in Los Angeles, Miami and New York City)
The benefits of unchanging
These declare points remain unchanged (registration is required):
- Airline (declared credit with selected airline up to USD 200)
- Equinox (Spring Fencing Gym and Equinox+ App Membership, up to $300 per year, both need to be automatically renewed)
- Global Entry/TSA Precheck (declared credit with a global admission fee of $120 per four years, or $85 fee credit for TSA Precheck every 4.5 years)
- SAKS (up to $100 per calendar year)
- Uber Cash (up to $200 per calendar year, valid in Uber rides and Uber Eats in the United States; Amex Plat must be first added to your Uber account, and you can redeem it with any Amex card)
- Walmart+ ($155 per year for one calendar year stated credit for a membership, but can be automatically renewed and excluded.)
The same is true for these privileges (requires registration):
- Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy Golden Status
- Lounge entry
And the income rate has not changed.
New limited edition card design
There is also a limited edition mirror card design that spreads out next to it with refresh.
Existing card members can request it by ordering a replacement card online.
How do these changes affect existing card members?
Even though my annual fee was released earlier this week for $695, I qualify for new points right away. It wasn’t until my next contract renewal after January 2, 2026, with an additional $895 fee.
This creates a valuable window for preload points and mitigates price increases next year.
This is my solution:
Register before you spend
Before making any purchases, activate new Lululemon, Oura Ring, Resy and Uber in your AMEX account for a benefit so your credit triggers are correct.
Use your Q3 credits by the end of September
These are quarterly, so if you don’t use them this month, you’ll lose them:
Revisit your streaming lineup
The $5 increase in monthly digital entertainment credit helps hit rising flow costs. This is useful for YouTube Premium or YouTube TV, so update your bill to a Platinum card.
Remember that you have received free ad-supported Paramount+ or Peacock through Walmart+ membership (requires separate enrollment), so you only want to upgrade to the ad-free version of these services, use this credit only.
Plan to stay in two hotels every year
Biennial hotel credit of up to $300 is very generous.
I used my old $200 credit in Porto, Portugal in June and am now planning to live more than $300 by the end of the year.
My advice is to have two nights (minimum required) (minimum required) (minimum required) (minimum required) at a hotel and resort hotel (more expensive).
Activate other privileges
What are the new card members?
With new pricing, Platinum is now clearly positioned as a super premium lifestyle travel card for $895.
If you:
If you can reliably use half of your points, you can offset your spending and then charge some fees. However, if you don’t travel too much or can’t use lifestyle credits, this card doesn’t make sense to you.
However, this is not all travel reward cards.
On booking directly or through American ExpressTraver® flights (up to $500,000 per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar) and prepaid American Express Travel® Hotels, the salary per income remains the same and frankly, the income per dollar is unchanged and candidly insufficient. Obviously, Amex expects Cardembers to put it with something like The American Express® Gold Card Used for catering and groceries.
Find out your quote: New card members can see if they are eligible for welcome bonuses up to 175,000 bonus points, after spending $8,000 in purchases in the first six months of card membership. (Welcome offers vary, you may not be eligible for an offer.)
According to TPG’s September 2025 valuation, the welcome bonus is worth up to $3,500. This is one of the highest bonuses a new card member can earn.
My opinion: Is it still worth it?
As expected, this refresh is an extra point – although you don’t plan for it, it can also be profitable, but it can also increase friction (or “break” in the credit card industry).
What works?
- Given how much has the crowd increased
- A bunch of new and existing lifestyle points can provide real value to cardholders who will use them
- A hotel credit of $600 is a great person, very useful if you plan to stay twice a year
What is missing?
- New bonus categories such as natural gas or online shopping
- More flexible Lululemon credit (once a year instead of quarterly)
- Higher Saks credit limits are better
- Reward points on hotels booked directly (not only prepaid via Amex Travel)
- A wider range of airlines covering air tickets, portal bookings or all travel (such as travel credits for Sapphire Reserves)
The card further deforms from the ideal travel card to the highly maintained lifestyle card. It’s still worth it if you’re willing to treat it this way.
Bottom line
Refreshing Amex Platinum is richer, more complex and more expensive than ever.
This is a powerful person for a frequent traveler who can actually use a bunch of credits. For occasional travelers, the $200 fee makes it a tough sell.
If you want to keep your card, sign up and use your quarterly Lululemon and Resy points by September 30 and plan to sell over $300 hotel accommodation by the end of the year. This is the best way to soften the blow of the next $895 bill.
Related: 9 credit cards that can replace your Amex Platinum
