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The Platinum Card® from American Express (test report) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (test report) are among the most popular premium cards ever. The personal version of the card has recently undergone a major refresh, and on top of that, both cards are currently offering great bonuses for new cardholders. The cards have high annual fees – $ 695 for the personal version (Pricing & Fees) and $ 595 for the business version (Pricing & Fees). The main reason I have these cards is because of the great benefits they offer, including lots of credits. If you are a new cardholder, all of these benefits can be difficult to take advantage of, given the sheer number of them. In this post, I thought I was going to talk about it what you should do as soon as you have received the Platinum Card in the mail. If you already have the card and have taken all the benefits, by all means skip this post, but I get a lot of questions about it. The following should be observed in no particular order: Activate your Priority Pass membershipSimply having the Amex Platinum Card gives you a Priority Pass membership, which gives you access to over 1,300 lounges around the world. However, you must explicitly request the card in order to take advantage of the benefit. To do this, register for the Priority Pass using this link. You will be asked to confirm your details and within a few weeks you should receive your Priority Pass card in the mail. The Priority Pass gives you access to lounges around the world Activate your Hilton Honors Gold statusJust for the possession of the Amex Platinum Card you will receive the Hilton Honors Gold status, which gives you room upgrades, access to the Club Lounge (depending on availability), free breakfast or credit for food and drinks, etc. This benefit is valid as long as you have it, but you must register for Hilton Honors Gold status. Receive breakfast as a Hilton Honors Gold member Activate your Marriott Bonvoy Gold statusSimply for the possession of the Amex Platinum Card you will receive the Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, which offers you advantages such as room upgrades, extended Internet, bonus points, late check-out depending on availability and more. This benefit is valid for as long as you have the card, but you must register for Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status. As a Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite member, you can receive room upgrades Sign up for the global entryOne of the advantages of the Amex Platinum Card is a Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check credit every four years. I highly recommend getting Global Entry as it is done automatically with the TSA pre-exam while the opposite is not. To use this, simply charge your card the Global Entry or TSA pre-check fee and this will be automatically refunded. No registration is required. You can even use it to pay the fee for a friend or family member if you already have them. Sign up for CLEAROne of the great things about Amex Personal Platinum and Amex Business Platinum is that you can earn up to $ 179 in annual credit towards a CLEAR membership. To use this, you need to debit your card with the membership fee. There is a way to maximize this, however. Delta SkyMiles or United MileagePlus members only receive a discounted membership fee of $ 119 per year, saving you $ 60. Then you can add a family member to your account for just $ 50. In other words, your credit can cover two people instead of one. Determine a preferred airlineOne of the great things about Amex Personal Platinum and Amex Business Platinum is that it gives you $ 200 annual airline credit. To take advantage of this, you need to name a US airline with the options Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, and United. If you are already a cardholder, you can choose the airline of your choice in January each year. If not, your previous selection will be applied. If you are a new cardholder, you can choose your preferred airline. To confirm or select the airline of your choice, log into your Amex account and then click on the “Benefits” tab above. Then scroll down to the section that talks about airline credit and you will see the link to select an airline. Also remember that the airline you have specified is also the airline to which your 35% “Pay with points” discount option on Amex Business Platinum applies. Choose your airline carefully, especially when it comes to the business card. You can designate United as the airline of your choice Sign up for free rental car statusSimply having an Amex Platinum Card gives you Avis Preferred, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and National Emerald Club Executive Status. It’s super easy to sign up. You can register for all of these status levels on this page or by calling Amex Customer Service. Sign up to ShopRunner for free 2-day shippingShopRunner brings you free two-day shipping with thousands of brands from over 100 stores. An annual membership typically costs $ 79, but it’s free with an Amex Platinum Card. You can register for this benefit here. Get free two-day shipping with ShopRunner Decide if you want to add authorized usersWhile the Amex Platinum has a high annual fee, you also have the option of adding authorized users for a fee:
Why should you consider adding an authorized user? They also get access to Centurion Lounges, Delta SkyMiles when flying with Delta, and Priority Pass membership, as well as Hilton Honors Gold status, Marriott Bonvoy Gold status and more. Adding three authorized users to the Amex Personal Platinum for $ 175 equates to a payment of ~ $ 58 per authorized user. That’s a damn good deal for all of these perks. Adding authorization users can be worthwhile for access to the Centurion Lounge Use your Uber balance (Personal Platinum only)The Amex Platinum Card offers $ 200 annual Uber credit. That comes in the form of $ 15 monthly Uber credit, and in December, you’ll get $ 35 credit, all of which can be used on US trips or Uber Eats purchases in the US. To take advantage of this, simply add your Amex Platinum to your Uber profile and the credit will automatically be used for trips. Get up to $ 200 in annual Uber credit Use your digital entertainment credits (Personal Platinum only)The Amex Platinum Card offers $ 240 annually in digital entertainment credits. This allows you to earn $ 20 monthly credit for eligible subscriptions purchases at Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, and The New York Times.Simply charge your card with an eligible purchase (no registration required) and you will be automatically refunded. Otherwise, if you have subscriptions to any of these services, this is a great deal. Use your hotel credit (Personal Platinum only)Amex Platinum offers $ 200 annual hotel credit. Receive an annual credit for prepaid bookings at Fine Hotels & Resorts or The Hotel Collection Hotels when booked through American Express Travel. While there is no rush to take advantage of this, it is essentially like a free $ 200 hotel stay. No registration is required, all you have to do is charge your card with the purchase. Use Your Equinox Credits (Personal Platinum Only)The Amex Platinum Card offers $ 300 annual Equinox credit. This enables you to receive $ 25 in monthly statement credits for purchases of select monthly Equinox Fitness Club memberships or an Equinox + digital subscription. No registration is required, simply debit the fee from your card.This is useful for those who are Equinox members or have an Equinox location nearby, while others are unlikely to be worth it. Sign up for Saks Credits (Personal Platinum only)The Amex Platinum Card offers an annual Saks balance of USD 100. That is a credit of $ 50 in the first half of the year and a credit of $ 50 in the second half of the year. These apply to purchases made with Saks in-store or online. You need to sign up for the Saks benefit. Receive up to $ 100 in annual Saks credits Use Your Dell Balance (Business Platinum Only)The Amex Business Platinum Card offers Dell credit of USD 200 per year. This comes in the form of a $ 100 loan in the first half of the year and a $ 100 loan in the second half of the year. Dell sells all kinds of products that you might not expect, so this should be pretty easy to use. You need to sign up for the Saks benefit. Start by loading Amex offersOne of my favorite perks of Amex cards is the Amex offer program. This allows you to save money with American Express and collect bonus points for all types of purchases. To take advantage of this, log into your account and scroll down and you will see all kinds of offers. Start by adding them to your account and then use your card to make purchases where you can earn discounts or bonus points. I earn a significant number of points and cashback with it. Bottom lineBoth the Amex Personal Platinum and Amex Business Platinum offer so many great benefits that it can be overwhelming at first. While there is a lot more to discover, the things above are the first things I would do when you received this card in the mail. There are great deals out there right now for both the personal and business versions of the card, so it can make a lot of sense to apply. The following links lead you to the tariffs and fees for the American Express cards mentioned. These include: The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (tariffs & fees) and The Platinum Card® from American Express (tariffs & fees). Via https://globalconnekt.com/what-to-do-when-you-receive-your-amex-platinum-card/
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