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The Platinum Card from American Express

The Platinum Card from American Express carries an $895 annual fee and earns Membership Rewards points at 5X on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel, 5X on prepaid hotels through Amex Travel, and 1X on everything else. There is no foreign transaction fee.

Facts read from the American Express official Platinum Card page on October 22, 2026. How we check them: methodology.

Earn rates, as the issuer prints them

Two lines carry the whole earn story. The flight line works on fares bought directly from the airline as well as through Amex Travel, up to $500,000 of those purchases per calendar year, a cap few households will meet. The hotel line is narrower: only prepaid hotels through Amex Travel earn 5X, so a pay-later rate settled at the front desk earns 1X. Dining, groceries and every other purchase earn the base rate.

A year of spending on this card, worked out

Arithmetic illustration with stated inputs: $8,000 a year on airfare booked directly, $3,000 on prepaid Amex Travel hotels and $20,000 on other purchases earns 40,000 + 15,000 + 20,000 = 75,000 Membership Rewards points. Book the same $3,000 of hotels at a pay-later rate and the hotel line falls to 3,000 points, for 63,000 in total.

Welcome offer as published

As published on the issuer page: As high as 175,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $12,000 on purchases in the first 6 months of Card Membership; Amex shows the exact offer when you apply and states that you may not be eligible for a welcome offer.

The Platinum offer is published as an as high as figure: as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards points after $12,000 in purchases in the first six months, about $2,000 a month. Amex shows the exact offer inside the application, and it can differ from one applicant to the next, so the application screen is the final word. Weigh any offer shown against the fee: $895 is charged every year, while an offer is paid once. Because both 5X lines are travel lines, a household with a small travel budget will not build a large balance from this card's table, whatever the offer.

Who this earn structure suits

Frequent flyers who book flights directly with airlines or through Amex Travel often enough for the 5X rate to matter against an $895 fee. Everyday spending earns only 1X, so the card's earn structure is pointed at flight bookings, not daily spend. Additional Platinum cards cost $195 each, per the issuer page.

Notes from the issuer page

• Amex publishes the Platinum welcome offer as an as high as figure in the rates and terms document linked from the card page: as high as 175,000 points after $12,000 in purchases in the first 6 months. The exact offer is shown at application, and Amex states you may not be eligible for a welcome offer.
• Each Additional Platinum Card costs $195, as published on the issuer page checked.

The traps to check in your account

• Points land in American Express Membership Rewards; read its hub and the transfer guides before moving any.
• Each Additional Platinum Card costs $195 on the issuer page checked, so a second cardholder adds to the yearly cost before any points are earned.
• Interest on a carried balance can outweigh the rewards, so the earn table assumes you pay in full.