The Platinum Card from American Express

Rewards by category

Our take

The Platinum Card from American Express is built for people who buy a lot of airfare. It earns 5x Membership Rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel, which places it third in our flights ranking and fifth for hotels. Away from those two categories the card earns 1x, so it works best when travel is the biggest line in your budget.

The tradeoff is the $895 annual fee and the fine print behind the headline rate. The 5x on flights comes with a spending cap and drops to a lower rate once you pass it, and hotels only qualify when they are prepaid through the travel portal. We value Membership Rewards points at a conservative 1 cent each, so 5x works out to roughly 5% back in our rankings.

In a small wallet, treat the Platinum as a specialist rather than a daily driver. Route flights and prepaid hotel bookings through Amex Travel to it, and put everyday spending on a flat-rate card that clears its 1x base. It also charges no foreign transaction fees, so airfare bought abroad earns the same way, but it should rarely be the card you reach for by default.

The math

Run $250 a month of flights through this card and you're earning about $150 a year at our conservative valuations. Against the $895 annual fee, that top rate needs roughly $2,500 a month of flights spend before it beats a no-fee flat 2% card.

Key benefits

• Up to $200 Uber Cash a year ($15/month plus a $20 December bonus, U.S. rides and Uber Eats; the Amex card must be the payment method; unused amounts expire monthly)

Common questions

Does The Platinum Card from American Express have an annual fee?

Yes — $895 per year.

What does The Platinum Card from American Express earn on flights?

5x on flights (up to $500,000/yr; lower rate after the cap).

What rewards does The Platinum Card from American Express earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in American Express Membership Rewards.

What's the catch with the Platinum Card's 5x on travel?

Two things. On flights, the 5x is subject to a spending cap, and the rate drops once you pass it. On hotels, only prepaid stays booked through the Amex Travel portal qualify. Before a big booking, check where you stand against the cap and book hotels through the portal so the purchase actually earns the bonus rate.

Does The Platinum Card from American Express charge foreign transaction fees?

No. The card has no foreign transaction fee, so purchases made abroad or in another currency avoid the surcharge many cards add. That makes it a reasonable card to carry on international trips, especially for airfare and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel, where its 5x categories apply. For everyday foreign spending, a flat-rate card may still earn more.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.