Can rewards justify the huge £650 fee on this top end Amex card?
I love a good reward or cashback card. Using one on my everyday spending is simply the easiest way to make money. And when these cards are free, it’s even better.
But the American Express Platinum card isn’t free. It’s really, really expensive. So expensive you’d need to spend £13,000 in a year to earn enough points to cover the annual fee.
So is it one to avoid? Well the other perks might actually make it worth considering, especially if you nab a boosted welcome bonus. Here’s my America Express Platinum review.
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What is the Amex Platinum card?
The American Express Platinum is the premium credit card on offer from Amex. It comes with perks like travel insurance and money back on meals out – these are detailed further down the article.
You need to have a minimum income of £35,000 a year to apply for the card.
The card itself is metal. Though it’s not a reason to get one, I was surprised that I really liked it!
American Express Platinum fee
As I’ve already mentioned, you’re looking at a huge £650 annual fee. That is paid upfront, so you need to factor in that cost at the start – and it doesn’t count towards any welcome bonus thresholds.
For the moment, the fee is refunded pro-rata if you don’t keep it for the full year. However, American Express have said this will change at some point. So I’d go into this expecting to pay the full amount.
How much can you earn from spending?
The Amex Platinum earns Amex Membership Reward Points. You’ll get 1 point for every £1 you spend. Amex Reward Points convert in a few ways, including:
- 1 point = 1 airline point (eg Avios or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club)
- 1 point = 0.5p if swapped for a gift card (eg Amazon) or Nectar points
- 1 point = 0.45p if used as statement credit or spending direct with retailers (eg Argos)
Points will hit your account pretty fast, so you won’t have to wait a year to use them like cashback earned on the Amex Cashback credit cards.
If you close your card down and don’t have an alternative Amex Membership card you’ll lose the points you’ve earned. The way to avoid this is to either transfer points first, or to open up another Amex Rewards card such as the free American Express Rewards card. This will keep the points active.
American Express Platinum welcome bonus
Who can get a welcome bonus?
The signup bonus for the Amex Platinum is open to any new cardholders, or existing ones who haven’t had any Amex card that earns Membership Reward points in the last 24 months.
This means this card might earn you able to get a second American Express bonus as long as you’ve not had the following in the last two years:
- Amex Preferred Rewards Gold
- Amex Rewards
- Amex Platinum
- Amex Green
But you’re good to go if you’ve had cards including:
- Amex Nectar
- Amex Cashback and Amex Cashback Everyday
- BA Amex and BA Amex Premium Plus
Boosted sign up offers
A couple of times a year the welcome bonus is boosted – and I think these are worth waiting for. We’ve got a separate American Express Platinum deals page just for when this happens, which has full analysis of the offer.
At the time of writing, there’s a promo running until 13 January 2026. There are 75,000 Amex Reward points available, along with £250 credit to use on Amex Travel bookings. This increases to 100,000 if you go via a refer-a-friend link.
However you’ll need to spend a huge £6,000 in just three months to get the bonus. Make sure you can afford this and don’t buy extras you don’t need just to hit the threshold.
The boosted points are worth £325 in Nectar points or a gift card (£500 via a referral). And factor in the extra 6,000 points you’ll earn from that £6k spend and that’s another £30. So all in the points and voucher will total 655 / £780.
| REQUIREMENT | BONUS | ADDITIONAL POINTS EARNED ON QUALIFYING SPEND | TOTAL POINTS | VALUE AS NECTAR POINTS |
| Spend £6,000 in three months | 75,000 points + £250 travel credit | 6,000 | 81,000 | £405 |
| Spend £6,000 in three months & use referral link | 100,000 points + £250 travel credit | 6,000 | 106,000 | £530 |
Check out my list of all the offers you can get when opening a new American Express card
Standard sign up offer
The usual bonus is 50,000 points for a £6,000 spend over three months. This is worth £250 in Nectar points or a gift card, with another £30 on top from the £6,000 spend. You have to spend at least £6,000 to trigger the bonus. A penny less and won’t get it. Getting a supplementary card for your partner can make it easier to reach this figure.
| OFFER | BONUS | ADDITIONAL POINTS EARNED ON QUALIFYING SPEND | TOTAL POINTS | VALUE AS NECTAR POINTS |
| Spend £6,000 in three months | 50,000 | 6000 | 56,000 | £280 |
Since the fee is £650, you’re effectively only paying £270 for the card and other perks in year one (and then the full amount for subsequent years).
Amex Platinum free credit
Alongside the usual Amex cashback offers which are always worth a look, there are some specific to the Platinum card. The ones I think you might actually use are:
Up to £400 dining credit a year
You can activate offers to earn £100 credit on UK dining and another £100 on overseas dining every six months. This is due to run until the end of 2026, but it could be extended.
Though you could get the full £400 every year, the foreign restaurant list and locations are limited – so you might struggle.
I’d value this at £100 every six months, and if you are able to get more that’s a bonus. And if you time your application for just before a year end, you can nab three lots of the offer in seven or eight months. Here’s my full analysis.
Free digital times subscription
This feature was only added in December 2025. You get a year’s access to the Times & Sunday Times online, as well as the Times+ reward scheme. To set this up you need to download the Amex Experiences app, and you’ll see the offer there.
How much you value access to the articles depends on whether you’ll read this newspaper normally. But at a cost of £30 a month normally, getting it for free with your Amex Platinum will help justify the card’s own fee.
The membership scheme isn’t as good as it used to be, but one handy feature is a two-for-one voucher every Wednesday to use at Everyman cinemas. There are also two free e-books and one audio book each month, though you can’t choose the title.
Amex Platinum benefits
There are a few extras that come with the Platinum worth factoring into your sums. Here are the core benefits.
Annual travel insurance
You get worldwide travel insurance for you, any supplementary cardholder and dependent children. Trips can last 90 days, or a full year for children under 25. Car hire insurance is also covered.
This is a decent benefit if you do travel a lot – except for one major flaw. You have to book your holiday and travel with the Platinum card for anything other than the basic medical cover.
Great if you can do this, but as anyone who has already had an Amex knows, not all retailers will accept the card. So our trip to New York a few years ago was covered, but I was told a weekend in Rome booked somewhere that didn’t take Amex wasn’t (though I’ve seen some information saying it could have been – it’s not massively clear).
Airport lounge access
You’ll get a Priority Pass for access to a number of worldwide lounges, and access to more on top with the Platinum card itself. There’s also entry to the Eurostar lounge in London and Paris.
This was a nice little bonus for some peace and quiet, but the food was pretty poor in both London and New York so not something I’d want to pay for.
Other travel benefits
Hertz and Avis status
As a Platinum cardholder you can activate premium membership status at a couple of hire car companies. This will give you a discount and an upgrade. Sounds good. But when I looked I was able to pay less for the same level car by shopping around.
Hotel extras
Book via Amex for a Fine Hotels & Resorts stay and you’ll get a room upgrade (if available), early check-in, late checkout and free breakfast. However you do need to book direct with Amex, so you might find a cheaper option elsewhere.
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Plus, new TopCashback customers get a high paying £18 welcome offer
How does it compare?
If you’re looking for a card for the bulk of your spending (outside of the welcome bonus) then you can match the 0.5% without paying a fee. In fact you can beat it. Here are the best free cards (read more here).
| Card | Equivalent rate | Annual Fee |
| PayPal+ debit card | 1% | £0 |
| Lloyds Ultra credit card | 1% in first year (0.25% after) | £0 |
| Nectar American Express credit card | 1% (2 Nectar per £1) | £0 (£30 in year two) |
| Barclaycard Avios (Mastercard) | 0.5% (1 Avios per £1) | £0 |
| American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card | 0.5% – 0.75% (1 Amex Membership per £1) | £0 (£195 in year two) |
The best credit card deals
Check out my list of the best credit card offers and promotions
Should you get the Amex Platinum?
Andy’s Analysis
When the welcome bonus on this card is boosted it can hopefully wipe out most of the fee – meaning you can then take advantage of the extras at very little cost.
In fact, you’ll certainly be making money when you add in the extra credit for dining out, let alone the cost of paying for travel insurance elsewhere.
But beyond this first year? Without the boost that comes from the welcome bonus, it’s going to be hard to justify the outlay when you can earn cashback for free on other cards.
Even factoring in those extras could leave you short of the £650 annual fee.
I think most people are only going to benefit from a short burst of this card when there’s a boosted sign-up offer. But once you have that, transfer your points and cancel.
Remember, you can cancel your card, and you’ll be able to apply again in two years!
American Express Platinum summary
American Express Platinum
| Fee | £650 |
| Points | 1 Amex Membership Reward point per £1 spent |
| Standard welcome bonus | 50,000 points if you spend £4,000 in six months |
