AMEX Platinum Charge Benefits - Q&A

[kaktusdigital]

It is but they're all plat cards (business ones). I login into the Benefits Directory page but it keeps coming up with "no eligible cards linked to this account".

80K for inconvenience, that's amazing. reminds me of reading a thread about someone who got a $100 dining voucher just coz the concierge couldn't reserve a table for a particular restaurant.

Anyway, I wonder if that's the issue where by having so many cards on the same account the travel/plat benefits default to a card that doesn't have those features. I don't know if its the same deal , but when I had a Velocity / edge / plat charge all under the same account, the velocity would be the default card (with no way to change it). So when I went to check on my plat benefits and use the $200 credit it wouldn't allow me to. It was solved by splitting the cards into a separate account which worked straight away.

 

[YNWA]

80K for inconvenience, that's amazing. reminds me of reading a thread about someone who got a $100 dining voucher just coz the concierge couldn't reserve a table for a particular restaurant.

Anyway, I wonder if that's the issue where by having so many cards on the same account the travel/plat benefits default to a card that doesn't have those features. I don't know if its the same deal , but when I had a Velocity / edge / plat charge all under the same account, the velocity would be the default card (with no way to change it). So when I went to check on my plat benefits and use the $200 credit it wouldn't allow me to. It was solved by splitting the cards into a separate account which worked straight away.

Amex thought that might have been the problem, but the complementary plat reserve is on a separate login (with the other personal cards). All the cards on the other login are business plat amex which should be eligible for the benefits. The thing is, the login worked fine until about two weeks ago so not sure why it became "ineligible" all of a sudden.

 

[YNWA]

Accor Plus is now showing as open to enrolment or renewals to 31 March 2016 (was September 2015). Accor Platinum as always appears ongoing.

Thanks for clarifying that. My card has an expiry date of 04/2016 so I was hoping to "renew" before the end of March. In any case, retaining the Accor platinum is better than nothing I suppose.

 

[mlob]

Hoping I have trouble with my log in soon . Wink!

 

[YNWA]

Hoping I have trouble with my log in soon . Wink!

You might look forward to this then! I redeemed the points quick smart before they changed their mind!

Date	Description	Charge	Base points	Bonus Points	Total Points

24/09/2015	Velocity		-84,000	0	-84,000
23/09/2015	Once Only Valued Customer Loyalty Bonus		0	84,000	84,000

 

[ninja-tim]

It is but they're all plat cards (business ones). I login into the Benefits Directory page but it keeps coming up with "no eligible cards linked to this account".

Yes getting exact same thing. I shot an email to them, but got some generic answer telling me to check the bottom of my accounts summary page. But this just shows the offers/benefits (e.g. fairfax subscription)

 

[ninja-tim]

Think it's time for me to call them re: this problem. hope they give me the cold shoulder lol

 

[ninja-tim]

Think it's time for me to call them re: this problem. hope they give me the cold shoulder lol

Firstly, I have the Platinum Business card.

So just gave them a call, and the guy on the other end, referred me to the fairfax subscription benefits again. Had to walk him through all the links to the real Plat benefits directory after a few mins on the phone telling him I'm not after the fairfax subscription. Finally get to the platinum rewards page. Then he tells me the Platinum Business card is not eligible for all these platinum benefits, e.g. Shanri-la golden jade, accor plus platinum etc. I told him I just applied for the shangri-la and approved a couple months ago. Had to go compare the Personal Vs Business Plat cards to see what the difference is, and on the Bus. Plat card, it only shows SPG and Club Carlson on the summary page as a benefit. Has the Business Plat card been "enhance"recently that I'm unaware of? or is the guy on the phone unaware of the real benefits of all the Plat cards? OR was I accidentally allowed access to the personal platinum benefits?

Anyways, his gonna get the relationship manager to call me. Very annoying that the guy manning the Platinum telephone line can't even remember the benefits of the plat card. I hope they haven't changed the benefits.

 

[big_head]

Really considering this card as a way to warehouse points to redeem on multiple airlines. Currently with QFF (STG amplify sig), but looking for a bit more flexibility. Not a big traveller, when i do it is in Business. Would this card offer value for the non frequent flyer with roughly a 70-100k annual spend? Do Amex really get cheaper business class airfares, and is the concierge really that useful in securing last second reservations to a wide variety of restaurants (Sydney). I'd pay the fee (and more) if i could get into any/most restaurants at a seconds notice!

 

[kaktusdigital]

Really considering this card as a way to warehouse points to redeem on multiple airlines. Currently with QFF (STG amplify sig), but looking for a bit more flexibility. Not a big traveller, when i do it is in Business. Would this card offer value for the non frequent flyer with roughly a 70-100k annual spend? Do Amex really get cheaper business class airfares, and is the concierge really that useful in securing last second reservations to a wide variety of restaurants (Sydney). I'd pay the fee (and more) if i could get into any/most restaurants at a seconds notice!

Hi big_head,

I think the hotel status boosts across the board are pretty good value, especially Accor and its early checkin/late check out | Free upgrade etc..

For your restaurant question, I'd say they would have the best chance compared to anyone out there. For starters you have 2 tables reserved for platinum & centurion card holders at any 'good' restaurant. These tables are held until 10AM each day where I would assume are then let back into the pool for everyone to grab. My recent experience is being able to secure both Sepia and Quay in Sydney around the Christmas period with no problem. In fact I was able to get the concierge to secure the best table with a vantage point of the opera house (i'm from Melbourne, so not sick of the sight of it )

In my experience the concierge is pretty good, especially if you need to secure restaurants overseas where the language barrier and timezone can be tricky to navigate. There are a few overseas restaurants that offer special benefits like Alain Ducasse in Paris where you get a few special perks like a tour and parting gift etc..

 

[mlob]

Really considering this card as a way to warehouse points to redeem on multiple airlines. Currently with QFF (STG amplify sig), but looking for a bit more flexibility. Not a big traveller, when i do it is in Business. Would this card offer value for the non frequent flyer with roughly a 70-100k annual spend? Do Amex really get cheaper business class airfares, and is the concierge really that useful in securing last second reservations to a wide variety of restaurants (Sydney). I'd pay the fee (and more) if i could get into any/most restaurants at a seconds notice!

Amex hold table reservations at a lot of restaurants up to 4 guests till 10am every day. Sydney alone has about 70 restaurants listed to choose from. I have also had some luck here and OS with concierge achieving bookings at other places. The warehousing of points with this card is a truly great benefit as it gives you so many more options then other cards. Its the only card in my wallet that will let me send them to both Velocity and Qantas. When I was looking at flying business to Nadi this year they definitely were quoting me lower prices then I could get direct with the airlines.

Ill see if I can find a link regarding their restaurant reservation gig.

 

[ninja-tim]

Hi big_head,

I think the hotel status boosts across the board are pretty good value, especially Accor and its early checkin/late check out | Free upgrade etc..

For your restaurant question, I'd say they would have the best chance compared to anyone out there. For starters you have 2 tables reserved for platinum & centurion card holders at any 'good' restaurant. These tables are held until 10AM each day where I would assume are then let back into the pool for everyone to grab. My recent experience is being able to secure both Sepia and Quay in Sydney around the Christmas period with no problem. In fact I was able to get the concierge to secure the best table with a vantage point of the opera house (i'm from Melbourne, so not sick of the sight of it )

In my experience the concierge is pretty good, especially if you need to secure restaurants overseas where the language barrier and timezone can be tricky to navigate. There are a few overseas restaurants that offer special benefits like Alain Ducasse in Paris where you get a few special perks like a tour and parting gift etc..

How early did you book Sepia/Quay before dining?
I've used them to book overseas restaurants, Epicure in paris, so I guess it's good for overseas restaurants where the language barrier can be a problem.

 

[ninja-tim]

Really considering this card as a way to warehouse points to redeem on multiple airlines. Currently with QFF (STG amplify sig), but looking for a bit more flexibility. Not a big traveller, when i do it is in Business. Would this card offer value for the non frequent flyer with roughly a 70-100k annual spend? Do Amex really get cheaper business class airfares, and is the concierge really that useful in securing last second reservations to a wide variety of restaurants (Sydney). I'd pay the fee (and more) if i could get into any/most restaurants at a seconds notice!

The annual fee is high, very high, $1200 for personal and $1500 for business and considering your annual spend of up to 100k, I think you'll need to actually dig deeper into benefits (loyalty programs etc) vs cost (annual Fee, acceptance + surcharges) and how much use you'll get out of the benefits annually.
If you're in it for the points earn, have you considered Citibank Signature/Prestige? Cheaper annual fee, better acceptance, can warehouse. Not sure about any concierge on these cards, but for Prestige I assume it would be at the same level as Amex Plat concierge.

 

[kaktusdigital]

How early did you book Sepia/Quay before dining?
I've used them to book overseas restaurants, Epicure in paris, so I guess it's good for overseas restaurants where the language barrier can be a problem.

3-4 months..

 

[YNWA]

Firstly, I have the Platinum Business card.

So just gave them a call, and the guy on the other end, referred me to the fairfax subscription benefits again. Had to walk him through all the links to the real Plat benefits directory after a few mins on the phone telling him I'm not after the fairfax subscription. Finally get to the platinum rewards page. Then he tells me the Platinum Business card is not eligible for all these platinum benefits, e.g. Shanri-la golden jade, accor plus platinum etc. I told him I just applied for the shangri-la and approved a couple months ago. Had to go compare the Personal Vs Business Plat cards to see what the difference is, and on the Bus. Plat card, it only shows SPG and Club Carlson on the summary page as a benefit. Has the Business Plat card been "enhance"recently that I'm unaware of? or is the guy on the phone unaware of the real benefits of all the Plat cards? OR was I accidentally allowed access to the personal platinum benefits?

Anyways, his gonna get the relationship manager to call me. Very annoying that the guy manning the Platinum telephone line can't even remember the benefits of the plat card. I hope they haven't changed the benefits.

From what I gathered, the business plat seems to get cut down benefits but the supplementary card attached to it gets the full plat benefits package. I had already activated most of the benefits anyway, but can't understand why the benefits page became suddenly inaccessible. I can still access all the benefits albeit manually via filling out the forms if needed. Amex don't seem to know why the page won't load themselves so I'm guessing its an IT glitch of some sort rather than an enhancement.

 

[ninja-tim]

From what I gathered, the business plat seems to get cut down benefits but the supplementary card attached to it gets the full plat benefits package. I had already activated most of the benefits anyway, but can't understand why the benefits page became suddenly inaccessible. I can still access all the benefits albeit manually via filling out the forms if needed. Amex don't seem to know why the page won't load themselves so I'm guessing its an IT glitch of some sort rather than an enhancement.

So, the supp cardholder (to the bus. plat. card) gets more benefits than the primary bus. plat. cardholder? Weird! Yeah, I've activated most of what I wanted, and the Shangri-la only a couple months ago. The guy on the phone kept asking why I wanted to look through the benefits directory as he could apply for me, kept trying to tell him in different ways I was just curious and just wanted to have a look through it, as browsing online is faster and simpler than him going through it one by one. He still didn't understand.

I had always thought the Bus. Plat. would have more, or atleast the same, benefits than personal, since the annual fee is $300 more.

How long did you wait before you called them back?

 

[Beta4Me]

The annual fee is high, very high, $1200 for personal and $1500 for business

Each are halved if you have both. That's $1,125 p.a. after tax which is cheaper than the personal on its own. After a colossally messed up application process, I've got the personal card free for life so it's only $525 p.a. AT for both cards (plus my free companion Platinum Edge). I'm rather impressed with all that; pretty good value for money really.

 

[blueythecat]

Wow the concierge service does sound rather good. I've never used a concierge service on a credit card before, always thought it was a waste of time. Might have to give the AMEX one a go though!

 

[ninja-tim]

Each are halved if you have both. That's $1,125 p.a. after tax which is cheaper than the personal on its own. After a colossally messed up application process, I've got the personal card free for life so it's only $525 p.a. AT for both cards (plus my free companion Platinum Edge). I'm rather impressed with all that; pretty good value for money really.

Oh, so if you have one, you may as well get the other? Is there a link or anything that confirms this?

 

[ninja-tim]

I know the Plat card is allowed complimentary Virgin lounge access domestically, but can you us it in the international lounge? e.g. flying out of Aus on Virgin.