What’s better? AMEX Platinum Card or Qantas Ultimate?

[missluna]

Hi! I am considering signing up for a credit card and tossing between AMEX Platinum Card and Qantas Ultimate Card.

I have 2x asia trips this year that I need to book flights for + 2 more asia trips in 2025 then possibly a Europe trip in 2026/2027.

Will the Platinum offer me more value?

 

[PointsDude]

The short answer is probably the Ultimate to take advantage of the 100k Qantas points on offer atm. Amex is usually pretty happy to add new cards for someone who has a history with them, so you can always get the Platinum after the fact if you find it suits your needs better.

The long answer is probably that it’s impossible to say without knowing about how much you’d be spending, what features of the Platinum card you’d get use out of, whether you want to earn Qantas points or be airline agnostic, and whether you have any reward seat travel goals.

Also I’d consider how much $1450 means to you. I have friends with the Platinum for which the card is expensive relative to their income but treat it as a luxury (and squeeze every benefit from the card), and I have friends for who $1450 is nothing and claim part of the annual fee on their tax. Certainly easier to recommend if you fit into that latter camp.

 

[super5]

I have friends for who $1450 is nothing and claim part of the annual fee on their tax.

How can this be done? For personal tax return as a tax deduction expense? ATO will allow that?

 

[albyd]

But OT but wondering while the wording of the SUB rules out getting it, are there any DP if you have MR card (which I won’t shut down), whether do get the QFF SUB on the ultimate? QFF is t my preferred FF program as I’m a lowly bronze but domestic J is relatively easy to find compared to international J availability.

 

[dein_gesicht]

How can this be done? For personal tax return as a tax deduction expense? ATO will allow that?

Yes that is fine. If 60% of the card is biz spend then that's how much you can claim

 

[Spacetravel]

Pointsdude effectively said what I want to say. To add my take, as Ive been deciding if I should switch from Ultimate to Platinum for a while now so I’ve given it a lot of thought.

Key points: the ultimate card has a better earn rate (about 11% better? If someone could do the real maths and let me know?) however starting last week the ultimate now has a 100k points cap which the earn rate is reduced after this. No cap on the Platinum, if you plan on earning more than 100k points then Platinum could become better value quickly.

In addition about once a year there is a bonus transfer window where they offer 10-20% bonus to transfer MR to QF which mostly mitigates the slightly reduced earn rate if you wait and transfer during this time.

The travel insurance on the Platinum card is “better” than the Ultimate but the Ultimate is still pretty good (make sure you read the pds of both to make sure it suites your needs/ you can meet the activation requirements before deciding).

The other biggest perk of the Platinum charge for me is Hilton Gold (I stay a a lot at Hilton) this would be up to you to decide how much you value that (and other benefits).

 

[C89]

I feel like if you travel a lot, the platinum charge card will provide more value in the longer run.

Even though the fee is $1450 a year, but you automatically get $450 in travel credit, $200 domestic and $200 international dining credit, $80 Amazon subscription and this is before adding in Accor Plus, Priority Pass etc. I found having Hertz Gold status have saved me quite a bit of money when hiring cars.

As I said, if you travel a lot, especially in groups, having lounge access just changes the entire airport experience. Without the platinum or Priority Pass, lounge access is usually $50-60 per visit, if you travel with a group of 4-6, having 2 platinum cards or 2 PPs, that visit itself is already $200-300, and that's per airport. If you are doing long haul with transit, value just increases. For myself in 2023, I probably would have extract $2000+ in value out of airport lounges.

If you have decided on the platinum, I currently have a 275,000 points referral bonus if you're interested. Which can potentially offset your Asia trips.