AMEX Platinum Card Overview: Saks $100 Credit Will Be Removed

According to FM, AMEX plans to remove the Saks $100 reimbursement benefit from the U.S. personal Platinum Card starting on July 1, 2026. Both new and existing cardholders can continue using this benefit through June 30, 2026; in the first half of 2026, you can still receive one more $50 reimbursement. AMEX also said that beginning July 1, it will roll out new Platinum-exclusive AMEX Offers.

Besides the Saks credit change, a recent email from AMEX to cardholders also mentioned several other benefit changes. Here are the key points.

• AMEX Events is being discontinued: this was an AMEX-exclusive ticketing channel that was not especially useful, and many people probably did not even know it existed
• Saks added a small restriction: purchases at the LV store inside Saks will not qualify for reimbursement
• Centurion Lounge access is being tightened: starting July 8, 2026, guests must be traveling on the same flight as the primary cardholder. For connections, the layover must be within 5 hours to enter the lounge. Same-day round trips do not qualify.
• Uber VIP will be removed and replaced with dedicated customer support: starting May 7, 2026, this benefit will be discontinued. It appears to have been an AMEX-exclusive feature that gave you access to better-rated drivers. The replacement dedicated support does not seem especially useful.

Effective May 7, 2026, Uber VIP will be removed from the $200 Uber Cash benefit and replaced with Signature Support for Amex, a premium level of phone customer service including 24/7 access to live customer support agents. Signature Support for Amex can be accessed in the account section of the Uber, Uber Eats, or Postmates apps via the Partner Rewards Hub or Help pages. Further details will be available at uber.com/signaturesupport starting on May 7, 2026.

This card quietly raised the spending requirement for the welcome bonus from $8,000 to $12,000. The current welcome offer is as high as 175,000 points, but if you end up being shown only 80,000 points, then putting $12,000 of spend on it is not a very good deal.

• AMEX Platinum application link

This offer is very strong, and we have added it to our best credit card welcome offers list.

• Best U.S. credit card welcome offers (personal cards) [up to $2,000+ value]

AMEX Platinum Card Overview

Benefits

• 5x MR points on flights and hotels: Flights need to be purchased directly from the airline or through AMEX Travel to earn 5x. My personal guess is that as long as the airline charges the purchase directly, that should trigger 5x.
• Hilton Gold status, which comes with free breakfast
• Marriott Gold status, which includes complimentary room upgrades and enhanced internet
• Leaders Club Sterling status
• Priority Pass: cardholder + 2 guests get free access
• Premium airport lounge access: Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, Airspace Lounges,
• Reimbursement for Global Entry and TSA Pre fees: $85/$120
• Elite status with Avis, Hertz, National Car Rental, and more

Statement credits

Most of the credits below require enrollment before use, so make sure you do that.

• $600 annual FHR credit: $300 every half year. You need to book through AMEX Travel or FHR and pay with this card. See our guide to AMEX FHR bookings and the Platinum hotel credit. If you want to use some advanced strategies to stockpile FHR Credit, you can refer to the Knowledge Planet article, which is not suitable for public posting.
• $300 digital entertainment credit: $25 per month. Currently it can only be used on Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, The New York Times, and Youtube, generally for subscription fees. Requires enrollment before use.
• $300 Equinox membership credit
• $209 Clear membership credit
• $200 annual Oura Ring Credit: must be used on the official website. It can be used to buy either the Gen 3 or Gen 4 ring. You can search online for promo codes, which may stack. Don’t forget to use a cashback portal as well. Requires enrollment before use.
• $300 Lululemon credit: $75 per quarter. Works both online and in store, U.S. only. Only U.S. stores qualify, and outlet locations are excluded. Regular purchases in store and online should trigger the credit, including physical gift cards. However, online purchases of egift cards do not qualify. Also, ordering physical gift cards online can easily lead to order cancellation or even address blocks. Requires enrollment before use.
• Resy dining credit: $100 per quarter, $400 total per year. Requires enrollment before use. Just search for restaurants on the official site, dine there, and pay with an AMEX card. For other gift card strategies to bank this credit, see the Knowledge Planet article, which is not suitable for public posting.
• Added Walmart+ benefit: pay monthly and the membership fee is automatically reimbursed each month. Walmart+ enrollment
• $200 airline credit: $200 per calendar year in airline incidental fee reimbursement, effectively reducing the annual fee by $250. You can use it once in the first year and again at the beginning of the second year, effectively getting it twice while holding the card for one year. The credit can often be triggered easily by buying airline gift cards. See: AMEX airline credit analysis
• $200 Uber Credit + $100 Uber One each year: add your Platinum Card to your Uber account and the Uber account becomes VIP, with access to better ride options and similar perks. At the same time, your Uber account gets $15 of Credit in each of the first 11 months of the year, and $35 in December. The Credit expires at the end of each month. If you pay for Uber One membership with this card, it will be reimbursed.
• Annual Saks credit: this $100 annual Saks reimbursement benefit can currently be enrolled in through the link below. Specifically, you can get $50 reimbursed from January through June and another $50 from July through December. Based on the terms, this credit excludes Saks Fifth gift cards and both online and in-store purchases at Outlet locations. How it is actually enforced still depends on more real-world data points. In any case, getting an extra $100 is always nice. Authorized user spending can also trigger the reimbursement (with a combined cap of $50 across the primary card and authorized users). This is only available on personal Platinum versions, such as the regular Platinum, Mercedes-Benz Platinum, and other Platinum variants. The reimbursement is tracked separately for each version. Saks $100 Benefit Enroll link

AMEX card benefits

• AMEX Offers: examples include Amazon spend $20 get $20 back, Walmart $15 off $5, and $10 back on $75 phone bill payments. Generous as AMEX often is, it regularly sends cardholders great offers that let you earn cash back while spending. See: AMEX Offers explained and best AMEX Offers roundup
• Free ShopRunner membership: gives you free two-day shipping at many online stores. See details at the official link
• Extended warranty: items purchased in full with an AMEX card get the manufacturer’s warranty automatically extended by one year
• Free reports: some users can check their credit score for free and receive one free credit report per year

Points Program Overview

• Points Value: The average value is 1.5c/p, so 100 MR = $1.5 (Points Value & Analysis)
• Direct Redemption: Redeem travel through amextravel.com at 1c/p (without a premium card); redeem eligible flights through amextravel.com at 1.54c/p (with Business Platinum); redeem for cash in an investment account at 1.1c/p (with Schwab Platinum).
• Points Transfers: Transfer 1:1 to ANA miles (good for round-trip US-China flights and round-the-world tickets); transfer 1:1 to British Airways miles (good for China-Japan routes and short-haul domestic US redemptions); transfer 1:1 to Air Canada miles (good for US-China business class awards and infant tickets); transfer 1:1 to Delta (good for business class, and can also redeem any Delta flight at 1c/p).
• Points Features: All MR points earned by one person are pooled into a single account and can be used directly. As long as you still have at least one MR-earning card open, all MR points will remain valid; be sure to use them up before closing all of your cards. Nearly all MR-earning cards allow you to transfer MR points to airline miles or hotel points. MR points can be transferred to airline or hotel accounts in an authorized user's name.
• My Take: The most common use of MR is transferring to airline miles, mainly ANA, Air Canada, Delta, and British Airways. Delta can help cover SkyTeam options; ANA and AC can selectively cover Star Alliance options; BA can be used for some oneworld awards. Among these, ANA is especially valuable for US-China economy, business, and first class awards. AC and Delta are also good for covering domestic US flights, while BA is best for nonstop domestic US flights. Hotel transfers are a weak spot for MR, and none are really worth transferring to. As for booking hotels or flights directly through AMEX Travel, you usually only get 1 cent per point in value, so I generally do not recommend it. Cash back and gift cards also max out at only 1 cent per point. Therefore, the final valuation is 1.7c, mainly considering the broad airline partner coverage, mostly instant transfer times (ANA takes 2-3 days; others are instant), and the value of these airline miles. The weaknesses are that MR is not very useful for hotel redemptions, and direct airfare bookings do not provide strong value either.
• Detailed Analysis: Membership Rewards Guide >>

My take

Holding for one year: If you keep this card for one year, you can get nearly $1,000 in value back, which is excellent for opening a single card. Although the first-year annual fee looks intimidating, the various credits can effectively offset it. Also, many of the credits run on a calendar-year basis, so holding the card for one year can let you use them twice. On top of that, you get a full year of AMEX Offers and various premium benefits, so it is still a pretty good deal. The Purchase Protection on this card is also excellent. If something you bought gets lost, it can be fully reimbursed, making this an unusually good card for people who often lose things.

Long-term holding: For those thinking about keeping it long term, it mostly comes down to whether you can use the various annual credits, the attached premium benefits, and the 5x earnings on flights and hotels. Looking purely from the annual-fee angle, the $100 Saks credit + Uber $200 Credit + $200 airline credit + $600 FHR already exceed the annual fee, so I personally think it is well worth it.

Application

This card is relatively easy to get approved for; in general, about one year of credit history is often enough for instant approval. This card is a charge card.

• Now the welcome bonuses across different flavors of the Platinum Card conflict with each other. Here is the Platinum language: You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.

• AMEX official application status check link
• For the same AMEX credit card, the public welcome bonus is generally available only once (once-per-lifetime restriction)
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-528-4800, 877-399-3083, 866-314-0237) to speed up credit card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• AMEX limits you to 4 credit cards and 10 charge cards total.
• You can apply for a total of two AMEX credit cards every 90 days, excluding charge cards.
• After you submit your application, a pop-up may appear telling you that you are not eligible for the welcome bonus. In that case, it is usually best not to continue with the application (detailed analysis)
• More about applying for AMEX credit cards

Application Link