AMEX Platinum Morgan Stanley Card: 80,000 Welcome Bonus, E*TRADE Users Can Apply

The current welcome bonus is 80,000 points after $12,000 in spend within 6 months. E*TRADE’s website now clearly says that anyone with one of their accounts can apply for the Platinum Morgan Stanley card! However, if you have applied for another Platinum version or for Morgan Stanley Platinum, you won’t be able to get this card; a popup will tell you about the restriction.

• Application link on the E*TRADE page

You can have either an E*TRADE brokerage account or a bank account, but the name on the account and the credit card applicant’s name must match. I assume you can apply after logging in.

The Platinum Card^®An Eligible Account is a brokerage or bank account(i) held in your name, (ii) held by a trust where you are both the grantor and trustee of such trust, or (iii) held as a beneficial owner of a personal holding company, a non-operating limited liability company, a non-operating limited partnership, or a similar legal entity. American Express will only issue the Card to (1) a Morgan Stanley client who is an individual; and (2) an individual associated with a Morgan Stanley client (if the Morgan Stanley client itself is not an individual) . Eligibility is subject to change. American Express may cancel your Card Account and participation in this program, if you do not maintain an Eligible Account.

This welcome bonus is excellent, so I’ve also added it to the welcome bonus rankings.

• U.S. credit card welcome bonus rankings (personal cards)

Introduction

Morgan Stanley-related benefits:

• You can open one Platinum authorized user card for free; it provides most travel benefits, but not most reimbursement benefits. Additional Platinum authorized user cards are charged the normal annual fee.
• You can turn Membership Rewards points into cash at a rate of 1 cent/point and transfer it to an MS investment account.
• Spend $100,000 in a membership year and you will receive a $500 cash bonus.
• For people with $1 million in assets at Morgan Stanley, the annual fee is waived.

Various credits

Most of the reimbursements below require enrollment before use, so be sure to remember that.

• Annual FHR credit of $600: $300 per half-year. You need to book through AMEX Travel or FHR and pay with this card. Introduction to AMEX FHR bookings and Platinum card hotel credits
• $300 entertainment credit: $25 per month. Currently it can only be used for Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, The New York Times, and YouTube, usually for subscription fees. Requires enrollment before use
• $300 Equinox membership credit
• $209 Clear membership credit
• Annual $200 OuraRing Credit: must be purchased on the official website. Requires enrollment before use.
• $75 per quarter, $300 total per year, Lululemon credit. Online and in-store purchases both qualify, U.S. only. Requires enrollment before use.
• Resy restaurant credit of $100 per quarter, $400 total per year for dining. Requires enrollment before use.
• New Walmart+ benefit: if you pay monthly, the membership fee is automatically reimbursed each month. Walmart+ sign-up
• $200 airline credit: $200 in airline incidental credits per calendar year, effectively offsetting $250 of the annual fee. You can use it in the first year and again at the start of the next year, effectively getting reimbursed twice during your first card year. The credit can be easily triggered by buying airline gift cards, see: AMEX airline credit analysis
• Get $200 Uber Credit + $100 Uber One each year: Add your Platinum card to your Uber account and your Uber account will become VIP, with perks such as better ride options. At the same time, for the first 11 months each year your Uber account will get $15 in credit, and in December it will get $35; the credit expires at the end of each month. If you pay the Uber One membership fee with this card, it will be reimbursed.
• Annual Saks reimbursement: This $100 annual Saks credit can now be enrolled for through the link below. Specifically, $50 can be reimbursed from January through June and $50 from July through December. Based on the terms, this reimbursement excludes Saks Fifth gift cards as well as online and in-store purchases at outlet locations. How it is actually enforced still depends on the final DPs everyone reports. In short, an unexpected $100 is still nice. Charges on authorized user cards can also earn this reimbursement (up to $50 total for primary and authorized user combined). It applies only to personal Platinum cards, such as the regular Platinum, Mercedes-Benz Platinum, and other Platinum flavors. The reimbursement is tracked separately for each version. Saks $100 Benefit Enrolll link

AMEX card benefits

• AMEX Offer: Amazon $20 back on $20; Walmart $5 off $15; phone bill $10 off $75. AMEX is generous with offers and often sends cardholders good deals that let you earn cash back while spending. See AMEX Offer explained and AMEX good offers roundup
• Free ShopRunner membership: enjoy two-day shipping and free shipping at many online stores. For details, see: official website
• Extended warranty: items purchased in full with an AMEX card get an automatic one-year extension of the manufacturer’s warranty
• Free reports: some users can check their credit score for free, and once a year they can claim a free credit report

Introduction to the points system

• 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 review:

The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley is one version of the AMEX Platinum Card. Although it has an application link, it is only for Morgan Stanley customers. It naturally inherits all the features of the original Platinum Card: a high annual fee, little cash back, and almost no difference in benefits, so you can think of it as the same card. However, the annual fee is waived for people who have substantial assets at Morgan Stanley ($1 million). If you are that wealthy, this card is absolutely worth applying for (if you have that much money, why are you still messing around with so many credit cards?). However, this card is not as good as the Charles Schwab version of the Platinum Card for cashing out MR points, and we do not recommend using your MR points that way. A reminder for anyone who wants to apply: after you get the card, do not spend too aggressively right away. This is a charge card, and in AMEX’s risk model it is especially easy to trigger a Financial Review. If you fail it, there is a good chance all of your AMEX cards will be shut down. For details, see: Analysis of why AMEX credit cards get shut down. Also, if you and your partner only want to hold one Platinum Card long term, this card is an excellent choice, because it can come with one no-annual-fee Platinum authorized user card, and the authorized user card also gets PPS, Hilton Gold, and Marriott Gold.

Apply

• According to the current terms, you need a Morgan Stanley investment account or an E*TRADE account to apply
• Note that Platinum-family cards now have same-family restrictions. If you have applied for the Platinum and Schwab versions, you will not get the bonus on this card. Introduction to AMEX same-product credit card restrictions

• 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

• AMEX Platinum Morgan Stanley