IS THE AMEX PLATINUM WORTH IT?! ($695 Annual Fee | Mid 2021 Analysis)

The Amex Platinum Card now has a $695 annual fee. Can you justify keeping it in year 1, year 2, or beyond? It’s time for an in-depth analysis to see if the Amex Platinum card is worth it! Click “Show More” to see Ad Disclosure. 📲 MAXREWARDS - Manage credit cards & rewards! Get Gold level for free with PROMO CODE = markr http://markscreditcards.com/maxrewards 💳👉VIEW CREDIT CARD OFFERS! https://markscreditcards.com/offers 🛍 RAKUTEN - Earn Cash Back! http://markscreditcards.com/rakuten ‼️ GET FREE STOCKS FROM WEBULL when you open an account & deposit $100: http://markscreditcards.com/webull WELCOME OFFER vs. ANNUAL FEE NOTE: I'm using a public signup bonus of 100,000 Membership Rewards points. Excluded are any extra temporary multipliers (like 10X - 15X on Restaurants and Shop Small) because the rewards will vary based on how much you spend in those categories. 1. Bonus: 100,000 Points | Redeem: travel via Transfer Partners Value = $2,000 (avg.) Annual Fee = $695 Gain = $1,305 2. Bonus: 100,000 Points | Redeem: travel via portal for flights Value = $1,000 Annual Fee = $695 Gain = $305 3. Bonus: 100,000 Points | Redeem: travel via portal for hotels, car rentals, cruises, vacations Value = $700 Annual Fee = $695 Gain = $5 4. Bonus: 100,000 Points | Redeem: Cash back via statement credit Value = $600 Annual Fee = $695 Loss = -$95 CREDITS vs. ANNUAL FEE - Airline Fee Credit | $200 | Incidental travel fees on 1 selected airline | Annual - Hotel Credit | $200 | Prepaid hotel bookings via Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection | Annual - CLEAR Credit | $179 | Reimburses CLEAR membership fee | Annual - Saks Fifth Avenue Credit | $100 | Valid at Saks department stores and saks.com | Semiannual: $50 Jan. – Jun. and $50 Jul. – Dec. - Uber / Uber Eats Credit | $200 | Auto loaded into your Uber account as Uber Cash | Monthly: $15/mo. and $35 in December - Equinox Credit | $300 | Valid for Equinox All Access, Destination, or E by Equinox memberships | Monthly: $25/mo. - Digital Entertainment Credit | $240 | Reimburses for Peacock, The New York Times, Audible, or SiriusXM | Monthly: $20/mo. Total = $1,419 Annual Fee = $695 Gain = $724 SOFT BENEFITS vs. ANNUAL FEE - Global Dining Access by Resy - The Global Lounge Collection - International Airline Program - Fine Hotels & Resorts Program - Elite Status: Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Honors Gold, rental car programs - Concierge - No Foreign Transaction Fees Total = varies Annual Fee = $695 Gain/Loss = varies PROTECTIONS vs. ANNUAL FEE - Rental Car Loss & Damage Insurance - Trip Delay Insurance - Trip Cancellation Insurance - Purchase Protection - Return Protection - Extended Warranty - Cell Phone Protection Total = varies Annual Fee = $695 Gain/Loss = varies MARK vs. ANNUAL FEE Total Value Received = $1,158.40 Annual Fee = $695 Gain = $463.40 I highly recommend you do a benefit breakdown & analysis based on your situation, especially if you’re considering an Amex Trifecta (or more) card setup with the Amex Platinum Card, Amex Gold Card, Amex Green Card, and/or the Amex Blue Business Plus. Running an American Express credit card setup usually involves high annual fees, so it’s important that you can make sense of them given the credits, perks / benefits, protections, etc. Otherwise, there are other credit card setups with low-to-no annual fees. Common setups include the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred along with the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited. You could also consider the Chase Ink Business Preferred instead of one of the Sapphire cards. There are also cash back credit card setups that work well with Bank of America, Capital One, U.S. Bank and others. Do the math and see what works best for you! Disclosure: This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. The content in this video is accurate as of the posting date. Some of the offers mentioned may no longer be available. Mark Reese is not a financial advisor.