In true American Express fashion, a higher annual fee is all but certain to arrive for the Platinum Card this autumn, along with more “benefits” to justify it. Not only do we have a rumored number ($895), but a defense from the AMEX CEO about the increased annual fee.
American Express Platinum Refresh Rumor: $895 Annual Fee, More Coupon-Style Benefits Ahead
In terms of the premium credit card market in the USA, issuers are opting for a “coupon book” approach to benefits: higher annual fees with more discounts and rebates. That’s a winning formula for credit card companies because these extra perks are often acquired very cheaply or at no cost in exchange in exchange for marketing and inclusion in a card product of ideal demographics.
Earlier this year, the Sapphire Reserve increased the annual fee from $550 to $795. Now, Doctor of Credit reports that as part of the autumn refresh of the American Express Platinum cards, the annual fees will rise from $695 to $895.
While that is just a rumor at this point, View From The Wing points out some interesting comments from AMEX CEO Steve Squeri during last week’s earnings call. Asked about higher annual fees for the Platinum card, he first pointed to the success of recent changes to the Gold, Delta, and Hilton cards, suggesting that higher fees are not chasing away customers:
“In each of the recent refreshes we’ve done for our U.S. consumer Gold, Delta, and Hilton cards over the last two years, customer demand has increased, driving double-digit account growth. Revenue growth in each of the three portfolios is up over 30% with card fee revenues up at least 60%. And spend retention remains very high at 98% and we’ve seen no meaningful change after the refreshes. Additionally, the high credit quality of the new customers we’re bringing in has helped us widen the gap between our credit metrics and the rest of the industry.”
In 2024, the American Express Gold annual fee rose from $250 to $325.
Squeri then lays out the game plan for the refreshed Platinum card products:
“As we look ahead to our U. S. Platinum launches, you can expect to see the same formula, providing the best premium experience to card members with more differentiated benefits and more world-class partners joining us to offer card members more value that substantially exceeds the annual fee.
“I’ll tell you what, if you don’t tell anybody, I’ll give you the preview. The look, I think that yes, look, I’m not going to get into ratios here, but what I would say is our strategy has always been to, if we do raise the fee, it has always been to add incrementally a lot more value. In terms of that, yes, that’s the same playbook.”
Squeri essentially confirms what we were all expecting…more discounts, credits, and rebates to offset a higher annual fee. Frankly, I’m surprised AMEX doesn’t just double the annual fee, but I suppose turning up the heat more gradually is the best way to cook a frog…
I’ve always struggled with financial organization…staying on top of monthly credits (or even expiring miles!) is something I tend to delegate. This approach does not appeal to me and I find it encourages consumption that we otherwise would not even consider.
But that’s the nature of the US credit card industry (AMEX isn’t unique), and in running a pure cost-benefit analysis, holding onto the card is still going to make sense for most cardholders.
That’s exactly what AMEX is banking on…
Will you keep your AMEX Platinum when the annual fee goes up this autumn?
After CSR went up and with so many coupons I just bit the bullet and made a spreadsheet. Not sure how to do it now without one.
I’ve been doing that for several years now . . . between the annual, semi-annual, quarterly, calendar year, renewal year, etc. coupons and credits (not to mention the variety of free hotel nights) it’s the only way to remember what I have and haven’t used so far.
“consumpion tah we oherwise would not even consdier.”
English please
Grammarly took the day off.
I closed my platinum card last month. Had it for 8 years but couldn’t justify the annual fee anymore. The benefits became incrementally difficult to use over the years with their “coupon” style. That and lines were so long the lounges weren’t even usable. Suffice to say I dont miss the platinum card one bit!
I’m not sure I’d call what he said a justification for screwing over cardholders as much as an explanation. I do think he’s mistaken about how much people will pay for an increasingly bad value proposition but people’s poor decisions have proven me wrong before.
For myself, I’ll keep what works for me and dump the rest. With skyrocketing annual fees it will be easier to make a clean break.
I was on the edge of canceling as it was. The 1-2 times a year I use the Centurion Lounge just doesn’t justify it for me – and the rest of the credits I’m working to use, rather than finding helpful. This will be my moment to cancel.
Mine already renewed so I’ve got another year. I’ll be canceling. I’d rather not travel or just sit in the terminal rather than queue up for those packed lounges or purchase overpriced hotels and airfare through FHR (when I’ve got a travel agent who is plugged into all the elite proprietary hotel things that provide property credit / breakfast / whatever. Done, AMEX. Done. You’ve killed this golden goose.
Corporate greed at its ‘finest’ ! … or ‘premium’ !
Relentlessly pushing the envelope to see how much blood they can squeeze out of their customers…
At some point, there must be a limit ….
I doubt the majority of their customers will be bothered about an increased annual fee. Some may downgrade, some may cancel, but the majority will keep on using the card, and some won’t even notice that the fee has increased.
I frequently complain about the inability to use Amex outside of the United States. Add to that the fact that their lounges are worse than Cap1 and Chase, the card is only attractive for airline spend, and few of the coupons are really worth their face value, I’m nearly certain I’ll finally cut the cord on the Amex Plat when it goes up to $895. And perhaps that’s what they want. I’m probably not a profitable customer. Though as long as they continue to give Platinum cards to military members for free, I don’t imagine the lounges will ever be any less crowded.
“consumpion tah we oherwise”
what is this gibberish Matthew?
Remember when Apple iPhones broke the $1K barrier?….. Yeah, I cannot recall either when it happened, but it happened, and Apple isn’t any worse off. Like it or not, the price on the cards is going up like everything else and the coupon “values” are going up to also soften the blow.
Member since 2008 here… a 29% annual fee increase without addressing the #1 problem (lounge crowding)… call me member till end of 2025.
@ Matthew — I suggest applying a 50% discount to the benefits that are perceived as “easy” to use, like uber, the entertainment credits and the airline fee credit. Beyond that, the coupons should be disregarded as worthless. Then, if you aren’t making > $15k-20k airfare charges for the marginal 1x-3x points over another card, the AMEX Platinum is not worth keeping after year 1. People will argue strongly against this analysis, but they seem to ignore the fact that time is extremely valuable given how short life is. Besides, AMEX is not in business for people to profit from their cards, so the deck is clearly stacked against the customer.
Oh, joy, another card re-fart.
I hope it is worth it???????????????????????getting ugly…
Interestingly, the UK platinum card is already at that level (£650), and the only real ‘coupon book’ type of benefit is a statement credit for certain restaurants that have deals with them. Admittedly that credit isn’t too small at £400, but the geographical distribution of the restaurants leaves a lot to be desired and clearly people may want to eat somewhere specific when visiting a certain destination
Needless to say, I am not going anywhere near those cards anytime soon. Incidentally, the Spanish flavour of the card is also built around offering lots of the coupon-type credits, including ostensibly ‘up to €2200’ in hotel savings.
There are a lot of people out there that have money to burn. It’s as simple as that!
lol the Platinum in Mexico is $1,508 USD
$895USD annual fee is only justified if AMEX introduces some tangible new benefits, that are easy to use.
If not, I will cancel it. This kind of annual fee is just frankly crazy and the Centurion lounges are nice, but not that $895 nice. Not to mention the crowding issue!