American Express Platinum Charge Card

The American Express Platinum Charge Card is a premium credit card that offers a variety of features and benefits. With an annual fee of Rs 60000, it is one of the most expensive cards in the country. While the Plat Charge doesn’t have a high reward rate, it does offer some lifestyle benefits that can be useful for certain people. Here is what makes the American Express Platinum Charge Card tick and what it misses.

American Express Platinum Charge Card Eligibility

Unlike some issuers, Amex does not set a very high entry barrier to get the Plat Charge card. We need to fulfil the below criteria.

CIBIL Score: 750+
Annual Income: Rs 25 Lakh+ for salaried and Rs 15 Lakh+ for Self Employed

Fees

If you apply online for the Platinum Charge card, you will only get the Taj vouchers as welcome benefit. The best offers for getting the Platinum Charge card are always sent out to existing Amex customers to upgrade from other cards like Platinum Travel or Gold Charge. These offers can be very lucrative from time to time. For now, the best upgrade offer we have come across is for getting 115K MR points. This MR points offer will easily give you a value of around Rs 60,000 and more when transferred to Marriott Bonvoy.

Being a charge card, the Amex Plat Charge does not come with any pre-set credit limit. However, Amex does have internal controls which it uses to authorize large spends. The internal algorithm keeps learning and increasing your credit limit as you spend with the card.

Rewards

Gold Charge, the second charge card from Amex is the only one that gets MR points on insurance and utilities. Even the top end Plat Charge card misses out on this.
Fuel spends up to Rs 1.25 Lakh per month get 5 MR points/Rs 100. Post that, the revised reward rate is 1 MR point/Rs 100.

The Platinum Charge does not have high rewards unlike what we expect with the annual fee. In fact, if you are looking at just the rewards then you can very well match these up with other credit cards having an annual fee of Rs 5000.

Complimentary Airport Lounge Access Pro Mode

If you are impressed by the unlimited airport lounge access with the likes of Infinia and DCB, then the Plat Charge will exceed your expectations. We not only get access to Priority Pass lounges but some of the best airport lounges in the world.

American Express operates its own set of airport lounges called the Centurion Lounge. We have two Centurion lounges in India at the Delhi and Mumbai airports and these can be accessed exclusively by only the Centurion and Platinum Charge cards.

Elite Status Benefits

The Plat Charge is all about complimenting your lifestyle. If you are a traveller, then it adds more value to your trips. We get multiple elite status memberships with this card.

Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status

This is the most valuable benefit as per us. We get Gold Elite status right away. The Gold Elite Status offers a 25% bonus earn rate of Bonvoy points with a complimentary upgrade to an enhanced room (subject to availability). We can also get a 2 PM late check out on request.

Hilton Honors Gold Status

Hilton hotels are not that popular in India but we do get more options in countries like USA. We get room upgrades subject to availability and an 80% bonus earn rate on Hilton Honors points. Gold status also gets you complimentary breakfast outside the USA.

Radisson Rewards Premium Status

Radisson Rewards program does not get much visibility in India due to limited transfer partners. But if you are opting for a revenue stay, then get the status benefits like up to 20% room discounts, early check-in and late check-out etc.

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards

This one will come in handy when you rent a car outside India. We can get an one class car upgrade and up to 15% discount along with other benefits.

Platinum Concierge

While many super-premium credit cards advertise a Concierge benefit, Amex Platinum Charge truly has the best one. It can be used for anything like procuring tickets to a concert, finding stock for a rare item you want to buy or even reserve a table for you at a fine dining restaurant.

EazyDiner Prime Membership

We get EazyDiner Prime membership with the Amex Plat Charge. It comes with the below benefits which can come in useful if you regularly dine out.

Get 25% to 50% discount up to Rs 3000 at select bars and restaurants
Get a complimentary cake or dessert at select bars and restaurants
50% off when you take away a cake during the birthday or anniversary months
2X EazyPoints on meals
2000 EazyPoints

Golf Benefits

The Plat Charge card gets complimentary access to 30+ golf courses in India and 50+ golf courses worldwide. We can also opt for complimentary golf lessons. Check out this Amex page for more details.

Other Benefits & Charges

Fuel Surcharge Waiver: Not available except at HP fuel pumps
Foreign Currency Markup: 3.5%+GST ~4.13%

Transfer to Airlines/Hotel Loyalty Programs

Amex MR points are also one of the most versatile ones when it comes to using them for airline and hotel loyalty programs. We get multiple transfer partners. If planned well, points transfer can give you a better value for your MR points. The best transfer partner is Marriott Bonvoy where we get a 1:1 transfer ratio.

Should you get the Platinum Charge card?

At an annual fee of Rs 70,800 the Platinum Charge card is a difficult decision to make. But, the card does make sense for the first year with the MR points as a welcome benefit. We can get a good value on transferring those points to Marriott and we get other benefits on top of that. From the second year onwards, unless there is a significant retention benefit there is not much use of this card.

If you look purely from the rewards perspective, then the Plat Charge is one expensive card. But if you have the lifestyle, the Plat Charge is going to compliment it quite nicely.