Big Boy Club……Amex Gold & Platinum Discussion

[surv2syn]

Hey, if you want to leave points on the table, so be it..

I never had this conversation, nor did it ever cross my mind. I just never thought about having two charge cards. I only ever rolled with one charge and the rest revolving. So you are saying you have a Platinum card and you pay AF for a Gold card too? not sure if thats for me. I mean I get more value out of the Plat bennies than the points but dont get it twisted, my MR points probably triple the AF in value. I need to read your post again and check out the value of having a Plat and Gold together. Like I said, if you have one Plat in the household, an AF on any other card is not even necessary. I am game to listen though.

 

[Spence]

Hey, if you want to leave points on the table, so be it..
he gets the same spend benefits (which is shyt) but limited other benefits. You’re better off getting yourself an actual Gold card and giving him an AU card on that...at least you’ll both will earn way more points per transaction...
From Google:
“In order to get an authorized user (AU) Gold card, you must first own the Amex Platinum Card and pay that card’s $695 annual fee (see rates and fees). You’ll then be able to order Gold cards for authorized users for no additional fee (see rates and fees). Just like the personal Platinum Card, Gold card AUs earn:

• 5x points for the primary account on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000 per calendar year)
• 5x points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel
• 1x points on all other spending
• Terms Apply.

Each additional card is eligible for one statement credit every four years toward the Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee (up to $100). Incidental air travel fees charged by both Platinum and Gold card members are eligible for statement credits (up to $200 annually). These cards also can receive Amex Offers. Eligibility for these offers are limited. Enrollment is required in the Amex Offers section of your account before redeeming.

However, authorized user Gold cardholders are not eligible for Priority Pass Select membership or for access to Centurion Lounges, nor are they eligible for other perks such as annual Uber credits (for U.S. services) and elite status at certain hotels and rental car agencies.

Yeah it’s pretty obvious because if gold card members got benefits by just being an AU on a plat card member (and the cards are free annually) then you would have everyone and they fkn mama on that plat card users account with a gold account doing hood ray shyt with their friends

 

[Spence]

I never had this conversation, nor did it ever cross my mind. I just never thought about having two charge cards. I only ever rolled with one charge and the rest revolving. So you are saying you have a Platinum card and you pay AF for a Gold card too? not sure if thats for me. I mean I get more value out of the Plat bennies than the points but dont get it twisted, my MR points probably triple the AF in value. I need to read your post again and check out the value of having a Plat and Gold together. Like I said, if you have one Plat in the household, an AF on any other card is not even necessary. I am game to listen though.

What I had mentioned earlier, Chase does the same thing with their cards like a puzzle piece where you use certain cards in certain situation to game points but they all go to the same bucket. So right now me and you can’t use our Plat cards at a restaurant and get 4x while ole dude gets his 4x on his gold card but still gets his Plat bennies and gets to use golds points on hotels and flights also. I see how they go together now which I hadn’t realized until just now. I’m still in the introductory period though so it wouldn’t have made sense until I looked again at the cards to see how gold could help my points balance.

Chase has a holy trinity which is supposed to be the best at doing this, I’ve researched I just got gobsmacked by the Amex bennies and have my money tied to them “for now”

 

[surv2syn]

Yeah it’s pretty obvious because if gold card members got benefits by just being an AU on a plat card member (and the cards are free annually) then you would have everyone and they fkn mama on that plat card users account with a gold account doing hood ray shyt with their friends

cant get into lounges with Gold though. no bonnets allowed.

 

[Spence]

cant get into lounges with Gold though. no bonnets allowed.

Exactly why I went with the Plat first. Every. Single. Time. We were in airports traveling the world and ran into a centurion lounge we couldn’t get into I made it a personal mission to make sure I wasn’t denied access any longer.

First time we walked by and wife was like “oh look an Amex lounge!” “Let’s go!”, I was like, “can’t babe, all I have is this dusty ass blue cash card so they won’t let us in”

 

[Ahadi]

AMEX Platinum is the GOAT card. The annual fee pays for itself many times over if you use the card. It’s my main card. The only time I felt I didn’t get crazy value for the fee was 2020 when travel was halted. Still at the end of the year got two round trip tickets to Japan $1400 and didn’t pay a dime.

Those upgrades

 

[Htrb-nvr-blk-&-ug-as-evr]

I never had this conversation, nor did it ever cross my mind. I just never thought about having two charge cards. I only ever rolled with one charge and the rest revolving. So you are saying you have a Platinum card and you pay AF for a Gold card too? not sure if thats for me. I mean I get more value out of the Plat bennies than the points but dont get it twisted, my MR points probably triple the AF in value. I need to read your post again and check out the value of having a Plat and Gold together. Like I said, if you have one Plat in the household, an AF on any other card is not even necessary. I am game to listen though.

Bruh, the main reason to even get into the AmEx system is to ACCRUE POINTS. All of this lounge access and bullshyt credits are totally secondary because they don’t give you points. Like most folks who own this card, they are all about the flex and overlook the piss poor spend benefits of this mutherfukker. You rather pay $700/yr for a coupon card with access to a lounge you’ll use 2-3 times a year for a couple hours? Concerige you’ll use 3-4 times a year? If so, cool, that’s absolutely no problem. I ain’t pretentious about much of shyt...I looked at my use case and got the card that will maximize my point accrual. The Plat stopped being “exclusive” long ago, so I know I ain’t impressing anybody. But you doing yourself a disservice by not dual spending on plat and gold.
For instance, what is your son likely to spend money on with the card besides clothes? FOOD. What is your wife gonna spend most of the money on for the household? GROCERIES. Fool, you got a house of 5 fukin people...you gonna pass up 4X spending on dining and groceries cause you think you don’t look like a baller with a gold card?. You leaving thousands of dollars and multiple trips/upgrades on the table because of pretensions.

I’m gonna use your post to show you how I arrived at the fact I could give a fuk about platinum. Again, this is MY use case when i had a choice of both in the past:

Now back to AMEX. the Platinum card is the best credit card I have ever known hands down because it offers the most but TBH, its not hard to get at all. its actually one of the easiest cards to get if you get your foot in the door with AMEX. you can start with any charge card, Green, Pink, whatever....if you run a lot of money through it....then in 6 to 12 months (I dont remember because I did mine in 12) you will see the offer to upgrade and you can jump right to Platinum. likewise with any of their revolvers as well. I started with the Gold and after a year went Platinum and cant live without this thing.

it varies based on your needs but I have a house of 5, so all you need is ONE Platinum card and then everyone else that has their own cards only need the basic co-branded card w/o AF.

the Platinum if used heavily (as I do) gives you wild bennies. Also the MR points can be transferred to other travel cards, for instance Delta/Hilton.
Correct, but so do gold points and you get way more per spend. For every $1 you spend at a restaurant or for groceries, you get 1 point with your plat, I get 4 points with my gold.

no offense, but anyone worrying about annual fee is broke boy mentality because that annual fee aint shyt compared to how it pays back.
Okay, so rocking both a gold and a plat shouldn’t be a problem for you, right? I couldn’t justify the $550 much less the $700.

I get enough points in a year to take a 1400 flight as I mentioned above. I cant name all the bennies off top but just a few....

$200 international flight credit
$200 will be a discount on basically one international tix. I figure I can accrue enough points in a year to possibly cover entire tickets based on the multiplier.

$100 Saks Fifth Ave credit
Don’t shop here. Either way, $100 won’t buy you a fukin belt at Saks.

complimentary Hilton and Marriott Gold
status (this is huge because you have to stay 20 nights at Hilton to get to Gold and 25 at Marriott)
This one is good. I could definitely see this benefit
there are about 100 offers per month you can ad to your card, some of them shyts equal out to be free....like spend $25 at BP and get $25 statement credit
during COVID, they gave about $25 credit per month towards streaming services from like March - Dec
This is a great benefit. Gold card members also got credits if they asked (begged), but the amounts vary. Hate i didn’t take advantage though.
also same time period gave like $25 or something towards mobile phone bill. also they just got new phone protection plan that covers your phone up to $800 reimbursement...all you have to do is pay your last phone bill on the card.
they now have $240 digital entertainment credit
$200 airline credit
same as above, but I can get the points just as fast

$200 hotel credit
The hotel credit is restricted to the Fine Hotels Collection and Boutique collection now booked FROM the AmEx portal. Avg room starts at like $5-600 a night, so this is a coupon.
$200 UBER cash
$120 on gold at $10/ month. That reasonable for me
access to Centurion lounges
This is where I differ and, again, I’m about points accrual in the end. I can dine in a nice spot in an airport and rack up a few hundred points with drinks and food. Anytime I’ve had a layover in the past, it’s been internationally and it’s usually in a city I’d want to quickly explore. I figured this perk would be better used by very frequent/business travelers instead of my occasional travel. I don’t have to have it.
free virtual concert tickets (just did SZA last month)
Was open to all AmEx members

access to exclusive parties and events (went to some in Miami)
Usually open to all AmEx members
there's more, should I continue?

in the end, you have to use both the gold and plat to maximize the system and get points. You paying $700 a year for some finger food and a soft seat but you letting them rape you with a 1x point multiplier. shyt, all of the cards you mentioned you had have better benefits. That’s just me, though...I’m a peasant with a Gold card.

 

[Htrb-nvr-blk-&-ug-as-evr]

cant get into lounges with Gold though. no bonnets allowed.

I know you hurt cause you got schooled today, breh. Keep thinking a coli member with a plat is any better than the average dusty Coli breh . The reason AmEx raised the fees and changed over to the shyt benefits is because they trying to get rid of members like you

 

[surv2syn]

What I had mentioned earlier, Chase does the same thing with their cards like a puzzle piece where you use certain cards in certain situation to game points but they all go to the same bucket. So right now me and you can’t use our Plat cards at a restaurant and get 4x while ole dude gets his 4x on his gold card but still gets his Plat bennies and gets to use golds points on hotels and flights also. I see how they go together now which I hadn’t realized until just now. I’m still in the introductory period though so it wouldn’t have made sense until I looked again at the cards to see how gold could help my points balance.

Chase has a holy trinity which is supposed to be the best at doing this, I’ve researched I just got gobsmacked by the Amex bennies and have my money tied to them “for now”

5/24 though. I may get with Chase again before the year is out. I had CSP before but they closed it because I opened too many accounts at the same time. I am chill on cards at the moment because I just got Apple Card and Marriott Business AMEX so some shyt is falling out of rotation. at first I thought I fukked up by getting the Apple Card but shyt is actually pretty dope. When card is used, that user gets DAILY cash back. Primary or AU. you can also combine the cards and be co-owners with someone, like spouse for instance. This is the only card I know of where AU actually gets rewards for themselves and not the primary.

 

[surv2syn]

Bruh, the main reason to even get into the AmEx system is to ACCRUE POINTS. All of this lounge access and bullshyt credits are totally secondary because they don’t give you points. Like most folks who own this card, they are all about the flex and overlook the piss poor spend benefits of this mutherfukker. You rather pay $700/yr for a coupon card with access to a lounge you’ll use 2-3 times a year for a couple hours? Concerige you’ll use 3-4 times a year? If so, cool, that’s absolutely no problem. I ain’t pretentious about much of shyt...I looked at my use case and got the card that will maximize my point accrual. The Plat stopped being “exclusive” long ago, so I know I ain’t impressing anybody. But you doing yourself a disservice by not dual spending on plat and gold.
For instance, what is your son likely to spend money on with the card besides clothes? FOOD. What is your wife gonna spend most of the money on for the household? GROCERIES. Fool, you got a house of 5 fukin people...you gonna pass up 4X spending on dining and groceries cause you think you don’t look like a baller with a gold card?. You leaving thousands of dollars and multiple trips/upgrades on the table because of pretensions.

I’m gonna use your post to show you how I arrived at the fact I could give a fuk about platinum. Again, this is MY use case when i had a choice of both in the past:


in the end, you have to use both the gold and plat to maximize the system and get points. You paying $700 a year for some finger food and a soft seat but you letting them rape you with a 1x point multiplier. shyt, all of the cards you mentioned you had have better benefits. That’s just me, though...I’m a peasant with a Gold card.

bro, benefits are equal to cash too. I accrue about 150k points per year minimum....so I am not turning my nose up at points but the benefits of the Platinum far outweigh the rewards FOR ME because you dont have to use the card to get them them. how you gonna say its pretentious to prioritize benefits over rewards? its all money. had to cancel my Los Angeles trip when COVID shut shyt down...still got flight credits sitting....but guess what..at the end of the year, still did Japan and got the $200 international flight credit, 2 lounge access both way and trip to Orlando 3 lounge access both way. thats $400 in lounge access...now maybe lounge isnt big deal to you but the free food, gourmet at that is worth is to me...joint in Orlando even had Vegan options and we took shyt to go. I just never saw the need for two charge cards when I have other 5% revolvers....or are you saying downgrade to Gold.....fugggggg dat cant see that homie.

 

[Htrb-nvr-blk-&-ug-as-evr]

bro, benefits are equal to cash too. I accrue about 150k points per year minimum....so I am not turning my nose up at points but the benefits of the Platinum far outweigh the rewards FOR ME because you dont have to use the card to get them them. how you gonna say its pretentious to prioritize benefits over rewards? its all money. had to cancel my Los Angeles trip when COVID shut shyt down...still got flight credits sitting....but guess what..at the end of the year, still did Japan and got the $200 international flight credit, 2 lounge access both way and trip to Orlando 3 lounge access both way. thats $400 in lounge access...now maybe lounge isnt big deal to you but the free food, gourmet at that is worth is to me...joint in Orlando even had Vegan options and we took shyt to go. I just never saw the need for two charge cards when I have other 5% revolvers....or are you saying downgrade to Gold.....fugggggg dat cant see that homie.

So you basically spend up to $150k on your platinum per year by accruing 1x points, not including airline tickets? You dumb motherfuker . You coulda had 400k or more points if you dual spend with the gold. And the food in the Centurion ain’t gourmet, idiot...been there with our travel couple friends...it’s a fukin buffet of fruit and macaroni and cheese. And now you gotta pay for your wife and kids to get in....how’s that benefit working out for you? I already just showed you most of my benefits are similar, but go ahead and be “exclusive “ like everybody else. I guess AmEx will forever have knuckleheads to take advantage of to cover our benefits.

and just as soon as I say that, AmEx will probably raise my annual fee to $350 or some shyt...

 

[surv2syn]

I know you hurt cause you got schooled today, breh. Keep thinking a coli member with a plat is any better than the average dusty Coli breh . The reason AmEx raised the fees and changed over to the shyt benefits is because they trying to get rid of members like you

I am not knocking Gold, I was just commenting on breh saying people doing ratchet shyt, just a joke. I had a Gold remember? I just have gotten much more value from my Platinum card. its nothing wrong with either one of them, at the end of the day if you cant justify the fee for your profile then you dont need the card period. I for one dont really like AFs so I feel the Plat is the only AF card I truly need. although some of my other cards have AF, now I try to avoid them unless I can justify it....because the Plat blankets everything for me travel wise. most of these other cards with $99 AF's you can barely justify those. Gold is great but for my family of five I have just gotten much more up front from the Plat...like 4 Gold Marriott and Hilton memberships off rip. 4x lounge access. but see that stuff dont mean anything to you, but thats probably because its JUST YOU. I have 5 travelers in my home that all benefit. I am not going to say you are wrong and I couldnt use the extra points because you are correct, but what I am saying is....I am justifying the AF four times over at worst so its not like I am losing either. good advice either way though breh.

 

[1thouwow]

Y’all be paying annual fees to spend ya own money?

 

[CashmereThoughts]

AMEX Platinum is the GOAT card. at the end of the year got two round trip tickets to Japan $1400 and didn’t pay a dime.

just make sure you got a lower tear card in effect for better multipliers on gas, groceries etc.

 

[CashmereThoughts]

Y’all be paying annual fees to spend ya own money?

if you dont understand the game in 2021 you never will.