Reply to Do I still need my Amex Platinum?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am considering one of the new member offers which gives you 150,000 AmEx miles/points after you spend like $9000.

Just curious, does Amex provide any avenues such that these 150,000 points are worth more than $.01/point?

I get that worst case, the 150,000 can be used a $1,500 statement credit (so, you come out ahead $805 for the first year)...but just wondering if that 150,000 points has a higher value, and the way you get that higher value.

It seems like the $1,500, plus the $200 in online subscription credits, plus the $200 in Uber credits, etc. definitely makes it worth it if anything for the first year.[/quote]

Definitely worth it for the first year bonus. [b]The way to maximize that is through transferring the points to airline partners for booking award tickets. But it is a learning curve to figure out how to maximize that, and you need to think about which partners Amex has. Delta, British Airways and Air France are some.of the big ones.[/b]

If you are planning on holding for just one year, make sure it's open at least through the time the second year fee is charged. If you close before that they may rescind the bonus, they are getting stricter about that. You have a 30 day window after that fee posts to close the account and have the fee refunded.[/quote]

So, let's say I transfer 150,000 points to Delta.  Is that worth 6 airplane tickets (25,000 points/miles per RT) basically?

Just trying to understand how to translate the $$$ value by using with airlines.[/quote]

Just to give you an idea of a simple transfer benefit, I have scheduled four first class flights on Emirates next fall.  Total flight time is 43 hours.  Full first class fare on those flights would be close to 50,000 dollars.  Economy about 8,000 dollars.  I got them for a total of 343,000 points and 2200 dollars in fees and taxes.

To make this work, it takes planning and effort.  Not a huge amount, but it isn't just plug and play.[/quote]

Got it.  That's pretty cool.  The 150,000 points was worth about $21,000 ($48,000 * 150,000/343,000).[/quote]

If you want to do it, I would go and look at a site like 10X travel that has a free introcutory course on how to do that.

There are tricks to it and easy mistakes to be made.  For example, with Amex, the order in which you obtained various cards didn't matter.  Now, if you get platinum first, you won't get a signup bonus (which is where points are made) for a Gold or Green card.

Are they expensive?  The cards are, but I get 1100 dollars in easy, no brainer value from my platinum every year.  That isn't lounge access or searching for offers or coupons.  That's 200 dollars in United flight credits, 200 in Uber credits, 100 Saks credits (gifts I would buy anyway), cell phone benefit, 200 in hotel reimbursements (this is a pain for me), New York Times is free and a couple other things.  So when I say 100 dollars that is cash that I do not pay that I otherwise would have paid.[/quote]

What's the cell phone benefit?  I didn't see that anywhere.[/quote]

It's a cell phone loss/damage reimbursement benefit up to twice a year, if you use your Platinum card to pay your cell bill.

https://thriftytraveler.com/news/credit-card/cell-phone-insurance-protection-experience/[/quote]

The business platinum is 10 dollars off per month plus the insurance on the phone itself.[/quote]

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