Note: American Express is a Frequent Miler advertiser
Valid through: 8/31/2014:
The Platinum Card® from American Express for Ameriprise Financial is currently offering a pretty good deal:
- 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards points after $3K spend in 3 months.
- No first year fee, then $450 thereafter
- Up to 3 authorized users with no first year fee, then $175 (total for all 3) thereafter
- 5000 bonus points for every $20K in spend (max 30K bonus points annually)
You can find the link to the deal here (scroll down to find the Ameriprise offer).
Its not unusual to see 50K or better offers for Platinum cards, but usually the first year fee is not waived on those offers. The deal implies that you have to be an Ameriprise customer, but many have received this deal anyway. Those who have had Amex Platinum cards in the past may wonder if they’ll qualify for this since Amex now has lifetime rules against getting a bonus for the same card again. My best guess is that the Ameriprise version is considered a separate product from the regular Platinum card so you’ll be OK. That’s just a guess, though. YMMV.
Maximize value of card:
- Make sure to get $200 airline fee credit per calendar year (so, up to $400 within first 12 months of card membership since you can get the $200 in 2014 and 2015). Airline fee credit is for primary cardholder only.
- Signup for Global Entry for free. Each cardholder will get $100 credit when card is used to pay $100 Global Entry fee. This will give each person TSA-PRE access as well.
- Use lounge access benefits (primary and authorized users)
- Use Boingo wifi for free (primary and authorized users)
- Signup for SPG Gold status (primary and authorized users)
- Signup for car rental elite status (primary and authorized users)
For details of many of the above benefits, please see: Maximizing Value from Amex Platinum Cards.
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I don’t see the 25k signup offer anymore. Can someone post a link?
The 25K offer expired. It seems to reappear each year in late Spring
Is the Amex Platinum for Ameriprise card considered different than other Amex Platinum Membership Rewards cards for the purposes of Amex’s new more restrictive bonus policy (one per card)?
Yes, you should be able to get both
Are 25K Membership Rewards points equal in value to 25K Starpoints one can earn from the SPG card?
No, they’re different. Both allow transfers to airlines but not the same exact ones (spg has more options and offers a 5k bonus when you transfer 20k points). Membership rewards have the advantage that they usually transfer instantly, but if you transfer to a US airline you’ll pay a small transfer fee.
SPG points are arguably more valuable
Thanks…as always you are a star!