Update: The consumer Platinum “family rule” terms are now appearing on the Schwab Platinum card, meaning that you are no longer eligible for a welcome offer if you have previously held any of the consumer Platinum cards (regular, Schwab or Morgan Stanley). This makes the new rules much more restrictive than we originally thought. Currently, Morgan Stanley Platinum applications do not have these terms and we’ve heard several DP’s of folks being able to successfully apply when holding one of the other two. We don’t know if that’s permanent or if all three cards will be eventually have these new terms. Original post follows.
American Express just can’t keep itself from fiddling around with its flagship Platinum card. This time, instead of adding another (excessive) monthly credit, Amex has changed several of the terms for the regular consumer Platinum card, the Charles Schwab Platinum card and the Morgan Stanley Platinum card. These affect authorized user cards, minimum spend, the Platinum wireless credit and more. Let’s take a look at what happened and what it means for cardholders.
Cards Affected
| Card Offer |
|---|
80K points 80K after $6K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$695 Annual Fee This card is only available to clients that maintain an eligible Schwab brokerage account. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 100K points + 10x when you Shop Small in the US & at restaurants worldwide [Expired 1/20/22] |
125K points 125K after $6K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) (Offer Expires 11/8/2023)$695 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 125K points after 6k spend [Expired 1/20/23] |
150K points 150K points after $15K spend in the first 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$695 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
150K points 150K after $8K spend in 6 months. Terms apply.$695 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 125K after $6K in the first 6 months + 15x when you Shop Small in the US and at restaurants worldwide on up to $25K in eligible purchases in the first 6 months [Expired 1/20/22] |
What’s Changed
- Platinum cardholders used to be able to add up to three authorized users (AU) for $175/year. Now, AU cards cost $195/year, each. The Morgan Stanley Platinum card continues to get 1 AU per year for free.
- All consumer Platinum cardholders can still add an authorized user as a stripped-down Gold card for free. That continues, but it’s been renamed a “Companion Platinum Card.” There doesn’t appear to be any changes to the functionality of the AU card. Similarly, free Green AU cards on the Business Platinum have been renamed to “Additional Business Expense Card.”
- The minimum spend required for the welcome offer on the consumer Platinum is up 33% to $8K (from $6K) over the first six months. This includes the 100K Resy Platinum offer that we list on our Best Offers page. Both the Schwab and Morgan Stanley Platinum’s minimum spend is unchanged at $6,000.
- All three of these cards have always been considered separate products when it came to eligibility for welcome offers. That’s no longer the case, as the consumer and Schwab Platinum now have terms which state that previous or current cardholders of any of the three Platinum cards are ineligible for a new cardmember bonus. Morgan Stanley applicants continue to be eligible for a welcome offer whether or not they have the consumer or Schwab Platinum cards. This may change, however.
- Starting October 1st, Audible is no longer on the list of eligible services that can be paid for with the Platinum’s $20/month “digital entertainment” credit. In its place is the Wall Street Journal.
Quick Thoughts
In my mind, by far the biggest (and most negative) change is regarding authorized user cards. Previously, all Platinum cardholders could add up to three authorized users for only $175/year. Those authorized users then received all of the lounge and elite status benefits that the card offers, including access to Priority Pass Lounges, Centurion Lounges, Delta SkyClubs and Gold status with Hilton and Marriott. If you added three folks, all that would cost ~$58/year per AU, a bargain compared to the out-of-pocket cost. This became especially salient once Amex gutted the Centurion Lounge guesting rules, effectively requiring that each person wanting to enter has their own Platinum card or pay $50 to visit as a guest. Now, folks maxing out the previous three AU rule go from paying $175/year to $585/year.
That’s a massive jump, especially when compared to its competitors: Capital One Venture X cardholders get to add four authorized users for free and Chase Sapphire Reserve authorized users can be had for only $75 (with primary rental car insurance). Admittedly, neither of those cards offers SkyClub or Centurion Lounge access and this feels like another battle in Amex’s (and Delta’s) war on overcrowding at those lounges, a significant problem that’s become almost laughable in Delta hubs and large airports. I’m not certain how many folks are accessing these lounges via AU cards, but I imagine Delta and Amex do and it’s not trivial.
These changes also make the free AU card on the Morgan Stanley Platinum slightly more valuable. However, if you were only paying for one AU to begin with, the $20 increase in what you’re saving probably doesn’t move the needle. It’s folks with 2-3 AU’s that are going to feel the pain the most.
My hunch is that the rest of the changes will affect less people. I’m sure that many folks (including my wife) will lament the loss of credits for Audible. On the flip side, many others will probably love Wall Street Journal access (although I’m sure less will be excited about access to both the WSJ and the NY Times). The change in churning rules is probably fairly benign as well, given that the vast majority of Platinum cardholders enter the ecosphere via the consumer Platinum as opposed to one of the investment cards. For those that did start with either the Schwab or Morgan Stanley, the change kills most or all of the appeal of getting the consumer Platinum. Update: As we mentioned above, these new churning rules are much more severe than we initially realized and now apply to both the Schwab and “vanilla” Platinum cards, meaning that, at best, folks are only eligible for welcome offers two Platinum products, including the Morgan Stanley card. If that card falls under this “family” umbrella as well, it will reduce the entire consumer Platinum side down to only one possible welcome offer. Yuck.
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the moment they dont give me retention offer i’ll just cancel.
These changes aren’t going to impact me much but I planned on cancelling anyway. All of the benefits are onerous and the product keeps getting watered down while fees go up. Definitely the worst value premium card while venture x is the best
And they had just increases the annual fee to $695. It’s time for other financial institutions to come up with better alternative to Amex.
Better start signing up for all the Hilton cards you want if you want more than one. Same for Delta…
I just renewed before these changes. I travel for work and personal quite a bit my wife some of both also and we have 2 teens as well we flip for au cards for leisure travel. Amex is always the king of club access but next year at around 1300 for that access in fees and less usable coupon offsets I think I calced our new net cost at 8 or 900. Considering my wife and I can expense work stuff it is just easier to get my kids meals for the 4-5 times a year we all travel together and less drama. So will probably move to Sapphire reserve for the great travel coverage, good usable points with Hyatt and lower end club access for a significantly lower net cost. Guess Amex really does want the wine sipping backpackers and consultants as this is the final nail for more comfortable families. Unfortunately they will not have the opportunity to our market for other products they may have but guess it’s not worth it to them.
I think as a platinum card holder. My main upset is the very overcrowded lounges. My husband and I have been persecuted. Only I can use the lounges I have to pay for my husband. Ridiculous. I’ve been a loyal costumer for 30yrs. Time for change maybe!!!
Very disappointed!! Terrible treatment by Amex!
Agree
OK, I’m a little confused. Is the Resy card and the regular card the same thing? I got the regular card in 2016, the Schwab card in 2017, the Ameriprise card in 2018, the Morgan Stanley in 2019, the Resy in 2020, usually canceling a given card after a year, except when a strong retention bonus made it worth not doing so. Currently I don’t hold any Platinum cards. If the Resy and regular card are the same thing, why was I approved for the Resy just 4 years after getting the regular? Or was the Resy considered a new card marketed in place of the regular? I take it there’s nothing I can apply for for a while in any case, except a business card, which I have not held yet.
Rest is technically the vanilla. But there have been other DPs of the 7 year”lifetime” really being much shorter, like your case.
The whole issue of lounges being crowded is a red herring. Amex wanted more Platinum cardmembers and put out high SUBs to get applicants, post-Covid. Then revenge travel happened. Obviously Amex’s planning was off. The crowded lounges after all the new cardholders showed up post-Covid, was not anticipated. Amex raised the AF, then restricted Centurion lounge access to just the cardholder, so cardholders added authorized users so they could get lounge access. Now Amex changes the AU costs. Where does it end?
Amex is a company that can’t make up its mind. Do you want more cardholders or not? Or is it inflation, and realizing they can’t raise the Platinum AF again? The vast majority of Platinum benefits are based on breakage. With Amex planning that most members won’t use every benefit. Or, are members really using more benefits than Amex projected?
All I can say is, if Amex raises the AF again, I am done with the Platinum card!
amex needs to nerf the FREE plat/hilton cards for active duty military members. Ridiculous. Much lower a/f – fine (80% off?), that’s great, but zippo free? gimme a break.
How do you propose Amex change the law that waives AFs for active duty military?
Which law would that be? (Former AD, current reserve service member)
(Spoiler, there isn’t one, you’re probably thinking of SCRA, which limits the APR a credit card can charge a deployed service member)
To your point, not sure why “whocares” has their pants in a not over a business decision AMEX made. Most service members use the USO anyways, which does not suffer from overcrowding and is usually more comfortable (although food isn’t as good)
well..Amex has raised the a/f multiple times on the plat…now at $695/year. Recently back from LAS – no crowding issue at CL…but there was a waitlist just before I was told.
Earlier this week at SEA – SkyClub was VERY crowded (Sunday) (How many of those are AmexPlat military members with free cards? who knows), new CL was heavy, but still room to sit. I left the SkyClub after just a very brief stay…it was almost 100% full with nary an open seat.
Curtailing of guest privileges maybe is working. Military (And non) families will go to USO or stay outside then. Or is it just drop off in travel?
I do recall a conversation with someone at a Skyclub in San Diego a couple years ago – he was in the military. I didn’t think anything of it then…and it was COVID time – so mostly empty. But was he in there because of a free platinum card? Just a single data point…but I don’t talk to that many people in lounges.
As for Hilton – when everyone is Diamond, nobody is Diamond…that’s my thought line.
USO would have no relevance on Hilton.
No problem with major major discount for ACTIVE military…but “they” should have some skin in the game, so to speak. Free Gold Card, fine. Free Amex Surpass (Hilton Gold) – fine. But to outright give a free $450 aspire (W/ Diamond) and free $695 Platinum – and still raise fees substantially (On plat) and considering increase on Aspire – for others?
“Obviously” amex has internal calculations / reasons / financial justification…but just my thought.
Thanks for addressing the other users comment. Now let’s wait for them to admit they are wrong….oh wait…people don’t often do that these days.
Having airline lounge access on virtually every trip, I typically don’t need Amex or Priority Pass lounges. But, on occasion, I might pop into an Amex lounge just to see. Every Amex lounge I’ve been in has been crowded. Beyond the obvious effect of crowding, the fact that there is a crowd has an effect on the quality of the food served. The next step for Amex is to impose a spending threshold . . . say, $25k . . . for even the primary cardholder and authorized users to get lounge access.
100% agree a spending threshold would solve much of this nonsense and make AMEX happy. They already have to spend a minimum of $75,000 for free guest access to Centurion Lounge (for Business Platinum, not sure about others). I am ok with it. To cut down on the crowds and improve the food, let’s do it. For the past year I bypass the lounge and pull up a chair at one of the terminal restaurants. It is a shame (and says a lot) that I would rather needlessly pay to eat and drink somewhere else when it’s free at the lounge.
There is already a $75k threshold, please read up on this before commenting. Also, try visiting a Centurion lounge since the changes were implemented.
Centurion lounges are still crowded even with the $75000 waiver not helping guess it will be $100,000 next
Taking away millions of free audiobooks and replacing it with the stupid Wall Street Journal? Major downgrade.
They rolled this out in end July (or earlier) without announcement. I actually posted here because I applied for Schwab and got “ineligible for the bonus” popup. I only had one vanilla platinum ever. Greg replied, thought it was weird but it was just a single data point at that time. Now we know.
Hopefully they don’t mess with the Business Platinum merry-go-round.
I’m sure Amex appreciates the reminder. Thanks for bringing it up.
I doubt that AMEX reads Frank’s comment and goes, “Hey, we hadn’t thought of that!”
I snoozed on the Schwab card. Bummer. When this post originally got published and noted that Schwab and MS blocked vanilla, but not vice versa, my first thought was “that’s got to be an oversight — they will fix that — why wouldn’t it be all of them.” The crappy part is that I’m never right. I guess I was this time.
There is a trend that Amex will deny SUBs to anyone who closed an Amex card less than 3 years after opening that said card. It is more than just a family of cards thing. Amex is halting SUBs and doing the pop-up for so many different issues.
I wonder how Amex’s partners will respond to these changes.
I don’t think you can product change between the Green and Gold to the Morgan Stanley or Charles Schwab Platinums. The standard Platinum usually has the best SUB. These changes make getting those co-branded cards more cumbersome (grab the standard Platinum, then try to cancel it and apply for the other versions because you might qualify for an additional perk… all while trying not to upset Amex by closing accounts). I’d imagine the customers who would apply for the co-branded cards would shrink significantly following these changes.
I agree! I never applied for the blue Charles Schwab card because I thought why bother, no SUB. But I have entertained the Schwab Platinum. Now, there is no attraction to apply for any other co-branded Platinums. Amex is stupid doing this. People who want to pay the $695 for another Platinum should be able to. The more Amex cards that people carry is more swipe fees for Amex.
Is it possible to unload this card without screwing up my credit? I rarely use any of the perks making wonder why I still hang onto the card.
Drop it. It’ll stay on for seven years. Just try to in the next few years add on cards you’ll keep or can be downgraded to something you’ll keep. Chase Sapphire Preferred for 1yr then freedom type thing.
What you need to do is build what i call your “foundation”. This consists of four or so no-fee CCs that you plan on keeping forever. I have the Chase Freedom, Discover It, Savor One, and Amex Cash Magnet. Between those four i have a decade of credit history and close to $150k in available credit. As long as you keep your foundation cards in active standing, you can open and cancel new credit cards with little to no impact on your credit score.
Product change to the free cards. I product changed the plat to the everyday card a few years ago. It is still points so you don’t need to try to use the points before you cancel.
I don’t Amex allows one to product change Platinum, Gold, or Green cards to a no fee card anymore.
Anyone know if the previous (now defunct) Mercedes version of the Platinum also would prevent a SUB on any other platinum flavor? I’m apparently in the small group that ever had this card, and it’s the only Platinum card I’ve ever had. I’m pretty sure I downgraded it to a gold card that I still have.
When did you get it? That card hasn’t been around for several years. I would expect it would still exclude you unless it has been close to 7 years and Amex has “forgotten”
If my wife has the companion card for the AMEX platinum can she still apply for a Charles Schwab platinum and get the SUB?
Using her own SS number, she most definitely can get her own card.
We’ll blow me down. Shiver me Timbers.
Ok, Popeye…
[…] American Express Makes Negative Changes to Platinum Consumer Cards: This was the talk of the internet yesterday. Authorized users are now $195 each (instead of 3 for $175) and all 3 versions of the Platinum card are now considered the same for bonus eligibility. See this recap on Frequent Miler. […]
Looks like the targeted biz plat 20k AU is gone. Can anyone confirm?
Well, this is a drag… I have the consumer card, and three additional for family members.
Looking at the terms and conditions, is it true that all three cards can kiss airport lounges goodbye?
“The Centurion® Lounge
U.S. Platinum Card® Members have unlimited complimentary access to all locations of The Centurion Lounge. Companion Platinum Cards on Consumer Platinum Accounts and Additional Gold and Additional Business Expense Cards on Business Platinum Accounts are not eligible for access to The Centurion Lounge.”
AND…
“Delta Sky Club®
This benefit is available to U.S. Platinum Card® Members. Companion Platinum Cards on Consumer Platinum Accounts and Additional Gold and Additional Business Expense Cards on Business Platinum Accounts are not eligible for the Delta Sky Club benefit.”
FINALLY:
I’m not clear on the cost for those additional three cards… there was nothing linked in the terms and conditions that stated the cost of additional cards… but you are saying it’s $195 EACH CARD? (not $175 for 3)
And for that $195 each they get NO CLUB ACCESS?
If this is the case, those cards are gone. And I may just downgrade the Platinum as well.
So, it’s a little confusing. The “Companion Platinum” cards are the new names for the old free Gold cards that you could add. It’s just a name change, nothing more (so far). Authorized user cards still get club access, but, as you note, it’s now $195 per card. The Morgan Stanley Platinum still offers one AU card for free.
The airline lounges are overcrowded, I like this news.
FYI the link to MS platinum says 100k after 6k spend but when you click it it’s 80k
Wow, that changed overnight. Thanks for the head’s up. Fixed.
Unfortunately the Audible credit represented actual cost avoidance for me, so it’s a bummer that upon review of the rest of the options, I must now lump the credit into the “free stuff I wouldn’t pay for” part of the calculation.
I do like my newspaper time but I’m ride or die with the FT.
I opened a regular platinum 9 months ago and was holding off applying for the Morgan Stanley card until at least the end of the year to see if the increased sign up bonus for that card would come back.
With this news I just applied for the MS Platinum and DID NOT receive a pop up box saying I was ineligible to receive the bonus. Everything went through normally and indicated I would be able to receive the sign up bonus.
Terrific! Thanks for the DP. That’s encouraging.
That’s because getting the regular plat first before the MS or CS plat hasn’t changed. It’s the other way that’s changed. You can’t get MS or CS and then bonus on regular Plat.
That’s actually changed as well. The Schwab card has the new terms, so the only one that you can currently double up with is the MS.
Yes I saw that later.
[…] A Frequent Miler reader fell on the sword and discovered this for all of us. […]
I Just tried to apply for the card. i got a POP UP but it wasn’t because i have a platinum card but instead it was “i have opened or closed too many cards.
This is good news for most of us. The multiple AUs who spend exact zero dollars on their cards are exactly the kind of customers AX would be wise to rid themselves (and the lounges) of.
yes, this part is good – lower the crowds. Don’t like the Schwab platinum change though.
The biggest bummer for me is the increased SUB spend requirement. I have been contemplating getting an AMEX Platinum card for years now but the increase to the AF a couple of years ago and now the increased spend requirement for SUB makes this card out of reach for this poor devil.
And Tim, small correction. Should be 8k spend over first 6 months, not 3.
You’re welcome Tim
Yeah for newer players in this game the MSR increase is definitely a bit painful. I got denied for the 150K referral offer back in June so have been waiting it out for a better time to try applying again for my first Platinum card. Now the SUB is going to be a little harder to hit and a clear pull back in total SUB eligibility with AMEX makes me wonder if we are going to continue seeing the 120K and 150K offers as much.
Bjg disagree on your takeaway of what’s the biggest impact. You may know your audience better, but for churners, the LL for consumer cards is killer. SUBs are the way or the world, and now it’s way tougher to get them (yes there are biz NLLs, but personal cards are nice). Now if there’s a killer Sub on the personal but you already have the Schwab or MS, you’re SOL.
Could be. My sense is that most people who haven’t yet had the personal Platinum but do have the MS or Schwab is a pretty small number. The opposite path is still wide-open…if you have the consumer Platinum, but want the other two, you’re good to go. Given that the only one that is really “churnable” (without an NLL offer) is the MS Platinum, my assumption is that the new rules won’t matter to most folks looking for SUBs. But, I could be wrong and there might be a lot of MS/Schwab cardholders out there that have never had the regular Plat.
Definitely the LL language is the part that hurts in my household. We banked through Schwab and had our mortgage through there, so the Schwab Platinum was the natural starting point for both us (given the $200 off per year). I did eventually pick up the vanilla Platinum purely for the SUB, but P2 had not. I wish he had not waited.
Given the crowding at Centurion & Sky Clubs, the increase in AU fees is a net positive for us. Maybe there will be (slightly) less competition to get in. At a minimum, I think it was a fair alternative to the 6 Sky Club visits/year concept that was floating around (I am guessing that will not happen for at least a year, given these changes).
Don’t count on the centurion benefit working that way. With marketing the fee free AU cards as ‘platinum’ they may make these all you need to get in for free when traveling with the primary. Watch and see.
You’re incorrect on the opposite path being open. On Reddit, it’s being reported that people are getting the pop-up if they have the Vanilla and are applying for the MS/CS. So the new language restricts you to one Platinum bonus per lifetime (regardless of which one you get first). A huge change.
Not sure why people are (or aren’t) getting the popup. At this point, though, the terms on the MS and Schwab Platinum cards are unchanged.
FWIW, this is what’s being reported:
‘When applying for the Charles Schwab I got the following — seems to be a new pop up language exclusively for Platinum’s cards:
[NAME], because you have or have had The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card®, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards, you are not eligible to receive the welcome offer. We have not yet performed a credit check. Would you still like to proceed? Note: Your application will be considered withdrawn if no action is taken on this page.’
Yikes, if that’s really the case across the board, that’s a much bigger issue.
The terms changed – I’m ineligible for the Schwab Platinum (had the Vanilla Plat for 2 years, canceled in January)
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card®, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.
80,000 Membership Rewards® Points
You can earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 (the “Threshold Amount”) or more in eligible purchases on your Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab within the first 6 months of Platinum Card Membership starting from the date that your account is opened. Eligible purchases can be made by the Basic Card Member and any Additional Card Members on a Card Account. Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do NOT include: fees or interest charges; purchases of travelers checks; purchases or reloading of prepaid cards; purchases of gift cards; person-to-person payments; or purchases of other cash equivalents. Points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account within 8-12 weeks after you meet the Threshold Amount. Your Card Account must not be canceled or past due at the time of fulfillment of any offers. You can earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 or more on eligible purchases on your Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership starting from the date that your account is opened. In rare instances, your period to spend $6,000 may be shorter than 6 months if there is a delay in receiving your Card. Also, purchases may fall outside of the 6 month period in some cases, such as a delay in merchants submitting transactions to us or if the purchase date differs from the date you made the transaction. (For example, if you buy goods online, the purchase date may be the date the goods are shipped). Points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account within 8-12 weeks after the last eligible purchase you made to meet the Threshold Amount appears on your monthly billing statement. This offer is not transferable. American Express reserves the right to modify or revoke offer at any time.
If we in our sole discretion determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with this offer in any way or that you intend to do so (for example, if you applied for one or more cards to obtain an offer(s) that we did not intend for you; if you cancel or downgrade your account within 12 months after acquiring it; or if you cancel or return purchases you made to meet the Threshold Amount), we may not credit, we may freeze, or we may take away Membership Rewards® points from your account. We may also cancel this Card account and other Card accounts you may have with us.
You are correct. I was just going to get ahead of this and apply for the Schwab Platinum (I canceled the Vanilla Platinum in January 2023), but Amex beat me to the punch. I copied this directly from the terms on the Schwab Platinum, as of today:
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card®, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.
Unfortunately I just tried to apply for the Charles Schwab card a few minutes ago and on the application page it stated that same information and when I applied anyway the message popped up that I would not get the SUB if I continued. I have been planning on getting this card for awhile but now it looks like it is too late. At least for awhile. 🙁
Thanks for the DP; I was in the same boat. Sat on the sidelines too long…:(
Wait how is the MS plat churnable
There’s been reports for awhile about folks being able to cancel the MS card, reapply and still get a bonus. It’s not 100%, AFAIK, but it’s fairly frequent. We’ll see how that survives this shakeup, though.
The Audible benefit was well worth it to me, so I will be losing out on $179.40 every year !!! Add in the reduced rebate on the Morgan Stanley makes that $200 loss per year. No interest in WSJ.
This is definitely shrinkflation. I think my only reciurse is to get another Business Platinum quickly.
What do you mean by the reduced rebate for the Morgan Stanley?
Morgan Stanley still give the rebate of $695 but also sent me a 1099 for $117.
Yeah that’s not new. The law says anything $600 or more requires a 1099. It started happening when the annual fee rose.
Yes, but in previous years a 1099 was not generated.
OUCH!! I have 4 AU and 1 of those is just a gold card. My renewal comes up in Sept and I am definitely not paying the additional fee. Should I proactively downgrade them now or wait and do it when I call in for my retention offer?
That is an ouch! I would wait until the annual fee posts in September and then call and see what retention offers are available. Oftentimes, more and better offers are posted on your account post-annual fee (although it seems as though retention offers have become a bit more sparse as of late).
Thanks. Totally agree that retention offers are getting harder to get!! What I was actually asking was not about downgrading my Plat or calling about a retention offer now, but rather I was wondering if you think eliminating my AUs now puts me in a better or worse bargaining position when I ask for a retention offer once my annual fee posts?
Oh, I see, I misunderstood. ASFAIK, eliminating AU’s beforehand won’t help you at all…and it could hurt given that you’re a more valuable customer with them.
Well, downgrading the authorized users now from the full platinum to the “Companion Platinum Card” will save the author a little money. When I downgraded my AU’s, they did give me a prorated refund for the remaining fraction of the year. If the author’s renewal is in Sept, I would probably wait till then to see if it helped my retention offer, though there is a small benefit to downgrading the AU cards now.
Anything to thin out the crowd in the lounges. Next step is to impose a $25k spending threshold to activate any Amex or Delta lounge access . . . even for the primary cardholder.
Tim, I think you may have confused the “wireless credit” with the “digital entertainment credit.” You stated the “$20 wireless credit” can no longer be used for Audible. I think you meant to write the “$20 digital entertainment credit” can longer be used for Audible.
Thanks for noticing the typo. I just cleared 7 business platinum wireless credits today and wrote the wrong thing. 🙂
1) I’ve subscribed to both the WSJ and NYT for all of my adult life (and this is very common), so I don’t understand the comment about having both quality for the digital credit as being some kind of negative
2) At this point I don’t really see the CSR and Capital One Venture X as “competitors” to the Platinum card. As you point out, Amex UR cards offer SkyClub access, hotel status, access to stuff like Resy / FHR, etc. Venture X and CSR aren’t claiming to offer those kinds of benefits. Amex Platinum isn’t for everyone but it does provide stuff above and beyond what CSR and CapOne are offering.
I subscribe to both as well. This puts us in the minority of Americans who subscribe to a daily newspaper (~20%, last I checked). Well under 10% subscribe to two. My only point is to say that most people won’t really care about getting digital access to a second digital newspaper if they already have one. Glad the change works out well for you!
I have the NYT $4/mo offer for quite a while now. Had LA Times until recently for super cheap…and for awhile even had the Seattle Times. So that’s 3 subscriptions, nevermind patreons or others that come and ago……so I must be under “well under 10%”….hahahaha Gonna start Sydney Morning Herald soon.
Was considering the WSJ the other day…but even at $1/week w/ Barrons/MW….nah. Even if free after credit. Losing interest in finance related news/angles…but that’s another story.
Bypass paywalls extension here and I get them both for free along with full list of other websites such as the athletic, the Atlantic, economist. Information should be free in my frugal opinion.
Pressreader.
If it costs $$ to produce info – why should it be free?
Maybe the tech to display it should be free?
How would you feel about that?
I never said it does not cost money to produce information. However, putting the information behind expensive paywalls is driving the youth further away from reading and towards short dopamine platforms such as tiktok,youtube. These platforms are free hence these articles should be free to compete with and encourage more people to read.
The issue stems from a lack of income growth compared to the rising prices for everything and the subscription model. A large part of this cost >70% is going to the company and not the writer. The services I mentioned cost over $1000 a year combined. I don’t know about you but I’m not going to pay over 1% of my post tax income so some billionaire gets richer while the writers left with morsels.
If each article had a nominal fee of lets say $0.50 I would be much more inclined to pay knowing full well a majority of it is going to the writer instead. I subscribe to 2 patreons and 1 substack because I know a large chunk is going to the creator.
Driving youth away?
what u smokin’? You know how many documentaries and free video news sources are available on youtube? You know how many free text news sources there are?
Paying for content here and there vs going to tiktok have nothing do with one another.
People make choices on what to watch/read. 15 sec tiktok is more to do with wi-fi/cellular radiation brain damage – especially for those who have grown up with it, and related — too much caffeine…short attention spans. When I grew up – energy drinks did not exist. Now, it’s “normal.” 5 hour energy – “normal.” And emotional flightiness…for lack of a better word at the moment. Maybe you know the word — snowflakes.
Libraries have ton of free stuff as well…Pressreader through one’s library as well gives access to a bazillion magazines/newspapers from all over the world.
$1000 per year? For what? The economist? That’s a specialized magazine. Get it for free at the library if you want to avoid paying for it…or whatever you’re referring to.
I pay $4/month for the NY Times…been on a long term sub. Had LA times for awhile and Sea Times on cheap ones too.
You make some valid points about access and normalization of attention spans and human psychology. I still think information should not be paywalled on a subscription based model at $50-250 per website.
The $1000 per year was counting the mentioned services above and Financial times which has some good articles and costs $70/month by itself. Athletic ($70), Atlantic ($80), Economist ($160). My point being that it is too costly for the average law abiding citizen even if they wanted to pay for it.
Convenience is another underrated factor when it comes reading. Of course I could get the same information for free through the library or work/study portals but if all articles are always unlocked at the drop of a hat it is more convenient.
You did not address the fact that the lion’s share is going to the corporation and not towards the authors. The average writer is making 45-70K a year and seeing little of the subscription fees.
You can continue paying for all the services you want and sleep better at night and I will continue to read any article from any paywalled website for free.
Have to decide if it’s worth it to keep the card with college aged kids who travel home. My other Amex card provides Priority Pass which I cannot use.
May be best to part ways with the card.
I already made the decision months ago to cancel the card but I’ll at least ask them for a retention offer when the AF hits (it will have to be a helluva offer to keep me on board).