Just a quick post to alert readers that we updated this morning’s post about the new changes to the Platinum card. There is now an even better offer available via restaurant reservation website Resy that’s good for 125K points after $6K in purchases in the first 6 months plus 15x at restaurants worldwide and when you shop small in the US on up to $25K in combined purchases in the first 6 months. If you were able to max this offer out, that would be 500,000 Membership Rewards points from a single credit card. That’s bananas.
The Offer & Key Card Details
For more card information and to find a link to apply, click the card name below to go to our dedicate Platinum card page.
| Card Offer and Details |
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Quick Thoughts
This offer is absolute insanity. The big increase in annual fee is more than compensated for between the additional 25K points and the fifteen points per dollar spent in the bonus categories. This could be downright amazing if you are planning a wedding that is catered by a restaurant (or a small business!) or the company holiday party at a restaurant or you otherwise spend a lot of money with small businesses. I wonder if any car dealerships code as small businesses and would take a credit card for the full purchase price of a car (before you say no way, I’ve written about that before — while some details in that post are out of date, the fact is that you can indeed find some dealerships that will take a card…). If you manage to max it out with $25K restaurant and small business spend, you’d end up with:
- $25K x 15 = 375,000 points
- 125,000 points from the welcome offer
- Total = 500,000 Membership Rewards points
Based on our Reasonable Redemption Value for Membership Rewards points, that’s worth roughly $7,500. It could obviously be worth tons more via transfer partners in the right situations. That’s incredible.
While I know that number won’t be realistic for everyone, even if you only do $6K in purchases at small businesses and restaurants to trigger the welcome bonus you would have 215,000 points. Anything else is gravy — and at 15x, that gravy train has a lot of steam.
If you have ever thought that maybe the Platinum card was a good fit for you, this is an offer not to pass up if you’re eligible. I know we’ve thought the same thing for the past 7 or 8 months with the previous 100K + 10x offer and I know that supermarkets and gas stations may have been easier categories in some situations, but given a bonus that’s 25% higher and earnings that are 50% more in the bonus categories, this is really just a massive offer with huge potential. I don’t know what will happen if you spend money at a business that is both a small business and a restaurant — I assume you’ll just get 15x. Imagine saying that a year ago — just 15x on a restaurant purchase. Wow.
H/T: John in our Frequent Miler Insiders
Is the Resy offer still better than the vanilla Platinum? I see with Resy the potential to get up to 500K (125K + 375K) points if one can max the benefits whereas with the vanilla platinum the max would be 400K (150K + 250K). Having said that, are there any exclusions on the Resy Platinum compared to the vanilla platinum, and are there differences between the two beyond the first 6 months? Any reason one should take up the Vanilla platinum in favor of the Resy?
To be clear, they are both the vanilla Platinum card, it’s just that you get a better offer via the Resy website.
No, there is no reason not to get it via Resy. Either way, you get the same 125K into offer after $6K in purchases. The advantage of going through Resy is 15x restaurants and Shop Small rather than 10x (so 375K total possible via Resy vs 250K total possible on the non Resy offer).
I guess you could go via a referral link from player two, but unless you’re going to spend very little at small businesses and restaurants, you would come out ahead with the resy offer. Every $1,000 you spend, you would earn $5,000 points more in those categories via the Resy offer, so it isn’t hard to beat out the referral bonus. At $6,000 in purchases in those categories, that’s already 30,000 points more that you’ll earn if you open via Resy.
Thank you Nick. I have the 150K points pre-approval for the 6K spend on the regular platinum hence wanted to confirm before applying the Resy with 125K. Looks like I still should go for the Resy ?
Despite being an existing cardmember, I’m not getting the popup on this offer, even when I login and have it auto-fill the application. Does that mean I’m eligible?
Do you currently have the vanilla Platinum, or another flavor? (Like Schwab or Morgan Stanley)
Assuming you have the vanilla Plat, you shouldn’t be eligible. I would expect you won’t get the bonus.
Ah, interesting. I was hoping the popup was the new arbiter of whether you could get a bonus again. Good to know it may not always be reliable.
I am sorry if I have missed it, but is there an announced expiration date for this Resy Amex offer? Trying to juggle multiple possibilities. Thanks,
No, there isn’t. In cases where we know the end date, we usually include it. Honestly, I’m amazed it has lasted as long as it has — but I also said that about the previous Platinum card offer. My guess (and this is only a guess) is that it will last until the main / affiliate offer on the Platinum card ends (I base that on the fact that the previous Resy offer tracked the affiliate offer timeline and changed categories from gas and grocery to restaurant and small business along with the main affiliate offer). We don’t know when that offer will end and we probably won’t receive any official word before the day it ends, but if you hear rumors of the current affiliate offers ending at some point, I would take that as a sign that it’s time to jump on the Resy offer.
That said, I probably wouldn’t prioritize anything above the Resy offer right now — if they pull it at some point, you probably stand to lose more than you stand to gain by waiting to go after something else.
Thanks.
Anyone know if “small businesses” online count? I was looking for some terms of what Amex considers to be a small business and it seems like be based on less than $5 million in amex swipe a year and less than 250 locations if franchised
Yes online businesses count
I sent my wife a referral link from my generic Plat card, but she does not see this offer. Is it referrable?
No, it is not referable. You have to choose between getting the best welcome bonus or getting a lesser bonus and a referral bonus. The best option in my opinion, is to sign up for the Resy offer directly, and then once you get that card, refer someone else from that card to another Amex card (any Amex card) so as to get the +4 referral offer on top of the Resy welcome bonus. You have to do the referral before 12/1 though.
I’m actually in the market for a new car now in DFW area and looking for a Kia Telluride. I did find one dealer so far that has not set limit for Amex but unfortunately they are not categorized as “small business” but 80% of all the other Kia dealers around are categorized as “small business”. I emailed around, 1-2 came back saying 2.5-3k limit but will check others. Most places will up it to close a deal but now days with shortages, it may not be likely. Worst case, I’ll even pay up the merchant charge for the 15X amex points. But many factors are involved from the right inventory of the car available, the minimal Markup above MSRP and the Amex limit they will take.
How do you know that place is not categorized as a small business? Don’t go by the small business map. There are lots of places that code as small business that are not on the map. If you can, put a test charge through on something they sell there – maybe they have a keychain or something you can buy and then wait a few days and see whether or not it triggers the small business bonus. Again, the map is not an all-inclusive list and I definitely wouldn’t expect the dealer themselves to know how Amex has it coded.
I know that the Small Business Map is far from a complete source of all businesses that are coded as “small businesses”, but is there a consensus that if something IS on the map it definitely qualifies as a small business for the 15x?
I’ve assumed that to be the case, but I don’t actually have any datapoints to say
I did not say but I’m sure you discussed, can I get this if I already have the personal platinum card? Will I get sign up bonus?
Not if you have the vanilla Platinum – you can’t get the bonus on a card that you have or have had.
Note that the Schwab and Morgan Stanley Platinum cards are different products, so if you have one of those Platinum cards you could still get this one (or if you have the vanilla Platinum you can get one of those, but they don’t have this Resy offer on those cards), but if you’ve got the regular vanilla Platinum you can’t get the welcome bonus again.
Note too that the Schwab Platinum and Morgan Stanley Platinum do not have access to the other deals: with those cards, you can’t get the +4 referral deal nor the 20K for adding an AU.
Wow, good to know! I was about to put it under mine ( I have a vanilla Plat ) luckily can P2.
Incredible work on the other article on this, thank you!
Is everyone eligible to apply through RESY. Amex warns about not awarding points if you are not the recipient of a targeted offer? Why wouldn’t a person go through RESY? When something is too good to be true.
Yes, everyone is eligible to apply. The Resy offer is a public offer displayed on Resy’s public website. The only reason some people don’t go through this offer to get this Platinum card is that they don’t know about it
That annual fee though…
I doubt it’s a typo. The 15x on $ 25,000 is too insane.
Let’s compare the 2 offers.
15X by 10X is !50,000 bonus points plus 150,000 points going through RESY. That totals $ 300,000 points.
Or
10x by $ 25,000 is $ 250,000 plus 100, 000 points, the current offer. That totals $ $ 350,000 points.
The offers are therefore comparable, whether direct or RESY.
The RESY offer is better with limited small business spending.
I retract my post. People have reported getting 500,000 points.
Nick is there a way to use this deal to get a biz Plat? I already had the consumer so I assume lifetime language would screw me
No. Different products with different offers, sorry.
Probably no way to combine this with a referral bonus?
No. The referral offer is only 10x. The only way to get 15x is to apply through Resy. If you do any more than ~$9K spend at 15x, it more than makes up for not getting a referral bonus.
I have the 45K referral bonus to refer P2. I have been contemplating the Resy or referral bonus at 10X. I am not sure if I can hit 9K spend at 15X (maybe yes or maybe no), should I do the retsy offer or the referral bonus offer? Thanks in advance.
Tough call! If you think there’s a good chance that you won’t do $9k or more spend at 15x then go for the bird in hand (e.g. the 45K referral bonus)
Anyone know how long this offer will be active?
Nope.
“This offer is absolute insanity.”
But wait, there’s more!
Call now in the next 54 minutes, and we’ll double the insanity,
Asbolutely.
here is another idea for people in a heat wave inflicted place. Central air conditioner. I was browsing the shop small map and selected services in small businesses. landscaping and plumbing, heating and AC came up. Electricians, a greenhouse builder, door installers. Lots of times those types of businesses will also do general contract work. May be a good time to buy a deck.
What in heavens name is Amex doing??? This is absolutely insane. Even cashing in points for 1 cent per point…., this is a slam dunk. Is this the proverbial Monopoly game version of “(Federal Reserve) Bank Error In your favor!”??? Sheesh!!! Oh and my calendar is wide open for all the impending nuptials. Message me @monstermooch…..
I wonder if there are sneaky ways to rack up spend here. Although not as profitable, it seems like the 10x at grocery and gas is easier to create spend.
There are small businesses everywhere around us. In some cases I’ve seen places that you would expect to be chains but that are actually a local franchisee that code as a small business. I’m sure there is some easy GC spend to be done if that’s your thing, but there are so many possibilities for legit spend, too.
My wife had the regular AMEX Platinum card and canceled 4 years ago. Is she not eligible for any welcome bonus on any personal Platinum card or just the regular, non branded one?
She would not be eligible for this offer (which is also the regular “vanilla” Platinum). Historically, she would have still been eligible for the Schwab or Morgan Stanley versions. We were concerned by some new verbiage on the Schwab card this morning that perhaps they were looking to prohibit you from getting that one if you’ve had the vanilla Platinum, but I think that wording was really meant to say that you can’t have had the Schwab card before. In other words, I think she would likely be eligible for the Schwab or Morgan Stanley version (she’ll need a brokerage account in either case).
So is there no recourse with Amex if I just signed up late last night (early this morning)? They won’t match, right? Got 125k+10x at the original AF.
I have the Platinum card. Is this current sign up offer available on any other versions of the Platinum? So I could apply to a different version and get this bonus?
My son is getting married later this year and my daughter next year so this is perfect timing for us! I just got approved and I have screenshots of my pre-approved page with the 25x language on it so I went ahead and got it. I may have my husband get one too. Thank you very much!
Does your comment mean I can’t get married now because I already have the card and am a fool for not waiting 25 years for this offer?
You can as long as your newfound spouse is eligible.
OK, I’m dying 🙂
Is it common knowledge that being an authorized user keeps you from getting the welcome bonus? This seems nuts and needs to be a red flag to NEVER add an authorized user. Here’s a screenshot.
That’s totally false. There is no major credit card issuer that disallows the bonus because of being an authorized user on the same card. Many people here have gotten approved while AUs on the same card.
Unfortunately, it is incredibly common for customer service reps to give out all sorts of misinformation. I always say that I never ask a customer service rep a question that I don’t already know the answer to because you can not count on them giving you the right one. That’s true everywhere, not just Amex. I once wrote a post about calling Virgin Atlantic 6 times with the same question and getting *6 different answers on 6 calls in a row* – I kid you not. I knew to call multiple times because I knew that the first rep may or may not have been correct, so I wasn’t going to give up until I had an answer confirmed by multiple reps.
In terms of the pop up, nobody knows what causes it. There is some sort of proprietary internal algorithm at play and you are far from the only person to have been perplexed as to why you’re seeing the pop-up. There is a beyond zero chance that a frontline customer service chat rep will have any insight as to what is causing the pop up. If you feed them a reason that it sounds like you’re willing to accept, they are going to say “oh yeah that’s why” to end the conversation. I assure you that being an AU isn’t it.
Anecdotally, people have found that putting a bunch of spend on their existing Amex cards has sometimes gotten the pop-up to go away, though not always. I’d probably start with that — put spend on your current collection of cards for a month or two and try again.
Let me add to what I said above that being an AU may show up as a new account and so it may put you over 5/24 in Chase’s eyes, but on reconsideration Chase reps will typically agree to not consider those new accounts when you explain that you are not financially responsible for them. But being an AU on someone’s Sapphire Preferred account won’t prevent you from getting your own Sapphire Preferred, etc.
Thanks – I thought I stepped on a landmine with AU and appreciate you clarifying. That’s so annoying when customer service values efficiency over accuracy… I’ll put some spend on the other accounts and see what happens!
My daughter had no problem getting approved for Platinum. She’s an AU on mine.
The terms also specifically say “Purchases at restaurants on the Shop Small Map will only earn an additional 9 points.”
So…. extra 14 points at restaurants, extra 14 points for Shop Small, but if restaurant is both, then only 9 points.
Ah-ha! Likely another typo that’s leftover from the 10x offer.
Nick,
they updated the resy page to correct the $6k vs $25k language, but it still read that restaurants that are also on the small biz map will only get 9x extra points (as opposed to 14x). This still has to be a mistake right?
Yeah, it clearly is. Someone just did a bad job of copying and pasting from the 10x offer.
Just downloaded Tinder with the hope that it will lead to a wedding soon.
And if not, maybe a wedding vendor will be happy to take your deposit on your dream wedding in 2024.
Any way to apply for this Resy Platinum card without a SSN? I have a few Amex cards, all of which were applied for by phone and identified by my foreign passport…
No idea, sorry.
Wow, I never thought of that. I have a second passport…….
Well this changes wedding planning completely–500k points will be very useful!
[…] HT: FM […]
Apparently I am pre-approved and I stopped at one click away from getting the card through Resy. However, I am seeing the same thing as Joe C. In one location, it says “Earn 15x points on eligible purchases with your new American Express Platinum Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S., on up to $6,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of Card Membership. That’s an additional 14 points on top of the 1 point you earn for these purchases as a benefit of the Card.” In another location on the same application page, it says: “Plus, earn 15x points on eligible purchases on your new Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small® in the U.S., on up to $25,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of Card Membership.† That’s an additional 14 points on top of the 1 point you earn for these purchases.†”
Very interesting. I’d bet that it’s a typo and they mean for it to be on $25K. Personally, if it were me (and don’t do what I would do because I would do it, just do it if it’s what you want to do, too), I would keep screen shots and go ahead and apply. I can’t imagine that the CFPB is going to side with Amex when you have a screen shot of large print showing 15x on $25K. And I imagine Amex will realize that well before you need to file a complaint. I could be wrong and if you’re not up for a fight you might be better off just waiting as I’d bet they will fix it.
I’m 99% sure that $25K spend is intended since that’s what is on the 10X offers. Someone creating the fine print for the Resy offer messed up. But, as Nick wrote, definitely take screenshots if you apply!
Thanks guys — very helpful and appreciated.
Just checked again. Terms and conditions are fixed now. Shows $25K, not $6K.
“15x Membership Rewards – Shop Small, Global Restaurants
Earn 15x points on eligible purchases with your new American Express Platinum Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S., on up to $25,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of Card Membership. That’s an additional 14 points on top of the 1 point you earn for these purchases as a benefit of the Card.”
In the application, it says the offer is not available to anyone who has or have had this card.
That is typically the case with Amex cards.
So does the $200 airline credit stay then?
Yes. See this morning’s post (linked in the first sentence of this post)
Thanks. I’m still denied the welcome bonus on the Schwab card. I was hoping today’s new version will reset something, no luck. That prompts me to ask, if P2 applies and gets approved, is there any way I can transfer my MR points to the P2’s account?
I get conflicting reports from googling on this. Some say No Way, others say you can do it if you make P2 an AU on your MR card.
No, you can’t transfer your Membership Rewards points to someone else. You can add them as an AU and then transfer points to their loyalty program accounts (i.e. their airline and hotel program accounts), but you can’t give them your Membership Rewards points.
The actual terms for the Resy offer say the small biz/restaurant spending is on only $6K even though it is advertised as $25K. Anyone else see that?
yes… maybe a typo, we’ll see if they fix it? “Earn 15x points on eligible purchases with your new American Express Platinum Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S., on up to $6,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of Card Membership. “
In your opinion, is it worth it to apply now and assume it is a typo/will be fixed on the back end? Any precedent? Every advertisement says on up to $25K of small biz/restaurants but the terms all state on up to 6k. I have the CS card so I am concerned if they update the terms they’ll say no to people who have other versions.
For a potential 285k delta in points between the 2 terms, I don’t think it’s worth the risk. I’d just wait until they clarify it, it’s only day 1 after all.
As I note below, I’d personally keep screen shots and apply if it were me because the large print clearly shows 15x on $25K, that matches all of the other forms of the offer, and I think they would have an impossible time defending themselves against a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint by saying that even though they advertised 15x on $25K in large font on the landing page they really switched it on you on the next page. I’m almost certain it’s just a typo. On the other hand, as Chris says, I’d bet it gets fixed, so probably no harm in waiting.
That’s not just bananas, that’s a whole boatload of bananas!