Getting group of 5 into a lounge with Amex Platinum plus general questions

[Simey]

Hi all,

Quick Q.. we have a trip coming up to Florida this year. I am contemplating on the Platinum card for the huge bonus, I did just recently get a BAPP card. Would that not be a bad sign to get 2 CC’s in less than 6 months? This is really question one..

The other is. I can see that getting a group of 4 into lounges for free is easy with the 2 cards. However, how do you tackle a group of 5. Is it 1 cardholder and 1 guest strictly or there’s options?

Thanks

[BuildBackBetter]

1) it is a bad sign if you plan to borrow or re-mortgage in next 6 months. If you don’t have any such plans, your profile will get better as time passes.
2) the only option is to pay the full fee for the 5th person. You might want to explore if discounts are available. Some lounges don’t allow paid guests (like centurion), you’ll have zero options then.

[kevinchoi]

Slightly related question – If I have Priority Pass through Amex Plat, and I am travelling with two friends, I assume the first guest is free, but what about the second guest? Do they have to pay the full fee to the lounge, or will they be charged the £24 Guest Fee by Priority Pass?

[Simey]

BuildBackBetter wrote:

1) it is a bad sign if you plan to borrow or re-mortgage in next 6 months. If you don’t have any such plans, your profile will get better as time passes.
2) the only option is to pay the full fee for the 5th person. You might want to explore if discounts are available. Some lounges don’t allow paid guests (like centurion), you’ll have zero options then.

No such plans – just awkward in the sense that the BAPP 70k just took place and now this is available. I’d venture a guess that I can’t be in AMEX’s bad books as everything was paid off immediately to them.. mortgage discussions are not up for another year or so and no borrowing is on the menu either. Would AMEX look bad upon me for doing “sort of” back to back cards? Or they probably love it, more fees for them..

Re the guest. I was thinking that. They’d be Priority Pass lounges. One in Dublin and one in Orlando International. I guess 1 person’s fee of 20-30 quid is not major!

[tbtb31]

I use this for additional guests – works out at 19 quid per additional visitor, and also covers Plaza Premium lounges (which are no longer in the Priority Pass network but still available for Amex Platinum/Centurion cardholders directly): https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/05/26/free-dragonpass-airport-lounge-membership/

[Michael C]

Simey wrote:

BuildBackBetter wrote:

1) it is a bad sign if you plan to borrow or re-mortgage in next 6 months. If you don’t have any such plans, your profile will get better as time passes.
2) the only option is to pay the full fee for the 5th person. You might want to explore if discounts are available. Some lounges don’t allow paid guests (like centurion), you’ll have zero options then.

No such plans – just awkward in the sense that the BAPP 70k just took place and now this is available. I’d venture a guess that I can’t be in AMEX’s bad books as everything was paid off immediately to them.. mortgage discussions are not up for another year or so and no borrowing is on the menu either. Would AMEX look bad upon me for doing “sort of” back to back cards? Or they probably love it, more fees for them..

Re the guest. I was thinking that. They’d be Priority Pass lounges. One in Dublin and one in Orlando International. I guess 1 person’s fee of 20-30 quid is not major!

Was in Orlando Plaza Premium 2 days ago – it was VERY nice! Just show plat on the door for holder + 1 guest. Yes, I’d just pay for the third. There was no queue, loads of lovely chairs, drinks and food.

A shouty BA Gold very much didn’t get his 2 kids in. But he DID let us all know how ridiculous that was…

[Simey]

Michael C wrote:

Simey wrote:

BuildBackBetter wrote:

1) it is a bad sign if you plan to borrow or re-mortgage in next 6 months. If you don’t have any such plans, your profile will get better as time passes.
2) the only option is to pay the full fee for the 5th person. You might want to explore if discounts are available. Some lounges don’t allow paid guests (like centurion), you’ll have zero options then.

No such plans – just awkward in the sense that the BAPP 70k just took place and now this is available. I’d venture a guess that I can’t be in AMEX’s bad books as everything was paid off immediately to them.. mortgage discussions are not up for another year or so and no borrowing is on the menu either. Would AMEX look bad upon me for doing “sort of” back to back cards? Or they probably love it, more fees for them..

Re the guest. I was thinking that. They’d be Priority Pass lounges. One in Dublin and one in Orlando International. I guess 1 person’s fee of 20-30 quid is not major!

Was in Orlando Plaza Premium 2 days ago – it was VERY nice! Just show plat on the door for holder + 1 guest. Yes, I’d just pay for the third. There was no queue, loads of lovely chairs, drinks and food.

A shouty BA Gold very much didn’t get his 2 kids in. But he DID let us all know how ridiculous that was…

Yeah, guess we’ll just pay for the 5th person if it comes to that. Need to decide whether to get this card next to my BAPP and if we do get it, is it me or my partner that gets it. It’s quite an investment for a card so just weighing up the options until June lol.

[BuildBackBetter]

kevinchoi wrote:

Slightly related question – If I have Priority Pass through Amex Plat, and I am travelling with two friends, I assume the first guest is free, but what about the second guest? Do they have to pay the full fee to the lounge, or will they be charged the £24 Guest Fee by Priority Pass?

You can choose one of those options. The lounge dragons might not know what PP charges you. They’ll just charge for 3 people (including you) if you tell them to. PP will then check at backend your eligibility and charge your underlying card accordingly.

[Shazza12]

Hi Simey, just in case you don’t know it won’t get you into the lounge after US preclearance in Dublin.

[Simey]

Shazza12 wrote:

Hi Simey, just in case you don’t know it won’t get you into the lounge after US preclearance in Dublin.

Yep, ty for the info. Seen that on the PP website but it’s definitely a good one to raise anyhow with people in general!

With this offer the large fee could be offset within this 1st year, just need to think if the target spend can be hit. All our Florida expenses went on the BAPP and almost hit 10k in 3 months already.. just not sure if I then need 2 AMEX cards (fees over £800 for the 2 at that rate!) and many other questions..

[Michael C]

Simey wrote:

Shazza12 wrote:

Hi Simey, just in case you don’t know it won’t get you into the lounge after US preclearance in Dublin.

Yep, ty for the info. Seen that on the PP website but it’s definitely a good one to raise anyhow with people in general!

With this offer the large fee could be offset within this 1st year, just need to think if the target spend can be hit. All our Florida expenses went on the BAPP and almost hit 10k in 3 months already.. just not sure if I then need 2 AMEX cards (fees over £800 for the 2 at that rate!) and many other questions..

We stayed in Hiltons, so that’s another $30/night you “get back” with your plat. in the way of hotel credit!

[Simey]

Michael C wrote:

Simey wrote:

Shazza12 wrote:

Hi Simey, just in case you don’t know it won’t get you into the lounge after US preclearance in Dublin.

Yep, ty for the info. Seen that on the PP website but it’s definitely a good one to raise anyhow with people in general!

With this offer the large fee could be offset within this 1st year, just need to think if the target spend can be hit. All our Florida expenses went on the BAPP and almost hit 10k in 3 months already.. just not sure if I then need 2 AMEX cards (fees over £800 for the 2 at that rate!) and many other questions..

We stayed in Hiltons, so that’s another $30/night you “get back” with your plat. in the way of hotel credit!

What do you mean by the $30 a night cashback? Was that an AMEX offer or did you book it through their Fine Hotels and Resorts portal?

[Michael C]

Simey wrote:

Michael C wrote:

Simey wrote:

Shazza12 wrote:

Hi Simey, just in case you don’t know it won’t get you into the lounge after US preclearance in Dublin.

Yep, ty for the info. Seen that on the PP website but it’s definitely a good one to raise anyhow with people in general!

With this offer the large fee could be offset within this 1st year, just need to think if the target spend can be hit. All our Florida expenses went on the BAPP and almost hit 10k in 3 months already.. just not sure if I then need 2 AMEX cards (fees over £800 for the 2 at that rate!) and many other questions..

We stayed in Hiltons, so that’s another $30/night you “get back” with your plat. in the way of hotel credit!

What do you mean by the $30 a night cashback? Was that an AMEX offer or did you book it through their Fine Hotels and Resorts portal?

Amex plat comes with Hilton Gold = free b/fast in Europe / $30 per day per couple in the US.
Definitely pays off a big chunk of my fees!

[phil]

When the platinum card arrives, you could always refer your other half for the Gold card. You will get a generous referral bonus and P2 the chance to earn the sign up bonus if they are eligible. This will also solve the priority pass issue (assuming your other half is one of the travellers). Gold card is free for the first year.

Phil

[Luca M]

OP, I have been doing regularly this as a family of 5, although for a while I also had the HSBC Premier World Elite which has LoungePass and on on most occasion I managed to convince the Lounge Dragon to scan both the Amex Platinum and HSBC card in my name to count 3 guest (2 AP + 1 HSBC), however this is “against” the rule as each boarding pass should only be associated once to Card in the same name. I was fairly successful during the immediate post Covid start of travel, but I have encounter few rejections lately, so the prepaid passes from the link posted above can be a great option.

Another thing to note, as someone has posted above that you cannot buy an entry into the Centurion Lounge, and that is true, but what it was not mentioned is that the UK Amex Platinum allow cardholder plus two guests in the Centurion Lounge, so a cardholder plus additional cardholder could all go in as a group of up to 6 people. In Fact, when travelling from Heathrow T3, the Centurion Lounge is my favourite one, maybe at the same level as the Cathay lounge (which I can access through BAEC status).

[zapato1060]

That’s correct was at the brill Miami lounge twice in last 2 weeks. Each plat allows 2 guests. So that’s 6 people in if you got main and supp Plat.

[Simey]

zapato1060 wrote:

That’s correct was at the brill Miami lounge twice in last 2 weeks. Each plat allows 2 guests. So that’s 6 people in if you got main and supp Plat.

Is that a Priority Pass lounge or a Centurion one? Is PP 1+1 whilst Centurion is 1+2?

Also.. does it matter if it is a GROUP rather than a family? e.g none of the 4 others are related to me as such. It’s my partner and her family, or is there no such restriction?

[tbtb31]

Simey wrote:

zapato1060 wrote:

That’s correct was at the brill Miami lounge twice in last 2 weeks. Each plat allows 2 guests. So that’s 6 people in if you got main and supp Plat.

Is that a Priority Pass lounge or a Centurion one? Is PP 1+1 whilst Centurion is 1+2?

Also.. does it matter if it is a GROUP rather than a family? e.g none of the 4 others are related to me as such. It’s my partner and her family, or is there no such restriction?

That will have been the Centurion Lounge at Miami … Amex Centurion lounges are always 1+2 for each Platinum/Centurion cardholder.

[Simey]

Michael C wrote:

Simey wrote:

Michael C wrote:

Simey wrote:

Shazza12 wrote:

Hi Simey, just in case you don’t know it won’t get you into the lounge after US preclearance in Dublin.

Yep, ty for the info. Seen that on the PP website but it’s definitely a good one to raise anyhow with people in general!

With this offer the large fee could be offset within this 1st year, just need to think if the target spend can be hit. All our Florida expenses went on the BAPP and almost hit 10k in 3 months already.. just not sure if I then need 2 AMEX cards (fees over £800 for the 2 at that rate!) and many other questions..

We stayed in Hiltons, so that’s another $30/night you “get back” with your plat. in the way of hotel credit!

What do you mean by the $30 a night cashback? Was that an AMEX offer or did you book it through their Fine Hotels and Resorts portal?

Amex plat comes with Hilton Gold = free b/fast in Europe / $30 per day per couple in the US.
Definitely pays off a big chunk of my fees!

Oh yeah, get you! That’s true. We’re not staying in anything overly fancy in the US for the 3 week trip so no such luck that we’d get benefits from that this time but good to know.

I’ll have to talk to P2 and see what she thinks about back to back expensive cards 🙂

[Simey]

tbtb31 wrote:

Simey wrote:

zapato1060 wrote:

That’s correct was at the brill Miami lounge twice in last 2 weeks. Each plat allows 2 guests. So that’s 6 people in if you got main and supp Plat.

Is that a Priority Pass lounge or a Centurion one? Is PP 1+1 whilst Centurion is 1+2?

Also.. does it matter if it is a GROUP rather than a family? e.g none of the 4 others are related to me as such. It’s my partner and her family, or is there no such restriction?

That will have been the Centurion Lounge at Miami … Amex Centurion lounges are always 1+2 for each Platinum/Centurion cardholder.

Thanks for that – good to know. Just wanted to clarify. I think the PP ones are 1+1 so just wanted to make sure I understood your reply to the topic! 🙂

As stated in the opening Q – is there a “cooldown” period between products and applications with AMEX? I currently hold a BAPP that I got on the 4th of February. Is there.. any issues with applying for this offer early June (before it runs out?). What does AMEX think – will they look at me badly or is there any inherent risk in applying for 2 products and holding 2 at the same time in a relatively short space?

[tbtb31]

And for the lounges – both PP=Priority Pass and PP=Plaza Premium are 1+1 for Amex Platinum/Centurion cardholders. I much prefer Plaza Premium lounges, for the very fact that they’re no longer in the Priority Pass network (but still open to Amex) and hence less overrun. For the fifth guest the Plaza Premium charge at the door can vary a lot depending on the location and time, can be up to 60 quid, so going via the Dragonpass route (see link above) gives you a guaranteed GBP 19 price (you have to load a visit for GBP 19 onto your card beforehand in order to avoid the at-door pricing).

[tbtb31]

Simey wrote:

tbtb31 wrote:

Simey wrote:

zapato1060 wrote:

That’s correct was at the brill Miami lounge twice in last 2 weeks. Each plat allows 2 guests. So that’s 6 people in if you got main and supp Plat.

Is that a Priority Pass lounge or a Centurion one? Is PP 1+1 whilst Centurion is 1+2?

Also.. does it matter if it is a GROUP rather than a family? e.g none of the 4 others are related to me as such. It’s my partner and her family, or is there no such restriction?

That will have been the Centurion Lounge at Miami … Amex Centurion lounges are always 1+2 for each Platinum/Centurion cardholder.

Thanks for that – good to know. Just wanted to clarify. I think the PP ones are 1+1 so just wanted to make sure I understood your reply to the topic! 🙂

As stated in the opening Q – is there a “cooldown” period between products and applications with AMEX? I currently hold a BAPP that I got on the 4th of February. Is there.. any issues with applying for this offer early June (before it runs out?). What does AMEX think – will they look at me badly or is there any inherent risk in applying for 2 products and holding 2 at the same time in a relatively short space?

I would think that already having a product with Amex is a good thing, as they will have a track record for you creditworthiness as well as KYC checks (know your customer). The only thing Amex cares about is the combined credit limit for the 2 cards, so if your BAPP has a large unused credit limit which you don’t need then you may want to consider reducing it ahead of applying for the Platinum card. Having a large unused credit limit is usually a good thing as it signals creditworthiness, but in this situation it’s the combined limit that needs to be within Amex’ risk appetite.
Other lenders may be more negative about the short spacing of the credit applications – they usually don’t like to see people applying for more than 1 credit product within 6 months, but if you don’t have any intentions to remortgage / take out a non-Amex credit card / loan in the near future then I wouldn’t see an issue.

[Simey]

tbtb31 wrote:

Simey wrote:

tbtb31 wrote:

Simey wrote:

zapato1060 wrote:

That’s correct was at the brill Miami lounge twice in last 2 weeks. Each plat allows 2 guests. So that’s 6 people in if you got main and supp Plat.

Is that a Priority Pass lounge or a Centurion one? Is PP 1+1 whilst Centurion is 1+2?

Also.. does it matter if it is a GROUP rather than a family? e.g none of the 4 others are related to me as such. It’s my partner and her family, or is there no such restriction?

That will have been the Centurion Lounge at Miami … Amex Centurion lounges are always 1+2 for each Platinum/Centurion cardholder.

Thanks for that – good to know. Just wanted to clarify. I think the PP ones are 1+1 so just wanted to make sure I understood your reply to the topic! 🙂

As stated in the opening Q – is there a “cooldown” period between products and applications with AMEX? I currently hold a BAPP that I got on the 4th of February. Is there.. any issues with applying for this offer early June (before it runs out?). What does AMEX think – will they look at me badly or is there any inherent risk in applying for 2 products and holding 2 at the same time in a relatively short space?

I would think that already having a product with Amex is a good thing, as they will have a track record for you creditworthiness as well as KYC checks (know your customer). The only thing Amex cares about is the combined credit limit for the 2 cards, so if your BAPP has a large unused credit limit which you don’t need then you may want to consider reducing it ahead of applying for the Platinum card. Having a large unused credit limit is usually a good thing as it signals creditworthiness, but in this situation it’s the combined limit that needs to be within Amex’ risk appetite.
Other lenders may be more negative about the short spacing of the credit applications – they usually don’t like to see people applying for more than 1 credit product within 6 months, but if you don’t have any intentions to remortgage / take out a non-Amex credit card / loan in the near future then I wouldn’t see an issue.

I hold a near perfect credit score and I was given over 10k limit on my BAPP. Whether that is a lot or not in AMEX terms.. I don’t know, but to me it was quite a shock. Now, bear in mind that I will probably never use it.. maybe half of it at any one time if I make a big purchase but so far I only used like max £3K which I paid off in a day. The credit limit is perhaps not a major issue as I think the Platinum is more of a card to hold as opposed to use daily since it’s not always the most lucrative in terms of points / returns. Just awkward a bit that the 70k and this offer are so close together, but just in case it never comes I have to bite and save the points for a rainy day 🙂

[zapato1060]

Yeah sorry it was the Miami Centurion that’s allows 6 guests and guests can be the window cleaner/janitor if you wish. And don’t worry about application, just go for BAPP.

[Simey]

zapato1060 wrote:

Yeah sorry it was the Miami Centurion that’s allows 6 guests and guests can be the window cleaner/janitor if you wish. And don’t worry about application, just go for BAPP.

I already have the BAPP, got it early February for the big 70k bonus and hit that a month ago. That’s why I was wondering whether getting a 2nd AMEX product has any inherent risks with them. Wish the timing was better spaced out. If I apply as late as possible, then it gives 4 months between the applications which is still 2 in 6 months so my only worry is what they’ll say or kind of limit they’ll offer in case it looks bad – but on the other hand, they’ll have relations with me for 4 months by then so hard to say..