New £300 Platinum dining credit July 2022

[brian]

Getting a 404 on the above link, have they taken the page down?

[willie]

Perhaps it was posted prematurely, and someone at Amex woke up this morning and pulled it?

[Lady London]

meta wrote:

Yes, but my point was in response to annual fee increase comment. It wouldn’t matter if it increased for those who have already paid their annual fees up to now as the new fees wouldn’t kick in until next year.

You rightly point out that you could potentially use it in Dec and Jan and close the card in Jan after credit posts. Amex would have to pay out dining credit worth £600 plus pro-rated fee.

It doesn’t make sense to increase the fee right now. They’ll wait until the 2023 to announce the increase.

I think you’re right @meta. Guessing this will add 100-150.

And it would reduce people’s irritation with the card if Amex would just stop advertising useless Addison Lee credit most cardholders can’t use. And if Amex would add a tagline whenever they mention Priority Pass ‘please be aware you are unlikely to be able to use this benefit in the UK’

[meta]

brian wrote:

Getting a 404 on the above link, have they taken the page down?

Seems they have. Might be they’re adding/changing restaurants or just need to change the wording ahead of the launch tomorrow. I hope they add more countries and more restaurants.

[meta]

Lady London wrote:

meta wrote:

Yes, but my point was in response to annual fee increase comment. It wouldn’t matter if it increased for those who have already paid their annual fees up to now as the new fees wouldn’t kick in until next year.

You rightly point out that you could potentially use it in Dec and Jan and close the card in Jan after credit posts. Amex would have to pay out dining credit worth £600 plus pro-rated fee.

It doesn’t make sense to increase the fee right now. They’ll wait until the 2023 to announce the increase.

I think you’re right @meta. Guessing this will add 100-150.

And it would reduce people’s irritation with the card if Amex would just stop advertising useless Addison Lee credit most cardholders can’t use. And if Amex would add a tagline whenever they mention Priority Pass ‘please be aware you are unlikely to be able to use this benefit in the UK’

Add Lee is a good angle to get a better than standard 35k retention offer.

[jj]

I wonder if this is connected with the FCA’s new consumer duty that will soon apply to all UK regulated firms. Under it, Amex will have to conduct a price and value assessment to ensure consumers receive fair value from its products, including a new rule relating to product packages that require each component product and the package as a whole to provide fair value to retail customers in the target market.

I suspect it would be very hard to justify the annual Platinum fee on the basis of travel insurance, a couple of lounge visits and some mid-tier hotel status. The twice-yearly Selfridges handout and the new dining credit are probably relatively cheap ways of preventing the FCA’s cane from landing too sharply on Amex’s knuckles.

[meta]

It’s Harvey Nichols credit, not Selfridges, but interesting take @jj

[Cornell]

The Dutch Amex Platinum comes with a similar benefit (not sure if that’s new or has existed for a while already).

The list of restaurants shown here appears to be identical/very similar to what was on the UK page this morning.

https://www.americanexpress.com/nl-nl/benefits/diningbenefit/

[JDB]

@jj there may be some truth in what you say as the card does seem to offer very poor value for most people as partly evidenced by the ridiculous repeat SUBs/retention bonuses they have to pay because the benefits/earnings rate are insufficient for the card to stand on its own two feet. They should be able to say take it or leave it. Maybe that will change when the full details are available? I still don’t like the idea of paying a large fee and then being given some of it back as long as I go to Amex’s chosen restaurant. Some seem to suggest they are getting a ‘free’ lunch so the marketing guff works.

[dst87]

If this becomes a recurring benefit as suggested then it effectively works as a £150 discount for me, as I will easily spend that every year at The Ivy or Hawksmoore in Edinburgh. Not bad, so long as the fee doesn’t increase as some are suggesting.

[Andrew J]

dst87 wrote:

If this becomes a recurring benefit as suggested then it effectively works as a £150 discount for me, as I will easily spend that every year at The Ivy or Hawksmoore in Edinburgh. Not bad, so long as the fee doesn’t increase as some are suggesting.

And I’m the same with the HN credit – I’ll spend that anyway so it’s as good as a £100 discount off my annual fee.

[dst87]

Andrew J wrote:

And I’m the same with the HN credit – I’ll spend that anyway so it’s as good as a £100 discount off my annual fee.

I’m _mostly_ the same with the HN credit… I used it this year to buy a bottle of whisky / rum – something I’d do anyway – but the HN prices are inflated a little, so I’m not getting the full £100 value IMO. Close enough, though.

[memesweeper]

The previous dining credit did not IIRC apply to the business Plat. If this offer does apply to Business I’ll seriously consider upgrading Gold -> Plat business.

[MattB]

Andrew J wrote:

And I’m the same with the HN credit – I’ll spend that anyway so it’s as good as a £100 discount off my annual fee.

If like me you’ll be cancelling before card year end its even better, as you can benefit from 2 years worth of credits.

I took out the Plat in March 2022 and if I cancel in Feb-23 could possibly benefit from 3x £50 @ HN, and 2x £300 dining credits (depending on being able to use the credit abroad).

[The Savage Squirrel]

Luca M wrote:

Am I missing something or this is additional to the Priority Pass and Harvey Nichols Statement Credit? Where did you get the “replacing” Priority Pass Option?

No – I think it was saying that, de facto, Priority Pass has fallen away in usefulness and is not going to get you into a UK airport lounge 99.9% of the time (I admit this depends on personal travel patterns but it is the experience of many – including me). Therefore as something that simply does not work in the real world, it is effectively being replaced by something else that (hopefully) does.

[meta]

JDB wrote:

@jj there may be some truth in what you say as the card does seem to offer very poor value for most people as partly evidenced by the ridiculous repeat SUBs/retention bonuses they have to pay because the benefits/earnings rate are insufficient for the card to stand on its own two feet. They should be able to say take it or leave it. Maybe that will change when the full details are available? I still don’t like the idea of paying a large fee and then being given some of it back as long as I go to Amex’s chosen restaurant. Some seem to suggest they are getting a ‘free’ lunch so the marketing guff works.

I’m not suggesting it’a free lunch, but if you’re not getting at least 5x the value of annual fee in statement credits, you shouldn’t have the card.

[dst87]

meta wrote:

I’m not suggesting it’a free lunch, but if you’re not getting at least 5x the value of annual fee in statement credits, you shouldn’t have the card.

Why at least 5x? Why should someone getting 1x or 2x the fee in statement credits / value not have the card?

[jj]

Apart from over-full lounges, the real problem with Priority Pass as a Platinum benefit is that anyone who is willing to pay £575 per annum for a credit card is already likely to be travelling in business class or to have airline status.

That might not be true for HfP readers who churn cards to earn points and who don’t need long-term value, but I would be willing to bet that it applies to almost all of the Platinum card’s target market

[meta]

Because with low return, you’re better off spending money on another card that gives you more and costs less, especially if you think that Amex annual fee is pro-rated if you cancel and that it’s not good for daily spending. For me, insurance is worth £0 in years I don’t have a claim (that’s most years!). Priority Pass also £0 if you fly J or F. Hotel statuses very low valued, especially because they are mid-tier that don’t get you much benefits and it was so easy to get and maintain statuses through pandemic. Add Lee credit useless as no drivers.
These are nice to have things, but not essential to justify the annual fee.

So all that is left are statement credits.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[dst87]

meta wrote:

Because with low return, you’re better off spending money on another card that gives you more and costs less

If taking those transactions independently, I don’t see how someone getting, say, £1,000 of statement credit in a year would possibly get that net £300 of value on a different card with those same transactions. Ok, Platinum’s 1 MR point / £1 is not the best you’ll get, but also having the card doesn’t preclude having other cards for spend that isn’t eligible for a Platinum statement credit.

Plus… the card is pretty cool. That’s gotta be worth something, right? 😉

[YC]

Insurance is not worth £0 if you don’t claim. You have peace of mind and would you not be buying insurance anyway? Travel and car insurance is worth the replacement cost. But I agree with the sentiment that you should be getting at least 2x value of annual fee. How you derive that value is personal circumstances. HN £50s, if you are buying for the stake of buying is that worth £50 face value – probably not.

[can]

meta wrote:

Because with low return, you’re better off spending money on another card that gives you more and costs less, especially if you think that Amex annual fee is pro-rated if you cancel and that it’s not good for daily spending. For me, insurance is worth £0 in years I don’t have a claim (that’s most years!). Priority Pass also £0 if you fly J or F. Hotel statuses very low valued, especially because they are mid-tier that don’t get you much benefits and it was so easy to get and maintain statuses through pandemic. Add Lee credit useless as no drivers.
These are nice to have things, but not essential to justify the annual fee.

So all that is left are statement credits.

I’d disagree with every argument here.

Insurance is not worthless. I had to use it few times with success. It is more important if you have kids. I’d value it something between £50-£100, plus the time you save from researching a new insurance each year.

Hotel status is my reason 2 for getting the platinum. I would not have made it to Diamond without it. Even the breakfast I save due to gold/diamond comes to around £200-250 each year. I am not even including the upgrades and lounges.

PPass is getting awful. But I have never been refused. And I still think that not PP but Amex lounges (+plaza) are million times better than Galleries for Club passengers at Heathrow.

I hate Add Lee, but I still save about £20-30 a year from it at pub nights.

With cash backs, Bicester comfort, HArvey Nicks and possible dining credits, I think I get a pretty good value. Never considered cancelling it. Especially since I pay monthly — cheaper than take-away curry for the family.

[Andrew J]

dst87 wrote:

meta wrote:

Because with low return, you’re better off spending money on another card that gives you more and costs less

If taking those transactions independently, I don’t see how someone getting, say, £1,000 of statement credit in a year would possibly get that net £300 of value on a different card with those same transactions. Ok, Platinum’s 1 MR point / £1 is not the best you’ll get, but also having the card doesn’t preclude having other cards for spend that isn’t eligible for a Platinum statement credit.

Plus… the card is pretty cool. That’s gotta be worth something, right? 😉

The physical card is one of the reasons I factor into keeping it (but I am a style over substance kind of person).

[Maples]

dst87 wrote:

Plus… the card is pretty cool. That’s gotta be worth something, right? 😉

I wonder how many people would switch over to the Gold card if it becomes metal with the changes to gaining MR points.

[meta]

@Can You haven’t read my post in context. I said that if you only get 1x or 2x value the card fee, I think it’s not a good product.

You can get the same kind of insurance for free with many banking products such as HSBC Premier account (it’s the benefit of the account, not the card!).

You can do a status challenge with Hilton to get to Diamond. Your Diamond status has nothing to do with having a Gold status as you start from scratch each year.

PP good for you if you only fly economy, but I tend to fly J and F more so lounge access comes with it. No need to heckle to get access either.

You’re overpaying for Add Lee by that £20-30 you supposedly saved.

I agree with statement credits (I get at least 5x the value in statement credits and hence I have never churned the card). My comment was in response to that, so please read comments in context.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .