No Amex

[TGLoyalty]

Didn’t think you could pay for a guest into the Eurostar lounges. It’s card holder only?

[BBbetter]

TGLoyalty wrote:

Didn’t think you could pay for a guest into the Eurostar lounges. It’s card holder only?

Correct. Just saying it’d be nice to have an option to guest someone in.

[zapato1060]

Those hoping lounge numbers will subside with the intro of pro rata cancellations. Many on FT stating Centurion lounges in the USA are still heaving even after removal of free guests for US Plat folk.

[dougzz99]

zapato1060 wrote:

Those hoping lounge numbers will subside with the intro of pro rata cancellations. Many on FT stating Centurion lounges in the USA are still heaving even after removal of free guests for US Plat folk.

That’s always been my experience. Was in the Denver lounge in June and it was a struggle to find a seat, and this is a decent size. Staff were active but if you waited for a cleaned table you’d lose the seat. From memory I’ve never been in the Miami one, I can on three occasions remember finding a queue and just heading for the AA Flagship lounge which is very nice.

[scholar wong]

I’d like to see the UK version of the card converge more towards the US offering – https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/benefits/travel/resources/amex-platinum-card/

[executiveclubber]

scholar wong wrote:

I’d like to see the UK version of the card converge more towards the US offering – https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/benefits/travel/resources/amex-platinum-card/

Unfortunately they’d never have the margins here to make that happen. But agree UK offering could be better; insurance, events and more useful, regular cash credit that isn’t just Harvey Nichols. With better partnerships that leverage their brand equity you’d really think they could do it. Even O2 Rewards is better.

They’ve even disbanded most of their Concierge service.

[BBbetter]

executiveclubber wrote:

But agree UK offering could be better; insurance, events and more useful, regular cash credit that isn’t just Harvey Nichols. With better partnerships that leverage their brand equity you’d really think they could do it. Even O2 Rewards is better.

Yep, since covid, there’s a lot of demand for ‘experiences’ than goods. Especially the ones not easily available elsewhere. This is where the Hilton and Marriott experiences are doing well.

[scholar wong]

Some benefits from the US version that I think would be valuable:

$240 Entertainment Credit
$200 Uber Credit
$100 Saks credit (equivalent to Harvey Nichols)
$200 Airline Credit
$200 Hotel Credit
No Foreign Transaction Fees

That’s not a comprehensive list of the benefits, but easily outweighs the card fee, agree the interchange market in the US is much more lucrative, but the card fees are broadly comparable (£575 vs $695), and I didn’t think the Platinum card was interchange driven anyway?

[can2]

scholar wong wrote:

Some benefits from the US version that I think would be valuable:

$240 Entertainment Credit
$200 Uber Credit
$100 Saks credit (equivalent to Harvey Nichols)
$200 Airline Credit
$200 Hotel Credit
No Foreign Transaction Fees

That’s not a comprehensive list of the benefits, but easily outweighs the card fee, agree the interchange market in the US is much more lucrative, but the card fees are broadly comparable (£575 vs $695), and I didn’t think the Platinum card was interchange driven anyway?

C’mon, that is never gonna happen in the UK or EU.

[can2]

BBbetter wrote:

sloth wrote:

The majority of the ‘riffraff’ as you so eloquently put it are using PP obtained via Amex Plat…

I doubt it. Even if that’s the case, it’ll reduce once churners stop applying from October.
Most likely it’s due to what yorkieflyer mentioned.

Another missing piece is a free or paid guest entry for Eurostar lounge.

We made some commotion about guest access to Eurostar lounge. They considered our 5 year as a guest. We objected. They said “some kids have platinum”. Then I lost my cool. Player 2 wrote to the CEO. They said they’ll take care of it. Who knows. I am so hopeless about it.

[Harry Hightower]

Harrier25 wrote:

I just finally settled with the Green Charge Card (no longer available) which suits my needs perfectly…£60 a year which I get refunded thoughout the year with offers. 1 MR point per every £1 spent and an extra year’s warranty cover on 2 x TV’s and a washing machine. No bonuses to chase anymore (been there, done that) and use the MR points to purchase Hilton points whenever Amex run the 30% bonus promotion. I use my Barclaycard Hilton (no longer available) where Amex isn’t accepted. I have the free Virgin Atlantic card for EU spend and the Barclaycard Rewards for further afield. I’m as happy as Larry!

Did you have much trouble getting the Barclaycard Rewards alongside the Hilton card? I have the Hilton card and assumed I wouldn’t be able to get a second Barclaycard, but maybe I’m getting confused with specific restrictions around the Avios earning Barclaycards?

[Harrier25]

I’ve had 2 Barclaycards for many years, a long time before the one card rule came into effect. I recently switched to the Rewards card from the long time dormant Platinum card. It started its life as the Barclaycard IHG Rewards card.

[dougzz99]

It’s a shame the OP didn’t return to offer a little more on his reasoning.

[alma]

I have a but maybe dumb question, but would it be so hard for them to also offer at least

No Foreign Transaction Fees

on just the Platinum card if it’s marketed as a premium travel & insurance product?

Honestly, that would present an actual use case for me to use for purchases, as otherwise, the other cards almost always beat it, no?

Or would it be unaccaptable that only Plat+ card(s) have this feature and others like Gold still charge the non-sterling fee?

[sloth]

alma wrote:

I have a but maybe dumb question, but would it be so hard for them to also offer at least

No Foreign Transaction Fees

on just the Platinum card if it’s marketed as a premium travel & insurance product?

Honestly, that would present an actual use case for me to use for purchases, as otherwise, the other cards almost always beat it, no?

Or would it be unaccaptable that only Plat+ card(s) have this feature and others like Gold still charge the non-sterling fee?

Amex are here to make money, and on a card they market as aimed at travellers im not sure why they would want to remove the foreign transaction fees

[Jasdev]

I find it rare for a thread on HfP to offer both informative content AND entertaining content in spades… there must be a word for this… “infotainment”?

[JDB]

@sloth – the Gold card has FX fees but at least gives 2/2.5MR on foreign spend or 3/3.5MR for foreign airline spend which goes a long way to offset the FX fee, particularly if you want s75. Why does the supposedly inferior card offer better rewards for travellers? Amex is there to make money but it would be better for them to increase MR reduce the FX fee rather than have the Plat in the drawer as advised by HfP. UK Plat has many design flaws!

[Harrier25]

In my opinion, in the UK, the Gold card is fit for purpose and the Platinum card just isn’t.

[The Savage Squirrel]

Binning forex fees isn’t going to happen. A high proportion of foreign Plat spend will be on expenses and therefore they can cream off the 3% which the user will happily eat knowing they are getting reimbursed. It’s probably the major profit driver of the card given that interest payments on plat cards will be negligible (bar the odd forgotten payment).

[sloth]

JDB wrote:

@sloth – the Gold card has FX fees but at least gives 2/2.5MR on foreign spend or 3/3.5MR for foreign airline spend which goes a long way to offset the FX fee, particularly if you want s75. Why does the supposedly inferior card offer better rewards for travellers? Amex is there to make money but it would be better for them to increase MR reduce the FX fee rather than have the Plat in the drawer as advised by HfP. UK Plat has many design flaws!

Because whilst the advise on here is correct to leave the Plat in a drawer and spend on other cards (I do this myself), the tiny cohort of HFP readers/commentators with plat cards is miniscule compared to the number of cards in circulation and the vast majority of cardholders will use this card for all transactions, and thereby Amex makes a lot on the fees overall. Just because we here understand the nuances between the different cards and what is best for different situations it doesn’t mean the vast majority of the population understand or even care. Banks make money from inertia, this has been the case from the beginning of banking and whilst they offer the Gold card with the better rate/return on foreign spending, the thought process from Amex will be if the custy doesn’t like the foreign fees, hopefully they will also take out the gold card, therefore paying 2 fees. A lot of fee paying card holders have more than one fee card for the different benefits

I agree with the comment of the design flaws of the Plat – my point is as long as Amex are making significant returns on it (70% off all new cardholders globally are on fee paying cards) then why will they feel the need to change

[Harry Hightower]

Harrier25 wrote:

I’ve had 2 Barclaycards for many years, a long time before the one card rule came into effect. I recently switched to the Rewards card from the long time dormant Platinum card. It started its life as the Barclaycard IHG Rewards card.

Ah I’d also had the IHG converted into the Platinum, but transferred the limit to the Hilton card and then closed it – I should have kept it around! Thanks

[Whatsthepoint]

Horses for courses. I wasn’t sure whether the Platinum Amex would be worth the £595 fee but here is how the first year has worked out for me
£150 UK Dining credit
£150 Overseas dining credit
£100 Harvey Nichols credit
£200 Amex travel credit
40000 welcome points, worth 40000 Avios to me, which is £600 of value to me
£400 saved on a Melia hotel booking via enhanced status
Also a great deal via Fine Hotels
A total of £1600 benefit, none of which I could get anywhere else. You could argue that a small proportion of it I may not have spent had I not had the credits, but 90%, at least, would have been needed anyway.
I’ve got 35000 points for renewing plus looking forward to saving £900 on car hire insurance in the US later this year.