How to earn a 80,000-point (or more) welcome offer on the Amex Platinum

Chris was a reporter at The Points Guy, where he covered the intersection of credit card rewards and travel. At TPG, he wrote a broad array of stories ranging from in-depth features and reports to trending travel news as it related to loyalty, card benefits and consumer behavior.

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Editor's Note

The Platinum Card® from American Express has long been one of the best premium travel rewards cards out there, thanks to a long list of benefits, a strong earning rate on flight purchases and a solid welcome bonus.

Currently, the Amex Platinum Card is offering a 80,000-point welcome offer after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first six months of card membership — worth a generous $1,600, according to TPG's valuations. For comparison purposes, the highest publicly-available welcome offer we've seen on this card over the past few years has been 100,000 points.

Note that you could potentially be targeted for a 125,000-point or 150,000-point welcome bonus by using the CardMatch Tool. These offers are subject to change at any time.

In addition to the welcome bonus, this Amex card has a slew of enticing benefits, from up to $300 in annual Equinox statement credits annually and an annual statement credit of up to $199 for your Clear Plus membership. Enrollment is required for select benefits.

Let's review this latest Amex Platinum offer and analyze if it's worth applying for.

Amex Platinum benefits overview

The Amex Platinum has a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees), which may trigger some sticker shock. But when you dive into its mile-long list of benefits, there's the potential to recoup that value:

• 5 points per dollar on flights booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel on up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year
• 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with Amex Travel
• 1 point per dollar on other purchases
• Up to $200 annual hotel credit, in the form of a statement credit on prepaid Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings (requires a minimum two-night stay) with Amex Travel when you pay with your Amex Platinum*
• Up to $240 annual digital entertainment credit, in the form of $20 in monthly statement credits when you pay for eligible purchases with the Amex Platinum on one or more of the following: Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal*
• Up to $300 annual Equinox credit annually on Equinox or Equinox+ app memberships*
• Up to $199 annual Clear Plus credit for your Clear Plus membership*
• Up to $200 annual airline fee credit*
• Up to $200 in annual Uber Cash in the form of $15 in Uber credits for dining or rides each month, with an up to $20 bonus in December (for use in the U.S.)*
• Up to $100 in credits at Saks each calendar year (up to $50 for January to June and up to $50 for July to December)*
• Airline lounge access — including Centurion Lounge access, Priority Pass Select lounge access (excluding restaurant locations), and Delta Sky Club access when you're flying same-day Delta flights (limited to 10 annual visits from Feb. 1, 2025) — through the American Express Global Lounge Collection*
• Up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry ($100) every four years or TSA PreCheck ($85) every 4½ years
• Gold status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy*
• Extra perks when you book a stay through Amex's Fine Hotels & Resorts program or Amex's Hotel Collection (minimum two-night stay)*
• Up to a $155 statement credit that covers the cost of a monthly Walmart+ membership when paying with the Amex Platinum (subject to auto-renewal, Plus Up is excluded)
• Up to a $300 statement credit toward a SoulCycle at-home bike (an Equinox+ membership is required to purchase a SoulCycle at-home bike)*
• Access to the Platinum Card Concierge*
• Access to the American Express International Airline Program*
• Extensive travel protections when you use your card, including trip delay insurance and trip cancellation and interruption insurance(Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company), car rental loss and damage insurance(Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.) and baggage insurance(Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.)**
• Premium Global Assist hotline that may provide many services when you're away from home, including emergency medical transportation assistance — though cardmembers are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers**
• Numerous shopping protections when you use your card
• Multiple options for redeeming points, including transferring to hotel and airline partners, booking travel through Amex Travel and Pay With Points
• Complimentary additional Gold Cards, or you can add up to three Platinum Card authorized users for $195 each per year (see rates and fees)
• No foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees)

*Enrollment required for select benefits.
**Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

That's one of the most exhaustive lists of perks available among premium travel rewards cards. You're looking at more than $1,500 in value from the annual credits alone. So, if you can put many of these to use, the Amex Platinum could be worth a place in your wallet — even with that high annual fee.

Bottom line

The current Amex Platinum welcome offer is worth $1,600, according to TPG's valuations — more than twice the card's annual fee. Remember that you could be targeted for an even bigger welcome bonus through the CardMatch tool.

Right now, some new cardholders are being targeted for an up to 125,000-point welcome offer (offer subject to change at anytime).

The Amex Platinum is one of the best travel cards on the market, and applying for the card now could help pay for upgraded experiences on your trips down the road. Since Amex only allows you to earn one welcome bonus per lifetime on each card, it's important to try and apply when there's a high welcome bonus offer.

If you are targeted for the 125,000- or 150,000-point CardMatch offer, now is an excellent time to apply for the card to rake in a large bonus while utilizing an array of valuable perks both for travel and your everyday spend activity.

Apply here: The Platinum Card® from American Express with an 80,000-point bonus, or check out the CardMatch tool to see if you are targeted for a bonus of up to 150,000 points.

For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, click here.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.