How to Recoup the Amex Platinum’s Annual Fee With 3 Easy Credits

Are you sitting down? Because you might need to brace yourself for what I'm about to say.

The *amex platinum* recently got a facelift, complete with new “money-saving” credits and a whopping annual_fees annual fee (see rates & fees) … and I think it's totally worth it. Crazy! I know …

The card now includes more than a dozen statement credits to help offset that admittedly eye-popping annual fee. Some reset monthly, some quarterly or semi-annually, some renew on a yearly basis, and annoyingly, one is only good every four and a half years. Using these statement credits is key to making the math work in your favor. But here's the thing: Even if you only use three of them, you'll still come out ahead. 

No matter which credits you use to justify the annual fee, the key is not going out of your way to spend money you wouldn't have otherwise. With the card's up to $600 hotel credit, up to $400 Resy credit, and up to $300 per year digital streaming credit, I can easily come out ahead on purchases I'm already making … and you likely can, too. If you're already spending money on anything else that earns a credit, that's just a bonus and sways the calculus even further in your favor. 

Here are the biggest benefits I use to justify the Amex Platinum's annual fee … and why I think it's worth it. 

Read more: Amex Revamps the Platinum Card Again: More Perks, Higher Annual Fee

$600 Hotel Credit

The Amex Platinum has long offered a credit for making Fine Hotels + Resorts® (FHR) and The Hotel Collection (two-night minimum stay required) bookings through American Express Travel®. It used to be an annual credit of up to $200, but Amex doubled tripled down on it during the recent refresh by raising the total amount to $600 per year – split up into two, semi-annual chunks of $300 each. 

I already book a fair amount of hotel stays over the course of the year … and anyone considering a nearly $900 per year travel card probably does too. Do I always book those through Amex Travel? No. But with a credit like this, I make sure to at least once – or now, twice – per year. 

While there is no shortage of hotels bookable through Amex, it's worth noting that the ones eligible for this credit skew higher end. Booking a $2,000 per night Four Seasons just isn't in the cards for me, but that doesn't mean all is lost. Using a tool like MaxFHR easily allows me to find the lowest-priced properties where I can use this credit. 

For example, there are 20 hotels in Las Vegas – a place many travelers frequent – with room rates starting as low as $45 per night. Granted, the lowest rates are largely for off-peak dates, and you won't find these rock-bottom prices in each and every city, the point remains that this credit can be quite valuable … so long as you know where to look. 

Booking through Amex also comes with some extra perks that provide elite-like benefits … with no elite status required. For example, here's what you get with FHR bookings:

• Room upgrade on arrival, when available
• Early noon check-in, when available
• Daily breakfast for two people
• Experience credit, such as a $100 spa or food and beverage credit
• Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout
• Complimentary Wi-Fi (if Wi-Fi costs are included in a mandatory property fee, a daily credit for that amount will be applied at check-out.)

The benefits you get at lower-priced The Hotel Collection properties aren't quite as robust, but it's still better (in most cases) than what you'd get booking elsewhere:

• Room upgrade on arrival, when available
• Early noon check-in, when available
• Experience credit, such as a $100 spa or food and beverage credit
• Late check-out, when available

Even if you only use one of your semi-annual $300 hotel credits each year, you're able to recoup a third of your annual fee right there. Once you take into account the added benefits you get with these bookings, you're even further ahead. 

Related reading: How to Use the Amex Platinum Card's Hotel Credit

$400 Resy Credit

We all have to eat, right? While buying groceries and cooking at home is no doubt the more frugal option, I enjoy dining out from time-to-time – and I do it with enough regularity to view the Platinum Card's new up to $400 per year Resy credit as good as cash. 

This credit is split up into quarterly chunks (Jan. to March, April to June, July to Sept., and Oct. to Dec.) of up to $100 each for dining purchases at more than 10,000 U.S. Resy-partner restaurants.

Unlike the card's hotel credit, enrollment in this benefit is required. You can do this by logging into your Amex account online and navigating to the “rewards & benefits” section – or by going to “membership” in the mobile app. You only need to enroll once, and after you do, you're all set – just dine out at any U.S. Resy restaurant and use your Amex Platinum to pay the bill. You'll automatically be credited up to $100 each quarter. It's as simple as that. 

Now for the bad news (for some): Even with 10,000-plus Resy restaurants spread across the country, you won't find one everywhere. If you live in a large metropolitan area, you should have no trouble putting this credit to use every three months … at places you actually want to eat! You can search for all the available options on Resy's site or mobile app. 

But others in small cities across the country likely won't be so lucky. Take my home of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for example: There isn't a single Resy-eligible restaurant in the entire city of 200,000-plus people. 

So why in the world am I excited about this credit? Because I travel pretty regularly – and something significant would have to change for me to not get to a single place, once every three months, where I could use this credit naturally.

As proof, this new credit became available to existing (and new) cardmembers on Sept. 18 when Amex announced the refreshed Platinum Card – leaving just 12 days to use the current quarter's Resy credit before it expired. Even so, I was able to put it to use by the end of the month without changing my travel plans or going out of my way to do so.

And if all else fails, I can use it to buy a gift card online for a restaurant that I'd like to visit at a future date. I recommend using the Use Your Credits website because it offers an interactive map and directly links you to restaurants where you can make gift card purchases online. 

Using Minneapolis (a city I get to often) as an example, I can quickly see that there are 92 Resy participating restaurants in the area where I can use this new credit – 45 of which offer online gift card purchases. 

If I don't naturally find myself at a Resy restaurant in a given three-month period, having the option to purchase a gift card for a future night out isn't a bad fall back plan. 

$300 Digital Streaming Credit

When the Amex Platinum Card underwent its last refresh in 2021, one of the new benefits was a credit of up to $20 per month for select streaming and digital entertainment services. Many travelers were still sticking close to home following the worst of the pandemic, and Amex likely felt compelled to give cardmembers a reason to hold on to their pricey travel card. 

Honestly, I assumed this credit would be destined for the chopping block when Amex announced changes were on the horizon. I'm happy I was wrong. 

Not only did the digital entertainment credit stick around (all of the card's other benefits did, too), but Amex made the credit even better by upping the amount to a maximum of $25 per month and adding a handful of additional options to the mix. As it stands, you can currently use this benefit with the following services: Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV. 

Once again, enrollment in this credit is required. But once you do that, it requires nearly zero effort going forward. Since each of these subscriptions auto-renew monthly, once you add your Amex Platinum as the payment method, you're all set. 

As a longtime Platinum Cardholder, I've been using my credit for the Disney+ Bundle, which includes Hulu and ESPN+. But the addition of YouTube TV gives me another option for a service that I was already paying for … with or without the credit.

All told, there are several streaming options on this list that I value and am already paying for that make this $25 per month credit as good as cash to me. I'd wager the same is true for many others out there. 

Doing the Math

Add it all up and these three credits alone total $1,300 in value for a card that's costing me annual_fees per year. Even if I don't give the $600 hotel credit full value – and it's probably fair not to – I'm still coming out ahead if I use it just once per year. That's not a bad trade off … 

And none of this takes into consideration any of the card's other benefits like a credit of up to $200 per year for airline incidentals, up to $200 per year in Uber Cash (and up to $120 in credit for an Uber One membership), up to $300 per year Lululemon credit, up to $100 per year Saks Fifth Avenue credit, and I can't forget the up to $155 per year ($12.95 per month) for Walmart+ … yes, seriously.  

Amex pegs the full annual value of the refreshed Platinum Card at $3,500-plus. While I think that's a stretch (to put it mildly) for most people, I don't think getting $2,000 in value from the card each year (with relatively little effort) is too far out of the question … at least for myself. 

The up to $300 Equinox credit and up to $200 per year towards an Oura Ring are the only benefits I don't use. Considering both of those are fitness-related, feel free to make of that what you will. 

All told, I think Amex knocked it out of the park with these changes – and that's not just lip service. I've carried this card for years at the old $695 price point, and I badly wanted to bemoan these changes and swear I was cancelling my card … but I just can't do it.

It's really rare that a bank refreshes one of its cards, raises the annual fee, and actually makes it better – but this is it. 

Bottom Line

The newly revamped Amex Platinum Card now carries a higher, $895 annual fee – but the added perks and statement credits can easily outweigh that cost … even if you only use a few of them.

Between the $600 hotel credit, the $400 Resy dining credit, and the $300 digital streaming credit, most cardholders can more than cover the annual fee with spending they’d already be doing. Everything else is just gravy.