Hi guys,

After having an AmEx Platinum card for just under a year, I am at the point of renewal. $699 for the Platinum card with the priority pass to all of AmEx and AmEx partner lounges worldwide.

Not so much interested in people's personal opinion of the value of the lounge access. What I am curious about is what other benefits do people see in the card that make the $699 price tag worthwhile?

When I signed up, I never received any welcome points, fuel points, or anything besides the card and a fancy book explaining how surreal and amazing my upcoming year is going to be because of my magic new card. However, at the end of the year, I feel I didn't really get the use out of it I could have (except for the free, decent crew meals and coffees). Can anyone fill me in on the Welcome Bonus rewards they received and any other advantages I could be using in order to make keeping this card worthwhile?

Thanks in advance

As a commuter I definitely get my monies worth from the lounge in YYZ. There is also a $200 travel credit that can be used cars, hotels etc. Has to be booked through AMex travel. I've also used the Priority lounges in Europe and Mexico. I received 50000 bonus points when I signed up. Any points I accumulate I used to pay on card. For me if I wasn't using the YYZ lounge I would not need to card.

$699?!

Just get the American Express Business Platinum card. Pretty much the same benefits, lounge access, but the annual fee is only $399.

https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/c ... inum-card/

is there a visa giving access to the lounge ?
I know you can with some mastercard.
the advantage of visa over amex is you can pay absolutely anything anywhere.

Now I understand why the lounge is full of Georgian pilots in uniform binge eating soup lol

You need to be a small business owner to get the Business card

hithere wrote:You need to be a small business owner to get the Business card

No you don't.

Wheels wrote:Now I understand why the lounge is full of Georgian pilots in uniform binge eating soup lol

Still figuring out how AMEX approved their application with disgusting salary

More and more places I go I'm seeing AMX isn't being accepted as much, personally I'd find a visa or MasterCard with good rewards.

What about the maple leaf Amex. Can it be used for both lounges. What lounge is better for crew use?

Tanker299 wrote:What about the maple leaf Amex. Can it be used for both lounges. What lounge is better for crew use?

Maple Leaf lounge won't let you in without a boarding pass.

If you mean the Aeroplan Amex it won't get you in the Amex lounge.

I used to have the business platinum (399) and switched to the personal platinum (699).
I don't have a small business, but when I applied for a card, I put in the name of a business that doesn't exist, with the address the same as my residential (making it an out-of-home side job.) No questions asked.

Depending on how much you travel outside of Canada, the Business platinum may not be worth it. Yeah it's 300$ cheaper, but the Priority Pass card that you get with the business charges you for EVERY visit to a lounge outside of Canada. Whereas the personal platinum PPass is free worldwide, and you get a guest too! (I'm writing this post from the lounge in Rome!)

As far as the 699 goes- again, if you travel enough, or rent a car or a hotel, you get the 200$ back- so lets call it $499. At this point, it's only a 100$ more expensive than the business, but the Priority Pass you get is worth a lot more (assuming you travel outside the country more than once a year.) You have to think about your travel habits here!

I had a Platinum Card for many years and it has some advantages if you are able to exploit them. But you have to deal with AMEX (dicks) and a lot of merchants want nothing to do with AMEX (dicks).

BingBong wrote:

Wheels wrote:Now I understand why the lounge is full of Georgian pilots in uniform binge eating soup lol

Still figuring out how AMEX approved their application with disgusting salary

Now that's some funny $hit! But honestly if I can open the back of the remote, those batteries are coming home with me!

Thanks for the response. Maple leaf is out. I know a lot of pilots who just split the cost of the card by getting supplementary cards, I think you can have 4 cards total making it 306$ per person. The biz card seems like a good deal if you don't have the credit rating but your spouse does. No name needed and no extra card needed.

There's a husky mainline FO always up there at the YYZ lounge. They must be losing money on him big time.

I've always hummed and hawed about these cards. The fine print is the deal breaker. It says only people with confirmed boarding passes are allowed in an flight crew are excluded from lounge access. I figured it's only a matter of time before they actually start enforcing that clause.

Bede wrote:I've always hummed and hawed about these cards. The fine print is the deal breaker. It says only people with confirmed boarding passes are allowed in an flight crew are excluded from lounge access. I figured it's only a matter of time before they actually start enforcing that clause.

That's true for the AC lounge, however only a boarding pass (not enforced for crew) is required for the Amex lounge. Amex does not care if your standby or not.

As a commuter this card pays for itself in food, coffee and the occasional alcoholic beverage. If they ever start enforcing the boarding card thing, I think AMEX will lose a lot of customers in a hurry.